Getting late here and I’ll be flying back tomorrow afternoon, so I’ll open this one up early in case I don’t get a chance to do it tomorrow.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Wish you and your families the best!
Keep the turkey warm for me, I’ll be landing around 7:30pm.
How about sharing what you are thankful for this year?
I’m Firsty!
I’m thankful that I was laid off at the end of August — and landed a new job by the end of September. For me, being laid off was a blessing in disguise. I only wish for everyone else who finds themselves out of work that they land on their feet as quickly.
I’m thankful for my dear husband of the last 22 years.
I’m thankful for my health.
I’m thankful that Sarah Palin will not be our next VP.
I’m thankful that I have gotten past the mythology of this holiday so I can make us a lovely Greek dinner tomorrow — and no turkey.
I’m thankful for my spectacular wife.
That the big guy upstairs helped me get beyond lucky with my small business.
For the healthy of my friends and family.
That we’re sideline sitters with no debt, flush with cash, and thanks to the internet, able to research the heck out of any place we want to buy.
I am grateful that my kids are healthy
That my landlady likes us
That we have enough
(…and that Jill said a bunch of nice things first….)
Very grateful that I am not underwater in a peak bought house and forced to move for work.
I am grateful for my family, great friends, and a job I love; that I am getting a chance to accomplish what I want to in life with supportive colleagues and higher-ups helping me get the resources I need. Most of all I am thankful for the chance to live in the US.
I would like to thank Grim for all he does to keep so many of us entertained and educated.
I would also like to thank John for ruining my fondness of the onion.
And most of all, I would like to thank Bi for his wonderful black box of eternal inversiness.
I ain’t thankful for jack squat, I worked my tail to the bone and took a bullet for all that I have..
SAS
Thanks to Grim.
Thanks to all here. You are the thread that attaches me to a remnant of sanity.
Thanks to whatever cosmic miracle allows me to be the only person who can fire me. As of tomorrow, I’m still employed.
As to everyone and everything else, they can bugger off.
Meh
Just sayin’
well, thankful for my kids.
and thankful my third marriage only lasted 6 months.
SAS :)
I am thankful for my wife and new baby girl.
I am thankful I didn’t buy in 2006.
Look at the Hoboken sales, some above listing price.
Some call this a recession??? I call it a housing boom.
http://hudson.fnismls.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=c0fb94df-7a7b-4f21-95e7-2b445b8a989c&Report=Yes
How about the under-contracts?? Housing boom lives on.
http://hudson.fnismls.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=8a7409ad-bc72-4c0a-96f8-7ad2319d23d5&Report=Yes
frank is thankful for the freedom to be delusional.
I don’t know Frank, the most impressive thing I saw was two units that sold for almost 100k below asking
#12 frank Ah Jeez here we go again.
I am thankful for my wife and children, and all my family.
I am thankful for this site, it was a refuge of sanity, while the madness reigned.
My heart goes out to all of those people on this Thanksgiving who played by the rules, and yet through no fault of their own find themselves unemployed becasue of the mess created by others.
I am thankful for my wife 1 1/2 old son.
I am thankful for not being fired yet for posting on this site too much.
I am thankful for whole family healthy.
I am thankful that we live in USA and most people do not need to worry about being hungry tomorrow.
And finally I just had to say this after all of the posts today: ONION!!!!!
i’m thankful not to be in Mumbai right now
i’m thankful that the USA has a large body of water on either side of it, protecting it from rabid lunatics
i’m thankful for my wife and 9 month old son Benny of course
and i’m thankful for all of the witty and informative posts that i read on this site that keep me two steps ahead of the “crowd”
I am thankful for having passed on a Wall street gig right out of school in favor of different career path.
I am thankful for having found the njrereport blog where I’ve found respite, knowledge and interesting characters during the go-go days.
I am thankful for my significant other and those around me who stand/put up with me on a daily basis.
I am thankful that I am young and the experimental losses I’ve incurred lately will serve as a good lesson on what the markets are capable of… could have been worse, could have been in my 40’s thus magnifying the distress.
I am thankful for Mitchell the tosspot, SAS the blowhard et al.
gobble gobble…
on a related note, I was driving to my office in Englewood Cliffs and decided to take a detour since i95 was packed. I made one wrong turn – moved from midtown recently – and ended up on a dead end cul de sac. Drove to the end, made the turn and came face to face, well face to car grille, with a dozen wild turkeys blocking my path. They looked like they wanted to jack me (I swear one was wielding a cueball in sock) but I revved and hauled ass.
Real Estate Downfall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNmcf4Y3lGM
Sorry if this has been posted earlier, but I liked it a lot. Everything from this blog …
The Housing Bubble bursts on a speculator. Parody using a clip with Hitler as the real estate investor. He bought a house to flip, faces foreclosure, and now wants to get bailed out. Parody Fair Use of clip. See: http://www.publaw.com/parody.html
I’m thankful for my family and my two healthy girls and that we are have no debt in this crazy economy. I thankful that I’m in a safe place. I’m thankful to work for a rather aggressive employer and that business couldn’t be better. I thankful to be having a traditional turkey dinner and not some new-age tofu crap followed by some crazy ‘fair trade’ coffee. I thankful that the United States of America still exists in spite of certain elements within our society that would like to destroy us including the ‘hate America first’ crowd.
OMG CHIFI!!!!!
I think I’m going to be sick:
http://omg.yahoo.com/blogs/crush/hilary-duff-messes-with-depeche-mode/99?nc
The video is at the end of the article.
Thankful for:
My wife: for following this type A, hyperactive, split personality, NJ wise guy around the world without one complaint for the last three decades.
My doctors: who treated me with compasion and humor for a nasty cancer.
My health: still in remission.
My colleagues: America’s greatest treasure performing the hardest jobs imaginable in the most difficult places on earth, today and every day.
And people think I’m grim. Isn’t Japan an Island? Aren’t they running out of land?
From Bloomberg:
Japan Land Prices Poised to Fall for 15 Years, Appraiser Says
apanese land prices may drop for the next fifteen years, according to the president of Sanyu Appraisal Corp., a real estate appraisal firm.
“The real estate market is headed for a depression that’s worse than after the asset bubble collapsed” in 1990, Akiyoshi Inoue, the Tokyo-based company’s president, said in a Nov. 26 interview with Bloomberg News.
“Land prices will fall for at least the next 15 years,” Inoue added.
Land prices at 85 percent of monitored sites fell in the three months ended Sept. 30, according to a Land Ministry survey released Nov. 21, a sign that a two-year- old recovery in land prices from a 15-year slump has run its course.
Real estate values are falling as the global credit crisis and economic recession are prompting banks to reduce lending and companies to cut back on investment.
grim (25)-
You add up all those years of down, it’s a Biblical generation.
I guess if we get that here, it’ll at least drive the soccer moms out of RE…
I am grateful to be healthy, to have a job, a great dog and no debt and to be not under many of the stresses that so many others are facing at the moment.
I am thankful for you all…
Notes (magnets) from the youngest daughter’s refrigerator here in Portland, Oregon….:
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. Edith Wharton
When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot, hang on and swing. Louis Buscaglia
Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly. anonymous
Our task is to learn to want ourselves….
Alice Walker
Happy Thanksgiving,
Cindy
Thankful to My wife, Parents, Kids, Brother and Sister. Thankful to have good health and nice job.
Thanks Grim for the forum you have facilitated here, I am also grateful that my husband is cancer free..this time last year was not as optimistic…glad to hear you beat it as well #24 DL! Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!
God Bless us all, everyone.
no offense to the atheists
gobble gobble
Does anyone want a job? I need to hire a person. Please help.
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/sof/912971690.html
Frank (32)-
Have the margin calls stopped yet?
Holiday craft fun for those who have a few kids to entertain..(like me.)
1. Leaf rubbings – Gather a variety of leaves – place on a flat surface/ spine side up -place computer paper over the top and rub fall colors using peeled crayons.
2. Paper bag vests – make a cut straight up the center – Turn a large brown bag inside out – cut a neck scoop and arm holes – staple down the bottom flap – decorate.
3. Weaving headbands with straws and yarn:
4. Don’t forget the ever popular – cutting out snowflakes using coffee filters….
Enjoy!
Oh wait a minute…Ya gotta have a poem to act out…
A turkey is a funny bird…
His head goes wobble, wobble.
And he knows just one word…
Gobble, gobble gobble.
I’m thankful that 50mg of xan@x makes me very thankful.
So my grandson is officially obsessed – with marbles. Everything is all about whether or not a marble will roll down it. I take him into the backyard to play in the sand box – oh no, we can’t take the cover off- he needs to roll marbles off of the top. The train set – for marbles. The car ramp – only for rolling marbles.
So of course – the most spoken words these past four days are: “Avery, have you lost your marbles?”
“Have the margin calls stopped yet?”
No margin calls, we just got a lot of money from NJ Pension fund and we need to invest it ASAP. Thanks for your contribution.
(36) Gary
Hang in there Gary – it’s going to work out.
You are too bright to be out of work for long. Part of creative destruction – is destruction…the creative part is just around the corner.
Frank – Would you give it a rest – If you haven’t noticed – we are trying to have a holiday here.
Gary I’m having a lithium laced drumstick with extra L-tryptophan… washed back with a tall glass of pseudo-absinthe, unless you have the real stuff
Would you give it a rest?? What do you mean?? I am in a holiday spirit, I am trying to give someone a job. What better gift during this holiday than a job? And I am being asked about margin calls. Talk to Clotpoll lady.
Gary
I’m still waiting on an email from you.
“I am trying to give someone a job.”
Giving someone a job on Thanksgiving is indeed a good thing. Forcing them to work with you is another story altogether.
Happy Turkey day ya jive turkeys!
Frank – Thank you ever so much for calling me a lady. I believe your Craig’s List ploy has already been called out. It is obvious that your plea is not in earnest. Enough said.
Cindy,
Why do you have to bring down my holiday spirit? Is giving someone a job not enough in these hard times? You are heart less.
happy turkey day all.
the wife just told me that peter schiff was on Scott&Todd WPLJ yesterday. they pulled up his youtube video’s from 06 and discussed his view….
its the end of days when the main pop radio station in NYC is talking to schiff about financial collapse. He was suggesting that people get into precious metal and foreign currency.
#1 I am thankful that I will not be eating at your house.
I’m very thankful that I sold my NYC place in ’05 for a profit of 5000%, which allowed me to stop working and move to the beach. (Also thankful that my niece could do the math.) Also thankful to Grim for starting this site and putting way too much work into it. And finally, I’m thankful that GWB is on his way out.
I’m very thankful that I sold my NYC place in ‘05 for a profit of 5000%, which allowed me to stop working and move to the beach.
Do tell… I don’t think you’ve shared the story, have you?
Very thankful for health, family and friends.
Thankful for Grim and the people who make up this community, even Frank and RE101.
Thankful that I got my Troegs Mad Elf for this holiday season BEFORE it was written up in Playb-y and some stores (unconscionably) jacked the price up to $20.00/six pack (yikes!)
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
I’ve been following the horrible developments in Mumbai.
I’m grateful that O was just lying during the campaign and he now is continuing GWB’s policies that have kept this great country safe for 7 years (ie Geneva convention does not apply to terrorists, FISA, Iraq, aggressive interrogation techniques, keeping GWB’s SecDec etc). This is the right thing to do.
With Great Power comes Great Responsibility, and clearly O recognizes this.
O rocks!
Cindy,
Do you live in CA? How’s the housing market there?
Cindy (34)-
5. Paper bag hat, for Frank:
http://walterfootball.com/images/fball/paperbag.jpg
Thankful for this blog.
Thankful that I still have a job, health, and friends and family.
Thankful for beer, wine and good food.
(ww4b, I’m still looking for that dogfish head; if you spot it in a specific NJ retailer give a shout)
Thankful that I didn’t lose THAT much in the stock market.
Thankful that RE prices are continuing to come down.
Frank (42)-
Margin calls will be nothing to you if Chris Christie is elected governor.
Then you can bleat to some prosecutors about pissing away NJ’s money.
This is my Thanksgiving wish.
Peace (49)-
I don’t vote- and I’m no big fan of O- but at least I can listen to his press conferences and not cringe. After eight years, it’s good to hear someone who at least sounds like he has a clue.
Clot [33],
Frank’s margin calls stopped awhile ago. Blown out of the water. Presently, he’s just a stuffed Turkey.
“Chris Christie is elected governor”
Keep on wishing, Corzine will rule this state until he runs out of money, his or yours.
Thankful for lots of things this year, especially my beautiful new wife.
Even the Turkeys know a turkey of a state and are are leaving.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqS7MSnTljk&eurl
Rick Rolled at the Macy’s Parade!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am thankful to be living in the United States and grateful for the generations of our men and women in uniform who have and continue to stand guard for us 24/7 around the world. You know the old saying, If you can read, thank a teacher. If you are reading in English, thank a soldier. So, thanks, Cindy and thanks to the troops.
Clot:
Inter are gonna take the Champions.
I am thankful for the Crisis. My church is full and the take much better.
Gobble gobble…
happy thanksgiving!
In Bakersfield, Calif., a Mexican strawberry picker with an income of $14,000 and no English was lent every penny he needed to buy a house for $720,000.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/opinion/26friedman.html?em
“Look at the Hoboken sales, some above listing price.”
Thankful that Christmas day 1982 being warm (72F) and sunny (in NJ) meant that all winters bring nothing but beach days.
Oh wait…
what a sad, sad joke you are, Frank. pathetic, even. i pity your friends and family – assuming you have any.
Justin (63)-
Love Inter, but they win nothing if they play the way they did yesterday.
My real estate story:
Moved into a loft in a neighborhood which came to be known as Tribeca in 1978. Fought with city and landlord for next 15 years—and had my photo in NY Times twice as a result. Ultimately landlord sold the building to the tenants in ’93. My share of the purchase price was $23,000. Took a while (10 years) to get a CofO and formalize co-op status. Sold in ’05 for $1,200,000 after one open house and a bidding war. It was fun.
GRIM is Famous,but we already knew this.
He was printed up in today’s Star Ledger, I do not know how to provide links, but maybe Jim himself can help me out.
Happy Thanksgiving day to all!!!
Jim( not Grim)
Here it is, wifhttp://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2008/11/raise_the_glass_despite_the_gl.html#moree helped me, hope it works
Try this :
http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2008/11/raise_the_glass_despite_the_gl.html#more
He was deleted, trust me it is in the hardcopy, go out and buy todays paper.
Darn Ledger, probably deleted by some realtor who did not like to hear the truth!
Well Happy Thanksgiving anyway.
Jim
welcome to the treasury bubble?.?.?.?.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Demand for U.S. Treasury bonds surged Wednesday, lowering the yield on the benchmark note to an all-time low, as investors responded to grim economic data and falling mortgage rates.
10yr treasuries below 3% for the first time ever!
Seventy-Fifth !!!!
http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/26/markets/bondcenter/bonds/index.htm
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Demand for U.S. Treasury bonds surged Wednesday, lowering the yield on the benchmark note to an all-time low, as investors responded to grim economic data and falling mortgage rates.
The closely watched 10-year note rose 1-3/32 to 106-18/32, and its yield fell to 2.99% from late Tuesday’s 3.10%. The yield on this note has never gone below 3% in its 46-year history.
grim
looking for a new bike. ultegra level components. prices went up quite a bit from last year. pricing me out of a new bike. any thoughts on bike market. any chance for a bicycle bubble blog??
From the AP:
Meltdown far from over, new mortgage crisis looms
The full scope of the housing meltdown isn’t clear and already there are ominous signs of a new crisis — one that could turn out the lights on malls, hotels and storefronts nationwide.
Even as the holiday shopping season begins in full swing, the same events poisoning the housing market are now at work on commercial properties, and the bad news is trickling in. Malls from Michigan to Georgia are entering foreclosure.
Hotels in Tucson, Ariz., and Hilton Head, S.C., also are about to default on their mortgages.
That pace is expected to quicken. The number of late payments and defaults will double, if not triple, by the end of next year, according to analysts from Fitch Ratings Ltd., which evaluates companies’ credit.
“We’re probably in the first inning of the commercial mortgage problem,” said Scott Tross, a real estate lawyer with Herrick Feinstein in New Jersey.
That’s bad news for more than just property owners. When businesses go dark, employees lose jobs. Towns lose tax revenue. School budgets and social services feel the pinch.
Companies have survived plenty of downturns, but economists see this one playing out like never before. In the past, when businesses hit rough patches, owners negotiated with banks or refinanced their loans.
But many banks no longer hold the loans they made. Over the past decade, banks have increasingly bundled mortgages and sold them to investors. Pension funds, insurance companies, and hedge funds bought the seemingly safe securities and are now bracing for losses that could ripple through the financial system.
“It’s a toxic drug and nobody knows how bad it’s going to be,” said Paul Miller, an analyst with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, who was among the first to sound alarm bells in the residential market.
From LoHud:
Existing home sales, prices decline in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam
Sales of existing homes, which had shown some improvement in September, deteriorated across most of the state in October from a year earlier.
…
In the Lower Hudson Valley, sales and the median sales prices fell the most in Westchester. The county’s median of $575,000 – the highest in the Realtor’s report – was down 14 percent from October 2007. Sales dropped 16.5 percent.
Rockland’s median declined 6.1 percent to $460,000 as sales were down 15.1 percent, while Putnam’s median of $335,000 was off 6.9 percent on a 5 percent drop in sales.
…
Across the state, the median sales price of $210,000 was down 1.8 percent from October 2007. Sales were down 12 percent statewide.
Just an observation;
AUY, nice W pattern.
BC,
Yahama gold or USDAUD????
have a great day BC and all, happy thanksgiving!
kettle,
Yamana.
Another observation, huge call activity last week.
Happy T-Giving to you and yours, and to all.
I am thankful that Tony A’s pizza delivers because dinner is at my inlaws and the woman can’t cook for sh*t. I am thankful for my Phillies and my son. His love for baseball brought me back to the game. Thankful for bad jokes.
Why did the whale cross the road?
To get to the other tide…
55 Sybarite
Little Brothers – Church St in Flemington has what you are seeking. I bought a case this past Sunday.
If its there, its also at other good beer stores. I bet Oak Tree has it, but can’t say for sure.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Pray tell, what are you going to do? Talk back in ALL CAPS??!!! *GASP!* Gotta luv the internets.
“6) I’ll be thankful when people stop pushing and taunting me here. There’s only so much that anyone can take before he snaps.”
I’m thankful for Swiss multinational corporations….and European Sports Sedans….toddlers….stray dogs….and American Women. Big Breasts of Turkey.
I’ll be thankfull, if “O”, allows homeowners to take a Capital Loss on any purchases between 2004 – 2008.
BC
I was playing in paper gold but have mostly stepped out of it.
With the physical and paper disconnect i felt that the risk associated with paper wasnt worth holding it.
Happy thanksgiving all,
Thankful for employment and also thankful that the credit bubble is deflating so that we can break our addiction to excess consumption of everything…
Kettle or BC,
Whats your angle on gold these days?
I’m holding GLD right now but trying to stay away from physical. Whats the latest on the risks with the paper/physical disconnect? thanks,
# Outofstater Says:
November 27th, 2008 at 11:00 am
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am thankful to be living in the United States and grateful for the generations of our men and women in uniform who have and continue to stand guard for us 24/7 around the world. You know the old saying, If you can read, thank a teacher. If you are reading in English, thank a soldier. So, thanks, Cindy and thanks to the troops.
I
And the new saying – when all the street signs and shop-signs are not in English in local town – thank a ????…
…stuffed.
Thankful for being alive.
Being in a ‘free’ country where I don’t have to worry about being sold to some f*ck who’d beat me, burn me with lye or oil or worry about having my private parts cut off to ‘tame me so I won’t stray from my f*cked up abusive husband.’
Thankful for health.
Thankful for this site. I’ve learned so unbelievably much from here. And enjoyed the wonderful folks here infinitely.
Their wisdom, experience, kindness, honesty, acceptance [yeah, I can be kooky] and their sense of community in this miasma.
My family. My real family — not just the shit-ums I might share genes with but my real family, you guys included.
I always realize I have so much more to be grateful for than not. Some times it takes me awhile to realize it.
I want to thank all of the folks here, ALL of you, even the trolls that test my restraint,
You folks are the best…and I thank you for making my life a richer, more meaningful place.
sl
I especially want to thank JB for so masterfully creating this rich, unique site with all of its depth and breadth and awesome community.
I tip my glass to you, kiddo.
You are wise beyond your years.
sl
…and Clot.
whose wicked humor has me spewing more beverages and damn near pissing myself almost daily!
sl
veto [90],
If you own GLD you are tracking the physical, London fixing.
Lady, are you trying to start up something with me? I’m not a troll and you should refer to me by my given name.
Guess what? If you don’t start anything, there won’t be any problems. I try to be a gentlemen when dealing with ladies, but that’s only if you behave like a lady. Watch your step.
still_looking Says:
November 27th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
…stuffed.
I want to thank all of the folks here, ALL of you, even the trolls that test my restraint,
Is this level of honesty typical in short sale ads?
4 bedroom in Manalapan, asking 405K, from Weichert:
Subject to Short Sale Bank Approval. Bank already countered/approved @ $405k. Only taking back up offers now.
From Grim “Why don’t you share something you are thankful for.”
I have never shared this before – My granddaughter – Addie – had a bone marrow transplant at nine months old….she is 3 1/2 now. After spending these last four days with Addie – I am so thankful for the doctors in charge of her care, SCCA, Seattle Children’s Hospital and Mary Bridge in Tacoma.
Addie was diagnosed with familial HLH : Hemophagocyticlympohistiocytosis – she was going to die. I lived for 6 months at the apartments Mary Bridge and the Ronald McDonald house provided a few years back with my daughter and son-in-law so we could provide 24 hour care through her chemo and transfusions. I was the 2 AM till 8 AM watch – I still rise early in the morning to this day.
Addie still has GVHD but it is nothing, nothing compared to what we all lived through for one year. I am so thankful to be able to play with her this week, to see her checks flushed after running in the park, to know she will be with us now.
Life cannot prepare you for a sick grandchild – she suffers and your daughter, who suffers, too – your heart aches beyond measure.
The cellcept is working (SL – cyclosporine for about a year but causing blood pressure and kidney problems.) Her blood counts are always half of a normal child’s – but that’s ok. I am so thankful today to simply play Candyland with my 3 1/2 year old granddaughter.
The rest of the world can crumble around me but in the big scheme of things – it doesn’t matter much. Clot – you have said before “Gee, you aren’t very angry – No, I’m not. My wishes for this lifetime have already been answered.
Grim – 100 in mod. A story about what I am thankful for – my granddaughter being better. Cheeks – her cheeks are flushed now – not her “checks.”
I passed the Garden State Plaza at 6AM. The car park was packed. I wonder if the volume will beat the margins.
I think I’ll be an online shopper this year.
99 sync- that’s the 3rd time I’ve seen a short sale listed that way, obviously your setting the price at whatever the last approval was but either way the seller walks with nada so whats the diff…is honesty the new trend? I can only hope.
well blokes…
I will dare to venture into Best Buy today.
Looking for a camcorder.
SAS
“Americans’ Food Stamp Use Nears All-Time High”
http://tinyurl.com/67xy76
“Americans’ Food Stamp Use Nears All-Time High”
http://tinyurl.com/6nq6ph
you are a brave soul sas… news says lines are wrapping buildings at the moment good luck
SAS if you see a 22″ LCD with a built in DVD around $250 let me know. Thats the only thing that will get me out to the shops today.
The only way to shop.
http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/
They put all the doorbuster sales online.
BOSTON — Putnam Investments said Monday it will cut 47 jobs, or nearly 2 percent of the work force, and merge six of the company’s stock mutual funds into larger funds as part of a broad restructuring under its new chief
Matt Rainey/The Star-Ledger Workers from The American Water Company work to turn off and divert water from the broken main on Weston Canal Rd. to other lines to provide water to affected areas Tuesday. There is a