From CNBC:
Adjustable-rate mortgage demand hits highest level in nearly a year as interest rates continue to climb
Mortgage demand has essentially stalled at the slowest pace since 1995 as mortgage interest rates continue to rise.
Total application volume dropped 1% last week compared to the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.
One type of mortgage, however, is seeing new life. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of total demand hit 9.5%, the highest level in nearly a year. ARMs offer slightly lower rates.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or less) increased to 7.90% from 7.70%, with points increasing to 0.77 from 0.71 — including the origination fee — for loans with a 20% down payment.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 6.99% from 6.52%.
“Ten-year Treasury yields climbed higher last week, as global investors remained concerned about the prospect for higher-for-longer rates and burgeoning fiscal deficits,” said Joel Kan, an MBA economist, in a release. “Rates have now risen seven consecutive weeks at a cumulative amount of 69 basis points.”
Applications to refinance a home loan increased 2% from the previous week and were 8% lower than the same week one year ago. That annual comparison is shrinking because refinancing crashed just over a year ago, when mortgage rates first started to rise sharply.
Refinances now make up less than a third of total application activity. Just two years ago, when rates were hovering around record lows, they made up two thirds of mortgage demand.
Frist
Yep, America lost its moral compass. Greed became the guiding light
LAX says:
October 25, 2023 at 4:56 pm
4:53 my guess is that America’s decline accelerated under Reagan.
Well, it did start out with slave owning and stealing intellectual property from England.
Killing off the Indians and even the helpless buffalo and bison.
Ronnie Reagan killed off the unions- except for the police unions- for some reason, that one seems to be an exception from all other unions, including the teachers union.
Repubs just put in a hardliner speaker. He sounds like a feisty one. He thinketh he will taketh controleth. Party on goober.
Now you got a madman Trump apologist military firearms instructor doing his thing in idyllic Maine, the land of harmony and Subaru drivers. Probably upset there is no war for him to fight. My sympathies to the people killed and injured, and to the families that have to deal with the aftermath. And to my fellow healthcare workers, who, instead of raises and pensions, might get some pots and pans banged for them, or some free Dunkin’ donuts coffee for the next week, while billions of tax dollars are given to foreigners instead of you.
Happy Thursday all.
From the paper: “His X account, now suspended, revealed that he followed and liked posts by several prominent conservative pundits, including Donald Trump Jr., Tucker Carlson and Dinesh D’Souza.
In March, he liked a post by Donald Trump Jr. that read, ‘Given the incredible rise of trans/non-binary mass shooters in the last few years… by far the largest group committing as a percentage of population… maybe, rather than talking about guns we should be talking about lunatics pushing their gender affirming bullsh** on our kids?’
Very Stable Genius says:
October 26, 2023 at 7:10 am
Yep, America lost its moral compass. Greed became the guiding light
LAX says:
October 25, 2023 at 4:56 pm
4:53 my guess is that America’s decline accelerated under Reagan.
I’ll admit that this picture of new speaker Mike Johnson has me concerned a bit..
https://tinyurl.com/29behkny
“Who said it was the cushiest job around? Have you ever done it?”
Dumbfuck, no one needs to. You get a quarter of the year off, full pension and healthcare, and never have to answer a phone call outside of your prescribed work hours.
The literal definition of work-life balance.
“Pumpkin has really gone off the deep end today.”
Meds. And as someone else noted, he’s utterly clueless.
HMB, thanks on the stocks. Understood, and as always, not recommendations, own diligence, etc, etc.
Always appreciate others’ pre-vetted ideas since as you know it can be so time consuming doing real research on names, especially smaller caps.
What a jackass. This guy needs to be incarcerated when he heels up.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=245&v=3hPMM0APwvs&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fembeds.nypost.com%2F&source_ve_path=MzY4NDIsMjg2NjY&feature=emb_logo
I actually recall him trying to tell me my job was cushy so that’s who said it.
Chi,
That is job security for me. Plenty came before, plenty to come after.
Grim CoPilot is losing MSFT $20 per user. How long can that continue?
HMB Is there a set list of questions you would look to answer from a 10-K. I might play about with an AI model.
On the surgery front. I had my leg repaired by Robert Kayal. If you live in NE Jersey, his face is on a load of Billboards. He has an impressive operation. Lots of locations and everything inhouse from MRI and Xrays through Botox in the beauty center. My MIL is a nurse and she was impressed by how clean the scar was.
Stupid fuck. The denser the traffic the faster and more reckless he drove.
Darwin.
Welcome to the Theocracy.
https://twitter.com/DavidCayJ/status/1717371672834015262
Grim,
What’s the latest on the 70 offers? What’s the highest amount over bid price? And how does one determine the initial asking price is this current environment?
Was your ex a teacher? Same with lefty….was your ex a teacher? Why do you guys hate teachers so much? You act like it’s the best job in the world…I don’t get it. Do you guys realize you are with kids all day? Do you understand that you have to teach people that are fighting you to not learn? Ying and yang….you need that time off from this job, or you go crazy. You will never understand because you never did it.
Put it this way, every year you are going to get a few students pissed off at the world that come into your classroom to f/k with you on a daily basis. You think that’s easy? They will have their buds filming with their phones as they try to get under your skin and get you fired. You guys have zero f/ing clue and it pisses me off. The disrespect is real.
Phoenix says:
October 25, 2023 at 11:01 pm
God isn’t going to help, he is a slacker. It’s the people who don’t work from home, don’t have holidays, weekends, and summers off that will be helping.
Bystander says:
October 25, 2023 at 10:09 pm
Damn, mass shooting in Lewiston ME. White man with AR-15 of course.. Estimated 22 dead. God help us.
9:29 wait…I have to be with KIDS all day!??! To teach ?!? No one told me that.
Leftwing
You’re welcome.
There’s a lot of connections between those stocks.
Markel is modeling itself after Berkshire but does specialty insurance like insures summer camps and traveling art exhibits instead of focusing on car and property like Berkshire does. And it was an early backer of hagerty. Markel also holds a brunch at berkshires annual meeting that has more people attend than at markels annual meeting.
I was looking for smaller versions of Markel and Berkshire and found Nelnet and Boston Omaha. Markels stock portfolio has over 100 companies but about 65-70% is in 20 companies and its largest holding is Berkshire. Berkshire owns about 3% of Markel.
Nelnet founders have studied Berkshire and focus on long term but don’t do stock picks or insurance. One of Nelnet board members is a co ceo of Boston Omaha. Boston Omaha did a spac to get sky harbor listed. Boston Omaha also invested in dream finders homes and lent it money when it was a private company. That turned 10 million into 87 million in a few years. The other co ceo of Boston Omaha is buffets great nephew. Also Nelnet and Boston Omaha are headquartered in Nebraska.
And because I was looking into dream finder homes bench marking its competitors I came across green brick partners.
While those aren’t stock recommendations I think reading the letters to the shareholders for Boston Omaha BOC, Nelnet NNI, Markel MKL, and dream finder homes DFH is well worth the time. And green brick partners benchmarks itself to 10-15 publicly traded home builders right on its either annual report or shareholder presentation for a few different financial metrics. I can’t remember seeing another company do that.
What’s the latest on the 70 offers? What’s the highest amount over bid price? And how does one determine the initial asking price is this current environment?
We accepted what we thought was the highest/strongest offer at $80k over asking.
We had offers that were more than $100k over asking but they were very questionable, low down payments, would not waive appraisal and inspection contingencies, and based on the previous purchase, it’s obvious that these exceptionally high offers are just a scheme to get through to contract stage, and then attempt to nickel and dime on the inspection, or clearly realize that they are bidding over what the property will appraise for, and expect to renegotiate at appraisal time.
Offer we accepted was no contingency, $200k down. Local buyer, solid, very fast close.
I did say it, but to add a little context, it was in comparison to what I deal with. Not saying your job is easy, but you are not at one of the worse high schools in the state.
BRT says:
October 26, 2023 at 9:03 am
I actually recall him trying to tell me my job was cushy so that’s who said it.
Keeping it real. You can be a cool dude at times, and others times a total prick. Do you…
LAX says:
October 26, 2023 at 10:00 am
9:29 wait…I have to be with KIDS all day!??! To teach ?!? No one told me that.
“Welcome to the Theocracy.”
Full drama queen mode today I see. Understanding facts are only a minor matter among Liberal group-think one may remember that the Bill of Rights establishes freedom ‘of’ religion, not freedom ‘from’ religion….the exact words….”Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
“I have to be with KIDS all day!??! To teach ?!? No one told me that.”
LOL, good one. Clueless Pumpkin…a JOB is a JOB….few of us do one voluntarily. In other words, they all kind of suck in their own way.
Point is regarding work-life balance certain professions – including teachers – have advantages that corporate employees do not, specifically summers off and weekends/after hours to yourselves.
But again why should I expect you, teacher, to be able to follow a point or maintain an argument…
Lib, HMB dipping a toe in some GOOG and AXP. Through options to juice return and limit downside. Let’s see where they go.
Leftwing
Good luck. Hope it works out.
Look, I’ve been in the schools now for nearly 20 years and when it is bad a pumpkin describes it is terrible. That is why home price rise in areas with good schools. People WANT to keep the riff raff out. In private schools it may also be a problem but for reasons of “customer kids” whose parents are paying for an education and they want to they can act like assholes. But I digress.
The reason that people can’t stand “some” teachers is that they know how important the work is and that most teachers were middling students themselves. I would say that you have to win over parents and kids when you are a teacher. It’s really tough in title 1 schools and that is why most people opt to not teach there.
The fact that you have stayed where you have says that you either have no other option or you simply don’t mind working in those deplorable conditions.
In fact you have a view that others do not. You can see the spiraling of academic culture and the circling of the drain of family life in places like the one you work in.
Perhaps it is fetal alcohol and drug abuse that creates this, perhaps generational stupidity and poverty. It is not pleasant to watch and if you work there I pity you.
I will not work in places like that because as you mentioned I am an asshole (sometimes) and have and will again lose my shit when confronted by a 15 year-old gang banger with bad skin and droopy jeans. I won’t put myself in that position, because I know how it may end. spoiler: not well.
“The fact that you have stayed where you have says that you either have no other option or you simply don’t mind working in those deplorable conditions.”
He’s stated openly on here why he doesn’t move several times…he can’t be assured of tenure and therefore long term employment if he changes districts from his current.
That self assessment tells me everything I need to know about him…don’t need the constant stream of oral diarrhea on every other aspect of his life reinforcing that view…
“Welcome to the Theocracy.”
Legally schmegally.
Separation of church and state. Whatever.
They look like a bunch of freaks to me instead of professionals with their f’ng drama over their religion.
Where was their “god” yesterday when Maine was in trouble? Or anywhere else for that matter? Poland just had another sex party going on. Is that what all of these religions are into?
Fake, falso, falsk, podrubka, forfalskning, qelp, bandia, peke. Fake.
I see that “theocracy” image, I see a group of liars in a huddle right before a play where they plan to screw the average taxpayer. Someone in here posted they don’t want to see/hear that their surgeon prayed, so why would you want your politicans to pray either?
I’ve experienced enough from my “church” to never wish to step inside one of those ghastly places again. I will keep my faith towards the few individuals in my life that have been as reliable as a Toyota and, with caution, have minimal trust in the rest.
“Pope Francis accepts resignation of Polish bishop after his diocese was rocked by priest’s gay orgy sex party that saw man overdose on erectile dysfunction pills”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12670123/Pope-Francis-accepts-resignation-Polish-bishop-diocese-rocked-priests-gay-orgy-sex-party-saw-man-overdose-erectile-dysfunction-pills.html
The same people that created the riff raff….
People WANT to keep the riff raff out.
…a JOB is a JOB….few of us do one voluntarily. In other words, they all kind of suck in their own way.
_________________________________________________________
I remember my worst boss ever and noticed he died at 60. I worked in Regional Sales and was stuck with this fellow when he’d come visit. I was his #2 pick for the role. #1 wisely opted out. I had two jobs in play at the time one was as a jr. marketing person at Annixter, Skokie IL. The other was in field sales for Merisel. I wanted to be “in the field”. What I perhaps didn’t fathom at the time was that I would be driving to Detroit in an old Plymouth Acclaim before the sun rose to meet with a client who sold to K-Mart at the time and would later buy enough Compaq’s from me that I’d ride in the van to the Super Bowl, Dallas vs. Steelers, with my CEO at the time and the CEO of Compaq. Two incredibly nice guys who had more than made it.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that any one of us can “make it”, but you have to fit the mold. I am not sure that I ever really did. But I worked somewhat hard, except Fridays in the afternoon when I’d bug out to play public golf somewhere in Chicago-land. Damn those days were crazy. I moved on and up my duties to where I was soooo close to catching the brass ring and the wind falls that go with them. But alas, micro-economic forces in the form of the tech crash wiped that all away.
I did another regional sales gig for a firm that just bought my very first (now $35B co.) but my heart wasn’t in it. I decided while sitting in a hot tub in scottsdale at midnight around New Years that I had enough. No more travel. No more being away from my insanely hot wife who wanted a kid now.
Teaching made a lot of sense. Yes! It was hard work, but I think it helped my with my parenting a bit. I hadn’t been around kids since I myself was a kid, so I was exposed to all types! I quickly learned what normal behavior is. I also got glorious summers off to go to the pool with my daughter DURING THE WEEK. It was heavenly. No regrets. Simply the only job I can imagine with those hours and yearly schedule.
Gently saying, if you haven’t done corporate work i.e the travel, the RIFs, the inanely high pressure pitch meetings, the back stabbing and incompetent bosses …etc etc Then it is impossible to really understand. Why do most people hate teachers? Because most teachers have literally never spent time outside of the classroom.
BREAKING:
Recession fears intensify as U.S. economy grows faster than expected.
Lol
Blockbuster GDP report shows real GDP grew at an annual rate of 4.9% in Q3, blowing even optimistic expectations out of the water.
This economy is going gangbusters, and it’s time for the doomers to apologize for being consistently wrong for two years.
Make that “Macro” economic forces, Literally wiped away billions from OGNC’s CEO at the time, he was in at .37 cents and share and left with $17M for 5 years of work. He stayed on at Omnicom after they bought them. Me? I worked a few more tech gigs, made some amazing sales at the last one. No lie.
One Thanksgiving, I stood up, wiped my email….and left. Never looking back.
I laughed at that too when I read it.
HMB, thanks, we’ll see…the major coin toss is do we economically contract or not…every other factor pales in comparison.
I’m still substantially cash and watching my deltas closely especially since I also leaned into financials pretty hard…most of my positions aren’t going away, they’re major caps, so really playing the downside…GOOG maybe there’s 20% downside, BAC it’s trading like a regional because of their HTM book which is already factored into future earnings and unlike regionals not a solvency risk, MS again I’m not smart enough to know when the M&A and IPO markets re-open but when they do MS will be a major beneficiary.
By using options in these trades I keep my delta (amount of my move for each $1 move in share price) below 1…need to re-run my SPY-beta-delta (haven’t yet integrated that into my dashboard) but eyeballing it including margin I’m about 20% ‘invested’ with likely a bit higher exposure…
Lastly, I’m feeling pretty good to jump in with a little more risk on these names as I took some nice gains with DG, which is up another couple points again today…grabbed that knife by the handle, loading up mostly in the 114-102 range over the last six weeks with the shares at 122 now…
Got $0 from my iPhone for past 10 years.
This year my iPhone gave me $5k in interest.
Get it?
Just stop. Seriously. Teachers don’t get to go wfh all week, or go into the office two days a week. New corporate workers are f/ing weak. Get paid big bucks to barely go into work. I know plenty of people that get 6-8 weeks off paid each year. Not much different than a teacher, except they get paid much more.
At the end of the day, teacher pay sucks, which is why most people do not do it. FACTS. You chose what you chose for a reason. No one is stopping anyone from becoming a teacher. They choose not to. Only thing going for teaching is the pension, and for new teachers they can’t collect till 65. No easy to be teaching into your mid 60’s.
“LOL, good one. Clueless Pumpkin…a JOB is a JOB….few of us do one voluntarily. In other words, they all kind of suck in their own way.
Point is regarding work-life balance certain professions – including teachers – have advantages that corporate employees do not, specifically summers off and weekends/after hours to yourselves.
But again why should I expect you, teacher, to be able to follow a point or maintain an argument…”
Because I’ve done way more than teach. I’m wise, gifted, and somehow bagged a woman who is so far out of my league. I took a shot. In fact many, many shots.
Most ended up in the dustbin, so when I say anyone can make it…..few actually do.
Even fewer make it year and year after year. My G-d man, wake up!
You’ve got people even here on this board that can buy and sell you and I 10x over. Just be grateful, as a good teacher would be, for the knowledge and the companionship. Besides in the end it is all we really can hope for. If in fact you played the game as you claim and won! Bully for you bro! Seriously I wish only good things for the people around me.
Not authoritative but I’ve seen similar data elsewhere:
https://www.joshuakennon.com/sat-scores-ranked-by-intended-college-major-show-teachers-are-below-average/
“In specific terms, for 2010:
The mean Critical Reading score was 501. Education majors scored 481.
The mean Mathematics score was 516. Education majors scored 486.
The mean Writing score was 492. Education majors scored 477.
That is pathetic. If anything, these results would lead me to believe that if you are a great teacher, you probably want to pull your hair out at the absurdity of the system and your colleagues.”
Phoenix – You have a female arrest kink.
I chose teaching for the work/life balance. I MADE THE DECISION and here people are beating me up for it. Mocking my profession…calling it easy because you get time off. Get a life. We all have choices. Own it. I did good for myself, why beat me up? Jealousy?
Same people crying about teacher time off are the same ones that refuse to go back into work. F people. Most are selfish pricks. Only care about themselves.
I am sorry that I complain about the amount of chit workers out there right now. When pointing it out, what does it have to do with profession. Why when I point them out for being lazy chits, do you then attack me for having summers off? BTW, I do not get paid for summer. I get zero dollars. So wtf are you complaining about? You can lose 2 months of pay and find a job where you take off every summer and not get paid. Enough with the teacher bashing…
Someone in here posted they don’t want to see/hear that their surgeon prayed, so why would you want your politicians to pray either?
_________________________________________________________
I come from a part of the Country where praying is a big deal. Always felt left out of that particular club in the sense that Jews see things completely different. It has not escaped me that many support Israel because they hope that somehow that War to end all wars will spur armageddon , Wrap you brain around that. I do pity the kids. If we let it get that far we are truly evil and no G-d can save us.
Well, f’ing pay up if you want the best. You call yourself a capitalist? Typical, selfish post from pricks like you calling out the quality of teacher, but not their pay.
No One says:
October 26, 2023 at 11:13 am
Not authoritative but I’ve seen similar data elsewhere:
https://www.joshuakennon.com/sat-scores-ranked-by-intended-college-major-show-teachers-are-below-average/
“In specific terms, for 2010:
The mean Critical Reading score was 501. Education majors scored 481.
The mean Mathematics score was 516. Education majors scored 486.
The mean Writing score was 492. Education majors scored 477.
That is pathetic. If anything, these results would lead me to believe that if you are a great teacher, you probably want to pull your hair out at the absurdity of the system and your colleagues.”
And guess what, no one? It’s going to get worse as almost nobody is going into teaching now….esp after inflation destroyed the pay. 1% raise each year gets destroyed in a high inflation environment.
Norm Macdonald on teachers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAg9M-O9wGo
Actually I am studying tells in order to detect lying in individuals. Learning the “tells.” It’s a helpful talent.
And no one lies better than women.
Boomer Remover says:
October 26, 2023 at 11:15 am
Phoenix – You have a female arrest kink.
Pumps….be cool man. Imma try and talk ya down. Be cooooool
Man. (Nothing like a teacher unhinged) we get it dude. Talking here though with adults not kids. Bombast isn’t enough. It’s a smart crew.
Leftwing
I looked into DG after the price tanked. Average customer has a high school degree and makes 40k a year. Most of the profits came from discretionary spending but because of inflation its core customers were mostly buying lower margin items like groceries.
Saw a theory that if inflation or the economy got worse more middle class would start shopping at DG. The old ceo is back, but he only recently left so I’m
Not sure how much of their decline was caused by the guy who had replaced him. It’s interesting but I really want to focus on under 5 billion dollar market caps.
I’ve been watching a lot of mohnish pabrai on YouTube and a channel called we study billionaires by William green and reading a book called 100 baggers by Chris Mayer. I’m trying to pick stocks I think could 10x or better but I know 1/3 to 1/2 of my picks will drop in value possibly to zero or at least trail the market. But if one of my picks becomes the next NVR, chipotle or something like that it would be life changing financially. I’d still like to add a few more small caps if/when I find ones I really like.
I take it too personal when people attack the profession. I have to do better and not let people get under my skin. It’s a waste of time trying to get people to understand a job they have never done, and only witnessed as a customer (student). I’m not going to change these guys minds, it’s already made up. Thank you for talking sense and being cool.
LAX says:
October 26, 2023 at 11:31 am
Pumps….be cool man. Imma try and talk ya down. Be cooooool
Man. (Nothing like a teacher unhinged) we get it dude. Talking here though with adults not kids. Bombast isn’t enough. It’s a smart crew.
I spent about $150k on my own private sector grad degree twenty years ago spent roughly $500k on my kid’s private sector high school and undergrad education. So I comment because I care about and value education.
Between the twisted priorities of “Education” undergrad degrees and the terrible incentives and structures of a predominantly state-run education system, most kids’ educations are the equivalent of prison cafeteria food. Even in the best zip codes. Most parents who care have to intervene and/or supplement it.
That ain’t no f’n theory. That’s f’n reality.
Rich people actually think that the middle class might shop at cheaper stores when they are going broke is a theory?
How f’n detached are they? Is it a theory that broke people might just rob your ass?
“Saw a theory that if inflation or the economy got worse more middle class would start shopping at DG.”
11:28 that was fascinating. Norm was a very cool dude. Apparently.
Wow, Dark Brandon is something else.
12 million jobs created.
Lowest unemployment in 54 years
Booming 4.9% gdp
$5k in iPhone bank account interest to Very Stable Genius
Meanwhile Republican congress trying to bring back slavery
Democrats making America great again!
11:48 I had the privilege of working in a very good school last year. Man it was transformational. I know we know what we’ve seen, but trust me I’ve been in 5 schools in seven years in various regions of the State. From skid row to the foothills to the valley and now close to home. The data’s there now. You can make amazing choices education. Yes, it takes a synchronicity between the parents – kids -admin – teachers & when it works it transforms. I spent 10 years at a top-rated elementary school in North Jersey btw. It was a freakin dream! Trust me good even great schools exist. Always through the ability of the Principal to put the best team together.
i called this 10 years out…has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with demographics. It’s millennials and boomers….biggest demographic blocs in our population spending dollars. Boomers are also swimming in money.
Very Stable Genius says:
October 26, 2023 at 11:51 am
Wow, Dark Brandon is something else.
12 million jobs created.
Lowest unemployment in 54 years
Booming 4.9% gdp
$5k in iPhone bank account interest to Very Stable Genius
Meanwhile Republican congress trying to bring back slavery
Democrats making America great again!
That’s what people don’t understand….the vast differences in schools…even in the same town. They then apply their experience as a student growing up to how all schools are….they then use this bias to belittle the profession.
No offense to BRT, but he doesn’t go through what I go through. We might both be teachers, but we are in totally different jobs.
LAX says:
October 26, 2023 at 11:59 am
11:48 I had the privilege of working in a very good school last year. Man it was transformational. I know we know what we’ve seen, but trust me I’ve been in 5 schools in seven years in various regions of the State. From skid row to the foothills to the valley and now close to home. The data’s there now. You can make amazing choices education. Yes, it takes a synchronicity between the parents – kids -admin – teachers & when it works it transforms. I spent 10 years at a top-rated elementary school in North Jersey btw. It was a freakin dream! Trust me good even great schools exist. Always through the ability of the Principal to put the best team together.
Those new fees charging consumers for returning online purchases might be too effective. Logistics company Happy Returns found that about half of the companies that it surveyed say the tactic has worked as intended by slowing the flow of goods coming back into their warehouses. The WSJ Logistics Report’s Liz Young writes that a third of companies also say they have lost customers since they began charging consumers fees to return items that they purchased online. That suggests merchants are seeing a backlash, as their cut reverse logistics expenses also hit them with a cost in the checkout line. The questions surrounding returns are crucial for retailers heading into Christmas since the seasonal surge in sales usually leads to burst in returns, effectively extending the peak parcel shipping period into January. Retailers last year expected nearly 18% of merchandise sold during the holidays to be returned.
Boomers are wealthy but cheap.
They vote Universal healthcare for themselves, and vote against it for everyone else. Most selfish.
The Great Pumpkin says:
October 26, 2023 at 12:00 pm
i called this 10 years out…has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with demographics. It’s millennials and boomers….biggest demographic blocs in our population spending dollars. Boomers are also swimming in money.
Very Stable Genius says:
October 26, 2023 at 11:51 am
Wow, Dark Brandon is something else.
12 million jobs created.
Lowest unemployment in 54 years
Booming 4.9% gdp
$5k in iPhone bank account interest to Very Stable Genius
Meanwhile Republican congress trying to bring back slavery
Democrats making America great again!
Boomers are also passing away now, and starting to hand off money to their kids. A lot of current housing sales I would imagine are boomers that have passed and their kids selling for capital.
Very Stable Genius says:
October 26, 2023 at 12:15 pm
Boomers are wealthy but cheap.
They vote Universal healthcare for themselves, and vote against it for everyone else. Most selfish.
In all honesty, I would be for eliminating inheritance. It would make our society stronger I would think. Make everyone work hard. I am not inheriting anything and I am fine. I am sure there would be some negatives, but the positives would hopefully outweigh the negatives.
How many people are out there right now, quiet quitting and just waiting for their parents to die to get their inheritance? How many did nothing with their life because they were always supported by mommy and daddy? That hurts society as they produce nothing.
that’s fine, I don’t deal with disruption and fights. What I do deal with is helicopter parents, entitlements, and kids that actually want to work. So, to the last point, I currently teach 3 different version of AP Physics. (AP 1, AP2, and AP C (Calc based mechanics & E&M). That’s the equivalent of 4 separate college courses. Most professors teach 1 college course. I cover more material in 6 weeks than a typical teacher would cover all year in a regular course (which I’ve also taught). Nothing about that is easy. In fact, 99% of teachers tasked to do exactly what I do would never be able to do it in their entire lifetime.
Pumpkin so pissed that he had to buy granny’s house at a discount instead of inherit it for free, now he wants to ban inheritance in general.
Please, do it in your own home first. Go tell your wife that you demand your kid inherit absolutely nothing from the two of you. Instead, you’re going to donate everything to the Wayne school district supporting merit based pay for teachers so that children of the future get a fairer shake.
I’m betting you get less nookie than usual in the following month.
Perhaps Mommy and Daddy should instill some work ethic into their kids.
“No offense to BRT, but he doesn’t go through what I go through. We might both be teachers, but we are in totally different jobs.”
One of you babysits. The other teaches.
Pumps you should get out of the classroom and run the Union. 149 million in revenues. Top people there make $367,178 a year or more.
Who wants to buy a piece of baseball history?
https://nypost.com/2023/10/19/mickey-mantles-childhood-home-to-have-shares-available-for-7/amp/
Sean Hannity suggests his “personal security plan,” training in mixed martial arts, would keep him safe from a mass shooting.
Hannity is an insufferable pompous ass.
And he looks like Fred flintstone
So you are saying teaching is tough?
Get it! Keep up the good work! Appreciate you! The job is f/ing tough and gets zero respect.
BRT says:
October 26, 2023 at 12:53 pm
that’s fine, I don’t deal with disruption and fights. What I do deal with is helicopter parents, entitlements, and kids that actually want to work. So, to the last point, I currently teach 3 different version of AP Physics. (AP 1, AP2, and AP C (Calc based mechanics & E&M). That’s the equivalent of 4 separate college courses. Most professors teach 1 college course. I cover more material in 6 weeks than a typical teacher would cover all year in a regular course (which I’ve also taught). Nothing about that is easy. In fact, 99% of teachers tasked to do exactly what I do would never be able to do it in their entire lifetime.
Clueless. To each and their own. Not wasting my time trying to convince an ignorant individual.
Libturd says:
October 26, 2023 at 1:12 pm
“No offense to BRT, but he doesn’t go through what I go through. We might both be teachers, but we are in totally different jobs.”
One of you babysits. The other teaches.
Awww…did I tickle a feather? Your type is funny….you are all about capitalism, until it comes to your kids. Then you go all social!ist. All your complaints about social!ism, yet you advocate doing for people’s kids. So, your kid deserves to not work hard because they had free money from the previous generation…got it.
No One says:
October 26, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Pumpkin so pissed that he had to buy granny’s house at a discount instead of inherit it for free, now he wants to ban inheritance in general.
Please, do it in your own home first. Go tell your wife that you demand your kid inherit absolutely nothing from the two of you. Instead, you’re going to donate everything to the Wayne school district supporting merit based pay for teachers so that children of the future get a fairer shake.
I’m betting you get less nookie than usual in the following month.
And I am fine with inheritance, I am just pointing out how it leads to weak individuals in our society….not all, but most that inherit become total f ups. Create more damage than good.
It’s funny how so many busted my balls for buying a house from my grams, but then have the nerve to support inheritance. Which one is it?
Benefits enrollment question. My new gig has different insurance. We don’t need to switch family plans it is just an option. Is anyone using Horizon Blue Cross and happy with it? My new gig is offering Horizon BCBS. I have not used them in years since my old jobs switched. We are on UnitedHealth Care Choice Plus and pretty much every Doc we have used accepts them.
Any opinions?
Thinking back on the music engineering awards, John Porter who helped record “How Soon is Now” for The Smiths deserved some notice. Seems nobody can agree how they created the sound, nor recreate it now, but that was a great single.
teaching can be tough depending on the situation. There are plenty of people in my own building who have a cakewalk. I’ve also seen some teachers have a single class their entire career. I’ve also known some that never actually worked a day in their lives and couldn’t even be considered a babysitter because they just send the kids to the cafeteria.
Whoa: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12676121/rikki-lynn-laughlin-teacher-sends-nudes-teenage-student.html
It’s ok Pumkin, you’re the real hero, you’re really the real hero.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAg9M-O9wGo
Just another hero doing his or her job:
https://www.reddit.com/r/NormMacdonald/comments/swpfhk/teachers_are_the_real_heroes/
In sum, in pumpy’s mind (which appears to be unraveling by the day), his decision to prioritize work-life balance “did good for himself”. But people in corporate America who make a similar decision to prioritize work-life balance are “selfish pricks”.
Methinks Pumpkin is envious of people who can work from home. He feels like he is missing out and casting aspersions is his way of trying to protect himself from the pain of “missing out”.
The Great Pumpkin says:
October 26, 2023 at 11:16 am
I chose teaching for the work/life balance. I MADE THE DECISION and here people are beating me up for it. Mocking my profession…calling it easy because you get time off. Get a life. We all have choices. Own it. I did good for myself, why beat me up? Jealousy?
Same people crying about teacher time off are the same ones that refuse to go back into work. F people. Most are selfish pricks. Only care about themselves.
Good experience with Horizon BCBS…main question for me is whether the providers you want are part of their Tier 1…in NNJ the top hospitals and doc groups are so it worked.
Premiums for various plans you could choose not horrible, but those premiums do seem to move up not insignificantly annually.
Decent enough online app (for HC IT), I can schedule and pull up history including labs.
Administratively….they suck. If you have a real question book 45 minutes of your time, minimum, to get through the automated system and what seems like three levels of admin before someone who can actually help you….eg, getting out of state coverage for my kid while at school. Pain in the ass, not online, actually had to download a hard document and complete…Or even basic questions like whether I personally could or already had exhausted free blood panels benefit (had one period where several docs wanted blood…)
LAX,
As Norm pointed out, teachers have even more sex with students than priests do!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7SpXGz-XOc
Left Thanks.. I have the open enrollment for United Health online I have to review the costs, and check to see if our current doctors accept, that could even change in January so who knows. I really hate it when doctors drop insurance.
For this BCBS Family plan cost
$330 month “Base” plan $500/$1000 in/out of network deductibles
$500 a month “Buy Up” plan $400/$600 in/out of network deductibles
So $1560 annual difference per yr. with a minor initial deductible.
It’s any hospital visit where the meat and potatoes are.
“Basic Plan” 20% out of pocket for the hospital in/outpatient services after the deductible. Under “Buy Up” plan it’s Zero after the deductible.
Pharmacy is minor about $10 per prescription difference.
Norm on softball players….
https://youtu.be/5W4RBRXHP9U?si=A-WhDb11SVkGl64F&t=576
https://patch.com/new-jersey/wayne/s/iszjx/murphy-to-veto-toll-increase-on-nj-turnpike-parkway?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert&user_email=b806a4e97ba34f4010ae7e2f8d00b7e96968267c7b55659ed992d30bb95bd1b4
Any of you teachers want to relocate to Missouri? Looks like there is now an opening
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12676121/rikki-lynn-laughlin-teacher-sends-nudes-teenage-student.html#article-12676121
lol, chi, I forgot about the clip after where Norm goes I bet board is spelled B-O-R-E-D
Government statistics do not seem to be capturing how weak the economy is. Many companies are reporting shockingly weak revenues. UPS’s US delivery volume growth is worse today than in 2007-2009. After falling for nearly two years, it dropped another ~11% last quarter.
https://x.com/cathiedwood/status/1717692241739710613?s=46
Pumps
UPS has lost the Amazon business since almost all prime deliveries are fulfilled by Amazon. and USPS has gotten rid of first class package and replaced it with ground advantage which is probably taking market share from ups. In my area the restaurants are still full and the shopping plazas have tons of traffic.
Hold,
I am with you. That’s good ol Cathie talking there. Give the thread a read. Not saying I agree, just good to hear all angles.
P.S. There is a recession coming…prob 6 months from now as stock market seems to be pricing it in as we speak.
Benefits enrollment question
Don’t switch now unless you really have to. Run the numbers. Cobra if you need it may be cheaper that resetting deductibles and copays for the the last two months of this year. Look at this from next years perspective. That’s when you want to change if you need to.
School custodian Jenna Gros is teaching a group of fourth-graders how to convert fractions to decimals.
“How would you write 6/100 in decimal form?” she asks, and then waits patiently for them to come up with the correct answer.
Gros, pronounced “grow,” has been a custodian at Wyandotte Elementary School in St. Mary Parish, La., for more than 18 years, and now she’s also a teacher in training.
“Everything is about kids and relationships. We don’t just do garbage,” she says, laughing.
For Gros, helping children learn is a dream come true — and it wouldn’t be possible if not for a Grow Your Own program, an alternative pathway to becoming an educator. She’s working toward a bachelor’s degree in education, and as part of her studies, she has to get 15 hours a week of in-class training, which can include observing a teacher, tutoring students or helping design lessons. Best of all, the fees for her schooling are minimal: $75 a month.
Gros’ school principal, Celeste Pipes, is eager for Gros to complete her training. She thinks Gros will be a wonderful teacher, and Pipes has also been struggling to fill teacher positions.
“I remember when I started teaching 20 years ago. I didn’t know if I was guaranteed a job,” Pipes says. “And in just that short amount of time, we are pulling people literally off the streets to fill spots in a classroom.”
https://apple.news/AUjz54nhGQIamNzK-NwW6fQ
Education is f’ed. Keep disrespecting the profession and education…sad turning to janitors to educate.
What’s sad, some of you old school chumps keep ragging on teachers. This isn’t 1999.
And if you decided to not read to the end…understand this and understand why. Telling you, teachers unions going to be coming hard soon.
“I remember when I started teaching 20 years ago. I didn’t know if I was guaranteed a job,” Pipes says. “And in just that short amount of time, we are pulling people literally off the streets to fill spots in a classroom.”
BRT
Mrs. Fab is now teaching AP-C physics. That’s a fun course. For me, I did physics, Pure and Applied Mathematics and Computer Science in College. I had to tap out in Pure Math’s, after Differential Equations. I do plan to go back to it to tick it off my bucket list.
For me, the one book that got me through the hard time was
https://www.amazon.com/Engineering-Mathematics-K-Stroud/dp/0831134704
Tell all your AP-C kids to buy this. It’s how I got through Diff EQ.
Left I prefer my Church and State to be seperated, just like the law (derived from the constitution and the words of Thomas Jefferson) says it should be.
Fab -Appreciate the thought I do. It’s open enrollment for next year and my better half freaked out as the open enrollment was ending today. We signed onto the existing plan as is. My new gig kicks in later if they don’t kick me to the curb.
Anyway, crisis averted. BTW – If you need some coaching, just ask Grim. If you need some from me. Well, it might require a swallowing pride. Yes, I have done that too, after all my time is the past, the next generation is all I worry about these days. From most reports, they don’t need me worrying either!
https://twitter.com/DogginTrump/status/1717583134391509084
According to the news, the mass shooter & his family, live on what’s described as a compound. They are all gun fanatics & are associated with right- wing militias
Not a Drag Queen
Not a Muslim Terrorist
Not Someone Who JustCrossed Our Southern Border
A white male with an assault rifle, again
One of the big arguments I had with Eddie Ray (Nom) was over his idea of an “NomPound” Here is the prime example of what I was saying. Can you really control who you lock up with? What happens when they go off the range?”
Fab- Most of us are tired of unoriginal thought.
We know you are better than that. This ain’t twitter.
Norm on gay pride:
https://youtu.be/iX_gUQeZcB8?si=68NHjbgDSMHRC1an
Juice,
Get my email from Grim, we should talk, we have a lot in common. Funny there is a good chance I’ll be in Tommy Foxes tomorrow and Mrs Fab is just back from Gerrys.
Small world!
Juice.
When I dissected Nom;s Compound Idea, it was all based around the dynamics of that environment. You take the most entitled individuals, with all their money and power and ask them to submit to a subservient existence, where they had to transition to a Cooperative existence.
Not happening, As I stated to Clot, he would not have the cash for the NomPound, but the skills to be admitted. I said I would be outside selling him Brown Butter!.
Horizon BCBS is fine. Leftwing is right. Customer Service is cringeworthy.
Fab, good for her. It’s a great course in many ways. Kudos to her. Most Physics teachers try to avoid it like the plague.
I’ll check out the book to. Thanks for the rec.
Boomers won the housing market and millennials got screwed, BofA says. ‘Everyone locked in 3% mortgage rates, except Millennials’
https://apple.news/ACKoIhJRkRKapXkVfCfyjfA
JUST IN: Hedge fund billionaire Leon Cooperman thinks college students have “s**t for brains” and is done donating to Columbia University after the school failed to fire a professor who called the Hamas attacks “awesome”
Cooperman, who graduated from Columbia, has donated a whopping $50 million over the years and demanded that the school fire this professor but the school refused.
“We only have one democracy in the Middle East. That’s Israel and we have one economy tolerant of different people: gays, lesbians, etc. And that’s Israel.”
“So, I have no idea what these young kids are doing… I think these kids at the colleges have sh*t for brains.”
“The real shame is I’ve given to Columbia, probably about $50 million over many years.”
“I’m going to suspend my giving.”
Governor pompadour goes to China
https://open.substack.com/pub/wenhao/p/gavin-newsom-is-an-admirer-of-chinas?r=1ihbtg&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
Fab – STFU and move on, I have no desire, to discuss meaningless history. We all need each other. I reached out to everyone, you should do the same.
Another bit of advice Fab. You are going to need to stick your dick out, and go hard.
For me it was as hard as could be.
Yes you have a great resume but so do 70 other swinging dicks!
Go hard nobody else will, also talk about mentoring and why everyone else will love working with you and learning why your experience is long.
This is the Way…
Something about a band just before they hit it big:
https://youtu.be/Pp862e4vaug?si=wbxMsrST-seDCijn
Full concert by Seattle’s Heart …. I dig these ladies & gents.
The noises I grew up with.
Customer service for health insurance, hospitals, etc. is bad largely because there is no system in the healthcare system. There are a bunch of parts kinda interfacing with each other but not designed to function as a whole.