Foreclosures tumble, Northeast struggles to clear

From National Mortgage Professional:

National Foreclosure Report Indicates Over 20 Percent Decrease, Year-Over-Year

CoreLogic released its July National Foreclosure Report, which provides data on completed U.S. foreclosures and foreclosure inventory. According to CoreLogic, for the month of July 2014, there were 45,000 completed foreclosures nationally, down from 57,000 in July 2013, a year-over-year decrease of 21.2 percent. On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures were down by 8.5 percent from the 49,000 reported in June 2014. As a basis of comparison, before the decline in the housing market in 2007, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month nationwide between 2000 and 2006.

Completed foreclosures are an indication of the total number of homes actually lost to foreclosure. Since the financial crisis began in September 2008, there have been approximately 5.1 million completed foreclosures across the country.

As of July 2014, approximately 640,000 homes in the United States were in some stage of foreclosure, known as the foreclosure inventory, compared to 976,000 in July 2013, a year-over-year decrease of 34.4 percent. The foreclosure inventory as of July 2014 made up 1.6 percent of all homes with a mortgage, compared to 2.4 percent in July 2013. The foreclosure inventory was down 3.3 percent from June 2014, representing 33 months of consecutive year-over-year declines.

“The stock of distressed debt continues to rapidly decline, especially in western states,” said Sam Khater, deputy chief economist at CoreLogic. “The number of seriously delinquent loans fell by more than 25 percent from the prior year in 10 states and seven of those states were in the west.”

“Based on current trends, the overall foreclosure inventory could trend down to as low as 500,000 homes by year-end which is very positive news for the housing market. The picture is considerably brighter in the non-judicial states which maintain consistently lower foreclosure stocks and, in general, lower levels of serious delinquency,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “In total, there are now 36 states with an inventory of foreclosed homes lower than the national rate of 1.7 percent.”

The five states with the highest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in July 2014 were: Florida (120,000), Michigan (44,000), Texas (38,000), California (32,000) and Georgia (31,000).These five states account for almost half of all completed foreclosures nationally.

The five states with the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were: New Jersey (5.7 percent), Florida (4.8 percent), New York (4.3 percent), Hawaii (3.0 percent) and Maine (2.7 percent).

This entry was posted in Foreclosures, Mortgages, National Real Estate. Bookmark the permalink.

117 Responses to Foreclosures tumble, Northeast struggles to clear

  1. Another day in hell.

  2. No bubble here…

    “While today even the pundits are aghast at the latest Snapchat valuation round, which according to the WSJ has Kleiner Perkins inject a laughable $20 million into the private-parts photography service, boosting its valuation to a whopping $10 billion in a clear windowdressing mark-up round, up from $800 million a year ago, even as the actual equity invested into the company is a paltry $160 million or under 2% of said valuation, the true indicator of just how bubbly the second coming of the dot com era has become comes courtesy of none other than Jessica Alb@’s, yes the actress, own startup: a company launched in 2012 and which makes “non-toxic” diapers (as opposed to toxic diapers?), called the Honest Co., has raised $70 million at a valuation just shy of $1 billion in preparation for an IPO.”

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-27/no-bubble-all-jessica-albas-diaper-delivery-startup-valued-1-billion-prepares-ipo

  3. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    It would seem that we are replacing our native wealthy, who are deserting this sinking ship, with Chinese wealthy.

    http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/27/news/economy/china-us-visa/index.html

    The Canadians concluded that this didn’t work out so well for them. Chinese PRs don’t seem to provide the benefit that they expected.

  4. anon (the good one) says:

    no. NRA won’t allow any legal action of any kind. bad publicity, increasing insurance costs, etc.
    there’s no business like the gun business

    Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:
    August 28, 2014 at 12:42 am
    And the only thing sicker would be the NY parents suing the instructor’s estate for negligent infliction of emotional distress.

    Sadly, I think it will happen.

  5. Toxic Crayons says:

    4. – They sued the event organizers in Mass after a similar incident sponsored by a former police chief.

  6. grim says:

    Plenty of parents put their kids in harms way every day. This isn’t a gun issue at all, it’s a stupid parent issue. Look, I’m all for preventing stupid people from breeding, but that won’t happen.

    Is this any different from letting your 11 year old out in to the ocean to play, during riptide?

    http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/body-girl-11-caught-rip-tide-found-n148901

    Putting your 9 year old on a high powered quad and sending him or her into the woods?

    http://www.nj.com/hunterdon-county-democrat/index.ssf/2014/07/police_identify_9-year-old_boy.html

    Letting a 9 year old race motorcross? Are you kidding?

    http://www.kare11.com/video/1575782441001/1/Boy-killed-in-dirt-bike-accident-identified

    Putting your 9 year old in a high powered racing go cart:

    http://www.nbc11news.com/11today/headlines/100725519.html

    Putting your 9 year old on a high powered jet ski:

    http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/officials-2-jet-skis-involved-deadly-crash-were-al/nYRTp/

    Let’s take a 9 year old on a motorcycle:

    http://www.wric.com/story/13301106/9-year-old-killed-in-orange-co-motorcycle-crash

    Worse, a 4 year old:

    http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Girl-4-Killed-in-Motorcycle-Crash-in-Rancho-Cucamonga-221415441.html

  7. 1987 Condo says:

    German 10 year: 0.89
    Spanish 10 year: 2.19
    US 10 year: 2.34

  8. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    I’ve come to realize that reading the comments of some here is good for my ego.

    So instead of biting on the inanity or snarling with derision and disgust over the stupidity I just read, I will instead revel in the fact that I can think clearly and critically, and generally know more than most folks.

  9. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [5] toxic

    I don’t doubt it. The PRM hates that anyway so judges there will let it go forward.

    The range will get sued and so will the estate because they are a necessary party. And the defendants will countersue the parents.

    Here’s something else I thought of: will NJ try to charge the parents with child endangerment? At a minimum, these parents can expect a visit from DCFF when they get home.

  10. anon (the good one) says:

    and by not typing you can keep your hands under the desk

    Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:
    August 28, 2014 at 7:56 am
    I’ve come to realize that reading the comments of some here is good for my ego.

    So instead of biting on the inanity or snarling with derision and disgust over the stupidity I just read, I will instead revel in the fact that I can think clearly and critically, and generally know more than most folks.

  11. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [10] HeWhoMustNotBeNamed

    Feeling better by the minute.

  12. jj says:

    Carry trade may push ten year yield down even more.

    1987 Condo says:
    August 28, 2014 at 7:54 am

    German 10 year: 0.89
    Spanish 10 year: 2.19
    US 10 year: 2.34

  13. Toxic Crayons says:

    6 – Stop giving lawmakers ideas. They’ll be fresh as a daisy back from vacation ready to do what they do best.

    Write stupid laws about things they do not understand that result in higher taxes and fining and imprisoning otherwise good people.

  14. 1987 Condo says:

    That Spanish yield is fascinating…and perhaps predictive…

  15. nwnj says:

    Joyce bait:
    OMAHA, Neb. — A crew member with the television show “Cops” was killed by police bullets outside a Wendy’s restaurant as police exchanged gunfire with an alleged robber Tuesday night.

    However, the Omaha police chief confirmed in a news conference on Wednesday that the robbery suspect, Cortez Washington, 32, was shooting only an air gun that shoots BB pellets, but looks like a real firearm.

    When asked if he thought 30 rounds was necessary, the chief said he had reviewed the video and talked to officers and believes the three police officers responded correctly.

    http://fox4kc.com/2014/08/27/member-of-cops-tv-show-crew-killed-while-filming-in-omaha/

  16. Arm the children. It’s the only way.

  17. Toxic Crayons says:

    Delta gas in Wharton charging $2.99/Gal for regular gas. Can’t remember last time it was below $3.

  18. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [21] toxic

    ” ignorant and arrogant New Yorker”

    Isn’t that redundant?

  19. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    S/b 12, not 21. Feeling lysdexic today.

  20. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [18] toxic

    Driving to Mass tomorrow. Looking forward to cheap gas in NJ

  21. grim says:

    Zephyr Rain Teachout? That’s a name? I do know another Zephyr, but had always thought that was a male name.

  22. grim says:

    Not to be confused with Zamfir, Master of the Pan Flute.

    Sounds like she is just trying to stir up all sorts of controversy to attach her name to, in an attempt to gain some notoriety.

  23. jj says:

    Hey I am going to attempt to buy a foreclosure at the Courthouse in Nassau County NY next week. I did a title search and liens and liens from everyone including IRS and NYS tax dept.

    Question do they come free of liens from a court ordered sale done at courthouse. I mean the liens add up to around double the home value. However the bank alone primary lien is around 250K less than a regular market sale.

    Nassau County asks 10% down at day of auction then you have 60 days to close. Also who gets folks out? What happens in those 60 days if place is wrecked. I mean on TV folks get out same day on home flipping shows. But Nassau County they sell the home and person stays. I drove by house serveral times and two high end cars in driveway, lawnservice, pool is open, he had garage door open once and look in perfect shape. Almost as if he is never planning on leaving.

    BTW this guy stopped paying his mortgage in 2007 and took 7 years for him to get to this day.

  24. grim says:

    No they come encumbered with liens.

    You get the folks out.

    If it is wrecked, it’s your problem. Hell, assume it’s probably wrecked right now. Concrete in every drain, and shit in every HVAC duct.

    Don’t assume it will make it to auction, just because it’s scheduled. If he was able to delay for 7 years, it’s likely he had been scheduled dozens of times.

    If you don’t know what you are doing, you are likely to get burned. If there is meat on the bone, everyone will know it, you won’t be the only bidder. That said, if you are the only bidder, consider that you missed something that everyone else didn’t.

    Don’t assume you’ll get a mortgage.

  25. nwnj says:

    Grim, any insight on REO? Do the banks(Wells Fargo) come down much from their asking or do they price them pretty aggressively? Does it make an offer more appealing to them to offer to take out a mortgage with them at the same time?

  26. grim says:

    26 – 30yr is your man, he lives and breathes it every day.

  27. Fast Eddie says:

    NEW YORK (AP) – Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were married Saturday in Correns, France, a spokesman for the couple says.

    Jolie and Pitt wed in a small chapel in a private ceremony attended by family and friends at Chateau Miraval. In advance of the nondenominational civil ceremony, Pitt and Jolie obtained a marriage license from a local California judge. The judge also conducted the ceremony in France.

    Was Jennifer the bridesmaid? :o

  28. joyce says:

    PF,

    “skipped out on” Did they incur a tax liability and not pay or are you saying that companies aren’t allowed to move ever?

    All taxes that you think a business pays will directly result in a combination of the following: higher prices to consumers (individuals), lower compensation to employees (individuals), less to shareholders (individuals). Not to mention the income taxes paid by the individuals in the latter two.

  29. Michael says:

    Oh shit, manning prime example. Forgot about that. Last season, manning was being discounted by the experts due to the neck injury and old age, look what happened. Pretty much anyone who got manning won the championship. Experts didn’t want him and he had the best year of his career. Now after a crazy season like that, every expert is sucking him off. I hope Harvin fits that package this year. The skill is there. He might be the most dynamic player in the league when the ball is in his hands. We will see what happens. If he gets injured, it really is nothing but bad luck. You can’t predict injuries. Bradford tore his acl again, but not because he is injury prone like the experts will say, but because of freak bad luck. That’s the bottom line. You can’t really predict injuries. It actually hurts you when you draft based on whether a player will get hurt. Just look at the skill, upside, and current situation when drafting players. Don’t worry about injuries.

  30. grim says:

    From the APP:

    Do you believe the economy is getting better?

    What recovery?

    Despite a record-setting stock market and stronger job growth, most Americans don’t think the economy has improved in the past year, according to a survey released Thursday by Rutgers University researchers.

    The grim assessment paints the picture of a stressed-out work force that is likely to spend money only cautiously, keeping a lid on economic growth, the authors said.

    “I was surprised to see people are even more negative than they were 18 months ago,” said Carl Van Horn, director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers.

  31. nwnj says:

    Okay, thanks.

    I watched a homepath REO sell over the winter and after initially pricing too high they then proceeded to methodically drop the ask over several weeks. Final list was almost 20% less than initial.

    They ended up selling for 1-2% below the final list so it makes me wonder if REO depts would rather let something sit and drop the price if they have to rather than taking an offer well below the current ask, even if the final price is the same.

  32. Michael says:

    Oops, sorry. Meant to post that to my fantasy league.

  33. 30 year realtor says:

    Had breakfast with my assigned Wells Fargo Home Mortgage representative today.

    Every Wells Fargo REO is different. Some are price at or below market and some are higher. This is not their plan, just impossible to hit every value on the mark. Market time should tell you a great deal about the accuracy of their pricing. If it isn’t in a multiple offer/highest and best by the 8th day on market, likely the price is a bit too high.

    Doesn’t matter who you finance through. Wells wants you to finance through them but that will not impact their decision making on the sale of the property.

  34. nwnj says:

    #34

    Good info, thanks!

    Have you seen situations where REO offers are accepted 5-10% below the ask? Only after being listed for an extended persiod?

    Also are all REOs “as is” or can concessions be added after the offer is accepted?

  35. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [26] ninja

    REO is another potential time bomb. Under bank regs, banks can hold REO for 5 years without approval, then must seek annual extensions of 1 year each for another 5 years. We are just starting to hit 5 years since the crisis started although in reality, that period doesn’t run until the bank takes the property, and because the banks have laid off FKs, that period has only really just started in earnest.

    IMHO, this rule is one of the reason that banks were NOT foreclosing aggressively. Now, there were other factors, including the really big one–loss recognition as the asset gets revaled from historical cost to market. However, I think this one played a role albeit a forced one in how banks approached FKs. Think of it as an inbound in basketball. The clock doesn’t start until the player touches the ball, so sometimes they will let it roll to preserve clock. Now, I am sure that the Obamunists came down hard on the banks not to foreclose en masse. One way to twist the thumbscrews on banks is to advise them through the regulators that extensions under the 5 year rule won’t be easily given. There are other ways that the regulators could have used existing regulation to discourage foreclosures, but that is one possible way.

    Had the banks gone ahead and were able to foreclose in normal parameters, then we would be entering a period in a couple of years in which the banks would be saddled with too much REO. Then they would have had to obtain large numbers of exemptions or start having fire sales. However, because foreclosures were attenuated and the shadow inventory has yet to make it into the pipeline, this will be drawn out over a much longer period.

    As it happened, I do not believe that the regulators needed to strong arm the banks on this issue. The banks were already looking at logistical issues with processing, and the fact that there was an uncertain market, making that MTM risk huge. It was far easier for them to let the market recover or not recover while the properties were not on their books. They already had the downside risk but this way they avoided regulatory risk, including MTM which is regulatory risk. That the Obama administration and the regulators would have likely come down hard on the banks for foreclosing by forcing them to dump inventory made their decision that much easier.

  36. 30 year realtor says:

    JJ – Sheriff sales in NJ are similar to NY. If it is a first purchase money mortgage being foreclosed it is likely that the sale will only be subject to municipal liens such as taxes, water and sewer. This is by function of recording priority. If the mortgage being foreclosed is a junior mortgage or a lien (in NJ this would be a law division foreclosure as opposed to a mortgage which is chancery division) then there is the potential for more liens and mortgages to be superior to the foreclosing mortgage/lien holder’s position. KNOW WHAT YOU ARE BIDDING ON!

    As far as the condition related issues Grim mentioned, the percentage of horror stories is surprisingly low. This doesn’t mean the house is likely to be in good condition or that the kitchen cabinets or furnace will be there, only that I have had few properties with cement in the toilets or other forms of sabotage.

    As far as the likelihood of the sale actually going off, about 10% of properties sell on the scheduled date.

  37. NJGator says:

    6 Grim – Yup…but the government will arrest you for letting your 9 kid play in a park while you work your minimum wage job. “Questionable” judgment is more likely to be criminalized if you are not a person of means.

    When I was 9, my parents left me alone in charge of my 3 and 1 year old siblings. When I was in K in Staten Island, I walked alone to and waited unsupervised for the school bus.

    http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/28/summertime-struggles-sc-mom-arrest-for-leaving-year-old-at-park-raises-child/

  38. 30 year realtor says:

    nwnj – 5% – 10% below initial ask is possible but remember they adjust their prices every 30 days. Likelihood depends upon accuracy of pricing and where you are in the price reduction cycle.

    What type of concessions are you talking about?

  39. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [28] Eddie

    Pitt and Jolie own a vineyard in Provence. The Château may be the same place but I don’t know. Will have to read about it in WS next time I am in the can ( no comments Clot–the wife ordered WS).

    FWIW, the head groundskeeper for the vineyard says that Pitt is a regular guy who joins in the work. He will join the crews and cut brush, dig, run machinery, whatever is required.

  40. nwnj says:

    #39

    Money for repairs to get the place move in ready.

  41. grim says:

    What guy doesn’t love to run a skid steer or fell some trees with a big chainsaw? That’s a universal truth.

  42. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [38] gator,

    “Questionable judgment” is starting to become political as well. Who remembers the NJ couple who lost their kids because they were white supremacists? And in NH, child services waited on a delivery and seized a newborn because the father, a serviceman, was a member of Oathkeepers.

    Seizing children and terminating parental rights aren’t considered “punitive” so they aren’t subject to the same procedural rights as criminal prosecutions. Almost no one knows or appreciates this. If you steal a package of blunts from a convenience store, you have the full panoply of constitutional protections, from arrest through sentencing, but if TPTB decide they don’t like your politics or lifestyle, they can come in without warrant or probable cause, seize your kids, and make you fight to get them back.

  43. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [42] grim,

    I heard that!

  44. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    This happens in special ed law quite a bit. I seem to recall a case in NJ not long ago.

    http://www.wrightslaw.com/law/caselaw/2013/case.6th.cir.504retaliation.original.pdf

  45. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [45] redux

    To wit:

    http://blog.foxspecialedlaw.com/2012/07/retaliation-against-parents-for-advocating-an-emerging-trend.html

    Still looking for the NJ case. It was pretty egregious I seem to recall. But have to leave soon for DC so if you don’t hear, I’m on the road.

  46. jj says:

    Then I am backing out. The guy has 400K in back IRS taxes and NYS taxes on top of like 150K mechanics liens from various contractors and a primary mortgage of 475k

    House is worth full market value if mint around tops 925K in a regular sale

    The tax liens worry me. House is mint as I drive by it all the time. It is on the way to my daughters school and my wife has to drop her off. So she sees it twice a day, so you see the lawn mowed, pool sparkling, etc.

  47. grim says:

    It is on the way to my daughters school and my wife has to drop her off. So she sees it twice a day, so you see the lawn mowed, pool sparkling, etc.

    Easy to stay on top of things like that when you don’t need to worry about paying the mortgage.

  48. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    This may be the case. I didn’t think it was but i can’t be sure. If it isn’t, it is at least illustrative of how school districts in NJ play hardball with parents who won’t go along quietly.

    http://aeon.co/magazine/society/how-apraxia-got-my-son-suspended-from-school/

  49. FKA 2010 Buyer says:

    REO Departments have some rather restrictive guidelines when it comes to selling their properties. They can only accept offers within a certain % of their initial asking price. You are correct in the methodical reduction of price, they will reduce a price if the property has not sold within in a certain time frame (say 45 days) at which point they will reduce the price. The next review will be somewhere in the 70-90 day range. What’s interesting is the reduction % also must go through their guideline process and may only be 5% each time which seems counterproductive in my opinion. Hopefully they will take into account the local market intel from the realtor that is listing the account.

  50. Fast Eddie says:

    Michael [33],

    Something we agree on? FF? Just football in general!

  51. 30 year realtor says:

    nwnj – I have tried to answer your question twice and my comments have evaporated. No moderation notice and no comment, just evaporated. Wonder if this will go through?

  52. 30 year realtor says:

    Another try…#39 – as is means just that! Your offer should account for condition. If you need money to repair, request a credit for closing costs or take a renovation loan. If you need details on renovation loans just ask and I will point you in the right direction. Only home inspection issue banks will address are oil tank leaks and termites.

  53. nwnj says:

    Thanks, I understand what as-is means but I was asking whether all REO is as-is.

  54. FKA 2010 Buyer says:

    As a buyer of a REO property be prepared to jump through a lot of hops that you normally wouldn’t have in a regular purchase. Specifically with Chase REO, my realtor worked with the listing realtor who in turn needed to get contract approvals from a 3rd party legal group working on behalf of Chase. I got the impression that the approval process went into a que at this 3rd party vendor because it would take close to a week before we got a response.

  55. FKA 2010 Buyer says:

    Agree with 30 Year Realtor

    From talking with my realtor, the property was initially listed at their price and there was a buyer who came in with their asking price but wanted to negotiate some terms but the property was sold “as is” so that stopped the deal. If the buyers came in with a lower price to account for whatever concessions they wanted, they may have been able to close the deal. The house sat vacant for 2.5 years while it was being sold and during that time they reduced the price by 10%. We came in about 5% less than the last listing price.

  56. jj says:

    Actually on my Primary I dont a pay property taxes or a mortgage. I just got around a 18 month tax credit from Sandy that offsets 18 months of property taxes. But when I pay property taxes again sometime in 2016 it will suck.

    Oddly I pay property taxes on secondary. So I pay school taxes in a school district where I send no kids to school and tenant has no kids and dont pay school taxes in school district I use. I love America.

    grim says:

    August 28, 2014 at 10:29 am

    It is on the way to my daughters school and my wife has to drop her off. So she sees it twice a day, so you see the lawn mowed, pool sparkling, etc.

    Easy to stay on top of things like that when you don’t need to worry about paying the mortgage.

  57. jj says:

    The yield on the 10-year note (10_YEAR), the benchmark U.S. Treasury note, fell to 2.3370% Thursday, from 2.3590% late Wednesday, while the 30-year bond(30_YEAR) dropped to around 3.0760%, from 3.1036% late Wednesday.

  58. Toxic Crayons says:

    59 – Newsflash: Southern California has been a desert for thousands of years.

    They need to start building desalinization plants now. The biggest concern is it’s effect on the farming industry and the food supply.

    http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_24993601/california-drought-past-dry-periods-have-lasted-more

  59. All Hype says:

    FKA (59):

    Also know that the population of California has doubled since 1980. They also have not increased the number of reserviors to accomodate the increased population. So the liberal moonbats that run Claiforina have no one to blame but themselves for this crisis. Perhaps they can make it up by constructing 2 high speed rail trains from LA to SF.

  60. grim says:

    Isn’t California’s drinking water imported from France and Fiji? Nobody in LA would be caught dead drinking water from the ground.

  61. Michael says:

    Are you ready for some football?!?! Lol

    Love fantasy football too. It really is sort of like playing the stock market. All about value. Don’t get overvalued players, and get undervalued players, sprinkled in with some luck from the fantasy gods. Lol

    Fast Eddie says:
    August 28, 2014 at 10:35 am
    Michael [33],

    Something we agree on? FF? Just football in general!

  62. grim says:

    From the NAR:

    Pending Home Sales Pick Up in July

    Pending home sales rebounded in July and have now risen in four of the last five months, according to the National Association of Realtors®. All major regions experienced healthy gains except for the Midwest, which saw a slight decline.

    The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, climbed 3.3 percent to 105.9 in July from 102.5 in June, but is still 2.1 percent below July 2013 (108.2). The index is at its highest level since August 2013 (107.1) and is above 100 – considered an average level of contract activity – for the third consecutive month.

    The PHSI in the Northeast jumped 6.2 percent to 89.2 in July, and is 8.3 percent above a year ago. In the Midwest the index marginally fell 0.4 percent to 104.6 in July, and is 6.4 percent below July 2013.

    Pending home sales in the South increased 4.2 percent to an index of 119.0 in July, and is now 1.0 percent below a year ago. The index in the West rose 4.0 percent in July to 99.5, but remains 6.0 percent below July 2013.

  63. grim says:

    Northeast the big winner last month, or the last to decline, depends on how you want to look at it.

  64. Michael says:

    The only place I would live in. The other locations carry way too much risk.

    grim says:
    August 28, 2014 at 11:52 am
    Northeast the big winner last month.

  65. jj says:

    Opening Day Jets will be at the game in my usual row one sideline field level seats!!

    I smell football and it is only thing that keeps me from getting mad summer is over.

  66. joyce says:

    Philadelphia Earns Millions By Seizing Cash And Homes From People Never Charged With A Crime
    http://www.forbes.com/sites/instituteforjustice/2014/08/26/philadelphia-civil-forfeiture-class-action-lawsuit/

  67. Fast Eddie says:

    JJ,

    Jets defense is tough. Their OL is solid and they got some really good running backs. I think they’re gonna be good this year. The Giants, on the other hand… (sigh).

  68. Michael says:

    Who is a trendy pick? You guys hate all my picks. I think stafford finishes no1, which is why I reached for him. No expert would tell you to take stafford at the third rd. I couldn’t risk waiting for him to come back. Which of my receivers besides cooks is trendy? My rbs aren’t really trendy picks either. I think gerhart is criminally undervalued. I got him 5th rd. I have two every down rbs, a top qb throwing to the best wr in football in the pass happiest offense in football. I already explained why I like my wrs and wouldn’t surprise me if Harvin finished top 5 when including kick return yards. I also have the no 2 passing option for manning as my te. Team is not very good? We will just have to wait and see who is right.

  69. Michael says:

    Jesus, I did it again. I was just using this site to write my post since the cbssportsline post box is terrible for trying to write posts. Won’t happen again, sorry guys.

  70. Michael says:

    Totally agree. Jets are going to surprise this year. They are actually looking pretty good. They actually have an offense!!!lol. Giants….not looking good at all.

    Fast Eddie says:
    August 28, 2014 at 12:15 pm
    JJ,

    Jets defense is tough. Their OL is solid and they got some really good running backs. I think they’re gonna be good this year. The Giants, on the other hand… (sigh).

  71. jj says:

    chifi while you are on line.

    Trying to do a project on how ETFs determine underlying prices in particular on ETFs,where underlying transactions dont trade often, are international, have FX or in some cases stuff lke Diamonds or Silver where prices are loosely set by the dealers itself.

    Take the case of Diamonds or even alluinum, the dealers set prices by entering sales prices into a system and prices end up in the ETF. maybe dealers could enter inflated prices or deflated prices that effect the price of the ETF, then they could short or long the ETF and make money. Also folks could buy an ETF where the price is too far from the underlying asset. Finally, ETFs even S&P have calculations that make up price. For instance SP 500 is not a straight divisor it is a formula and includes all sorts of things. Something goes wrong with formula prices may be wrong.

    Have you ever seen a white paper or something about ETF or ETP pricing I would be very interested.

  72. NJGator says:

    Nom 49 – Idiots that can’t follow the law….and then the taxpayers in town pay up the wazoo when parents smartly lawyer up.

    Montklair is still paying 60k in private school tuition per year (for the third year in a row) for our former tenant’s son…..because they “suspended” him due to a behavioral issue related to his disability and then told his parents that he would not be allowed back in school unless he was medicated. Former tenants are blissfully happy. Kid is in a school where there are 8 kids per teacher and he is taught to his own academic level…..not his school year and they’re not paying a dime. Tenant is never leaving Montklair because they’re not gonna get this deal anywhere else.

  73. anon (the good one) says:

    @BillMoyersHQ:
    A new climate change report with more bleak details for the future, writes @lighttweeting: http://t.co/9w0FApHlhM

    FKA 2010 Buyer says:
    August 28, 2014 at 11:08 am
    Nothing to see here. What is this global warming thing you speak of?

  74. daddyo says:

    ETF pricing methodology should be detailed in the prospectus for each product. I would be very surprised if the vast majority of ETF’s don’t use a third party pricing vendor nowadays, like Bloomberg or IDC. Maybe 10 years ago you could get away with Blackrock Pricing Group pricing a Blackrock ETF, but the way things have gone since 2008, I highly doubt it.

  75. jj says:

    The third party vendors outside of big etfs are small firms who do not provide a SSAE16 or have big four accounting firms. And many dont have a right to audit clause. So if you are dismeninating pricing based on their pricing feed it is hard to get confort it is correct.

    You can legaly protect yourself if pricing is wrong by alerting clients it is for informational purposes only. But you could have a lot of reputation risk if the vendor you picked or ETF itself, or providers of data give wrong info and your clients lose money

    daddyo says:

    August 28, 2014 at 12:59 pm

    ETF pricing methodology should be detailed in the prospectus for each product. I would be very surprised if the vast majority of ETF’s don’t use a third party pricing vendor nowadays, like Bloomberg or IDC. Maybe 10 years ago you could get away with Blackrock Pricing Group pricing a Blackrock ETF, but the way things have gone since 2008, I highly doubt it.

  76. daddyo says:

    I wouldn’t consider Bloomberg or IDC small firms….and they are pretty widely used as pricing sources, at least in my neck of the woods.

  77. Ragnar says:

    Same incorrect climate forecasts with more strongly worded warnings about what will happen if the world doesn’t believe them?
    Global warming forecasters make economic forecasters and investment bank risk forecasters look good by comparison.
    http://www.climatedepot.com/2013/10/09/forecasting-experts-expose-un-ipccs-climate-models-our-audit-of-the-procedures-used-to-create-the-ipcc-scenarios-found-that-they-violated-72-of-89-relevant-scientific-forecasting-principles/
    Kesten C. Green, University of South Australia, is the Director of forecastingprinciples.com. J. Scott Armstrong, University of Pennsylvania, is editor of the Principles of Forecasting: ‘The IPCC and its supporters promote these scenarios as if they were forecasts. Scenarios are not, however, the product of evidence-based forecasting procedures…Astonishingly, given the expensive policies proposed and implemented in the name of “climate change,” we are aware of only one published peer-reviewed scientific paper that claims to provide long-range climate forecasts. The paper is our own 2009 article in the International Journal of Forecasting…The findings strengthen our conclusions that there are no scientific forecasts of dangerous global warming. Without scientific forecasts, the alarm is false. Government programs, subsidies, taxes, and regulations put up as responses to the global warming alarm can only result in wasteful misallocations of valuable resources. Is it surprising that the government would respond to an alarm lacking scientific support? In our study of situations that are analogous to the current alarm over scenarios of global warming we identified 26 earlier movements based on scenarios of manmade disaster, including the global cooling alarm in the 1960s. None of them were based on scientific forecasts. Yet governments imposed costly policies in response to 23 of them. In no case did the forecast of major harm come true.’

  78. 1987 Condo says:

    #76…..”The actual melting would then take centuries,….” since we do not address issues that are literally impacting us today, let along 5-10 years out, I do not think it is realistic for action …especially where results are not certain, to be taken anytime in our lifetimes.

  79. jj says:

    No talking Bloomberg or IDC

    When you develop new or unique ETFs, bloomberg or IDC cant or wont do pricing so smaller frims such as Livevol, Structured Solutions or Solactive do the pricing and they may not have any where near the internal controls of Bloomberg or IDC

    daddyo says:

    I wouldn’t consider Bloomberg or IDC small firms….and they are pretty widely used as pricing sources, at least in my neck of the woods.

  80. FKA 2010 Buyer says:

    #71 Michael

    Who is a trendy pick? “You guys hate all my picks”

    Starting to see a trend and its not your friend….lol

  81. FKA 2010 Buyer says:

    They need to do something in Cali. I don’t care about who’s the blame but da%$ that’s mucked up.

  82. FKA 2010 Buyer says:

    On a side note….just finished watched the 2nd “Purge” movie and thought of you guys. Not sure its been but its a great movie

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yaoh3PqHG7I

  83. FKA 2010 Buyer says:

    The Fedex Stadium opened in 1997 and Dan Snyder wants a new on? Who’s money is going to pay for this? He should concentrate on having a winning season.

    http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/2014-08-27/redskins-stadium-daniel-snyder-fedex-field-rfk-stadium-super-bowl

  84. anon (the good one) says:

    “4. Dangerous sea level rise will very likely impact 70 percent of the world’s coastlines by the end of the century.
    The report finds that by 2100, the devastating effects of sea level rise—including flooding, infrastructure damage, and coastal erosion—will impact the vast majority of the world’s coastlines. That’s not good: Half the world’s population lives within 37 miles of the sea, and three-quarters of all large cities are located on the coast, according to the United Nations. The sea has already risen significantly: From 1901 to 2010, global mean sea level rose by 0.62 feet.”

    @MotherJones:
    5 Terrifying Facts From the Leaked UN Climate Report
    http://t.co/TKIBgWgRea

  85. 1987 Condo says:

    If it rose 6 inches in the next year it would be an issue..plus, there is no way to stop it, I doubt the Islamic State is going to play ball…let alone China, India, Africa, etc

  86. All Hype says:

    Anon (87):
    If you want to know why the seas are rising, look no further than land subsidence. Imagine the sinking of the land when all the aquifes are depleted in California.

    http://water.usgs.gov/edu/earthgwlandsubside.html

    Here is another website that throws cold water on the whole global warming scam. See what happens when one uses the actual data rather than twisted manipulation.

    http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/

  87. chicagofinance says:

    jj: Morningstar…..not necessarily the most cutting edge, and not focused on small indeces and commodities, but a starting point…..at lease you can hope it is unbiased, as opposed to something from a broker-dealer…..
    http://media.morningstar.com/uk/MEDIA/Research_Paper/Morningstar_Report_Measuring_Tracking_Efficiency_in_ETFs_February_2013.pdf

  88. chicagofinance says:

    jj: this bled through to the public internet, that means that there is a better and newer version behind the firewall……aren’t you BAC? ….is there ML stuff to be poached?
    http://www.morganstanley.com/institutional/research/pdf/Tracking_Error2009.pdf

  89. joyce says:

    A coroner’s report obtained exclusively by NBC News directly contradicts the police version of how a 22-year-old man died in the back seat of a Louisiana police cruiser earlier this year — but still says the man, whose hands were cuffed behind his back, shot himself (in the chest).

    http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/handcuffed-black-youth-shot-himself-death-says-coroner-n185016

    The trajectory of the bullet places the gun in front of Mr. White, off to the right side. Despite the implausible scenario (and the suspect was searched twice for weapons), the coroner still generously accepted that the police department’s claim that the death was a suicide.

    The decedent’s hands were never tested for gunpowder residue, nor were the hands of any of the men who were holding him in their custody.

  90. daddyo says:

    I found my favorite MLS listing of all time –

    MLS #3116059

  91. joyce says:

    Forgot to mention, police officially lying in their earlier statements/documents and I won’t hold for breath for prosecution of that (among the other more egregious)

    “[Victor White III] was taken into custody, handcuffed behind his back, and transported to the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office for processing. Once at the Sheriff’s Office, White became uncooperative and refused to exit the deputy’s patrol vehicle. As the deputy requested assistance from other deputies, White produced a handgun and fired one round striking himself in the back.”

  92. chicagofinance says:

    jj: may not have the detail you want, but it gives a framework for research…
    http://spdru.com/etfed/lessons/list/how-to-evaluate-etfs

  93. anon (the good one) says:

    @MotherJones:
    One day our grandchildren will look back and wonder why we didn’t fix climate change while we still could http://t.co/TKIBgWgRea

    @datsupahero:
    @MotherJones No they won’t. They’ll have all the internet archives, they’ll know exactly why we didn’t change it.

  94. Pete says:

    “Here is another website that throws cold water on the whole global warming scam. See what happens when one uses the actual data rather than twisted manipulation.

    http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/

    Here is a post to throw cold water on that site. It is a textbook defintion of data manipulation. The first post I looked at re: forest fire acreage burned the author selectively chooses a time period which fits his conclusion. Anyone with a minute of Excel time at their disposal could see the longer term trend when looking further back. So the author is either purposely being deceptive or is incompetent. But you ate it up.

  95. Punch My Ticket says:

    Comrade [3]: … our native wealthy, who are deserting this sinking ship …

    No problem. We’ll just make it more expensive to flee the jurisdiction.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/08/28/u-s-hikes-fee-to-renounce-citizenship-by-422/

  96. All Hype says:

    But you ate it up.

    Nice try, the warmistas liked to manipulate the data by cooling temps prior to 1980. Seems the good volunters who were working hard to capture the temperatures were just not good enough for Al Gore and is minions of global warming. Nice to get lots of gubbmint money to be on the right side. Those who disagree get virtually no gubbmint money.

  97. jj says:

    The dead beat just delayed foreclosure one more time. No court date,oh well but I had more questions than answers anyhow.

  98. Statler Waldorf says:

    Dear leader states he “doesn’t have a strategy” to deal with the “JV team”:

    http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/obama-sending-kerry-middle-east-craft-strategy-counter/story?id=25164105

    President Obama admitted today that his administration does not have a strategy in combating the militant Islamic group ISIS that has grabbed large chunks of Iraq and Syria.

    “We don’t have a strategy yet … Some of the news reports suggests that folks are getting a little further ahead of where we’re at than we currently are,” he said.

  99. Statler Waldorf says:

    One day our grandchildren will learn to read books, where they will learn that for the last 4.5 Billion years “climate constant” has never existed on Earth.

    “One day our grandchildren will look back and wonder why we didn’t fix climate change while we still could”

  100. grim says:

    Go to China, fight climate change there, we’ve already fought for it and won. Leave us alone. Our square foot of this cesspool is spit shined and squeaky clean, go worry about the rest.

  101. anon (the good one) says:

    @NewsBreaker:
    Police officials in Missouri sued for $40 million by protesters in Ferguson – @ReutersUS

  102. grim says:

    Since the police in Ferguson are paid for by the residents of Ferguson, they are just suing themselves. Who do they expect to pay? It’ll come out of their pockets and lawyers will walk away rich as princes.

    That’ll show em.. err.. us.

  103. Anon E. Moose says:

    Grim [105];

    Since the police in Ferguson are paid for by the residents of Ferguson, they are just suing themselves. Who do they expect to pay? It’ll come out of their pockets and lawyers will walk away rich as princes.

    The Ferguson police are paid for by the taxpayers of Ferguson. Homeowners, yes. Also business owners (you know, the people who had their stores looted) and landlords, even if they are not residents. Don’t pay any taxes? No problem! Cash a lottery ticket and move out of Dodge.

    Agree on the lawyers cashing in. I’m sure there’s a Sharpton/Jackson endorsed network of civil rights attorneys all teed up.

  104. Anon E. Moose says:

    Re [87];

    Does that mean you’ll be moving away to higher ground to save yourself? Where can I send my farewell gift?

  105. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [98] punch

    I do believe I predicted that.

    Anyway, for the truly wealthy, it’s a speed bump.

  106. NJT says:

    jj (100)

    “The dead beat just delayed foreclosure one more time. No court date, oh well but I had more questions than answers anyhow.”

    And he”ll probaly delay it again.

    Your questions will never be answered (at lest to your satisfaction) in that game.

    IMHO most RE auctions in NJ are just shows sorta like the ublic ads. corps. put out for positions – Often they already have an internal candidate they’re going to go with.

    Also, again, if you’re not ‘handy’ (and I mean able to do almost anything, not just minor stuff) you should stay away from the unknown with housing. For example: As much as I and an ‘uber inspector’ examined my new place before buying there are some things we didn’t see/find that someone without extensive renovation/remediation experiance, time and a few ‘connections’ would be paying thousands to get fixed.

    Place was/is a bargain for me, would have been a nightmare for those barely able to turn a screwdriver working a 9-5+ gig with a long commute.

    *Note – I know a local farmer (5th generation) that has a part-time job putting up public auction signs on houses (he makes the signs in additon to putting them up and taking them down). Asked him why he doesn’t get in on some deals. Told me “Forget it”. That’s what I thought.

  107. chicagofinance says:

    Germany has sentenced its entire manufacturing sector to death……I would bet on us……thank you idiots……

    grim says:
    August 28, 2014 at 5:22 pm
    Go to China, fight climate change there, we’ve already fought for it and won. Leave us alone. Our square foot of this cesspool is spit shined and squeaky clean, go worry about the rest.

    BUSINESS
    Germany’s Expensive Gamble on Renewable Energy
    Companies Worry Cost of Plan to Trim Nuclear, Fossil Fuels Will Undermine Competitiveness

    By MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG CONNECT

    WILSTER, Germany—In a sandy marsh on the outskirts of this medieval hamlet, Germany’s next autobahn will soon take shape.

    The Stromautobahn, as locals call it, won’t carry Audis and BMW’s BMW.XE -1.11% , but high-voltage electricity over hundreds of miles of aluminum and steel cables stretching from the North Sea to Germany’s industrial corridor in the south.

    The project is the linchpin of Germany’s Energiewende, or energy revolution, a mammoth, trillion-euro plan to wean the country off nuclear and fossil fuels by midcentury and the top domestic priority of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

    But many companies, economists and even Germany’s neighbors worry that the enormous cost to replace a currently working system will undermine the country’s industrial base and weigh on the entire European economy. Germany’s second-quarter GDP decline of 0.6%, reported earlier this month, put a damper on overall euro-zone growth, leaving it flat for the quarter.

    Average electricity prices for companies have jumped 60% over the past five years because of costs passed along as part of government subsidies of renewable energy producers. Prices are now more than double those in the U.S.

    “German industry is going to gradually lose its competitiveness if this course isn’t reversed soon,” said Kurt Bock, chief executive of BASF SE, BAS.XE -1.50% the world’s largest chemical maker.

    The European Union has set a series of binding renewable energy targets for all of its members. The goals, in which about 35% of Europe’s electricity is projected to come from renewable sources by 2020, are considered ambitious by international standards. But Germany’s “lonely revolution,” as some call it, goes much further. By 2025, Germany aims to produce 40%-45% of its electricity from renewable sources, rising to at least 80% by 2050. Most countries in the EU are holding to the lower target for now and are continuing to use nuclear energy.

    Ms. Merkel, who ordered Germany’s accelerated exit from nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster in 2011, has declared the Energiewende both a major contribution in the battle against global warming and a historic step toward ending the world’s reliance on nuclear power.

    “No country of Germany’s scale has pursued such a radical shift in its energy supply,” Ms. Merkel said in a speech earlier this year. “I’m convinced that if any country can successfully implement the Energiewende, it’s Germany.”

    One government estimate projects the Energiewende by 2040 to cost up to €1 trillion, or about $1.4 trillion, or almost half Germany’s GDP and nearly as much as the country spent on the reunification of East and West Germany.

    Despite the weak second quarter, Germany’s economy—Europe’s largest—is still benefiting from strong demand for German machinery and autos in China and elsewhere, which helped Germany weather the Continent’s debt crisis with little damage. This year, the economy is expected to expand by about 1.5%, solid growth by European standards.

    Yet nearly 75% of Germany’s small- and medium-size industrial businesses say rising energy costs are a major risk, according to a recent survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Federation of German Industry.

    A similar percentage of the U.S. companies operating in Germany said the Energiewende had made the country a less attractive place for business, according to a separate poll by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. And for the first time since 2008, German companies cited rising overall costs at home as a motivation to invest abroad in a recent survey by the German Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

    “Germany’s current path of increasingly high-cost energy will make the country less competitive in the world economy, penalize Germany in terms of jobs and industrial investment, and impose a significant cost on the overall economy and household income,” warned Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of research firm IHS. IHS -0.29%

    The German government says it is committed to limiting the negative impact on the broader economy. Once Germany’s renewable infrastructure is complete, electricity prices should fall, the government has said.

    The government also argues that by establishing German industry as the leader in green technology, the Energiewende will give German business another lucrative export. Ms. Merkel has pointed to eventual technological advances in solar and wind power generation, grid management systems and power storage technologies.

    BASF, which consumes as much electricity every year at its main German plant as the entire country of Denmark, said in May it would substantially reduce its investments in Germany as a result of the country’s energy policy. It said its plan for the next five years is to cut investment in Germany to one-fourth the €20 billion global total investment, from one-third currently, and that it would invest in Asia and the U.S. instead. BASF has more than 50,000 employees in Germany, about half the company’s total workforce.

    SGL Carbon, SGL.XE -2.40% a maker of carbon-based products, in May decided to invest an additional $200 million to its plant in Washington state on top of $100 million previously invested instead of investing in its home base of Germany. The company, which makes carbon fibers used to lighten the body of BMW’s new electric car at the Washington facility, said electricity at the site costs less than one-third German rates.

    Basi Schöberl GmbH, an industrial gases company based in southwestern Germany, shelved plans this year to expand production at home. Instead, it will invest more than €10 million to build out its French base near Strasbourg. An investment in Germany was too risky due to uncertainty over government policy and the effect the Energiewende will have on energy prices, said Chief Executive Ingo Nawrath. “We’re standing with our backs up against the wall,” he said.

    So far, the main beneficiaries of the Energiewende are investors in wind and solar installations. Private individuals and local community groups control about half of Germany’s onshore wind and solar energy markets. Institutional investors, including many insurance companies, own roughly half of the country’s solar energy and 40% of its onshore wind power generation. Germany has few hydropower resources.

    Rewiring the world’s fourth-largest economy hasn’t been easy. The undertaking, the biggest infrastructure project in Germany since World War II, has been plagued by cost overruns, regulatory disputes and questions of conservation. One issue: how to keep bats and endangered birds from flying into the rotors of thousands of wind turbines going up across the country.

    A more immediate concern is the soaring cost of energy.

    A worker constructs an electrical transmission tower near Lüssow, Germany, that will transmit power generated by offshore wind farms. Getty Images
    To encourage the expansion of green power production, the government guaranteed prices for electricity fed into the grid from renewable sources, such as wind turbines or solar panels. The price guarantees, which vary depending on when the system was installed and its generating capacity, are binding for 20 years.

    The government passes the subsidy cost on to consumers in a surcharge. While the flood of new energy sources has lowered market prices for electricity, consumer prices have actually increased as the surcharge has risen to make up the difference between the market and government-guaranteed prices. On the spot market, a kilowatt-hour of electricity costs 3.2 cents, half what it did in 2011. The average guaranteed price under the government’s price fixing regime is 17 cents. The renewable energy surcharge levied on German households and businesses has nearly tripled since 2010 and now accounts for about 18% of a German household’s electric bill. All told, the subsidies amount to about €24 billion a year, according to Germany’s economics ministry.

    Alarmed by the rising costs, Ms. Merkel’s government revised the law authorizing the green energy subsidies in June. With a combination of caps on the number of new solar and wind installations eligible for the subsidy and other measures, it hopes to forestall further surcharge increases.

    About 2,000 of Germany’s heavy industrial users—including BASF and SGL—are largely exempt from paying the surcharge until at least 2017, when the EU wants to scrutinize whether the exemption is an unfair trade support, among other issues.

    Berlin has vowed to fight any attempt by the EU to fundamentally change the subsidy program.

    The companies, which save about €5 billion annually because of the surcharge exemption, say the questions surrounding the program make it impossible to plan and say the higher energy costs are passed on to them from smaller suppliers and contractors who aren’t exempted.

    Nonexempt companies also complain of the disparity. “Whereas some sectors are exempt from the renewable-energy surcharge, high-tech companies have to bear an additional burden,” Infineon Technologies AG IFX.XE -0.83% Chief Executive Reinhard Ploss complained to investors earlier this year. Mr. Ploss said his company, Germany’s largest chip maker, would pay €25 million less in Austria for the power it uses in Germany this year.

    The incentives, introduced in 2000, have worked to increase renewable-energy production. Wind turbines now dot the horizon in almost every corner of the country. Farmers and suburbanites from Bavaria to Berlin have installed solar panels on their barns and homes to earn extra money from the government subsidy.

    But not all rollouts have been smooth. In the north, to protect Germany’s shoreline ecosystems and ocean views, the government ordered wind parks be built as far as 60 miles off the coast. Rough conditions in the North Sea, coupled with depths of more than 150 feet have hampered the projects and sent costs soaring.

    Last August, Germany’s biggest North Sea wind park went into operation, three years over schedule and with a price tag of about €3 billion, nearly double the projected cost. Called Bard 1, the farm’s 80 turbines can produce enough electricity to power Munich. But a fire in a transmission station in March and other problems forced it to shut down.

    Bard’s management says that it hopes to get the wind park up and running by September and that it has put together a task force to determine the cause of the technical problems.

    Overall, distributing the power has proved more complicated than producing it. Electricity generated from wind in Germany’s gusty northern reaches must be moved to the country’s energy hungry industry in the south.

    Germany doesn’t have a single north-south power transmission corridor. The country’s grid evolved over decades around local power plants that served their communities so there was no need to send power across long distances.

    The government wants to build and modernize more than 4,000 miles of high-voltage power lines, both offshore and through densely populated areas. So far, amid delays and indecision, only 220 miles of the expansion have been completed, meaning power can’t get to users.

    Günther Oettinger, Europe’s top energy official, compares Germany’s strategy to building a train station before the tracks have been laid. Germany has built “wind park after wind park after wind park” instead of focusing on how it will transmit the electricity to where it is needed, he said.

    Winning over local communities along the main grid corridors is the biggest hurdle toward construction.

    The Wilster Marsh is the on-ramp for the Stromautobahn, which translates as “electricity highway,” and would be a 500-mile-long north-south corridor. The region, a windswept landscape of dairy farms about 45 miles north of Hamburg on the Elbe River, is where the power from more than 1,000 off- and onshore wind farms will flow through a converter station and be shipped south.

    Though most locals here support the Energiewende, few want to see 230-foot transmission towers in their neighborhood.

    “Some people who were for this are now on their back foot saying, ‘but not in my backyard,’ ” said Matthias Block, the chief of Wilster’s department of building.

    At a recent meeting in Bad Brückenau, a resort town in northern Bavaria, officials of TenneT, the state-owned Dutch company building the transmission corridor, were greeted by hundreds of protesters carrying noisemakers and homemade signs saying “Stop the power-line madness” and other slogans. A score of similar citizen groups have sprouted along the Stromautobahn route.

    “The corridor they’re planning would destroy everything we’ve done to improve the environment in this region,” said Ingo Queck, a local organizer of a citizen action committee that wants to prevent construction of the line.

    Mr. Queck and the other groups worry power lines will destroy the landscape and make the region unattractive for tourism, and say radiation from the high-voltage lines could damage health. TenneT says the electromagnetic radiation from the lines would be well within accepted limits and say it has taken pains to ensure as little impact as possible to the environment by proposing a corridor along existing infrastructure, such as highways.

    Polls show strong support in Germany for the Energiewende. Germans’ embrace of renewable energy is rooted in their visceral opposition to nuclear power. The movement has been gathering strength since the 1960s, and popular and political opposition was intensified after a violent confrontation between police and 100,000 demonstrators against a new nuclear power plant in 1981 in the Wilster Marsh.

    With Germany’s nine remaining nuclear power plants set to be closed by 2022, a substantial delay in building the transmission corridor could force the country to revert to conventional energy sources.

    The nuclear exit has already triggered an increase in Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions over the past two years, because utilities have turned to cheap coal to replace the power capacity lost from the eight nuclear plants that have already been switched off.

    The government says the trend is temporary and that emissions will drop once more wind and solar farms go into operation.

    But critics say “grid instability,” or the unpredictable nature of renewable power, could force the continued use of coal plants.

    Because the technology is so new and no one has ever built a renewable-based infrastructure on this scale before, there is concern among industry about the reliability of the electricity supply—in precision manufacturing, a power loss for even a millisecond can throw a production line out of kilter. That presents a particular risk for companies such as Infineon and other tech hardware companies.

    Skeptics, meanwhile, say the program’s overall environmental impact will be limited if other big countries don’t follow suit. Germany accounts for just over 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

    In June the EU admonished Berlin to “keep the overall costs of transforming the energy system to a minimum” and said Germany needed to do more to coordinate its energy policy with neighboring countries, which worry about the stability of their own infrastructure.

    “Initially, there was this enthusiasm that Germany would be at the head of the parade,” said IHS’s Mr. Yergin, who has chronicled the global energy sector for decades. “But now the Germans look back and see there aren’t that many people behind them.”

  108. chicagofinance says:

    “Initially, there was this enthusiasm that Germany would be at the head of the parade,” said IHS’s Mr. Yergin, who has chronicled the global energy sector for decades. “But now the Germans look back and see there aren’t that many people behind them.”

  109. plume (36)-

    Ding, ding, ding…folks, we have a winner here! Plume, I been saying this for years (and there’s no way that this ends well):

    “REO is another potential time bomb. Under bank regs, banks can hold REO for 5 years without approval, then must seek annual extensions of 1 year each for another 5 years. We are just starting to hit 5 years since the crisis started although in reality, that period doesn’t run until the bank takes the property, and because the banks have laid off FKs, that period has only really just started in earnest.

    IMHO, this rule is one of the reason that banks were NOT foreclosing aggressively. Now, there were other factors, including the really big one–loss recognition as the asset gets revaled from historical cost to market. However, I think this one played a role albeit a forced one in how banks approached FKs. Think of it as an inbound in basketball. The clock doesn’t start until the player touches the ball, so sometimes they will let it roll to preserve clock. Now, I am sure that the Obamunists came down hard on the banks not to foreclose en masse. One way to twist the thumbscrews on banks is to advise them through the regulators that extensions under the 5 year rule won’t be easily given. There are other ways that the regulators could have used existing regulation to discourage foreclosures, but that is one possible way.

    Had the banks gone ahead and were able to foreclose in normal parameters, then we would be entering a period in a couple of years in which the banks would be saddled with too much REO. Then they would have had to obtain large numbers of exemptions or start having fire sales. However, because foreclosures were attenuated and the shadow inventory has yet to make it into the pipeline, this will be drawn out over a much longer period.”

  110. plume (40)-

    Wine Spectator is a lifestyle magazine for people who don’t really like wine.

    Purty pictures, though.

  111. WS is a great magazine if you like drinking overoaked $45 Cabernets every night.

  112. grim (42)-

    You haven’t lived until you saw down a tree with continuous fire from an M-16.

    “What guy doesn’t love to run a skid steer or fell some trees with a big chainsaw? That’s a universal truth.”

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