That time of year again, no not Christmas, U.S. News and World Report released its “America’s Best High Schools” report.
So how does New Jersey rank nationwide? Unfortunately, the answer is: Not very good at all. Jersey only managed to take two spots in the top 100. Congrats to Lincroft High Tech and McNair for making the cut.
Gold Medal Schools – Top 100 (Cut to Top 20 and Local)
1. Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Alexandria, VA
2. Oxford Academy Cypress, CA
3. Pacific Collegiate Charter Santa Cruz, CA
4. High Technology High School Lincroft, NJ
5. Design and Architectural Senior High Miami, FL
6. International Academy Bloomfield Hills, MI
7. International Baccalaureate School at BHS Bartow, FL
8. Preuss School UCSD La Jolla, CA
9. Academic Magnet High School No. Charleston, SC
10. Gretchen Whitney High Cerritos, CA
11. Pine View School Osprey, FL
12. Maine School of Science & Math Limestone, ME
13. Basis Tucson Tucson, AZ
14. International School Bellevue, WA
15. Ridgeview Classical Charter Schools Fort Collins, CO
16. Benjamin Franklin Senior High School New Orleans, LA
17. Early College at Guilford Greensboro, NC
18. School of Science & Engineering Dallas, TX
19. Idea College Preparatory Donna, TX
20. Raleigh Charter High Raleigh, NC
23. Stuyvesant High School New York, NY
31. Dual Language and Asian Studies High School New York, NY
32. Staten Island Technical High School Staten Island, NY
33. Bronx High School of Science School Bronx, NY
37. Yonkers High School Yonkers, NY
38. Baccalaureate School of Global Education Long Island City, NY
46. Horace Greeley High School Chappaqua, NY
47. Dr. Ronald McNair Academy High School Jersey City, NJ
48. Queens High School of Science at York College Jamaica, NY
49. Great Neck South High School Great Neck, NY
51. Edgemont Junior-Senior High School Scarsdale, NY
62. Jericho Senior High School Jericho, NY
66. Masterman Julia R Secondary School Philadelphia, PA
84. Cold Spring Harbor High School Cold Spring Harbor, NY
87. Blind Brook High School Rye Brook, NY
88. Wheatley School Old Westbury, NY
92. Scarsdale Senior High School Scarsdale, NY
Jersey fared better on the state-by-state ranking at 6th place overall. 20 schools (5.4% of total) were awarded “Silver” or “Gold” rankings, and 41 schools (10.5% of total) managed a “Bronze” or better.
From the Jersey Journal:
Magazine ranks McNair 47th best high school in country
McNair Academic High School in Jersey City has done it again.
For the second straight year the school has made the top 100 list of U.S. News and World Report’s best high schools in the country. McNair came in at No. 47 this year, with only one other New Jersey school ahead of it. High Technology High School of Lincroft was ranked No. 4 by the magazine. Last year McNair was ranked No. 27.
…
As for the drop from 27th to 47th, Slattery said the competition is getting stiffer.
“There are more and more schools that are ambitious enough to increased their AP courses than before,” he said.
Aside from McNair’s “gold” ranking, seven Hudson County schools received silver or bronze ranking. High Tech of North Bergen received a silver ranking, while County Prep, Hoboken High, Liberty High, Memorial High and Union Hill High received a bronze ranking. Only 41 high schools in the state received the silver or bronze ranking.
The full list (includes silver and bronze schools):
Atlantic County
* Atlantic County Institute of Technology
Bergen County
* Bergen Academies Hackensack
* Valley Regional H Demarest
* Palisades Park Junior-Senior High
* Technical School-Teterboro
Camden County
* Brimm Medical Arts High
* Camden County Tech-Pennsauken
* Creative & Performing Arts High School
Essex County
* Arts
* Essex County Vocational Bloomfield
* Essex County Vocational N 13th Street Newark
* Millburn Senior High
* Science High
* Technology High
* University High
* West Market Street Center
Hudson County
* Dr. Ronald McNair Academy High School
* Hcst Jersey City Center
* HCST North Hudson Center
* Hoboken High
* Liberty High School
* Memorial High
* Union Hill High
Mercer County
* Princeton High
* W Windsor-Plainsboro South
Middlesex County
* Middlesex County Vocational Academy Science/Engineering
Monmouth County
* Academy Allied Health & Science
* Communications High School
* Freehold Borough High
* High Technology High School
* Marine Academy Science & Tech
Morris County
* Academy for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering
* Chatham High
* Dover High
* Madison High
Ocean County
* M.A.T.E.S.
Passaic County
* Passaic County Tech Institute
Sussex County
* Lenape Val Regional High
Union County
* Academy for Information Technology
* Summit Senior High
* Union County Magnet High School
Clotpoll Says:
December 8th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
I went to a private school that began training you for the SAT pretty much in kindergarten. Natch, my friends and I scored super high. Also blew out the PSAT and ACHs. In no way were any of my friends or I smarter than most kids who took the test. However, we were ace test-takers.
I used this skill to fake my way all the way thru college and not learn much of anything except how to hold massive amounts of liquor and hook up with lots of girls.
clot: If you are into self-flagellation fine, but you know you are talking a bunch of crap. You want prima facie evidence? You provide it every day here…………………….tough luck sailor…
Grim,
I don’t get it. According to Wiki, some of these bronze schools ranked low statewide. Some of this grading system feels like a “most improved” list, not a best ranked?
I dunno.
What’s even more insulting is that our only school to make, “High Tech High” takes all the best students in the Monmouth County District and sticks them in this school. So, this is a school that’s stacked with talent all over and isn’t comparable to your average high school.
The methodology used by USNews (linked to the main school article) really sucks. The reason the magnet schools got most of the awards is that the analysis overweighs the achievement of presumably underpriviledged students (based on the percentage in population) – so, they take the %% of poor over the whole county (e.g. include Elisabeth and Plainfield for Union) and assume it is typical for the magnet schools mostly pulling the kids from Westfield and Mountainside. Ditto, Summit High shows as higher ranking than the peer group (Westfield, NP, BH) since Summit has ~15% black/hispanic population.
How does a public high school in Jersey City rate so highly? Have you seen the teenagers hanging out in Jersey City after dark?
Honestly I think that trusting a list like this to guide a decision making process on school quality is completely bogus. You really need to follow the progress of ‘your kid’ if that is the priority. It is possible to attend public schools and universities without consideration of rank and still managed to make something out of yourself. Good parenting is the key.
northern valley at demarest. see, that will
keep BC housing prices right up their. is the tax bill worth it?
Qwety – McNair is a JC magnet. I believe there are admission standards and they only take the best of the best.
The methodology used by USNews (linked to the main school article) really sucks.
cobbler,
Not sure if you are a classist, a racist, or just upset because your school didn’t rank.
From the APP:
Census: N.J. residents spend much time in their cars
The car is king in New Jersey when it comes to going to work, with more people driving solo and spending more time in those cars than the rest of the nation, according to the U.S. Census.
Commuters from Marlboro have the second-longest average commutes in the nation, at 46 minutes, followed by workers commuting to and from Manalapan, clocking in at 42.3 minutes. The state average is 29.4 minutes, and the national aver-age commuting time is 25.1 minutes, according to Census data released today.
“It’s a driving state. Although we have exceptional mass transit, it’s the neighborhoods that you live in, where you have to drive,” said David Weinstein, AAA MidAtlantic spokesman.
Among other findings: 10.3 percent of New Jersey commuters use mass transit, higher than the national average of 4.8 percent.
But four Ocean County towns — Manchester, Berkley, Stafford and Barnegat — registered under 1 percent for mass transit use. They ranked high for the percentage of commuters driving alone to work in municipalities with more than 20,000 residents.
In Manchester, 88.4 percent of commuters drive alone, followed by Barnegat at 88.2 percent and Stafford at 85.6 percent. Nationally 76.1 percent of commuters drive alone, compared with 72.1 percent in New Jersey.
Middletown and Manalapan had higher percentages of people using mass transit than the state average, with both coming in around 12 percent.
“These statistics make the case for properly funding NJ Transit. It proves if you build, they will come,” said Zoe Baldwin, Tri-State Transportation Campaign New Jersey Coordinator. “When people are commuting by many modes of transportation, everyone’s commute time is lessened because it’s spread out across the network.”
But does it make sense? Businesses are facing a tax hike as early as q1 next year due to the shortfall in the unemployment fund. Perhaps it might be more wise to replenish the trust fund?
From the Star Ledger:
Corzine plans to authorize $120M for N.J. businesses that hire and invest
Gov. Jon Corzine today is expected to authorize as much as $120 million in grants to businesses that expand or hire more employees within two years.
As part of his economic stimulus package, Corzine will sign a bill to offer incentives to sustain small businesses during the recession. He is scheduled to sign the measure this afternoon in Woodbridge, at the New Jersey Business and Industry Association’s 2008 Public Policy Forum.
Al (240, yesterday)-
“…also it is kind of interesting how much you have changed your posts since 2006 – back than you have told me that Clinton area is for rich people and if I think that it is too expensive I should move to cheaper area…”
Please find a post in which I said Clinton is for rich people only. If you can pull that off, I’ll apologize.
I’m pretty sure that post doesn’t exist, though. I live in Clinton, and I sure ain’t rich. If I remember correctly, I did mention that 600K houses here weren’t gonna sell for 200K, or something along those lines. If I also invited you to go somewhere that was more suited to your budget (like Iowa), I wouldn’t be surprised.
I’d guess it’s highly likely that I also asked you to stop your whining and moaning and get the hell out already. Two years later, I still have no satisfaction on that one.
Foreclosure relief demanded.
“U.S. Rep. Barney Frank threatened to tie up the rest of the financial-industry bailout money unless homeowners get help.”
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/homepage/20081209_Foreclosure_relief_demanded.html
Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) — Sony Corp. plans to eliminate 16,000 jobs in the largest reduction announced by a Japanese company since the credit crunch drove the world into a recession.
Sony will curb investments, outsource production and move away from unprofitable businesses by March 2010, as part of plans to save more than 100 billion yen ($1.1 billion) a year, the Tokyo-based company said today. The job eliminations will take place in the electronics division and include 8,000 contract workers, it said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a0MxymJQvqMA
A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by New Jersey school administrators who challenged new state rules aimed at curtailing lavish contracts.
I wonder if there’s any relation between salaries and school rankings?
“The New Jersey Association of School Administrators sought to stop regulations giving the state Education Department authority to void locally negotiated pending contracts for school superintendents, assistant superintendents, and school business administrators. Existing contracts are not affected.”
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20081203_School_chiefs__suit_tossed.html
#15 DL,
Barney Frank should read this.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/08/news/economy/mortgage_summit/index.htm?postversion=2008120818
over half the people who had their mtgs modified defaulted within the first 6 months.
If they wait long enough, there will be plenty of affordable housing.
“(Trenton) Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. called yesterday for giving some towns more time to finish their affordable-housing plans, putting a key voice behind the outcry for delaying the latest state requirements.
Roberts, a Camden County Democrat, said municipalities should be allowed to apply for a 90-day extension of the Dec. 31 deadline for submitting plans to meet state-mandated affordable-housing quotas.”
Sorry, here’s the link for 19.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/nj/20081209_Roberts_calls_for_delaying_affordable-housing_deadline.html
Barney is our bailout czar.
dover high?????
who the heck wants to send their kid their by choice???? not the worst school, but certainly nothing to write home about!
Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) — Sony Corp. plans to eliminate 16,000 jobs in the largest reduction announced by a Japanese company since the credit crunch drove the world into a recession.
Sony will curb investments, outsource production and move away from unprofitable businesses by March 2010, as part of plans to save more than 100 billion yen ($1.1 billion) a year, the Tokyo-based company said today. The job eliminations will take place in the electronics division and include 8,000 contract workers, it said.
Are they finally going to admin that the MiniDisc is a dead technology? Is BetaMax dead yet?
F sony and their proprietary garbage.
-Richie
“njrebear Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 7:24 am
Barney is our bailout czar.”
Yes. Russia had Peter “The Great” and Ivan “The Terrible”. We have Barney “The Fabulous”.
Grim 12 – I feel vindicated. I commuted to NYC from Marlboro for 2 years, and it absolutely sapped the life out of me. Brutal!
chi (3)-
No self-flagellation. Just a bit of self-knowledge. It only took 25 or so years to get to this point.
I own a small RE company and play the stock market. Not exactly master-of-the-universe stuff. I’m not complaining, because it’s exactly what I want to be doing.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/28120274
Kettle – China AND Baltic Dry Index watch:
“China Cosco surges on Baltic Dry Index Rebound”
“The Baltic Dry Index, which gauges changes in the prices of shipping commodities, rose for the first time since Nov. 18 on Monday amid rising steel prices and firmer iron ore prices.”
Grim 2 – During my days in the FRHSD, all of the rich snobs turned their nose up at Freehold Boro HS because actual black people went to school there. The district diversified the enrollment by setting up the Medical Sciences Honors Magnet program there, and then they were all banging down the doors to let Little Graydon and Ellery in.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/12/dizard-put-credit-default-swaps-market.html
another favorite to watch – CDS
Dizard: “Put the credit default swap market out of its misery”
All these school ranking thingys are bullshit.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Ten-clues-tell-us-a/story.aspx?guid=%7B46BEE66B%2D29D6%2D4799%2D88F8%2DC6FBAD94AFAB%7D
…and the day wouldn’t be complete without some commentary…
Paul Farrell – 10 Clues: A new bubble is blowing
Bet on Wall Street hyping a recovery, big earnings, new bull in 2009
All these school ranking thingys are bullshit.
Of course, but that doesn’t stop the public from treating the NJ Monthly school rankings as both gospel and the arbiter of personal worth. In towns that rank, it is without a doubt the most frequently used marketing tool an agents bag. IMHO, I think that that particular ranking has little to do with school quality and everything to do with justifying real estate prices and creating/maintaining appearance/exclusivity of towns.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/
Mish on Corzine:
“Corzine, not content with proving himself to be a complete fool once, he had to do it twice. Wait a second, make that three times if you count what I said in State of New Jersey is Insolvent.”
Clot (30): “All these school ranking thingys are bullsh*t.”
Agreed. Imo, great parenting and a poorly ranked school system outweigh mediocre parenting and a highly ranked school system when it comes to financial opportunity and common sense. The top tier universities kill for outperforming students from the worst school districts and offer amazing scholarships to those who qualify. Phoebe and Sydney from the highly-ranked uppityville school district have to put up with tons of competition and do not receive the attention they would have received if they attended school in lowville.
This is highly anecdotal, but I was a sleepaway camp counselor at a lowville YMCA and a uppityville Catskills camp and if I was recruiting for a business, I would seek the YMCAers. These kids understood solving problems and dealing with crisis’ 100% better than the spoiled brats at Kutsher’s.
Cindy (33):
Nice article on Corzine.
“Corzine cannot recognize failure when it bites him in the nose. His remedy is to take a 400% failure in Massachusetts and try it 50 times bigger (nationally) as if the results of mass stupidity will somehow produce a different result than individual stupidity. Instead of displacing people gradually over time, the Corzine plan will displace 600% of one month’s total after six months.”
Given the forclosure moratoriums passed on a state level, and the nationwide moratoriums passed by Freddie and Fannie, we’re going to need to ignore foreclosure data for November and December. At this point we’re going to need to wait until February to get a set of numbers that haven’t been manipulated.
Don’t fret, we can rely on the MBA delinquency data as a proxy. Just because foreclosures aren’t being initiated doesn’t mean folks aren’t defaulting.
“At this point we’re going to need to wait until February to get a set of numbers that haven’t been manipulated.”
I bet the numbers will still be pretty awful.
‘Pretty awful’ is the perfect description for what most of us here want to see, yes?
Nobody wants to see foreclosures, but we can’t ignore reality or replace it wishful thinking. Lord knows we aren’t going to “hope” our way into another real estate bubble.
#32 grim think that that particular ranking has little to do with school quality and everything to do with justifying real estate prices and creating/maintaining appearance/exclusivity of towns.
Agreed.
From Reuters:
Foreclosure Prevention Efforts Floundering: Regulators
The top U.S. banking regulators said Monday that some of their foreclosure prevention efforts are floundering and that they have no agreed plan for the future, two years into a housing crisis that has dragged the economy into a deep recession.
More than half of troubled borrowers face losing their homes even six months after lenders have eased their monthly payments, one regulator said, a discouraging sign for reversing a tide of foreclosures.
From Calculated Risk:
Credit Suisse Forecast: 8.1 million foreclosures by 2012
In a research note titled “Foreclosure Update: over 8 million foreclosures expected” (no link, hat tip Frank) updated last week, Credit Suisse analysts are now forecasting 8.1 million homes will be in foreclosure by the end of 2012, representing 16% of all households with mortgages.
The analysts projected this could be as low as 6.3 million in a mild recession, with a somewhat successful loan modification program (re-default rates at around 40%), and as high as 10.2 million in a more severe recession. Note: the Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan noted this morning that re-defaults rates appear to be well in excess of 50% for recent mods, much higher than the hoped for 40%.
What really stood out in the forecast was the shift from mostly subprime foreclosures to non-subprime (Alt-A and Prime) foreclosures. This fits with some of the housing themes we’ve been discussing – that foreclosures will now be moving up the price chain.
Mantra “why do we want to keep home prices at current values when current values are unaffordable in a declining jobs market?”
Repeat 200X a day.
The Wyndham Hotel Group (WYN), based in Parsippany, N.J.., said late Monday it would “eliminate” about 4,000 positions through the first quarter of 2009. Wyndham’s hotels include Ramada, Days Inn and Super 8 chains.
No recession here for the Palm is a rockin’.
was just in the Haddonfield MLS and while most prices are still pretty high, I’m seeing scads of the Painted Ladies up for sale. You get maybe 2 or 3 up usually. I’m sensing some deep hurt.
Barbara,
May I propose an alternative mantra?
“Expensive homes are bad for the economy.”
Lather, rinse, repeat.
I just read what Skep-tic posted yesterday about the bank refusing offers and watching the price fall and refusing those offers. I remember posting here last summer that the banks here were doing the same thing then finally realized they had lost money each month they refused to make a deal.
That is about a six month lag. Hopefully, your banks will come around as well.
The bank holding the mortgage on the foreclosure next door lost $140,000. Outstanding loan: $319,000 – foreclosure sale $179,000.
Drop the price – get the banks to make the deal – the real estate sells.
46.
werd
No recession here for the Palm is a rockin’.
Say it ain’t so, Stu!
Lobster prices fall as the economy suffers
Cheaper than a pack of hot dogs. That’s how some Maine fishermen describe the prices they are getting for lobster, at $2.40 to $2.60 a pound, down from a $10 high in spring 2007.
…
New Jersey lobstermen are getting slightly better prices at $3 to $3.25 a pound in recent days, but consumers’ pullback in spending is affecting seafood businesses across the board.
“Expensive homes are bad for the economy.”
Can we add my mantra…
“False floors prolong the inevitable.”
Stu,
I’d propose a slightly more generalized version of that mantra, “Price controls always fail”.
Grim,
On the lobster prices. When ShopRite is selling lobsters for $3.99 a lb. you know something is wrong. During the peak lobster season this year (August), there was such an over supply of lobsters that most places were virtually giving them away. You can ask the Gator, I did my part to help reduce the supply. Oysters are getting cheap as well. Was able to get 8 for $3 two weeks ago. Normally they are between $.75 and $1 each. And they were tasty!
History sometimes rhymes.
“Lobster prices hit their first peak in the 1920s, when the going rate was about the same as today’s. But with the Depression, the luxury lobster market took a dive. No one could afford the dish in restaurants, so the lobster was demoted back to the canneries to provide a cheap source of protein for American military troops.”
http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2006/03/lobster-2.html
I, fo one, enjoy the annual release of the NJ Monthly HS Rankings. It’s an opportunity to sit back, and watch my neighbors who moved to Montclair for it’s “diversity” and “uniqueness” to get their panties in a bunch when their sense of moral superiority is not validated by a list that crunches numbers on standardized tests.
“But we have magnets.”, “We teach Mandarin in the elementary schools.”, “Our children learn things you can’t learn in books.”
“Price controls always fail”
Fair enough and so true.
Do you know what else I noticed recently?
There has been a plethora of articles claiming the death of “buy and hold.” This happens in every sustained bear market. Then the market returns to prior levels and the so-called experts start praising the buy and hold strategy again. The impact of compounding dividends and the lower tax rates on long-term gains are very powerful in the long run.
Us humans really have terrible short-term memories. I guess this is why history tends to repeat itself so often.
Where oh where is River Dell Regional???
Where oh where is River Dell Regional???
Turns out that sending rich snotty-nosed white brats to college isn’t such an impressive feat anymore.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/109861-housing-solution-crashing-home-prices-or-cheaper-mortgages?source=email
Just let the prices fall…
From MarketWatch:
Bank of Canada cuts rates by 75 basis points to 1.5%
From CNBC:
Re-Defaults Prove It: We’re Just Making Housing Problem Worse
How do we transition these borrowers out of homes they can’t afford, with as little pain as possible, and in turn give qualified borrowers the incentive to buy up the inventory? Unless the lenders or investors or government officials are willing to simply throw the loan out and give away an awful lot of house to an awful lot of borrowers, modifications, and certainly “mass modifications” which a lot of government types are pushing, are just exacerbating the problem.
I bought in 99 @ $115 – closed 00.
Refi @ 15 year for 4.75 – owe – $68,500 or so.
Even steep cuts will still work for many sellers who did not HELOC..
still about 5% a year…
00 – 115,000 + 5750 = $120,750
01 – 120,750 + 6037 = $126,787
02 – 126,787 + 6339 = $133,126
03 – 133,126 + 6656 = $139,782
04 – 139,782 + 6989 = $146,771
05 – 146,771 + 7338 = $154,109
06 – 154,109 + 7705 = $161,814
07 – 161,814 + 8090 = $169,904
08 – 169,904 + 8495 = $178,399
where is shore guy? i haven’t seen his posts for a while. anybody knows?
Barbara: Ref Haddonfield. I know the area well. It’s a gem among the less than average neighborhoods that surround it but SFH prices have hardly budged. There is a group of condos near Kings Highway within walking distance of the High Speed Line. We looked at them two years ago. Asking price back then was 419K. My friend called a realtor and was told it was originally bought from the builder for 409K. The ones for sale have sat vacant since and are now going for 399k last time I checked.
From the AP:
Former Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac execs to testify
Lawmakers are poised to trade barbs Tuesday about who deserves most of the blame for the collapse and government takeover of mortgage finance titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The two companies, which were seized by federal regulators in September, have become highly charged political targets in the debate over what caused the U.S. housing crisis and the resulting financial fallout.
Four former top executives are scheduled to be grilled at the hearing, which is being led by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, starting at 10 a.m. EST. But there are doubts about whether the hearing will produce any solid conclusions or will just devolve into partisan bickering.
Clotpoll Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 8:09 am
All these school ranking thingys are bullshit.
Proof that this thing is shite…..always dig….
Methodology excerpt..
We then factored in the percentage of economically disadvantaged students (who tend to score lower) enrolled at the school to find which schools were performing better than their statistical expectations.
For those schools that made it past this first step, the second step determined whether the school’s least-advantaged students (black, Hispanic, and low income) were performing better than average for similar students in the state. We compared each school’s math and reading proficiency rates for disadvantaged students with the statewide results for these disadvantaged student groups and then selected schools that were performing better than this state average.
Further proof of GIGO….
Hoboken High
Hoboken School District
Hudson County
Bronze Medal
Why did NJ perform poorly? The state is too rich.
NAR Pending Home Sales due out at 10 this morning.
US News is now officially moved to my “Do Not Read Ever Pandering Rag” list.
So, all this talk of good school districts made me think of green brook which I am told has one of the best school districts around (cough, cough). Earlier this year I was looking through some listings in green brook. For the most part anyone who bought in 99/00 and sold this year did okay but those who bought later, well here is their story: These #s reflect 6% transaction fees.
2470149 bought for 885k in ’02
sold for 932k in ’08
(-6%) loss of 9k
2497197 bought for 883k in ’06
sold for 867k in ’08
(-6%) loss of 68k
2513195 bought for 780k in ’05
sold for 720k in ’08
(-6%) loss of 103k
2452904 bought for 1.495 in ’05
sold for 1.475 in ’08
(-6%) loss of 109k
I have learnt another great lesson in this mother-of-all bear markets. I suffer from “confirmation bias”.
Proof that this thing is shite…..always dig….
There is absolutely no doubt that the rankings are complete rubbish.
But that isn’t the point.
The point is that people read them and believe them, despite their inaccuracy. Shite or not, it’s gospel now.
Case in point, look at the River Dell homepage, an link to the NJ Monthly rankings. Likewise, look at any school ever given a “Blue Ribbon”.
Just an Anecdotal information about NJ schools:
I’ve met a U-Penn Med-School professor this summer at a barbecue. We talked a little bit about students, colleges and NJ schools.
He said that in his school he notices that NJ high school graduates in GENERAL are brighter and have more fundamental understanding of a subject compared to people from other states.
He said you always get some very bright kids from other places, but kids from NJ are very good. He attributed it to good schools.
He also mentioned that it is not only his opinion but most faculty at U-Penn share this view.
He teaches both undergraduates and medical school students so he sees this effect not only going through undergraduate education but in graduate school as well.
In general all that methodology saying is that underprivileged students in NJ performing not as good as underprivileged students in some other parts of a country. Are there a lot of underprivileged students in expensive Uppity Towns of NJ?? Methodology itself can exclude best schools from ranking…
Rankings also help school boards justify tax increases. If your number is good, you need to spend more to keep it; if its bad, you need to spend more to get good.
Bronx Science (NYC) Number 33!!!!I am an alumni….Class of 81! That is a great school!!!
I think people pick a school district with their eyes open. People look at the SAT scores at the highschool, student teacher ratio etc. I have talked to a lot of people about this and most agonize over this decision.
Wow….Stuyvesant HS didn’t make the top 100 and Bronx Science did? What is this world coming to?
# 76…….In the 80’s Bronx Science and Stuyvesant were alway No. 1 & 2 in NYC for public schools.
I am sure that these rankings not only affect home buyers but also cause angina for homeowners. Let us say that your school district didn’t make this list – in the past families probably decided to move to the “better” district. With housing in its current state, that will prove much more difficult.
@63
DL, to follow up from your information about the Collingswood house last week: I spoke with the Realtor who sounded absolutely desperate. He said the “builder” (aka flipper) was in trouble because his construction loans (yes plural) were from 3 different sources and are all due. Of course he had to create false urgency by saying the house has multiple offers… but each had contingencies. Then he really kicked into gear and said if I made a reasonable offer I would definitely get the home since I don’t have a house to sell. I literally told him to slow down since my interest level is around 3 of 10 and could not even look at the house until next week because I was traveling for work. He huffed! And said well this is really a good price so you should look at the house asap. HAHA.
So here is my question (current list price is 369K): I know the house was bought last year for $162K, was taken down to the studs and rebuilt. What do you think the construction cost on that would be, 100k, 150k? I’d be willing to pay off the cost of the flip and no more. assuming 100k construction cost, I’d offer 262k. 2,200 sq feet with a 12 min train to Philly. I’d be willing to leave my urban lifestyle for that…maybe.
From MarketWatch:
U.S. October pending home sales index down 0.7%
From MarketWatch:
Pending home sales index down 0.7% in October
In a sign that further weakening may be in store for the U.S. housing market, an index of sales contracts on previously owned U.S. homes fell 0.7% in October from the prior month, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday. The index, which is considered a leading indicator of existing home sales, was down 1% from the prior year. Pending home sales in October were mixed regionally, with declines of 8.7% in the West, and 4.3% in the Midwest. Meanwhile, there were gains of 7.8% in the South, and 0.6% in the Northeast. The September pending home sales index was revised to a decline of 4.3% from a prior estimate of a 4.6% drop.
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been taken into federal custody at his Chicago home Tuesday morning, according to a report from the Chicago Tribune, which cited an unnamed source. The newspaper said that the action comes amid allegations that pay-to-play politics could affect his pending choice of a Senate replacement for President-elect Barack Obama
just 24 hours after he threatened BoA? Is this the new ppt?
From Bloomberg:
Pending Sales of Existing Homes in U.S. Fell 0.7% in October
Fewer Americans signed contracts to buy previously owned homes in October as credit markets seized, signaling the housing slump will extend into a fourth year.
The index of signed purchase agreements, or pending home resales, fell a less-than-forecast 0.7 percent to 88.9 from a revised 89.5 in September, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors today in Washington. Gains in the South and Northeast offset weakness in the West and Midwest.
The drop in prices has attracted some buyers, preventing even steeper sales declines as the economy sinks into what may turn out to be the longest recession in the postwar era. Still, banks, resisting Treasury and Federal Reserve efforts to unleash lending, have been reluctant to write mortgages as record foreclosures drive down property values and widen losses.
“The fundamentals of housing remain quite depressed,” Dana Saporta, an economist at Dresdner Kleinwort in New York, said before the report. “Credit constraints are a major hurdle. There’s a huge inventory, so prices will come down further.”
Gains in the Northeast? Pending home sales sure as heck weren’t up in Northern NJ in October. Must be some other state..
Morris County Contract Sales (GSMLS)
October 2007 – 347
October 2008 – 269
(23% Year over Year Decline)
Passaic County Contract Sales (GSMLS)
October 2007 – 231
October 2008 – 178
(23% Year over Year Decline)
Essex County Contract Sales (GSMLS)
October 2007 – 322
October 2008 – 245
(24% Year over Year Decline)
Somerset County Contract Sales (GSMLS)
October 2007 – 285
October 2008 – 230
(19% Year over Year Decline)
Grim,
Will we see another retraction as we did from NAR last year?
Even Jeff Otteau noted market weakness in New Jersey in October. Jeff’s numbers are in-line with what I am seeing in Northern NJ.
The problems facing the housing market deepened over the past two months in reaction to financial market troubles and a weakening US economy which has lost 1.2 million jobs during the past year and a half-million during the past 2 months alone. With this dismal news as a backdrop, the pace of home sales in October slowed dramatically reversing the stabilization that had developed during the late Spring and Summer months. In October, New Jersey Contract-Sales were 28% fewer than in October 2007 demonstrating a significant pull-back by prospective home buyers. All of this comes on top of an already weak housing market, which is already suffering under the weight of strained housing affordability; tight credit markets and low confidence in future price performance.
This should restore yor faith in humanity and honest politicians…
Ill. Gov. arrested in Ob*ma successor probe
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday on charges of conspiring to get financial benefits through his authority to appoint a U.S. senator to fill the vacancy left by B*rack Ob*ma’s election as president.
According to a federal criminal complaint, Blagojevich also was charged with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in the sale of Wrigley Field. In return for state assistance, Blagojevich allegedly wanted members of the paper’s editorial board who had been critical of him fired.
A 76-page FBI affidavit said the 51-year-old Democratic governor was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps over the last month conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat for personal benefits for himself and his wife, Patti.
The affidavit said Blagojevich discussed getting a substantial salary for himself at a nonprofit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions.
It said that Blagojevich also talked about getting his wife placed on corporate boards where she might get $150,000 a year in director’s fees.
He also allegedly discussed getting campaign funds for himself or possibly a post in the president’s cabinet or an ambassadorship once he left the governor’s office.
“I want to make money,” the affidavit quotes him as saying in one conversation.
U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said in a statement that “the breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081209/ap_on_re_us/blagojevich_corruption_probe
Ommama…. this 0bama presidency is starting to be a lot of fun.
“Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested with his chief of staff on charges they tried to sell President-Elect Barack 0bama’s vacated Senate seat, according to a statement by Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=akI3Mk_JuwxE&refer=home
79: SM:
My best advice, if you’re trying to pay what he has into it, and no more, is to try to guess what he paid to rehab it.
$100/sq ft is what I’ve heard is average cost to build a standard quality home.
The problem is when you’re paying for someone else’s inexperienced decisions. (what he paid, materials he bought, etc)
In a nutshell, I say, if you like it, make an offer and let it rot. You and the flipepr are probably still huge numbers apart…. but I heard of a great deal recently, (offered $460K on $790K listing that was active 2+ years, offer accepted) and so never say never….
#47
“I just read what Skep-tic posted yesterday about the bank refusing offers and watching the price fall and refusing those offers. I remember posting here last summer that the banks here were doing the same thing then finally realized they had lost money each month they refused to make a deal.”
Cindy– the funny thing is that when it comes to issuing mortgages, the banks realize that it is a declining market and have drastically tightened standards. But when it comes to liquidating their past mistakes, they seem to want to hold on against the trend. Someone here I think suggested that this may be a means of dragging out the realization of losses so that they do not all happen at once. Given the idiocy of the banks overall, it is hard for me to imagine them being so strategic at this point, but nothing else I’ve heard even remotely explains it.
Don’t get me wrong: I know there have been many changes to schools and school systems since I was a student. But after one discussion of education here, I asked my mother if good schools were a factor in the decision to move from Elizabeth to Marlboro when I was in third grade. Her answer: “Not at all. We put a compass point on your father’s job and drew a ring for his commuting distance.”
As Essex said, good parenting is the key, and my parents—neither of whom went any further than high school—knew that.
Anecdotally, my niece’s college roommate went to very prestigious private schools from kindergarten through high school. And yet, an essay she wrote about Christopher Columbus for one of her freshman classes began with this sentence: “Christopher Columbus sucked.” My niece went to public schools in Bridgewater, btw, and was accepted at every college she applied to.
Historically people with a 2.9 GPA over time are the highest earners. They are the well rounded people who went to keggers, worked part time, had girl friends and boy friends, kept up with family and had time to go to frat events and social events as well as have hobbies and watch or play sports. You can’t do it all with a 4.0, I worked with a lot of Asians who were very book smart, 4.0’s from studying all day in library. All of them had tons of trouble networking or selling business. Going to dinner with one of these guys is pure torture. At a certain level it is board meetings, giving presentations, going to dinners, socializing etc. You want someone with something to talk about. I recall I once sold a seven figure consulting engagement to a lady over some small talk for 10 minutes and another time sold a seven figure engagement to a guys cause his friend knew me from charity work and his Mom went to my church. The other guys had 50 page powerpoints and pitch meetings and only got leads through RFPs. Really GPA and schools mean nothing, it is the three c’s that get you to the top in business chutpah, cajones and charm. Take your SAT and GPA and put it where the sun don’t shine.
(5)
All of the Monmouth County vocational schools are like that. They pretty much just cherry pick the kids they want. The one thing I thought was a little strange about it is that its not just kids from Monmouth County. I went to MAST and we had a bunch of kids from Ocean and Middlesex Counties. Even a few from Union, Essex, and Bergen. One kid a year below me came from Weehawken to Sandy Hook every morning. Pretty crazy commute for high school……….
Re: lobster:
look on craigslist and it is easy to find lobster pots for sale right now. seems a lot of people are bailing out of the business
Cindy, 27
There has been upward movement in the BDI, but it is no more then noise compared to the massive drop it took. Only time will tell, but shipping cannot recover until credit becomes available again.
Shipping is heavily dependent on credit, credit for the importers to buy the shipments as well as Letters of credit for both the importer and exporter. usually both parties are required to have letters of credit before a cargo is shipped.
Look at the 1yr scale BDI charthttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/cbuilder?ticker1=BDIY%3AIND
and compare to the 1 month chart
1 month scale bdi
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/cbuilder?ticker1=BDIY%3AIND
Anybody wants to guess John’s GPA? ;)
@88 Spam: Agreed. I guess the good thing here is at $100 a sq. ft. it puts the home at 382k all in – under the current list price. It won’t hurt to ask the Realtor when I speak to him next what the estimated cost was. Plus it’ll be helpful to see the quality of the rehab.
From DealBreaker:
Layoffs Watch ’08: Deutsche Bank
Apparently it’s D-Day for asset management and the “the undertakers are lurking the halls” of 345 Park Avenue. Stay tuned.
# 96 – Anybody wants to guess John’s GPA? ;)
Zero point two… Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.
sorry, couldn’t resist.
IMHO, I think that that particular ranking has little to do with school quality and everything to do with justifying real estate prices and creating/maintaining appearance/exclusivity of towns.i>
To some extent they have merit. Certain schools offer a deeper level of academic opportunities than others. Is that being classist or racist? No, I think it’s being a realist. I would imagine certain towns and people place a higher emphasis on education, as a means to an end. Tell me if that is not the case. I entirely believe in equality of people given they are offered the same opportunities , unfortunate as it is, certain school districts have a higher mountain to climb to achieve similar standing in school achievement.
I was looking at Green Brook houses last winter. Of course the realtor told me about the gold medal school district. But the homes are severely overpriced. A 5/3.5 house on a fairly small lot was still going for 1.1mn, though some got done closer to 1mn. This year they will probably go for 900k. But taxes are already at 17k/yr, and are going nowhere but up. My contractor working on my current house tells us to forget about these new McMansions, they are built like junk, better to find an older, but solidly built house in Warren with more acreage and a better lot(same High School as Green Brook BTW) and pay him $150k to fully refurbish it.
Either way it’s too much for a house, because older houses on large lots in Warren are at least $800-900k themselves.
For now, I’m sticking with a 4/3 in Scotch Plains, with a $250k 5% mortgage, and more than that in cash, plus positive home equity. Why would I want to add to my exposure to NJ Real Estate, and dramatically add to my debt and tax liabilities, just to move my school district from good to better?
I convinced my wife to wait at least 2 more years. Hopefully by then real estate prices in NJ will fall more in line with incomes.
Gains in the Northeast? Pending home sales sure as heck weren’t up in Northern NJ in October.
Wow, with those steep drops in YOY sales, absorption and months sold of inventory must be going through the roof.
91. You’re probably an idiot saleman with a 1.9 GPA over time. I’d take a 4.0 GPA doctor, engineer or lawyer any day!
In westchester, Oct sales were down 16.5% YoY. Realtor told me last weekend that November sales would be significantly worse YoY. Similarly, in CT, home sales were down 17% YoY in October. I am anticipating even worse numbers for November, in line with Westchester.
Compare this to RI and Mass, which saw sales gains in Oct of 11% and 14%, respectively. If there is a sales increase in the Northeast right now, it is likely due to these two states.
Hey it is hard to get a high GPA, any idiot can get an A if they study and go to class. My favorite technique was classes where they did not take attendence you could skip the midterm and have final count 100%. I would wait till week of final buy all my books, do an all nigher take test and return book for 100% back as I had it less than 7 days. One semester I only went to class week one got the syllabuses, then showed up for final, I pulled a 2.5 that semester. I tell you that is pretty impressive. I like to see an A student do that!! I almost puked my guts up that semester as it was way high risk and did not try it again, but 15 weeks of no class at stony brook was a fun time.
Secondary Market: Ref 79. I don’t have an answer to your question. The pics look good and it seems like a lot of house for the money. From the conversation you described, it sounds like it will probably go for a lot less. Hard to make an estimate on what he paid to have it rehabed. I thought I saw a $100 per sq ft planning factor in a comment above as a guide, but that doesn’t account for materials, sweat equity etc.
The Warren Group provides good analysis of RE in southern New England:
http://www.thewarrengroup.com/portal/PressRoom/PressReleases/tabid/157/Default.aspx
putting the October sales increase for Massachusetts in context:
“What we saw in the early 1990s during the last housing downturn in Massachusetts was that the number of sales increased for at least eight months while prices continued to decline. The lower prices are a key factor driving sales volume up. My expectation would be that the number of home sales will have to climb for several more months before price declines start to level off.”
http://www.thewarrengroup.com/portal/Solutions/PressReleases/tabid/190/newsid751/1811/Default.aspx
From Bloomberg:
Raines Faults Regulators for Fannie, Freddie Missteps
Former Fannie Mae Chief Executive Officer Franklin Raines faulted regulators and lawmakers for encouraging the mortgage-finance company and its competitor Freddie Mac to expand into riskier loan products with limited oversight.
“It is remarkable that during the period that Fannie Mae substantially increased its exposure to credit risk its regulator made no visible effort to enforce any limits,” said Raines, who was ousted in 2004 and accused by federal investigators of accounting manipulation. Raines made his comments in written testimony being delivered today to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in Washington.
Raines, his successor Daniel Mudd, and former Freddie Mac CEOs Richard Syron and Leland Brendsel told the committee that it was a struggle to meet the companies’ dual mandates as profit- making, shareholder-owned corporations that were also required to promote affordable housing, according to the written testimony. Congress pressured the companies to finance more and lower-income borrowers while the regulator did little or nothing to curb their increasing exposure to riskier mortgages, the executives said.
Representatives Henry Waxman and Darrell Issa disputed that account, saying the companies played a primary role in the housing slump and made reckless bets that hurt the market.
“Their irresponsible decisions are now costing taxpayers billions of dollars,” Waxman, the committee chairman, said at the hearing. Waxman said the CEOs ignored the “warnings of risk” and ended up following the market instead of leading it.
John,
Try that method with a technical degree and you will fail unless you are a world class genius.
note that Massachusetts’ real estate downturn began about a year earlier than the downturn in the NYC area. It is an interesting comparison since sales in Mass and RI are heading in the opposite direction of NY/NJ/CT right now, but these states have also suffered bigger price drops. To the extent the above analysis re: Mass sales is correct, this would lead one to believe that Mass is about 6 months away from seeing stabilized prices, assuming the economy doesn’t produce a new wave of distress (probably a big assumption). The implication for the NYC area, I think, is that stabilization is likely at least 18 months away.
Sweet!, CLot, where do i get a mortagge like this?
———
Tens of thousands of UK home owners could have their mortgage paid by banks
Tens of thousands of home owners could have their mortgage paid by banks if interest rates continue to fall unless their terms and conditions are changed, experts said. The bizarre situation – where banks actually end up paying customers for having a home loan – could emerge as a result of plunging interest rates, they explained. It affects borrowers with tracker mortgages, who have seen their monthly mortgage repayments shrink after the Bank of England cut interest rate by three percent in as many months.
The majority of borrowers with a tracker deal pay the bank rate, plus a percentage on top. But some deals available just over a year ago allowed borrowers to pay the bank rate minus a percentage. If the bank rate falls much further – and there are widespread predictions of a zero rate – these borrowers could be paying ‘negative interest’ on their mortgage. Peter O’Donovan, of independent financial advisers Bestinvest, said: “It is possible that we may be heading towards a very surreal situation where lenders may end up having to pay borrowers as they head into negative interest. “Borrowers on these products should certainly start looking at the small print in their offer letters to make the most of any opportunity that arises.” The company said 40,000 to 50,000 may end up paying negative interest on their mortgage if interest rates continue to fall.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/mortgages/3567585/Tens-of-thousands-of-home-owners-could-have-their-mortgage-paid-by-banks.html
“All of the Monmouth County vocational schools are like that. They pretty much just cherry pick the kids they want. The one thing I thought was a little strange about it is that its not just kids from Monmouth County. I went to MAST and we had a bunch of kids from Ocean and Middlesex Counties. Even a few from Union, Essex, and Bergen. One kid a year below me came from Weehawken to Sandy Hook every morning. Pretty crazy commute for high school……….”
Yeah well, Communications cherry picks kids in Monmouth as well. Unfortunately, they are an awful school. I know someone who used to teach there. Every good teacher they get, the principal basically forces them to leave. He also fixes the students grades. I got even more dirt on that school that would piss a lot of people off but I’m afraid of being sued for defamation. Let’s just say, I sent a little letter to the state attorney generals office about a certain administrator there.
kettle1,
I am far far away from “world class genius” but I managed to pull it. (MS in C.S.)
The trick is how well and fast you are able to self-study
Nom,
I found our international NJREReport compound location
——————
Nuclear bunker hit by credit crunch
Auctioneers have knocked more than £40,000 off the asking price of a secure shelter underneath the Hampshire Downs despite its potential for a conversion into an eight-bedroom home. The 7,000 square feet nuclear bunker outside Twyford, near Winchester, was priced at more than £300,000 when it was first put up for sale in February, but bids are now being sought for between £240,000 and £260,000.
Sorry, Don’t know why your name apperaed in from:
kettle1,
I am far far away from “world class genius” but I managed to pull it. (MS in C.S.)
The trick is how well and fast you are able to self-study
“I was looking at Green Brook houses last winter.”
Is it GreenBrook where a lot of Mexicans live?
John,
Being an engineer, i can only speak for my field, but you could not pull that off in engineering
A close friend of mine did 1 week per course for more than a handful of semesters. Sometimes he didn’t know what the syllabus was until the final week.
Its not like nobody has done it before.
Bergen County Contract Sales (NJMLS)
October 2007 – 587
October 2008 – 481
(18% Year over Year Decline)
From the Charlotte Observer:
Home of Idol’s Fantasia in foreclosure
One of two Charlotte homes owned by former American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino is in foreclosure, according to Us Magazine.
The national entertainment magazine is reporting this week that Barrino’s $1.3 million home on Bevington Place, off Elm Lane in southeast Charlotte, will be auctioned off Jan. 12, if mortgage payments are not made.
Her other home, on Seton House Lane off Piper Glen Drive in southeast Charlotte, is not in financial trouble, the magazine is reporting.
…
The home in financial trouble has 6,232 heated square feet, five bedrooms and 5 1/2 baths, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg tax records. The home was bought in March 2007.
last 7 days of the semester were 18-20 hr days.
Raul V Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 9:54 am
# 76…….In the 80’s Bronx Science and Stuyvesant were alway No. 1 & 2 in NYC for public schools.
Please note correction….
Raul: In the 80’s Bronx Science and Stuyvesant were alway No. 2 & 3 in NYC for public schools.
FYI – Stuy is at worst the #3 or #4 public school in the country, and it really should be #1 or #2 on this list. The fact that it is as low as #23 immediately suggests a misleading or manipulated methodology…..
Rich In NNJ,
Do you mean 481 homes sold in Bergen County in October 2008?
Wow, you call this a recession? Bring it on.
One semester I only went to class week one got the syllabuses, then showed up for final, I pulled a 2.5 that semester. I tell you that is pretty impressive. I like to see an A student do that!! I almost puked my guts up that semester as it was way high risk and did not try it again, but 15 weeks of no class at stony brook was a fun time.
I guess you never need to question why America is in decline. Your answer is above.
Clotpoll Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 8:04 am
chi (3)- Not exactly master-of-the-universe stuff. I’m not complaining, because it’s exactly what I want to be doing.
clot: many master-of-the-universe types are better described as masterbaters-of-the-universe, so what is your point relative to this topic. Objectively quick witted people (i.e. smart) tend to do well on standardized test. Then the excuse makers come to complain, and the panderers try to win a popularity contest. Suddenly, an objective and fair metric is called into question.
Fire, Njrebear.
It is certainly doable, depending on your field of study. However for most engineering disciplines there are very few people who could do that
Watch out – Mass unemployment likely to rise
http://paper-money.blogspot.com/2008/11/unemployment-mashup-ma-vs-ri-october.html#links
Stuyvesant is #23 – check the US News link. Ain’t no way it ain’t makin’ that list – below Science none the less.
GM’s Bust Turns Detroit Into Urban Prairie of Vacant-Lot Farms
With enough abandoned lots to fill the city of San Francisco, Motown is 138 square miles divided between expanses of decay and emptiness and tracts of still-functioning communities and commercial areas. Close to six barren acres of an estimated 17,000 have already been turned into 500 “mini- farms,” demonstrating the lengths to which planners will go to make land productive.
“People are moving out of the city, trying to find work,” said David Martin of Wayne State University’s Urban Safety Program. Those who stay “can’t afford to move out.”
That exodus has left Detroit with the highest poverty and foreclosure rates in the U.S. and, at 10.1 percent in October in the area including Livonia and Dearborn, one of the steepest measures of unemployment in the nation as well.
Spent a few semesters up at Stevens Tech studying comp sci at the post-grad level. Even for the geekiest geeks in the crew, there was no breezing through.
My mistake for missing Stuy.
What do you expect from a Jersey boy
Liberal Arts classes can follow the format suggested by John. However, most technical, mathematical, and applied subject classes had separate labs or sections, and routine problem sets, and other required attendance.
The worst case I knew was a guy who missed his first Chemistry Lab as a freshman. He was told to drop the course, because he wouldn’t be able to pass. As an engineering student, you needed the first chem class to take the second chem class. You needed the second chem class as a prereq for all of the sophomore engineering classes. Also, the chem sequence could not be taken as transfer credits from another school. So one month into college at Cornell, the guys had to explain to his parents that he would be a 5-year undergrad……nice…
Frank (126),
Do you mean 481 homes sold in Bergen County in October 2008?
Wow, you call this a recession? Bring it on.
Yes, I call this a recession.
So Kirsten, there is no need to “bring it on”, it’s here.
Bergen Pending Home Sale for October (NJMLS)
Year #U/C
1991 689
1992 734
1993 828
1994 749
1995 706
1996 832
1997 786
1998 830
1999 616
2000 828
2001 749
2002 850
2003 923
2004 935
2005 797
2006 763
2007 587
2008 481
Frank,
At first I was pretty certain that you were in denial. Now I’m beginning to think that you are simply retarded.
here’s what a nationalized banking system looks like.. ongoing political obligation to support failed businesses:
*************
“It is outrageous for Bank of America to cut off credit, a company’s lifeblood, after receiving $15 billion of taxpayers’ money as part of the federal government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program,” said Alderman Joe Moore, of Chicago’s 49th Ward.
The plant closure has become a cause célèbre since Mr. Obama offered his public support for the workers.
Wow is all I can say after reading the Criminal Complaint on Gov Rod Blagojevich,
seems like they have loads of audio.
http://dealbreaker.com/images/thumbs/10illinois_complaint-1.pdf
The whole thing is a good real but skip to bullet point #87 on page 54 and go from there.
Some future candidates who’s names were redacted are going to be screwed as well.
I wonder what dirt Blagojevich has on O’Bama and will he trade it in to avoid jail?
#138 in mod
Stu: Was that just a random call out. Frank has been notably quiescent since all of the obvious data has come out to illustrate that he was just trolling….
Stu,
He is apparently a recruiter, so that would explain a lot.
Sorry for the confusion. I totally missed Stuy when i was going down the list.
#137 No maligning the retarded please.
I read 6,000 words per minute with 50% comprehension. Very Valuable skill. During my managnement training when we took formal speed reading courses the screen would get up to 8,000 words a minute and we would take tests on what was shown. The A students for some reason were the worst speed readers. People like me are used to flying through books last minute. My brain eliminates every The, A, An or any other useless word and reads sentences as single words. Also if I miss a word or sentence I keep going as I can figure out in future sentences what was ment in past sentence. I can read a text book page in around 1.5 seconds. For regular easy to read books can read as fast as I can turn pages.
Also speed reading is a very valuable for sneak peaks during tests. Also I can read upside down another very useful skill during tests, meetings or interviews. Trouble is the long term comprehension is not there and it is hard to master more than 80% this way. But it allows you to crack open a text book an hour before the final and get a c or low b. Getting enough info in my head to get an A grade would require a few weeks in a library.
Also I took a test once that measured your ability to successful answer multiple choice questions on topics you know nothing about based on your ability to read into how the author wrote the question and not your knowledge of the subject. Turns out I scored the highest on that test in the 20 years it was given, once again A students scored very low. I have and undergraduate and masters and I took dozens of tests with out any studying and most tests I knew at best 2/3rds of the info. I have practiced answering questions this way for many years. An A student is hampered by his need to understand the subject.
Also , Engineers are naturally held back by their need to understand everything. If an engineer buys a car he needs to spend hours reading the owner manual, I just wing it and when in doubt glance at the thing while driving just enough to figure out what to do.
kettle1 Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 11:09 am
John,
Being an engineer, i can only speak for my field, but you could not pull that off in engineering
Peace 91 – Did you graduate from MHS? I did in 91.
“An A student is hampered by his need to understand the subject.”
This is what America is all about.
“#137 No maligning the retarded please.”
Sorry Hubba.
All of the Monmouth County vocational schools are like that. They pretty much just cherry pick the kids they want
Did something drastically change about Voc since the late 80’s?
Voc. was the option for stoners who didn’t want to drop-out. It was a place to stuff kids who didn’t fit in anywhere else and were causing problems…
– counselor – Johnny, you’ve had 4 fights so far this year, 3 suspensions, numerous detentions and 1 felony arrest… Have you considered vocation school for your sophmore year?
– Johnny – phffff, whatever man….
You went to voc becuase no one cared if you were hung over all morning and it meant 2 classes for the rest of the day (4 including gym and lunch). I know this because I was in Voc my senior year.
How did Voc get to be the best picked? That’s just not right.
What do the burnouts/wastoids/etc do?
Sen. Reid sees deal on auto recovery plan within hour – MarketWatch
“What do the burnouts/wastoids/etc do?”
Start up hedge funds?
Stu,
If you want to do some name calling try another Jersey as&$ole blog, this one is about real-estate.
Frank,
It wasn’t name calling. It was serious.
2004 935
2005 797
2006 763
2007 587
2008 481
No recession here. Bring it on!
You laugh, but it is true. My brother-in-law is an engineer and I say it borders on a combination autism and idiot savant. Engineering is just one job function in a firm and on top of that there are specific types of Engineers. He is an expert beyond compare on that one subject the river is deep but not wide, he has no clue what goes on in the rest of the company. I worked in dozens of departments in dozens of companies in dozens of industries in dozens of cities. When you budget for a new industry project is what you can read on the plane you need to move quick. Jack Welsh is great at that, GE was hundreds of things in every country and he knew just enough about everything but not to much about anything. The man was a rock god.
skep-tic Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 11:42 am
“An A student is hampered by his need to understand the subject.”
This is what America is all about.
I’m going to have to side with Stu on this one.
“He is apparently a recruiter.”
No I am not, I am in the RE business and things have never been better for me.
From Bloomberg:
Feldstein Sees Risk U.S. House-Price Decline Will ‘Overshoot’
U.S. house prices have further to fall and may slide beneath the level they were at before the real-estate bubble began to inflate, said Martin Feldstein, a Harvard University economics professor.
Prices “have to decline another 10-15 percent before they get back to pre-bubble levels,” Feldstein said in an interview today with Bloomberg Radio. “The danger is it’s worse than that.”
With the U.S economy gripped by recession, house prices have fallen by about a fifth from their peaks in mid-2006, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index.
“It’s the uncertainty that house prices could overshoot which is hurting all our financial institutions,” Feldstein said. “Banks and other financial institutions are unwilling to lend to each other because they don’t know the value of their counterparty’s balance sheet.”
Sean Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Wow is all I can say after reading the Criminal Complaint on Gov Rod Blagojevich,
seems like they have loads of audio.
The whole thing is a good real but skip to bullet point #87 on page 54 and go from there.
Some future candidates who’s names were redacted are going to be screwed as well.
I wonder what dirt Blagojevich has on O’Bama and will he trade it in to avoid jail?
Sean: If this situation expands to include the President-elect, maybe this is the big December f-up…… :(
Stu,
2004-2006 years were times of Nija and liar loans, if you expect those times to continue you are delusional.
Any chance that Blagojevich gets assassinated?
(149)
I guess a lot has changed. When I went to MAST they had two groups. One was college prep and the other was “tech”. The college prep side had an accelerated Math and Science program with the Naval discipline aspect(NJROTC). The “tech” side concentrated on marine mechanics and those students had to take additional classes in order to make the prerequisites for college but still had the NJROTC requirement. I suppose the tech program was more like traditional vocational training of which you’re thinking. Both college prep and tech students still had to test into the school though. I graduated in ’98 and MAST has since eliminated the tech program to concentrate solely on academics.
# 159 – Yes, but we’re also lower than 91-99 which were years in which conventional financing was emphasized.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/09/real_estate/October_home_sales_slump/index.htm
The link from CNN’s main page says
“Housing doing better than expected”
buried in the article
“For example, Larson notes that a condo near his southern Florida home is now on the market for $64,000 – just $1,000 more than what it was originally sold for back in 1984.”
That is better than expected? Wow, Booya Bob must have written that article, because the expectations were mighty low….
Frank,
So you’re not looking to recruit Quant .net programmers? I seem to recall you posting links to craigslist ads as evidence there could be no recession.
But since you’re in RE, I suppose it’s the same thing (no offense to Clot).
grim et al:
I’m curious about a house that auctioned a few days ago in Millburn: MLS 2579889, 210 Sagamore Road. I thought the original owner sold it last year for 1.2 million. The buyer painted it and a new For Sale sign went up a few months later. And then it sat. And sat. And sat.
Sunday, as I’m walking my dog, I see a sign inviting bidders to start at 67% of the asking price (apparently 1 mil). Maybe five cars in front later that afternoon.
It’s a beautiful old house, probably with a view of the Manhattan skyline in winter, but it does need a kitchen redo.
Oops. Make that 201 Sagamore Road.
ChiFI,
Not assassinated, But he might have a car accident, or decide to hang himself.
“So you’re not looking to recruit Quant .net programmers?”
Just one for my firm. Do you know anyone? I can’t find people. Please help. I am desperately looking to hire someone.
Frank (159),
What about the 12 years prior to 2004? Or are you ignoring the data at post 136?
Im a longtime lurker but I felt I had to respond. I see a few people touting how great it is to able to study for a week and get away with mediocre grades. I agree that you need more than academic knowledge to be successful. But dont look down on a 4.0 average. Its not the grade itself, but the discipline, persistence and commitment that is behind that grade that is valuable.
Honestly, if you are hellbent on something, you can learn cajones and charm. Using contacts to get something is not neccessarily something to be proud of.
“Any chance that Blagojevich gets assassinated?”
Cement shoes??
Sen. Reid sees deal on auto recovery plan within hour
Better be major concessions here. Mgmt & Labor f’d the company for a while.
Notwithstanding, banks/insurance cos should do the same. Those sucking on the teat of TARP should give up inordinate bonuses, not just the top 10 execs. If the talent plans on leaving, I’m sure they can find some able bodied exec to replace them. Plenty of smart people were laid off.
re: #160 – The Republicans get one last laugh.
FBI has him, I would think outgoing FBI director Mueller and US Attorney Genera Mukasey had to sign off on this.
Also there is some other breaking news on a greand jury looking into the Resko and O’bama land deal.
#161 – bcamp111 – But that’s MAST, MAST has always been different.
I’m worried there’s no place in this topsy turvy shool system for losers, burnouts, punks & longhairs.
Frank,
Let me know when your salary is cut by 10%, your 401k match is removed, you are forced to take all of your vacation days and your other retirement benefit is dropped. Gary, gone!
You are not experiencing the recession. Whoopeedee f’in doo. The rest of us are ya ignoramus. We would all benefit if you would just shut your annoying trap already. Noone likes a braggard, especially one with the couth of a West-Nile infested mosquito.
Happy to hear from some new voices today.
Welcome lurkers!
People learn in different ways.
My wife is a teacher and they have some pretty interesting ideas floating around about learning. Some learn from sight, others from sound, even others from dance. Overall there are seven major areas which affect our ability to think and remember.
I learn best through sound, being nearsighted and not having glasses most of my young life, I found that my ability to retain things that I hear vastly overpowers my ability to absorb information from reading.
John, it doesn’t matter which way you learn as long as the information is being absorbed. I disagree with your theory that the best learners are those with 2.9 GPA’s or that wait until the last minute to try and understand the material. I have numerous counter examples that show discipline, attention to detail, and prepaired-ness are often the keys to success.
Welcome njnewcomer.
2.9? Given the standard distribution and the range of GPA scores, 2.9 likely falls right near the median. Give me a point in either direction and you’ve got a sample so large that it is relatively easy to cherry pick enough examples to make an argument.
(Note: My estimate of 3 being the median is based on the graduation GPA being in a range of 2 through 4. Don’t forget about survivorship bias here, folks with a GPA of 1 don’t graduate)
#154
“An A student is hampered by his need to understand the subject.”
John– only half kidding. I went to a lecture in law school given by a very rich plaintiff’s attorney. His message to the audience (which caused the faculty to literally gasp in unison) was that A students become professors, B students become judges and C students (he called them “hook students”) get rich.
“Just one for my firm. Do you know anyone? I can’t find people. Please help. I am desperately looking to hire someone.”
Don’t know anyone I dislike enough to recommend working for you.
I can relate to what John is saying as I was more of the crack the book binding the day before finals type myself. There is a lot of value in common sense and that is something that is not typically learned from a book. John is loaded with it. Unfortunately, I think he is mixing it up with intelligence. Although loaded with common sense, it takes intelligence to realize that scoring with chicks should be secondary to achieving good grades in college. Sure a person like John (and myself to some degree) can ace a job interview and bullsh*t a bullsh*tter, but eventually the truth gets revealed. It is at that point that the truly intelligent win.
#169,
No I am not ignoring the data, but when home prices are overpriced by factor of 2, do you expect sales to reach new highs?? Let’s get real when prices drop like in CA, sales will jump 100%.
My point is that Bergen county homes need to drop 50% to spur sales. But since homes are still selling at these crazy prices, it’s a sign that the RE market is still strong in NJ.
Some evidence that the luxury market has fallen off the cliff; there’s a Bugatti Veyron for sale on Craigslist.
#183 frank: You are delusional. Admit and accept you bought in 05, overpaid, and now you will say anything to justify your purchase.
Why else could you possibly be on this site?
#183
As I pointed out above, sales are rising in RI and MA by double digits (MA for 2 consecutive months YoY). These states have not seen price drops equivalent to the worst areas of the country, but have probably dropped an additional 10-15% beyond the decline in the tri state area.
grim, #122
Fantasia’s home was just featured on “Cribs.”
Wonder if this is the one in foreclosure:
http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/172278/fantasia.jhtml#id=1567723
How about this, Toshiro.
A luxury consignment shop has opened up in Livingston. Now the ladies from Short Hills can consign their Hermes and Prada.
http://www.dueteveryday.com/
#185,
Why do you care? it’s my money not yours, so even if I paid $1M for an empty lot it’s none of your business. I am not trying to justify anything, I am just making a point that things are much better that pictured on this blog.
#185,
If you think I am delusional by saying that Bergen Co. home prices need to drop 50%, do you think they need to go up 100% to reflect the market? What’s your opinion?
grim,
there’s a little box in the opening that shows 6,112 sq feet, 5 bedrooms, 5 baths …
I agree with John’s 3 c’s, but I don’t think that correlates with grades. Lots of party animals with a 2.9 don’t have the 3 c’s, and there are a chosen few 4.0’s that do.
What I have never understood is why the higher up in an organization you go, the less you are required to do that actually relates to your skills and the more you have to do that is dependent on selling.
Newcomer, I agree there is some use studying in school, but afterwards not so much. Lets say I work in corporate america and run a department, the auditor comes in and says I don’t have a departmental DR/BCP policy and I need to create one. Person A with the 4.0 GPA does research, attends a conference, reads a few books and comes up with a plan and eats up 400 hours of time that the rest of the deparment now has to make up or we fall behind plan. Person B calls around finds a buddy at another firm who on the DL gives him a word copy of their internal DR/BCP policy and does a find and replace and clean-up and has it done in an hour. Person B just saved his department 399 hours of lost work. Undergraduate that would be cheating, but in business that is call “leveraging existing information”.
A note comes home with my eight year old from the School district. Instead of giving teachers homeade gifts they are requesting the each child give a $20 ‘tip’.
My wife threw it away because she knew that I would be compelled to write back. Have any other districts done this?
#188 – You know, I might have to stop by a consignment shop and see what hi-end stereo equipment they have. Some recently fired bond trader might be unloading McIntosh amps on the cheap… but probably not.
Happy Holidays. This year, Gator’s company has contined their time honored tradition of providing an advertiser bartered gift for the holidays, in lieu of a cash bonus.
This year is a “limited edition” cashmere scarf.
At least it is not another orange umbrella covered with the company’s logo.
#156 frank; What? No more hedge fund?
Hobocondo Says:
The three rules:
ABC – Always Be Closing
Invoice Early and Often
Budget = Actual
#197,
Our returns are great this year.
Some recently fired bond trader might be unloading McIntosh amps on the cheap…
Try talking to manufacturers and see if you can pick up some B-Stock.
I picked up a fantastic Manley Labs Euro 100 from EveAnna directly a few years back. She gave me a great deal for what was essentially a brand new tube amp.
#189 frank: I am just making a point that things are much better that pictured on this blog.
Based on what?
#201,
Based on the sales figures presented by Rich.
Fitch: Default Imminent for GGP; IDR Lowered to ‘C’
Go SRS
John,
Didn’t you just get into an accident and T-Bone your sweet Sable? Were you reading the owners manual then too?
#202 – Based on the sales figures presented by Rich.
But those show this Oct as the worst for sales volume for a 17yr period that includes the last major recession of the early 90’s…
Because as long as there are any sales, we can’t be in a recession?
#200 – Try talking to manufacturers and see if you can pick up some B-Stock
That’s actually a very good idea, and one I hadn’t even considered. Thanks grim!
“Because as long as there are any sales”
No, because as long as people are willing to buy grossly overpriced homes, there’s no recession.
“Honestly, if you are hellbent on something, you can learn cajones and charm. Using contacts to get something is not neccessarily something to be proud of.”
NJNewcomer,
I am in Sales and disagree. You can’t learn “charm”, and your contacts are your livelihood. This obviously doesn’t apply to all fields, but a “C” student can do very very well in Sales.
Re Boyo Blago: I believe he’ll have a Frank Pentangeli moment with Dick Mell. No way he ever gives up O-man.
Grim,
a comment stuck in moderation
No, because as long as people are willing to buy grossly overpriced homes, there’s no recession.
Hogwash, sales will never fall to zero, I must have said that 100 times already.
People die, what happens to those homes?
Secondly, anyone in a move-up or move-down position only cares about the relative difference in the two properties, not the individual prices. Someone selling a cape to buy a colonial only cares about the difference in price. Who cares about the Colonial being $700k when they can unload their Cape for $500k. The approximate $200k difference has always existed and has little to do with the bubble. Back in 2000 that Cape was $200k and the Colonial was $400k, the difference was still $200k.
These sales will not stop taking place, they take place every day, I see it first hand.
Yes, I know my example is a gross oversimplification and that net difference actually saw an increase over this time. Even though the gap increased, the overall impact is minor.
#193,
I question your assumption that the 4.0 guy has to attend a conference and read a bunch of books on company time to achieve his goal.
My assumption is that the 4.0 guy knows really well, how to learn not how to study. Given that, to go back to your example, he might choose to check with other depts on their policy, check online and/or read relevant chapters of fundamental books on the subject on his own time. (We pegged his profile as disciplined and persistent, remember) Result- he may come up with a policy for his dept that is regarded as a gold standard in the rest of his company.
Being a 4.0 student does not preclude you from having friends or studying ‘smart’.
#209,
I agree Doyle. Also, ‘learned’ charm cannot come close to natural charm.
Being a 4.0 student does not preclude you from having friends or studying ’smart’.
Agree, but in a counter point…
I have a master’s degree and I have only a few friends. I find that the things I like are not readily enjoyed by many people. The topics I find interesting are only passingly ammusing to most. I also find that I guard my friendships much more closely because I have become exhausted with people who make poor decisions.
Few, close friendships.
Go Clifton!
From the Record:
Linens may pay 25% of claims
CLIFTON — Linens ‘n Things Inc., the bankrupt houseware retailer, may pay note-holders owed $669 million as little as 25 cents on the dollar, leaving nothing for other creditors owed $1.1 billion except the right to sue.
Linens will give the note-holders, whose claims are backed by collateral, any cash remaining after liquidating its remaining stores, according to court documents filed Dec. 5 in Wilmington, Del. Creditors, like suppliers, will receive no money initially, just the right to sue companies involved with Linens in the past few years, like co-owner Apollo Management LP, which took the company private in a $1.3 billion leveraged buyout in 2006.
Chifi,
I will answer your question at #128:
“clot: many master-of-the-universe types are better described as masterbaters-of-the-universe, so what is your point relative to this topic.”
With John’s instant classic at #145:
“An A student is hampered by his need to understand the subject.”
And people ask me why I’m short financials.
Go New Jersey Economic Development Authority!
From the Star Ledger:
N.J. reports $2M loss from ‘Gracie’ film investment
“Gracie” may be the most expensive movie date in New Jersey history.
At their regular meeting today, members of the state Economic Development Authority wrote off $2 million in loans and loan guarantees they had extended four years ago to help bankroll production of “Gracie,” a feel-good movie about a Central Jersey soccer player.
“We realized we’re not good at financing movies,” said Caren Franzini, the authority’s chief executive.
(cont)
The film generated positive reviews, but has so far only earned $3.4 million. That’s less than half the $7 million Goldman Sachs is owed for its lead investment in the film, leaving New Jersey little prospect of recovering any of the $2 million the EDA extended to the project, Franzini told board members today.
Frank,
BTW, have you considered that the reason you can’t find a .net programmer is that you aren’t offering to pay enough? At the right price, programmers will most likely drop from the trees like leaves in the fall.
#213,
“when they can unload their Cape for $500k.”
So you are implying that there’s a sucker willing to pay $500K for a Cape. Why would they pay this kind of price when they worry about their jobs and they can rent it for 200K equivalent? Maybe because they don’t care about recession? Maybe the RE market is still strong?
Frank (156)-
Congratulations on the career change. When you took the licensing exam, how long were you able to stand upright in order to fog the mirror?
“I am in the RE business and things have never been better for me.”
from the Gov ROD BLAGOJEVICH indictment bullet 99:
Later on November 7, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH discussed the open Senate
seat in a three-way call with JOHN HARRIS and Advisor B, a Washington D.C.-based
consultant……HARRIS noted that ROD BLAGOJEVICH is interested in
taking a high-paying position with an organization called “Change to Win,” which is
connected to Service Employees International Union (“SEIU”).22 HARRIS suggested that
SEIU Official make ROD BLAGOJEVICH the head of Change to Win and, in exchange, the
President-elect could help Change to Win with its legislative agenda on a national level.
If pres O isnt some how directly connected to this then these guys are making some mighty large assumptions.
chi (160)-
New office deadpool:
1. Blagojevich
2. O’Drama
3. Soupy Sales
#222,
How do you know how much I am offering? BTW, it’s more than market. According to this blog the market is $0.0 and everyone is unemployed.
does anyone ever get fired from a state job,without being an axe killer?
Not in this state,,
John, 145
I prefer being eidetic.
sl
NEW YORK — The recession has hit the NFL.
The league said Tuesday it is cutting more than 10 percent of its headquarters staff in response to the downturn in the nation’s economy.
The cuts were announced in a memo to league staff by commissioner Roger Goodell. The league is eliminating about 150 of its staff of 1,100 in New York, NFL Films in New Jersey and production facilities in Los Angeles.
Goodell said these were difficult and painful steps, but necessary in the current economic environment.
The NFL has been symbolic of the wealth surrounding professional sports, but it now joins the NBA, Major League Baseball and NASCAR in announcing layoffs.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
Does being investigated for corruption before your first day in office as president of the united states count as change?
I skipped every class 3 semesters in a row and still pulled off a 3.8 in Chemistry. Most of that stuff, they just teach from the book. If you spent an hour a week for each class, there is no excuse for not getting an A. I’ll say this, aside from a few good teachers, most of my knowledge comes from reading. Anyone who simply follows a college curriculum and nothing else will come out of college not knowing much.
I’ve been teaching at the University level for 4.5 years now. Most kids who complain about the workload are liars. The university system is in heavy decline along with our high school education system. A college education isn’t even what it was 10 years ago.
newb (170)-
Earning your way through hard work and self-discipline? How quaint.
“Its not the grade itself, but the discipline, persistence and commitment that is behind that grade that is valuable.”
Any guess who “senate candidate 1” is
I was hit by a Russian Women driving a Japanese car. Clearly it was not my fault. Actually when I got that car at auction it was missing the owners manual and I never bought it. When I was in college we used to go clubbing on Mondays and Wed, China Club Monday and Camoflauge Wed. Thursday and Friday was happy hour night and Saturday was date night. You try going out to China club to 4am and then hitting woo hops for breakfast on Monday then Camoflauge till 4am on Wed then breakfast at Scobee diner and see how you do in Tuesday/Thursday classes while working four hours a night. School was maybe 15-20 hours a week. Work was 20-25 a week, Clubbing was 15 hours a week, happy hour was 10 hours a week, girlfirend was 8 hours a week and girls on the side 4 hours a week. Fixing cars, watching TV and eating junk food rounded out the week.
Mike NJ Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
John,
Didn’t you just get into an accident and T-Bone your sweet Sable? Were you reading the owners manual then too?
After re-reading #183, I’m prepared to believe that Frank is actually not a troll.
Unfortunately, he still appears to be a world-class moron.
Ben,
Have you thought perhaps that you have become jaded?
When I took a electromagnetics course in 2002 I had a teacher that constantly berated us for being lazy and stupid. I believe he said, “I have been teaching this class for 22 years and I know what you should know by now, and you all are failing my class. I do not curve.” After getting a 32 out of 100 on the first exam, I was awarded an A at the end of the class.
So it would seem that a college education isn’t what it was even as much as 30 years ago. Somehow our parents were just that much smarter in the 70’s and 80’s.
We may be in decline but I don’t think it is as bad as you think.
Ben I agree, I just took a undergraduate class as I needed the course for a exam I am taking. Wow is school different today, on-line homework with no monitoring, teacher gave out powerpoint summaries of chapters so you did not have to waste time reading whole chaptr, book publisher had podcasts for sale of the book so you could get info via your IPOD, teacher said if you attended all the classes and did all the homeworks the lowest grade you could get was a C. My teachers would throw you an F for fun.
omg, NJ is a sick sick joke of a state:
N.J. reports $2M loss from ‘Gracie’ film investment
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/12/nj_reports_2m_loss_from_gracie.html
hobo (192)-
Stick around. By this time next year, the gubmint will be the only investor in the US economy. Rather than companies having to sell anything, the gubmint will just arrange transactions and pre-set quantities, terms and prices.
“What I have never understood is why the higher up in an organization you go, the less you are required to do that actually relates to your skills and the more you have to do that is dependent on selling.”
Frank (203)-
Idiot.
GGP is all of .5% of IYR. If they tap out, they get replaced in the index by a solvent company.
A little bit late, but did anyone catch Moody’s economist Mark Zandi using the phrase “Spent-up demand” at the automaker bailout hearings?
What a fantastic new term, describes the real estate situation perfectly as well. I think we were all calling it “borrowing demand from the future”, but “spent-up demand” has a much better ring to it.
Kudos Zandi
For the 2.9ers in the crowd, its a play on “pent-up demand”.
Frank,
I can only assume that since you are advertising it on craigslist that you are really offering a fraction of the going rate. Contact a competent technical recruiter, and I’m sure you can find a programmer if you’re willing to pay them enough.
Question for the legal beagles here,
Since the Governor, Governor General Counsel,the deputy governor and several other individuals are directly quoted in various conversations directly discussing corrupt bargaining, arent they all potentially facing charges?
grim,
feel free to cut these, just found ti interesting….
Senate candidate 1 could be Valerie Jarrett
in you look at bullet 105 and then do a google news search
damn, no schools from upper bucks county made the list? surprising. need to look at the criteria and see what the deal is.
/says the guy with no kids
paper dinero claiming NE pending down 14% – West up 17.4. That sounds more realistic
http://paper-money.blogspot.com/2008/12/pending-home-sales-october-2008.html#links
Investors buy $32 billion in Treasury bills for no yield
By Deborah Levine
Last update: 1:28 p.m. EST Dec. 9, 2008
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) – The Treasury Department sold $32 billion in four-week bills Tuesday at a yield of zero
My thoughts aren’t jaded. The standards of the classes that I have to teach are 60% of what they were when I was taking the same class in 1999. Every professor at my university fully acknowledges that the students scores are lower each and every year. This country is around 25th in Math and Reading in the world right now. You can’t expect students who under perform the rest of the world the first 18 years of their life to pick up the slack and start doing good the next 4. The fact is, since the “no child left behind” act, we went from a short slow decline to falling off a cliff. You weren’t part of the no child left behind generation. We are getting our first sample of them and it’s not pretty. In high school, kids now no longer have to do anything to pass, let alone get an A. It’s carrying over to the university system. It’s even carrying over to the medical schools and graduate schools.
I know someone who got their M.D. who didn’t know what a compound fracture was.
I know someone who is in Medical School that wants to be a surgeon. He’s legally blind.
I know someone who got their PhD in Chemistry who couldn’t figure out how to use a syringe and this person was a diabetic since she was in nursery school.
I’ve got a dozen more horror stories of people with the IQ of dust running around with letters before and after their names.
It’s much worse than you think.
Yield on 1 mo. Treasuries hits 0%.
#241,
Clotpoll ( Moron ),
If GGP goes down so will the rest of the commercial RE industry.
Grim,
same here. I pulled a 2.1 in high school. I got 1380 with an 800 in Math. The smartest kids I knew in high school were the ones who were far too bored with the material and got bad grades simply because they didn’t care. These kids usually flourish in college where you actually get some exposure to semi difficult material.
154 John
I can’t believe I’m doing this but, I have to agree with you re:engineers. I worked at a firm when getting through college and aside from their specific field and project, the engineers there could barely write a legible post it let alone a typed letter that made any sense. A lot of them were clinically depressed and just kind of nasty and unkind in general.
Like working in a school for Aspergers.
Ben (250)-
Word. Everything’s just dumbed-down to a point of no return.
Ben,
Culled my own post, decided it was too much personal information to share.
Person B just saved his department 399 hours of lost work. Undergraduate that would be cheating, but in business that is call “leveraging existing information”.
Now look at it this way. Person B works at an IB and takes the trader’s model to model the risk of a portfolio of securities. He is leveraging existing information. Than he sells it to his dept that he is accurately capturing the risk in these securities using the best available information. Sure Person A may eventually come up with the same info, but if person A did the work from the ground up he may see that some assumptions don’t make sense. Now Person A brings this up to his department and says this business does not make sense. Final outcome. Person B’s firm is blown into oblivion and causes a financial fiasco unlike any other. Person A’s firm is still around, that’s of course if Person A’s dept did succumb to pressures from the business unit saying Person A’s risk assumptions were ludicrous. There is your problem with group think and corner cutting.
Clot,
all we are doing is creating a massive unskilled labor force that have Masters Degrees. We’ll be able to compete with China making stupid crap in no time.
Frank (251)-
It already is gone. Wall St. just doesn’t smell the corpse yet. BTW, I get much more bang to my buck by being short SPG. When that pig goes belly-up, it will leave a mark.
Anyone have advice or stories to share on negotiating a lower rent after my lease expires? I rent a condo in the city and have noticed the comps in the building going down.
Ben,
A lot of my friends see it in their nephews and nieces at the HS level. Hell, they don’t even go out anymore, all just sit around the McMansion on facebook and texting each other all day.
I used to fight for my freedom with rents. Used to go into the city and take weekend classes during HS. Adventure, youth. Oh well….
Ben (257)-
One of my predictions for ’09 is that we onshore the lead-paint-toy and tainted foods industries.
#257 – Seems like every other native-born Russian IT consultant I meet has at least a PhD in some obscure engineering field completely unrelated to IT.
#258,
I hate to agree with you, but I must on Commercial RE, it has only started to go down, and it has a long way to go down.
Ben (257)-
My SIL and BIL are both PhDs. He’s 350 lbs and about to physically explode. She’s an OCD exercise anorexic who’s compulsively shopped them into six-figure credit card debt.
They are psychologists and counsel affluent HS kids on emotional & cognitive issues.
I often point to them as examples #1 and #2 of why we are so f-ed as a nation.
clot – you are related to dr phil? ;)
Barbara,
if someone tries to convince you that children today are so advanced because they utilize all types of technology, you need to call BS on them. Today’s kids skills involve typing somethings and pressing enter on their computers and iphones. The most pathetic thing I’ve seen was a 15 year old who asked me how to get air back in their bicycle tire. I’d hate to see what they would do if their chain fell off.
Frank (263)-
But residential RE is just fine?
Man, send me some of what you’re smoking. It must be great.
[249] Ben,
Yikes.
And I thought some of the folks in my profession were idiots.
For my part, I have consistently griped about law school and the bar exams. I think that they are too easy and let in way too many idiots.
I breezed through law school and two bar exams (11 years apart), but I won’t even BEGIN to think that I am God’s gift to lawyering when I know that there are LOTS of far more intelligent folks in the profession (and when I went to a top-tier graduate law program, where there were a lot of these rocket scientists, I felt like a fraud for being there).
So, if I am an above-average J.D., and got stellar grades and bar scores, what does that say about the guy who squeaked by?
I suppose one thing in our favor is that our profession is largely self-correcting; opposing counsel, courts, regulators, etc. will cull the bad attorneys and cases. But in medicine, if the folks you describe are becoming M.D.s, then Yikes.
What do you call the guy who graduates from medical school at the bottom of his class?
Doctor.
omg, NJ is a sick sick joke of a state:
N.J. reports $2M loss from ‘Gracie’ film investment
I hope the Attorney General is involved..
Hey, everybody! Does anyone have any information on MLS # 2542095? What is a realistic estimate on property taxes, since this was assessed in the upper 5s?
Thanks in advance for the help.
C Dawg
“Yield on 1 mo. Treasuries hits 0%.”
Clot – What the hell does this mean??!??? What is the point of buying Treasuries at 0 yield?
Clot – What the hell does this mean??!??? What is the point of buying Treasuries at 0 yield?
Capital preservation, complete abhorrence of risk.
All,
My HS valedictorian [voted most likely to succeed BTW] was drunk while giving the graduation speech. She (an alcoholic) and her brother (a heroin addict) eventually went to rehab. Don’t know what she does now.
Went to my HS reunion in August.
Laughable.
My frightening GPA (bad) didn’t jibe with my frighteningly high standardized test scores.
My family life was a nightmare and I did physical labor installing appliances at night with my [daytime detective] dad from the time I was 11 y/o.
I didn’t KNOW how to apply for college…around Feb my guidance counselor asked me if I was going at all…
Neither of my parents or sisters were college graduates at the time.
How I got through it I will never know….
…I still beat myself up at times wishing I had done more with my life.
Go figure.
sl
Lots of people more concerned with return OF capital rather than return ON capital.
3 mo. Treasuries now trading at negative rates.
re: No. 1 , TJ in Va … magnet school. 3 of my good friends went there – one is a lawyer, two are doctors. Funny story … buddies brother took the test, passed, and went there.
after two quarters, he left to come back to our lowly (actually good) public HS. real smart guy, good athlete, went to UVA, was a lawyer in NYC … but got laid off.
comrade, I was arguing with my roommate about the quality of lawyers while he was in law school. I convinced him I was right by asking him how many kids in his law school he would trust to represent him if he were getting sued. He concluded 10%. I’ve seen some despicable things in municipal court. I saw lawyer recommend the judge issue a warrant for his clients arrest because his client was stuck in traffic. I only know this because he showed up after his lawyer left. I informed him on what his lawyer did.
grim, 269
…I just missed the “top 10%” — where you earn the plaque/membership to AOA medical honor society…
I was sad about that but, at least I wasn’t last.
sl
still looking,
my high school graduation was insulting. Our high school’s golden boy was only able to get his class rank to #3 so my high school had 3 valedictorians.
Lots of engineer-hate over here!
The one thing you guys might have missed is all the “charm” in the world will not help you sell a crappy product for a long time.
As far as replacing U.S educated engineers with third-world engineers, unless they are from the best universities in the country – they are cr@p. I would pick the bottom of the class @ most state universities over here versus the top of the class in second tier universities in India/China.
Ben,
Is it hard always being the smartest guy in the room? I imagine it must wear on you after a while.
I’m glad I don’t have your gift.
This is just a weird idea but there might be something to it…
What if all the money that is being lent to the banks is being pushed into treasuries because they have no where else to keep it safe. The remainder of the people who want to buy treasuries then get the 0% return on their money.
We don’t know the stipulations on all the loans the FED has handed out, what if they are 0% loans and the bank thinks, “hey, free money if I loan it back to the FED!”
Old Stan Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Anyone have advice or stories to share on negotiating a lower rent after my lease expires? I rent a condo in the city and have noticed the comps in the building going down.
Old Stan: first step…ask….see what they do….second step, get comps from places within 2-3 blocks
Nom, Grim,
There is shit in every trade and profession… all of them.
We do self police more than you (or anyone) would know.
Would be happy to discuss it anywhere but here.
sl
Isn’t that two Ilinois Governors in a row indicted?
262: Grim,
Education quality in Russia has been going to the toilet in the past 10-15 years as well. I guess the people you met are all in middle 30th.
FED loans money to banks at 0% interest, bank lends it back to FED at less then 1% interest, bank nets the difference.
This would equate to a transfer of wealth from the FED to banks. Is this the last grab from the cash register before the new administration?
#285,
Can’t wait for the 0bama days, it will be a lot of fun.
HEHEHE,
5 of the last 10 Illinois governers has been indicted.
Clotpoll Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
They are psychologists and counsel affluent HS kids on emotional & cognitive issues.
I often point to them as examples #1 and #2 of why we are so f-ed as a nation.
clot: My SIL is a psychologist and is the most twisted evil Ridgewood WASPy wrech off all time. So vilely evil that she institutionalized my nephew after he took a $hit in my brother’s home office for being on the road all the time for work.
Ben 279,
Just 3? Shit. For that matter why not just make it like preschool where “everyone is a winner!”
It’s disgraceful and stupid… our high school grading and ranking had more to do with how popular you were than if you were smart, hardworking and capable.
I honestly don’t know how I survived high school.
I absolutely loved college, though!
sl
“But residential RE is just fine?”
RE market will be saved by the Government plus things are still selling at crazy prices both high (NJ) and low (CA, FL, NV)
Chi (290)-
Damn. My dog does that every time I go away for a day or two.
Don’t get me started on my nephews. Wifey just refers to them as Thing 1 and Thing 2.
“Is it hard always being the smartest guy in the room? I imagine it must wear on you after a while.
I’m glad I don’t have your gift.”
Not sure if this was sarcastic or not. I’m not the smartest guy in the room. There are people that are brilliant that make me look like a mental midget at my school. I do consider myself well educated. Obviously, I’ll have a PhD in science but I’m well rounded in economics and world history because I have free access to half a dozen huge libraries at my school.
I just have a real low tolerance for the crap that goes on in our society now. We’ve stopped rewarding intelligence, hard work, and discipline and started rewarding stupidity, laziness, and lack of discipline. It has infected every single industry in this country. I know for a fact it’s affected science, medicine, and engineering, since that’s the environment I’m in. My fiancee will vouch that it’s infected teaching. I know it’s affected the legal system after listening to judges speak while waiting to pay for a speeding ticket. We all know that it’s infected the financial industry.
What gets me boiled is that this recession and big fallout is designed to put an end to all of this. Instead, our leaders are trying to make sure everyone keeps their job when I’m sure everyone can supply a big list to their boss of people that need to be fired.
Ben Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I skipped every class 3 semesters in a row and still pulled off a 3.8 in Chemistry. Most of that stuff, they just teach from the book. If you spent an hour a week for each class, there is no excuse for not getting an A. I’ll say this, aside from a few good teachers, most of my knowledge comes from reading. Anyone who simply follows a college curriculum and nothing else will come out of college not knowing much.
I’ve been teaching at the University level for 4.5 years now. Most kids who complain about the workload are liars. The university system is in heavy decline along with our high school education system. A college education isn’t even what it was 10 years ago.
Ben: I learn visually. One hour of lecture from a teacher saves me 3-4 hours of reading.
Clot…293
LOL….egads… first coffee spew of the day… I gotta invest monitor wipes…
sl
Stan,
I got my rent lowered from $1050 to $800. My landlord really likes me as a tenant though. I fix everything that goes wrong on my own and only had to call him once when the apartment above me was flooding. I told him I needed to move out because I’m about to graduate and get married in the near future and need to save money. He offered me the lower rent. If your landlord likes you and he/she will have a hard time filling the slot with a quality tenant, he/she might be willing to lower your rent.
BTW – at Cornell, most classes required 8-10 hours a week of outside work. Killer classes were in the 20 hour range. The mean was a B- or B-/C+. At Princeton, the means are B+.
#245
“Question for the legal beagles here,
Since the Governor, Governor General Counsel,the deputy governor and several other individuals are directly quoted in various conversations directly discussing corrupt bargaining, arent they all potentially facing charges?”
Yes. Conspiracy.
Mike Morgan’s take on the NAR numbers –
“Yun wants you to believe that a lower than expected drop in the pending sales number is good. Yun and the Wall Street anal-cysts (analysts) want you to believe the improvement in pending sales is something to cheer about. It might be something to cheer about if:
(1) The NAR was reporting a real number, instead of a statistic they create with NAR New Math and modeling that uses sampling that only the NAR understands; and
(2) If there were not so many multiple contract buyers. You see, what Yun fails to tell you is this: It now takes an average of three contracts to get to closing, and that is because more short sale contracts fail than close. That means Mr. Yun’s number is pure KaKa de Poop. And that also means it is a lot worse than they think . . . because without the multiple contracts, the numbers would be downright coyote ugly. “
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) issued a report on global lending and bond issuance that says both are down 70-80%, with bonds in Euros dropping 94%
And how exactly are things going to turn around in the near future?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/3685332/BIS-warns-of-collapse-in-global-lending.html
My friend graduated U Chicago Cum Laude in Economics. He said Econ 101 was curved to a C. He got a std. dev. above the mean and received a B in the class. Talk about a f—ing weedout :(
“Ben: I learn visually. One hour of lecture from a teacher saves me 3-4 hours of reading.”
Chicago, I have ADD. Unless a professor has great slides on the board, I have a zero percent chance of absorbing any of the material. I have no attention span in a classroom setting.
A benefit of ADD is hyper focus. If you give me a book, I can turn on the hyper focus, read it, and absorb all the material and be done with it.
I have worked with various companies over the past 15 years and call tell you that IT folks from India/China occupy a majoirity in any IT department and there is a reason. They get the work done. We whites only know how to talk and bullshit while heavy lifting is done by them. Look at Google,Microsoft and any other top tech companies. They are rules by Indians and Chinese. Even most of top level tech jobs are taken over them. They are extremely hard-working and can follow orders. Whites (ofcourse, with exceptions) now how to chat and talk about Monday Night Football and demand 100K salary when the same work can be done for better quality and lower pay. This is a case of sour grapes. Read Freidmans ‘Flat World” and get the picture.
# 291 -SL- I honestly don’t know how I survived high school.
I absolutely loved college, though!
Same here. College was the first, and maybe the only place I’ve been actually treated as an adult. God know corp. America assumes you’re functional moron.
Is the derivative Neutrin bomb about to hit?
http://us1.institutionalriskanalytics.com/pub/IRAstory.asp?tag=326
We hear from a very well placed Buy Side investor with extensive business interests in the US and EU that three primary banking institutions in Europe, two French and one German, have such significant CDS exposure and other problems that they cannot even begin to fund the payouts anticipated over the next quarter. The funding squeeze reportedly is exacerbated by a near-collapse among weaker players in the hedge fund market, who were accustomed to receiving loans from one large French institution, which then stupidly converted the loans into equity. That’s right. This past summer, when the bank put out a call for redemptions of $4 billion in hedge fund investments, says the source, only $400 million was returned. And the French bank also used these same hedge funds and others to reinsure some of its own CDS exposure. Sound familiar? Yup, just like AIG.
Unlike the approach taken by Paulson and Geithner to bailout AIG and JPM (via the Bear Stearns rescue), however, the investor claims that EU officials are considering a moratorium on CDS payments by the three Euroland banks in question. The banks would be given ten years to write down their CDS and hedge fund exposures and would receive additional infusions of capital by their respective governments. The source claims that French banks have such huge exposure to both hedge funds and CDS, sometimes linked together, that the positions are beyond the ability of the EU governments to bail them out without a cessation of CDS payments. The IRA was not able to obtain a comment from EU officials over the weekend about these allegations. We’ll be making some calls Sunday night and Monday. But if this unconfirmed report turns out the be true, then the beginning of the end of the CDS market as we have known it will be at hand. And ironically, the catalyst for the final solution will come not from the failure of a US dealer, but instead by a moratorium on CDS payments by an EU bank.
In the event, as other governments around the world follow the very reasonable example of the EU, the OTC derivatives market will implode and these unfunded liabilities may very well force the nationalization/liquidation of C, JPM and AIG, among others.
#268
“For my part, I have consistently griped about law school and the bar exams. I think that they are too easy and let in way too many idiots.”
agree on the law school part (way too many crappy law schools where graduates go into massive debt with no hope of a job when they come out). On the bar exam front, at least in NY, that has gotten significantly harder in recent years. Failure rate I believe is running close to 40% (and these are all law school grads, of course).
Jim Rogers said it best.
People in China ask when they can go to work.
People in the US ask how many days they get off.
#294
Ben,
Fair enough, and I don’t completely disagree with your points. It just seems that the majority of your posts focus on how stupid everyone around you is, and I feel you tend take specific examples and run with them. You are obviously a smart dude, but you seem to be making your way through life with a lot of anger towards all the ignorant people you have to put up with everyday.
I couldn’t go through life like that, but I tend to blend in with those people better than you do :)
Maybe I’ve got you all wrong.
Risk management guru throws down the gauntlet to Geithner
Mr. Whalen claimed CNN had agreed to televise the debate—assuming Mr. Geithner, who is currently president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, decides to pick up the gauntlet. A spokesman for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York had no comment.
In an interview with Financial Week, Mr. Whalen said he does not think Mr. Geithner is the right person for the job of Treasury Secretary. He cited Mr. Geithner’s supposed missteps so far in the financial crisis, and his close ties to current Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. “He has a lot to account for,” Mr. Whalen said, including an explanation of why Bear Stearns was saved and Lehman Brothers was allowed to fail, as well as how certain banks like Citigroup are being propped up.
http://www.financialweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081205/REG/812059973/1036
Rouble exodus hits Russia credit rating
Russia on Monday became the first G8 country since the start of the financial crisis to have its credit rating downgraded after Standard and Poor’s took fright at the recent exodus from the rouble and sharp drop in oil prices. S&P said it had lowered Russia’s foreign currency credit rating by one notch from BBB+ to BBB because of the “rapid depletion” of the country’s foreign exchange reserves and the “difficulty of meeting the country’s external financing needs”.
S&P said Russia could be forced to spend all $200bn now parked in its two sovereign wealth funds on recapitalising the banking system and covering fiscal deficits in 2009 and 2010.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/08b574f0-c55b-11dd-b516-000077b07658.html
Wow,
So many new names today. The lurkers are not lurking so much. What does this mean?
And it’s nice to see Bi’s black box is working perfectly as usual. Bi, you can not leave us no matter what!
Ben (294)-
Word!
My favorite last minute study crisis happened when I took a pre-law class with my friend who was a major major playa. Anyhow my friend told me the final is 100% so don’t worry about going to class as he has a foolproof way we can ace the final. Well I had other classes going on and this was an elective so what the heck. Anyhow so I meet up with him the night before the exam with the text book I just bought and bascially the test was going to be based on the 500 page book and we had no notes or indication of what may or may not be on the exam. Well my friend tells me his plan involves getting a good night sleep, don’t worry. He will come by my room at 8am to get ready for the 9:30 exam. So he shows up and says we need to look really good, shave, shower, blowdry hair, aftershave and wear nice clothes as it will gives us the edge and we need to get there a few minutes early. I am so far down the river I go along with him. Finally he reveals his strategy we sit two seats apart and try to get an ugly girl between us and two ugly girls on either side and hope someone gives us the answers. Well the strategy did not work as the girls covered up the exams!!!! So now there is 15 minutes to go and I got nothing, we were ready to do part two which was run out and since teacher did not know us get a doctors note and re-take test. The all of sudden an ugly girl in front of me as she is leaving yells at us you guys are pathetic and hits me on the head with a rolled up piece of paper. The nerve. Anyhow after everyone looks away I picke it up and there are the answers!!! I scribble them down and with three minutes to go toss the ball to the other guy and when handing in the paper blocks the teacher from getting to my friend so he has time to write in the answers. On the way out I said this is your secret to success? I could kill you, he said if I told the plan ahead of time it would not have worked cuase you would not have been there to catch the answers when they hit you on the head. The man had a logic to it. The next semester he did his other on the AB AB approach, he gets four kids in a row where tests alternate versions to only answer questions they are 100% sure, one hour in someone in the hall yells fire and they quickly switch, two hours in someone yells help I am being attacked and they quickly switch again. Whatever is left over is done in the last hour by mostly guessing. I saw that one pulled off, but too many variables for me. The best one I saw him pull was a scrantron test in pencil, he followed the A student up to hand it in, he then put his test in but quickly pulled it out as he needed to check something. He really just put a blank exam in and pulled out the A student test and just erased the name and wrote in his own and rehanded it in. His other famous one was skipping whole class and faking an ID and having someone from another class who already took final take his exam. He also like to swipe A student term papers from office before they were graded to bring down curve. I think he is a lawyer now or drug dealer or something like that.
Wonder when the professional sport salary bubble starts to pop.
$30 mil a year to play ball is just ridiculous. I guess it is driven by the merchandise the player sells, seats sold etc. All of these factors are going to take a hit. The draft class of 2009 will be in for a rude surprise.
Doyle,
5 years of grad school will make you a bitter bitter person. You are right about my pessimism. I tend to focus on the bad. There are plenty of people in all industries that I know do know their stuff and do their jobs well. It’s obvious, we have a lot of them posting right here on this blog. I can understand if my post may come off as elitist. It’s not so much a complaint as it is an attempt to inform people of our declining education system. It needs to be overhauled if we expect to make our nation prosperous again. Grim’s post of the day listed our nations top 100 schools. I get mad because our best schools are being outperformed by average schools in Europe and Asia.
I just feel that we are at a time in history where people need to be enlightened about the weakening of our entire country from our core. If people refuse to acknowledge what’s actually happening in all industries, we will never be able to address the problems.
#314
“I think he is a lawyer now or drug dealer or something like that.”
Was he in Toronto recently?
Ben, I hear you, well said.
And speaking of a declining education system, I believe your fiance is a Wildcat. OUCH.
Ben,
“I just feel that we are at a time in history where people need to be enlightened about the weakening of our entire country from our core. If people refuse to acknowledge what’s actually happening in all industries, we will never be able to address the problems.”
Unless you can get Britney Spears or Paris Hilton to ‘speak’ to the people, we are doomed to fail.
Doyle, what does that mean?
Tinfoil Hat on or off, I give a hat tip to the banksters, less than 24 hours after this speech Gov. Blagojevich ends up in court alright but not for an injuntion against the Bank of America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RHhmIHJ444
I wonder how many other politicans are crapping in their shorts right now, seems like the FBI has been awfully busy wiretapping them.
#320
Did she attend U of A? Or do I have you confused with another poster?
230 Doyle – Wow it really is the economic end of days.
I almost took a position with the NFL way back in 1999. I would have taken it, actually, but Stu was had moved to LA and I didn’t think I would be able to stay there long enough to vest in the vebefits because I had planned on relocating to join him.
Back then, they would deposit 15% of your salary each year into a retirement account and you were vested for it after 5 years.
They also paid an annual bonus of over 15%, which they swore up and down that the only time it wasn’t paid was the year of the strike.
I wound up much better off financially, because I got my current employer to add that 30% to my base to retain me, but that job was the only one, throughout my career that I have looked back on and thought “What if?”.
Sean,
BOA just got a might big Xmas gift. If Blagojevich had followed through and pulled it off the banks were looking at pandora’s box
Doyle,
yeah, you spooked me a little bit. I thought you might have been one of her friends and figured out who I was.
Whenever Gator starts talking about the NFL, I can’t stop myself from humming their commercial intro and outro music.
“buh buh buh buh buh bummmmmm, buh buh buh buh buh bummmmmm, buh buh buh buh buh bummmmmm bummmmmm bummmmmm bummmmmm bummmmmm!”
Battle Royale @ SPX 900
Ben, ASU grad, must take shots at U of A whenever I get the chance.
for the more upbeat members of the blog,
How do you see a recovery playing out if you agree with recent calls of a turn around in late 09?
Doyle,
I guess you weren’t too thrilled on Saturday then?
Gator,
NFL seems to be in good shape to me, that’s surprising.
Ben,
Nope was swimming in a bottle of Jack and screaming at the TV, so glad the game was televised.
Doyle – maybe it’s a stealth attempt to get rid of dead weight?
Stu’s friends have never forgiven me for passing up the opportunity. They all thought they’d be the beneficiaries are free tickets and stuff.
“buh buh buh buh buh bummmmmm, buh buh buh buh buh bummmmmm, buh buh buh buh buh bummmmmm bummmmmm bummmmmm bummmmmm bummmmmm!”
well, the Giants are in good shape. They got everyone to pay those giant season ticket premiums before they realized we were in recession.
The only comment I have is it’s about time the state started addressing the shortages in the food pantries.
NJ governor signs business stimulus bill
WOODBRIDGE, N.J. (AP) – Gov. Jon S. Corzine has made good on a pledge to try to help spur the state’s economy.
Corzine on Tuesday signed legislation that gives businesses a $3,000 check for every new employee they hire and keep for a year or longer.
It’s all part of a $120 million economic stimulus bill the governor signed during a daylong forum hosted by the New Jersey Business and Industry Association Tuesday.
The legislation provides grants to businesses for job creation and tax credits for capital investments.
The initiatives were proposed by Corzine in October as part of a broad economic stimulus plan to help businesses and residents through the financial meltdown affecting the country.
Other components of the package provide additional aid to food pantries, heating assistance and help to those facing foreclosure.
“NJ governor signs business stimulus bill”
He raised the sales tax to 7% resulting is jobs lost, now he’s trying to make it up, what a joke.
Gator,
It would have driven you crazy. I speak from experience, when family/friends know you have access, you become ticketmaster. And they all say, “I’ll pay for them, I just wanted to know if you can get them”. When they know darn well that if I “can” get them they will not have to pay.
No Frank, he raised the sales tax to fund property tax rebates. He has already said that he is revoking the rebates, but the tax will stay. Sort of like the tolls on the Hudson River crossings or fuel surcharges by the airlines. Once established, they are there for good.
“Corzine on Tuesday signed legislation that gives businesses a $3,000 check for every new employee they hire and keep for a year or longer.”
How many union jobs will be created to give out those checks? I bet 3 for every 1 check.
jonnie has the NJ taxpayer’s best in mind.
no decision is not without deep thought for
the homeowners of the state.
i wonder if they will create a job for the
Rocco?
grim unmod
Where the %uck is pret?
http://www.cnbc.com/id/28140388
chifi @ 298,
That’s because Princeton keeps the B+ kids and sends the C+ crew to Cornell.
max, freddie, henry, etc.
Please pick one name and stick with it.
NFL seems to be in good shape to me, that’s surprising.
pretty interesting what’s going on in MLB. No one seems to be bidding on free agents with sponsors pulling out left & right and lower seats sold. If I was Sabathia, I would take Yankees offer and run. No one will come close. Amazingly, A-Rod may have been the smartest player in baseball. He’ll get the last of the monster contracts for a long time. Texeira won’t come anywhere close.
K-Rod is Met-Rod
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3756383
How do you see a recovery playing out if you agree with recent calls of a turn around in late 09?
Early 2009??? Downturn is just starting. Or are you actually talking about real estate for a change??
Henry Paulson Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
chifi @ 298, That’s because Princeton keeps the B+ kids and sends the C+ crew to Cornell.
No argument.
Half of Princeton undergrads graduate with honors.
[307] skep
Personally, I blame the law schools. f8ckin’ cash cows for unis, they let in anybody. My j.d. program was famous for damn near being “open” and the ed was great for anyone that paid attention, but there were some folks (not complete idiots, mind you, and successful in their own professions) that could not get past the bar exam. I know one guy (who woulda flunked out if I didn’t help him) who failed the bar 8 times!
When I went to a big name grad law program, same thing, but this time the idiot was me. I did well in some subjects, and all right in most, but in some I was awful. Fact is, I still don’t know jack with respect to the high level work in my own field, and have to force myself to get out of the shallow end of the pool.
Maybe that is the way we succeed, even without ChiFi’s demonstrated pedigree (and grades to match). I just wish L.S. had done a better job of prep first, or that we had a system where you needed X number of years in practice before you could hang out a shingle.
chicagofinance,
“What will happen over the next 5 years is that the U.S. will be whipped into shape and the Asia chimeras will be exposed. Hubris on my part? Maybe, but you do not give me a warm fuzzy by being a doomsday pud…….medicate thyself if necessary…..”
that’s what I want to happen. It seems that the every action in Washington is designed to prevent us from being whipped into shape. It will only making the ultimate whipping that much worse. I’d much rather us take 5 lashes now than 25 lashes later. This could have all been prevented with a single lash in 2000.
[350] chi,
Didn’t something like 90% of Harvard undergrads get honors??? I took classes at Harvard Ext. in my major and got better grades there than at my State U alma mater.
A friend from hs went to harvard; we all thought she was sooo smart. Senior year of H.S., she jumped off a chairlift because it had stopped, and she thought she could jump. Twit forgot to take her skis off and wound up in the hospital.
I have other harvard stories (born in Cambridge so it was sheer proximity), and some HLS stories that make me wonder how these brainiacs get through the day without having people open doors for them.
Mets get K-rod. Can’t be worse than Heilman. Let’s hope he stays healthy.
“I have other harvard stories (born in Cambridge so it was sheer proximity), and some HLS stories that make me wonder how these brainiacs get through the day without having people open doors for them.”
Automatic doors? Some people are weird. You have people that can do ridiculous math proofs but can’t figure out how long they should microwave a pizza. You have others that are complete alcoholics that manage to get up to go to work and put in a full day of quality work before they go home and drink an entire bottle of scotch.
“You have others that are complete alcoholics that manage to get up to go to work and put in a full day of quality work before they go home and drink an entire bottle of scotch.”
Leave me alone.
Denis Leary evaluates America…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27808489/
[snip]
I am warning you — I am not here to make you feel all warm and fuzzy or superior to everyone else or all soft and gooey inside. I am here to debunk and declassify and otherwise hold up a brutally honest mirror to our fat, ugly, lazy American selves.
I am here to explain how we can and must thin the herd and extricate the stupid and eradicate the obese and take Rush Limbaugh’s head and make a bong out of it.
Senators, psychopaths, fence-sitters (all three of those may sometimes be the same person), celebrity ass—– (hello), presidents, centerfielders, centerfolds — everyone is up for grabs here.
Because I’m sick of it all.
I’m sick of low self-esteem and fake fat-suit-wearing female talk-show hosts and extreme makeovers and Cats the Musical and cats in general and steroid-laden home-run hitters and Paris Hilton and Grey’s Anatomy and Reese Witherspoon movies and Paris Hilton’s himbo boyfriends and celebrity rehab and Dr. Phil and Terrell Owens and almost anyone else you can think of.
This country — including you and most of the people related to you by birth or marriage or both — is populated by beings who been so blessed for so long that they have become almost completely immune to any interests other than their own.
Open ass — insert head. [snip]
sl
Is it to late to ask for the inside scoop on a Chatham listing? MLS#: 2572616. Nice house on a cul de sac in the boro. Seems overpriced. I was wondering if the owners were in HELOC hell? Couldn’t find any recent sales info.
My sister is doing very well at a smaller law school that’s second tier. At 30 she’s more mature than the rest of the students – she told me that most of the 23 and 24 year olds going for a J.D. direct from undergrad spend most of their lecture time updating Facebook and Twittering their 400 friends about how boring the prof is. The next generation of lawyers won’t know anything since they spent law school in an electronic fog.
According to Yahoo Real Estate it is 15 Woods Lane
http://realestate.yahoo.com/New_Jersey/Chatham/15-woods-ln:d0ec76c5b7fd6cc656d1ae2cbcb3fd5
3292 frank: You have a beautiful mind. It does not function, but it is beautiful.
Thank you NJGator. I was actually curious if anyone knew if there was a lis Pendens filed or big mortgages. It seems overpriced, and i was wondering if they listed it at what they needed vs what its worth.
You can check Morris County’s databases online. The tax board link below will show you sales history and you can then link to the county clerk’s page for mortgage and LP records.
http://mcweb1.co.morris.nj.us/TaxBoard/TaxBoardHome.jsp
Ditto on all the comments re law school. For three years of education, they taught me astonishingly little about closing a multi-million dollar deal, let alone how to argue a traffic ticket. The system needs major overhaul. You can complain about the bar exam, but even the bar exam doesn’t adequately sniff out poor attorneys.
Also, does anyone have any input on MLS # 2542095? My wife loves it, and I think there is plenty of room for downward negotiation. I’m waiting for my 4.5% interest rate, of course, though.
C Dizzle
re-default isn’t a word.
I was scratching at the inside of my skull all day looking for the right word and it finally popped into my head.
recidivism – a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior.
“Loans modified under the programs set up recently by the government had a greater then 50% recidivism rate.”
Panel to criticize U.S. financial rescue: report
A congressionally appointed panel that oversees the Treasury Department’s $700 billion financial rescue fund is expected to release a report on Wednesday highly critical of how it has been handled, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
More at: http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE4B874820081209
SL,
Looks like the town is going to purchase 240 Paramus Road and use a portion for ball fields and perserve the remainder for “open space”.
[359] jmac,
Hah!
Does she call them “daycare students”? That is what those of us in the eve. div. called the full time day students.
I recall that, when I made it on one of the more competitive journal boards, it was clear I wasn’t one of them, and they viewed me with some amusement as a fossil. That was until I (and my fellow fossils) started kicking their tender little asses in trial comp.
My favorite story of dressing down the daycare students was, when one group struggled to support an argument in a journal function, I was able to supply what they didn’t know, drawn deep from my (not so vast) reserves of knowledge. The chastened daycare student blurted out, in a slightly awed way, “You scare me.”
Tell your sister, age and treachery beat youth and skill every time.
“A congressionally appointed panel that oversees the Treasury Department’s $700 billion financial rescue fund is expected to release a report on Wednesday highly critical of how it has been handled, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.”
Kettle, meet Pot.
No offense kettle1
[364] dawg
True dat. I learned more about how to do my job before I attended law school.
[357] Still,
Denis Leary. Another sharp-tongued, sharp-witted Son of the Bay State (just like me ;-)) What is amazing about that is that he is from Worcester, which is as interesting as being from Schenectady.
[365] Nick
How about “relapse”?
Re engineering grades in college:
I would have to agree, the no work until the last week of the semester would probably not work in engineering school. I did Stevens Tech ME degree in 4 years, GPA, about 2.8
In High school 3.9 GPA, top 5 in class
In NYU Stern MBA, 3.8 GPA, deans list all semesters
Engineering school is a different animal all together.
AL,
This one is for you:
Corzine Urges U.S. Government to Buy, Hold Mortgages
Governor Jon Corzine talks with Bloomberg’s Kathleen Hays about the need for the federal government to buy and hold mortgages to help stem foreclosures.
Corzine, speaking in Washington, also discusses his support for either conservatorship or pre-packaged bankruptcy for U.S. automakers.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=asrhwqZxYu8s
[357] still
No Fcking Way! I just learned that Denis Leary is good friends with one of my friends from freaking grade school.
No surprise really. I have met too many people that were friends with this guy. I think I even met one if his ex-boyfriends—the dirty look I got was priceless.
One of these days, I am going to his act, and will start heckling him with dirt from junior high school days. That should be priceless.
nom –
I’m not sure what she calls them since her school is full time only. I don’t think daycare students is the right term… maybe 17th graders since most of them are in law school just to avoid living in Mommy and Daddy’s basement.
wouldn’t it be cheaper for the government to just by GM for its market cap of 2.9 billion and then restructure then as they see fit. Even including government waste it is still probably a better deal then giving them 10 billion now and even more down the road ( estimates suggesting 100 million may be needed)
kettle1 Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
wouldn’t it be cheaper for the government to just by GM for its market cap of 2.9 billion and then restructure then as they see fit. Even including government waste it is still probably a better deal then giving them 10 billion now and even more down the road ( estimates suggesting 100 million may be needed)
I would argue that GM is worth a lot less than 0$….
If they are to go BK right now, and do a fire sale, their price and assets would not even come close to covering liabilities.
UNLESS some kind of deal will be reached to lower liabilities (e.g. pensions, medicare and debts such as bonds and loans).
I’d say let them declare BK and restructure debt, and get PIC to cover pensions default at 30 cents on a dollar…. (or whatever they guarantee.)
Of course in this case PIC might fail as well…….
Sorry i think it is PBGC… not PIC
[375] jmac
From what I have been reading in the law news and blogs, that is where they will wind up.
AL,
i agree, however there will be a bail out. just suggesting a slightly less stupid alternative
New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine talks with Bloomberg’s Kathleen Hays about the need for the federal government to buy and hold mortgages to help stem foreclosures.
Go Jon – It looks like we will get our 0% interest loans from goverment. Better yet I want one of thouse UK loans where banks are paying you money!!!! I’d take 30 years load at -1% interest!!!
Corzine for President???!!!
P.S. Vote For Pedro!!!
New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine talks with Bloomberg’s Kathleen Hays about the need for the federal government to buy and hold mortgages to help stem foreclosures.
Wouldn’t this result in taxpayers taking massive losses as approximately 60% of these newly purchased loans “redefault”?
It seems that Jon Corzine is a really stupid wealthy man.
Ouch:
Severance Watch ’08: JEF
Posted by Bess Levin, Dec 09, 2008, 5:21pm
Analysts and associates laid off last week from Jefferies apparently received a whopping 4 weeks + zero percent of last year’s bonus.
http://dealbreaker.com/2008/12/severance-watch-08-jef.php
Almost better off getting laid off months ago
Mike Morgan, raging on:
Bobbleheads – Kudlow, Cramer, Pelosi et al
“Here are a few thoughts for those that have started thinking we might be at the bottom . . . as we are now hearing from the clowns, like Kudlow, Cramer and many of the other Bobbleheads that almost appear to be intentionally misleading us into very dark times.
I listened to one fund manager, let’s call him Dave, explain how the giddiness of the last two weeks is going to be a lesson in pain for many people that believe in the Bobbleheads and Magic Dust. This manager pointed out that there is total lack of visibility in what the government is doing with the bailout dollars, AND there is total lack of visibility in the corporate world when it comes to earnings, projections and dealing with reality.
Dave was also brave enough to say, “Analysts don’t know what is going on or what is going to happen.”
I’ve been saying this for as long as I can remember. I could never figure out the value of analysts, as they basically regurgitate what the companies tell them. I will never forget when Ivy Zelman explained her logic for never really slamming the builders, even when it was obvious the builders were going to get crushed. And she told me that Credit Suisse had too many relationships to protect with the builders and institutions that partnered with the builders . . . so she had to be delicate. That often meant not telling the truth. I didn’t say she lied, but I know there were times Ivy and all of the other analysts simply said nothing, instead of telling the truth.
Dave went on to comment on how his firm has lowered expectations of S&P earnings, and that even now, he does not agree with his firm’s numbers. In fact, he believes the numbers will be in the loss column next year for the S&P.
The statement was made that stocks are cheap on a historical basis. Dave noted that in historical times we have seen P/Es of 8, and we are still not there . . . and we are now going to see the biggest drop in S&P earnings since the Depression. Moreover, for all the Bobbleheads talking about “trailing” earnings . . . . WHY? Why would you want to look at or talk about what happened last year, when we know the future is a lot different? Unfortunately, analysts and fund managers need to twist numbers to justify the raping of the pension funds, 401k accounts, mutual funds, state funds, endowments, etc.
If you still believe we are at or near the bottom, please consider a few of my Key Points to support the coming Depression:
1 – Housing prices are still falling.
2 – We are nowhere close to resolving the mortgage crisis, and millions of foreclosures are coming. In turn, this means lower housing prices and, in turn, more foreclosures.
3 – Wall Street and the Banking System has still not accepted the consequences of the toxic assets they built, sold, profited from . . . and now they are stuck with. All they have done is covered them up with a thin layer of Magic Dust (taxpayer bailout money).
4 – The housing ATM is closed. And with the closing of the housing ATM, consumers have less money to spend . . . and less money to pay their mortgages with, so there will be more foreclosures.
5 -If you map out the consequences for 1, 2, 3 and 4 you quickly see that less FFM “free-funny money” means less to spend and this means more job losses throughout the system, and this means much more pain to come.
6 – Worldwide we are seeing government responses with nonsensical bailouts and “spending” programs. The sad thing is, the spending programs are not directed at making us better, but just at how we can buy more toys and treats. In fact, governments are repeating the very same mistakes made in the 1930’s. By the way, these are only the big picture issues. I could give you a hundred reasons we are headed to very dark times, but all of it stems from the housing bubble that created the toxic asset crisis, and until we detox, the pain will get worse. This is no different than a drug addict. All we are doing now is feeding the drug addict and making matters worse . . . just like we did in the 1930’s. And just like a drug addict must go through a horrible physical detox, so must the world.”
Send an email to Jon Corzine, the governor of this great state, to suggest that he dedicate 100% of his personal wealth to the scheme he’s suggesting.
“Jon Corzine oughta get into buying, like, mortgages.”
http://www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html
How much GS stock do you think Jon still owns?
Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) — Treasuries rose, pushing rates on the three-month bill negative for the first time, as investors gravitate toward the safety of U.S. government debt amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
The Treasury sold $27 billion of three-month bills yesterday at a discount rate of 0.005 percent, the lowest since it starting auctioning the securities in 1929. The U.S. also sold $30 billion of four-week bills today at zero percent for the first time since it began selling the debt in 2001.
“Isn’t it odd that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is suddenly arrested on corruption charges the day after he announced he is asking all Illinois government agencies to suspend business with Bank of America?”
SAS
That car crash really f-ed up whatever brains Corzine has left.
Personally, I think Carla did even more damage than the wreck.
Got to ring in on the Engr degree…
I am an emgineer (PE); started school at age 30 with 2 kids in tow, ages 2 and 5. I worked full time went to school part time, it took me 11 years to get the BS, me being a single mom and all. Nothing was easy about getting this degree. I graduated from a top 5 engineering school. Most of the kids I graduated with were 4.0-ers. Most of them could not find their way out of a paper bag. And could not last a day in my shoes if they tried. I am glad I did it as I enjoy the work and have been able to provide for my children. Guess I am trying to say the GPA is just overrated as far as measuring success. I somehow made the deans list once in a while, but could not care less. Good thing was that since I worked FT, I was able to take my PE soon after graduating. That is the key to making money / advancing in my field.
RE Engineering
I went with EE because it was the easiest way to complete a degree after being out in the business world for 15 years. I had originally been going for physics but found high energy uninteresting and EE was easy by comparison.
I found my younger classmates to be lazy. It was simple to take control of the required collaborative product development project.
re 392
I agree on the laziness of the younger classmates. Especially having to have them as “lab partners”.
# Rich In NNJ Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
SL,
Looks like the town is going to purchase 240 Paramus Road and use a portion for ball fields and perserve the remainder for “open space”.
I love you for telling me that!
We would have loved to have made it a very small minifarm (as much as the 150′ trout stream limit would have allowed.)
The highway would have been a deal breaker though…
Thanks for that info. A 68 unit housing project would have been a clusterf.uck there.
sl
Nom,
Denis Leary is a pisser…too bad candy coating is the present day poison that all of America wants to live on.
Me? I’d rather the truth, straight up and neat.
sl
# Clotpoll Says:
December 9th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
That car crash really f-ed up whatever brains Corzine has left.
Personally, I think Carla did even more damage than the wreck.
You ain’t kidding!
I don’t know whose knees are dirtier, his or hers.
sl
the joys of subtitles: watching/reading cnbc at the gym, and instead of “treasury bonds” they wrote “trashery bonds”
i thought you guys would be amused. :*)
a message from t he automakers
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/6012/bailoutyk2.jpg
AP reporting auto bailout bill has been agreed to “in principle” by Congressional Democrats and the White House.
http://www.theshortsaleservice.com/index.html
went to the landlord about going on a month-to-month since we haven’t found a house yet (lease ends april 1). we told him we’d give him 60 days advance before leaving.
when we signed, landlord said he wouldn’t do month to month. he’s fine with our deal.
BUT … he’s raising the rent. he said since we’re only paying 1695 (in bucks county; end unit townhouse, 3 beds, 2.5 baths, garage) he would raise the rent for us to 1895, and jack it to 2000 for whoever takes over.
we have crunched the #’s for a place we want to buy – if the house is 550k, we put down 200k, and get a 5.0% rate … we’re looking at 2600-2700 a month (that’s including 7k in taxes a year).
Yikes So rent, you save 7 to 8 hundred a month plus you get interest on your DP. Should put you up about 15 16 k a year. Sounds like you have plenty of room. In 3 years you have 245 & prices are only going lower. What is the rush?
mike – sort of a unique situation. everything is going well for us now financially, and we want to have a kid in 2010. not keen on buying and having a kid in the same year.
have a small business that is doing well now … unique situation, and i dont know that it will be doing well in 2010 or beyond. we have our DP saved, plus enough extra for a pool, furnishings, and still will have our 30k emergency fund that the financial advisor demands.
plus, wife will be quitting once we have the kid, and we dont want to have to go in and try to get a loan two years from now with no stated income and only my small biz income.
we’re buying with the thought of staying for 30 years.
also, this is in bucks county, not NJ.
To #11 – sorry for the response so late that no one probably cares. Just wanted to tell that I am neither classist no racist, just don’t like much pomp around the bogus numbers like the ones USNews staff massaged and delivered in the name of the PC. With their wealth of statistics data collected for both colleges and HS, they could easily come up with the only number that is of an interest to someone who chooses where to live based on HS rank – that is, % of the graduates that go to the colleges ranked in USNews Best 50 or whatever, plus the highest ranked state school for the state. For the rest of us, the key factors (also not included in their ranking) are % graduating in 4 years without special assessments and other crap, and school safety (e.g. % of students with juvenile record).
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/6012/bailoutyk2.jpg
Clot: Ref 385: And let’s not forget the coming commercial RE bust, unemployment levels we haven’t seen since the Great Depression, municipal and State governments going bust, a few car makers arriving in Edsel Heaven, Somali pirates off the Jersey shore… the list goes on and on and on.