Come to NJ – Get Rich!

From the NYT:

Memo to Would-Be Members of the 1%: Move to the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic

Reaching for the American dream? Your best chances are probably in New York, New Jersey or Maryland.

Those states are best at helping Americans move up the income ladder, both in absolute terms and relative to their peers, according to a groundbreaking new study from the Economic Mobility Project at the Pew Center on the States.

Generally speaking, states in New England and the mid-Atlantic had the most upwardly mobile residents, whereas states in the South had the least mobile populations.

The study, which appears to be the first to try to measure economic mobility at the state level, looked at the incomes of Americans in each state over a 10-year period using data from the Census Bureau and the Social Security Administration. Researchers tracked a group of nationally representative Americans who were age 35 to 39 at any point from 1978 to 1997.

They then examined how each individual’s earnings had changed exactly one decade after the initial income number was collected.

Across the country, the income of the typical American rose by about 17 percent in inflation-adjusted terms during that time. There was great variation among the states, though.

To measure this “relative upward mobility,” the authors focused on people in the bottom half of the income distribution and tracked whether those individuals were able to move up at least 10 percentiles.

For example, a person who started out in the 20th percentile would have to climb to at least the 30th percentile after a decade in order to be considered “upwardly mobile” in this study.

Using all three metrics together — absolute income gains, relative upward mobility and relative downward mobility — the researchers determined that New York, New Jersey and Maryland performed best in the country. They were, in fact, the only three states that outperformed the country as a whole on all three measures.

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164 Responses to Come to NJ – Get Rich!

  1. Brian says:

    Just Don’t move to Newton. We’re bucking the trend over here.

  2. Njescapee says:

    Past results do not guarantee continued success. Just saying.

  3. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Brian 1, That’s a fact jack.
    OK guys Uber inspector contact info please.

  4. Njescapee says:

    But we do miss Jersey pizza, Shoprite and oh yeah and Wegmans too.

  5. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Nj 4 Maybe I come out by you make a killing selling real pizza. My SIL’s brother keeps trying to get mt to go to S.C. , says I’ll be the only game in town.

  6. Simon says:

    Question for the resident experts.

    Is it typical for a seller to have a dual agency agreement where the sellers agent would represent a buyer they brought in? Why would a seller agree to that term where their agent would give up representing them to represent the buyer.

    Thanks

  7. Njescapee says:

    mike, comeon down!

  8. Neanderthal Economist says:

    My home purchase is stalled because home seller wont let us punch a 3/8 inch hole in wall to test for mold where a visible water stain and repair were identified by the uber inspektor. Would anyone just buy the home anyway or would you make sure that section was mold free first?

  9. Mike says:

    Good Morning New Jersey

  10. Neanderthal Economist says:

    Simon. We are working with a dual agent right now. It’s my understanding that the agent is working for the seller.

  11. Shore Guy says:

    “Come to NJ – Get Rich!”

    The whole pitch is:

    Come to NJ – Get Rich — so we can tax you, after all, we NEED the revenue!

  12. Shore Guy says:

    Predictions re. Greece, including bank run, economic meltdown, potential dictatorship, etc.:

    http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/05/09/reuters-tv-breakingviews-what-happens-if-greece-run?videoId=234680926&videoChannel=117766

  13. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Veto 8 NO,period! Have dealt with mold(rental ran), even after remediation. I would not go there, plenty of fish in the sea per NAR down 6%. Time…is on your side OH yes it is.

  14. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Mike 9 consistent if anything. LOL

  15. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Shore 11 only to true, more the pity.

  16. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Shore 12 no money to fund the largess of the welfare state. All bets off, anarchy Meat scenario.

  17. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Grim you are going to beat me silly, it is a short sale.

  18. LoveNJ says:

    Reply to #8
    In NJ, every house older than 10 years has some mold.
    Not sure what test you are going to do, I am sure there is no mold free wall in NJ.
    Just like the lead paint, if the house is 50 years old, somewhere in the house there is lead paint. What to do? Up to you.

    If I am the seller I won’t let you test either. So I can claim no previous knowledge.
    Just low ball the whole thing, to cover your possible repair cost. Or move on.

    How much does it cost to repair? all depends.
    I did some work myself, bleach, new drywall, some paint, like new. Wear mask, eye protection and rubber gloves. Quoted a couple contractors, all tried to get more money out of us.

  19. grim says:

    From Reuters:

    Florida Supreme Court hears landmark foreclosure suit

    The Florida Supreme Court heard arguments on Thursday in a landmark lawsuit that could undo hundreds of thousands of foreclosures and open up banks to severe financial penalties in the state where they face the bulk of their foreclosure-fraud litigation.

    Legal experts say the lawsuit is one of the most important foreclosure fraud cases in the country and could help resolve an issue that has vexed Florida’s foreclosure courts for the past five years: Can banks that file fraudulent documents in foreclosure proceedings voluntarily dismiss the cases only to refile them later with different paperwork?

    The decision, which may take up to eight months, could influence judges in the other 26 states that require judicial approval for foreclosures.

    The case at issue, known as Roman Pino v. Bank of New York Mellon, stems from the so-called robo-signing scandal that emerged in 2010 when it was revealed that banks and their law firms had hired low-wage workers to sign legal documents without checking their accuracy, as is required by law.

    If the state Supreme Court rules against the banks, “a broad universe of mortgages could be rendered unenforceable,” said former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey, author of the book, “Foreclosures in Florida.”

  20. grim says:

    From NJ Spotlight:

    Foreclosures in New Jersey in a Troublesome State of Flux

    While two of New Jersey’s largest mortgage lenders are vigorously filing new foreclosures, the state is still waiting for them and other major banks to certify the accuracy of documents in a huge backlog of pending cases.

    The parallel trends have worried some foreclosure counselors who fear the reckoning, when it arrives, will be worse for the state’s housing market than previously predicted.

    The retired judge appointed to review foreclosure cases of the state’s six largest lenders said the hardest part of his job also lies ahead — analyzing “hundreds from each of the banks” to determine whether they are implementing ostensibly improved procedures to protect against fraud.

    Even before those reviews commence, participants say the foreclosure process in New Jersey is in a state of flux. As a wave of legal cases approaches, banks are changing their approach. At least some large lenders are doing more public outreach, holding meetings around the state to talk to customers already in foreclosure or threatened with possible foreclosure.

    Some of that may be public relations in the wake of a nationwide settlement with state attorneys general. Under the terms, they will pay about $26 billion in mortgage modifications, payments to states, penalties and fees, plus token compensation to people illegally forced from their homes. In exchange they will be protected of claims of fraud and abuse from those previous foreclosures.

    But in addition to strategizing and avoiding damages, some housing counselors see changes in attitudes among the banks following the settlement, with some becoming easier to work with, others harder.

    “Some of the banks do more than the others” to help customers stay in their homes, said Elaine Molen, a counselor with Novadebt, a consumer debt management service in Freehold.

    Lenders attitudes are critical, because the trend in foreclosures here runs counter to most of the nation, according to Phyllis Salowe-Kaye, executive director of New Jersey Citizen Action.

    Nationwide, foreclosure rates were flat in March, although the inventory of 1.4 million homes was down slightly from a year ago, according to the CoreLogic property data service in Santa Ana, Calif. But New Jersey ranked second — behind only Florida — because of new cases piling up on top of the backlog.

    “In New Jersey, we’re not even at the top yet” of the surge in foreclosures, Salowe-Kaye said. “What’s coming is larger than anyone has imagined.”

  21. grim says:

    From the Philly Inquirer:

    Reports say home price declines are slowing

    Three measures of housing market health released so far this week indicate that price declines might be slowing in many areas of the country.

    The National Association of Realtors on Wednesday said its first-quarter data for the nation’s metropolitan areas showed median existing single-family home prices are “firming” in many, while improving sales and declining inventory are creating “more balanced conditions.”

    The group’s data for the Philadelphia metropolitan area, including Wilmington, however, showed median prices for the first quarter at $193,500, down 3.7 percent from $201,000 in the fourth quarter and 2.8 percent from the first three months of 2011.

    The latest numbers from Fiserv Case-Shiller, which tracks Philadelphia metro prices quarterly, showed the region’s prices fell 5.79 percent in the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2011, which is the most recent period it has tracked.

    Fiserv’s home price projections indicate, however, that prices will fall only an additional 0.69 percent in the region in the 12 months ending Dec. 31.

    “After years of large declines, the housing market is showing signs of stabilization,” Fiserv stated. It said the entire country should expect a further decline in prices of just 0.8 percent by year’s end.

    CoreLogic, the real estate information service, reported Tuesday that Philadelphia-region prices rose 0.7 percent in March over the same month in 2011, after a year-over-year loss of 2.1 percent in February.

    Excluding sales of distressed housing — short sales and bank-owned foreclosures — home prices increased 1.8 percent in March from the same month in 2011, CoreLogic said.

    “This spring, the housing market is responding to an improving balance between real estate supply and demand which is causing stabilization in house prices,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic.

    Foreclosure sales rose in the city of Philadelphia in the first quarter of 2012, according to Econsult vice president and economist Kevin Gillen.

    Gillen reported in April that sales of bank-owned repossessions had spiked to 902 in the city, reaching an unprecedented level of quarterly transactions.

    The foreclosure sales “really appear to have hit North and West Philadelphia hard,” Gillen said. “Even after dropping those transactions from the data, house prices in those two neighborhoods fell by 10 percent” in the first quarter compared with the fourth quarter of 2011.

    “Declines in the rest of the city’s neighborhoods were generally in the low single digits,” however, he said.

  22. grim says:

    From Time:

    When — and Where — the Housing Market Is Due for a Bounce

    …but for what it’s worth, the six value plays identified by Fiserv are:

    Sebastian-Vero Beach, Fla. Area real estate prices are down 52% from peak, and they are expected to rise at an annualized rate of 8.1% over the next five years.

    Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, Fla. Down 53.5% from peak, with expected five-year annualized gains of 8.8%.

    Ocala, Fla. Down 52.1% from its highs, expected five-year annualized gains of 9.1%.

    Lakeland-Winter Haven, Fla. Down 55.8% from its peak, expected gains at an annualized rate of 9.2%.

    Napa, Calif. Down 51.7% from peak, expected five-year annualized gains of 9.7%.

    Madera-Chowchilla, Calif. Down 53.1%, with expected five-year annualized gains of 10.3%.

  23. George Soros says:

    Finally understand why I moved to NJ 10 years ago

  24. Brian says:

    Oh boy, Here we go…

    Romney says sorry for high school bullying episode

    (CBS News) WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney is apologizing for an incident nearly half a century ago that one witness calls “an assault and battery” on a boarding school classmate who turned out to be gay.

    The Washington Post quotes other witnesses who say the boy was held down, screaming and crying, while Romney bullied him.

    On the campaign trail, Romney apologized Thursday for pranks he was said to have committed in school 46 years ago.

    http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505267_162-57432391/romney-says-sorry-for-high-school-bullying-episode/

  25. Ruggles says:

    Simon – 6 – Dual agency doesn’t just apply to the listing agent, it applies to every agent associated with the company. So even if the listing agent brings in a buyer and hands them off to another agent in their office, or in another office of the same broker, that is still considered dual agency. Its assumed everyone in the same company has the same inside information on their clients and they are bound, in theory, to not give an unfair advantage to either side.

    In reality, you can’t trust what any agent is saying and sharing about you and your situation to any other agent, even those outside their agency. But it would be difficult to list with a big real estate agency and not let their agents bring in buyers.

  26. Richard says:

    Grim that’s a great foreclosure article. “Reverse Boom” is a great euphemism.

    [Of the six largest residential mortgage lenders in New Jersey, only OneWest Bank and Wells Fargo have started new foreclosures, filing dozens of cases in April. Once the others join in, the reverse boom times of 2009 could return. State officials estimate 50,000 to 100,000 previous cases are still pending.]

  27. Painhrtz - I ain't dead yet says:

    Brian #24 Hey mitt really simple it is the economy stupid keep hammering it, everytime the try to deflect, retort but the economy what about the economy. Everytime they bring up some petty issue retort lets be adults how are you going to fix the economy. State when we fix the econmomy we can then focus the national discussion on quality of life issues not to say that they aren’t important but if no one can pay their bills and eat why does it matter if we have philosophical discussions on our differences regarding social issues.

    that in a very simple statement is how you table the issue.

    god Mitt is like someones dad who prefers to be their friend and not an actual parent

  28. Mikeinwaiting says:

    “O” can not run on his record so now Mitt is ow a homophobic bully, is the electorate really stupid enough to fall for this crap? Never mind I know, I know……………..

  29. Mikeinwaiting says:

    ow / now

  30. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Forget it, more coffee.

  31. All Hype says:

    Fight at a boarding school = Snowball fight in any blue collar town in the USA.

    A guy like Mitt would get stuffed into lockers, get swirlies in the bathroom and receive atomic wedgies in my high school. He would have been the one crying assault.

  32. JJ says:

    10 year and 30 year treasury at basically an all time low today. If anyone wants to refinance get your ducks in a row this weekend, this may be your last chance.

    Anyone with a bond fund or owning MBS be prepared for massive calls and redemptions and watch your yield plummet.

    Anyone with 10-30 year non-callable bonds start deciding what to sell this weekend.

    Also decide what equities you want this weekend. We are getting near to the bond to equity switch date. WOW what a bond ride 31 years of a bull market.

  33. Mike says:

    Leave Romney alone he never inhaled anything either

  34. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [21] grim,

    North and west Philadelphia are like the pakistani tribal areas. Or Camden.

    Lots of folks in Phila want to ring fence those areas with concertina.

  35. Mikeinwaiting says:

    JJ 33 with the call.

  36. gary says:

    We’re reduced to the drunken b@stard Biden apologizing to Oblama and this administration trying to sway an election based on a school yard fight. This is the leadership you’re going to elect for 4 more years. Forget about what side of the aisle you’re on, this is approaching a level beyond embarrassment. Let me know what remains of this country by 2016.

  37. Anon E. Moose says:

    NJE [4];

    I can get you Wegmans (the home of, in fact), decent Sicillian style, thick-crust, hearth-baked (not pan) pizza from a Queens refugee in Western New York.

    Weather might be better where you are, though.

  38. Brian says:

    33 –
    I put some of my money in a fund that buys stocks which consistently have a rising dividend.

    I put some more in a global equity value fund.

    I was going to continually invest in them using dollar cost averaging but now you’ve got me thinking, maybe I’ll just go all in.

    http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/28/pf/expert/dollar-cost-averaging.moneymag/index.htm

  39. Njescapee says:

    Moose, yep love their pizza every trip we make to Jersey includes a stop at Wegmans, Bridgewater.

  40. Brian says:

    38 –
    Does he do work in Sussex county?

  41. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    And we’re off. Boy that is one ugly heat map.

  42. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [33] JJ

    Read my mind (no, that’s right, I read yours). But I still see some pressure on stocks. The risk off sentiment seems to be building, and this years sell in may is shaping up to be bad. I’m getting in slowly, averaging on the way down.

  43. Brian says:

    44 –

    If you don’t mind me asking…
    Are you buying ETF’s, mutual funds, or Stocks?

  44. seif says:

    as posted the other day:
    Bergen County
    April 2011 – 669
    April 2012 – 813 (Up 21.5% YOY)

    I am definitely seeing a lot of homes go under contract in the areas that I follow (tenafly, closter, old tappan, etc). Some of them are snapped up in 10-20 DOM. Where they end up trading will be important to note. I feel that things could still go down or bounce along the bottom (if we are there yet) for a while, so….is this all just a head fake or what? Somebody reassure me that I should still be on the sidelines and in no hurry.

  45. gary says:

    seif [46],

    What’s the prices on these homes. What would comps look like compared to 2006?

  46. Juice Box says:

    re# 46- “Somebody reassure me that I should still be on the sidelines and in no hurry.”

    Seif – if you need to buy then go ahead and do so. If you don’t need to buy then don’t. It is still a buyers market. When it becomes a sellers market you will know.

  47. Simon says:

    Thanks Ruggles and NE

  48. Pete says:

    Seif,

    Do you commute in to nyc from up there? If so, how is it. Seems to be buses are the only option?

  49. seif says:

    I look at the whole range of $400K up to $2M for tracking the listing prices and closing prices although I would most likely end up in the $600K-$800K range somewhere. I would have to pull up some specific homes to see the 2006 comps.

    One home that was listed at $790K a few months back was purchased by owner in 2007 for $800K. It is under contract but won’t close until late July so we will see where it goes. Another that was bought in 2004 for $730K just went under contract a day ago. It was listed at $799K and closes end of June.

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  51. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [46] brian

    Stocks and eventually some etfs and MLPs. Mostly stocks though. At the last dip, I added, VZ, WM, and ED. All paying a high dividend and all up nicely. I try to follow Buffett’s rule of looking for businesses with moats, and then looking at dividends.

    More efficient to buy the stocks. If you like a particular fund, get the report and see what the biggest holdings are, then just buy them. You aren’t paying the management and 12b-1 fees, and you get preferential tax treatment.

    Have to turn to retirement funds now. No need to be concerned about tax efficiency here, so I may look at the dip in metals to add some ETFs to my IRA and SEP 401(k).

    Finally, heard about canadian closed end funds for gold (GTU, PHYS?) and there is a suggestion that they would be tax preferred. Have to look into this, but thought I would ask if anyone knows about these?

  52. Juice Box says:

    Facebook Inc. (FB)’s initial public offering has so far generated lower-than-expected demand from institutional investors who are concerned about the company’s growth prospects, people with knowledge of the matter said.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-10/facebook-ipo-said-to-meet-weaker-than-expected-investor-demand.html

    Anecdotal but about a dozen or so of my FB contacts no longer use FB.

  53. seif says:

    50 – I do commute to NYC. I drive in. I have not taken the bus but that is the only way from those non-train towns.

  54. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Moose 38 THX I was able to tract down, in touch setting up.

  55. Brian says:

    53 –
    Nom,
    Mutual funds are just easier for me. Plus I happen to get a deal where I don’t pay a load or the 12b-1 fees on the funds I’ve bought…I am able to get the advisor class shares.

    Since I really don’t have time to pour over a company’s balance sheet everytime I want to buy a stock, mutual funds work for me right now.

    I would like to dip into stocks at some point…maybe when the kids get a bit older. Right now when I get home from work, my wife hands me the baby and it’s total chaos in my house until bedtime.

  56. gary says:

    Dimon says the strategy was “Flawed complex poorly reviewed poorly executed and poorly monitored.”

    These were egregious mistakes, they were self-inflicted.”- Dimon

    Two questions: 1) How many heads will roll and 2) When do you get to lowball their houses?

  57. JJ says:

    Chase has a one trillion dollar balance sheet. Two Billion is more of a reputation and regulatory risk and it hurts their chance to fight volker rule.

  58. gary says:

    Brian,

    I have the “third” portion of an interview with a software firm over the weekend. I have to install components on two different servers given root ID and PW, install software locally, configure a few thousand things locally and om Windows and UNIX boxes, record it all, send screenshots and if successful, I’ll be in the running for a position. Any questions? I just read the email with the links and manual downloads. When do I start drinking?

  59. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Gary 60, no clue is that easy or hard for guys in your field?

  60. gary says:

    Mikeinwaiting [61],

    It depends on the level of configuration and installation that is required. It can be as easily as clicking on a download and hitting “complete” to having to install dozens of components and then configuring them. This one is going to push my limits because the guy interviewing me is a rock star of epic proportion. I’m an intermediate guy, not someone who’s going to develop the next operating system.

  61. Anon E. Moose says:

    Gary [60];

    Interview? That sounds like a contract job in itself. Are they just trolling the candidate pool for free labor?

  62. Libtard in the City says:

    This is an interesting chart (wonky warning, bet Nom will love it).

    Who gains most from tax breaks?

    http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/business/0415web-leonhardt2-popup.png

  63. freedy says:

    Consumer confidence is up . That’s all you need to know . Hurry to your open houses this weekend and get your offers in .

    These kinds of bargins can’t last .

  64. Juice Box says:

    re #59 – JJ only 2 Billion? They still have that position on. 2 Billion can turn into 8 Billion if the housing market keeps dropping. This was synthetic junk they marked down. It will be worse.

  65. Brian says:

    My boss here always complains its a huge pita to fire somebody even if they’re totally incompetent. It’s a pita dealing with HR and they always sue. Plus, some of the people he manages work and support sites all of the country and in Canada. The onsite support techs get like stockholm syndrome and the business side folks fall in love with them because the techs go to the execs houses and do tech work on the side for them in their houses.

    There’s one guy that works here that’s a decent desktop tech but a total tool when it comes to everthing else. he couldn’t even load a backup tape in a drive. Everytime we have to send a router, or a server or any appliance, even run wiring, it’s a huge deal for him and he takes forever. But he does tons of extra work for the execs on their personal equipment after work so they love him. The execs in that site would fight for him like crazy if anyone ever tried to fire him.

    Maybe they’re just trying to make absolutely sure they have the right guy because they have no time for screwups.

    I wish you the best bro. i hope you get it.

    oh and just because you’re working doesn’t mean you can’t be drinking too.

    60.gary says:
    May 11, 2012 at 11:38 am
    Brian,

    I have the “third” portion of an interview with a software firm over the weekend. I have to install components on two different servers given root ID and PW, install software locally, configure a few thousand things locally and om Windows and UNIX boxes, record it all, send screenshots and if successful, I’ll be in the running for a position. Any questions? I just read the email with the links and manual downloads. When do I start drinking?

  66. gary says:

    Moose [63],

    I hate to say it but in this economy, the competition for the miniscule permanent jobs is so fierce, anything a potential employer asks for, you either comply or move on. My whole weekend will be me sweating this one out just for the opportunity to beg for a job. This is the way it is now.

  67. JJ says:

    I had a C level meeting this morning. Equities will be violitile from here till election and taxes are resolved. Then flat in 2013 and 2014 and then 2015 we start a bull market. Dollar cost into slow and steady. All is good.

    JPMorgan bet had nothing to do on housing, it was bad CDS bets on corporate bonds, betting too much down when instead it went up. A whale knew JPM was overleverged short and went overleveraed long and JPM got squeezed. Same ole same old.

    Comrade Nom Deplume says:
    May 11, 2012 at 9:37 am
    [33] JJ

    Read my mind (no, that’s right, I read yours). But I still see some pressure on stocks. The risk off sentiment seems to be building, and this years sell in may is shaping up to be bad. I’m getting in slowly, averaging on the way down.

  68. gary says:

    Brian [67],

    Maybe they’re just trying to make absolutely sure they have the right guy because they have no time for screwups.

    You hit the nail on the head!

  69. Libtard in the City says:

    Juice (Facebook):

    I’m in agreement here. The IPO itself is scary due to the required holding period. I’m guessing she still flies at the open. The question is, where will she be 6 months from now. I think FB hit its AOL moment about six months ago. Zynga, isn’t exactly lighting it up since their IPO. Facebook should have gone public way earlier, but they wouldn’t have had much earnings to show for it unfortunately. Outside of a day trade in the hype of the first couple of days after the start of public trading, I would stay away from this bad boy. Huge market cap and little earnings with no record of consistent earnings growth is not my cup of tea. Neither are equities with P/Es over 40. Then again, I’m paid to change the pucks in the urinal.

  70. xmonger says:

    #69, same old…yes, only question is how much more to go?

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/jpm-staring-another-3-billion-loss

  71. 30 year realtor says:

    self #46 – You are not missing anything by not getting in now! During bubble times pricing a house for sale involved finding the most recent comps and projecting upward. Today pricing a home involves projecting downward from recent comps. Not as far down as a few years ago, but still down.

    Real estate moves slowly. When the market begins to change you will be fully aware, if you live that long.

  72. JJ says:

    I agree, but I still think with a high A rated bond rating Chase has extremely little default risk. Today is you feel stock is still head lower but default is off the table I did see some pref Bear stk and Bear Bonds for sale at a good price in panic. 6% A rated bonds paying triple the treasury rate is a rarity and means there is a panic. The Bear bonds today are a good bet for those looking for A rated investment bonds yielding over 6% a real rarity. Justs takes a little balls.

    xmonger says:
    May 11, 2012 at 12:26 pm
    #69, same old…yes, only question is how much more to go?

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/jpm-staring-another-3-billion-loss

  73. JJ says:

    Old saying in stocks, if you bought at the bottom you bought too soon. You take on huge risk guessing a bottom, better to wait till you see a turnaround of at least 5-10% before jumping back in.

    30 year realtor says:
    May 11, 2012 at 12:32 pm
    self #46 – You are not missing anything by not getting in now! During bubble times pricing a house for sale involved finding the most recent comps and projecting upward. Today pricing a home involves projecting downward from recent comps. Not as far down as a few years ago, but still down.

    Real estate moves slowly. When the market begins to change you will be fully aware, if you live that long.

  74. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [64] lib,

    I LOVE IT!

  75. Libtard in the City says:

    Knew you would.

  76. Anon E. Moose says:

    JJ [75];

    Old saying in stocks, if you bought at the bottom you bought too soon.

    Buffet said he got rich by moving too soon instead of too late.

  77. Dissident HEHEHE says:

    Nom,

    Submitted without comment

    Facebook Co-Founder Saverin Gives Up U.S. Citizenship Before IPO

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-11/facebook-co-founder-saverin-gives-up-u-s-citizenship-before-ipo.html

  78. veets (8)-

    Seller cannot deny you a reasonable inspection.

  79. JJ says:

    Buffet is an idiot, he has not beaten the S&P index in years.
    Anon E. Moose says:
    May 11, 2012 at 12:55 pm
    JJ [75];

    Old saying in stocks, if you bought at the bottom you bought too soon.

    Buffet said he got rich by moving too soon instead of too

  80. Libtard in the City says:

    I agree with you JJ. He made his name with insurance. Since then, nada. At best, he does OK only because his bankroll allows him to negotiate that terms that only you and I could dream of obtaining.

  81. JJ says:

    If I was the seller I would say of course you can punch a hole in my wall and have your guy dig his finger in and look for stuff. But as a Buyer I want to be protected that you will be alive by closing. I would say to buyer, drop trou and let me shove something up your butt and look for stuff. Sounds fair.

    New Improved Meat says:
    May 11, 2012 at 1:01 pm
    veets (8)-

    Seller cannot deny you a reasonable inspection.

  82. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [80] HEHEHE,

    This is too weird. I was reading about him this past weekend and had searched for his name on the expat reports.

    Depending on how he valued his interest, the USG may go after him for additional tax.

    Also, this will draw scrutiny, and may spur legislation. If that happens, don’t be standing in front of a US embassy.

  83. gary says:

    Today pricing a home involves projecting downward from recent comps.

    Dear Sellers,

    Any questions?

  84. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [85] redux,

    I see that he showed up on the first quarter expat report. Wonder why it didn’t show up in my search? Strange.

  85. JJ says:

    JPM’s bonds have traded lower since the news broke late Thursday afternoon. Its 4.5% notes due 2022 have been the most actively traded note in the investment-grade market, trading 12 basis points (0.12 percentage point) wider on Thursday before recouping 3 of those basis points Friday to trade at a spread of 187 basis points over Treasuries, according to online bond trading platform MarketAxess. Other JPM issues are also trading wider, while JPM 5-year credit default swaps were roughly 20 basis points wider as well.

    “Even though the size of the loss is modest compared to the bank’s balance sheet size, the headline surrounding a potential chink in JPMorgan’s armor caused the bank’s credit spreads to widen 10 – 15 basis points from yesterday’s close; yet, we view management’s transparency as somewhat favorable for bondholders,” writes Jody Lurie of Janney Montgomery Scott on Friday. “Additionally, JPMorgan used its disclosure as means to reinforce the ways in which a robust capital cushion affords the ability to bear such losses: the company’s Basel III Tier 1 common ratio dropped 20 basis points to 8.2%, but is still well above 2013 requirements. At the same time, the bank’s aggressive strategy towards shareholder rewards will result in less of a cushion in future years.”

  86. seif says:

    73 – 30 yr, thanks for your input.

  87. Libtard in the City says:

    seif,

    For what it’s worth, I agree. Housing ain’t taking off anytime soon.

  88. chicagofinance says:

    Nom: what do you prefer for a Roth? An MLP or a high growth stock? I have both based on client prerference. Some of my book that are HENRY’s are all bent out of shape about targeting the 1% tax a view a Roth similar to having the opportunity to act like a tax-esemopt charity. So for them, they focus on maximizing taxable cash flow using the tax shield of the roth…..I am agnostic on the use….

    Comrade Nom Deplume says:
    May 11, 2012 at 10:28 am
    [46] brian Stocks and eventually some etfs and MLPs. Mostly stocks though. At the last dip, I added, VZ, WM, and ED. All paying a high dividend and all up nicely. I try to follow Buffett’s rule of looking for businesses with moats, and then looking at dividends.

  89. chicagofinance says:

    targeting the 1% tax, AND view a Roth similar to having the opportunity to act like a tax-EXEMPT charity…”

    sheesh..

  90. JJ says:

    Chifi since you are agnostic does that mean you cant manage a rabbi trust?

  91. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Brian you out there, possible GTG at Krogh’s in Sparta Sat night. Kettle and I going over
    can you sneak out for an hour or two. Naturally all welcome.

  92. 3B says:

    #94 Mike: how is Ket doing, and why doesn’t he come around these parts any more?

  93. Mikeinwaiting says:

    3b 95 Can’t say for sure we keep in touch (go out every couple of months), busy with twins ,work etc. Think it was getting a little played out for him truth be told.

  94. Mikeinwaiting says:

    3b Parkway or 208 to 287 to 80 west then 15 north about 10 miles, feel like taking a ride.

  95. young buck says:

    Got this email and thought of you, Gary…

    Hello,

    I’m with BCI and was curious if you or someone from your network might be interested in this opportunity:

    Title: IT – Data Administrator/ Trade Operations Support (0818-003-711)
    Location: Anchorage, Alaska
    Compensation: Commensurate with experience

    Summary:
    Midsized investment management firm seeks an IT professional to join their firm in a role covering Trade Operations Support and Data Administration functions. On the Trade Operations Support side, this individual will be a critical member of the IT team with responsibility for the operations for all of the trade related systems such as Moxy/APX Portfolio/FIX/Omgeo CTM/and SWIFT. Order Management responsibilities would also include their compliance tool (currently Advent Rules) which is the automated process for trading compliance/portfolio monitoring. The Data Administration function supports all financial market data sources and ensures efficient integration of data into investment management/analysis systems. Position will implement/coordinate control processes regarding data with Operations Risk Manager/Manager of Information Technology.

    Responsibilities:
    Serve as Program Manager for key Trade Operations initiatives (upgrade of OMS/PIMS systems)
    Apply traditional Program Management approaches to all changes within trading/operations environment, including planning/documentation of changes to configuration/updates
    Confer with business leaders in trading/operations to support/maintain day-to-day systems administration and trouble resolution of all key business systems
    Pro-actively monitor systems and respond to failures�during and outside of normal business hours
    Recommend changes to improve systems/network configurations and consult with IT to determine hardware/software requirements related to such changes
    Source/aggregate/validate data (including data integration tools) from vendors such as Bloomberg/IBES/Compustat/Worldscope/Barra/Russell/MSCI/etc.
    Integrate data into investment management/analysis systems such as the Portfolio Accounting/Order Management/Quantitative Research systems while ensuring data integrity/consistency
    Manage data vendor relationships to maximize value/minimize cost
    Take pro-active approach to continuous improvement in the daily processes/procedures
    Identify potential areas where existing data policies/procedures required change or where new ones need to be developed

    Requirements:
    2+ years of relevant experience required
    Bachelor�s degree or equivalent vocational qualification required
    Project/Program Management experience to organize/prioritize tasks and assemble resources required
    Prior experience in the securities industry and knowledge of trading/trade operations is preferred
    Experience with OMS/PIMS/FIX/Omgeo�s CTM/SWIFT or similar systems/protocols is preferred
    Experience with VB, SSIS, SAS, SQL Server, SQL Language and programming skills preferred
    Bloomberg experience a plus
    Strong Microsoft Office products required
    Ability to work in a fast paced, deadline driven environment
    Strong/effective communication skills and capacity to deal directly with custodians/brokers and across all levels of staff/management
    Highly developed organizational skills and strong problem solving skills required
    Ability to prioritize and complete time sensitive tasks quickly and within the market framework
    Strong initiative to follow up on outstanding issues

    If you are interested in this opening, please email us a copy of your resume as an MS Word attachment.

    Thank you,

    Emily Andrews
    BCI – Financial Services Recruiting
    10 S. Wacker Dr., Suite 1250
    Chicago, IL 60606
    312-460-8111 x1106
    Emily@brokerageconsultants.com
    http://www.brokerageconsultants.com

  96. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Buck did I read that right Alaska? Yea that is going to go over well with Gary’s wife.

  97. Bystander says:

    #98,

    Gary,

    You also need juggling and archery skills while speaking Thai…all at the same time.

  98. Bystander says:

    Speaking of archery..still one of my favorite Monty Python bits

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLhE72bAYU0

  99. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Bystander yes they must have overlooked that, slackers. LOL good one.

  100. Today’s Mike Krieger:

    “I have to hand it to the Central Planners. They are good. Really, really good. Of course, they are battling a crippled opponent considering so much of America consists of lobotomized sheeple, but nevertheless to be able to steal so much from many people with such blatant and simplistic methods and not be widely discovered is an act of devious brilliance. The reason I say this now is because ever since last fall TPTB have changed tactics and totally taken over the markets and with it shoved many people into what is best described as a trance. The people know something is very wrong. They know they are getting poorer; that life is getting harder, yet the television and the markets have cloaked a blanket of sedation upon their minds.

    Ever since roughly early October 2011 the markets have been fed line after line of carefully crafted bureaucratic garbage couple with tactical market interventions to create reality that they wish to sell. I remember back to those last months of 2011; what it was like. It was pure madness. There would be a crisis and then TPTB would come out with some meeting in the next week or two that would solve everything. Then the date would come and go and nothing would be solved and they would move the meeting to the following week. Meeting after meeting that would be “decisive” and “bold” and would save us poor ignorant peasants from the ravages of the mean world by thrusting us into the parental arms of those who know best. Big government and big financial institutions. They are your new overlords, get used to it. Subliminally that has been and continues to be the message that these guys are trying to hammer into your head. It’s the Stockholm Syndrome. You are being programmed to love your abuser.”

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/mike-krieger-six-months-left%E2%80%A6-can-they-do-it

  101. Anon E. Moose says:

    Bystander [100];

    In many government hiring situations a job has to be put out to open competition; even though they already know who they want to fill it. So they write a job description with the inside track candidate’s resue in front of them, then post the openeing and are shocked, SHOCKED, when no one fits the re

  102. Anon E. Moose says:

    Con’t [104];

    As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted…

    In many government hiring situations a job has to be put out to open competition; even though they already know who they want to fill it. So they write a job description with the inside track candidate’s resue in front of them, then post the openeing and are shocked, SHOCKED, when no one fits the requirements as well as this one candidate.

    Then you get a headhunder (whom I hold is comparable esteem as used house sales flacks) who trolls the want ads, forwards the listing, and wants $30k for their trouble if they place you (because so few opportunities pan out; hint — that’s becuase you suck at a cr@ppy job).

  103. JJ says:

    Yo putting on my “beats” hooking up my 4gLTE skyrocket and getting some tall boys for ride home. Just chillin, come Monday back to RE and trading. A Playa has to play.

  104. Bystander says:

    Moose,

    Sounds about right. I like that they are looking for IT program manager/network support analyst/systems developer all in one. The kicker- 2 years experience. In other words, we want million dollar skills and pay slave wages. Typical..but hey the job market is improving.

  105. chicagofinance says:

    JJ says:
    May 11, 2012 at 2:41 pm
    Chifi since you are agnostic does that mean you cant manage a rabbi trust?

    Speaking of which…..
    By SOPHIA HOLLANDER

    A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews have rented out Citi Field for a meeting later this month intended to draw thousands of men to discuss the dangers of the Internet and formulate a communitywide response.

    The event, set for May 20, has been publicized internationally within the Orthodox Jewish press and tapped into a world-wide debate over how to reconcile modern life with the Internet’s perceived moral dangers.

    It is a concern that transcends the Orthodox community, organizers note.

    “We’re hoping to come together as a unified community to address a challenge that in the last number of years has begun dawning not just on our community and the larger Jewish community but society as a whole,” said Eytan Kobre, 52 years old, a spokesman for the event who is also the North American editor for an Orthodox magazine, Mispacha.

    “Hopefully we’ll fill the role that the Jewish people have tried to fill from time memorial, which is serving as a beacon to the world and as a force for the transformation of the good in society,” he said, adding that the event has already had sold out the 42,000-seat stadium.

    But the meeting, which some published reports have estimated will cost nearly $2 million, has drawn a series of sharp attacks—for its men-only policy, for instance, and for its cost, criticized as extravagant at a time when many families are struggling.

    The Hasidic rabbis wanted women to attend, but “logistics did not permit for it,” said Mr. Kobre, noting that in this community “a religious gathering of this nature is gender-separated.”

    A live video-feed will be streamed to six locations around the metropolitan area for women to watch, he said.

    Other critics say the event is a smokescreen for religious leaders seeking to consolidate control over their congregations by limiting access to outside information.

    A counterprotest—dubbed “The Internet Is Not the Problem” and expected to draw hundreds—is scheduled for across the street from the stadium event. It accuses Jewish leadership of scapegoating the Internet while avoiding a more pressing problem: child abuse.

    “You can spend all the time and money protesting the Internet and you can’t get worked up about child molestation?” said Ari Mandel, who said he left the ultra-Orthodox community about six years ago, joined the Army and recently returned to civilian life.

    Mr. Mandel, 29 years old, organized the counterprotest after learning last week that a young family member had been molested. “We were outraged,” he said. He is mobilizing supporters through a website and Facebook page for the protest.

    Organizers said they were disappointed to learn of the counterprotest.

    “Whether it’s a legitimate issue or not, and I’m willing to posit that it is a legitimate issue, are they really going to make progress on it by holding a counterrally?” Mr. Kobre said. “It seems like a cheap political circus. It’s sad. It’s unfortunate.”

    Organizers stressed that the intent of the Citi Field event wasn’t to ban the Internet but to promote its responsible use. Speakers will be recommending that all Orthodox families install filters on their computers, and block out all social-media sites including Facebook and Twitter, said Mr. Kobre.

    He cited recent reports in mainstream newspapers and magazines depicting families of all faiths grappling with the issue, particularly how to speak to children about Internet p0rnography. “I expect that any member of society in good standing would be pained by that sort of thing,” he said.

    Still, he acknowledged that Orthodox standards could well exceed secular ones: He included People Magazine as an example of a website for recommended filtering.

    The event at Citi Field isn’t the first time the ultra-Orthodox community has grappled with the Internet.

    Earlier attempts by Orthodox religious leaders to ban the Internet in congregants’ households have largely failed, many said. But efforts to restrict it continue, including contracts at some religious schools requiring parents to promise that their children won’t be allowed Internet access, under threat of expulsion.

    Accusations have surfaced that some schools are requiring male students and their fathers to purchase the $10 tickets and attend the Citi Field event.

    “That’s kind of coercive,” said Dr. Michael Salamon, an Orthodox psychologist on Long Island. “What we’re getting is a lot of arm-twisting.”

    Akiva Marks, a 47-year-old software designer who moved to Israel from New Jersey several years ago, said he considers himself ultra-Orthodox and wasn’t unaware of the dangers posed by certain websites. He recalled helping his 8-year-old daughter with a research project on the presidency and typed in whitehouse.com instead of ‘.gov.’

    “I quickly shut down the browser,” he said.

    But several years later when he was required to sign a school contract stating that his daughter would have no access to the Internet, “she thought it was ridiculous,” he said.

    He praised the goal of the conference but questioned whether it would be successful. “I think that it’s become more and more indispensable to most peoples’ daily lives,” said

    “The community needs to be educated and understand the things to avoid,” he said. “But I think that those who are organizing it don’t bring the right skills to do that and by trying to solve the problem without the right skills they’ll alienate those who need a solution.”

    He noted that as a result of medical advances in recent years, the most respected Jewish scholars can live to be up to 90 years old. “We benefit greatly from maintaining their wisdom among us that much longer,” he said. “But it’s a little harder for them to analyze Internet issues.”

    “I think the fears are legitimate, absolutely,” he said. “I just think the approach is wrong.”

    Mr. Kobre said that the organizers are technically savvy, though he did not know who would be speaking at the event.

    Even accepting the meeting at face value, Dr. Salamon said he questioned whether blocking out content was the best solution.

    “You don’t deal with it by talking about pure filtering—you deal with it by teaching about how to deal with what may pop up, even with the best filters,” he said.

    “P0rnography has always been out there; marital problems have always been out there,” he continued. “They are not necessarily made worse by technology.”

    Some rabbis said they were initially skeptical of the event, but have become convinced of the organizers’ good intentions.

    “My position on it has evolved a lot,” said Rabbi Eliyahu Fink, 30, who leads a congregation in Venice Beach, Calif., and runs a popular religious blog. Initially he worried that the Citi Field event would reprise earlier efforts to ban the Internet. But after speaking with organizers he became convinced that they were determined to teach people how to use the technology responsibly.

    “I’m hopeful that this event will somehow make the Internet kosher for those who have always felt it’s prohibited,” said Mr. Fink.

  106. chicagofinance says:

    Deciphering a Financial Aid Award
    Apr 16, 2012 7:00 AM, By Lynn O’Shaughnessy

    Financial aid letters are often confusing and misleading. You can help your clients if you know show them how to read between the lines.

    During the college admission process, most teenagers and their parents devote the vast majority of their psychic energy to getting into schools.

    It�s understandably a relief when teenagers finally receive their college acceptance letters. This, however, is no time to relax. Families need to focus on deciphering financial aid letters or they could end up spending tens of thousands of dollars too much for a bachelor�s degree.

    Unfortunately, financial aid awards are often confusing. As strange as this will sound, when you look at a typical award letter, you may not know if a university is offering a great package or serving up a turkey.

    Here is my cynical explanation for why financial aid letters are often so unhelpful: If parents understood what was in a school�s award, they might conclude that the college is too expensive and cross it off their list.

    Financial Aid Award Examples

    I’m going to share with you some examples of award letters that crossed my desk recently that can help your clients learn how to evaluate them. First, however, I want to pass along the basic figures that should be included, and often aren’t, in any award.

    Here are the five pieces of information that any financial aid letter should contain:

    1. Full cost of attendance. This should be broken down into such expenses as tuition and fees, room and board, textbooks and travel.

    2. Grants and scholarships. This is free money and obviously what everybody wants to see in an aid package.

    3. Net price. This is the dollar amount that you�ll be obligated to pay after grants and scholarships are deducted.

    4. Loans. The award should contain the types of loans and their interest rates.

    5. Parents’ and student�s expected family contribution. An expected family contribution or EFC is what a family is supposed to be able to afford to pay for one year of college. That figure is automatically generated when a family completes a financial aid application. The student will have an EFC and so will the parents.

    Parents should compare the family’s combined EFC with the college’s proposed price. Unless parents go through this exercise they won�t be able to determine if an award is generous. Let’s assume, for instance, that a $50,000 school provides a student with a $22,000 grant. If the family�s EFC was $28,000, this would be a generous award. Based on the family�s EFC, the school would be meeting the full financial aid need of a student:

    $22,000 (grant) + $28,000 (EFC) = $50,000.

    The $22,000 grant would not be adequate if the student came from a family with a lower EFC. Let’s assume the family’s EFC is $10,000. In that scenario there would be a financial aid gap between what a school is offering in aid and what the parents can afford. Here is how it breaks down:

    $22,000 (grant) + $10,000 (EFC) = $32,000. In this case, the family’s unmet need would be $18,000.

    Misleading award letters

    I’m using an award letter from George Washington University to illustrate some of the hazards that families can encounter when evaluating offers.

    The GWU aid letter that I saw appeared, at first glance, like a large award. The aid amount was $46,100, but the letter was lacking enough information to know if this offer was worth celebrating. For starters, the letter didn�t include the school’s cost of attendance. That�s a huge omission. The school currently costs $58,690.

    The award also didn�t include what the family’s EFC was. In this case, I happened to know that the family�s EFC was quite modest: $4,100. With that low of an EFC, this family probably made around $50,000 a year. Ideally, the family would have only had to pay $4,100, but their cost would have far exceeded that.

    The family actually received $34,000 in grants. So the family would have had to borrow close to $25,000 a year, which in my opinion would have been financial suicide. The family probably would not have realized how poor the aid package was because the school did not identify the federal Stafford Loan in the package as a loan.

    There are other ways to mask an award�s real bottom line. For example, I recently saw an award letter that Fordham University sent to a transfer student that didn�t include the room and board costs. Obviously, the costs of living in New York City would be tremendous.

    Another trick is to stuff aid packages with loans that make it appear to reduce the cost of the school. I’ve seen plenty of packages that include the federal Parent PLUS Loan to reduce the family’s cost even though parents can routinely qualify for the federal PLUS loan regardless of whether it’s in a financial aid letter or not. And the loan, with a 7.9% interest rate and a 4% fee based on the loan amount, is hardly going to cut the cost of colleges.

    There is some good news for families getting bamboozled by misleading award letters. The new federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (admittedly not a favorite of the financial industry ) has been developing a model financial aid disclosure form that clearly states what the college expenses would be for a family, as well as what the costs of borrowing would be. The bureau has released a draft of what it is calling a financial aid shopping sheet and intends to publish a final version, which I hope will be this year.

  107. JJ says:

    Financial Aid thing. Why is the word parent anywhere in that article. I filled out my college appliations, financial aid forms, picked my college and Mom drove me to train.

    Why should parents have anything to do with the college appliation, acceptance and payment process. Save your Bar Mitz money or sweet 16 money. You will need it in a few years.

  108. borat the dictator says:

    Jj are you going. To buy fb stock ?

  109. seif says:

    Gave my agent a list of 5 houses I wanted to look at this wknd. She just got back to me:

    “all but one already have contracts on them”

  110. zieba says:

    I swear, the smartest thing I’ve ever done was not rack up tens of thousands of dollars in school debt. It seems like a decade + ago one had to at least have the mental aptitude to find oneself in this unfortunate group (or esteemed, depending how you look at it). Now, there are plenty of places whose costs have risen to astronomical levels who will gladly take your check and give you a lukewarm degree in liberal arts for it. I speak with people who are 7-10 years my junior and they don’t even blink when disclosing how much they owe. It’s like they’ve become conditioned or desensitized or the numbers just don’t translate into real dollars in their head… or maybe everyone is planning to mass default a few years down the line? I dunno. I personally, would not be able to sleep at night. College loan burden, similar to New Jersey’s real estate tax burden, has become a badge of courage of sorts. One is for the children and the other is for….a good time? the parents? All I know is, neither group has much to show for it.

  111. zieba says:

    BTW,
    The food at the Inn at Phillips Mill was outstanding! The place is 200+ years old, right down to the glassware. It’s just a few miles north of New Hope and totally independent of the scene going on there. We were seated upstairs in the library nook, the whole place is dimly lit and just oozing ambiance. I had to fly to LA just hours later and even today when I called home we were reminiscing about the food. Nom, BYOB; no uncork fee.

  112. grim says:

    112 – I send out the same email every week.

  113. gary says:

    grim [116],

    Care to expand a little? :)

  114. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [117] gary – grim means that he advises his shoppers that out of the 5 houses they want to see, the only one not under contract is his listing. That way he earns a double without carting them around spending his gas money.

    I keeeed!

  115. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [113] shore,

    Not sure actually if I predicted it here, but a friend on FB pointed out that I had, so I went back and looked. I made the call on May 7th. Eerie.

    Not a hard prediction actually. The guy was not a native american, was living abroad and had no intention of returning. Then he is about to become a billionaire. I mean, wouldn’t you renounce?

  116. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [113] redux

    Now I know what someone will point out. The list was released on 4/30 and I made the “prediction” on 5/7. A fair point. In my defense, I will only say that I am lazy. Someone posted about Saverin and I made the comment that he was a good candidate for expatriation, and I should check to see if he had already. Ran a desultory search that didn’t hit (wasn’t going to scan all the back lists), and left it at that.

    Now here is a prediction: This is a pretty salacious nugget so if this doesn’t get reported widely in MSM, it means that the administration spiked the story. Remember when I pointed out that the administration likely spiked two list releases until after the mid-terms? This is not an issue that plays well for Obama because (a) it supports the GOP theme that Obama is driving the economy into the ground, and (b) they are afraid of triggering a run to the exits.

  117. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [115] zieba,

    Thanks for the tip.

  118. cobbler says:

    Saverin had a dual U.S. – Brazilian citizenship (naturalized here in 1998 methinks). He bought Singapore passport for himself last year, and renounced Brazilian citizenship right away. I don’t know whether he first filed to stop being the U.S. subject at the same time, or later. Actually, he’ll be hit by the exit tax, anyway – but will pay much less than 15% he would otherwise. NB: Singapore has zero cap gains tax.

  119. Fabius Maximus says:

    As I was bored last night I ran the numbers. Based on a tax base of 140million, each person in their bracket gets the following:

    0.1% $790,000
    next .99% $74,0000
    next 19% $15,000
    2nd 20% $4,500
    3rd 20% $4,000
    4th 20% $3,000
    5th 20% $999

    Numbers are approximate as the computer crashed before I could save.

  120. gluteus (123)-

    Not sure where you were going with that, but whatever anyone makes…the money is theirs, not the gubmint’s. And, in this country, the gubmint deserves no better than to be starved of our money, which they so routinely squander.

    BTW, are you ready to see your Gooners choke again today?

  121. Or, is it tomorrow? Either way, enjoy Europa League next year.

  122. Van Persie should really enjoy playing in a blinding snowstorm at some pierogi-ass place like Rubin Kazan next year. I think Stalin used to stage mass executions in that stadium.

  123. seif says:

    116 – Grim

    what do you attribute it to; what is your take on RE right now?

    there definitely has been/is pent-up demand. it is almost uncanny how many of the homes i watch have gone under contract in the last week alone; some that have only been on for about 2-3 weeks and even a few others that have been sitting for months have all gone under contract in the last week.

    i guess it must be some combo of right price, low rates, pent-up, etc. and although i find those things attractive as well i am not convinced that we won’t go lower – even if just slightly – or slide along the bottom here for a while.

    i am interested in your take Grim. thanks.

  124. It’s funny watching seif try to time the bottom.

  125. seif says:

    Better than buying at the top (which is where I sold)! Don’t hate the player Meat, hate the game. Just keep talking about stockpiling ur guns and ammo.

    I’m considering renting for the next decade as well. Offer something constructive and I will seek you opinion too.

  126. 3b says:

    seif: There are currently 72 houses for sale in Old Tappan, which is a lot of inventory for a small town. IMO if there was all this “pant” (pent) up demand, there would not be that much inventory, and we are more than half way through the traditional Spring selling season.

    Disclaimer: I am looking to buy, and I still think prices are going down.

  127. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [122] cobbler,

    There is some debate as to how much tax he will actually save. Further, expatriation moved up his tax burden, not usually a smart thing to do. But since he renounced last year, perhaps the valuation was considerably less, similar to a valuation freeze in estate planning.

  128. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    BTW, I said that the administration might spike this story. So far, it is only being run on the web. A few major outlet papers have it on their websites. MSNBC has a feed but it is from CNBC. But no NYT, WashPost, LATimes.

    Spike!

  129. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    Meat,

    You have mail.

  130. Fabius Maximus says:

    #124 Clot

    I’m not sure whare its going either as my closed mind is having truoble processing it. Maybe I need someone with a bigger and more impressive education to explain it to me.

    Rubin Kastan, is that where you hoisted the InterToto cup?

  131. Fabius Maximus says:

    Clot

    I have a new game to play. Its “how many barcode managers have there been since?”

    I’ll start with; how many cartoon managers since David Moyles joined Everton?

  132. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [123] fabius,

    Were those supposed to be median incomes?

  133. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [136] cobbler,

    thx. did not show in my google search. Must have been too far down.

    It’s the whale that surfaces that gets harpooned. Remains to be seen if this sighting launches the whaleboats.

  134. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    If there is a God, then tomorrow will see victories by Newcastle, West Brom and Fulham.

  135. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    Yardwork done. Kids with Mom all day. Time to sit out in the yard, play with the dog, and drink.

  136. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Nom a man with a plan! Just about 1/3 left on lawn (needed a break) and I will be on the Nom plan also.

  137. Libtard at home says:

    My Nom Plan begins at 6pm. Mowed the lawn too.

  138. Juice Box says:

    27 holes of golf and a nice sunburn and I am now ready to drink.

  139. Fabius Maximus says:

    I was busted trying to sneak Mrs Fabius’s Mothers day gift into the garage. She wanted a ride on mower for the yard, so I got to watch her ride around and cut the grass while I sat on the deck with a beer.

  140. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Fab that beats all.

  141. Shore Guy says:

    Fab,

    When she asks for a snow blower and a rototiller, you will have every guy in the neighborhood asking is she has a sister.

  142. seif says:

    3B – where can I see listings and under contract #s for each town?

  143. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers out there. You know who you are……….

  144. Mike says:

    Happy Mothers Day To All!

  145. scribe says:

    Juice, #54, re Facebook

    I think that, too, that FB is past its AOL moment. I think the stats show membership in the US is declining, but I can’t cite a specific source.

  146. cobbler says:

    The end is nigh (latest Krugman’s version):

    …and here’s what we think the end game looks like:

    1. Greek euro exit, very possibly next month.

    2. Huge withdrawals from Spanish and Italian banks, as depositors try to move their money to Germany.

    3a. Maybe, just possibly, de facto controls, with banks forbidden to transfer deposits out of country and limits on cash withdrawals.

    3b. Alternatively, or maybe in tandem, huge draws on ECB credit to keep the banks from collapsing.

    4a. Germany has a choice. Accept huge indirect public claims on Italy and Spain, plus a drastic revision of strategy — basically, to give Spain in particular any hope you need both guarantees on its debt to hold borrowing costs down and a higher eurozone inflation target to make relative price adjustment possible; or:

    4b. End of the euro.

    And we’re talking about months, not years, for this to play out.

    http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/eurodammerung-2/

  147. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [147] seif,

    You know that State can deny him entry into the country again, right? That’ll show him.

    If you want a laugh, go to the legislative history for HIPAA, where congressmen on both sides of the aisle decried renunciation. Sam Gibbons called it “despicable” for an american to renounce citizenship.

    Yet the left and right routinely tell people who don’t like their policies to GTFO. Saverin just took them up on it.

  148. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [147] seif,

    If you go to the end of Pando’s article, he rightly points out that the LTCG rate is 15%.

    Same as the exit tax.

    So Saverin paid 15% on the value 9/29/11, rather than 15% on the unknown value a year hence.

    Until that value is known, hard to call him a tax cheat as the author implies. And given what 15% of that value was on 9/29/11, he handed over a hefty sum of cash to the UST. If we assume his FB stake was worth $2 billion on 9/29, he wrote a check for $300 million dollars payable to Uncle Sam.

    Let’s say it again: Three Hundred Million Dollars. $300,000,000.00. In one check.

    That is in addition to other taxes owed, BTW.

    And yet the left claims he isn’t paying his “fair” share.

    Any wonder why he left?

  149. seif says:

    I didn’t call him a tax cheat…I called him a d*ck. He is within the law and doing what he is entitled to…just the same as (the tired old talking point about) “50% of Americans who don’t pay any income tax at all.”

  150. joyce says:

    seif,

    From that article, “You don’t get smart people without tax dollars.”

    wow just wow

  151. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Joyce 156, yes you buy them brains.

    Nom 154 let time do the heavy lifting.

  152. Fabius Maximus says:

    #146 Shore

    She has both. I’m running out of ideas.

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