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frist!
Treasuries Fall on Speculation U.S. to Support Fannie, Freddie
By Gavin Finch and Wes Goodman
July 11 (Bloomberg) — U.S. Treasuries fell the most in three weeks on speculation the government will rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest buyers of home loans.
Two-year notes led the declines as stocks rallied after a person familiar with the matter said a takeover of one or both of the companies is among the options being considered by White House officials. The declines pared a weekly gain fueled by concern the mortgage lenders will need an infusion of capital to weather the worst housing slump since the Great Depression.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=adALOBZYjQEo&refer=home
July 11 (Bloomberg) — Citigroup Inc., the largest U.S. bank, agreed to sell its German consumer unit to France’s Credit Mutuel Group for 4.9 billion euros ($7.7 billion) in cash to shore up capital.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aMeQUEFroXUg&refer=home
Don’t Panic! (GSE Edition)
http://seekingalpha.com/article/84524-don-t-panic-gse-edition?source=headline1
“For loans prior to 2006, losses should be small. Also, Fannie and Freddie have been careful,”
LMAO
If I didn’t laugh I would throw up.
From MarketWatch
U.S. weighs Fannie, Freddie takeover: report
Senior Bush administration officials are weighing a plan that would see the government take over one or both of the two largest U.S. mortgage finance firms — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — if a recent deluge of problems worsen, The New York Times reported Friday.
Citing unnamed people who have been briefed on the plan, the report said the plan would place the companies in a conservatorship, under which the shares of Fannie and Freddie would be worth little or nothing. Any losses on mortgages owned or guaranteed by the two government-sponsored enterprises would be paid by taxpayers.
A 1992 law would allow Fannie or Freddie be put into a conservatorship if their top regulator finds either one is “critically undercapitalized,” the Times said.
The companies have lost $11 billion in recent months. And shares of both mortgage buyers plunged for the third time in four days Thursday as fears about their viability rose.
[Emphasis added]
More at the link above
GE earnings down by 6%. Should be a fun day, DJI futures down 100 pts already, 10000 here we come !
NJ Business Outlook Dire
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080711/NEWS01/807110364/-1/newsfront2
NJ Shore Gaming Revenues Slip 11% in June
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080711/BUSINESS/807110348/-1/newsfront2
I consider myself fairly aware, educated, and see myself as a citizen that generally cares about what is going on, as most others on this blog…but if you go to this site, you will be completely confused…(this cites what senators and reps are working on via the library of congress.)
I found one reference on some new housing bill to “strike 30 year mortgage and replace with 40 year.” Yeah that will work.
http://thomas.loc.gov/
seems oil hitting all time high 145.98
if any of you have time to scan the link in post 9, you will be shocked what these folks are spending their time on..I suppose after watching them in action on this financial stuff yesterday I should not be surprised. I think I’m moving into the anger phase, just unbelievable what these politicians do (or don’t do)
#11 – I think I’m moving into the anger phase
If you get to the ‘armed insurrection’ phase let me know. I think that might be about the only viable solution at this point.
you mofo’s are up early!
toshiro_mifune …it will get ugly
“Fannie and Freddie have been careful,”
The captain of the Titanic was also careful.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=5353921
Congressional Democrats are divided over important elements of the plan, including limits on loans the FHA may insure and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may buy. The Senate measure sets them at $625,000, while House leaders — including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., — want the cap as high as $730,000.
Rich [5],
I said, a long time ago, this bailout, Resolution Bust Corp., would make the RTC look like a walk in the park.
It’s encouraging that our govt is currently working on contingencies for this potlitical, corrupt cesspool [GSE’s]. Let’s make their like easier. Two options; traditional burial or creamation.
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac both fall 30% in pre-open trade
>>
You can almost dollar cost average these to ZERO!
“strike 30 year mortgage and replace with 40 year.” Yeah that will work.”
Let’s hear it for 100 year mortgages. We are all turning Japanese.
1) Inflate
2) Deep recession, mini depression
3) Dead man walking
got in line at the AT&T store in Bucks County at 540 am. there were 22 people in line for the iphone. they only have 30.
line stretched to about 70 and the poor AT&T folks had to come out and tell them there were no phones for them.
yes, im a dork.
(fortunately, i’ve had wireless the entire time sitting out here, and i brought a chair)
Remember that green cabbage you carry is a federal reserve note, legal tender for all debts, public and private. It’s backed by full faith and credit. Good night!
of note: first phone i’ve purchased in about 4 years. the phone im dumping i got free, and it’s blows; prior to that, my office gave me a phone (Treo – rocked).
naturally, the real estate topic came up early – probably 610 am.
#15 BC
If you click on the link and read the guys credentials, just more proof that certifications and higher edumacation ain’t be worth two much.
The guy’s a CFA, FSA, senior investor analyst. Yet is still funneling the koolaid.
Hunter (16)-
Maybe Pelosi should call over to Fannie & Freddie. I think they’re a little light in the wallet this week.
Can we charter a plane and send our fed, minus Fisher, and our Treasury? Where is Nurse Rached?
“July 11 (Bloomberg) — On a private island 20 minutes by helicopter from central London, a hovercraft sits on the lawn of a turreted Edwardian manor house as swallows swoop around.”
“The island isn’t a country hideaway. It’s the Causeway Retreat, a mental health and addiction center that charges as much as 10,000 pounds ($20,000) a week for treatment away from the prying eyes of colleagues and the media. There is a waiting list for the facility’s 15 rooms.”
“We get lots of CEOs of companies, traders, high-end business guys,” says Managing Director Brendan Quinn. “They want treatment, but they want it to be discreet.”
“I was terrified and thought I’d walked into `One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,”’ said Naess, 40, who asked that the date of the episode not be revealed. “Then the penny dropped. It was the best place for me to be.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=ayIvmRwa4t6E&refer=home
Where’s pret?
Do Fannie/Freddie make it to Monday?
“Where’s pret?”
Clot,
Filming for a sequel?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syPZZxxFCe0
#27 – I don’t know…. This is awfully reminiscent of Bear. FNM in at $8.70 bid pre-open. Does a strong player come in and prop them up? Who’s left?
“Who’s left?”
Tosh,
Gold.
(29)-
Who’s left? You, me, our kids and our kids’ kids.
Who says housing is only 4% of the economy?
Clot,
Email.
I smell a Saturday Night Massacre brewing.
Wow, bid has now dipped below $8 and falling.
#34 – Does Bergabe have the balls?
perhaps i can propose a new game for when things get slow:
Name That Poster…..
we repost some of the great comments from RE101, Bi, Pre and everyone has to guess who wrote it without goggling.
Clotpoll Says:
July 11th, 2008 at 8:07 am
Where’s pret?
I’ve been thinking the same for weeks. Honestly, I want to hear his take, not run him up the flagpole…..
kettle [36],
Where’s Richard?
kettle1 Says:
July 11th, 2008 at 8:21 am
perhaps i can propose a new game for when things get slow:
Name That Poster…..
we repost some of the great comments from RE101, Bi, Pre and everyone has to guess who wrote it without goggling.
ket: too early for beer….
“Honestly, I want to hear his take”
Chi,
Would rather hear Bergabe jawboning the dollar.
Clot 24..People are looking for leadership, and it is not there. I see it in the workforce as well, political correctness is now the current management model. That is why I love the Boone Pickens commercials..
9 house
” found one reference on some new housing bill to “strike 30 year mortgage and replace with 40 year.” Yeah that will work”
I din’t realize reinvestor101 was in congress
Bourbon?
I found one reference on some new housing bill to “strike 30 year mortgage and replace with 40 year.” Yeah that will work.
Another example of politicians throwing the next generation of homeowners under the bus in an attempt to rescue current homeowners from their own excess.
From AP via Yahoo
Foreclosure rescue to pass Senate; House next
Struggling homeowners who can’t afford their mortgages and banks facing big losses would get government help under a foreclosure rescue that has broad bipartisan support.
The plan is headed for Senate passage Friday, but faces a bumpy road, with the House planning a rewrite and the White House threatening a veto without major changes.
With the last procedural hurdles scaled Thursday, the package was on track for resounding approval in the Senate. It has drawn broad support in the Senate, reflecting widespread interest by lawmakers in both parties in sending election-year help to struggling homeowners facing tough economic times.
The centerpiece of the plan would let the Federal Housing Administration back up to $300 billion in new loans to give struggling homeowners more affordable, fixed-rate mortgages. It allows lenders who agree to take a substantial loss on the mortgages to reclaim at least some money and avoid a costly foreclosure.
More at the link above
Today will be an early big sell off – three words – buy the exchanges – they work off volumne – but are dumped in with other FS stinkers.
I am still waiting for a livable house on the north shore of long island to fall under one million and one bedroom in NYC to fall under 500K. The good stuff has to crumble to get to the bottom. Who cares if subprime hell holes no one wants to live in crashes in price as that does not help the average person who wants to live in a good town, with a good school that is commutable to the city. Those teflon towns are going to get the spanking of a lifetime in the next 24 months.
Rich [45],
Dead man walking.
26 clot
“Where’s pret?”
Beginning to think maybe he got laid off. He was in the RE business after all.
NJP 42
the scary thing is RE101 does sound somewhat like a congressman i meet about a year ago
Chi
“too early for beer….”
I’m afraid that will have to be recycled along with all the other ridiculous comments.
Do Fannie/Freddie make it to Monday?
I’d say we could see a weekend bailout, but the Fed doesn’t have the balance sheet to do it. This will take action by congress.
patient (48)-
Probably right. He was a REIT guy, wasn’t he?
“Those teflon towns are going to get the spanking of a lifetime in the next 24 months.”
John,
Without the mules, the horsemen are swimming naked.
Rent (51)-
Balance sheet? Who needs a balance sheet, when you have a high-speed printing press?
“the Fed doesn’t have the balance sheet to do it”
Renting [51],
Strictly a taxpayer problem.
“Probably right. He was a REIT guy, wasn’t he?”
Clot,
I thought he was a consultant for a retail firm. After all, he did report that the chaps were shopping, in England, over X-Mas.
52 clot
I believe so. Not a lot of demand there. I’ve been spending a reasonable amount of time the last year working on sales of distressed REITs. We didn’t write in much protection for the rank and file.
(Sean) 196 yesterday-Fed doesn’t want you to get a raise…
“In the past, the Fed has looked closely at core inflation (which excludes food and energy prices in order to see broader trends) to gauge whether higher energy prices are spilling over into a generalized inflation.”
Now, Crandall said, the Fed is going “beyond the core-price concept” to look directly at wages. If wages rise quickly, the Fed will act, even if it means pushing the economy over the cliff by raising interest rates high enough to kill inflation.”
(Quick! Everybody ask for a raise!)
“The Fed’s view could be political dynamite. Hard-pressed workers must sacrifice their living standards. But people haven’t really accepted the bad news yet: We are poorer because of the surge in food and energy prices, and no one – not Uncle Sam nor Uncle Ben – can change that.”
“The only way to deal with the oil price spike is for real incomes to go down,” Crandall said.
So they are ignoring the cost of living and worrying about wage inflation???? Huh….?
If this guy thinks we haven’t “accepted the bad news yet” he’s crazy.
This is a bunch of bullspit. See what you’ve done?? See what all of you have done?? You terrorists wanted to see this happen so you did everything you possibly could to destroy the housing markets. This is bad, really bad and what are some of you doing? Clicking your heels and celebrating? That’s totally inappropriate and is so like how terrorists operate.
(59) Oh ma gosh…there he is!
#46 John:Those teflon towns are going to get the spanking of a lifetime in the next 24 months.
They are going to be getting that spanking over the next 12 months.
It is getting incredibly uglier every day.
when has the cost of something stopped the government? and yes, while the FED is not a strictly governmental body (Evil private banking cartel), it is acting as one for all intents and purposes at the moment
#60 – He’s kind of like a retarded Candyman .
Regarding a post from late last night about people taking their hosues off the market until next Spring when the market recovers.
They really do not mean that, do they? I mean are there truly talking heads and semi-comatose would be home sellers out there who believe that the markett will recover next Spring?
You know next Spring, like about 9 months from now.
50.5 [59],
I’m not even sure that 50.5 is even appropriate at this time. I’ll check with our quant, I think you may have been downsized again.
If it’s so bad, fork up some dough and assist a bagholder.
As far as this housing rescue bill, how exactly is this going to work, if at theh same time we are rescuing banks and homeowners Freedie & Fannie are on the way out?
#50 njpatient: It is never too early for beer.
3b, once they are spanked that will be it. I remember back in the day when my friends who got married young all bought houses in 1988-1990 and then their was a blow out sell out to around early 1993. They were all underwater till 1999 and their were not much buyers. All the people who went bankrupt were done by 1993 and the working joes who were underwater could not afford to sell at such a loss just stayed in their pos capes for another 7 years, no one was buying or selling except for divorces and estate sales. The big question is where is at that bottom? Unlike stocks real estate has a “junk in the trunk” wide bottom, so once we hit bottom us folks have 1-4 years to stroll in. Their will be no V shaped recover as the NAR would like us to think. Though in a perverse way that late 30s/early 40s women who is the schill for the NAR in all those commericals who tells me to buy buy buy is getting me all hot under the collar.
Tard (59)-
Three letters: SKF.
Suck it.
“As far as this housing rescue bill, how exactly is this going to work”
3b,
An explosion in govt supply. What rate would you settle for, if you were bidding at the next treasury auction?
#56 BC Bob: I belive he said he worked fro Morgan Stanley in their real estate division.
I recall theat he was sent to Europe to scout out commercail acquistions.
But in all seriousness if he was laid off,then I do feel bad for him, because his personality type will not handle that well;not that anybody necessarily would.
John (68)-
“Though in a perverse way that late 30s/early 40s women who is the schill for the NAR in all those commericals who tells me to buy buy buy is getting me all hot under the collar.”
Bring on dafunk.
RE: I had no idea of the awesome power of this little blog, that it could sink the US housing market. Perhaps we could harness it for good, such as curing cancer and bringing world peace?
#59 RE said, “See what you’ve done?? See what all of you have done??”
#61 3b,
I’m seeing price drops of 1 to 2% a month in the towns we’re looking at.
The race to the bottom seems to be picking up speed.
3b [71],
I agree 100%. Never want to see anybody laid off.
#75 BC Bob,
Not even Bergabe?
I think a governemnt bail out is going to cause long term interest rates to go up. Higher rates in a normal world should decrease borrowing power. Less borrowing power = deflation.
Clot,
I think you were too pessimistic with your comment last night about us huddling around a burning barrel. We can squat in a mcmansion instead.
bairen [76],
That’s a tough one. There are conflicting signals.
The McMansions will become boomer boarding houses as people rent out bedrooms. Might not be a bad idea. Older people shouldn’t live alone anyway and pooling resources will be a necessity as this all comes unglued.
re 39
guess who wrote it without goggling.
Moe like withot gagging.
bairen [77],
Rates will rise. Increasing supply dilutes the offering, hammers the dollar. Not to mention inflation. The only scenario in which rates will fall is kiss your #ss goodbye. At some point, foreign buyers will say adios.
Moe = more
tiny keyboard, big fingers
How is the real estate doing on the Jersey shore? Anyone know or can direct me to a site that talks about it. Would love to pick up a little Cape at the end of the summer.
Thanks!
#82 BC Bob,
Sorry,
Meant deflation of housing.
I really mistimed this. Thought this bust would happen in 04 and I would be over in Sydney watching the carnage from afar.
Who’s going to buy all those houses next spring? RE as an investment is dead. Take out the flippers and “evil” speculators (who have moved into commodities), take out the ignorant who were sold predatory loans (true comment from Philly.com – a guy thought he could turn his rent payment into a mortage payment and complained that no one told him about property taxes!) take out the uber-comsumers who HELOC’d themselves into the poor house, and all that’s left are people who actually need and can afford a house. Sounds like things are getting back to normal.
Does anyone know where I can get Australian beer in NJ? Like James Boag or James Squire. I can only find Fosters.
#70 BC Bob: Inflation be damned.
“Who’s going to buy all those houses next spring?”
DL,
Sell? Sell to whom? All, on a relative basis, the idiots have bought. The new pant up demand, vultures.
Fannie, Freddie: 45% and sinking fast
http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/11/news/companies/fannie_freddie_shares/index.htm
“Immediately after the market open shares of Fannie (FNM, Fortune 500) and Freddie (FRE, Fortune 500) were both off more 45% from their already battered close on Thursday.”
I wish I had bought puts on them in real life. I did pick them to underperform on my fool virtual portfolio. There collapse should really boost my caps score. See, some good will come out of this 5 trillion dollar debacle.
BOSTON (MarketWatch) — Market analyst Jon Najarian at options research firm OptionMonster Inc. in a research note Friday morning said that, although he believes government-sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae (FNM:Fannie Mae FNM 8.05, -5.15, -39.0%) and Freddie Mac (FRE:Freddie Mac FRE 4.76, -3.24, -40.5%) will continue doing business, “their shares in my opinion are likely worthless.” He said crude-oil prices hitting another record and tough talk from Treasury Secretary Paulson on banks had set the table for a “monster” day in the markets Friday. “There is no reading between the lines necessary here,” Najarian wrote. “I think Freddie and Fannie equity may be toast, which means the government will simply take over both, as [it] can’t let $5 trillion in mortgages vaporize.”
84—re: Jersey shore. I can only speak about 2 towns, Ocean Grove and Asbury, and the market would appear to be mostly dead right now. Neither the very expensive houses nor the houses that need tons of work are selling. And yet these owners are still turning down low-ball offers. I can’t imagine the situation is much different in other towns. If you wait until Sept/Oct, when shore sellers start getting really desperate about unloading before the winter, you might do well.
BC,
It’s official, the pyramid scheme will be socialized. Lucky joe six pack. Oil and food through the roof eating into your wallet and now you get stuck paying for the millions Wall Street and the mortgage brokers walked away with over the past ten years.
McCain advisor Phil Gramm says the US Recession Is “Mental” and America Is “Nation Of Whiners”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/10/mccain-adviser-americans_n_111857.html
Come on guys its all in your head and RE101 was right after all, enough with the terroristic doom and gloom!
You terrorists wanted to see this happen so you did everything you possibly could to destroy the housing markets.
Should you ever decide to step out of your delusional fantasy world of “fighting terrorists” and engage in a serious discussion about the housing bubble and economic bubbles in general, you would find that the naysayers generally have very little impact on how a collapsing bubble unfolds.
In fact, history has shown that the naysayers generally contribute more to rising prices than they do the bubble’s collapse. Bubbles always last longer and prices go up further than most naysayers believe. As the early predictions of a collapse never materialize (the Economist in 2003, for example), the bears appear to be proven wrong again and again. This only serves to further embolden the bulls who take this evidence that “things really are different this time”.
By the time the bubble does actually burst, the bears have been dismissed by the speculative masses as “chicken littles” or having a case of sour grapes. After all, they didn’t have the financial acumen to recognize this brave new world where buying and selling houses from each other is the foundation of permanent economic prosperity
parallels between conditions leading to the great depression of 1929 and 2009
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761584403/great_depression_in_the_united_states.html
Does anyone know where I can get Australian beer in NJ? Like James Boag or James Squire. I can only find Fosters
And not to disappoint, but most Fosters around here is actually brewed in Canada
HEHE
if the current socialization of the housing losses doenst have people in the streets then i dont know what will except for perhaps mass starvation?!
On another note, i have talked to several people lately that have changed their minds on the current economic conditions, but their stance is still ” i dont want to know, because it is to depressing and to worrisome” !!!
Bairen,
Your best bet might be a wine country or gary’s marketplace for these beers.
Grim,
Is this the defining day of saying you were right all along?
Thanks danzud.
Only 10:20 AM. I think I need a NJRER GTG today at noon.
Bureaucrats and the Lying Lies They Tell
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/Paulson-Bernanke-america-Fed-central-bank/index/a/17975
[87] barien,
sorry, not imported. Heck, i would settle for VB or XXXX, but no aussie beers, and not that many aussie wines are imported.
Barien, you will appreciate this: In 1999, I went into a wine shop in Leura and nearly fainted at the sight of all those great aussie wines we couldn’t get here. They also had the complete series of Penfold’s Grange (under lock and key, obviously). Mmmmm. Grange.
Bought a ton of wine there, and still have one really great 1999 from a vineyard in Yarra Valley, which will be opened on 10/9/09.
Kettle,
Sad thing is whether you own or rent the Federal Government has decided you are going to be bagholder. The only difference is the size of the bag.
To Renting in NJ #94:
Hear, hear! I could not have said it better myself!
To the “little man” who is continuing his noble fight against the terrorist on this blog: Dude, lighten up. I do not condone the use of drugs, but in your case I will make the exception. I strongly urge you to self medicate to the point where you can at least form a coherent argument. Oh wait a minute; you have not made any arguments that I have seen in my months viewing this blog. In that case, put down the bong and have a beer. Trust me, you need to relax.
To the member of homeland security monitoring this blog: the preceding was only a joke and is should not be construed as anything actionable under law. But many a joke contains some kernel of truth!
RE: Aussie beverages.
If you really want them, your local Gary’s can likely special-order them for you if they don’t have them in stock.
And Nom, when I worked at Gary’s in Madison, we had a full suite of high-end Penfolds in the back room, among the higher-end Burgundy, Bordeaux and Cali selections.
morph,
On the contrary; he needs to pick up a bong and chill the f out.
From the article i linked before:
The stock market crash announced the beginning of the Great Depression, but the deep economic problems of the 1920s had already converged a few months earlier to start the downward spiral. The credit of a large portion of the nation’s consumers had been exhausted, and they were spending much of their current income to pay for past, rather than new, purchases. Unsold inventories had begun to pile up in warehouses during the summer of 1929.
sound familiar?
bairen, Joe Canal’s.
is a bong enough for 101? he might need some ketamine
DJIA sub-11k by end of day?
#103 nom
The aussies think it’s funny they dump Fosters and Yellow Tail on us. I never met one Aussie who would admit to drinking either one. I wonder if Newcastle Brown Ale from the UK is the same as the one in Australia. Wow yarra valley, I took a little day trip on the yarra river in Melbourne once.
I have a good VB story for you.
My first day in Sydney I walked into a pub called “Fortune of War” in The Rocks section of Sydney. It claims to be Sydney’s oldest pub.
The bartender was this hot blonde aussie gal. She gave me this big smile, walked over and I thought she said “Would you like a vd?”
Still suffering from the long flight from Jersey, “I’m thinking, wow, Aussies really are friendly. , I’m thinking She’s asking me if I want an STD. But I really didn’t want one, and my wife would have killed me.”
She repeats it and I must have looked even more confused. She then says “vd, the beer, mate. Its what you yanks luv” and points to the tap for Victoria Bitters (VB).
Was tthe first, but not the last time I had a wee bit of trouble understanding Australian English
Re: Aussie beverages
Why don’t you brew your own? By the time the product reaches the shores of the good ol USA (See homeland security I am patriotic!), it has lost much of its freshness. Why not hook up with malt extract from a Aussie producer ( I believe Coopers is one such, but, I am not sure)and brew your own.
Thanks Sybarite and Pat. I’ll have to look into those.
Kettle1 – Re: Depression
When I lived in Oregon, we often skiied for several days each year at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. Now there was a good use of federal funds (built in 1936 w/WPA funds.)
They used all of the unemployeed artisans, stone masons, wood carvers etc. ..hand made furniture and stair rails. The place was beautiful…
kettle [108],
Our current credit/debt binge makes the roaring 20’s look like a dress rehearsal.
So, what’s the New Deal MkII going to look like?
Nice Summary of Bergabe:
Now let’s talk about what Ben and The Fed have done:
They have exchanged all but $25 billion of their short-term Treasuries – the most liquid securities that are easy to turn into cash by simply “running them off” as they mature – for paper of unknown quality and we are not permitted to know from whom they’ve taken it or what sort of actual credit quality it has. That amount of money, by the way, is about half of all the retained earnings that The Fed has managed to accumulate over the last 80 years.
They have pumped well over $200 billion in excess liquidity into the system since last summer, making dollars very plentiful. This is in direct contradiction to the claim of a “Strong Dollar Policy”; the way you make something desirable, and therefore expensive (strong) is to make it scarce. Ben has done the exact opposite, on purpose, and he is unrepentant in this regard.
They have taken steps that are arguably unlawful in that they explicitly overstepped the limits of “discounting a note”, which is where their authority supposedly begins and ends, with Bear Stearns in that they effectively purchased that $29 billion in assets and are now operating a separate LLC (with Blackrock as the manager.) The only paper that The Fed is supposed to explicitly purchase is United States Treasury paper. Go read The Federal Reserve Act.
He has granted a “no bid” contract using the excuse of “crisis”, and yet when asked in the hearing whether, now that the crisis was passed, he would send it out for bid and see if it was appropriately priced (and possibly replace Blackrock) he said “he’d think about it.”
Have willfully looked the other way while financial firms – essentially all of them – have lied repeatedly about their capital needs, losses and intentions.
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewarticle+articleid_2388420~title_The-Choice-Is-Your.html
Love to see the turn out at million dollar + open houses this weekend, maybe if they serve food a few homeless people will come by. Won’t be long before the realtors will be getting up on those grante counters to service the would be buyers.
RE: Aussie Beverages
Here is a good simple recipe for an Aussie Red
6 lbs. Extra Light DME or equivelant Pils Malt
1 lb. Crystal 60
1 lb. Belgian Aromatic
1/2 lb. CaraPils
1 oz Saaz @ 60; 1/2 @ 30; 1/2 @ 15; (3.5% AA)
Mash for 155 for 60 mins
WLP009 Australian Ale Yeast
This is for the truly “underwater” borrower Ahoy, me subprime maties! Hilarious!
http://newyork.craigslist.org/jsy/sub/750726757.html
this is like Rome without the cool parts. we are hosed.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/more-ask-sleepover-test-drive/story.aspx?guid=%7B9504C1CA%2D2AF9%2D4442%2DB5D7%2D4D3BBD0EBE92%7D
BC 117,
yet people think we will some how escape a similar fate?????
Sybarite:
If a ND2 (new deal 2) is enacted once the SHTF then it will be pretty much like the first one. The infrastructure of the USA is in very poor condition and needs to be overhauled. ND2 can put the population to work redeveloping it . And if the government is REALLY smart (hahah funny i know) then they will rebuild the infrastructure with a ND2 plan to focus on non-fossil fuels. Non-fossil fuels need a different infrastructure to be used efficiently . SO really in some ways a collapse could be a blessing in disguise
so what would happen if no bailout? mortgages unavailable, house prices plunge 90%?
All this fixation with Australian wines, mostly the ones sold in US are crap. I had originally though that this was the case, although I have had some from smaller vineyards from specialty wine stores which are fairly good. That being said it is not something I would go out of my way to seek, for value South American wines beat the pants off of most places you can get fairly good Italian style wines from Chile and Argentina, Malbec, even Merlot the quality of wines has improved drastically(Although still a lot of cheap crap as well comes from Argentina), etc. Their are also some reasonable French wines that are fantastic. The problem with Australian wines is the shipping costs for the smaller producers is high and therefore the wine costs way more than it should. We simply do not import enough from Australia for the shipping of these product to be cheap period.
123 skeptic.
If we really go into a depression lookout for the riots focused on kicking illegal aliens out. As at that point they are a threat to the average joe being able to acquire necessary resources (i.e food water shelter)because the illegals will be competition for theses very limited resources.
Kettle,
I agree; in addition to what you suggest, I would also like to see more public transport infrastructure.
I just don’t know where the money would come from. Even MORE national debt? How was the original new deal funded?
kettle,
Yeah, it kind of s#cks when your debt load is approcx $9 Trillion, 55-60T when you add entitlement programs, and are forced to go to the market with unprecedented new supply.
What foreign country provides the best alternative, when you combine politics, stability, legal system, tax rates, health care, etc.. I’m ready to buy a ticket. Let the masters play in their owh s*it.
BC Bob,
CH?
#130 BC Bob
Singapore
dude, this is a very serious situation, so give the scapegoating a rest for at least a day.
the sky is falling and you keep obsessing about the illegals.
HC
“kettle1 Says:
July 11th, 2008 at 11:12 am
123 skeptic.
If we really go into a depression lookout for the riots focused on kicking illegal aliens out. As at that point they are a threat to the average joe being able to acquire necessary resources (i.e food water shelter)because the illegals will be competition for theses very limited resources.”
Singapore? Isn’t drug abuse punishable by death there?
“The companies bought or guaranteed 81 percent of all mortgage securities created in the first quarter, almost double their share of a year earlier, according to Ofheo data.”
f- it. let them go down and real estate can be bought with cash like in the old days
Dow below 11k
bairen Says:
July 11th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Does anyone know where I can get Australian beer in NJ? Like James Boag or James Squire. I can only find Fosters.
Dude…it really pains me to post this…but pick tab #5…
http://www.outbacksteakhouse.com/foodandmenus/drinkmenu.aspx
#137 chicagofinance
Thanks. I’d go for the James Boag, then Coopers and avoid Toohey’s and fosters.
I wonder if I can order a James boag to go, and forget the food.
The Fannie and Freddie doomsday scenario
http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/09/news/companies/benner_fanniefreddie.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008071108
“The doomsday scenario could cost taxpayers more than $1 trillion, says the S&P report. The report went so far as to say that a government bailout of Fannie or Freddie could force the agency to lower its rating on the creditworthiness of the United States.”
How long before we see double digit rates on govies?
Happy C
I don’t think kettle was suggesting that was a good thing. You’re going after the wrong guy.
Interesting NPR discussion claimed that illegals could be reason why the unemployment numbers are not as bad as they seem to be. Laid off illegals were never counted as employed anyway.
sybarite
We dont have to pay (in a sense) we have the majority of the resources we need. The government supplies food shelter and health care in return for the work of the people. This could allow the US to rebuild its industrial base while providing for the people.
I am not nieve enough to think that it would be all puppy dogs and rainbows, but its a first run proposal.
The current level of corruption in the US government would probably kill any such plan thought due to graft in operation
#130 BC Bob
ivanscampground.com/
I recommend Ivan’s Stress Free Campground on Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands. Campsites are $20 a night. Bathrooms with fresh (cool)water showers included. Semi outdoor kitchen with stove and oven. There is an honor bar where you make your own drinks and keep your own tab. Soggy Dollar bar and restaurant down the beach serves up “Painkillers” if you don’t feel like making your own. Sing alongs just about every night with surpise guests- which have included Keith Richards, Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Chesney to name a few.
Hubby spent six weeks there after selling NJ house and business. I had to leave after 10 days- job related.
We’re contemplating spending all of next winter there.
HC
I am not making any comments on the positive or negative aspects of illegal immigration ( not in this post at least)
I was simply pointing out that when a population comes under pressure for scarce recourses, that they will focus their anger on the perceived bad guy. Recent events and recent history show that illegal immigrants and immigrants in general are the first ones to bear the brunt of the anger.
i have not commented on the merits of such a reaction.
oh, ok. didn’t know whether kettle was good or bad. i stick to Black Label myself.
HC
“njpatient Says:
July 11th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Happy C
I don’t think kettle was suggesting that was a good thing. You’re going after the wrong guy.”
“Sing alongs just about every night with surpise guests- which have included Keith Richards, Jimmy Buffett and Kenny Chesney to name a few”
NJC [143],
If the Boss is scheduled to appear, let me know. I’m in.
NJ coast 144,
i have been there an fully concur!!!
130 BC Bob,
find a country that has ample natural resources and is not heavily oil dependent (basically europe or the US). I would consider costa rica, beliezz or austraila.
From todays WSJ: The Flaws in the FHA Housing Bill
“Lawmakers can say they’ve “done something” about the crisis. The only problem is the bill won’t work. Contractual and incentive problems in securitized mortgages will defeat the legislation’s attempt to provide a significant amount of relief.”
“For securitized loans, there is no “lender” who can write down the principal. Instead, management of the loan is contracted out to a servicer. Frequently, servicers are contractually forbidden from modifying loans or else significantly restricted in their ability to do so. This alone will prevent many mortgages from being eligible for FHA refinancing.”
“Even when servicers can modify loans, they have no incentive to do so for the FHA program. Servicers incur significant costs (up to $1,600) in modifying a loan. Moreover, servicers’ income is mainly based on the amount of principal outstanding in a securitization trust. When a loan leaves the pool because of a refinancing, the servicer ceases to receive revenue from it. Any equity appreciation in the property would be shared by the mortgage holder and the FHA, but not the servicer. In short, servicers have nothing to gain and everything to lose by engaging in the write-downs necessary for the FHA bill to work.”
“Another obstacle: Many homeowners have second mortgages, and many of these second mortgages are completely “underwater” — or out of money. The second mortgages are frequently held by different entities than the first mortgages. In order for the refinanced mortgage to be insured by FHA, the second mortgage holder would have to be bought out.Underwater second mortgagees (and many might be underwater even after a write-down on the first mortgage), have nothing to lose by holding out for a high payout and will block many refinancings. The FHA bill does not fix this problem.”
“Third, the FHA is not staffed to handle hundreds of thousands of refinancings, and neither are mortgage servicers (if they were willing to cooperate). It will take several months for the FHA program to hit full speed. In the meantime, foreclosures will continue, in the hundreds of thousands. The next Congress, in all likelihood, will have to revisit this problem — in 2009.”
“To the extent that lenders are willing and able to do the write-down necessary for the FHA refinancing, they will only do so for loans that they think are worth less than 85 cents on the dollar. Lenders will retain loans with a higher expected recovery rate. This means there is an adverse selection problem for the FHA refinancing. Lenders will only sell the FHA their worst lemons, so the FHA will be overpaying for bum loans.”
The biggest beneficiary of this bail out is really Friends of Dodd & Co not the struggling Home owner. The only loans that can get modified easily will be the ones still held with the banks and not the securitized ones.
#142
“The government supplies food shelter and health care in return for the work of the people. This could allow the US to rebuild its industrial base while providing for the people.”
Might as well, since the government is about to repo a lot of shelters.
Hello all from the new office.
Going well with the transition, but busy. Only able to be here because most of the office is 4 days for the summer so it is pretty quiet.
I thought Pret worked for a Real Estate investment group. Was sent to the UK last year to look at commercial properties. Decided to go with Manchester from what I understood.
O.K. whose been going long CAT, you depressing bunch of misanthropes.
Bulldoze Mcmansions. Hmmmppf.
Why that would be like….
WONDERFUL.
Don’t you dare get preachy with me. This whole crisis today can be attributed to a impolitic statement made by Bill Poole that Fannie & Freddie were already insolvent. A negative thought that has roiled the markets all day today.
The general celebratory mood here is almost like a victory celebration. That’s extremely shameful and sickening.
RentinginNJ Says:
July 11th, 2008 at 10:08 am
You terrorists wanted to see this happen so you did everything you possibly could to destroy the housing markets.
Should you ever decide to step out of your delusional fantasy world of “fighting terrorists” and engage in a serious discussion about the housing bubble and economic bubbles in general, you would find that the naysayers generally have very little impact on how a collapsing bubble unfolds.
In fact, history has shown that the naysayers generally contribute more to rising prices than they do the bubble’s collapse. Bubbles always last longer and prices go up further than most naysayers believe. As the early predictions of a collapse never materialize (the Economist in 2003, for example), the bears appear to be proven wrong again and again. This only serves to further embolden the bulls who take this evidence that “things really are different this time”.
By the time the bubble does actually burst, the bears have been dismissed by the speculative masses as “chicken littles” or having a case of sour grapes. After all, they didn’t have the financial acumen to recognize this brave new world where buying and selling houses from each other is the foundation of permanent economic prosperity
pat,
given how flimsy most mcmansions were built, a nice thermobaric bomb detonated over the center of the neighborhood would be much more effective! you could drop an entire development with 1 bomb
153,
Sigh, if only you were real Scarecrow.
Reuters
Paulson shoots down Fannie, Freddie bailout
I guess it’s a given now.
Are you speaking to me or would you like to? If you’d like to, you better learn some damn manners first. Don’t start anything you can’t finish.
morpheus Says:
July 11th, 2008 at 10:32 am
To Renting in NJ #94:
Hear, hear! I could not have said it better myself!
To the “little man” who is continuing his noble fight against the terrorist on this blog: Dude, lighten up. I do not condone the use of drugs, but in your case I will make the exception. I strongly urge you to self medicate to the point where you can at least form a coherent argument. Oh wait a minute; you have not made any arguments that I have seen in my months viewing this blog. In that case, put down the bong and have a beer. Trust me, you need to relax.
To the member of homeland security monitoring this blog: the preceding was only a joke and is should not be construed as anything actionable under law. But many a joke contains some kernel of truth
Open letter to Re-investor 101:
Since you are obviously a smart individual, can you please explain how all the “negativity” on this board caused all the problems we are having in the Re market? Please explain how that caused the current implosion of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. After all, we are not the ones who took a bet that housing prices would continue to rise and we could always refinance our property later.
I must admit that I do find it ironic that one month after paying down the last of my student loan debt, there exists the probability that despite my excellent credit, there might not be any mortgage financing available for me.
Ah. Sweet irony
Re 156:
Yeah right up there with his “strong dollar”
#153 – This whole crisis today can be attributed to a impolitic statement made by Bill Poole that Fannie & Freddie were already insolvent. A negative thought that has roiled the markets all day today.
So your problem isn’t that they are, in actuality, insolvent; just that someone would so indelicate as to mention it.
Let me tell you something, you’ve not earned the right to ask me one damn question until you exhibit some respect. I’m not taking any crap off some young fresh faced punk. Apologize to me first and then I’ll think about answering your question.
morpheus Says:
July 11th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Open letter to Re-investor 101:
Since you are obviously a smart individual, can you please explain how all the “negativity” on this board caused all the problems we are having in the Re market? Please explain how that caused the current implosion of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. After all, we are not the ones who took a bet that housing prices would continue to rise and we could always refinance our property later.
I must admit that I do find it ironic that one month after paying down the last of my student loan debt, there exists the probability that despite my excellent credit, there might not be any mortgage financing available for me.
Ah. Sweet irony
Poole needs to keep his damn thoughts to himself. He knew what he was doing to the markets.
toshiro_mifune Says:
July 11th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
#153 – This whole crisis today can be attributed to a impolitic statement made by Bill Poole that Fannie & Freddie were already insolvent. A negative thought that has roiled the markets all day today.
So your problem isn’t that they are, in actuality, insolvent; just that someone would so indelicate as to mention it.
Talking heads “burning down the house” is the new Fannie Mae song.
isnt the next step congress sweetening the pot enough for the loan servicers so that all parties involved will dump their garbage on the gov?
“This whole crisis today can be attributed to a impolitic statement made by Bill Poole that Fannie & Freddie were already insolvent.”
50.5,
The market had already determined this. Poole was simply icing on the cake. On the flip side, maybe a dagger in your heart. Depends on where one sits.
10,990 is the current Dow average. I remember asking people on the board whether they thought I was nuts in thinking the Dow would end hit 11,000 before election day. Now I wonder if 10,500 or even 10,250 might be in sight. Just one shot across the bow of a ship in the Gulf may be enough to cause another oil price spike and, with it, a hammering of stock prices — except for Northrop, General Dynamics, Raytheon, and other defense contractors.
re101,
you didnt answer the question. banking is essential built on trust. If the customers/stock holders of the bank do not trust its ability to service debts and depositors, then it deserves to fail.
Oh, and i am glad that you have gotten back into your troll groove1 welcome back
re: #139
Wow. “The report went so far as to say that a government bailout of Fannie or Freddie could force the agency to lower its rating on the creditworthiness of the United States”
That pretty much says it all.
Re-Investor 101:
Fresh faced punk? Thank you. I actually look good for a forty year old. Thank you for the compliment.
The only one who I believe is fresh faced is my little boy of 3.5 years.
Don’t start anything you can’t finish? Are you now making threats? Now that is funny!
So, most of us on this board, who lived within our means, and oh. . . .remembered the real estate market in the late 80’s and early 90’s and decided not to listen the BS that real estate agents and analysts were spewing are terrorists?
Let’s take the Way-Back Machine to two years ago, 6/13/2006 to be exact.
Everyone expects a downward trend except Freddie (Hat tip x-underwriter)
U.S. mortgage finance company Freddie Mac said on Tuesday that rising interest rates would lead to a slowdown in the U.S housing market but added it did not expect the market to crash.
…
Syron said, however, that the U.S. housing market was unlikely to crash, despite fears of the effect of higher rates.
“We do not think that there will be a crash. We think that by and large, overall, nationally, there will be a material slowing of the rate of appreciation of housing prices, but not an absolute decline,” he said.
…
“There’s a lot of equity in these properties. We don’t think we’re very vulnerable from a credit position,” said Syron, although he added that 2006 was likely to be a “slower growing year” than 2005 in terms of Freddie Mac’s retained portfolio.
Here we go, Jim Cramer on CNBC saying “stay in stocks”
My Dad is 79 and just got his IRA statement, lost 7,000 in one quarter. Why he has so much in stocks is another question…my 401 lost about 200 bucks in the past 12 months….I temporarily moved to mostly cash, and will move back in later..but I am still dollar cost averaging in to some funds. What is wrong with moving to cash for the short term? If I left it the stock funds and lost 20%, i would have to gain back much more than that to be ahead. With cash, I can hold onto the 20% and buy back in on the downside..i think cash is king right now.
167 shore guy..why can other countries be down 50% and not us? I believe we can go further, I think, if I am correct, 40% off the peak dow would give you 8,600. Could it be out of the realm of possibility?
but, but how can there be a recession if people are still camping out at night for a iphone.
/sarcasm_off
#163
“reinvestor101 Says:
July 11th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Poole needs to keep his damn thoughts to himself. He knew what he was doing to the markets.”
The truth hurts doesn’t it.
Poole was very outspoken about the systemic risk posed by Fannie and Freddie in the 05/06 period.
His statement, to me, seems nothing more than a big ol’ “I told you so”.
I posted this on the fool back on 3/1/08
http://caps.fool.com/Pitch/FRE/2025203/this-gse-had-to-restate-earnin.aspx
likestofocus (95.36) Submitted: 3/01/08 10:39 AM : Start Price: $24.62 FRE Score: 68.08
This GSE had to restate earning when times were good. it took years to unwind its curious accounting practices.
I wonder what’s going on behind the curtain as the housing bubble collapses? Possible future acronym for Freddie
Found out
Holding
Loans
Mortgagees
Can’t pay
LTF
#177 I picked it to underperform.
#176 grim
I wish we had Poole instead of Bergabe ruining, I mean running the show..
Or the classic:
“What are you gonna do, fire me?”
Shore Guy, my call has been the the past yr or so that the Dow will fall below 10k probably in the 9,000 or so range if the recession is as bad as I think it is going to be so yes it is quite possible for markets to fall 30-40% off peak. I am kicking myself for not loading up on dxd at $47 per share in less than 3 months I would have gotten a 40% return.
to Kettle1 at #168:
You are right, he did not answer the question.
I am sure I would have notice that, but the fresh-faced punk compliment demanded a response. I admit I can be little vain. Fresh faced=young, right?? This is almost like being carded at the liquor store where I tell the cashier that I love them for carding me.
OMG, Rich, calm down. No, we are not having a morpheus versus Gary beauty contest.
“The FDIC is in charge” was the verbal announcement ringing through the halls of IndyMac’s Pasadena offices. “Everyone show up for work on Monday.”
http://ml-implode.com/imploded/lender_IndyMacBancorp_2008-07-07.html
grown men waiting in line for a toy (iphone) during the middle of the workday is why I say bring on the Mexicans. they have got to be an improvement over this crap
reinvestor101 has lost his mind. It’s true there’s a bit too much schadenfreude here at times but to suggest that njrereport.com is somehow alligned with terrorists, or that this blog caused anything in the markets is delusional.
173 No reason at all. Look what happened after 9-11.
Details, details, details. Besides, the arena is too important to close.
NEWARK, N.J. – The Prudential Center arena was closed Friday after city officials failed to receive proper documentation from the New Jersey Devils, the building’s owner, on improvements to be made to the smoke alarm system.
The decision to close the $380 million arena, which opened in October, was made around midnight by Neil Midtgard, the city’s construction official.
The Prudential Center has been operating under a temporary certificate of occupancy since opening in October 2007, which has been renewed at regular intervals.
According to Julien X. Neals, corporation counsel for Newark, the terms of the CO required the Devils to provide complete documentation on additional work scheduled to upgrade the smoke alarm system by midnight Thursday.
The Devils plan to add more smoke detectors to the building and upgrade a pressurization system in the stairwells that will more effectively ensure that smoke flows away from the stairs.
[Snip]
Pat (183),
WHOA! No ones better loooking then Gary!
#154 rediaperwipe: the only thing shemaeful is you. And before you start with the toliet tissue stoty again,
let me just say, that at leat I use toliet tissue, as opposed to yourself.
I hate to admit it, but every time Gary spews, thanks to Rich, I now picture Jesus, with that cursing disorder John misspells.
50.5 is cracking under pressure.
50.5 – please call your therapist, I am getting concerned for your roommates in the homeless shelter.
25.25 actually.
Per the earlier discussion:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/25634971
Dow 9,500 and Waiting for Capitulation
Posted By:Allen Wastler
Topics:Stock Market
There’s a joke among news folks that two points make a trend. If it does, and of course it doesn’t, I heard an alarming one this morning: the Dow going down into the 9,500 zone.
It came from Ben Lichtenstein, president of TradersAudio.com, on “Squawk Box” this morning. I listen to it on my satellite radio as I drive in. He suggested if the Dow trips through 11,000 or lower, then 9,500 is a possibility too.
[Snip]
If this comes to pass before November, it is goodnight Irene to McCain and a boatload of Republicans will get swept out of the Senate. Then the real problems start.
I concede that Gary is in all likelihood much better looking than me. With that settled, I hand him my tiara and scepter. Does that make him Mr. New Jersey Real Estate Report of 2008? I must have been asleep; I think I missed the talent competition and the swimsuit competition.
#194 morpheus: gary’s interest are real estate of course. He enjoys long walks on the beach, and will strive for world peace.
Gary’s also a shoe-in for Mr. congeniality.
# 80 It is already happening, for some people anyway. I have a friend who is now living in his basement ann is renting his bedrooms to assorted people. His business got hammered and he was overextended at the time. In order to keep the house this is what he had to do.
Are we officially in a Lewinski Market now?
grim Says:
Everyone expects a downward trend except Freddie (Hat tip x-underwriter)
Ahh, the good old days. That was when there was a legitimate debate as to what would happen to the housing market. Sorry reinvestor101, you lost your window of opportunity to have someone listen to you. Now you’re just the spokesperson for the desperate victims of the whole thing.
knee pads on sale at walmart
#197 Shore – I think it will happen more and more. Huge house, kids gone, widow living alone having trouble with expenses. It will make sense for a lot of people. And boarding houses used to be fairly common and were respectable places for people to live. Let’s see, that was back in the thirties when the depression was in full force. Who was it who said history doesn’t repeat itself but it rhymes?
I picture RE 101 in those new short pants with somes spats and suspenders to boot. But he is the king of free market capitalism so for that I give him some kudos and a big booo yaaaa.
# 84/92 I am not even sure that this Autumn will be right. There are so many people, especially in OG (where ocean-view housing was dirt cheap even 15 years ago), bought homes at far below even recently-depressed values and have a mental block about losing the appreciated gain and who will not lose real dollars no matter how far prices drop (damn this is one run-on sentence) and are unwilling to lower prices to make sales; they will hang on and enjoy the proximity to the beach rather than sell. Others, who bought at the top, but who can afford to pay the mortgage, will not sell at realistic prices because they do not want to turn a paper loss into a realized loss. The folks who seem to be dropping prices are the banks that have taken-back properties and folks who have the wolf at the door and are looking to get away with something.
For many Shore residents, I don’t see them coming to grips with the need to drop prices until maybe May of next year. Why May? By then we should have several quarters of official recession, rental income may not be a sure bet for those counting on summer rentals to meet the mortgage, and the drag of continued high gas prices may reduce demand amongst commuters.
The sellers I have spoken with are still Panglossian in outlook, “Shore real estate is the best of all possible worlds.”
# 210 “knee pads on sale at walmart”
Is that what our “leaders” mean by jawboning our allies?
If Paulson announces that he is going overeseas to bring cigars to our allies, that’s it. I just hope he has the sense not to wear a blue dress, or at least to get it dry cleaned after the “jawboning” is done.
Gary is hot.
what is with this rally?
FRE up 5%?!
Wachovia Sells Broadway Building in New York City at a Loss
A joint venture led by Wachovia Corp. agreed to sell a 21-story office building in midtown Manhattan’s garment district at a $41 million loss, people with knowledge of the decision said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=argZU2ttAB3E&refer=home
INSANE OPTIONS VOL JUST HAPPENED WATCH OUT
http://www.kpmginsiders.com/display_reuters2.asp?cs_id=222269
Fed’s Bernanke Tells GSE Chief Freddie & Fannie Eligible for Federal Reserve’s Discount Window: Reuters
Here is the bailout!
You’ve got to be kidding. Can I go to the window?
Yields on the 10yr up on bond sell-off.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Freddie Mac chief Richard Syron that his company and Fannie Mae could take advantage of the emergency discount window, said a source familiar with a conversation between Bernanke and Freddie Mac chief Richard Syron.
Bernanke and Syron spoke by phone Thursday afternoon and in that call the central bank chief said he intended the discount window to be open to the two companies, said a source familiar with the phone conversation.
When that window opens, does it play the same song as the Mr. Softee truck?
BCBob #17:
I too want to be “creamated” – perhaps it is the new American death – people overextended on their loans suffocated in clouds of heavy cream or Haagen Dazs. No pain involved – which is what we all want.
(sounds like a taxpayer bailout to me)
Pat,
I always thought the song would be the March of the Elephants.
Speaking of Mr. Softee, I had this idea a few years back to replace the annoying and oft-ignored car alarm siren with the Mr. Softee tune. This way, when someone tries to break in, the car will immediately be surrounded by children screaming, “ice cream and stop.”
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s…. oh, I’m sorry… I didn’t see you walk in! lol! :)
I love you all! :)
Phew…market slowly realizing that the opening of the discount window means FNM/FRE are probably insolvent.
#217 Pat,
I think it plays Imagine with new words.
Imagine Fannie and Freddie were still solvent
Imagine all the people, living within their means
Nothing to heloc or charge for
Imagine there’s no granite or stainless too.
Pat i believe that this is what you hear at the window
http://mama.indstate.edu/users/nizrael/midis/bigtop.mid
How about a new NAR campaign slogan?
“Buy it now, before all new mortgages vanish”
Heeeeeeee Heeeeeeeee
“Buy it now, before all new mortgages vanish”
Frank,
I would love it.
#222 frank
That’s beautiful.
the audicity of these politicians is just unbelievable. are we supposed to believe this type of thing is unrelated to the massive bailouts they are contemplating?
from the NYTimes:
*********
Toward the end of his news conference, Mr. Rangel suggested that it was absurd that he should be criticized, asking rhetorically whether he should place an ad in a newspaper asking, “Is there any place I can get this at a higher price because there’s some crazy reporter who thinks I have a good deal?”
After Mr. Rangel walked away, reporters followed him, and a Times reporter, Jeremy W. Peters, asked the congressman why he did not disclose his rent discounts on his financial disclosure reports. Mr. Rangel’s reply was testy: “Paying the legal rent is not a gift. Are you doing this deliberately, or are you just stupid?”
we call it balls
and rangel is in the same leauge as the rest of them
shake down artists.
where’s carla when we need her?
Kettle, I’m picturing Bergabe in one of those white paper hats, handing out big popcorn buckets full of cash.
he says this stuff on the record!
**********
When a reporter asked Mr. Rangel whether he thought the publicity about his four rent-stabilized apartments would harm his chances for reelection or put any pressure on him to resign, he responded, his voice thick with sarcasm, “Yeah, I’ll have to give that some serious thought. Yes, I may give up the chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee and give up the seat I’ve had for 38 years and say, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, how could this happen to me?’”
Discount window for fnm/fre may have been a rumour.
Rangel is Reinvestor.
will someone ring the bell
“Kettle, I’m picturing Bergabe in one of those white paper hats, handing out big popcorn buckets full of cash.”
Pat,
I just need to find one with that white hat.
http://www.lexlowther.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/bernanke-action.jpg
“will someone ring the bell”
John,
The bell was rung 2 years ago. It was repeated numerous times in August, 2007.
The discount window is a liquidity tool, not a solvency tool. FNM/FRE have primarily a capital (solvency) issue, not a cash issue.
I fail to see how this really helps them.
Let me tell you something. You know you’re not supposed to be on this board right now and I’m just barely tolerating your presence here.
Don’t push me lady…
Pat Says:
July 11th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Rangel is Reinvestor.
I take that back. You’re too much of a Ladies’ Man to be Rangel.
LOL
Final nail in the coffin for delusional sellers;
“The fate of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be hanging in the balance but many mortgage borrowers already find themselves struggling to find affordable loans.
Because of the turmoil surrounding Fannie and Freddie, recent borrowers are likely paying nearly 10% more in monthly mortgage payments than they would have.”
“The added cost stems from an erosion in confidence in Fannie and Freddie, according to Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Economy.com.”
“Some lenders are really pulling in their horns,” said Steve Habetz, a Connecticut mortgage broker. They’re getting scared. They’re demanding really clean loan applications with every i dotted and every t crossed. What is happening now is compounding the damage which has already devastated the housing market.”
http://biz.yahoo.com/cnnm/080711/071108_fannie_freddie_woes.html?.&.pf=loans
98, kettle: it’s bad. it’s going to get much worse. but no step i can take as an individual will change the group horror that could be immanent.
so i sympathize with the people who consciously stick their heads in the sand. maybe the train will hurt less if they can’t see it coming.
Let’s go easy on 50.5. The rating agencies will be reevaluating his holdings this weekend. He may lose a notch, maybe 25.25
Re 25.1 (formerly 101)
You do realize that this is public board dont you? If you dont like it go start your ow blog and see how many people you can pull in. Many on the board find you to be fairly annoying and delusional, however you dont see many requests for you to leave do you?
Tolerance try it.
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. Voltaire
RE: fredie mac/ fanie mae:
This puts a damper on my plan to start making more offers on homes in September. Have to see where this shakes up. Even if I make the offer, I think financing just got more difficult to find and expensive.
Re-investor 101:
Am I missing something? Why is Pat not allowed on this board? Please do not have a stroke or aheart attack. Count to 10: try it, it is easy—1….2….3…..breathe in/breathe out. Ohm. . .Ohm. . . Ohm
“The discount window is a liquidity tool, not a solvency tool.”
[235],
Exactly.
Hi everyone. I have a question/need advice. Me and my husband went to see houses last weekend with OUR FIRST Agent. We loved the one of the houses so we asked the agent to do some research on the house. He responded our request and sent us some info also told us there is an offer on the table. I thought once there is an offer, the GSMLS will have A*. But I haven’t seen it on this property. Also, he told us the price of the offer is more than let’s say $400,000. Can agent disclose this much to us? So, if this agent was lying about this OFFER, then what should we do? We just sign the contract with him for finding a house for us. Please help!
Hi Sal,
The A* only shows up once the listing goes under attorney review.
I don’t think the realtor is allowed to disclose the amount of the other offer, but I’ll defer the answer to actual realtors on this board.
Bernanke can’t save stocks
Discount-window comment like ‘throwing a deck chair off the Titanic’
Why are people scared to talk to the owner. Just give him a call or ring his bell. Make him/her the offer. What the heck.
Say hello to a global deflationary depression initiated by inflation
some interesting charts of money supply dropping
Monetarists warn of crunch across Atlantic economies
Thanks, COAH: Not enough land, money or time
The mayor said RCAs were a tool used by Middletown in order to be COAH compliant.
RCAs allowed a municipality to sell up to 50 percent of its housing obligations to other towns wanting to rehabilitate existing units.
With RCAs rescinded, Scharfenberger said the township will have to build all affordable housing units within the borders of Middletown. “There is a major problem with that,” he said.
Scharfenberger said the township is over 90-percent “built out.” Aside from having to find the space, he said the township would have to secure funds for any additional units.
He said Middletown would have to build affordable housing on a 4-to-1 ratio. Scharfenberger said this would mean that one affordable unit would be required per every four market-rate units.
The mayor said the possibility of thousands of further housing obligations would devastate Middletown and require a taxpayer subsidization of $18 billion.
Scharfenberger said the new COAH rules would ultimately change the quality of life in Middletown forever.
a blurb from the article:
The key measures of US cash, checking accounts, and time deposits – M1 and M2 – have been contracting in real terms for several months. A dramatic slowdown in Britain’s broader M4 aggregates is setting off alarm bells here.
Money data – a leading indicator – is telling a very different story from the daily headlines on inflation, now 4.1pc in the US, 3.7pc in Europe, and 3.3pc in Britain.
Paul Kasriel, chief economist at Northern Trust, says lending by US commercial banks contracted at an annual rate of 9.14pc in the 13 weeks to June 18, the most violent reversal since the data series began in 1973. M2 money fell at a rate of 0.37pc.
“The money supply is crumbling in the US. There was a very sharp lending contraction in the second quarter lending. If the Federal Reserve is forced to raise rates now to defend the dollar, it would be checkmate for the US economy,” he said.
Cranbury joins second COAH lawsuit
CRANBURY — The township has joined a second lawsuit against the Council on Affordable Housing to fight the recently adopted third round rules.
The Township Committee approved a resolution Monday authorizing an interlocal agreement that will allow it to join Clinton Township, the municipality spearheading the suit, and Hunterdon County’s Union and Montgomery townships and Warren County’s Greenwich Township.
The townships are taking issue with new affordable housing rules that more than double the statewide obligation from 52,000 to 115,000 and increase Cranbury’s obligations from 160 to 469 affordable housing units.
Wouldn’t an increase in the FFR boost the dollar, hence driving down the cost of crude as a consequence?
Which could free up consumer spending, causing a mild boost in the economy?
Please splain. Raising interest rates chokes growth since it costs more for businesses to borrow, correct?
July 7 (Bloomberg) — Deutsche Bank AG, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and UBS AG say the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will gain the most in 26 years during this year’s second half. That isn’t going to happen, if history is any guide.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aTjWQbjpkpxk
HAHAHAHA
253 syb
from an oil perspective, a hike ( if high enough) could case some stabilization in oil prices and perhaps a small decline but most of the oil price is coming from other factors. I cannot speak in any confident manner on the finance side of that question
Fed Says No Talks With Fannie, Freddie About Discount Window
Nice Editorial
Mount Laurel
#243 morpheus:Even if I make the offer.
Just discount your offer more, with financing drying up, it will be ana dditional premium charged by the buyer to the seller.
#248 John:Make him/her the offer. What the heck.
That will be my plan.
Thank you for the reply Sybarite. So, do you think we can switch the agent without telling him? It can be very awkward telling him why we are leaving him. Also how should we find Buyer’s Agent. We call some agent off the list and interviewed before and that was such an waist of time. None of them believes in low balling or current situation is not the bottom. This time, we got this agent just because we wanted to see some property around his office.
#254 kettle: What can you say, they are clowns, plain and simple.
Sal,
you mentioned that you signed something. You need to read what you signed to see what your obligation is.
#260 Sal: Why don’t you just wait at this point,and see watch this all play out. What is the rush?
House prices are not going up any time soon, but they are going down every day. So why not wait?
Anybody fluent in Mandarin, looking for an entry level operations position? Positions in NY and NJ. You can get my email address from JB.
Kettle,
I think there’s better odds of two of those three not being in existence at the end of the second half of this year.
Can someone get a history on the following property?
gsmls: 2478039
This house was new construction in the past 2 years and I can’t believe its current listing price!
RD – I am a very long time lurker. I enjoy your site more than you folks can ever imagine. I just don’t have much to offer very often….
Hi BC Bob,
How about basic Mandarin and fluent Spanish?
CU,
Unfortunately, it’s fluent, read/write, Mandarin.
“Thanks sas. My local bank is Wachovia. Oops. Anyone know how long it takes for the FDIC to reimburse depositors of a failed bank?”
Remember blokes!
FDIC means nothing.
and if you are so lucky to get your money from FDIC, its going to take an awful long time to get it back. Meanwhile, the dollar will continue to fall, and your bills still come due.
Don’t feel safe because something says FDIC.
Also, if you are in Wachovia.. yikes!
SAS
Grim,
we should run a piece of FDIC.
alot of people have a flase sense of confidence in FDIC.
SAS
Sal,
Are you sure you signed a contract to buy with this agent, and not a CIS form. I find people confuse this. If you went with this agent because of his listing he is a seller’s and possible dual agent if you bought not your buyer agent.
KL
RIP IndyMac:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=afqgUyWiMPuY&refer=home
Shout Out. Hiram’s. 1345 Palisade Ave.
Fort Lee, NJ 7024 Hotdogs….amazing.
Essex 273 Been doing Hirams since I was a kid. Callahans was right next door now a bank?
@266 ReadngtnDude:
I saw that listing earlier and got spooked by the pair of bare 2×4’s that hold up the kitchen ceiling:
http://new.gsmls.com/media/getImage.do?mlnum=2478039&res=highres&num=4
That is a sign of /very/ poor construction. Beware.
275: That sounds like someone did not read how to calculate load and span
OMG just look at the chart! straight line down. poof!
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=IMB#chart1:symbol=imb;range=my;indicator=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=undefined
Inflation! Senate Passes
Senate Approves $300 Billion Plan to Stem Housing Foreclosures
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=arCkN4Hti_s4&refer=home
“Senate Approves $300 Billion Plan to Stem Housing Foreclosures”
looks like the printing press will be workin overtime.
look out inflation.
SAS
IndyMac Taken Over By FDIC
From MarketWatch
Latest victim of mortgage crisis, IndyMac taken over
U.S. banking regulators said Friday they have closed IndyMac Bancorp Inc., the biggest retail bank to succumb to the ongoing U.S. subprime mortgage crisis.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said in a statement it will take over operations of IndyMac, which had total assets of $33.01 billion and total deposits of $19.06 billion as of March 31.
Shares of IndyMac fell more than 10% after hours, to 25 cents.
Serious questions about IndyMac’s viability had been raised earlier this week, when the Pasadena, Calif.-based company said regulators told it that it isn’t “well capitalized.”
The company had agreed to a new business plan with regulators that included halting new mortgages to shrink its balance sheet and improve capital ratios, while announcing it would cut more than half of its workforce.
FDIC means nothing.
its going to be along time before any bank members get any money.
SAS
SAS,
Wachovia is offering 4.25% 1 year CD. Damn I have a checking account with wachvoia, I should get the hell out.
According to FDIC site. The depositor with <$100k will have there money on Monday.
“Wachovia is offering 4.25% 1 year CD. Damn I have a checking account with wachvoia, I should get the hell out”
yup. They need to pull people in.
SAS
“According to FDIC site. The depositor with <$100k will have there money on Monday”
if their web page says it, then it has to be true ;)
thats like when I go through the toll polls, I tell myself, that doesn’t exist.
SAS
WaMu… gone.
SAS
Citibank…gone.
we will be keeping a watchful eye.
SAS
also, about Wachovia… most Joe 6 packs don’t have $5,000 to open.
we have a negative savings rate.
SAS
SAS,
LOL, Yea you are right about the FDIC. About 3 months ago I joined a credit union here in VA. I guess I should get off my ass and start using it. What are you thoughts about ING? I use them for savings? Thanks
sas,
Are here any banks you like?
OMG this is scary
http://www.indymac.com/
Think about this happening with WM, WB, C, BAC, ???
sas
Are there any banks that you like?
lousy typos on 294
ok, is SAS the same ID as SASY?
is sasy sas?
#281
who are the 5 Senators who voted against it? We should ditch the rest of the group and give total control to them
Nice!
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/Fascism+Poster.bmp
“What are you thoughts about ING? I use them for savings? Thanks”
my experience w/ ING is that there customer service sucks, and if you traded with them and have a problem, you won’t see your money for at least a year, because they will stall the heck out of you. Especially for those that once signed up as sharebuilder.com (I think that was the name of it).
other than that, I think they will maintain.
SAS
#300
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!
“Are here any banks you like?”
not really, except for some credit unions.
Look into the grade of your banksm and don’t just assume things won’t happen to you and FDIC will be there to save the day.
I think thats the best advice anyone can give these days.
Although, I am a big believer in midnight gardening :)
SAS
planting some cabbage?
So, while my house could lose half its value, at least it can’t fail…
“ok, is SAS the same ID as SASY”
careful now..I served out on the Cam Lo.
SAS
He’s referring to planting gold.
But the government can seize gold…
“planting some cabbage?”
no. thats a term used for people who like to bury things that they otherwise won’t keep in a safety deposit box.
SAS,
What is midnight gardening? Is that when you go in the backyard at night to bury your cash stash?
S.S no point in burying paper dollars, since they both depreciate and decompose. Anyone’s bet as to which would occur faster…
Executive Order 6102
look into it.
SAS
Skeptic,
Ask and you shall receive
H.R. 3221: Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008
Nay WY Barrasso, John [R]
Nay ID Crapo, Michael [R]
Nay WY Enzi, Michael [R]
Nay AZ Kyl, Jon [R]
Nay SD Thune, John [R]
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-3221
Besides, where are you going to bury it? Everyone only rents (property tax) their land from the government…
“where are you going to bury it? Everyone only rents (property tax) their land from the government”
I never said “where” I do my gardening.
ahh.. young skywalker ;)
SAS
And if I were to convert my measly 7 figures to gold, buried it around my 5 acres, I’d pretty much need to hire 24/7/365 armed guards to defend it, and something to defend me from them.
the bill
HR 3221 EAH
In the House of Representatives, U. S.,
May 8April 10, 2008.
Resolved, That bill from the the House agree to the amendment of the Senate to the title of the bill (H.R. 3221) entitled `An Act moving the United States toward greater energy independence and security, developing innovative new technologies, reducing carbon emissions, creating green jobs, protecting consumers, increasing clean renewable energy production, and modernizing our energy infrastructure, and to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax incentives for the production of renewable energy and energy conservation’ and be it further
Resolved, That the House agree to the amendment of the Senate to the text of the aforesaid bill, with the following
Summary ( not yet updated to fianl draft)
The following is Project Vote Smart’s highlights for this bill, graciously made available by PVS:
# The following summary was for the Passage for this bill on 2007-08-04. The bill may have changed since then.
# -Defines a retail electric supplier as a supplier that sells at least 1 million megawatt-hours of electricity for non-resale use, but excludes suppliers that are operated by the government or by rural electric cooperatives (sec. 9611).
# -Requires 15% of energy produced by retail electrical suppliers to be generated from renewable energy sources by 2020 (Sec. 9611).
# -Allows the Governor of any state to petition the Secretary of Energy to allow up to 25% of the renewable energy requirement to be met by purchasing energy efficiency credits (Sec. 9611).
# -Repeals the tax deduction for income attributable to oil or natural gas (Sec. 13001).
# -Increases development loan limits for companies undergoing projects designed to reduce energy consumption by at least 10 percent (Sec. 3003).
# -Authorizes grants up to $300,000 under the Small Business Sustainability Initiative to provide support to smaller and medium sized businesses to improve environmental performance (Sec. 3005).
# -Establishes the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) within the Department of Energy to develop energy technologies that result in reductions in energy imports and greenhouse gas emissions (Sec. 4001).
# -Requires the President to establish an interagency United States Global Change Research Program to develop scenarios for climate change and convene regional workshops to facilitate information exchange among experts (Sec. 4614).
# -Authorizes loan guarantees of up to $1 billion to assist in the development and construction of bio-refineries and bio-fuel production plants (Sec. 5003).
# -Requires Federal agencies to purchase light or medium-duty passenger vehicles that have been designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as low greenhouse-gas emitting vehicles (Sec. 6201).
# -Requires on-shore oil operators operating a lease under the Mineral Leasing Act to restore any impacted land to its previous conditions, and to replace contaminated water supplies (Sec. 7222-7223).
# -Authorizes $850 million a year in future appropriated funds to reduce fares and expand services for public transportation, including $750 million a year for grants to urbanized areas and $100 million for grants to non-urbanized areas (Sec. 8201).
# -Authorizes $10 million a year in future appropriated funds for grants to railroad carriers and state and local governments for assistance in purchasing hybrid locomotives (Sec. 8301).
#
# -Requires the Secretary of Energy to issue regulations prohibiting the sale of 100 watt general service incandescent lamps after January 1, 2012, unless they emit at least 60 lumens per watt (Sec. 9021).
# -Requires the development of fuel standards for diesel fuel containing 20 percent bio-diesel if the American Society for Testing and Materials has not developed standards within a year (Sec. 9307).
# -Allows a base tax credit for plug-in hybrid vehicles equal to the sum of $4,000 with additional credits for battery capacity, not to exceed an additional $2,000 (Sec. 12001).
# -Phases out the hybrid tax credit the first year that the number of hybrid vehicles sold is at least 60,000 (Sec. 12001).
# -Authorizes a credit for any qualified cellulosic alcohol fuel producer of 50 cents for each gallon of cellulosic fuel produced (Sec. 12004).
So basically they jus threw some money into a pre-existing bill for fannie and freddie
“SD Thune, John [R]”
yeah, he seems like a straight forward fellow.
I do like South Dakota.
Use to goto the Sturgis Ralley out there, party at the Buffalo Chip;)
also, I vist the Native Americans to talk about local issues on the reservations.
SAS
#312
thanks. WY has its head screwed on straight.
MJ,
not if no one knows you buried it. and there are easier ways then a hole in the ground. be creative!!!!
OMFG what do they hire SNL writers to name these bills? The “This bill does the polar opposite of what its title would lead you to believe bill”.
Kettle Kyl from AZ voted nay, really have to give him chops with state of RE in his state. All Rs (5) where the hell is the rest of my party. F**ken sell outs.
“if I were to convert my measly 7 figures to gold, buried it around my 5 acres, I’d pretty much need to hire 24/7/365 armed guards to defend it, and something to defend me from them”
do whats best for you.
SAS
If you bury gold, I will find it with my metal detector…hehehehe
“If you bury gold, I will find it with my metal detector”
sure go for it. but, keep this in mind, there ain’t nothing I haven’t done…twice!!
;)
SAS
maybe i should just buy a metal detector and hunt for other folks midnight gardening treasure?
MJ
besides 7 figures in gold isnt that big in physical size.
$1,000,000 in gold takes up 53 mL based on current gold prices of 970/ounce
$9,000,000 takes up 480 ML
size of 50 ML (a shot glass):
http://img.alibaba.com/photo/11213100/Glass_For_Vodka_50_Ml.jpg
500 ml:
http://www.liquorbrands.com/images/warsteinr%20500ml%20can.jpg
1 ml (mililiter) = 1 cubic centimeter
SAS, i’ve actually read up on a lot of the midnight gardening tricks when King Bush II took office, since I expected all this since then. Tricks like burying your gold 6 feet below huge iron drain pipe, etc.
SAS,
What happens to safe deposit boxes when FDIC takes over?
“besides 7 figures in gold isnt that big in physical size.”
And less almost every day!
MJ, once again be creative
i.e http://www.goldwhy.com/why-hide-your-gold-coins-in-a-safe-place.html
MJ,
I will now look for large pipes in your yard at night ;)
safe deposit boxes not so safe……
in the past the US gov has required that an IRS agent be present when opening a safe deposit box incase you were hiding gold or silver
two laughable moments from the iphone trip …
1) the guy 2 spots in front of me was one of those annoying chatty dudes … and he was joking about selling his spot. And a guy bought it. On the spot. $200. The guy who bought it had on versace glasses (not even shades), and said he was buying it for his daughter, who was at camp.
2) several of us were talking about how young kids have no business with a cellphone. Someone interrupted to say the woman a few spots in line was with her son, who was a rising 4th grader. She was there to buy him a phone. He was playing with a small action figure most of the time.
If you found anything, you’d just find pipes. I’m just not a gold bug.
From that web site: “I believe gold coins are good luck. Keeping a small number of coins on hand will likely bring you some good fortune.”
I’m just not that kinda guy. Despite being Irish, red headed, short of stature, and fond of the color green.
“What happens to safe deposit boxes when FDIC takes over?”
you wish in one hand and take a $hit in the other…
kettle’s post above is correct.
a guard will follow you to your box, and limit what you can take out.
SAS
Just bury a bunch of tin foil in your yard as well. That shoild “foil” the midnight theif with a metal detector
MJ,
I will just dig in your yard for the pipes
Rove jumping ship???
Karl Rove was scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee yesterday. He didn’t show. Not only that, the Committee was told that Rove had left the country on a “long scheduled” trip.
In this video clip, Rep. Linda Sanchez explains that Rove never told them about any trip.
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/91181/
MJ, Just joking man, I’m bored
“said he was buying it for his daughter, who was at camp.” — he lied, it’s for himself. what a sad sack.
Lots of houses around me are 30% off 2005, many short sales. People lost anywhere from 25k-200k
speaking of pipes…
back in the 70s, some SOB broke into an old place of mine and stole my copper pipes.
I wasn’t home at the time.
wish I was.
SAS
SAS
if we are really to the point that we are worried about an IRS agent asking for any shiny metal we have, then you might want to stash a few firearms.
well i guess i am definitely on a watch list by now huh?
SAS,
“speaking of pipes…
back in the 70s, some SOB broke into an old place of mine and stole my copper pipes.”
In places like FL, NV etc. people are breaking into the vacant houses to steal all kinds of $hit, you name it, if they can rip it off, carry it, its gone!
Guys, Gold coins and bars are likely confiscated not jewelery. right?
btw–
if any of you blokes want to meet up, I will be at ground zero tomorrow afternoon, to promote health care awareness for the first responders.
I’ll be wearing my POW/MIA T shirt and red VFW hat. I hurt my foot as of late, so I have a cane to help me out.
SAS
indymac homes in reo will get banged out RTC style, we should check their site.
IndyMac’s failure is second only to the 1984 failure of Continental Illinois Bank, which had assets of $40 billion at the time.
“if we are really to the point that we are worried about an IRS agent asking for any shiny metal we have, then you might want to stash a few firearms”
why you think there is a big push to ban firearms?
we are not doom and gloom, but if things don’t change soon and fast, I’m afraid we might be..
lets hope for the best, and prepare for the worse;)
SAS
kettle1, “stash a few firearms.” but you can’t win such a fight, and there’s no reward for trying. you can shoot a citizen to protect yourself, sure. but essentially, every single government agent represents infinite power.
” I hurt my foot as of late, so I have a cane to help me out”
w/ that said, I can still do circles around any fist pumper anyday.
SAS
Guys, G o l d c o i n s and b a r s are likely confiscated not j e w e l e r y. right?
comments 355 348 336 need moderation
sas
counter or clockwise?
Wachovia is simply too big to fall…we have reach a permanently high plateau and we are not going to fall…yea I said it. (LOL)
so all you fencesitters … when you read about these banks collapsing or on the edge of collapse, how much do you worry about your online bank going under?
are you at the point where you spread your 200k in 5 different banks to minimize loss? you’re shorting yourself a small # of interest, though …
Bankrate gives Wachovia a 2 stars and Safe & Sound CAEL Rating: 4
Ok so I feel very scared now
ING rating
ING BANK, FSB
WILMINGTON, Delaware
Bankrate.com Star Rating: 3 stars
Safe & Sound CAEL Rating: 3
INDYMAC
INDYMAC BANK, F.S.B.
PASADENA, California
Bankrate.com Star Rating: 1 star
Safe & Sound CAEL Rating: 5
MJ 351
Actually guerrilla warfare has a long history of being successful against significantly larger and more powerful traditional militaries.
Look at what the iraq insurgents have done to the US army, the “most powerful military in history”
tanks and bombers are great when facing a traditional army, but can be highly ineffective against “irregulars”
Off course that assumes that the population or any reasonable portion there of is willing to rise up
Star rating
Superior *****
Sound ****
Performing ***
Below peer group **
Lowest rated *
No Report Complete data not available Not Rated “NR”
Closed Institution is closed Closed
G Designates high growth —
356 laughing,
convert my 200K into blow? now that is a liquid asset
“fencesitters”
who sitting on a fence?
“how much do you worry about your online bank going under?”
I don’t worry, hopefully those ratings mean something. but, I have to admit, when I see banks collapse, it does make me feel a little uneasy, not because a stupid bank fell and shitdi*k hangs himeself. No, but because how much control the ones still standing will have over markets and you.
SAS
SAS
Time to buy more energy stocks!!!
”Saudi Oil: A Crude Awakening on Supply?“, BusinessWeek, 10 July 2008 – “The Saudis say they can ramp up production to 12.5 million barrels a day. But a field-by-field breakdown obtained by Business Week shows that’s not likely “ This may be great investigative work; it may be a semi-official leak. Excerpt:
However, it appears that for at least the next five years, and possibly longer, the Saudis are likely to produce less crude than promised, according to fresh data on the kingdom’s oil fields obtained July 9 by BusinessWeek. Saudi officials have said they would increase production capacity to 12.5 million barrels a day next year, from the current 10 million barrels a day, and could even ramp up to as much as 15 million barrels a day if the market demanded it.
… But the detailed document, obtained from a person with access to Saudi oil officials, suggests that Saudi Aramco will be limited to sustained production of just 12 million barrels a day in 2010, and will be able to maintain that volume only for short, temporary periods such as emergencies. Then it will scale back to a sustainable production level of about 10.4 million barrels a day, according to the data.
BusinessWeek obtained a field-by-field breakdown of estimated Saudi oil production from 2009 through 2013. It was provided by an oil industry executive who said he had confirmed it with a ranking Saudi energy official who has access to the field data. The executive, who has proven reliable over several years of reporting interaction, provided the data on condition of anonymity to protect his access to the kingdom and the identity of the inside contact who confirmed the information.
SAS,
the world bank and IMF may be playing with oil prices, but the world linch pin of oil production just tapped out! buckle your seat belt
wow, check out that cliff.
http://tinyurl.com/5tauau
SAS
“the world linch pin of oil production just tapped out! buckle your seat belt”
oh man.
hope you blokes have a bike. Better buy one now.
SAS
Its not that bad…I can still get my 0.28/share
Whats with the 3 wheeler bikes…have you guys seen them?
SAS,
All i can say is i hope that the video link you put up the other day is correct and there is a top secret MONSTER oil/gas field in alaska.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUKN1130947220080712?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
Indymac
“The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp estimated the cost of the California-based bank’s failure to its $53-billion insurance fund at between $4 billion and $8 billion and will run the bank while it looks for a buyer.”
4 – 8 billion for 1 bank. A few more banks fail and that 50 billion will be gone.
Deposits over 100k are getting $0.50 on the dollar. They have over 1 billion in uninsured deposits. Why would you leave over 100k in a bank, especially one whose stock dropped 90% over a few months?
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/medincsizeandstate.xls
Foreign investors veto Fed rescue
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/03/17/ccview117.xml
Asian, Mid East and European investors stood aside at last week’s auction of 10-year US Treasury notes. “It was a disaster,” said Ray Attrill from 4castweb. “We may be close to the point where the uglier consequences of benign neglect towards the currency are revealed.”
The share of foreign buyers (“indirect bidders”) plummeted to 5.8pc, from an average 25pc over the last eight weeks. On the Richter Scale of unfolding dramas, this matches the death of Bear Stearns.
It is not my view. I believe the forces of debt deflation now engulfing America – and soon half the world – are so powerful that nobody will be worrying about inflation a year hence.
As the Wall Street Journal wrote this weekend, the entire country is facing a “margin call”. The US has come to depend on $800bn inflows of cheap foreign capital each year to cover shopping bills. They may have to pay a much stiffer rent.
“Are here any banks you like?”
bairen [294],
I like vaults, outside the IOUSA.
I also do like Shinsei, Japan. The only problem is the current interest rate. That’s OK, you’ll make more with the currency conversion, IMO. It’s funny, this bank went thru the same s#it, early 90’s, as our banks now. It weathered the storm and is now buying assets for cash. The same will occur with some of our select banks, you will just have to wait 10-15 years.
kettle,
Of course it was a disaster. Nothing like laying your hand on the table.
The reserve fiat currency is toast. History indicates that all fiat currencies fail, it’s just a matter of time. OOPS, my clock alarm went off.
“So, while my house could lose half its value, at least it can’t fail…”
MJ,
Good point. Yes, many will cheer that their 25% hickey, RE loss, performed better than many hedge fund managers and their 401k performance. On another topic, I’ve heard that these plans will be renamed, 201K plans?
John 372,
i made a chart of your data….
http://maldream.blogspot.com/2008/07/median-family-income-in-past-12-months.html
The state is giving out almost $15 million in “extraordinary aid” for property tax relief. Bound Brook gets the most, over $1 million. Somerville gets $650,000.00.
Extraordinary Aid is awarded to municipalities who, because of extreme circumstances, would not be able to provide essential services to the community without a substantial increase in their property tax rate.
The full list is at http://www.state.nj.us/dca/news/news/2008/approved/080711.html
302 skep
“No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!”
You are a man of superb taste.
“The era of free money will never end, and my home in Westfield will NEVER go down in value”
— Richard 1950 – 2007.
I’m renting at the moment, but I have a strong urge to buy a home quickly now, since I expect massive and swift inflation.
@378 syncmaster: Perhaps its about time some of our towns secede from New Jersey?
That list is good for one thing: A nice list of towns I want nothing to do with.
MJ #382,
Some of those towns I quite like, actually. Metuchen, Middlesex Boro and Sayreville, for example.
And I know this puts me in the minority most anywhere, but I actually like driving through Bound Brook’s Main Street. It doesn’t have the same antiseptic feel of say, Bridgewater or P-way.
JMHO of course.
syncmaster: Bound Brook… if you like floodwater! Bridgewater isn’t even a town, really. At least, it has no main street!
Come to think of it… I wonder how soon much of the spots in the Bridgewater Commons will be empty.
someone asked for bernanke with a bag of cash,like a popcorn guy?
its quick and dirty but hey….
http://bp0.blogger.com/_lsF4HSdqo04/SHgpJhO8fSI/AAAAAAAAAeA/FFcBQm9Cyh8/s1600-h/bernanke+popcorn_10000+copy.jpg
Kettle, 223
I’m imagining Bernanke with a big red nerf-ball nose but a sullen look on his face. More of a “Homey the Clown” than “Bozo the Clown”
“40,000 New Yorkers Flee State for Atlanta”
http://tinyurl.com/5kk22y
SAS 387
that isnt the best idea, atlanta is in trouble, they do not have ough water for the current population and are expected to getdrier due to climate change.
I agree. I wouldn’t move to Atlanta.
but, its still on the radar of people who want to get the hell out.
sas
MJ RE: 277 and 2x4s in the kitchen!
Wow, I missed that little detail in the photos! That is a pretty big hint at bad construction. Maybe that house is really just a prop for a movie set :-) Too, bad there are issues like that, I always thought it had good curb appeal (I drive by the house a lot) and it does not look like the prototypical McMansion and the sytle blends in with the older homes in area….
Your post got lost to me last evening in the spate of bank failures!
RD
So.. how about them bank failures?
Who’s next?
On a side note; an $800k home in my town (Pequannock) was foreclosed on Thursday.. Fremont Investment & Loan now has the property after paying their $100 fee..
I’d like to see what they’re going to be putting it up for!
If anyone sees a listing for “74 Madison Street in Pequannock” let me know..
-Richie
What’s up with Bergen county requesting all this state aid??
13 North Jersey towns will share state aid money
North Jersey towns that received state aid:
• Bogota: $500,000
• Closter: $250,000
• Hasbrouck Heights: $200,000
• Little Ferry: $125,000
• Maywood: $400,000
• Moonachie: $150,000
• New Milford: $350,000
• Northvale: $100,000
• Ridgefield Park: $150,000
• Rutherford: $200,000
• Wood-Ridge: $250,000
Can someone with GSMLS access please let me know the status of 319 Maolis Ave in Glen Ridge? Is it UC or Withdrawn?
Thanks.
American housing
The wrecking-ball response
Jul 10th 2008
From The Economist print edition
How to deal with a glut of empty homes
TUMBLING house prices in America, rising foreclosures and a glut of unsold homes have produced a variety of unusual, even desperate, responses from policymakers. Of the 129m housing units in America, 18.6m stand empty. At 2.9%, the home-owner vacancy rate, which measures the share of vacant homes for sale, has reached its highest point since measurement began in 1956. At the end of the first quarter there were 2.3m empty homes on the market, an increase of more than 160,000 from the end of 2007. There is a vicious circle: the huge number of houses on the market pushes home prices down, and as prices decrease, mortgages become harder to refinance, leading to more foreclosures, vacancies and so on. The more homes are on the market, the less chance that prices will stabilise.
The announcement on July 8th of a steeper-than expected 4.7% drop in pending home sales in May dashed any hopes of a quick turnaround. In cities such as Atlanta and Charlotte, formerly vibrant neighbourhoods have taken on the dilapidated air of ghost towns since the subprime crisis. Municipal taxes go unpaid, and boarded-up homes invite looting, drugs and other criminal activity. In one near-abandoned Atlanta neighbourhood, speculators who could not sell homes even paid homeless people to occupy them. Cleveland and Baltimore have filed lawsuits against subprime lenders this year, claiming their practices cost the cities millions of dollars in lost taxes because of lower property values. These cities are exploring another bold solution to the surplus of vacant houses: demolition.
In prepared remarks for a speech earlier this year, Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, praised programmes that seek to demolish the most ramshackle units in order to “mitigate safety hazards and reduce supply.” Unlike mortgage bail-outs, this policy does not encourage risky lending. However, it requires cities to spend money on demolition merely to lose money through reduced taxes.
Congress is debating more complicated solutions. The mortgage-rescue plan crafted by two Democrats, Christopher Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, aims to help as many as 400,000 people stay in their homes with more manageable mortgages—at a cost of $300 billion. That could help slow the foreclosure rate, but it does little to address the problem of vacant homes already on the market and the continued building of new ones. The National Association of Home Builders has supported giving a $7,500 tax-credit to first-time buyers. It hopes this will help allay their fears of tighter credit conditions and falling prices.
Some sensibly argue that it is unwise to inflate the market artificially before prices find their natural bottom (on the heels of a housing bubble no less). Eventually, the forces of supply and demand will work their magic. But Lawrence Lindsey, of the American Enterprise Institute, a think-tank, has proposed his own miracle cure. He wants to grant provisional green cards to foreigners willing to invest at least $10m in groups of residential properties and to hold them for at least five years. Mr. Lindsey points out that 100,000 participants in the scheme would pump at least $1 trillion into the housing industry, and would wipe out a large slice of excess housing inventory. His proposal gets points for creativity, but not for credibility. Given the dreary American jobs market, and plunging house values, only foreigners with more money than sense would apply.
Australia’s variable rate mortgages are nearing 10%. (In Australia, most people have a mtg that can adjust very month.) When I was working on these 4 years ago rates were 6.5%
http://tinyurl.com/67gfas
#395 how will NAR spin 10% mtgs over here?
OK. Why am I fistpump101?
I dunno, but last night, after I clicked on somebody’s link to yahoo, my system is trashed.
Keyboard won’t work, triple ex stuff killing our pop-up blocker…yuk. Took us an hour this morning to fix.
# bairen Says:
July 12th, 2008 at 8:33 am
OK. Why am I fistpump101?
You saw the guidofistpump website and now you’re going to Belmar with some special gold medallions?
Cool. I love Norton. Just got a live virus update notice. Wow. My keyboard works correctly.
#399 Yeah Belmar.
Let’s go fistpump at D.J’s with the Staten Island crew.
#394
“Of the 129m housing units in America, 18.6m stand empty.”
“At the end of the first quarter there were 2.3m empty homes on the market”
#394
“Of the 129m housing units in America, 18.6m stand empty.”
“At the end of the first quarter there were 2.3m empty homes on the market”
What does this mean for an expected 2010 recovery if the market can’t even absorb 2.3m units?
Kettle,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Softee
Can you cut/paste BB’s face into that pic?
proud fencesitter right here. stacking the chips and doing our homework and eager to see the fallout come the 2nd week in sept.
i find nothing wrong with that phrase. the view from here is just fine.
Pat – I saw you moved to MD. But were you still monitoring Bucks? This house in Richboro (feeds Council Rock South) looks to be in trouble.
http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?ctid=7758&mnp=30&mxp=31&typ=1&sid=850e2ce0fbd2471889ecc3b6b5838570&lid=1094856043&lsn=7&srcnt=11#Detail
no shot they get 529k. do like that it’s on an acre. go to zillow. they bought in 06 in the high 400s. also of note – look at the amount of zillow views on it. seems high, no?
is it me, or is the running of the bulls in Spain really stupid, and I could give a care less if someone is gored by the bulls.
actually, I am on the bull’s side. Hope a bull takes a few morons out.
SAS
http://my.break.com/content/view.aspx?ContentID=534896
SAS
Barien,
Here’s some pictures of me and my friends
http://www.njguido.com/
One more reason to get the hell out
“The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp estimated the cost of the California-based bank’s failure to its $53-billion insurance fund at between $4 billion and $8 billion and will run the bank while it looks for a buyer.”
Scary quote of the day…
SAS
Not just you.
Mrs. Patient and I always root for the bulls.
(The literal ones only – as to the figurative ones, we point and laugh).
This is what a politician is good for.
“The OTS, IndyMac’s primary regulator, blamed comments by New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer for causing a run on deposits at the largest independent publicly traded U.S. mortgage lender.”
http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews1/idUKWA000014120080712
Blame Schumer, their toxic loan book had nothing to do with it.
Kind of like blaming the guy that causes a Ponzi to collapse. The collapse was inevitable, any number of events would have triggered it. Now, I’m not saying Schumer isn’t a complete idiot for trying to pull this kind of stunt, he is, but I really wonder what the motives are. Maybe Schumer is sending a message to his con$tituency, “Pay the vig or feel the wrath.”
Grim,
Where’s the recession going to arrive in NJ?
So far I don’t see it.
Putting $1T Subprime Mortgage Losses in Perspective
“I’m in Las Vegas at Freedom Fest 2008 and heard Steve Forbes speak yesterday. In his talk, he put the subprime mortgage meltdown in perspective by comparing the global subprime losses of $1 trillion (Reuters story here) to the $56 trillion of U.S. household net worth. Sure, $1 trillion is a very significant loss, but it’s relatively insignificant compared to the significant value of U.S. household wealth, less than 2%. ”
http://seekingalpha.com/article/84672-putting-1t-subprime-mortgage-losses-in-perspective?source=feed
Will there be mortgages on Monday?
“The stock market swoon over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this week has left many consumers scratching their heads, wondering if buying a home is a worse idea than it was seven days ago or whether to take down the “for sale” sign in the yard.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/12/business/smallbusiness/12money.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
#413
“At another branch down the road, a man who said he had more than $200,000 (100,000 pounds) in an account — twice what is normally FDIC guaranteed — argued with a security guard who was closing up.”
That must really suck.
Frank (415),
Probably right at your front door, say “noonish”.
Hey people, please stop worrying. Some talking heads on CNN this morning say everything is going to be fine in the second half. Nothing to worry about here.
It is the middle of July now so maybe th turn around for the second half will start in August, and than all will be fine.
#419 Rich Yeah noonish sounds right,after all it is NJ,and we like to be fashionably late.
Frank,
Still making money on xlf? :)
404 Bairen
I’d light myself on fire before you caught me there.
“Where’s the recession going to arrive in NJ?
So far I don’t see it”
careful what you wish for.
SAS
ok blokes..
I’m out of here. Off to the 1st responders street action at Ground Zero.
if in the area, look for me.
SAS
SAS
I’m with you on the bulls. The idea repulses me to no end. And yes I also like to see a few stupid people get hurt. I’m going to start my own tshirt company and my first shirt will be I Hate Stupid People. Although, I’m sure its been done countless times before.
Say what you will about the guido, but they’re usually surrounded by hot chicks.
Just sayin’
Syb
They all look like clones of each other.
I agree wholeheartedly. The sight of the gel hedgehog hairdo sends shivers down my spine.
Yeah but the girls too.
Oh you were talking about the chicks. Gotcha.
Somehow that doesn’t bother me as much ;-)
Except for that @#$%^& pucker-up face they make when taking pictures! I hate that stupid trend!
“Still making money on xlf?”
Not on XLF, but I made a killing on Fannie, Freddie, Downey and Fed.
I has been a good summer so far. You?
The chicks are hot until you speak 2 words with them…”yo Gino, not enough F*ckin’ hair Gel!!!”
Rich In NNJ,
I wish the recession arrived on my front door, but so far it’s not here. Traffic around my house is terrible, stores are packed, and homes are still selling for extreme amount of money and seem everyone has more money than god. Where’s the recession, did it skip NJ?
#432 – I still can’t tell from some of those pictures is they’re a parody or not.
I think Orwell said that true totalitarianism and its parody are indistinguishable. The same goes with guidos I suppose.
Regarding the women; You will never find a more wretched hive of shallowness and self absorption.
Weeeeeeeee, I work on Wall St. and I can’t buy a multi-million $ apartment, weeeeeeeeee.
“ALMOST overnight, investment bankers and others on Wall Street have gone from being Manhattan’s most aggressive apartment buyers to real estate pariahs. ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/realestate/13cover.html?ref=realestate
“I’m renting at the moment, but I have a strong urge to buy a home quickly now, since I expect massive and swift inflation.”
MJ,
What makes you think that inflation will feed into RE prices? We’re fighting two wars, inflation and deflation. It’s the 1930’s and 1970’s wrapped into one. Comforting? Japan dropped rates to 0. How did that affect RE prices there over the last 18 years?
Syb
Just ask Toshiro. If you lived out here with us, you’d want to pick them all off with a sniper rifle. At least, that’s what I’d like to do.
“x-underwriter Says:
July 12th, 2008 at 11:36 am
The chicks are hot until you speak 2 words with them…”yo Gino, not enough F*ckin’ hair Gel!!!””
Well there’s your problem! You tried to talk to them??
SAS,
I agree with you. I always root for the bulls. That is, of course, the bulls in Spain. The bulls on WS? Love watching them get gored.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHO116nzdWw&feature=related
RE bulls
Don’t lump all of the spaniards in as savage, bullfighting enthusiasts. The fact is there is a pretty strong anti-bullfighting movement in spain, but it’s tough to defeat tradition.
Many of the revelers for the feast of San Fermin are actually foreigners.
Syb
I never lumped any Spaniards in with the idiots that do this. I am speaking specifically about the morons that encourage and support these events. And I am aware that many of the participants/spectators are foreigners.
Can you tell how much I dislike this?
Haha, don’t worry I didn’t think anyone on here was generalizing at all.
I personally feel bullfighting in general is a savage form of legalized animal cruelty. It’s only a matter of time before it gets banned, and frankly I’m amazed that the CE alllows it to continue.
It looks like Hoboken RE prices are dropping like a rock, before you know it, I will be able to buy a place at 1998 prices. Yehhhhhhhh Babyyyyyyyyyyyy
Frank [435],
Where’s the recession? Serious question, not being sarcastic, what planet do you live on?
The housing market mirrors demolition derby, we are in the midst of the worst credit crunch, [sorry credit crash], in our lifetime, gas and food prices are thru the housing roof, which is caving, real unemployment is hovering around 10%, close to $3 trillion in housing equity has gone up in smoke, trillions more evaporated in the global stock markets, GM is reliving the 1950’s and consumer confidence has sunk to the depths of WW-2 levels.
What economic hell hole do you envision which you will then define as recessionary?
“It looks like Hoboken RE prices are dropping like a rock”
Frank, you are a great candidate for some case study. One minute the RE bull is charging straight onward. Then you fart and prices are dropping like a rock. You must love to buy/sell straddles.
OK,
Wife wants to go to Point Pleasant for the afternoon. I just got done putting the shiny stuff on the tires and plugged my trunk sub-woofer back in.
See ya later all. I’m going swimming at the Soprano’s SI crib. :)
Failed Bank Information
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/indymac_q_and_a.html
# MJ Says:
July 11th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
I’m renting at the moment, but I have a strong urge to buy a home quickly now, since I expect massive and swift inflation.
___________________________________________
A house is not always the best inflation hedge. Especially at over-inflated prices.
Grim,
The report from the hinterlands…
Hunterdon County Comp Killers
3 WESLEY WAY Lebanon Twp
MLS#: 2508298
SLD 10/05/04 $400,000
OLP 04/14/08 $429,000
LP $419,000
SLD 07/10/08 $395,000
242 SPRUCE CT Raritan Twp
MLS#: 2519888
SLD 09/09/05 $289,900
OLP 05/20/08 $213,900
SLD 07/10/08 $200,000
5 STRAWBERRY LN Raritan Twp
MLS#: 2478496
SLD 06/01/04 $471,900
OLP 10/19/06 $534,900
LP $509,000
WD DOM 457
OLP 01/20/08 $485,000
LP $450,000
SLD 07/10/08 $429,000
And a bonus…
Hunterdon County FUTURE Comp Killer
230 SERGEANTSVILLE RD Raritan Twp
MLS#: 2478496
SLD 06/30/06 $395,000
OLP 06/11/07 $459,000
LP $399,000
EXP DOM 203
OLP 01/20/08 $389,000
ACT DOM 95
Sorry MLS for the above should have been MLS#: 2506184
Too much cutting and pasting… ;)
And listing date should have been 04/08/08. Yikes, I gotta be more careful.
I haven’t even had a beer today. Yet…
BTW re 39/50
Beer: Its not just for breakfast anymore.
“Kind of like blaming the guy that causes a Ponzi to collapse”
It’s more like a guy that screams fire in the middle of a crowded club. It’s Schumer fault.
back from my street action.
I’m sorry man, all those people doing the running of the bulls are total morons.
I bet they slap their kids w/ sticks too.
bet me!
SAS
good article by Mish.
“U.S. Taxpayer Bailout of China Over Fannie Mae”
http://tinyurl.com/6jzbk8
SAS
“Fannie and Freddie: A Run on the Bank?”
http://tinyurl.com/6yva7r
#410 x-underwriter
Way to strike a pose.
I hate going to the shore.
#413 frank
Would be funny if it turns out Schumer or his friends and cronies had puts or shorted Indymac.
#448 # x-underwriter Says:
July 12th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
“OK,
Wife wants to go to Point Pleasant for the afternoon. I just got done putting the shiny stuff on the tires and plugged my trunk sub-woofer back in.”
Did you add the neon light around the license plate and to highlight the ground underneath the car?
No all spainards are into bull fighting a lot of them love cock fighting. Plus dog fighting. Also switchblade fights.
Sybarite Says:
July 12th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
RE bulls
Don’t lump all of the spaniards in as savage, bullfighting enthusiasts. The fact is there is a pretty strong anti-bullfighting movement in spain, but it’s tough to defeat tradition.
Spainards also love a good cock fight.
Had my 450sl cruising long beach today. No recession down their.
re: reel mower discussion (i think there was some discussion of how they were difficult to find?).
http://www.gardeners.com/Reel-Lawn-Mower/NewGardeningTools_Cat,37-593,default,cp.html sells them. no idea if they’re any good, but there ya go.
Next Week’s Notebook- should be fun
Earnings
Monday: Genentech, M&T Bancorp, Stanley Furniture
Tuesday: Altera, Cintas Corp., CSX, Eaton, Intel, J.B. Hunt Transportation, Johnson & Johnson, Polaris Industries, Seagate Technology, State Street, U.S. Bancorp, VF Corp., W.W. Grainger
Wednesday: Abbott, AMR Corp., Crown Holding, Datalink, Delta Airlines, EBay, Gannett, Kinder Morgan, Marshall & Ilsley, Northern Trust, Piper & Jaffray, St. Jude Medical, Wells Fargo, Yum! Brands
Thursday: AMD, Bank of New York Mellon, BlackRock, Capital One Financial, CIT, Coca Cola, Continental, Cypress Semiconductor, Danaher, Evergreen Solar, Flagstar, Harley-Davidson, Illinois Tool Works, JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Nokia, Novartis, PPG Industries, Safeway, Sherwin-Williams, Stryker, Textron, United Technologies, Zions Bancorp
Friday: Citigroup, Honeywell, Manpower, Mattel, Schlumberger, Wilmington Trust
Greetings from the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I’m just outside of Cape Hatteras, in an eight bedroom, seven bathroom mansion on the beach, with an inground pool, drinking vodka martinis on the deck with laptop. Not too shabby, eh? :)
# bairen Says:
I hate going to the shore.
I told my wife when we were there to get a good look because that was the last time I’d ever go to Point Pleasant with her. Totally crowded with the dregs of humanity. Now I know why I only go there once a year…kind of like eating at McDonalds.
Gary:
Shut up!
I’ve had a fever since Thursday night that just won’t break. Have a drink for me.
Stu,
I’m getting so f*cking bombed right now! I hope you feel better. Salute, my friend. :)
Here is an interesting snippet I pulled from an article on the collapse of IndyMac.
“The bank was the fifth FDIC-insured failure of the year, and is expected to cost the FDIC between four and eight billion dollars, wiping out as much as 10 percent of its 53-billion-dollar Deposit Insurance Fund.”
I knew the FDIC’s reserves weren’t that large, but this is just pathetic. Only 90% left?
Sheesh.
Alia,
$200.bucks and I have to do all the work?? What’s the incentive??
KL
JB/KL,
Could you please give me the details of GMLS Number: 2542239
Thanks in Advance,
AT
MLS 2542239
14 Saddlemount Avenue
Warren, NJ
LP: $599,000
LD: 06/27/2008
TAXES: $8,289
Previously listed under MLS#: 2372611
OLP: $719,000
LP: $699,000
Withdrawn: 07/17/2007
Tax Record Info
Sale Date: 10/30/86
Book: 1601
Page: 738
Price: 150000
RE: 242 SPRUCE CT Raritan Twp
Those condos were selling for the the mid-100’s back in the late 80s!
I have a friend who sold there in 2005 (after living there 10+ years) for about 280, and bought for even money a true POS in Flemington that they are slowly fixing up. I’d say he is the anti-bagholder….
RD.
450 – Thanks for the FDIC info, BCBob. Think I’ll look up some info on the bank holiday in the thirties.
frust!
Old news but a good read with burnt toast & greasy sausage.
From CNN:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/12/news/companies/indymac_fdic/index.htm?postversion=2008071210
I believe this house in Warren started out at 549k on the forsalebyowner (20612412)site. It’s now down to 399k (MLS ID# 2517421).
http://tinyurl.com/5pojkl
Readington 473
Congrats to your friend for unloading his condo for a big profit. But if he just traded it straight up for a Flemington POS in 2005, I don’t think I would call that an “antibagholder”. He would have been better off renting for a few years. Put it this way, what do you think that $280K POS would sell for today? $250K? Less…? What do you think it would sell for next fall? Just my opinion.
Lunch menu:
Fannie’s Fuzzy Math
(a look back, Fortune article dated Nov. 2007)
http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/15/magazines/fortune/fannie_losses.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007111509
Repeat request – Can someone with GSMLA access please give me the status of 319 Maolis Ave in Glen Ridge – UC or Withdrawn?
Also, is there a close price listed for 4 Haran Circle in Millburn?
A test to see how the posting work.
OMG that’s $uch a splendid bungalow, with finished attic too. Must see & hurry up!
# bairen Says:
July 13th, 2008 at 6:26 am
I believe this house in Warren started out at 549k on the forsalebyowner (20612412)site. It’s now down to 399k (MLS ID# 2517421).
http://tinyurl.com/5pojkl
Back in business: IndyMac reopens Monday
(CNN) — IndyMac Bank, closed Friday by federal regulators, will reopen Monday with a new charter and a new name — IndyMac Federal Bank.
Analysts fear thousands of IndyMac customers could lose as much as $500 million.
Analysts fear thousands of IndyMac customers could lose as much as $500 million.
Customers who found locked doors and armed guards Friday afternoon could use ATM cards over the weekend to get to their money, but an estimated 5 percent of the $19 billion deposited in the bank was not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Indymac’s failure, which the FDIC chairman said could add up to be the most expensive U.S. bank failure ever, came as the FDIC’s list of “problem” institutions is on the rise.
The FDIC disclosed last month that it was closely watching 90 financial institutions on its “problem list,” up from 76 in the first quarter of 2008. The total assets of “problem” institutions rose from $22.2 billion to $26.3 billion, the FDIC said.
…
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/13/indymac/index.html
Fed in tug of war over mortgage rules
Federal Reserve on Monday is expected to tighten regulations to protect homebuyers. Consumer groups and lenders each hope arguments win out.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The Federal Reserve is caught in a tug-of-war as it prepares on Monday to unveil final rules overhauling mortgage lending.
#484 Source link:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/11/news/economy/fedrules/index.htm?postversion=2008071112
Everybody listen up: Ca$h will be the king very soon. Please have it ready!
#477 bairen Says:
July 13th, 2008 at 6:26 am
I believe this house in Warren started out at 549k on the forsalebyowner (20612412)site. It’s now down to 399k (MLS ID# 2517421).
___________________________________________
I see this play out over and over again. Sellers chasing the price down a few months behind. Case in point is the MLS Sybarite gave info to me above. If they had been asking the current asking price ($599K) in the first listing, it would most likely have gone over the asking price. They started above 700K and then pulled the listing at 699K. Guess sellers still fail to understand that there are buyers out there and if you price it correctly it will go into contract in a reasonable period. Maybe homes above a $1 mill take longer to sell, but if you have a house prices in the 500K to 750K and your house is sitting on the market for a year or more, you have to get the message from the buyers.
The only way to make it more obvious to the seller will be to write it in reverse (like in the front of an ambulance)on their fore head “!!decirP revO si esuoH ruoY” so when they look in the mirror, they get the message !!
The rally accoriding to CNN talking heads yesterday is going to start in the second half, so all will be well.
But they did not specify what year.
NJGator
GSMLS down right now.
KL
I thought the GSEs were well capitalized…
*********from the Sunday Times (London)July 13, 2008
U.S. Treasury Rescue for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Treasury Secretary looks at $15 billion cash injection for crisis-hit mortgage lenders
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article4322440.ece
When do I buy??
As some of you know, I sold my house in early 2005 and have been renting a town home ever since. My lease is up in December and I am debating whether to renew for another six months to a year (most likely) or to finalize a purchase before December this year (very unlikelty). I am sure many other’s are trying to figure out if we are close to or at the bottom.
Anyways, I thought I would would share my ideas with the Forum. Personally, I am going to look at three key number’s before I pull the trigger.
1. Total carry cost of owning the home vs the rent of a similar unit.
2. The average supply of homes on the market.
3. The home price to median income ratio for the New York metro area.
One thing to note is that the housing market in the New York has generally been tighter than many other parts of the country and the median price to median income has also been higher than much of the country. When these three numbers look more in line with the historical trend, I would jump in.
Medium Incomes can be found at:
https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/refmaterials/hudmedinc/index.jsp?from=hp
AntiTrump– been thinking along the same lines, but the way things are playing out appears to be much worse than I had anticipated. I never would have thought that Fannie/Freddie could fail (I thought this would be limited to the worst offenders, such as IndyMac and Countrywide). I think RE is in for a world of hurt over the next year or so, so I would feel hesitant to buy anything unless it appeared to be a very good deal. just my two cents, of course
Orion [479],
Thanks for that post. It’s hard to remember all, [there have been way too many] the iditoic/failed tactics initiated by our elected buffoons.
“But now influential members of Congress, including Senator Charles Schumer, want Fannie Mae’s watchdog, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), to temporarily lift the portfolio limits on the company and its rival Freddie Mac. Legislators want both lenders to buy more subprime mortgages to help stave off foreclosures.”
Just f#cking brilliant.
“GSMLS down right now.”
KL [488],
The implosion is spreading.
Bloomberg
Snow Says Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Followed `Hedge Fund’ Model
By Brendan Murray
July 11 (Bloomberg) — Former U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have relied on leverage to fund their businesses in the same fashion as a hedge fund, and that the government should avoid taking them over.
“Congress ought to be embarrassed” for years of delays in passing legislation aimed at strengthening regulation of the two companies, Snow, now chairman of New York-based buyout fund Cerberus Capital Management LP, said in a telephone interview.
….
“If I were in a public policy role, I’d be focusing attention on what has long been known to be the fundamental problem of risks to the balance sheet of the United States that are gigantic,” Snow said.
…
Snow said today that “even in the face of the scandals over compensation and accounting and the options and bonuses, we never could get Congress to cross the line.”
“Everybody listen up: Ca$h will be the king very soon. Please have it ready!”
[485],
Very soon? Where have you been? We have been touting this for the past 3 years.
bairen [477],
Now we are talking. Approx 30% off, from original asking. It actually looks nice. Maybe I should buy my boots today. Is that house on a busy road?
Paul Krugman: If Bush’s policies aren’t responsible for bad economy, what is?
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is insisting that if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac need rescuing, the plan should not benefit shareholders of the giant mortgage finance firms, the Wall Street Journal said on Saturday.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said a possible intervention by the Bush administration to help the government-sponsored mortgage enterprises could happen as early as Monday morning.
“I’m getting so f*cking bombed right now!”
Gary,
Don’t f#ck with Bertha. Summer training camp starts soon.
higher interest rates coming as GSEs shore up capital? from Saturday’s WSJ:
“Freddie said it is looking at options to conserve capital. The company holds about $770 billion of mortgage loans and related securities. That produces repayments of around $10 billion a month as homeowners pay off their loans. Normally, Freddie reinvests that money in new mortgages. But if it stops buying mortgages, it has less need for capital. Not replacing mortgages that pay off would “free up approximately $250 million of capital per month,” Freddie said.
There’s a political downside: By putting on the brakes, Freddie would be providing less support to an already weak market.
“July 11 (Bloomberg) — Former U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have relied on leverage to fund their businesses in the same fashion as a hedge fund, and that the government should avoid taking them over.”
Much worse than a hedge fund. Levered almost 70-1 with zero risk amangement. A prudent hedge fund would never be leveraged that high and would also hedge some of their bets.
They are simply an out of control,
political/financial cesspool.
BC Bob,
Mountain Ave is a pretty busy 40 mph road, if it’s the same one i’m thinking of. I googled that address, and I’m not familiar with that exact part of Mountain Ave.
Did you look at the pics on that listing? Is that a vase in the shower?
Gator,
319 Maolis is UC, closing on 8/18.
Syb [503],
Thanks.
I was lurking around this blog starting around 2 months. But I did hear you.
Short introduction of myself to all: NJl$rd is a small nj based landlord/”slumlord” patiently waiting for the perfect thunder storm so that he could upgrade to a prestigious train-town/Brigadoon. He’ll shamelessly enjoy the other people’s foolish misfortunate for his own gain. 50 cents on a dollars may still give him a heart-attack.
BC Bob[496],
Very soon? Where have you been? We have been touting this for the past 3 years.
Freddie Mac’s Next Hurdle: Raise Cash
Treasury Working to Make Sure Debt Sale Succeeds
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, July 13, 2008; Page A01
Treasury Department officials were working the telephones yesterday to make sure that Freddie Mac, one of the nation’s two troubled mortgage giants, will be able to sell $3 billion of its securities tomorrow in a previously scheduled sale that has now become a crucial test of investor confidence.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/07/12/ST2008071202020.html
from the article at #508:
” the quality of the big bundles of residential mortgages is far better than the commercial loans at many of the S&Ls or Japanese banks that failed during the earlier financial crises. At one point, the bad loans on the books of Japanese banks totaled more than a quarter of the Japanese economy, said Adam Posen, deputy director of the Institute of International Economics. Although Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans total 45 percent of the U.S. economy, a relatively small percentage of those are bad and the quality of new loans is probably better than the old ones now that lenders are more cautious.”
***
plausible?
The GSEs were pumping money into places you normally would not think of, their books are full of toxic debt that was spent on things like LBOs at the top of the markets.
Example $9 billion of secured loans from Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE), late last year for the Archstone LBO. They had no reason to be involved in this transaction since Archstone was luxury rental units.
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB120070919702802265.html?mod=yahoobarrons&ru=yahoo&page=2
# skep-tic Says:
possible intervention could happen as early as Monday morning.
Wall street speak;
Could/might happen = fully anticipated
# bairen Says:
I hate going to the shore.
I told my wife when we were there to get a good look because that was the last time I’d ever go to Point Pleasant with her.
Totally overcrowded with nothing but the dregs of humanity.
Now I know why I only go there once a year….just like eating at McDonalds.
The Difficult Task of Damage Control
(from the 6/30 report of the Bank for International Settlements):
http://www.bis.org/publ/arpdf/ar2008e8.pdf
Maybe this isn’t the place for this but it’s the only active real estate blog in NJ. I’m looking for input on a follow up to this article I’m writing for my blog about web marketing: http://www.1goodreason.com/blog/2008/05/29/despicable-religious-bias-in-real-estate/
Any NJ Real Estate experts are welcome please contact me via the Contact Page of the blog.
Thanks,
Chris Kieff
http://www.1GoodReason.com
Bernanke is scheduled to appear twice on Capitol Hill to give his semiannual testimony on monetary policy. He is set to testify on Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee, and on Wednesday, before the House Financial Services Committee. You can bet the issues with the GSEs will be brought up, and if anyone up on capitol hill has a nutsack like they will grill them on the strength of the dollar.
Don’t have time to go through all the kistings, but here’s a few. Back to a sunny Sunday
Teaneck Comp Killer
SOLD: 282 SHERMAN AVE $446,500 8/7/2006
Orig. List: $439,000 3/20/2008
SOLD: $369,000 7/11/2008
————————-
Tenafly Comp Killer
SOLD: 23 OLD SMITH RD $1,250,000 6/20/2003
Orig. List: $1,895,000 4/28/2006
SOLD: $1,050,000 7/11/2008
————————-
Woodcliff Lake Comp Killer
SOLD: 124 VAN RIPER LN $1,225,000 11/2/2004
Orig. List: $1,520,000 4/22/2006
SOLD: $1,160,000 7/11/2008
————————-
Englewood FUTURE Comp Killer
SOLD: 27 BROOKWAY AVE $360,000 4/1/2005
MLS#: 2829125 (REO)
List: $274,000 7/8/2008
#511 re: intervetion.
The test comes Monday as Freddie Mac try to sell 3 Billion in bonds. If the auction fails the PPT will step in.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=afsDMZeqqXOA
re 457
‘screams fire in the middle of a crowded club.’
Yeah, but Frank, the smoke is making it kind of hard to see the band.
513
What douchebaggery. Too bad it’s not explicit enough to qualify as discrimination.
Options expert calls Fannie, Freddie shares ‘worthless’
http://tinyurl.com/55ddsz
“Run on banks spells big trouble for US Treasury”
http://tinyurl.com/559g96
“An Economy In Trouble”
http://www.forexpros.com/analysis/fundamental/an-economy-in-trouble-8399
re: #519 Dr. Jon from CNBC? I would ask him if he is pricing in govn’t intervention, based upon Friday’s action he is not.
“Paulson stands by Fannie and Freddie”
http://tinyurl.com/5lvahu
It’s only july and the U.S. currency has slipped 7.6 percent against the euro and 5.1 percent versus the yen this year as the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to stave off a U.S. economic recession. Oil prices in New York have doubled in the past 12 months, while gold futures jumped 41 percent.
# 492 ” I would feel hesitant to buy anything unless it appeared to be a very good deal. just my two cents, of course”
We have been going back and forth on this issue here at the Shor household. It looks like we have decided that anything other than unimproved land on a nice lake is off the table for us. The Outer Banks are eroding at a frightening pace (up to 15 feet/year in some places and 3+ feet/year nearly everywhere), too many other places along the coast, from Fla to Maine, are in danger of going under with even a small rise in sea level. With respect to existing homes, many newer ones are shoddily built, and many older ones are both over priced and under/poorly updated, and over taxed. Unimproved land on lakes is not subject to sea-level rises, and carries remarkably-low taxes.
Thoughts?
Matt Simons on CNBC talking oil
“potentially The Great American Disaster”
http://tinyurl.com/6ktuef
he actually suggest that if we dont take steps we oil could cause a run on banks followed by fuel shortage followed by food shortage!!!
shore 525
http://tinyurl.com/5w74q8
Quickie overview of the 1933 Bank Holiday which closed all banks and halted all financial transactions for 4 days.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=5755
People made do with barter and scrip. Maybe we should all have a supply of cash in small denominations for a quart of milk and a loaf of bread?
Out 528
I would indeed have an emergency supply of cash, but to beat a dead horse for a minute… you may also want more then case ( i.e silver/gold coins) if it really hits the fan
I was at an open house yesterday at west windsor near Princeton and the realtor was saying the prices in that area has NOT fallen at all since the Peak !!!
I am a regular reader of this blog. Has anyone been following west windsor real estate ? Please comment on your observations.
tom: realtor is in a coma
530#, since i live in the area, i know the lcoal RE market pretty well. i tend to agree with the realtor while the houses at less desirable location were sold less. but overall, i feel it is within 5% from the peak price.
#87 Bairen
Re: Aussie beer in NJ
Don’t know where you live but Supersaver in Pennington (formerly Circle Liquors) had James Boag Premium Lager and four styles of Cooper’s (Sparkling Ale, Pale Ale, Extra Strong Ale and Best Extra Stout) in the cooler today.
They also carry Foster’s (Its Australian for Miller, mate…) ;)
Supersaver has several other locations, another is in the Somerville area. They have a website.
The NJ Real Estate, Bubble Blog and Premium Beer Report…
bairen Says:
July 11th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Does anyone know where I can get Australian beer in NJ? Like James Boag or James Squire. I can only find Fosters.
533: XXXX?
re, hot dogs. You can’t talk about North Jersey hot dogs, without mentioning Dickie Dee’s and JJ’s. Dickie Dee’s is Italian hot dogs, on “pizza” bread with fried potatoes. JJ is classic push cart/truck dog.
RP 534
Sadly, not that I saw. BTW, if you are anywhere near S. Plainfield, give the Oak Tree BuyRite a try. One of the rating sites called it best in NJ for beer. It was the only place I could find DogfishHead Palo Santo after I drank all that Little Bros. in Flemington could get their hands on.
And with that, I’ve just named my three favorite beer outlets. Except for the one my niece works in over in Lower Backwater, PA. She was just promoted to doing the ordering, so, Uncle Beer gets whatever he wants now… ;)
535 jafo
My votes go to Jimmy Buff’s and Rutt’s Hutt respectively. JMHO on the hot dog thing…
Although the Thunder Dogs and Franziskaner Weissbier at Waterfront Park rocked last night at the Double A Subway Series in Trenton. Location, location, location. This time the visitors won, however.
I am a big fan of Rutz hut too. Although, I go for gravey burgers and chili. I am not into the whole “ripper” thing. For those of you unfamilar, Dickie Dee’s and JJ are both on Bloomfield Avenue in North Newark. JJ on the south side (west bound) of Bloomfield ave by Branch Brook park. Dickie Dee’s is further up near bloomfield border on east bound side. Rutz Hut is off Route 21 north. I believe its offically East Rutherford over there (exit 10).
jafo
Rutt’s is in Clifton.
And I’ll take a ripper with mustard AND corn relish… lol :)
NJ Real Estate, Bubble Blog, Premium Beer and Hot Dog Report… :)
Schumer is getting really testy. Looks like the clenched teeth level of defcon.
I suppose I wouldn’t be all charm & giggles if banks were blaming me.
As Essex posted Hirams in Fort Lee is great, kills Rutts as far as I’m concerned.
Mike
JMHO as I said. I think it depends greatly on preference. Speaking of, you’re a Skylands guy, right? Hot Dog Johnny’s or Toby’s…? :-)
BTW, I was in the pool, and some grandma told me everything was worked out yesterday by 4 pm on F & F.
Her son is “up there.”
Whatever. I roll my eyes.
Montgomery County, MD can’t possibly be worse than Bucks. Can it?
things must be pretty rough or Cramers cronies are going to short it all??
“Cramer: Stocks are Doomed, Sell Now”
http://tinyurl.com/5jeqd5
SAS
#497 BC Bob
Mountain Ave is pretty busy 40 mph road. If it’s at the end of it where it connects to Mt Bethel/King George Rd(same road has 4 names in a 6 mile strip) it’s notas bad. If it’s by the Berkeley Heights section that’s pretty busy and has those huge transformer wires running through the area.
I think it’s also a short sale. I saw it before on new.gsmls at 429k and it mentioned pending bank approval.
It actually looks pretty nice, but I’m an optimist and think there will be even better pricing next spring.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The White House and the Federal Reserve moved Sunday to prevent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from failing. In a statement, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the global reach of Fannie FRE 7.75, -0.25, -3.1%) necessitated unprecedented action. The Treasury has moved to increase its existing line of credit to Fannie and Freddie. In addition, Treasury have been given the power to buy the two companies stock. In a separate vote, the Fed board of governors voted to open its discount window lending facility to Fannie and Freddie. In return, Paulson asked Congress to rework a measure in the housing bill moving through Congress to give the Fed a formal role to work with the new GSE regulator that the legislation would create.
better run those printing presses overnight!
hello inflation
SAS
shit, you have got to be kidding me, right?
I am getting to the point of calling the collapse of countries, forget banks!!
wow!
SAS
I’m going back to the pool.
It’s open ’til 8.
its just too bad the general public doesn’t know what this means..
they are too busy sucking mom’s teets, the sale at Target, and the boring/dead Bon Jovi concert.
SAS
This merits a replay from above:
http://mama.indstate.edu/users/nizrael/midis/bigtop.mid
THe Asian Treasurey holders must be really pissed!!
I think I may also reevaluate my gas/gallon call…
Man, is it me, but am I the only one annoyed with this crap!
SAS
545 4beer I’m up hear 10 yr + never heard of either. From Hudson so mostly know of places around there. Where are these hot dog Meccas you speak of will try!
willwork4beer,
Thanks for the beer info. James Boas was my favorite over there. i’ll check the Buy Rite next time I get to that area.
For those on the sidelines w/ cash, when is the bottom ’09 or ’10?
bairen
Happy to be of service.
ww4b
557 Mike
ExBergen myself, with a work stint in Hudson. Now live in Hunterdon. Toby’s is in Phillipsburg, Warren County. Hot Dog Johnny’s is on 46 in Buttzville, Warren County (yes, Buttzville). Locals swear by them and argue bitterly over which is better. I stay out of it and wish I could go to Rutt’s instead…
#530 Tom: whatever you do, do not listen to bi, he is in deep,deep denial.
“Man, is it me, but am I the only one annoyed with this crap!”
SAS,
I’m tired of being annoyed. It’s easier playing their game and taking the other side of the trade. The financial masters have imploded their balance sheets and have buried middle America. Once the world backs away, watch out. The reserve fiat currency is dead and will continue its tumble to oblivion.
You’re going to have to change your damn number to 100 or 102. I own 101 and I don’t take kindly to infringement on what I own.
fistpump101 Says:
July 12th, 2008 at 8:31 am
Australia’s variable rate mortgages are nearing 10%. (In Australia, most people have a mtg that can adjust very month.) When I was working on these 4 years ago rates were 6.5%
http://tinyurl.com/67gfas
Mike,
Extra NW Jersey brownie points if you have ever had a hot dog at a Yocco’s. They are mostly in the Lehigh Valley in PA.
I kind of like the 101.
Very freshman.
“For those on the sidelines w/ cash, when is the bottom ‘09 or ‘10?”
No time frames required. Once housing starts hit 500M and two of the top H-B’s go under, the bells/whistles/alarms will be deafening.
#564 margincall 101
You own 101? I doubt that. Most likely you meant to put your net worth $1.01 and forgot the decimal.
It reminds me of my first econ class.
I was so young and clueless.
But when I saw that supply and demand curve for the first time, I was hooked. Smitten. Bonkers.
“I own 101 and I don’t take kindly to infringement on what I own.”
50.5,
Get a grip, that’s so 2005. In 2008, you are now marked to the market. That said, I’m really not sure if you are 50.5 or 25.25. I neeed some help. Is there another blackbox churning tonight?
ww4b,
What’s the palo santo like? I’m a big fan of most other dogfish brews, but haven’t come across the palo santo.
Speaking of Buttzville, my favorite NJ place names, in no particular order:
Buttzville
Ho Ho Kus (or Hohokus or Ho-Ho-Kus)
Manunkachunk Junction
National Park (is it a town or a park?)
Upper Hoityville, South BlueRibbonSchool and Brigadoon… :)
Syb101
Palo Santo is a brown ale, aged in casks made from wood of the Palo Santo tree, a relative of Frankincense found only in Paraguay and surrounding areas. Its very tasty stuff and at 12%, primarily responsible for the tone of my posts tonight… :-D
Ooooh, sounds like my kind of beer! Where did you find it, S. Plainfield BuyRite?
A sympathetic co-worker’s mom lives around the corner from the BuyRite, so she got me their last two four packs. Niece Beer-Nymph got me a case from the Lower Backwater, PA beerstore. Case set me back a little over a C-note, so caveat emptor.
First taste came from Little Bros in Flemington.
Maybe I’ll change her name to Beer-sichore…
The muse of beer…
ww4b,
Thanks. I can give Gary’s a call and see if they’ll order me a case.
BC Bob, don’t you think we’re on the cusp of it. With this weekends news, I can’t see how a loan officer is willing to give the HB’s too much time. Who survives, TOL, KBH? Who fails, LEN, HOV?
mmmm beer. beer is food.
#569 Pat,
I think reinvestor101 is about to get schooled.
re101 hint.
What goes up, must go down.
The re bottom will be when buyers are bent over begging you for a low ball while providing owner financing and paying closing costs and letting you pick what you want of their belongings.
There goes the neighborhood.
“White House, Fed will rescue Fannie, Freddie Government-sponsored lenders are too global to go under, Paulson says”
“In a dramatic statement released Sunday, the White House and Federal Reserve moved to give the mortgage giants the capital they need to survive the depression in the housing market and turmoil in financial markets that had left them dangling over a cliff.”
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/white-house-fed-step-rescue/story.aspx?guid={F942EDC2-E975-4F01-AF6F-F1D7591E4526}
About “XXXX” I have a friend who has Rugby/beer associations and paid someone to put it in a shipping box for him.
Like a Stadium dog, and a Bud I guess.
Syb101 I hope they can help you. Asked Little Brothers to order it. I got a song and a dance about limited release and only so many cases came to NJ. :(
BC (497)-
Keep the sandals on. No need to go get boots yet.
The tiny speck of light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming freight train.
This thing is just starting to percolate. I have a list of 700K+ lis pendens in my own bailiwick that would make a hippo puke. The clerks in every county I work are so far behind in recording and processing this crap, you’ll see borrowers dying in their houses before they get foreclosed.
Even at the height of RTC, it was never like this. I now have other agents- even attorneys- who want to hand over active short sale listings and files to me. Unbelievable.
The truly amazing part is that I’m pretty sure there area at least as many homeowners in my area who will slip into default in the next 12 months as there are owners who have entered the process within the past 12 months.
BTW, stopped off on the way back from a tournament today for a tasty wiener at Hot Dog Johnny’s.
Buttzville never looked better.
More from the article:
“At the moment, each company may borrow only $2.25 billion. In return for the capital, Paulson said that the Bush administration would ask Congress to grant the Fed a “consultative” role in the capital standards of the companies.”
…
“But the agencies have grown to mammoth size. They own or guarantee $5.2 trillion of U.S. home mortgages. ”
…
“James Lockhart, the head of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) that regulates Fannie and Freddie, stressed that the two firms can survive.
The two firms have “$95 billion in total capital, their substantial cash and liquidity portfolios, and their experienced management serve as strong supports for the Enterprises’ continued operations,” he said in a statement”
Got gold?
580 bairen101 “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy”. Benjamin Franklin
580 bairen101 “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy”. Benjamin Franklin
This is the kind of talk that causes panic. First off, he’s wrong. There’s plenty of oil, we just have to make sure the damn Saudi’s do what the hell they’re supposed to; get the damn stuff out of the ground and give us our share. We also, have to make sure that Iraqi oil production is brought on stream also. We don’t have anything to worry about.
kettle1 Says:
July 13th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Matt Simons on CNBC talking oil
“potentially The Great American Disaster”
http://tinyurl.com/6ktuef
he actually suggest that if we dont take steps we oil could cause a run on banks followed by fuel shortage followed by food shortage!!!
What the hell?? Stop with this damn 101 business. I own that number! I own that number!!
So nice I had to say it twice… Actually, I just dou le-clutched. ;)
Tard (592)-
“We don’t have anything to worry about.”
So go back to sleep, and quit trying to proselytize here. None of us are ready to join the Church of Idiot.
Tell you what you guys…I changed my damn number. You can have 101, see if I give a shlt.
Tard (593)-
Go watch 101 Dalmatians. It’s about you.
Tard (596)-
See if WE give a shlt.
RE101
plenty of oil???/ HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA for about 2 billion people maybe, but oops at last count there are about 7 billion that want the oil……
Re101, if it makes you sleep better at night, go for it!
“get the damn stuff out of the ground and give us our share.”
here’s the rub….saudi’s don’t legally have to give us anything. We don’t really have a share of it at all
Hey, don’t look now:
The F.D.I.C. has $53 billion set aside to reimburse consumers for deposits lost at failed banks. IndyMac will eat up $4 billion to $8 billion of that fund, the agency estimates, and that could force it to raise more money from the banks that it insures.
thats a nice number reinvestor….. it would be a shame if something happened to it
http://tinyurl.com/63n3js
Lighten up Francis!
franks and beans,
franks and beans
Tell you what, now my number is secret. That’ll end this shlt.
kettle104 Says:
July 13th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
thats a nice number reinvestor….. it would be a shame if something happened to it
http://tinyurl.com/63n3js
You guys need to get mature and cut this crap out
i think I might somewhat agree with this REinvester bloke…
I think the problems with oil is not whats below group, its all the political bulls*it & stupidity above ground.
SAS
If I have to declare a number… ;).
#590 ww4b
I always like Ben. I think I’ll vote for Ben F for President. He passed away 200 years ago and can therefore do no harm. Which means he’ll do a better job in his current state then anyone running for Pres can.
bairen 101,
i like that, i shall also (vote for Ben)
btw, don’t get me started with that pic of a horse head in the bed.
one night, back in the 80s, at room in Vegas, I got a little surprize under my bed.
Let me tell you, its wasn’t pleasant.
at the next gtg, I will tell you what it was…and who I think was behind it.
SAS
uhoh!!!!!!
A Hint of New Life to a McCain Birth Issue
By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: July 11, 2008
In the most detailed study yet of John McCain’s eligibility, a law professor has concluded that he does not qualify as a “natural-born citizen.”
http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/us/politics/11mccain.html&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP=cbb7c85Q2FZtiWZdQ60Q27BQ51Q60Q60)vZv55Q25Z5JZQ2AQ2AZTBZlQ60XQ23)Q23Q27BZQ2AQ2AmQ27Q27Q5CQ23V80)mX
It’s actually a good idea. I’ll finally be able to take pride in who I’m voting for. All the other times I voted I was voting for the lesser of 2 doofuses.
What happens if the FDIC runs out of cash? Or does the Treasury jut print up some bonds for them?
BC Bob Says:
July 13th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The White House and the Federal Reserve moved Sunday to prevent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from failing.
WTF is this?????
Bairen. Holy crap! I’ve been calling for Honest Abe or Teddy R for the last year. We need to.start our own party. Bull Moose, anyone…?
hey is any of this a surprise? i was wondering why it took them so long to annouce this. probably a lot of heated calls with chinese/japanese/middle eastern gov’ts this afternoon
#615 – I’ve been trying to revive Hunter S Thompson’s ‘Freak Power’ party. Failing that RA Wilson’s Guns and Dope party would do nicely.
B101. Wasn’t it in MO a few years ago where the voters elected a dead guy to the senate? I was jealous of the choice they had.
Does this guy get burned?
http://www.forsalebyowner.com/listing/40306
Paid $422k in Aug ’06. Updated in ’08.
Speaking of hot dogs, anyone remember Toby’s hot dogs at the corner of Wood Ave. and Inman Ave. on the Colonia-Edison border? It was the 1970s and he told me he put three kids thru college on the revenues of his hot dog cart. It was meticulously clean, he steamed the rolls, it was the best hot dog anywhere. Rutt’s are great, but there was just something about a Toby dog.
“At the moment, each company may borrow only $2.25 billion. In return for the capital, Paulson said that the Bush administration would ask Congress to grant the Fed a “consultative” role”
Take the fed to the wood shed. Since they have been in power, the dollar has lost over 95% of its value. Stop the madness. The private cartel must be eliminated.
The dolts that got this country into this mess will now have expanded responsibilities? Why not allow every convicted felon determine their own sentence?
Tosh. Kinda partial to Thompson for his quote, “Good people drink good beer”. :).
bloomberg:
Preferred securities tumbled in Asian trading as investors questioned if Freddie and Fannie will be able to continue to pay dividends. Freddie Mac’s 5.57 percent preferred lost 39 percent this year and Fannie Mae’s 5.5 percent preferred dropped 31 percent.
“What happens if the FDIC runs out of cash? Or does the Treasury jut print up some bonds for them?”
Tosh,
Additional lines of credit are readily available. What happens when nobody shows up at the next treasury auction? The supply is going to the moon.
Budweiser off to Belgium!
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFeprSPTUVFk&refer=home
Chi [614},
Forget about the golf lessons. Enroll Hunter in Mandarin classes.
bloomberg:
Paulson sought to ease concerns that taxpayers would foot the bill for a bailout. “Use of either the line of credit or the equity investment would carry terms and conditions necessary to protect the taxpayer,” he said.
**********
such as? if we are going to bail these companies out, current equity must be wiped out
Paulson is full of it.
Is Hank Paulson really Kurt Cobain?
Hype (625)-
“Budweiser off to Belgium!”
Not even the Belgians could teach these guys how to make beer that doesn’t taste like piss.
627. Skep. Great. I feel very protected. /sarcasm off
gold at 970, does it take off tomorrow? we shall see….
Housing: Barron’s Calls a Bottom
http://seekingalpha.com/article/84770-housing-barron-s-calls-a-bottom?source=feed
this is a blog of winers
Clot. A guy in front of me at the ballpark selected michelob ultra from a selection of two Spatens, Leinenkugel wheat, Franziskaner Weissbier and Yuengling Lager and Black and Tan. I almost barfed. I’ll keep my fingers crossed re Inbev but I think Joe Sixpack wants his Bud Light Ice can 30 pack more than anything
Look, there was nothing else for the fed or the treasury to do other than to assist Fannie & Freddie. The alternative is too chilling to comtemplate. I now worry about how the naysayers in the market are going to take this. This should shore up confidence in these institutions, however, I have now a very slight concern about the credit rating of the US. Also, there are some folks who might take advantage of us by demanding some sort of damn risk premium in the form of higher interest rates. We can’t have that at all.
We might have to use gunboat diplomacy to keep them in line.
#562#
“Tom: whatever you do, do not listen to bi, he is in deep,deep denial.”
Hi 3b
I know bi is in denial. What you think about the correction in west windsor since peak ?
Thx.
I have worked as contractor in Fannie Mae.
I think some organizations will never learn a lesson till they die – Enron, Worldcom, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac…
is this tabloid or realnews????
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=16594
Nobody has the balls to be a modern Ben Franklin. I would vote for a Ben Franklin in a heartbeat. Modern-day politics is depressing.
syb,
a modern ben franklin would be in guantanimo bay or in jail. radical thought is no longer tolerated
Clot (630):
I travel to the EU a lot for business. The funny thing is Budweiser exports its swill to the EU. Every time I go into a bar I ask the bartenders why anyone in the EU would buy a bottle of that hangover in a bottle. Their answer – marketing. It seems like they sponsor a great number of sporting events over there. So the people are recognizing the name and buying it.
Ha! I remember going to a cerveceria in Spain where Budweiser is served as a premium beer!
Syb and Ket. “We must hang together, or most assuredly, we will all hang separately”. BF.
470, kl: um… you earn many Personal Virtue Points? (pvp for short)… today i traded in my pvp for guilt-free chocolate cake. :)
do the belgian fruit beers count as “good” in the context of good ppl drinking good beer? (mainly i like my liquor hard and sweet, but i can make room for fruit beers…)
for your amusement……
and a bargin @ 285
http://www.weichert.com/search/realestate/PropertyListing.aspx?P=20626747&cityid=7179&mls=9&pg=7
639: dear lord in heaven.
Alia. Of course. Lambics are a traditional Belgian style. Framboise and peche are my favorites. :)
#618 willw4b
Yeah. john Ashcroft lost to a dead guy. So GW picked him to be AG.
if post 639 is real news then the second the first missile lands on iranian soil, they (the iranians) will light up every oil tanker within 100 miles of the straits of hormez. global oil prices go over $200, and US gas goes over $7 in a matter of days to weeks.
648: whew. :) that’s alright, then. have you ever attended an event sponsored by the Campaign for Real Ale? (they may be purely british. if so, we need a similar one over here)… mm, cherry beer…
650#, this will be the world war iii i envisioned. they will be nuked and the rest of the world will cheer.
tomorrow will be another interesting day. futures up 1% already.
Alia. Not sure about the Campaign on this side, but Kriek works fine with me… :)
re: #639 Kettle1 – it is kind of hard to carry out a bombing campaign when you don’t have aircraft to carry the bombs, they don’t have bombers, and only two tankers to refuel jets, which they have about 200 or so F15s and F16s, some can carry bombs but not enough to put not enough to wipe out the air defenses first and then the facilities.
When they bombed the reactor in Iraq back in 1981, it was closer than Iran, and the eight F-16A fighters they used almost did not make it back.
Great. Now I have to go pour myself some Lambic Kriek. You had to mention it, alia. :) Boy am I easily influenced.
Try to sneak one last comment on this weekend thread – have we used this rent to own calculation? 15x your current annual rent is how much house you can afford.
15 x current rent… It sounds too low. Many 1 Br and 2 Br apartments in NNJ are about 1500-2000 range. 3Br/2.5ba homes in good school districts in are close to 450 or higher [e.g. Summit, Livingston, Berkeley Hts, Greenbrook, etc.]
My impression is that rents are usually not correlated with income. Friends I know rented really bad places and then jumped to McMansions…
Where in the hell is the new comment string? I was looking to be the first post on the damn string this morning.
Anyhow, I woke up feeling very good this morning. I slept like a freahly powdered baby knowing that our government has taken care of us by doing what it needed to do to save the housing and the mortgage markets. It’s just another one of those great things that the Bush administration has done that goes unheralded.
Moron101
“666”
After my post, this will no longer be at an unholy number.
Kettle1 (re #366):
Regarding energy stocks, despite the recent run-up in oil, it isn’t too hard to find energy stocks that are still reasonably priced. I own three oil stocks now that are trading at forward EV/E multiples of about 9x.