Why NJ is f*cked

From the Star Ledger:

N.J. is facing a $1.2B public-worker pension time bomb

In the waning days of his administration, Gov. Chris Christie left his successor Phil Murphy a parting gift, of sorts.

For years, New Jersey had assumed its public pension fund would make more money on its investments than it could realistically expect. So, Christie went ahead and changed it.

Without notice, the outgoing governor cut how much the pension system should expect to earn on investments from 7.65 percent to 7 percent a year.

Doesn’t seem like much, right?

But Christie’s sudden move — and Murphy’s reaction to it — set into motion a complex and controversial budget quagmire that will soon become a ticking $1.2 billion time bomb for New Jersey.

When it will explode: 2022 (the year after the next gubernatorial election).

At stake: Benefits to nearly 800,000 active and retired state and local workers.

A likely result: Your state taxes could go up.

And how the state will manage to pay the bill when it comes due remains to be seen.

The change was praised by the pension fund actuaries, who say expecting a 7 percent return on investments is closer to what other large funds can reasonably figure they’ll get over the long term.

But there’s an impact to all of this, which means the decision sent ripples through the pension system.

When you assume you’ll reap more from investments, it makes the pension funds look healthier than they really are, even if it isn’t realistic. When you expect less, the system looks less healthy.

That all figures into the calculations that determine how much money state and local governments will need to pay for benefits to nearly 800,000 active and retired workers. In short, expecting less in investments means governments would have to pay more to keep the pension system afloat.

Christie’s move would have cost local governments, which by law have to pay the full contribution recommended by actuaries, an additional $422.5 million in Murphy’s first year, according to an NJ Advance Media analysis.

This entry was posted in Economics, Politics, Property Taxes, Unrest. Bookmark the permalink.

85 Responses to Why NJ is f*cked

  1. dentss dunniga says:

    First

  2. grim says:

    See, the problem isn’t the sh!thole of a pension system, it’s that we’ve gone ahead and expected a more realistic rate of return. What the f*ck were they thinking? Set the rate of return to 15% and slash the contributions. Fixed it, see? It’s THAT easy.

  3. grim says:

    By the way, 9 months into the year, current rate of return of the NJ pension system is sitting around 6%.

    Nowhere near the adjusted 7.5%. Not even near Christie’s 7%.

  4. grim says:

    From the NY Post:

    Montclair is the only suburb true New Yorkers will even consider

    Some folks like to say that Montclair, the winsome New Jersey township 12 miles west of Manhattan, is the optimal spot for urbanites ready for more bang for their real estate buck.

    “I think it’s the only town in New Jersey that’s a real mix of urban and suburbs,” says local restaurateur and Food Network personality Meny Vaknin, 36, of “Chopped” fame, who recently opened grab-and-go café Luisa, his third Montclair-based eatery.

    Vaknin and his wife, Sarah Kanter, 37, left the Upper East Side for Montclair more than six years ago, shortly after opening his first eatery in the town of 40,000: tasty Mediterranean spot Mish Mish. Now Vaknin, Kanter and kids Mayaan, 7, and Leo, 4, are firmly rooted within Montclair’s charming streets, which display an alluring combo of vintage homes and small businesses.

    “Everyone here has done the same direction,” says Vaknin. “They came from New York, or they came from Brooklyn, and they want a quieter corner but still want to be close to the city, work in the city and keep ties to the city.”

  5. XRumerTest says:

    Hello. And Bye.

  6. Juice Box says:

    Raise the retirement age, problem solved. Right now for teacher it’s 25 years of pension membership service credit at age 55 or older or after 20 years of service credit at age 60 or older .

  7. Bystander says:

    ..and the benefit to stay in this area is…?? Pizza and bagels

  8. Libturd, seen crazy things done with ping pong balls. says:

    All pension reforms will apply only to new hires. Pura Vida coming so matters little to me. I guess the writer never saw Dorkus Malorkus’ article on how you don’t even need to fully fund the pensions.

  9. PensionBomber says:

    Conceptually, any number of changes that people have floated will improve the pension situation — raising retirement age, increasing employee contributions, etc… But ultimately, the only way to truly fix the situation is to make public employee unions illegal. As long as they are allowed to exist, there will be politicians who are willing to trade benefits for votes. So even if you get a politician who’s willing to make the right decision (such as Christie reducing the expected rate of return), it’ll eventually be undone by another who’s indebted to the unions (thanks Phil).

  10. Fast Eddie says:

    Montclair is the only suburb true New Yorkers will even consider

    It’s already happened where these other similar towns like Montclair are being inundated by the dreck from the outer NY boroughs. And they’re slowly filtering in to Northern Bergen from Rockland and Orange Counties as well. Maybe Montclair will hold it’s value with the snooty Upper Manhattan crowd but Upper Bergen will be sullied with the crowds from the north. Right now, it’s great around here… kids everywhere on bikes, like it was when I was young. When/If the writing is on the wall, I’m out… where I don’t know but I presently like this piece of Americana.

  11. Libturd, seen crazy things done with ping pong balls. says:

    Defense sector sell off. Hmmm.

  12. Libturd, wondering if the only real rally is the one by the Mets says:

    Inverse yield curve
    Poor jobs report
    Negative ISM (manufacturing)
    Now defense stock sell off even after most companies reports great quarters and increased projections
    10 year shot up in last couple of days amid talk of rate cut (what’s up with dat?)

  13. 30 year realtor says:

    Inundated by dreck? Where? Define dreck. Eddie, don’t hold back.

  14. Joe says:

    We need another politician like Christie to get elected to help cut their benefits. Whoever that next person is gets my vote.

  15. Joe says:

    Get ready to make up that 1.5% difference with higher taxes, Grim.

    The leeches in the public sector get a risk free 7.5% return that you have to guarantee.

  16. ExEssex says:

    i like Montclair and towns like it. Problem being they also border the ghetto. But as towns they are rare gems.

  17. leftwing says:

    “By the way, 9 months into the year, current rate of return of the NJ pension system is sitting around 6%.”

    And the easiest way to blow up an investment portfolio is reaching for excess return by going further out the risk curve. Not that the politicos know either concept, or even care they don’t.

  18. leftwing says:

    Lib, 30 broke and held above 2.09. Keep it there and we are heading up before down.

    S&P was flat yesterday.

    Yesterday though the 50 best performing YTD S&P100 stocks were down 1.5%. The 50 best performing stocks YTD S&P100 stocks were up 3.4%.

    Flat water, lots going on under the surface. Don’t fall out of the boat.

  19. leftwing says:

    Re: NYers….seems the number of NY plates has increased exponentially the last few months around my area and going down the Parkway. Maybe the latter is explained by more shore daytrippers especially with the rise of Brooklyn South off exit 98. Certainly seems like quite an influx though, much more than in any recent memory.

  20. leftwing says:

    “Yesterday though the 50 best performing YTD S&P100 stocks were down 1.5%. The 50 best performing stocks YTD S&P100 stocks were up 3.4%.”

    Fcuked that up royally….

    Point was supposed to be that in the flat market yesterday the top performing stocks YTD were down 1.5% and the worst performing were up 3.4%.

    And don’t forget bund yields rocketed up, even going microscopically positive for the first time in quite a while….

    Pay attention to the bond markets….usually first, mostly right. Proverbial canary.

  21. Fast Eddie says:

    Define dreck. Eddie

    Those whose culture and way of life tend to taint, tarnish and smudge the appealing landscape leading to diminished property values while dismissing traditional American ideals.

  22. Juice Box says:

    That Chef Meny Vaknin grew up in Israel and moved here when he was 22, he isn’t a “true” New Yorker and never will be now since he is living in Montclair, just another bridge and tunnel wannabe now. A little town like Montclair is small place of 40,000 people, you fit that many in a few blocks from NYC.

  23. Juice Box says:

    For Bergen county aka “New Netherland” the local Dutch thought the Italians and the Irish were the drecks moving to Bergen County from the tenements in NYC, but those new immigrants were paying top dollar to live in those tiny boxes that used to be quaint farms that supplied produce to NYC.

  24. Libturd, seen crazy things done with ping pong balls. says:

    Agree Juice.

    It’s all part of the, I’m not progressive if I don’t live among black people crowd. Meathead and Julia syndrome.

  25. Juice Box says:

    re: Defense Stocks down.

    Self professed Chicken Hawk is now out John Bolton so less need to drop bombs.

  26. Fast Eddie says:

    Meathead and Julia syndrome.

    Who’s Julia? Did you mean Gloria? And the progressive crowd migrates to the northern part Montclair, feeling good about themselves that they are a tolerant member of an integrated town while letting everyone know they live in Upper Montclair.

  27. Libturd, seen crazy things done with ping pong balls. says:

    Yes, Gloria and you are right about the segregation.

  28. Fast Eddie says:

    Why do we even still have a pension system in NJ? When does the 401K plan kick in to replace it?

  29. Nomad says:

    So Lib when you do make the move to CR, will you have an address in the states and will you remain a US citizen?

    Marketwatch had a piece the other day about a woman and two daughters who live in Panama. You ever get concerned about political instability?

  30. Nomad says:

    For those in bank IT roles,

    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-no-1-job-in-america-pays-108000-a-year-2019-05-03?mod=personal-finance

    Very first comment by reader at end of article:

    “I work at a bank with 18,000 employees. Since 2007, this bank has not hired many IT workers and hundreds American software developers got laid off. The tech campus is full of Cognizant employees from India. Most of them get paid $62,400/year with minimal benefits. And the few remaining software developers got abused all the time. And locally in Cleveland, in the banking industry, the most seniors software developers are a level or two lower than many financial and data analysts. The employees are the bank always complain about how the IT department fails to deliver. I wonder why. So, my message to my children is that if you are smart enough to be a software developer, you are better doing something else. My eldest is a freshman in college. Highly ranked in Math competitions in Ohio, with perfect SAT, ACT, and grades, he will not be a software developer. Don’t want him to get abused by corporation psychopaths.”

  31. Libturd, seen crazy things done with ping pong balls. says:

    Nomad.

    Got 4 years to go. Will wait for older son to get into college. How do you have political instability if you don’t even have a military. I asked a local about this when I was down there. His answer was, doesn’t matter if he’s a Mexican, Panamanian or American. Life doesn’t really change. He says, America wastes all their money on the military. Down here, the government thinks its better to feed people than fight wars. Realistically, Nicaragua is a giant turd with no resources and Panama is happy with the canal revenue. Most are pretty happy around there. Even Nicaragua is doing better than ever. Only real worry is drug runners. For the most part, you stay clear of them, they will stay clear of you. I felt ten times safer in Jaco than I do in Paterson. Jaco is there Las Vegas, with hookers and casin0s. I read a piece on that Panamanian family. Mother was a spanish teacher.

  32. Libturd, seen crazy things done with ping pong balls. says:

    As for address in states? Probably for a while, yes. Will get a small place in Vegas for the short run. Probably until I obtain citizenship. Would really like to open a Texas PIT BBQ place down there. I make a really mean brisket and the meat down there blows. They won’t know what hit ’em.

  33. Libturd, seen crazy things done with ping pong balls. says:

    TNX back to almost 1.70. That was fast.

  34. Byatander says:

    Sage advice, Nomad. Develop bull$hitting skills and three card monty hustle plays..mix with complete lack of human empathy and should be good for future corp life.

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  36. Ragnar Danneskjold says:

    Nomad, don’t blame “psychopaths”, blame competition. If someone was great at and passionate about programming, he/she can probably differentiate themselves and make good money at it, as long as they differentiate themselves from increasingly commoditized labor. But they have to be aware that they are in a global competition.
    Look at the odds of US-born baseball players making MLB over time. 50 years ago there was hardly any foreign talent playing. Now about 29% of major league rosters are foreign born. Even more is cricket. 100 years ago the world’s top cricket players were Englishmen. No more. Are you going to hire the guy who charges $120 to mow your yard or $50? You going to pay $65k for a Cadillac to protect the GM workers when you can get a better imported car for the same price?

    It’s a good topic to debate which careers are going to be most rewarding and most threatened in the future. Favorite threats to cite are automation and global labor competition. I’d also worry about healthcare due to looming anti-profit regulatory desires. Back in the late 80s, I remember the career books in the library pointed at engineering as high-paying careers. Especially electrical engineering. But I wasn’t good enough at math to go that way, fortunately. Seems like one of those careers with good initial pay but limited long term upside, and then eventually worry about getting replaced by younger/sharper/cheaper employees if you don’t become a manager.

  37. Grim says:

    Montclair is the most segregated town in NJ

  38. 1987 Condo says:

    “Montclair is the most segregated town in NJ”

    ..it also is impacted by “income inequality”–One of worst in NJ

    https://www.nj.com/data/2019/06/the-towns-in-nj-where-income-inequality-is-the-greatest.html

  39. Bystander says:

    Ragnar,

    While I agree in sentiment that people will have to embrace competition on new level, life is simply too expensive in US to have wages decreasing for highly skilled labor. With massive student debt and healthcare costs, you will have to pay up to have labor in US. You can’t simply keep going around the world for cheapest labor while reaping the rewards of US economic system. You will have to protect US worker via legislation at some point. I manage some people in Switzerland and have to do training on Swiss labor mgt. You should see the effort put into to ensure worker is not abused. It is over top, yes, but still it makes you feel like sh$t that US will not do a thing at federal level. We can’t even give a pregnant woman some paid time off. At some point, something has to give. You can’t have a free for all labor wise.

  40. leftwing says:

    “If someone was great at and passionate about programming, he/she can probably differentiate themselves and make good money…”

    This. That OH dad quoted in the comments that he would dissuade his son from a technology career is extremely shortsighted, bordering on parental malpractice.

    I still don’t know the entire IT industry well and its various sub-sectors to specifically comment but…

    I guess to make an analogy to a sector I do know…finance.

    Would I advise my (or anyone’s child) to become the commercial loan officer in a large Park Avenue branch of a major money center bank? Fcuk no. Would I advise them to go into the corporate finance side of IB on a tech banking team in the same organization? Yeah.

    Both are “in finance”. They’re in the same company. Both in their mid-30s. May even be in the same building.

    One is banging down $1.5m or better annually. The other is praying to god his low six figure job with contracting compensation doesn’t disappear.

    The most valuable inheritance one receives is the counsel and guidance from you as a parent as their most trusted adviser with only their interests at heart pulling on your decades of knowledge and experience. Every industry has dozens of sub-sectors variously expanding, contracting, or becoming obsolete. That OH dad is derelict in his advice.

  41. Bystander says:

    Funny left..all our IB tech staff was let go, outsourced while I still see loan officer who did my loan 5 years back.

  42. 1987 Condo says:

    “Funny left..all our IB tech staff was let go, outsourced while I still see loan officer who did my loan 5 years back.”

    …….client facing..revenue producing….

  43. Nomad says:

    Sounds like a career working at McD drive through isn’t long for this world either. Will anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetist’s be automated out of jobs?

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-10/mcdonald-s-buys-startup-to-add-automated-drive-thru-ordering?srnd=technology-vp

  44. Bystander says:

    Sure, 87. Just like talking about the few people who make it to majors. What about 100,000 who can’t obtain those roles? Should they be on sliding wage scale downwards.

  45. 1987 Condo says:

    By..nope, but unfortunately neither you nor I are in charge of global economics

    )Hey, when I got my actuarial degree in the 80’s…I thought, well, that is useless, we know have these P.C.s and Lotus (lol) spreadsheets that can do all this work in a minute, who is going to pay for an actuary, but somehow they still exist, but usually in Prod Dev roles vs crunching mortality tables, etc.)

  46. Bystander says:

    87,

    I guess the argument is whether anyone believes knowledge is proprietary. For instance, why can’t Indians get CPA..it is really just knowledge about how to treat data. If no, then which knowledge will we protect and which is allowed to continue to go to cheapest source available?

  47. leftwing says:

    “…….client facing..revenue producing….”

    ^^^This. Above all.

    Was comparing the tech banker to the run of the mill commercial banker in the branch. Not the tech department cost center to the client facing revenue center.

    Yes, the top of the client facing pyramid can be rarified in some industries. My point is more that one needs the right segment within an industry because when one is in the right pyramid both compensation and security are much better at all levels, not just the top.

  48. 1987 Condo says:

    IMHO, many of these outsourcing decisions are for the short term benefit (3-5 years) of senior management and do not take into consideration longer term cost/benefits, security, quality et al. Unfortunately, my beliefs, based on my observation working in an outsourcing field for over 20 years, are not necessarily actionable.

  49. ExEssex says:

    Ah great Bar B Que that is an interesting plan.
    Create a line of sauces. Stu’s Goo. Should sell out.

  50. Libturd, providing your daily dose of fukced up NJ regulations says:

    “Stu’s Goo”

    You just named my next adult film.

  51. JCer says:

    Bystander, the market is flooded with tech workers from who knows where. I can’t make sense of their resumes, their skills are suspect and their command of the English language is horrendous. We are paying $1200 a day for developers on contract and the candidates are still no good. The offshore body shops are cheap but they are not effective, it’s false economy. Eastern europe isn’t as bad but at 500-1000 per day for a dev resource who works fewer hours than someone on site it doesn’t save you anything.

  52. 30 year realtor says:

    Eddie,
    I specifically requested that you not hold back and you wrote; “Those whose culture and way of life tend to taint, tarnish and smudge the appealing landscape leading to diminished property values while dismissing traditional American ideals.” YOU HELD BACK! If you were a plain speaking guy like your hero Donald Trump, how would you say it? Are you embarrassed to say what you really mean? Perhaps you could make a list of specific types of cultures?

    Isn’t the financial bar high enough that buying in is sufficient proof that you belong? If you don’t feel this way please explain why these people are undeserving.

  53. chicagofinance says:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5SiLTPx9jM

    Juice Box says:
    September 10, 2019 at 12:04 pm
    For Bergen county aka “New Netherland” the local Dutch thought the Italians and the Irish were the drecks moving to Bergen County from the tenements in NYC, but those new immigrants were paying top dollar to live in those tiny boxes that used to be quaint farms that supplied produce to NYC.

  54. Grim says:

    “…….client facing..revenue producing….”

    We are currently developing an outsourcing product for these activities.

    We are doing this at scale already today, driven out of lower cost US markets and nearshore LATAM.

    We close more deals than our clients sales teams do. Even in situations where field reps are required, we provide all ancillary lifecycle services.

    Sorry.

  55. Bystander says:

    Hah, grim. You simultaneously entertain and scare the living sh#t out of people.

  56. Grim says:

    We will own acquisition, enablement, and customer success in the SaaS/Cloud products market.

  57. 3b says:

    It will be some time befire client facing revenue people are automated away when that happens it’s all over including real estate!

  58. 3b says:

    I grew up in the Bronx and so many people we met when we first moved to Bergen co thought we all lived in apartments by Yankee stadium. Ignorant feckers! And some nasty and provincial types too. Quite a few!

  59. chicagofinance says:

    Riverdale, Van Cortland, Woodlawn, City Island… etc.

    3b says:
    September 10, 2019 at 6:33 pm
    I grew up in the Bronx and so many people we met when we first moved to Bergen co thought we all lived in apartments by Yankee stadium. Ignorant feckers! And some nasty and provincial types too. Quite a few!

  60. leftwing says:

    “We close more deals than our clients sales teams do. Even in situations where field reps are required, we provide all ancillary lifecycle services.”

    Need to get further up the pyramids in right industry, sector, firm, and role.

    Kinda like Sam and his team. No algo or outsource is going to replace them, and they can write their own ticket literally anywhere if they ever so chose.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/24/goldman-sachs-has-led-top-3-tech-deals-of-2019-headed-by-sam-britton.html

    To my earlier point, that commercial loan officer in the Park Avenue branch is dead man walking, revenue facing notwithstanding. I could have written an excel macro that would replace him, ten years ago.

  61. The Great Pumpkin says:

    On a very busy road, and just sold.

    Tell me again how my house can only get 650k.

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/430-Black-Oak-Ridge-Rd-Wayne-NJ-07470/64501710_zpid/

  62. ExEssex says:

    7:33 show yours let’s compare.
    Do you have a home theater or a pool?

  63. ExEssex says:

    5:39 no one wants to smell curry or chimichangas all night loooooomg. all niiiiight…..

  64. The Great Pumpkin says:

    This doesn’t make sense to me.

    If you get rid of all the jobs, what are the people going to do? Your company is definitely contributing to the race to the bottom in the name of short term savings that evaporate in the long run.

    Just think about how much money companies waste paying your company to do them a short term magic trick on the books. That’s all this is. No different than a short term accounting trick to boost the bottom line on the numbers. Fu!king idiots in charge of these companies, I swear!

    Grim says:
    September 10, 2019 at 6:05 pm
    “…….client facing..revenue producing….”

    We are currently developing an outsourcing product for these activities.

    We are doing this at scale already today, driven out of lower cost US markets and nearshore LATAM.

    We close more deals than our clients sales teams do. Even in situations where field reps are required, we provide all ancillary lifecycle services.

    Sorry.

  65. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I thought people claimed that pools were a liability in price?

    I don’t have a home theater, but I have a sick English styled bar. Backdrop is wood from floor to ceiling. Custom built.

    ExEssex says:
    September 10, 2019 at 7:35 pm
    7:33 show yours let’s compare.
    Do you have a home theater or a pool?

  66. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Just think about it…

    How much does it cost to transfer your manufacturing from one country to another. Now it looks great at first, saving a ton of money. Justifying the costs for the moment. What happens then, your competition automatically does the same thing, but now they lower the cost of the product to unseen levels. Your savings absolutely evaporated into thin air. Now, right back where you started, except your operation is now in a foreign country. Your fellow citizens are now out of work. Was it worth it?

    Why couldn’t you fix your bottom line on smart ideas and changes in your product, but instead you took the low hanging fruit because you didn’t give a f!ck about people or the company in the long term.

  67. ExEssex says:

    7:50 nooooice. Sounds great .
    Currently have a pool, it’s big and pleasant and a money suck, but we can swim year round . I wouldn’t want one in Jersey.

  68. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Just think about it…

    How much does it cost to transfer your manufacturing from one country to another. Now it looks great at first, saving a ton of money. Justifying the costs for the moment. What happens then, your competition automatically does the same thing, but now they lower the cost of the product to unseen levels. Your savings absolutely evaporated into thin air. Now, right back where you started, except your operation is now in a foreign country. Your fellow citizens are now out of work. Was it worth it?

    Why couldn’t you fix your bottom line on smart ideas and changes in your product, but instead you took the low hanging fruit because you didn’t give a f!ck about people or the company in the long term.

    Because if you don’t do it, some dude in China will steal your industry from right under you anyway.

  69. grim says:

    Can’t wait for the Chinese to overthrow their government, that’s going to be a fun decade.

  70. 3b says:

    grim I don’t see the Chinese overthinking their government they are too soft and complacent if their economy collapses perhaps but even then I would be surprised
    .

  71. 3b says:

    Blue then it’s all going to go to fall apart in this country. And if we go then that’s the end.

  72. 1987 Condo says:

    Grim, you are that guy.

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  74. xolepa says:

    Here’s my take on the off-shored manufacturing trend. Pumpkin is sort of right on this one. My last place of work before retirement was for a large USA based conglomerate with plumbing product manufacturing as its main source of profits. The Chairman puts on a full court press to start up new plants in China. Doesn’t really close any plants in USA as economy is still strong in early 2000’s. So the Asian plants make same products as USA plants and sell mostly to Asian market.

    Fine. Stock quadruples over several years. Chairman gets over $100MM option overloads PeopleSoft Payroll. Payroll team has to calculate his taxes manually that one year.

    Fast forward couple years, Plumbing manufacturing business is shed from conglomerate, one month later an even bigger player picks up remaining companies. I stay employed.

    Fast forward couple more years, I am now retired as bigger player realized I just turned 60 and they can pay one dozen Asians for 1 of me.

    Either way, I am now buying plumbing parts – sinks, faucets, etc. for more and more apartments as I am acquiring more year by year. Looking on AMAZ… I see faucets and beautiful SS sinks selling at 1/4 price of the big names. I can sense that they are several knockoffs of one brand and exactly the same except for …a decal, a straight handle, or a curved one, or the shape, whatever! The Asian guys working these factories stole the plans and now have 4 factories manufacturing and selling the same product with a different spin on each. Why am I going to pay 4x the price for the Real McCoy (still made abroad)? It’s not happening. BTW, the quality of some of these SS sinks are better than what you find in the plumbing or big box stores. I can attest. For a landlord, well worth the no-name investment. Licensed plumbers can’t buy them. Customers will freak out on a no-namer.

    Moral of the story, getting your production ramped up in Asia works only temporarily. In the long run, the USA manufacturer will be screwed. But by then, the big boys have walked off with their $$$ based on the initial and short term gains.

  75. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    That’s why tariffs are important. I will solely vote this next election based on willingness to tariff foreign players

  76. joyce says:

    “ In the long run, the USA manufacturer will be screwed.“

    The long run was a long time ago.

  77. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Coming from the guy that supports tariffs with China. It’s bs, you and you know it.

    “Because if you don’t do it, some dude in China will steal your industry from right under you anyway.”

  78. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Essex,

    I love the idea of a pool. Not a waste of money to me..

  79. grim says:

    The big joke always was, if you pay to build out a factory in China, what you don’t realize is, you pay for two factories. The one you know about, and the one you don’t.

  80. grim says:

    Oh how very nice, China is *considering* putting limitations on the manufacture of Fentanyl and export to the US.

    As it stands right now, you can log into a Chinese website and they’ll send you Fentanyl via mail. Completely legal in China, no worries.

  81. leftwing says:

    I still don’t know how to work the search function here and generally I’m not the type to go back and requote myself but…anyone listen?

    Up anywhere from 25-60% over the last couple of weeks since I mentioned it…timely and actionable can’t beat it lol

    If you played the collar – sell the 11/15 3P and buy the 11/15 4C the return is, well, fcuking infinite. Ha.

    https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/CHS?p=CHS&.tsrc=fin-srch-v1

  82. leftwing says:

    And, btw, the idea that Groupon will acquire Yelp only makes sense if you’ve had a plate full of psilocybin. Just saying….

    https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/yelp/?p=yelp

    Short shares with a protective call in my main account and a near term buck fifty wide put debit spread in my IRA.

    Rock and roll baby.

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