From the New York Times:
NO. 1 Teardown State. That has been New Jersey’s ranking from the National Trust for Historic Preservation each year since 2002, when the trust began keeping track of how many older houses in historic neighborhoods were being demolished to make way for new and often bigger houses. In August, the trust cited 85 communities — from Alpine to Fairlawn; from Morristown to Wykoff — where teardowns were heavily concentrated.
But since then, another trend has become a lot more noticeable — even in New Jersey. The overall economic situation and the sorry state of the housing market mean that fewer and fewer people are “throwing away perfectly good houses,” as one preservation-minded architect from Point Pleasant, Verity L. Frizzell, put it.
Ms. Frizzell said she had closely observed an instance in nearby Bay Head a few years ago in which a carefully restored Victorian was sold, demolished and replaced. “That upset a lot of people,” she said, “and there was a big push for a moratorium on teardowns there.” But some residents argued that “it would be taking away from their property value, and the zoning change was ultimately defeated.”
“Now,” Ms. Frizzell said in a cheerful tone, “the point is probably moot.” Since the beginning of the year, she added, she and half a dozen other Monmouth and Ocean County architects whom she informally surveyed by telephone have seen a decline of roughly 15 percent in the inquiries they receive about “teardown and build” projects.
“Just six months ago,” said Stacey Ruhle Kleisch, who is president-elect of the American Institute of Architects’ New Jersey chapter, “it was ‘the sky’s the limit’ with my clientele. Whenever possible, it was, ‘Tear it down, and make something new.’ ”
But that is definitely “grinding to a halt,” said Ms. Kleisch, whose firm GK&A Architects is based in Rutherford. “Now, it’s, ‘Let’s see what choices we can make to save money, immediately, and over the life cycle of a home.’ ”
…
ames Foerst is a Westfield town councilman who based his first run for office in 2003 on a pledge to slow down the pace of teardowns. He said he believed that tightening local limits on the permitted height and size of new houses three years ago had made some difference.Even so, he said, the number of teardowns did not peak in Westfield until last year, when there were around 80.
“This year,” Mr. Foerst added, “we still have some. But I’ll be surprised if it reaches 30.”
…
It is certainly not as if the bulldozers had gone quiet around the state. Last summer, for instance, a frayed but once-grand 1910 colonial on Park Street in Montclair went down abruptly after a developer bought it. The new colonial now under construction — at 4,200 square feet, slightly smaller than the old house, but outfitted with a full array of modern technological conveniences — is being marketed by Re/Max for $1.85 million.
…
Peter Primavera, a vice chairman of the Urban Land Institute in New Jersey, says that although he perceives a lull in teardown activity, that does not translate into a halt.“When the stock market is up,” Mr. Primavera said, “old houses go down. Now, things are bad on Wall Street and fewer houses are being taken down. But the overall dynamic is still in place of people wanting to build new, big McMansions when they have the money to do so.”
Mr. Primavera pointed out that there tended to be less restriction on teardown activity in poorer urban areas, where the populace and public officials can be overburdened with keeping streets safe and similar issues, and where there is a lack of resources to focus on the loss of older housing stock.
Frist!
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?symbol=GGP
Teardowns? What are they going to do with all of the strip malls???
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/09/business/09magic.php?page=1
A detailed look at Merrill Lynch – 4 pages..Herald Tribune by Gretchen Morgenson
“How the Thundering Herd Faltered and Fell”
Stu Says:
November 8th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Went down to AC with $30 in wallet. Casino’s gave me about $210 in cash. Came home with $1350. Me happy.
Stu: No one bats 1.000……except in your posts on gambling and investing….
In Hoboken this week:
7 1 bedroom condos sold in an average of 38 days at an average sale price of $433,571 representing a discount of 4% off the average list price.
Two Bedroom Hoboken Condos:
10 sold in an average of 123 days at an average sale price of $569,140 representing a discount of 3% off the average list price.
You call this a recession??? Give me a break.
#6 frank: Go back to sleep frank.
On another recession note, my company is looking to hire people, and we can not find any. The only people applying have no working papers / illegals. What happened to the the 6% unemployment rate? Government scam? You figure with all the layoff news, large Wall St. firm should have no problems finding people willing to work. Wrong!!! Media loves negative news, the reality is very different.
Went out for a dinner last night, line out the door at the chain restaurant. Where’s the recession???
Frank, thanks for the anecdotal evidence. Let’s say for the sake of argument the whole recession thing is made up to stop Americans from spending themselves and future generations into oblivion and usher in a new era of austerity. Then it is good, right?!
Pat – last thread –
” No one should pay for a service that is available for free to those to know how to get it for free.”
there’s lots of things that are available for free for those who want to take the time and effort to do them, but they’d rather do something else with their time so they hire someone else for a fee to do it.—- but, i may be misunderstanding your point.
re: shillers article – to me a lot of it doesn’t sound realistic – sort of pollyanna – he may be just trying to sell his book.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/104967-coming-soon-the-zombie-condos-that-ate-new-york
Coming Soon: The Zombie Condos That Ate New York
SX,
You’re wasting your time. Frank is an idiot troll.
Essex,
“whole recession thing is made up”
I am not sure who made what up, but I know that the media loves negative stories, but from my everyday live I don’t see any slowdown at all. The traffic is just as bad, it takes me a hour to get a burger for lunch, my mail box is full of job offers and good luck trying to get a table at a restaurant on Saturday night.
Sybarite,
Don’t get started with the name calling, let’s be behave.
China now up at the plate with a 4 trillion yuan stimulus.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122623724868611327.html
//SNIP
As demand in its major export markets falls, many agree on the need to stimulate spending by China’s consumers, unlocking their $4 trillion in savings. A particular concern are the hundreds of millions of people in China’s countryside, where the government appears particularly determined to boost spending power and has, for instance, already lifted grain purchase prices.
//UNSNIP
FYI China is going to subsidize the purchased of 800 million refrigerators (1 per home), 1.6 billion TVs (2 per home) and another 1.6 billion cell phones (2 per family who you gonna call) for the farmers and poor. Apparently the people living in poor and farming areas of China don’t have any of these modern conveniences.
Frank [7],
Hedgies are blowing up left and right. The IB’s have decimated the troops. Yet your hedge fund is looking to hire and the only applicants are illegals?
This has the be the funniest, most ridiculous, asinine post that this blog has ever registered. That’s up against some very stiff competition.
The only applicants for a hedge fund are illegals? I have to go, can’t take it, just busted a rib. LMFAO.
Thanks for the comedy.
So, Frank
You work for “a large Wall Street firm,” but
“The only people applying have no working papers / illegals.”
?
So, what you’re saying is that people who are legal have no interest in your firm?
Bucket shop?
Frank ate at a chain restaurant last night, and he also stayed at Holiday Inn Express last night.
Frank must be a quant.
Which media Frank? “The Obama recession is in full swing, ladies and gentlemen,” Limbaugh told his radio audience of 15 million to 20 million on Thursday. “Stocks are dying, which is a precursor of things to come. This is an Obama recession. Might turn into a depression.”
Which Media Frank??
“The Ob*m* recession is in full swing, ladies and gentlemen,” Limbaugh told his radio audience of 15 million to 20 million on Thursday. “Stocks are dying, which is a precursor of things to come. This is an Obama recession. Might turn into a depression.”
Frank Says:
November 9th, 2008 at 11:26 am
On another recession note, my company is looking to hire people, and we can not find any. The only people applying have no working papers / illegals. What happened to the the 6% unemployment rate? Government scam? You figure with all the layoff news, large Wall St. firm should have no problems finding people willing to work.
you mean none of the 150,000 people who were laid off on wall street want to work for your firm? Why would illegals with no papers apply for such a job?
i need good laughs like this prior to football. thanks, buddy.
Frank,
I couldn’t help it. Your post is now filtering thru WS. I can’t wait for friends comments. My wife wants to know what the hell I’m laughing at.
“job offers come in mail.”
What job offers come in the mail?
Still not getting it–I guess California and Florida seem far, far away.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Hope is quietly spreading across the lifeless Staten Island real estate market following the Obama victory that the new president will take immediate action to help homeowners.
http://tinyurl.com/6jatq9
Frank,
Anecdotes don’t prove aggregates.
Frank,
On Friday my company (not on WS, but WS effects our business) announced a 2nd round of layoffs, no bonuses & merit increases, and a decrease in our 401K matching. Thankfully your weekly restaurant update (awaiting mall report) keeps my spirits up.
Frank,
If you are working at a HF on prestigious Wall Street yet you’re eating out at a chain restaurant maybe things aren’t as good as you believe. :)
“So, what you’re saying is that people who are legal have no interest in your firm?”
I posted out jobs at NYC, Columbia, Polytech and few other universities, all applicants need H1 visas. No Americans are willing to take a job.
“eating out at a chain restaurant”
yes because all others had long lines.
Another recession observation, my apartment in Hoboken is on the market for double what I have sold it in 2005 and they can’t keep prospective buyers away. Housing recession when prices double from 2005?? I don’t think so.
“decrease in our 401K matching”
You get 401K matching?? Do you work for the Post Office?
“What job offers come in the mail?”
email not USPS mail of course.
Frank, what skill sets?
You must be paying slave wages if you can’t get H1b’s to bite.
No closings above 400k in Randolph, Roxbury, Succasunna in this week’s closings.” Q4 is shaping up as another big leg down.
starter houses almost universally priced as if teardowns are going full steam ahead. teardowns are a good idea when no one is doing them and there is no premium built in to the tear down POS
Ten Best Suburbs to Sell a Home
Berkeley, Calif., known sometimes as a hippie haven, is becoming a hotbed for home sales.
Prices in the Bay Area suburb are up 9% this year, with homes selling for a median price of $790,986. Properties are sitting on the market for 73 days on average, the lowest of any area with positive price trends within the confines of the country’s 75 largest Census-defined metro areas. Only 37% of sellers have been forced to reduce their prices, one of the lowest rates in the country.
It may not be a boom, but given regional problems it’s a good market to be in. Berkeley joins Venice, Calif.; Bedford, Texas; Kennesaw, Ga.; and Montclair, N.J., on our list of suburbs with the best conditions for sellers.
http://www.forbes.com/realestate/2008/11/06/homes-sellers-suburbs-forbeslife-cx_mw_1106realestate.html
The Mini Depression and the Maximum-Strength Remedy
By Robert Reich – November 9, 2008, 2:26PM
This is not the Great Depression of the 1930s, but nor is it turning out to be merely a bad recession of the kind we’ve experienced periodically over the last half century. Call it a Mini Depression. The employment report last Friday shows job losses accelerating, along with the number of Americans working part time who’d rather be and need to be working full time. Retail sales have fallen off a cliff. Stock prices continue to drop. General Motors is on the brink of bankruptcy. The rate of home foreclosures is mounting.
When B*rack Ob*ma takes office in January, he will inherit a mess. What to do? (Because I’m an informal economic adviser, I should warn anyone who reads this that it reflects only my thoughts and therefore should not be attributed to him or to anyone else advising him.)
First, understand that the main problem right now is not the supply of credit. Yes, Wall Street is paralyzed at the moment because the bursting of the housing and other asset bubbles means that lenders are fearful that creditors won’t repay loans. But even if credit were flowing, those loans wouldn’t save jobs. Businesses want to borrow now only to remain solvent and keep their creditors at bay. If they fail to do so, and creditors push them into reorganization under bankruptcy, they’ll cut their payrolls, to be sure. But they’re already cutting their payrolls. It’s far from clear they’d cut more jobs under bankruptcy reorganization than they’re already cutting under pressure to avoid bankruptcy and remain solvent.
This means bailing out Wall Street or the auto industry or the insurance industry or the housing industry may at most help satisfy creditors for a time and put off the day of reckoning, but industry bailouts won’t reverse the downward cycle of job losses.
The real problem is on the demand side of the economy.
Consumers won’t or can’t borrow because they’re at the end of their ropes. Their incomes are dropping (one of the most sobering statistics in Friday’s jobs report was the continued erosion of real median earnings), they’re deeply in debt, and they’re afraid of losing their jobs.
Introductory economic courses explain that aggregate demand is made up of four things, expressed as C+I+G+exports. C is consumers. Consumers are cutting back on everything other than necessities. Because their spending accounts for 70 percent of the nation’s economic activity and is the flywheel for the rest of the economy, the precipitous drop in consumer spending is causing the rest of the economy to shut down.
I is investment. Absent consumer spending, businesses are not going to invest.
Exports won’t help much because the of the rest of the world is sliding into deep recession, too. (And as foreigners — as well as Americans — put their savings in dollars for safe keeping, the value of the dollar will likely continue to rise relative to other currencies. That, in turn, makes everything we might sell to the rest of the world more expensive.)
That leaves G, which, of course, is government. Government is the spender of last resort. Government spending lifted America out of the Great Depression. It may be the only instrument we have for lifting America out of the Mini Depression. Even Fed Chair Ben Bernanke is now calling for a sizable government stimulus. He knows that monetary policy won’t work if there’s inadequate demand.
So the crucial questions become (1) how much will the government have to spend to get the economy back on track? and (2) what sort of spending will have the biggest impact on jobs and incomes?
The answer to the first question is “a lot.” Given the magnitude of the mess and the amount of underutilized capacity in the economy– people who are or will soon be unemployed, those who are underemployed, factories shuttered, offices empty, trucks and containers idled — government may have to spend $600 or $700 billion next year to reverse the downward cycle we’re in.
The answer to the second question is mostly “infrastructure” — repairing roads and bridges, levees and ports; investing in light rail, electrical grids, new sources of energy, more energy conservation. Even conservative economists like Harvard’s Martin Feldstein are calling for government to stimulate the economy through infrastructure spending. Infrastructure projects like these pack a double-whammy: they create lots of jobs, and they make the economy work better in the future. (Important qualification: To do this correctly and avoid pork, the federal government will need to have a capital budget that lists infrastructure projects in order of priority of public need.)
Government should also spend on health care and child care. These expenditures are also double whammies: they, too, create lots of jobs, and they fulfill vital public needs.
Expect two sorts of arguments against this. The first will come from fiscal hawks who claim that the government is already spending way too much. Even without a new stimulus package, next year’s budget deficit could run over a trillion dollars, given the amounts to be spent bailing out Wall Street and perhaps the auto industry, and providing extended unemployment insurance and other measures to help those in direct need. The hawks will argue that the nation can’t afford giant deficits, especially when baby boomers are only a few years away from retiring and claiming Social Security and Medicare.
They’re wrong. Government spending that puts people back to work and invests in the future productivity of the nation is exactly what the economy needs right now. Deficit numbers themselves have no significance. The pertinent issue is how much underutilized capacity exists in the economy. When there’s lots of idle capacity, deficit spending is entirely appropriate, as John Maynard Keynes taught us. Moving the economy to fuller capacity will of itself shrink future deficits.
The second argument will come from conservative supply-siders who will call for income-tax cuts rather than spending increases. They’ll claim that individuals with more money in their pockets will get the economy moving again more readily than can government. They’re wrong, for three reasons. First, income-tax cuts go mainly to upper-income people who tend to save rather than spend. Most Americans pay more in payroll taxes than in income taxes. Second, even if a rebate could be fashioned, people tend to use those extra dollars to pay off their debts rather than buy new goods and services, as we witnessed a few months ago when the government sent out rebate checks. Third, even when individuals purchase goods and services, those purchases tend not to generate as many American jobs as government spending on the same total scale because much of what consumers buy comes from abroad.
Fiscal hawks and conservative supply siders notwithstanding, a major stimulus is in order. Government is the spender of last resort, and the nation is coming close to its last resort.
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/11/09/the_mini_depression_and_the_ma/
ChiFi:
I speak nothing but the truth. I have said recently that I didn’t beat the indexes through stock picking during the tech bubble. And sometimes I lose when I gamble of course, but the last three trips to the casino, I have won $2,500 (Belterra), $650 and $1350 (AC). My timing on the the market implosion and SRS were amazingly lucky as well as my prior major purchase of CMG. What can I say. I’m just incredibly patient and very lucky I guess. I am very comfortable not having my money working for me as well. Currently, I have 7/8 of my IRAs and taxable portfolio in cash and 1/2 of my 401K in bond funds. I am often in cash only positions for extended period of times. I was in an all cash position from shortly after the tech bubble busted (about 25% from the top of the Nasdaq) until the day we went to war with Afghanistan. That must have been at least a year in a half if I recall correctly. I also nailed the market bottom that time to the day for going back in.
Don’t worry Chifi, I’m going to Vegas with the Gator and my brother in early December. After 4 days of gambling,I highly doubt I’ll come out ahead unless I hit a royal. You can ask the Gator if you think I’m lying at the next GTG. She’ll tell you, I hide nothing from her and let her know when I win and lose when gambling and with our investments.
For what it’s worth, you can understand now why we don’t have a financial adviser and we do our own taxes. Don’t worry though, once I reach the net worth range that would qualify us to work with you, I’ll have to share all of our old tax returns with you. Then you can see the Schedule D’s for yourself. I would do Covestor, but it doesn’t work well when you have multiple accounts at Ameritrade. We are now up to 5 accounts there since I can’t qualify for the Roth anymore and I must do traditional again.
Well anyhow, I’ll make sure I post any investment or gambling losses when they occur here as well as the good news.
Oh yeah,
Gator just reminded me that I lost about $800 on the last cruise I took with her. The video poker there had about a 96% return rate and the blackjack and craps wasn’t very friendly.
So there ya go!
Frank,
Come to think of it, you may be on to something. Hector Guitterez has ningun trabajo; no sheet rock to install, no framing to build, no tomatoes/corn to pick. Hence, Catalina Guitterez says no mas. If Mrs Wantanabe can trade currency derivatives, Mi tambien!!
Unfortunately, Catalina has ningun dinero. Ningun problema. Frank’s hedge fund is hiring, offering 40-1 leverage. Man your stations, there will be a new carry established. Sell the Mexican peso, or is that the US dollaro. Maybe Catalina just wants to get ready to trade the Amero.
God bless America and Frank, amigos.
Can someone with GSMLS access please give me the SP for 71 Montclair Ave in Montclair?
Many thanks.
Frank,
You are so full of BS and living in la la land. From my perch, traffic is lighter and I’m probably weeks away from my pink slip, I have many friends who have recently been laid off and the house across the street from me was assessed at $657 and no one even shows up to the open houses and it is listed at $499.
I’m fairly certain that you don’t work for a hedge fund making your Hoboken story appear equally as unlikely. My gut tells me that you are in huge financial trouble and the chain restaurant you chose to eat at last night was most likely a McDonalds.
Grim, my 38 is in Mod.
Gator,
I only found an expiration for 71 montclair in MLS, no recent sale price.
Thanks, Sybarite. Could you give me the address for 2598703? It’s also in Montclair.
Gator,
102 Park St.
I was going to say it looks like an ok deal, until I spotted this:
TAXES: $15,879
Yikes.
Thanks, Syb. Not interested for purchase. Looking for comps for tax appeal. This one’s listed for about 100k below assessment.
Gotcha; let me know if you need more detailed info.
Surprised that no one has linked to this article yet –
China Unveils 4 Trillion Yuan Spending as World Faces Recession
Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) — China pledged a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus plan to prop up growth in the fourth-largest economy as the world heads toward a recession.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=augL9_cumtA4&refer=home
So, does this mean that the Chinese will stop buying UST’s? I assume that the stimulus money will come from selling their existing USD denominated debt, correct? If this true, this would be increasing costs for borrowing when we need it the most.
“You must be paying slave wages if you can’t get H1b’s to bite.”
No, I don’t want H1Bs because I know I can’t get it for them, the limit is too small to complete with Microsoft and Oracle.
Victorian (46),
I don’t read it that way. At least not completely. I think the Chinese have already slowed their purchasing of our debt, as we have slowed the purchase of products from their factory floors. I’m sure they can run their presses just as fast as we can run ours.
I don’t see any correlation between their fiscal stimulus and U.S. Treasuries. I’m fairly certain that their deficits are much smaller now than they were in the early 2000’s.
I, nor is probably anyone outside of the Chinese Government, aware of their true financial standing.
vic [45],
Silver, platinum, palladiun, copper?
“SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — In the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, several top hedge fund managers sent a grim message to their investors in October: it isn’t over.”
“Be careful buying ANYTHING today,” Kyle Bass, managing partner of Hayman Advisors, warned in an Oct. 17 letter to investors.
“He criticized Berkshire Hathaway’s Chairman Warren Buffett who advised investors to buy U.S. stocks in a New York Times column last month.”
“Mr. Buffett has enough money to be able to have his holdings drop 50% and still fly in his jets and live the way in which he has become accustomed,” Bass wrote. “Do you have enough capital to take what you have left, cut it in half, and continue to live the way you have for the past few years? I don’t.”
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Top-hedge-fund-managers-funereal/story.aspx?guid=%7B8C0A785F%2DF1E5%2D4E84%2DB020%2DB4E6AA1C6496%7D
Stu(47) –
“I think the Chinese have already slowed their purchasing of our debt”
Is there a place where you can get this info? As far as I know, China is by far the biggest buyer of UST’s. If they slow their purchases, who is going to fund our stimulus program which is coming for sure?
BC (48) –
What is the best vehicle to invest in commodities in your opinion?
Victorian:
http://www.ustreas.gov/tic/mfh.txt
#7 frank:Wall St. firm should have no problems finding people willing to work.
What large Wall St firm is hiring right now? And what jobs are bing offered that they are attracting illegals?
Large firm contract out theri janitorial needs.
You need to get over it frank 2005 has come and gone. It really is a recession.
vic [50],
That’s a broad question. Metals, energies, grains, meats?
You can buy the ETF’s or invest in firms that are directly related, i.e., ADM (grains), Rio Tinto (metals,minerals), Exxon, etc.. I am not promoting these firms, just using as an example.
The link covers the most heavily traded/most liquid commodities across the spectrum. Again, just an example.
If you think we are on the cusp of a depression, you may want to short some of these.
http://www.invescopowershares.com/products/overview.aspx?ticker=dbc
http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2008/11/the_new_improve.html
“The new, improved fed funds market” Econbrowser
“Yet another week of institutional changes that render all those nice macroeconomics texts and professors’ notes obsolete.”
Be sure and read the comments regarding GSEs and FDIC.
I read it all twice – and just when I thought I was beginning to understand it….. I realized I was only kidding myself.
BC (53) –
Thanks! I recently opened a very small position in DBC, but was thinking that it might not be the best way to play commodities. My reasoning is that since the consumer is dead in most first world countries, it will be governments which will need to do the spending. Governments primarily spend on infrastructure, and hence commodities will get a boost after the huge bust already taken place.
DBC does not seem to be sufficiently diversified and also has gold as a commodity which I think it is not.
As far as grains go, I think unless there is a WWIII, populations are going to keep on increasing and people need to eat. From a long term perspective, as less and less people are going into farming, food/grains are going to appreciate. I am using DBA to play this, but again, it is not sufficiently diverse.
I would welcome anyone who can give a counterpoint to this reasoning.
Here is an excellent comparison of Japan’s recession to ours..
http://www.csis.org/media/csis/events/081029_japan_koo.pdf
CNNMoney.com
AIG near new bailout deal: Report
http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/09/news/companies/aig/index.htm
“The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported Sunday evening that AIG’s board was close to approving significant changes to the terms of the $123 billion in loans extended so far, and might announce a revised $150 billion deal as early as Monday.”
Number of first-time home buyers is increasing
Survey shows they are taking advantage of falling prices, interest rates
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27631021/
Sorry…should have been on top of this……how to celebrate whipping the Cowboys….
http://hoboken411.com/archives/14704
vic,
In electronic trading, copper futures, Dec, are up 7%. I guess there are others thinking like you.
Frank – it is just happend that I have a friend who graduates with his masters in Ci=omputer sciences and he is looking for job On the East cost, I also have two people who’s spouses just being laid off from Brokerages last week. Can you please forward me details of the job and contact information so they can apply – I am serious. Just send an email to Grim.
They all US citizens… and I believe they would take any semi-decent pay right now – and I do mean semi-decent – under 100K.
No commitment from you – just information. One person really wants to stay on the east cost – family in NYC, he does have offers from CA.
Frank has a point about the recession. Watching football, the ‘Red Zone’ on satellite dish, all day, seeing stadiums full of consumers cutting back. Now watching the Eagles vs Giants, Philadelphia stadium is full too. What’s going on here?
As far as restaurants and malls – I do agree with Frank – EVERYTHING Is packed…..
I am just wondering how much until credit cards are maxed out??? It seems that general sentiment – Bail out will come for EVERY DEBT existing.
Still, auto sales, even on Toyotas are awful. Waiting for Tol to report on Tuesday this week, should be interesting. Is there any suspence here, losses should be epic, if they’re not I’d be very surprised.
Short Hills Mall PACKED today and the inventory in the stores was piled high….bought the little one Uggs. Doing our part you know.
Frank (7)-
You do work at a hedge fund, right? What is it you’re looking for? Bathroom attendants? Baristas? Concierges?
If you’re looking for undiscovered hotshot quants with banana-seat blackboxes, maybe you should look to upgrade from the “Help Wanted” section of the classifieds.
Moron.
Frank (8)-
Did you go for six pieces, or twelve?
scribe (16)-
That’s an insult to bucket shops.
“So, what you’re saying is that people who are legal have no interest in your firm?
Bucket shop?”
BC (36)-
Talk about a carry where the legs are wobbly on sides A and B…
Got SRS?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122610459432510207.html
Wall St.
Executives and analysts say the redundancies – to be finalised this month as banks prepare next year’s budgets – could top 70,000 among US groups alone and add to the estimated 150,000 jobs already lost by the financial sector worldwide.
The job losses are expected to be concentrated in the investment banking and trading businesses that have been hit hard by the near-freeze in capital markets and the collapse in takeover and financing activity.
http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto110920081844401176
vic (55)-
I’d lay off the grains. All the elevator guys have been lopped off at the knees, and the deleverage isn’t close to over.
Weekly open house anecdotes:
Stopped by two today in Middletown. First was beautiful refurbished farm house, the place was really cool but an old, old house that would require a lot of upkeep (3700 sg. ft). The realtor was very honest. She said the place listed last winter at 770K, no takers. Now it’s at 650K, seller was “desperate”. “Market has fallen off a cliff” were her exact words.
Second place was a dumpy 3br/2 ba in a nice location. Asking was 599K down from 625K. I told the realtor it needed to be sub 500K to sell. Similar well appointed 4 br, 2.5 ba are selling for 525-550 in the neighborhood. She asked me to an offer and sign the list and said not much else.
“What is it you’re looking for?”
Quants, the problem is the American kids are so dumb that they rather do landscaping than study a hard science. On the other hand you have hardcore Republicans that rather let Mexicans in to do landscaping for them than kids to do math.
sean (70)-
SRS? Most assuredly! Got a nice little haircut back into the 120’s on Friday (based on absolutely nothing, BTW), so I doubled down for what has to be the umpteenth time in the past three months.
How can one not shoot against TOL, HOV, pensions, insurers, bad REITs and the other hacks and gacks of the post-modern financial wasteland?
Frank (74)-
I’m coming to the shattering realization that there really are people as stupid as you in positions you have no business holding.
Al,
Do your friend have ASP.NET with quant skills + masters?
Frank (74)-
Good timing, too. Looking for quants…just as the last of the quants is ushered to the gallows.
Need a quant? Quant yourself.
#76,
Do you have anything else to say besides insulting people? Are all RE agents in NJ as big of an A$$ hole as you? Because I coming to that conclusion.
Clotpoll = A$$ h0le RE agent from NJ read this:
What Crisis? Some Hedge Funds Are Gaining
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/business/economy/10hedge.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Frank (79)-
I have nothing else to say to you, because you’re a lying sack of shit. You can’t even troll well.
Please report back when you have a track record established for your Mexican quant squad.
Frank (77) –
What does ASP.Net have to do with Quantitative Finance?
Frank (80)-
So which is it? Do you work for Paulson…or Drury?
vic (82)-
What does Frank have to do with profitable financial activities?
Funny; Frank’s flaming away here, while he could be busting out on the Nikkei and Hang Seng right now.
80#, franki, there are always some people making money in any market. do you have stats on average how much hedgies are down year-to-october?
one the other hand, don’t be too upset by clot since he is not in good mood when you look at futures pointing to at least 3% up at open tomorrow in addition to his 10 pts drop of SRS in last 10 minutes Friday.
Long live Mike Morgan!
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=SRS#chart2:symbol=srs;range=1d;indicator=volume;charttype=candlestick;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=undefined
Clotpoll,
How are the REO sales going in NJ? Do you have to do to work with a gun these days?
Frank (86)-
REO and short sales pay the bills. Hanging in there.
Glad to be able to tell the truth. You should try it sometime.
Frank has to be a recruiter.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122627663064812111.html
Hedge Funds Heading to the Hill….
isn’t this what all NJ politicians have been doing for NJers:
Local councilman (of unknown political affiliation) arrested for Peeing on Crowd
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Councilman-Arrested-for-Peeing-on-Crowd.html
Frank,
A quant with .net? Why .net and not regression analysis, stochastics, C++, sharpe ratios, trend patterns, delta/gamma etc..
You even fail as a troll. Like Dandy Don would sing on Monday nights; “Shut out the lights, the party’s over.”
I do have a good candidate for you, Myron Scholes. He does not require sponsorship. Good Luck!
Again, thanks for the comedy, #7. Many are having a good laugh with that one.
I bet Frank is an Indian Bodyshopper.
clot…frank…come on….everyone….
form a circle….
hold hand….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvrgGwVGSmc
# Frank Says:
November 9th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Al,
Do your friend have ASP.NET with quant skills + masters?
My friend is graduating with masters in Computer Science in December.
Quant Skills?? May be some details on what quant skills?
So as I said – if you send HR/recruiter person’s email and job description/qualification’s required to Grim he’ll forward it to me. There is no harm, right? If you get qualified candidate out of it and I help somebody find a job – we both win.
Since you said you are having trouble finding a citizen to work for your company…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtfEFx7M6bg
6-18-2007 Paul Solman with Taleb
What I get from this is that ANYONEcan start a hedge fund.
Incredible! Wisconsin School Pension Funds were guaranteeing $20 Billion worth of Corporate Bonds!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/business/02global.html?pagewanted=1&emc=eta1
nice post about “Pace of Jersey Teardowns slows”
Frank the fraud
has a nice ring to it
come on eagles, you bums can’t cover 3?
96 –
that’s a brutal story. gotta wonder how many people were duped by ‘easy money.’
if i see my business in two years, i thought about becoming a teacher. we’d have some money to sit on, i’d be helping folks, and you get summers off. in addition, there’s that awesome pension that teachers get.
im guessing that schools are going to be doing away with the pension plans, if they haven’t already.
Grim – check your inbox.
#96 victorian,
Explains perfectly why the schools are failing. If the leaders can’t be bothered to do their homework, why should the kids?
Haven’t any of these clowns heard of Orange County’s troubles? (to put it mildly)
Let’s borrow at 5 to 1 to invest in something we haven’t read the prospectus . If everything runs right, we can make 300k a year more then we could without leverage by investing in treasuries, if 6% of the companies backed by the C.D.O. default, we lose our whole 200 million, yet still owe the $165 million we borrowed.
M.T.A = Money Totally Annihilated
victorian—haha…this is incredible????? ure almost there wake up!!!!!!
follow all he money trails around the matrix of deceit
the i mean
#101 continued
The lack of due diligence by the school board is astonishing.
Yet, the article said there are hundreds of other boards and government entities like this.
I’m just stunned by the scale and breadth of this.
I’d hold off on the SRS for now, that thing is at least going to $105, I used to play around with that in the $80’s and was briefly castrated at those prices. That ETF is a traders dream, as it was almost $200. No question about it, that fund is the future goog. Scary thing about that fund is the counter party risk, could wind up being a big rip off
96 Victorian
And when I tell NYC teachers that I don’t think pensions will be around for long, they tell me I’m crazy. I guess that’s something else NYC is insulated against. Cause you know, it’s different here.
Dang! Roubini was on CNBC this AM and I just caught the tail end. Maybe he is coming back on – don’t know…
Can someone please provide listing, previous sale information on
MLS ID #2844418?
Thanks in advance.
Also, can someone give me the street address for MLS ID #2585683?
Again, thanks in advance.
Brown to call for new global financial system
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27640252/
Will china and japan still accept payments with our devalued dollar?That’s alot of money to loose.
109.
Interesting to consider….does anyone know the pension laws for GM if they go under…and for the states…if…they do.
I guess this is “Just What I Needed”…..
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aXeltuiAOyzs&refer=us
C: knock…knock….room service…
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=924168195&play=1
On topic of Electronics. Just bought camcorder from a small electronics store on Rte 22 yesterday. They sold me same camcorder for $285 the one CC has listed for $400. At such price difference it was no-brainer.
http://www.beachcamera.com/shop/home.aspx
Frank what are you paying per year? A lot of peoople laid off even low level people like AVPs were making 100K a year base with like 50K a year bonus. The bonus may have been only like 20% but in 2003-2007 that little bonus in shares with restricted bonus was worth a lot more on vesting. Problem is a lot of these guys let there wife stay home have an extra kid or two trade up a house lease a car etc. Basically spent their whole salary plus bonus. Now they are looking for work and a 70K job is as good as a zero K job as either way they will go under. They are holding out for their 150K which may or may not come. Just rolling the dice I guess.
Frank Says:
November 9th, 2008 at 11:26 am
On another recession note, my company is looking to hire people, and we can not find any. The only people applying have no working papers / illegals. What happened to the the 6% unemployment rate? Government scam? You figure with all the layoff news, large Wall St. firm should have no problems finding people willing to work. Wrong!!! Media loves negative news, the reality is very different
Circuit City files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
John @ 8:34am — “a 70K job is as good as a zero K job as either way they will go under”
Nicely put.
Frank [28]:
“I posted out jobs at NYC, Columbia, Polytech and few other universities, all applicants need H1 visas. No Americans are willing to take a job.”
You forgot to add the relevant qualifier to the last sentence: ‘at the salary we are offering’