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First Base!
From Bloomberg:
Wells Fargo, Other Lenders Tighten Government-Mortgage Rules
Wells Fargo & Co., the second-largest U.S. home lender, and Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp., the biggest privately held mortgage company, are raising credit score requirements and other standards for government-insured loans.
Wells Fargo boosted the minimum credit score for Federal Housing Administration and Department of Veteran Affairs loans it makes through brokers to 620, according to a Jan. 27 notice from the San Francisco-based bank. Ocala, Florida-based Taylor Bean “recently” increased its requirement to 600 from 580, Chairman Lee Farkas wrote in an e-mail.
With government-supported programs now accounting for more than 87 percent of new U.S. mortgages, tighter standards by private lenders that outpace the requirements used by the FHA may erode a steady source of home financing. The adjustments may help lenders lessen their risk and reduce foreclosures by weeding out more consumers who have missed debt payments in the past.
“When you look at what causes someone to have a FICO score that low, you see things that make you question their ability or willingness to repay their debt,” said David Stevens, president of Long & Foster Real Estate Inc., a Chantilly, Virginia-based realty brokerage that also makes mortgages.
Free circus tickets…
http://www.whitehouse.gov/strongmiddleclass/
Save the Date: First Meeting 2/27/2009
The Task Force’s first official meeting will be on February 27, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The topic of the first meeting will be: “Green Jobs: A Pathway to a Strong Middle Class.”
Oy vey! I think I liked it better when we were wasting money on star wars.
Straw man?
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1706118,00.html
you guys are mixing up pre-school with day care. I send all my kids to 1/2 day pre-school, private to boot. Day care is where kids are strapped down in car seats in dirty diapers all day while mommy or daddy is a “career” person is what I think is sill. If fact I got a letter yestday that my daughter is the being awarded for her academic skills at the next PTA meeting and her award winning Picasso inspired art work is to featured in an art display at a college next month. My daughter is 8, half the kids in her class with both parents “working” are still figuring out to how to pick their nose at the age of eight. The hardest job in the entire world is to be a stay at home mom for several kids. Easy way out is to sip starbucks in your cube while someone else raises your kids. What do real men do, they support their family and their wife’s career. What they don’t do is force their spouse into a meaningless horrible job cause they don’t want to work too hard.
Seriously, I thought the whole point of a FICO score was to determine who you don’t loan money to at all, not how much you loan them.
Straw man?
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia acknowledged for the first time that 15 of the Sept. 11 suicide hijackers were Saudi citizens, but said Wednesday that the oil-rich kingdom bears no responsibility for their actions.
http://www.hermes-press.com/bush_kiss.jpg
From last thread
#384 Qwerty
‘You should change your name to “Straw Man”’
That moniker is reserved for John. You can use “StrawMan101” instead.
MLS 2625551 Summit
Remarks: Value in land. Interior totally destroyed. Subject to lender’s approval.
Any info/history on this one?
I have not been able to check iin today and I don’t know if this has been posted (it is from CNBC):
‘Buy-And-Hold’ Strategy
CNBC.COM | January 30, 2009 | 8:15 AM EST
As traditional market signposts lose their relevance, so does the traditional “buy-and-hold” strategy that investors have followed for decades.
Market pros in increasing numbers are eschewing the usual investing strategies and watching technical levels as their guides for making money. They examine temporary market tops and bottoms as guidelines when to sell and buy, and are in many cases utilizing funds rather than individual stocks to make their plays.
Earnings and economic data have proven unreliable to gauge the long-term prospects for the market, which has become a trader’s battlefield. Money that once stayed put for three to five years can now get moved in three to five days or sooner. snip
“interior totally destroyed. Subject to lenders approval.
Any info/history on this one?”
Sounds like a dorm room at the end of the year.
PGC:
I think a native american name might be more apropo…
Rightwinger Eatcrow.
“First Base!”
First Jersey Securities. Come grow with us.
John:
I would like for you to review your comment below:
“but his wife has to work full time while juggling two kids while he plays cops and robbers all day. Kind of selfish of him. Yea it is nice to do what you want but to make your wife’s life a living hell and to live in a shoe box house and send your kids to Community College while you pursue you little dream is not what a real man does”
Once again, what does a real man do? Please answer this question cause my cop friends would love to know.
Shore Guy:
First you lose half your money the old way. Now you can lose the remaining half this new way.
“Money that once stayed put for three to five years can now get moved in three to five days or sooner.”
It’s different now!
Does that make Clot’s indian name: Travels With Ammo?
Will this be a Fed Friday story today?
COLONIAL BK NATL ASSN 6.37500% 12/01/2015 SUB NT ACRD
Price (Ask) 63.750
Yield to Worst (Ask) 15.048%
I thought Clot was Chief Playwithfire!
Look at gold!
All Hype, you know back in the day I took the NYC Fireman test and the Suffolk County state trooper test. I got a 95 on the Fireman test so I didn’t get it, but I got called for the Suffolk Cop job when I was 27. I could have made my 100K a year handing out tickets to people parking at the beach without a permit all day long. But between when I took the test and got called I realized what the heck kind women will want to be a cops wife? Also I may work less but who wants weird hours? Also the job is 99% boredom with 1% sheer terror mixed in. Not exactly my idea mix. Plus my uncles all got upset at my cousin when he did it, they said us Irish off the boat had to take those type of jobs, we don’t expect our children and grandchildren to still be low paid civil servents. Finally, to protect and serve is nice but I can’t live on that salary. Plus all that cops stuff, softball, bbq, male bonding is creepy, when I am off work I want to be off work not at Joey D’s b-day party in SI cause all the guys are going. All my Irish Uncles who were cops wanted none of their kids to be cops, get a college degree and a good paying office job they all said.
Stu,
It is a good way to make a buck off of commissions, anyway. We should have seen this coming. It used to be a broker might make $150 or so on a trade but they were spread out over time. Now, with $10 trades, one better ensure there are a whole lot more trades. Even brokers’ kids need shoes.
Lil Gator is thriving in his pre-school/day care. In fact he just got his first ever progress report yesterday. He scores age appropriate in all subjects except “I rest quietly” (he must get that from Stu). His teacher’s comments even say that he is working above age level. Hmmm, maybe I should stop mocking my mother when she says he is a genius.
All of that doesn’t matter. He is well adjusted, independent and happy. He loves learning, playing with his friends and likes to give lots of hugs.
John can go to h*ll.
“Look at gold!”
Stu,
Is that meant for realtors celebrating the official start of the spring selling season, Super Bowl Sunday?
how could his scores be “age appropriate” yet he is working above age level?
Stu,
Debasement at its best. Gold is speaking volumes, versus the world.
http://www.galmarley.com/Chart_pages/currency_charts.htm
John(20:
Interesting response, somewhat well reasoned. I just cannot figure you out. You remind me of Otter from Animal House. Nice enough of a person just got beat up a lot by the seniors when you pledged as a freshman cause you were so obnoxious.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/30/executive.pay/index.html
Pay cap proposed for Wall Street ‘idiots’
John 24 – The options are “Age Appropriate” or “Needs Further Time to Develop”.
Check out some postings on some Hoboken condos on a certain other website that mocks this one.
Contrast that to the cries of “Immunity!” there.
BC Bob:
I agree wholeheartedly on the recent gold move. The more solutions our masters come up with, the higher gold goes disproving it as a potential solution. Of all the whimpy investment moves I shoulda coulda woulda made in the past year, not buying some shiny under 700 is gonna haunt me for months! At least my SRS is beginning to show some life again.
Some people can’t sleep at night stuck thinking about their paper losses. I drive myself batty thinking about near misses. Risk aversion, risk aversion, risk aversion!
#29 –
.
Have we acquired an archenemy all superhero style?
I am more like the guy with the corvette in animal house.
“Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son”…
Stu[30],
Don’t beat yourself up. Where it was is of no consequence. If you catch just the last 10%, time duration, of this move, you’ll be in the chips. This baby has a long way to go, price/time. There will be vicious pullbacks along the way. During these pullbacks, the pundits, [Bi, John, Jamil, Mitchell] will cheer its retracement. One of the bust buy signals out there. You’ll have plenty of opportunity.
And I did get that 32″ Samsung flat screen from B&H. Ordered it n Sunday and it arrived on Tuesday with free shipping and no tax! Now I need to find some time to get the right wires to get an HD picture from a homemade antenna. I’m gonna wait a year until I move before we do the blue ray and HD from the cable company (probably FIOS) thang. Admittedly, it is painful to watch low res on a hifi set. She sure is a beaut when she is turned off though.
John (337, previous thread)-
Was this the first iteration of your short bank stocks/long bank bonds play?
“My friends used to hook up after labor day and always break up week before thanksgiving and skip that family party, christmas gifts, new years day and valentines day and get back together on Feb 15th before ditching them again Memorial Day. If you were really good you could do it 3-4 times with same girl.”
“Check out some postings on some Hoboken condos on a certain other website that mocks this one.”
Simply, a bunch of loonies. If they listened to me they would have made 40%, buying the loonie, at that time. Their course of action, they deleted my post.
#34 – monoprice.com – Seriously cheap cabling, good quality, fast shipping.
DO NOT shell out cash for Monster Cable…
Ive had a Samsung LCD for a few years now, good stuff.
Speaking of debasement, natural gas is $4.40 in the middle of a colder than average winter in the northeast. Try to explain that one. PSE&G is gonna make a killing this winter. At least they lowered the rate by 5% as NG is down 100% over last year.
BTW all hype I was the President of the Phi Kappa Theta Frat in College. My 68 Skylark with G60’s booster shocks, a red posi rear, big V* with blacked out windows scared many a sortority girl doing hazing. Once the sorioty girls let me help then haze and we went down to the docks at midnight by the junkyards in Flushing, really creepy and the girls had to spray paint their names ten feet high. Well on que I was supposed to come down with my buds and “kidnap” a pre-selected girl to scare everyone, well I come down to do my my charge and it is a little oil slick there so I do a wild burn out donut and land right next to the girls, we grab the girl selected but since I landed so close we grabbed another, wow was she flipped out, I took off in a monster donut oil slicked burn out as the junkyard oil was everywhere, crazy, the girl we kidnapped chilled out after the other girl let her in on it, but it took till 4am to round up those freaked out 18 year old girls who were like wacked out.
Tosh, Monster is a monster ripoff. I’m an audiophile, but my Yamaha amp doesn’t have HDMI nor a digital out for video. Only for audio. Hate to put this baby to rest so soon. My series one Tivo (lifetime plan) which I illegally upgraded to a homemade series 2 is not high def capable either nor is my POS settop box from CrapCast. I’ll probably just stick with awesome sound for now and will go for the high end picture in about a year.
BC – my posts have been deleted from many blogs for the same lack of their reasoning ability.
I have come to the conclusion that few if any of them have the brainpower to attain “cognitive escape velocity.”
Heck we still have a few here that may even hang themselves at the end of the day.
Stu (40) –
CrapCast (Love the name!) offers the HD capable box for $3 a month. If you talk nicely with the online rep, he might throw it in for free (Heard some people do it, haven’t tried myself).
My HDTV story – Bought a 27 “” Olevia for $300 (Read good reviews about performance, not so much of a looker). The company went bankrupt a week after I bought it!
#40 – I’m an audiophile
Any experience with Kef speakers? I’m kind of shopping for new fronts; looking at NHT and Paradigm and Kef keeps coming up as recommended but I’ve never heard them myself.
“Heck we still have a few here that may even hang themselves at the end of the day.
Kapoom,
In addition to this, Fuld is ready to rip out the hearts of LEH short sellers. WHEW.
Re: FHA loan limits from previous thread.
These are the exact amounts and what towns/counties qualify for what limit.
http://www.fhfa.gov/GetFile.aspx?FileID=135
http://www.fhfa.gov/GetFile.aspx?FileID=134
Good luck finding a bank dude that understands all these numbers.
I’m an audiophile who thinks nothing of any particular audiophillic value has been designed in the past 40 years.
Kapoom, don’t need to think or reason, I am like a robot I react. Plus I still can’t figure out why people like Einstein can’t comb their damm hair.
Kapoom says:
January 30, 2009 at 3:53 pm
BC – my posts have been deleted from many blogs for the same lack of their reasoning ability.
THIS drivel from a man who f.ucks “Vidalia”.
[smacks forehead, rolls eyes]
sl
Lady,
You have the filtiest damn mouth of anyone who posts on this damn board. This is a family board dammit. Clean it up.
What kind of damn Doctor are you anyway? Marcus Welby didn’t behave like you.
#46 – Tube amps are `spensive though.
Ok, call it. Bank Failure Friday.
West or East of the Mississippi? North or South of the Mason Dixon?
Stu #35 – Cheapo here.
New TV’s have a built-in cable box. Plug the cable in the back, scan. You will get the HD channels for free. And the cable company HAS to give them to you. If they don’t call and complain.
I get everything in HD, spend $12 a month for basic cable.
Stu,
I don’t appreciate your damn disrespect of me. You young fresh face punks think you know it all, but you don’t know jack.
46 in mod. Dunno why.
I expect Bi to pop in here any minute and tell us that the Dow ending above 8,000 in January is a bullish sign.
“We were borrowing from the rest of the world to keep our standard of living high. Now we’re increasingly borrowing from our children, who will eventually experience either much higher taxes or a much lower dollar; either will lower their standard of living.
But my words will fall on deaf ears. Policy is settling in. We just confirmed a Secretary of the Treasury who was directly responsible, as head of the New York Federal Reserve, for monitoring proper capital at all of our money center banks. They failed, because they didn’t have enough capital to support the vast lending they were doing. Geithner isn’t going to change his tune.”
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/treasury-loan-currency-FDIC/index/a/20840
10 year pushing upwards fast.
If it continues at this pace, there is very little chance we’re going to see 4 handle mortgage rates ever again.
Well, aside from massive government manipulation. Or perhaps global recession.
tard (48)-
The only obscenity that gets posted here is the worthless dreck your LeSoeur pea of a brain expels like turds from a chihuahua.
You mess with sl, you might find yourself on the biz end of a Mossberg 500. Open choke.
Tosh…Paradigm are the real deal and I still swear by the AR towers for value. Kef is kinda junky but I have heard good things about the NHT subs although I don’t think a sub is necessary if your front towers have large enough woofers. I have ARs in the front and center and Paradigms in the back. Put all your money into the speakers though. They give you the best bang for the buck and never need upgrading. My amp is only like 5 years old and is already missing all of the necessary connectors for digital video.
RE: I’m not disrespecting you, just preaching the truth babe!
Clot…I don’t need no guns. I’ll just sit on him.
Kaboom
“cognitive escape velocity.”
nice! i will have to remember that one. its really a very descriptive term.
———————————-
John
I still can’t figure out why people like Einstein can’t comb their damm hair.
Most people at level of intelligence see the world in a way that would be alien to most of us. He probably either never noticed or thought it looked just fine. Most people were probably just as much of an enigma to him as he was to most others, the difference being that he had something of value to add.
“I expect Bi to pop in here any minute and tell us that the Dow ending above 8,000 in January is a bullish sign.”
Bi,
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/As-goes-January-so-goes/story.aspx?guid=%7BDCD8631C%2D2889%2D4F4B%2DABD0%2D07D1EC008F03%7D
Is blasting a loud, incenidary moron with a 12 gauge at point blank considered a fair fight?
Roubini Sees Global Gloom After Davos
Jan. 30 (Bloomberg)
Even as he wins plaudits for his prescience, Roubini, 50, says worse lies ahead. “The consensus is catching up with me, but it’s still behind,” Roubini said in an interview in Davos. “I don’t know what some people are smoking.”
Roubini sees the global economy shrinking this year, and banks writing down at least $3.6 trillion compared to the $1.1 trillion disclosed so far.
While the U.S. government is resisting nationalizing its biggest banks, Roubini says it will have no choice because they are now “effectively insolvent.” And the outcome may be even worse than even he anticipates if governments fail to take aggressive steps to recapitalize banks and revive their economies, he says: “The risk of a near-depression shouldn’t be underestimated.”
“I’m not a permanent bear,” he says. “I’ll be the first to call a recovery, but I just don’t see it yet, and it’s getting uglier.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a6A9lCHrtAqk
clot,
forget the shotty,
we’ll jut tase him a few times and watch him wiggle
Colonial Bank is my guess
grim says:
January 30, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Ok, call it. Bank Failure Friday.
West or East of the Mississippi? North or South of the Mason Dixon?
Glad to see Exxon managed to scrape out a profit last quarter.
John #32
I am more like the guy with the corvette in animal house.
“Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son”…
Really? I see you more as the Fletcher Reede type.
“I’m getting what I deserve. I’m reaping what I sow. I’m…”
It’s 11:00 o’clock Do you know where your damn dog is?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZm47SrmuwM&NR=1
Guess what?? Mutley won’t be snickering much longer.
Clotpoll says:
January 30, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Is blasting a loud, incenidary moron with a 12 gauge at point blank considered a fair fight?
reinvestor101 – is that you Sam? When did you get out?
http://www.trutv.com/graphics/photos/serial_killers/notorious/berkowitz/4b.jpg
Anyone familiar with the courses the SIG runs up in NH???? are they any good?
grim says:
January 30, 2009 at 4:00 pm
I’m an audiophile who thinks nothing of any particular audiophillic value has been designed in the past 40 years.
grim: Is there a resonant sound that coral makes if it is exposed to air?
Anyone familiar with the courses the SIG runs up in NH???? are they any good?
I’m on their spam list, they have some interesting courses.
grim: Is there a resonant sound that coral makes if it is exposed to air?
Of course, thousands of tiny screams.
reinvestor101 says:
January 30, 2009 at 4:21 pm
It’s 11:00 o’clock Do you know where your damn dog is?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZm47SrmuwM&NR=1
AWESOME
Stu, you apparently have no idea what “Straw Man” means.
I never stated Iraq attacked on 9-11.
I never stated anything about whether our military consists of dropouts, surgeons, or farmers.
However, here’s what I DID state in response to your earlier absurd claim:
—————————————
RE: “One leader kills 5,000 of our children fighting a war that grossly destabilized the Middle East”
Perhaps you haven’t heard, but our country has a VOLUNTEER army comprised entirely of ADULTS.
When the Mideast was “stable” they were flying hijacked airliners into office buildings holding 50,000 Americans sitting at their desks.
The Iraq war was approved by both the House and Senate, including “yes” votes from Harry Reid, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Joe Biden, and countless others. To justify their vote, they all cited Saddam’s DECADES of use (e.g., Halabja) and ongoing intent to develop WMD.
People having different viewpoints is a good thing, but please dispense with the dishonesty and selective memory.
—————————————
Having no leg to stand on, you then replied with insults and numerous logical fallacies…
Shore Guy says:
January 30, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Does that make Clot’s indian name: Travels With Ammo?
Shore: Kevin Costner is attempting to revive his flagging career by remaking his creative pinnacle movie Dances With Wolves. It is set in Branchburg NJ and stars Chip Hughes. The title is Travels With Ammo.
Here is the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miIPEOExM8U&feature=PlayList&p=4C77EA373B23EB5F&index=76
Look at Gold
Stu,
Look at me!
Chifi Clot,
this might help with the zombies
http://www.220.ro/eNz8nc4KpP/The_Jackal_Movie_Scene.html
And why do I care about IRAQ? I did know an Italian guy in the 1990’s who drove his Camaro IRAQ when he went to the Jersey Shore, but what does that have to do with children?
make [78],
You da man!
Head-scratchin’ Newbie Question:
What is a comp?
Fyi, I looked this up on the interwebs and could not find this in any RE glossary. Thank you in advance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJXrmM9lBTg
The Roubinator is soo calm when he says “brace for impact”
BC,
I’m the man after you! You’re the original, old school grandmastaa
Comp is when you friend who owns a night club comps you so you don’t pay the cover. Actually, it is a comparision of a house you want to buy to comparable houses to determine market value.
Hi Guys,
What kind of asset classes made money during japan’s deflation? Can we learn anything from their experience as we are headed towars their lost decade scenario?
Thanks
pine brook
Stu or Gator,
I’ll be hitting up 3 restaurants during restaurant week in Montclair. Greek Taverna is already booked based on your recommendation on this board. Of the multitude of Italian places on this list, which would you choose if you could only choose one. Then, one wild card recommendation would be appreciated (not CulinAriane, heard its booked the whole week).
http://www.gotomontclairnj.com/rest-week/restaurants.htm
What is a comp?
A method of assessing the value of a property, shorthand for comparable. There are lots of ways to assess the value of a property, you can do it by comparing the subject property to similar properties around it that have sold.
The reason I call them “comp killers” is that those properties were likely used as comps, to justify high asking prices of similar properties. However, now that those “comps” have sold at lower prices (in some cases, much lower), that high “comp” has been “killed”.
Probably not making sense, so how about an example.
Your neighbors house sells for $500k. Your house is similar, so you say your house is worth $500k. When you are asked how you came up with that value, you point next door.
Until today, when your neighbor’s house just sold for $400k.
Now, you can no longer use your neighbor’s house as a comp to justify the $500k price.
Comp killed.
#89
Ohhhhhh, I get it now!
Right-wing stuff….BUT…she ain’t wrong
OPINION: DECLARATIONS
JANUARY 30, 2009, 2:10 P.M. ET
Look at the Time In Congress and the boardroom, failure to recognize a new era.
By PEGGY NOONAN
It looks like a win but feels like a loss.
The party-line vote in favor of the stimulus package could have been more, could have produced not only a more promising bill but marked the beginning of something new, not a postpartisan era (there will never be such a thing and never should be; the parties exist to fight through great political questions) but a more bipartisan one forced by crisis and marked by—well, let’s call it seriousness.
President Obama could have made big history here. Instead he just got a win. It’s a missed opportunity.
It’s a win because of the obvious headline: Nine days after inauguration, the new president achieves a major Congressional victory, House passage of an economic stimulus bill by a vote of 244-188. It wasn’t even close. This is major.
But do you know anyone, Democrat or Republican, dancing in the street over this? You don’t. Because most everyone knows it isn’t a good bill, and knows that its failure to receive a single Republican vote, not one, suggests the old battle lines are hardening. Back to the Crips versus the Bloods. Not very inspiring.
The president will enjoy short-term gain. In the great circle of power, to win you have to look like a winner, and to look like a winner you have to win. He did and does. But for the long term, the president made a mistake by not forcing the creation of a bill Republicans could or should have supported.
Consider the moment. House Republicans had conceded that dramatic action was needed and had grown utterly supportive of the idea of federal jobs creation on a large scale. All that was needed was a sober, seriously focused piece of legislation that honestly tried to meet the need, one that everyone could tinker with a little and claim as their own. Instead, as Rep. Mike Pence is reported to have said to the president, “Know that we’re praying for you. . . . But know that there has been no negotiation [with Republicans] on the bill—we had absolutely no say.” The final bill was privately agreed by most and publicly conceded by many to be a big, messy, largely off-point and philosophically chaotic piece of legislation. The Congressional Budget Office says only 25% of the money will even go out in the first year. This newspaper, in its analysis, argues that only 12 cents of every dollar is for something that could plausibly be called stimulus.
What was needed? Not pork, not payoffs, not eccentric base-pleasing, group-greasing forays into birth control as stimulus, as the speaker of the House dizzily put it before being told to remove it.
“Business as usual.” “That’s Washington.” But in 2008 the public rejected business as usual. That rejection is part of what got Obama elected.
Instead the air of D.C. dithering continues, and this while the Labor Department reported Thursday what everyone knew was coming, increased unemployment. The number of continuing claims for unemployment insurance as of Jan. 17 was 4.78 million, the highest in the 42 years they’ve been keeping records. Starbucks, Time Warner, Home Depot, Pfizer: The AP’s count is 125,000 layoffs since January began.
People are getting the mood of the age in their inboxes. How many emails have you received the past few months from acquaintances telling you in brisk words meant to communicate optimism and forestall pity that “it’s been a great ride,” but they’re “moving on” to “explore new opportunities”? And there’s a broad feeling one detects, a kind of psychic sense, some sort of knowledge in the collective unconscious, that we lived through magic times the past half-century, and now the nonmagic time has begun, and it won’t be over next summer. That’s not the way it will work. It will last a while.
There’s a sense among many, certainly here in New York, that we somehow had it too good too long, a feeling part Puritan, part mystic and obscurely guilty, that some bill is coming due. Hard to get a stimulus package that addresses that. (The guilt was part of the power of Blago. He’s the last American who doesn’t feel guilt. He thinks something is moral because he did it. He’s like a good-natured Idi Amin, up there yammering about how he’s a poor boy who only wanted to protect the people of Chicago from the flu. You wish you could believe it! You wish he really were what he is in his imagination, a hero battling dark forces against the odds.)
I think there is an illness called Goldmansachs Head. I think it’s in the DSM. When you have Goldmansachs Head, the party’s never over. You take private planes to ask for bailout money, you entertain customers at high-end spas while your writers prep your testimony, you take and give huge bonuses as the company tanks. When you take the kids camping, you bring a private chef. Goldmansachs Head is Bernie Madoff complaining he’s feeling cooped up in the penthouse. It is the delusion that the old days continue and the old ways prevail and you, Prince of the Abundance, can just keep rolling along. Here is how you know if someone has GSH: He has everything but a watch. He doesn’t know what time it is.
I remember the father in the movie script of “Dr. Zhivago,” inviting what’s left of his family, huddled in rooms in what had been their mansion, picking up the stump of a stogie and inviting them to watch the lighting of “the last cigar in Moscow.”
When you have GSH, you never think it’s the last cigar.
But you don’t have to be on Wall Street to have GSH. Congress has it too. That’s what the stimulus bill was about—not knowing what time it is, not knowing the old pork-barrel, group-greasing ways are over, done, embarrassing. When you create a bill like that, it doesn’t mean you’re a pro, it doesn’t mean you’re a tough, no-nonsense pol. It means you’re a slob.
That’s how the Democratic establishment in the House looks, not like people who are responding to a crisis, or even like people who are ignoring a crisis, but people who are using a crisis. Our hopeful, compelling new president shouldn’t have gone with this bill. He made news this week by going to the House to meet with Republicans. He could have made history by listening to them.
A final point: In the time since his inauguration, Mr. Obama has been on every screen in the country, TV and computer, every day. He is never not on the screen. I know what his people are thinking: Put his image on the age. Imprint the era with his face. But it’s already reaching saturation point. When the office is omnipresent, it is demystified. Constant exposure deflates the presidency, subtly robbing it of power and making it more common. I keep the television on a lot, and somewhere in the 1990s I realized that Bill Clinton was never not in my living room. He was always strolling onto the stage, pointing at things, laughing, talking. This is what the Obama people are doing, having the boss hog the screen. They should relax. The race is long.
As a matter of fact, they should focus on that: The race is long. Run seriously.
Tom Barrack must be in a world of hurt.
Colony’s Vegas-Based Station Casinos Near Default
Station Casinos Inc., whose Las Vegas-area properties include Red Rock Casino and the two-month old Aliante Station, may be on the brink of default, making its private-equity owners a casualty of the largest recorded decline in gambling revenue.
Colony Capital LLC, the Los Angeles private-equity firm that took Station private with the casino company’s founding family in 2007, added more than $2 billion of loans and bonds to Station’s books to complete the $8.8 billion deal. The extra leverage puts Station at risk of breaking terms of bank debt, said Peggy Holloway, an analyst at Moody’s Investors Service.
“From a liquidity perspective, they are on the brink of bankruptcy,” New York-based Holloway said in an interview. “It depends on their ability to negotiate with lenders and willingness to amend the debt.”
GSH…hmmmm
re: speakers:
I have some speakers from this company and I think they are a very good value. They consistly get very high reviews
http://www.acoustic-energy.co.uk/
I also think JBL speakers are quite good for the money, esp for bass heavy music
Bank Failure Friday!
From MarketWatch:
MagnetBank closure is 4th bank failure of 2009
MagnetBank of Salt Lake City, Utah fails
MLS 2625551 Summit
Remarks: Value in land. Interior totally destroyed. Subject to lender’s approval.
Any info/history on this one?
Purchased for $952,500 in 2005!!! Must have been a bidding war because it was listed at $849,900.
SOLD IN 3 DAYS!
Wait! It gets better! They bought it as a TEAR DOWN!
They listed a new construction property for sale at $1,999,000 in 2006!
(Clot, they didn’t study their rule of 3)
Sat for something like 360 days.
ARE YOU READY TO PISS YOUR PANTS???
Check out this line from the MLS listing:
INSTR: House BOARD-UP. Fire dept conducted practice drills & destroyed all.
Don’t get better than this one.
per grim’s #89
Let’s say there’s 3 houses for sale:
A, B, & C. They’re all asking $500k.
A purchased in 2005 for $499
B purchased in 1992 for $200
C purchased in 1999 for $300
C sells for $400k. $100k off asking seems alot but they agree cos they figure, f’it, the market is bad, I’m not loosing money. They comp kill A&B.
B has big time leverage. so throw down a $100 to 250k under ask offer price. cos they’re still going to make out alright.
C has no wiggle room & that’s the house that is hurting. & no matter what you low-ball, unless you find they put 1/2 the purchase price down & they get to a point they’re willing to loose that down payment, there is nothing that can be done.
Use my methodology/excercise to finding historical street averages
https://njrereport.com/index.php/2009/01/28/new-jersey-condos-a-look-at-the-last-crash-3/#comment-262022
& then work out what the purchase price should be with a compound interest calculator, google will point you to one.
& then figure out a sellers leverage vs. wiggle room by looking up documents on various county clerk websites.
Wonder who holds the lien on this one, they got shafted.
REM: Value in land. Interior totally destroyed. Subject to lender’s approval.
grim, could you edit that so it makes sense, i got my abc’s mixed up.
Peter,
I doubt you could get Fascino which is fancy italian (top chef style) and their desserts are over the top good. After that I would go with Osteria Giotto which is very good and a little more traditional. Nauna’s is your run of the mill restaurant attached to a pizza place and I never ate at Palazzo or Patsy’s. Marzullo’s is about 80 yards from my door and is also a lot like Nauna’s and has great focacia and personal pizzas. Definitely not fancy. For the open choice, since you already did Greek Taverna and get get into Ariane’s, I would recommend Passione which is also near us. It is French, reliable and a cozy joint where you are not on top of each other (problem with too many high end joints). If they have the venison on the menu, it is delicious as was the duck. Nice fancy little joint. Whatever you decide to do, make sure to report back here what you find.
“grim, could you edit that so it makes sense, i got my abc’s mixed up.”
ithink,
You think?
How about SRS having the same closing price as last Friday?
http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=242600012
This is a first of many to come. How long before we see tuition price deflation.
Qwerty,
What irks me about your posts is that you conveniently make conclusions assuming your audience is made up of Forest Gumps. This is the same tactic mastered by Savage and the rest of those lying scumbags that you choose to bow to.
If W was not hell bent on going after Saddam, then congress would have never initiated an attack on Iraq. Sure they voted yes and you can cite ChiFi’s explanation as to why, but ultimately had their not been a Bush in the white house then there would not have been a useless war with Iraq.
Either you can understand this and agree or go back to thinking that life is like a box of chocolates. To try to sell us that the Dems were equally as responsible for the war in Iraq is like comparing Cool Whip to whipped cream or Hydrox to Oreos.
Bushes continued push to connect Saddam to Al Queda when absolutely none existed and after it was proven, was deplorable and pales in comparison to complaining about the Messiah’s energy policy prior to the election and the fact that he turns his thermostat on a few degrees higher than you like. I might have made a straw man here or there, but you my friend are clutching at straws.
So I stand by my original statement. This will be my last and final debate with you. I prefer to converse with people who are not deceptive, condescending and completely transparent.
Sounds like Magnet Bank was a “Bad Bank”.
From MarketWatch:
Utah’s MagnetBank closed without an acquirer
Utah’s MagnetBank became the fourth bank failure of the year on Friday, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was forced to directly refund depositors after being unable to find another institution willing to take over its operations.
It marks the first time the FDIC has been unable to find an acquirer for a failed bank in nearly five years, according to FDIC spokesman David Barr.
“This bank did not have an attractive franchise value, and not many retail deposits or core deposits,” Barr said. The FDIC had conducted an extensive marketing process for the bank’s assets, he said.
Passed a home in Bloomfield today that had a sign on it that said 4 family home 4 sale. $599,000 or best offer. If that sign is legally binding, I may go over there and bid $1.
“Sometime this year, taxpayers will receive an Economic Stimulus Payment. This is a very exciting new program that I will explain using the Q and A format:
“Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
“A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.
“Q. Where will the government get this money?
“A. From taxpayers.
“Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
“A. No, they are borrowing it from China. Your children are expected to repay the Chinese.
“Q. What is the purpose of this payment?
“A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.
“Q. But isn’t that stimulating the economy of China?
“A. Shut up.”
Below is some helpful advice on how to best help the US economy by spending your stimulus check wisely:
If you spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China.
If you spend it on gasoline it will go to Hugo Chavez, the Arabs and Al Queda
If you purchase a computer it will go to Taiwan.
If you purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras, Chile, and Guatemala.
If you buy a car it will go to Japan and Korea.
If you purchase prescription drugs it will go to India
If you purchase heroin it will go to the Taliban in Afghanistan
If you give it to a charitable cause, it will go to Nigeria.
And none of it will help the American economy.
We need to keep that money here in America. You can keep the money in America by spending it at yard sales, going to a baseball game, or spend it on prostitutes, beer (domestic ONLY), or tattoos, since those are the only businesses still in the US.
HeHeHe:
“How about SRS having the same closing price as last Friday?”
On the year, Dow is down 8% and SRS is up 10%. That is what matters. I may get long term gains on this baby once again?
“comp killers”
i’m not a RE agent, but why not just ignore the comp killer? call it an outlier, because if you add it, it could skew the over picture.
afterall, its seems arbitrary, why not just cherry pick what you deem as a comp, and anything that doesn’t fit, you pretend you don’t see it.
what am i missing
SAS
opps:
“i’m not a RE agent, but why not just ignore the comp killer? call it an outlier, because if you add it, it could skew the overall picture”
and perhaps skewing to show a false representation of comps.
SAS
Comp killer is a play on words with cop killer G.
At least that’s how this homey played it.
But when taking literally, it only makes sense if your goal is to look for comps.
FYI
Al Queda = CIA
Hamas = IDF
each supports the other to legitamize whatever the heck they so disire.
remember that next time you watch Fox, Hannity, and wash lord omama feet.
SAS
you can ignore all the comp killers you want but your bank won’t, if they’re in your neighborhood. I think the idea is that at some point the comp killer becomes the norm and prices are reset. everyone’s on board…except NJ sellers.
“but your bank won’t”
i hear you, and agree.
but if one comp killer pops up, isn’t it not calculated.
now, if you have 3+, that would be a different story.
where do you make the distinction btw random event vs. trend?
SAS
maybe i’m not maken sense, its been awhile since i went over RE with fine tooth combs.
SAS
sas says:
January 30, 2009 at 6:09 pm
now, if you have 3+, that would be a different story. where do you make the distinction btw random event vs. trend? SAS
sas: Having warm milk and cognac one day is a random event. Having it 3+ times in a week is a trend.
” Having warm milk and cognac one day is a random event. Having it 3+ times in a week is a trend”
yes, and i do love my warm milk and cognac during the fall & winter.
its like the return of a female friend that you just can’t wait till the lights go off.
SAS
For all the gun nuts out there, some thread music –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBwuLdBRgDw&NR=1
but if one comp killer pops up, isn’t it not calculated.
now, if you have 3+, that would be a different story.
When lenders dictate both recency and proximity on comps, appraisers may have difficulty coming up with 3. Sometimes the comp killer is the only one the bank will accept.
Then you’ve got a problem.
think it depends on the neighborhood as to how many homes are selling. the number of any comps within 6 months are diminishing rapidly, I’d guess. and that gives 1 comp killer more weight. The real problem is when the appraiser checks ‘declining market’ on the appraisal, then you’re fu… or something
lenders generally need 5 comps nowadays and 1 or 2 actives included in case the current asking prices are lower than recent sales prices
The real problem is when the appraiser checks ‘declining market’ on the appraisal, then you’re fu… or something
Some large chunks of Jersey are considered “declining market” by lenders and mortgage insurers.
Even in Paris I can’t drag myself away from this blog.
Grim, this is crack
when I bought in June I was in a declining market, refi in Jan, I got a stable market checkmark. Maybe the appraiser thought i was cute.
if it’s you & one other house, does it make it a declining market? or just day two of the cognac?
Grim (122) –
Genworth considers the entire state of NJ as a distressed market.
http://mortgageinsurance.genworth.com/pdfs/Marketing/Declining-Distressed%20Markets%20List-20081117.pdf
#126 – Just makes it harder for equity impaired owners to refi.
126 -Genworth considers the entire state of NJ as a distressed market
Are they talking real estate or culture?
Marcus Welby!!!?? I nearly hurled a glass of Yeni Raki.
#128 – real estate, culture does not exist here.
#127 -calculatedrisk had some more on Genworth’s new rules earlier in the week;
Underwriting Guideline Changes – Effective February 2, 2009
• Minimum Credit Score = 680
• Maximum Debt to Income (DTI) = 41% regardless of AUS or Submission Channel
• High Cost Loans (> $417,000) Minimum Credit Score = 740
o Loan amounts > $417,000 in CA – Ineligible
• Cash Out Refinance – Ineligible
• Second Homes – Ineligible
• Manufactured Homes – Ineligible
• Construction to Permanent – Ineligible
Declining/Distressed Markets Changes – Effective February 2, 2009
• Minimum Credit Score = 700
o AZ, CA, FL, NV = 720 (as per existing guidelines)
• Maximum Debt-to-Income = 41% regardless of AUS or submission channel
• Additions to our Declining/Distressed Markets List
o 17 states added in their entirety
o 69 MSA/CBSA added
o Please see Attachment A for a complete list of new markets
ruggles:
come on now NJ has wonderful culture.
trenton,n.plainfield, wallington,elizabeth, camden, englewood,
dover,phillisburg,and more. just look around oh, i forgot: paterson,passaic,
w.ny, and north bergen
Genworth’s full guidelines are here (pdf warning).
Al Jourgensen may have decided to retire the band Ministry a bit too soon.
GORDON Brown was last night accused of “losing his marbles” after hailing Britain’s bloodbath of job cuts as the “birth pangs of a new global order”.
http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/81966
anyone got a CDL?
“Sparta picks firm to help create hydro generation plant in 100-year-old quarry”
http://tinyurl.com/al23ma
-project is expected to cost around $2 billion, and generate an estimated 1,000 construction jobs, which the firm said they will keep local.
SAS
“Are they talking real estate or culture?”
ha ha.
good one.
:)
SAS
“46 Of 50 States Could File Bankruptcy In 2009-2010”
http://tinyurl.com/d4vj3u
re#134 SaS- a quick google on that one looks like a perpetual motion machine.
http://www.riverbankpower.com/page.asp?id=6&name=AquabankOverview
CBS news is fingering more of the Madoff clan right now.
chi (77)-
I was worried about me. Now, I’m more worried about you.
god damn i’m hot under the collar!
rather than pry into the personal life of the women who gave triplets and talk the trash, why don’t you just make a friendly donation instead?
poor girl.
leave her alone
SAS
opps:
Octuplets
SAS
chi (91)-
Peggy Noonan is a professional hit woman who issues soothing words as smokescreen for her head shots, but she is 100% spot on here. Thanks.
skep (94)-
Just go ahead and admit you’re a P-Funk fan.
Just a tidbit:
I had an appraiser at my house today.
She was REAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALY pissed off at the realtors.
I told her about this site, she snapped about how she hates RE agents. I said… “no, that’s not what this site is about…”
I showed her the Bergen comp killers.
She wrote the url down…
144 – what else was she saying?
so, what color did he paint you grim?
“Bloomberg paints grim”
http://tinyurl.com/c5qcdw
“I showed her the Bergen comp killers”
should told’em something more useful, like posts about guns, garden & canning, and of course how the govt ships in drugs and launders the money to wall st. via timothy geithner & madoff assoc.
:P
SAS
grim (96)-
“Don’t get better than this one.”
Sure it does. Check GSMLS #2608506 (it’s still on as active). This is a short sale, rep’d by one of my agents. Just before last weekend, the “owner” called my agent to tell her that they’d left and shut off the power. My agent, freaking out, told them that at the very least, their pipes would burst. The “owner” mumbled something about being sorry, but that the power bill was too high and hung up.
The next morning, my agent flew over to the listing…and discovered that EVERY SINGLE RADIATOR in the house had frozen and exploded, shooting shrapnel through mulitple windows and through every wall in the house. She described it as looking like the aftermath of a Mafia hit.
As the ice melted, it immediately drained through the floors into the basement and soaked the switch panel. An electrician has called this a total loss.
The result? A property that was bound to get well over 200K in a short sale now has a 120K offer on it…and that’s what will get sent to the bank.
Two more bank failures tonight.
http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2009/pr09013.html
http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2009/pr09014.html
Stu (108)-
According to the dolt contingent on this board, getting dividends and distributions from an ultra-short ETF is a bad thing.
sas (109)-
Seems to me all you’re missing is an appraiser’s license. :)
“i’m not a RE agent, but why not just ignore the comp killer? call it an outlier, because if you add it, it could skew the over picture.
afterall, its seems arbitrary, why not just cherry pick what you deem as a comp, and anything that doesn’t fit, you pretend you don’t see it.
what am i missing”
ruggles (120)-
The entire state of NJ has been classified as a declining market for both mortgage lending and PMI.
sheep (123)-
Smoke that rock, suck that c*ck.
-Red Hot Chili Peppers
DL (129)-
My first thought was to ask people in my office if Marcus Welby did coat-hanger lobotomies through the eye socket.
SAS
the hydro project i sparta……
The water in that quarry comes from the local aquifer. if they mess with the underground water flows they could really mess up the water supply for a large surrounding area
obama’s dream team can walk on water, but do they know how to pay their taxes?
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/daschle-nomination-snagged-by-back-tax-problem/?hp
that’s two.
whos going to be 3rd?
I swear, I just heard Kudlow say he expects a “panic rally”.
Talk about grasping at straws.
yikes (156)-
Meet the old boss; same as the new boss.
Boy, all the people around me who were munching on O’s cheese log for the past 18 months sure have changed their tune…
Honeymoon over.
I figure the “house n*gger” epithets will start in about another three weeks.
man, these boards are sleepy tonight.
where is reinvestor101 when you need him?
might be story time
SAS
sas (160)-
Just you and me, bud.
Got any fun stories about transporting trunks full of stuff you didn’t want to open?
From the WSJ real time economics blog..
# While today’s GDP figures were in fact the worst since 1982, there’s nonetheless a tone of optimism in the news. From our perspective, however, the relatively benign report doesn’t suggest any fundamental change to the economic outlook, just an indication that the worst hasn’t quite hit yet. All this waiting is becoming truly painful — we’d rather have it all out on the table early. –Guy LeBas, Janney Montgomery Scott
# Once again, real GDP growth appears to be a poor metric of the recession. Consumer spending fell 3.5% in real terms at an annual rate, nonresidential investment plunged 19.1%, and residential investment cratered at a 23.6% rate. This resulted in a weaker-than-expected 4.9% drop in real final sales — there was no demand from the private sector in the fourth quarter. However, an unexpected add from inventories and a neutral trade contribution resulted in real GDP contracting ‘only’ 3.8% (although nonfarm business output fell 5.5%). –RDQ Economics
…
# Almost all the overshoot in GDP relative to consensus was in the inventory component; final sales fell at a 5.1% rate, with consumption down 3.5% and [business spending] on equipment and software down a massive 27.8% (biggest drop in 50 years) both worse than we expected. Net trade was much better than we expected, adding a hard-to-fathom 0.1% to growth; the BEA must have assumed much better December numbers than us. The big mystery, though, is the $6.2B rise in inventories, which bears no resemblance the monthly numbers. It makes us more bearish for the first quarter because this rise has to reverse in some size. In short, we are not comforted. –Ian Shepherdson, High Frequency Economics
# Obviously, with final demand declining at a 5.1% annualized rate, an increase in inventories is hardly good news for future economic conditions, as it signals that businesses were unable to reduce inventories to desired levels as demand evaporated. This means that orders and production will sink even more as inventory control and final demand both weigh on activity. As expected, the underlying details of this report make for grim reading, and the outlook for the first quarter and beyond remains dim, dominated by a tapped-out consumer, ongoing weakness in housing, and a downturn in capital spending that promises to gain momentum. –Joshua Shapiro, MFR Inc.
Clot 161
Ah… the stories I know….
btw….your area lost a real estate agent a week or so back. Don’t ask.
sl
still lurking boys, dont worry
lets hear a horror story sl
Please a story, otherwise I’m going to go clean a gun.
Ok, I’ll share.
Spooky lost his 2 best friends yesterday.
grim. So Spooky is now Sp..ky?
sl
Full of piss and vinegar
Peter – Stu’s recs are pretty good. I’d also throw in the following:
Blu
Gencarelli’s Cucina
Orbis
Table 8
Taro
Let us know if you get to try any of them.
Stu and I are going to CulinAriane and Passionne. I’m also going to Fascino earlier in the week with some girlfriends.
Bon Appetit
Any of you guys wonder what’s going to happen after all the dust settles after this long train wreck? I’m in my 50s doing a telework gig here in S Florida. The real estate market here no longer exists. I miss NJ but am really afraid to go back. My roots are in NYC left there in the 70s after Ma bell relocated me to CNJ.
I could tell ya the horror story of what’s going on with my family but that’s an in-person, libation-in-hand event.
Clot knows most of the details… just not the very recent ongoings…. it’s just f.ucking ugly. [btw, Tard, Go F.uck yourself, Shit-heap.]
It’s painfully ugly and causing indescribable grief for my very gentle, kind 83 yr old dad.
It’s the result of having a sociopath in the family who can’t die soon enough.
sl
Gator,
21 Prospect in Madison finally went UC. Stay tuned for final sale price. Closing 3/15. I guess that last $100 price reduction clinched it.
171
wow.
“Got any fun stories about transporting trunks full of stuff you didn’t want to open?”
when i worked for the military service, we were apart of team to smuggle out different items from southeast asia.
well, one time, he went into this warlords house, we cleared it, or so we thought we did??
we opened a door, and the guy had a thing for the dead people, cause their were literal mummified corpses in the room. initally, scared the heck out of me so i pumped some rounds in it, out comes a powder..
we found more mummies, inside eachone was hidden all sorts of different things.
come to find out, this warlord would make mummies out of his enemies, and whatever that enemies trade (drugs, cash, illegal/counterfit doumentations)was he would stuff them inside the bodies.
so, as you can see this was really an odd & grusome scence.
then, we found what was to be the last body, i slowly cut into it…
and what do i find, that for the life of me still puzzles me to this day??
i find a handgun, a dildo, and a picture
of Nixon, w/ Nixon’s autograph signature on it.
???
SAS
I’m frequently finding the urge to seek legal counsel over it, but my last foray into that arena nearly cost me 6K for mere phone calls.
I’m not willing to scorch the earth to see this pathological piece of scum suffer.
Way I see it is, god’s never in a hurry and he’s never too late. What comes around, goes around and often with a bit of extra momentum. Hopefully measured in yaw, precession and nutation.
sl
Yeah.
Great news, can’t see any harm with this!
“In a move that could help increase home ownership rates among minorities and low-income consumers, the Fannie Mae Coporation is easing the credit requirements on loans that it will purchase from banks and other lenders.
Fannie Mae, the nation’s biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.
In addition, banks, thrift institutions and mortgage companies have been pressing Fannie Mae to help them make more loans to so-called subprime borrowers.
”From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,” said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ”If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.‘
But they add that the move is intended in part to increase the number of minority and low income home owners who tend to have worse credit ratings than non-Hispanic whites.”
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DB153EF933A0575AC0A96F958260
September 30, 1999
Syb 172 – I guess there still is a sucker born every minute.
The Peggy piece was pretty good. Favorite line:
“When you create a bill like that, it doesn’t mean you’re a pro, it doesn’t mean you’re a tough, no-nonsense pol. It means you’re a slob.”
I think O started to believe the BS that a compliant media has lathered him in (how could he not?). He made a mistake leaving this bill to morons like Pelosi who thought they could cram in two decades worth of useless liberal pork under his good name and the guise of stimulus with no repercussions. He would be wise to separate himself a bit from the clowns in congress, or that approval rating will quickly be in the low 50’s if that.
sl (163)-
Did you do an autopsy to see if there was a brain?
177
We’ll see when it closes. Sold for $512k in ’01.
jamil (176)-
You’re just a relentless, one trick paramecium. Haven’t we scr@wed this topic into the ground already?
I have an idea for real stimuls: Nominate every american liberal for a major cabinet post. This decision alone would raise tax revenues worth of billions of dollars as they would finally pay their taxes.
152 – Clotpoll
Yes, I had heard that the whole state was declining. Surprised that I got a stable, in balance rating on the neighborhood data. whatever, got my cash out refi just like it was 2004. Now as long as those two comp killers, one down the hill and the other up the hill from me don’t crash in value if they ever sell…
From MineSet
This is total horse-shit.
A so called asset that has no market is worth nothing at all.
How packages of broken and semi broken mortgages are going to make each item have value when it is only a negotiated value as so many parts of the package are permanently broken and semi broken is as impossible as a Gordian knot to undo.
They are worthless items that accounting rules are giving a break to by allowing them to be valued at any value at all.
Here is another amoral, bombastic statement that you have no right to know the TRUTH about.
What a disgrace!
Let the banks holding your assets “Lie” to you regarding values, and all will be well. How far have we sunk into a state of total disgrace as human beings?
Let The Bank of England refuse to tell pound holders how many pounds are outstanding and all will be well.
The USA no longer publishes M3 because people might find out what is really happening in fiscal stimulation.
Why not let public companies issue shares and never tell stockholders how many are outstanding?
Where is your OUTRAGE?
clot 179
It became an ME [medical examiner] case, so was shipped out after the family ID’d.
I still have to call to find out WTF happened. Was in MVA (accident) came in DOA – Medics cancelled airlift after BP and Pulse gone and brought to me DOA. Coded for about 10 minutes probably more for academic purposes than anything.
Story was odd though….can’t post here for obvious reasons….
sl
“I have an idea for real stimuls:”
Jamil,
I have a better idea, debase every foreign currency that you own. Enjoy the great currency rate to the bottom. Tariffs, barriers and real protectionism. Your paper will be obliterated. Good faith and credit. How’s that for stimulus. Any clowns on the board tonight?
That’s race
BC -Thanks for posting the James Quinn piece – I really like that guy.
SG (204) – Other thread…
“But the key question to answer is how does 1 income family cope in today’s environment?”
The house prices need to fall. That was the gist of Warren’s comments. The house prices (and size) got out of control requiring two earners to keep a roof over you head.
That’s my take on it anyway…
That and – live within your means I’d suspect…
Sorry folks – I haven’t had the time to read everything…just tell me one thing…Has California been asked to leave the Union yet?
Conservative logic equation.
Rep. president + Dem. congress = congress fault
Dem. president + Dem. congress = president fault
Rep. president + Rep. congress = prior dem. congress and/or prior congress fault
Succesful Dem. president = prior Rep. congress and/or prior Rep. fault
F the senate!
You head – must be “your” head …
Too tired to think….
Man…Clot..
That story about the busted radiators was one for some sort of real estate record book…
‘soosh,
She said her paperwork has gotten more intense, but absolutely nothing has been done to “stop the agents…”
I honestly don’t know what she was alluding to and she didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t ask :)
She mentioned people comparing their own homes to active listings and I guess she was going to just try to explain why that’s wrong…I laughed and said I hate when people do that and that’s when she opened up a little.
She was here on business. My home is being appraised for our commercial loan: yes, we believe in recourse :)
“one trick paramecium”
ROFL!! High School Biology flashback! I had forgotten what a paramecium was. You are the Wodehouse of NJRE, a lil bit more PG-13, but still.
Oh hey, Cindy…
Happy un-birthday!
Cindy [188],
It’s a must read. Probably one of the best reads pertaining to this charade.
i can’t remember?
did i just post a story here?
i thought i did
SAS
maybe grim took it off.
SAS
(196) BC – I get Seeking Alpha pieces sent to my email (where I usually find his pieces).. I would have missed that one…
For that matter – I haven’t read Seeking Alpha in days…
Just the NJRE report…
Thanks Spam –
On my birthday, I showed up at a friend’s house for drinks before dinner but couldn’t park my car. I knew all of those people wouldn’t fit in Parma’s – yep – One of those surprise party deals.
My school door was covered with a sign, balloons everywhere etc. So now everyone knows I’m 60.
“Teacher, isn’t 60 kinda old.” Yeah, yeah it is….
Maybe Hamas took it off?
jamil says:
January 30, 2009 at 9:02 pm
I have an idea for real stimuls:
jamil: for the last time…it is porkulus….
ok, i’m not second guessing myself anymore.
Grim must have removed the story.
oh well, i tried.
SAS
sure, nothing is brewing.
“Defense Department Establishes Civilian Expeditionary Workforce”
http://tinyurl.com/d58dhc
spam spam bacon spam says:
January 30, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Oh hey, Cindy…
Happy un-birthday!
spam:
How ’bout a little Morrissey…
What is old is renewed for 2009….
I’ve come to wish you an unhappy birthday
cause youre evil
And you lie
And if you should die
I may feel slightly sad
but I wont cry
Loved and lost
And some may say
When usually its nothing
Surely you’re happy it should be this way?
I say no
I’m gonna kill my dog
And: may the lines sag,
may the lines sag heavy and deep tonight
I’ve come to wish you an unhappy birthday
I’ve come to wish you an unhappy birthday
cause you’re evil
And you lie
And if you should die
I may feel slightly sad
but I wont cry
Loved and lost
And some may say
When usually its nothing
Surely you’re happy
It should be this way ?
I said no
And then I shot myself
So, drink, drink, drink
And be ill tonight
From the one you left behind
From the one you left behind
From the one you left behind
From the one you left behind
Chicago – @91…Peggy Noonan was a great find as well.
At work I hear…give him a chance – give him a chance….
I am trying to “give him a chance.”
But who knew that in the first two weeks he’d try to pass a pork-filled $850B deal.
Oh wait…you all knew…
ChiFi,
he said “stimuls”, not stimulus.
I think that’s a freudian slip.
Our Jamil is typing with only one hand on the table.
Ahhh…at least he’s having sex with someone he loves.
“American Seniors Living Longer on Less”
http://tinyurl.com/agz3lw
SAS: missing story
Occasionally I’ll post something that will get kicked into mod, but does not show up at all upon a browser window refresh. Using the browser back arrow, I then rescan the post trying to figure out what triggered the mode. Systematically, I change a word here or there until I find the trigger. Once the post goes through, I then often see the prior posts that went into mod.
This may be an explanation for where your story went.
(206) Spam….
You crack me up!
In Hoboken this week 3 2 bedroom condos sold for an average price of $498,500. DOM 66. The $16B bonus pool is being put to work already. There’s not recession in this town.
http://hudson.fnismls.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=31dd06ea-03cd-4d70-9cc8-857449d590fc&Report=Yes
Good evening Frank. And how was your day – long?
Jeebus, Chifi.
I was referring to Humpty Dumpty.
You are a dark m—–er f——er
RE market is on fire in Hoboken.
4 2 bedrooms went under contract this week. Look at the prices. Wow.
http://hudson.fnismls.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=fa472fee-4a53-4ee4-aa47-6799379ef1cc&Report=Yes
@212
Yeah Chicago – That was some birthday ditty. A simple ..
“You look like a money – and you smell like one, too.”
would suffice…
Whoa – money – talk about a misspelled word – Monkey – you look like a monkey….
thanks for the gold chart, zieba
Frank,
Thanks for pointing out the $150K-200K price drop on Hoboken 2BD/2BA.
Speaking of dark….
LOST! WHERE ARE YOU?
“Jezebel you slag….”
http://www.depechemode.com/news.html
Tax issues emerge in Daschle nomination
WASHINGTON – Former Sen. Tom Daschle, picked by President Barack Obama to lead his health reform efforts, recently filed amended tax returns to report $128,203 in back taxes and $11,964 in interest, according to a Senate document obtained by The Associated Press
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090131/ap_on_go_pr_wh/daschle_taxes
Do any of these a-holes pay their taxes???
I think I know the cause of the budget problems — Obamas nominees not paying taxes:
Thomas A. Daschle, nominated to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, did not pay more than $128,000 in taxes over three years, a revelation that poses a potential obstacle to his pending Senate confirmation.
The back taxes plus $12,000 in interest and penalties involved unreported consulting fees, questionable charitable contributions, and a car and driver provided by a private equity firm run by entrepreneur and longtime Democratic Party donor Leo J. Hindery Jr., according to a “confidential draft” report prepared by Senate Finance Committee staff obtained last night.
Snip
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/30/AR2009013003793.html?hpid=topnews
damn kettle, those bulletproof windows are expensive.
Don’t ask….
Carson impersonating Reagan…pitchers and catchers report in 3 weeks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdmULsIEyEI&feature=related
“Conservative logic equation.”
Stu,
The logic may be faulty BUT Democrats do seem to find ways of messing things up. Not that Republicans are much better, it just usually cost less when we mess up — bush excepted, as his screw-up will cost us for a generation.
Tom Daschle….I hope they fry this writhing miscreant…what a blood sucking leech!
Cindy,
Happy 20th 40.
We had a guy in our church who is a mortgage broker. He only did sub prime because “that’s where the money is”. I remember that every time I hear that banks were forced to write loans to people that couldn’t afford them. Nobody would give a rat’s ass about these people if the asset didn’t take a crap.
“Tom Daschle….I hope they fry this writhing miscreant…what a blood sucking leech!”
Chifi,
Neither Mrs Shore nor I are giddy about it but each year we pay six figures in taxes. Each quarter we pay in taxes more than either of us EARNED not too many years ago. Nevertheless, we declare EVERYTHING, and we tend to under declare expenses. As two self-employed people, we would prefer during an audit to have the IRS find out they owe US money.
When I see these folks, especially ones who used to make the bloody laws, claim ignorance — aka Charlie sure I write the tax laws but why should I undersrtand them Rangle, and Daschel — as well as people like Geithner playing stupid and then getting away with it to boot, it makes an honest person feel like a chump.
171 sl
Sorry to hear about the shitstorm there. I’ve realized some people are just too mean to die.
(225) Thanks Shore …
I get to go roller skating with the troops in two weeks – (first, second and third graders.)
fun…
You just have to watch for “incoming” …many don’t get the whole skating-in-one-direction thing.
Clotpoll says:
January 30, 2009 at 7:41 pm
I figure the “house n*gger” epithets will start in about another three weeks.
sad, but only because it’s true. for all his talk about change … and really, im rooting for the guy …
same as it ever was
Cindy,
Still, it sounds like fun. I spent the day talking to foreign officials about how their neighbors pose a threat to global security and how there is little anyone can do about it as long as the US is focused on Iraq and Afghanistan.
I could use some roller skating right about now.
Well, that or wine.
218 Chifi
I was watching a lovely movie.
“It’s the result of having a sociopath in the family who can’t die soon enough.”
SL,
As sorry as I am to hear about your family’s plight, it is reassuring to hear that there are other families with similar situations.
(231) Shore – It is fun…We go once a year.
Next time you get a chance – go. It’s the sort of thing you never forget…Just watch out for “sideswipes”..seriously.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/30/AR2009013003665.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/30/AR2009013003665.html
On corporate bonuses.
Takes a year to get over the “joy”? lol
PBS TV Article,
Billions in Bogus Bonuses?
President Obama has issued a scathing critique of Wall Street following news that Wall Street employees were paid more than $18 billion in bonuses last year as the financial sector melted down. What should his administration do to crack down on banks, given that some experts are suggesting an additional $1 trillion to $2 trillion may be needed to bail them out?
This week, David Brancaccio sits down with financial reporter Bethany McLean —who broke the Enron story —to look at options on the table for stabilizing the country’s financial system. Is nationalizing our banks a viable solution?
sas,
#174 was in moderation, sorry about that.
Was already away from the keys for the night.
Dollar crisis? What dollar crisis?
Louis Navellier, from Davos:
“One thing that was very clear at Davos was that there were growing concerns about how the U.S. would continue to pay for its growing deficit spending. Also, the fact that the $819 billion stimulus package the House approved this week lacks significant stimulus and may not create many new jobs. Even though the Senate is expected to heavily modify this stimulus package and jettison pork as well as add significant tax relief, e.g. raising the ceilings on alternative minimum taxes, the fact that President Obama’s call for bipartisan cooperation was virtually ignored in the House has many concerned that the Democratic leaders in Congress will go on a wild spending spree without much regard for fixing the U.S. economy. As a result, Treasury yields rose significantly when concerns over how the U.S. can possibly finance these massive federal budget deficits spread around the globe.
The fact that foreign investors in Davos seemed more worried about the deficit spending in Washington D.C. than members of Congress is very disturbing, and further confirms our belief that the U.S. dollar will likely suffer as the Treasury auctions get bigger and the federal budget deficit spirals out of control. For example, the U.S. government is even getting criticism from Mexico for its fiscal irresponsibility! Ernesto Zedillo, the former Mexican president who helped steer his country through its financial crisis back in 1994, stated, “The U.S. needs to show some proof they have a plan to get out of the fiscal problem.” Zedillo also added that the U.S., unlike most other countries, had the option of simply printing more money, because the U.S. dollar was a reserve currency for the rest of the world. However, over the long run, the U.S. government’s reckless spending and budget deficits could force long-term interest rates higher and drive down the value of the U.S. dollar, which would undermine the benefits that come with the U.S. dollar’s special status. In other words, the rest of the world is expected to seriously look for other reserve currencies, such as the euro, or other countries whose budget deficits represent a significantly smaller percentage of their respective GDP.
Until Davos put the spotlight on the growing problems with the U.S. dollar, most fears about surging government debt have been focused on borrowing by European countries like Spain, Greece, and especially Britain, which is also in the midst of a sizable bank bailout that is really a nationalization. Due to Britain’s banking woes and growing deficit, it recently forced the British pound to a 23-year low against the U.S. dollar. Just a year ago, the British pound was a strong currency, so Britain is an example of just how fast the global community can flee from a key currency. Now, the international spotlight seems to be increasingly focused on the U.S. dollar. As a result, it appears that the U.S. dollar’s status as a reserve currency, especially in times of economic turmoil and crisis, is clearly waning.
Speaking of waning, last week’s massive Treasury refinancing of $78 billion was all of a sudden characterized by a lack of bidders with a less than 2-to-1 bid-to-cover ratio (3-to-1 is ideal). So Treasury yields are rising again, and they just finished their worst month since 2004, as rising Treasury yields sent the value of the underlying securities plummeting. In fact, after the so-called stimulus package (which is characterized more by government spending than enough business tax credits) is passed by the Senate and signed by President Obama, these Treasury refinances could become a disaster in the upcoming months. Although high Treasury yields could briefly help to strengthen the U.S. dollar, it would also undermine Fed policy and possibly cripple the housing market even further if market interest rates rise. This “push-pull” between growing federal budget deficits and rising Treasury yields caused Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert to joke the other night that maybe the U.S. could instead “sell a slightly-used Oregon” to help balance the federal budget deficit. Actually, Colbert’s joke is quite common among bond traders (but they joke more about selling California), since the federal government is entering into uncharted territory with the massive and growing federal budget deficits that will technically be “balanced” by issuing more Treasury debt.”
ruggles (184)-
That appraiser did you a solid. Still, I’d guess that the omission probably got caught in underwriting, but you still showed enough value to get the cash-out.
BC (185)-
“Where is your OUTRAGE?”
I express outrage with grenade launchers. :)
Americans “are” outraged….and they are expressing it! Instead of kicking their dogs and cussing out their kids…they are taking to the INTERNET!!! They are fuming! Keyboards everywhere are smoking right now.
spam (194)-
When are you scheduled to hand over your spleen to the lender?
sas (198)-
Went to bed & just saw it.
Lovely. Amazing how one can turn almost anything into a Nixon joke. :)
SG (238)-
That Brancacio guy a a full-on, wussy-boy bleeding heart. What a piece of leftist crap his show is.
Another O fluff piece will be upcoming.
I wish GWB & Cheney had managed to kill PBS and their granola-fueled agenda.
DC “Capitalism” at Work!!!
Uncle Sam wants you to buy a car
http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/23/autos/government_car_incentives/index.htm
Clot
Latex good. Your excellency? Maybe not so good.
lost (249)-
I’m sure I can come up with a more professional salutation.
lost (249)-
Plus, I have no rule against drinking at work.
Clot 250 and 251
If I was a sub, “Sir” works well in any situation. And drinking at work always gets me in trouble.
Trouble is my business.
Clot I think you’re too dangerous to work for.
I’m not dangerous. The work is.
I’ve missed you folks. Your lighthearted outlook and positivity…..simply oozes.
Perhaps it is time for a “public employee” rant???
255 Clot
Ok so I’m already used to the dangerous work. Now what?
174 sas –
Now THAT was a story.
175 sl –
Friend new an evil b*tch that she knew had bad things coming.
Woman got hit by Mac Truck. Literally.
You can dream.
lost (258)-
Got a NJ real estate license?
SAS 174
Barney Frank’s dad?
sl
lis, 260
I have a funny story for you regarding that – (can’t post here) but remind me, ‘kay?
sl
261 Clot
No. Do you do training sir? :)
There are several RE schools near me. Probably a couple near you, too. The NJ course is beyond easy. Fog-a-mirror stuff.
After you finish that, then my “training” begins.
Here’s one I can post (and probably posted here before at one time or another.)
One of my surgical internship rotations was Vascular surgery. Consider it the Gulag of the rotations in terms of torture.
Every other night call, rounds starting at 0430 (used to be 0530) but if one person was late, it was moved a half hour earlier by the f.ucking asshole sadist that was our chief resident.
We’d frequently get out at 2300 or later. Sleep deprived, stressed, run ragged, verbally abused and starved (yes seriously – if the choice was eat or sleep – sleep won hands down) it was one of the worst months of my life.
I went from a normal 125 lbs to 87 lbs by Thanksgiving. When I got home (had 2 days off in a row- a rarity) my dad thought I had some physical illness. I hadn’t weighed 87 lbs since maybe 6th grade.
On the last call night of my Vascular rotation my fiance at the time snuck into the hospital and together we drywall screwed a 24″ rubber dildo (complete with giant veins) on the call-room wall and hung lab coats over it.
In black marker I wrote, “Welcome to Vascular” on one side and, “Now BEND OVER.” on the other.
It took almost 2 weeks for them to finally “uncover” the new ‘coathook.’
I renounced any knowledge of said ‘coathook” and wondered out loud about who could have done such a thing.
Fifteen years later, I finally take credit for it. I’m sure the statute of limitations has passed.
Small revenge, but well worth it.
sl
Here’s one I can post (and probably posted here before at one time or another.)
One of my surgical internship rotations was Vascular surgery. Consider it the Gulag of the rotations in terms of torture.
Every other night call, rounds starting at 0430 (used to be 0530) but if one person was late, it was moved a half hour earlier by the f.ucking asshole sadist that was our chief resident.
We’d frequently get out at 2300 or later. Sleep deprived, stressed, run ragged, verbally abused and starved (yes seriously – if the choice was eat or sleep – sleep won hands down) it was one of the worst months of my life.
I went from a normal 125 lbs to 87 lbs by Thanksgiving. When I got home (had 2 days off in a row- a rarity) my dad thought I had some physical illness. I hadn’t weighed 87 lbs since maybe 6th grade.
On the last call night of my Vascular rotation my fiance at the time snuck into the hospital and together we drywall screwed a 24″ rubber dild.o (complete with giant veins) on the call-room wall and hung lab coats over it.
In black marker I wrote, “Welcome to Vascular” on one side and, “Now BEND OVER.” on the other.
It took almost 2 weeks for them to finally “uncover” the new ‘coathook.’
I renounced any knowledge of said ‘coathook” and wondered out loud about who could have done such a thing.
Fifteen years later, I finally take credit for it. I’m sure the statute of limitations has passed.
Small revenge, but well worth it.
sl
Sl
Nice! I’d love to do something right now but I’m sure they’d know it was me.
Grim (or other realtor-type here): Do you have an address on MLS #2900224 in Washington Township (Bergen)?
(And do you think I have a great future renting myself out as a professional House Hunting Kibitzer? That’s the person who looks dispassionately at how much will have to be done over and above paint to whip the place into shape while the house hunter is feeling the vibe of the house?)
who’s loading up at costco today? i’lll load up the way i’ll be averaging back into the stock market when it touches 7000.
that way, when the SHTF, we can bunker down for 6 months.
Clot
I’m going to think about that. In the meantime, I’m starting my own online business. I’ve got to get this off the ground before the layoffs start.
Grim,
The weekly report from the hinterlands…
Hunterdon County Comp Killers
GSMLS recorded 12 sales and 47 new listings in Hunterdon County this week. Three sales and five new listings made this list.
Three Hunterdon County Comp Killers:
MLS#: 2624439
312 BYRAM-KINGWOOD RD
Kingwood Twp
SLD: 05/14/04 $465,900
OLP: 03/25/08 $549,900
Withdrawn DOM: 280
OLP: 01/05/09 $525,000
SLD: 01/30/09 $370,000
DOM: 25
20.59% off 05/04 sale price
32.72% off 03/08 OLP
MLS#: 2551061
12 Rowlands Road
Readington Twp
SLD: 09/10/03 $750,000
OLP: 04/10/06 $917,500
Withdrawn DOM: 135
OLP: 09/09/06 $849,900
Withdrawn DOM: 177
OLP: 03/07/07 $799,900
Withdrawn DOM: 182
OLP: 09/06/07 $789,000
Expired DOM: 85
OLP: 03/09/08 $749,000
Withdrawn DOM: 127
OLP: 07/18/08 $699,000
SLD: 01/29/09 $637,500
DOM: 140
15.00% off 09/03 sale price
30.52% off 04/06 OLP
MLS#: 2577333
38 Hillside Ct
Union Twp
SLD: 08/18/04 $182,000
OLP: 09/13/08 $165,000
SLD: 01/27/09 $150,000
DOM: 101
17.59% off 08/04 sale price
09.10% off 09/08 OLP
Five Hunterdon County FUTURE Comp Killers:
MLS#: 2638845
619 FOX FARM RD
Bethlehem Twp
SLD: 02/21/07 $265,000
OLP: 01/27/09 $210,000
DOM: 4
20.76% off 02/07 sale price
MLS#: 2639482
33 Jockey Hollow
Bethlehem Twp
SLD: 07/11/06 $565,500
OLP: 01/27/09 $475,000
DOM: 4
16.01% off 07/06 sale price
MLS#: 2637608
24 WILLOW BROOK LANE
Clinton Twp
SLD: 02/01/06 $725,000
OLP: 01/27/09 $675,000
DOM: 4
06.90% off 02/06 sale price
MLS#: 2636882
3 MORNINGSIDE CT
Raritan Twp
SLD: 01/25/05 $935,836
OLP: 07/09/08 $1,035,000
Expired DOM: 183
OLP: 01/25/09 $909,000
DOM: 6
02.87% off 01/05 sale price
12.18% off 07/08 OLP
MLS#: 2636915
4 Rachel Court
Union Twp
SLD: 06/07/05 $660,000
OLP: 07/07/08 $650,000
Expired DOM: 92
OLP: 01/25/09 $579,000
DOM: 6
12.28% off 06/05 sale price
10.93% off 07/08 OLP
“Every other night call, rounds starting at 0430 (used to be 0530) but if one person was late, it was moved a half hour earlier by the f.ucking asshole sadist that was our chief resident.
We’d frequently get out at 2300 or later. Sleep deprived, stressed, run ragged, verbally abused and starved (yes seriously – if the choice was eat or sleep – sleep won hands down) it was one of the worst months of my life.
I went from a normal 125 lbs to 87 lbs by Thanksgiving. When I got home (had 2 days off in a row- a rarity) my dad thought I had some physical illness. I hadn’t weighed 87 lbs since maybe 6th grade.”
sl – that’s nothing. Wall Streeters work 1000 times harder and are 1000 times smarter – just ask Yikes Wachovia friend. You’re obviously a wimp who doesn’t understand risk taking.
No million dollar bonus for you!!!!
242 – Mr. Clotpoll
you are right — we went from 70% LTV of the sales price in June to 75% LTV of the new appraisal price (new appraisal value came in 10k higher than sales price) so yes I guess that helped smooth things over in the declining market dept. But banks refused to lend to us in June at all cuz they wouldn’t even look at the appraisals back then. hence the original 70% LTV.
Citi lost $19B but paid out $4B in bonuses and you call this a recession?? Times are great on Wall St and this $4B will buy a lot of real-estate around the NYC.
“After a year of yawning losses at the company, employees lamented that times were getting lean. The giant bank, the recipient of two multibillion-dollar rescues from Washington, had paid out only about $4 billion in bonuses.
Only?
If you’ve never worked on Wall Street, it is hard to wrap your head around the idea that a company that lost nearly $19 billion in a single year, as Citigroup did in 2008, could still pay its employees billions in bonuses. It is probably even harder to believe that some of those employees grumble about it.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/31/business/31bonus.html
Times are great on Wall Street? Uh huh. Pass that over here Frank I want to smoke some of what you are smoking Bro.
here is a novell idea….
Wall Street should only get a bonus after the work is done – good decisions are made – 401Ks are stable – stock market is stable….this year the bonuses should have been $0….none of these things were done right this year!
maybe they should pass a bill only paying wall street after the numbers are totaled at the end of the year…not a bill to cap pay at $400K – that is absurd….
Quote of the week, from Mish:
“Yes there is a pent up demand, not for autos, but rather for cash.”
“As a result, Treasury yields rose significantly when concerns over how the U.S. can possibly finance these massive federal budget deficits spread around the globe.”
“The fact that foreign investors in Davos seemed more worried about the deficit spending in Washington D.C. than members of Congress is very disturbing”
Clot [241],
Yes, there is a major bull market in supply. Don’t fight the fed? Fcuk the fed and the world’s cb’s. If you are positioned with them, enjoy the depths of the ocean. Welcome, the bond vigilantes have returned. The fed doesn’t have the ammo to fight them on a long term basis. The only path for sustained long term yields is another Great D. Comforting? US treasuries a safe haven? Yeah, I guess you can also treat a hemorrhage with a band aid.
Is FHA still offering 105 LTV mortgages?
Has anyone tried to get a USDA mortgage?
Last year many were touting the bonuses on WS. It will save NJ housing. What a bunch of crap. Do a little research. What % of the bonuses were paid out in cash? How about stock options and rsu’s. How’s that working out. Now, thru the front door, clawback provisions. Cheerio.
now that the gov. owns the car bus it time for them to more car/trucks/suv’s
are these people crazy?
From the WSJ:
Why Be a Nation of Mortgage Slaves?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123336541474235541.html?mod=loomia&loomia_si=t0:a16:g2:r4:c0.0932889:b0
http://www.fresnoclovisrealestate.blogspot.com/
(283) Scribe – That same logic – foreclosure is best – seems to be working well in my neck of the woods as well…
(241) Clot
“Colbert’s joke is quite common among bond traders ( but they joke more about selling California…”
See! I told you I was worried we would be sold off….(191)
“California, once the hotbed of speculative excesses supported by nontraditional financing. Foreclosures now dominate sales. Prices are down. Sales volume is up. New home construction is down. These are beautiful textbook illustrations of supply and demand driving price and market equilibrium”
Scribe[283],
From your post.
How revolutionary? Market forces are alive and well. The market, mo matter how distorted, will always reach equilibrium at some point in time. Now if the idiots in DC will just take notice and stop their shennigans, wishful thinking, the market can find its true bottom. Without interference, it could be within 2-3 years. Otherwise, much longer.
Stop the press conferences, shut down the printing machines and forget about stimulus. Just walk away. Let market forces dictate.
no matter
OOPS, shenanigans
Wall street robbed the American Tax Payer….Madoff robbed the rubes he took from…..a fool and their money…..etc.
“Madoff robbed the rubes”
Essex,
He scammed the scammers. Now, that’s talent.
Meh….BC…I know guys that met with him and heard the pitch…they said it was clear that after 10 minutes the guy was a complete fraud. Seriously.
“after 10 minutes the guy was a complete fraud”
yup, but others wanted in on the fraud as well.
crime that pays, stays.
and people always support the criminals, as long as they get their check.
SAS
i’ve been saying for sometime now, Madoff wasn’t a rogue element.
he had instutionalized help.
across the board.
and its alot more than 50 billion.
SAS
Clot,
We sch’d the close for March 15th, to appease the seller. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, sign here….”
He has NO CLUE. This guy is 70+ yrs old, owned it since 1983, and thought the sale would be just like a SFH…
We got him to sign the contract (after he dragged it out for 3 weeks) on Monday, December 22 and he then stopped by my office that day and asked if the “inspection” (as in ‘one’) would be done by the end of the week. I was, um, flabbergasted?
Let’s see, it’s Christmas week and…wait…YOU THINK WHAT AGAIN!?!?!
So I tell him I think the “inspectors” (plural) might want Christmas eve and day off, he replied “they could come out Friday…”
We just hit him with the environmental cleanup req’d (buried truck lifts)…
Funny thing is, he was using them as a selling point…. (!)
We did mumble how we didn’t need them, didn’t want them and how maybe they aren’t even good to have, but inthe end, our bank offered to be the bad guys.
Jeebus….some sellers really do walk thru life without a clue.
#281, “Last year many were touting the bonuses on WS. It will save NJ housing. What a bunch of crap. Do a little research. What % of the bonuses were paid out in cash?”
75-100%. This year’s bonuses at 2 bankrupt companies, Merrill and Citi were incredible, I know departments that have lost billions and employees have made the same as last year and a lot more than during profitable years. The compensation boom on Wall St. continues. Recession my ass.
This is from the best blog on the bond market –
“One trader noted,and I concur, that traders are now engaged in a game of financial chicken with Federal Reserve as traders attempt to force the Fed’s hand. The Fed has no desire for higher rates and the higher rates defeats the intent of the myriad of plans it has implememted to fight the financial crisis. I do not know what level on 5 year or 10 year notes would invite Federal Reserve coupon purchases. However, in this fragile environment such a level does exist and I think that the street will now probe to discern that level.”
Bernanke’s bluff has been called. It gets curiouser and curiouser.
http://acrossthecurve.com/
#296,
Fed has totally destroyed the agency mortgage market, no one is buying anything but Fed. Bernanke won this one.
#274 Frank
I don’t call 4 billion in bonuses at C a recession, I call it a crime.
is this seller for real??
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/reb/1009506344.html
In honor of Rich’s and beer’s comp killers I’ve decided to change my name to safeashouses.
#298,
It’s a crime if you get caught, otherwise it’s being smart.
If you have a problem, complain to your Senator, I did it today.
#299,
Yepp and he/she will get multiple bids on this one.
#295 Frank
The junction of somerset, union, and morris counties was supposed to boom as verizon brought jobs to the area. All the re agents were pitching me that one in 2007.. List prices in the area are now 10 to 25% off peak, and I think the drop is just getting started.
Rents are coming down in NYC, it’s about time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/realestate/01cov.html?pagewanted=2
#303,
10-25% off is still 50% overpriced.
Frank is an idiot troll. Once everyone stops acknowledging his drivel he’ll go back under the bridge.
Sybarite is an idiot troll and a typical NJ asshole.
Wall paper in the dining room looks like something out of a Wagnerian Opera:
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Morris-Twp_NJ_07960_1104664206
lets put this bailout insanity into perspective….. (be sure to check out the chart at the link)
Wall Street Bailout Exceeds Cost of All US Wars, the Louisiana Purchase, the New Deal, the Marshall Plan and the NASA Space Program Combined
http://www.rockcreekfreepress.com/
from previous link..
if this does not point out the absolute stupidity, desperation, criminality and TREASON that make up this bailout then there is no hope for you…..
Casey Research, of Vermont, has analyzed the costs of the government bailouts of the housing crisis, the credit crisis and others and has concluded that the total is $8.5 trillion, which is more than the cost of all US wars, the Louisiana Purchase, the New Deal, the Marshall Plan and the NASA Space Program combined. According to CRS, the Congressional Research Service, all major US wars (including such events as the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, the invasion of Panama, the Kosovo War and numerous other small conflicts), cost a total of $7.5 trillion in inflation-adjusted 2008 dollars.
ritzholtz says: “Won’t we basically have to take our military and force these assets on to Canada to get rid of them?”
video cnbc
http://www.cnbc.com/id/28915735
Syb [306],
Not only a troll, but a complete buffoon. At least Bi makes me laugh.
“Recession my ass.”
Frank [295]
“By this time, anyone with a pulse and a half a brain realizes that the wretched mess we and the rest of humanity are mired in, ranks high up there among the worst financial crises since man dropped down from trees”
Ableson- Barron’s, 1/26/09
Sounds like Ableson is describing you. I guess I was wrong, you’re not an idiot, rather a monkey.
for contrast obama says 2 trillion to save banks, economists say 4 trillion. try 6 – 10 trillion if you want the real #!
Obama thinks bank losses will cost $2 trillion
President Obama is preparing to spend a further $2 trillion bailing out Wall Street as part of an ambitious plan to force America’s financial institutions to resume lending. Mr Obama, Tim Geithner, the Treasury Secretary, Ben Bernanke, the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, and Sheila Bair, the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), discussed plans at a meeting on Wednesday to increase the size of the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Tarp) and buy or underwrite up to $2 trillion (£1.4 trillion) of bad Wall Street debts. The Tarp was set up by Henry Paulson, the former Treasury Secretary in the Bush Administration, and contained $700 billion of taxpayers’ money used to buy equity stakes in America’s banks.
—————————
Bank Bailout Could Cost Up to $4 Trillion: Economists
The cost of restoring confidence in U.S. financial firms may reach $4 trillion if President Barack Obama moves ahead with a “bad bank” that buys up souring assets. The figure far exceeds even the most pessimistic estimates of how great the loan losses might be because there is so much uncertainty about default rates, which means the government may need to take on a bigger chunk of bank debt to ease concerns. Goldman Sachs economists said ideally the public sector would step in to remove the hardest-to-value assets, which would alleviate nagging worries about future losses and hopefully help get lending going again.
Quote of the day???
“These are the guys who brought you Hurricane Katrina. These are the guys who were supposed to be watching Fannie and Freddie,” Ross said (Michael Ross, president of Fidelity Bank in Dearborn, Mich)
On second thought, never mind about that bailout
A small but growing number of community banks are backing out of the government’s bailout, which they see as fraught with hidden strings and government interference.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090129/ap_on_bi_ge/meltdown_no_thanks;_ylt=AsiWrXf3bO4W4LS6eqXhtwiyBhIF
Roubini is underestimating. my guess is 10+ million
Roubini Predicts Job Losses Will Hit 6 Million
The U.S. economy is mired in a “global, synchronized recession” and will shed 6 million jobs before things get better, according to New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/2993221
S&P 500 faces a 40% slump
Even though last year proved disastrous, most US strategists are undaunted. The average forecast in a Bloomberg survey last week foresees a 27% rise in the S&P 500 by the end of the year. But the index has made a shaky start. It has slid by around 6% amid turmoil in the banking sector, the deteriorating economic outlook – America looks set for the worst recession since the war – and constant earnings disappointments. Investors were hoping that fourth-quarter results would bring at least “a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel”, says Eric Savitz in Barron’s. “It turns out that no one can even find the damned tunnel.” Last March, analysts were expecting a 55% rise in S&P 500 profits for the fourth quarter. About a fifth of the results are in, and so far earnings are down by 47%, undershooting the 32% fall currently expected.
http://www.moneyweek.com/investments/stock-markets/sp-500-faces-a-40-slump-14559.aspx
BC,
when do all these idiots get fired and real talent hired??? multiple people on this blog and all over the web were calling substantial drops while these so called experts were already toasting another great year
last post dont mean to spam the blog grim….
A summary of news from asia this weekend.
globalism as we know it is dead. some form will remain, but much ballyhooed global trade empire has fallen
* In the fourth quarter of 2008, GDP probably fell by an average annualised rate of around 15% in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan; their exports slumped more than 50% at an annualised rate.
* In the fourth quarter of 2008, real GDP fell by an annualised rate of 21% in South Korea and 17% in Singapore….
* Asia’s richer giant, Japan, has yet to report its GDP figures, but exports fell by 35% in the 12 months to December. In the same period, Taiwan’s dropped by 42% and industrial production was down by a stunning 32%, worse than the biggest annual fall in America during the Depression.
* Japanese industrial production fell a larger-than-expected 9.6 per cent and unemployment rose sharply to 4.4 per cent in December…[…] The deterioration in the jobs market was further underlined by the continuing fall in new job offers, which declined 12 per cent last month, following a sharp 23.7 per cent drop in November….
* The Nikkei has lost more than 10% this year after shedding more than 40% last year.
* South Korea’s annual production plunged 18.6 per cent from a year ago, following a 14 per cent drop in November, the national statistics office said. December output fell 9.6 per cent from November
* In South Korea, net exports actually made a positive contribution to GDP growth in the fourth quarter, while consumer spending and fixed investment fell at annualized rates of 18% and 31% respectively. South Korea is an exception to the rule of Asian prudence. Its households’ debt amounts to 150% of disposable income, even higher than in America.
* In Hong Kong average house prices have already fallen by almost 20% since the summer and Goldman Sachs, an investment bank, forecasts another 30% drop by the middle of 2010….
* … on average, emerging Asia’s exports amount to 47% of their GDP, up from 37% ten years ago. The share varies from 14% in India to 186% in Singapore (see chart 2). In Japan, which is often viewed as an export-driven economy, exports are only 16% of GDP.
* Two decades ago, consumer spending accounted for 58% of Asia’s GDP. By 2007 it had fallen to 47%. Consumer spending in China is just 36% of GDP, half the American share.
* Even if household saving rates have been falling, they are still high, at around 20% in both China and Taiwan.
kettle [316],
Remember, analysts/economists are just paid salespeople, except for a few, Meredith, Rosenberg, Roach, etc.. The majority are just a bunch of cheerleaders, aka Lereah. There is one goal, to attract capital.
we have spent more then all wars and major finanical transaction in US history combined.
Can you even image the great works that could have been built with this money in place of setting it on fire just to keep the engine of constant growth rumbling?
a modern giza? a global superconducting power grid? colonization of the inner planets? a modern apollo project too understand human consciousness? all of the above?
Instead of a tribute to the ages of our innovation and spirit we have wrought a tribute to the ages of our greed and intellectual shortsightedness. The USA, one of the greatest empires in history will die because of its on hubris
I am pissed at the current situation in case you didnt notice
Kettle,
Make sure you pick up this weeks Barron’s. You’ll enjoy the article regarding the fed and currency swaps.
BC
maybe i should show up at Goldman and offer to outperform their analyst. the catch is if i win i get their bonus for the last 5 years. if i lose i walk away in shame
Heck lets incorporate the NJREReport Global Research Associates LLC
this blog could outperform 90% of the so called big dog analyst
NJREReport Global Research Associates LLC
will even hire Bi, he will be our contrarian black box!
Mayor Bloomberg’s grim doomsday budget cuts 23,000 city jobs
Mayor Bloomberg’s bare-bones budget for next year will slash the city work force by 23,000 and drastically increase its sales tax, officials revealed Thursday.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/01/29/2009-01-29_mayor_bloombergs_grim_doomsday_budget_cu.html
308 Wag:
Don’t look now, but I think that house’s interior could actually be coming back in vogue, again…
Hmmmm.
Don’t update… just wait!
What’s old is new again!
Self free-cycling!
“analysts”
these guys serve 2 masters.
when they talk, i laugh at them and throw them pesnuts.
i usually aim for btw the eyes.
SAS
Spam (325) – I had to laugh, looking at the shade in the kitchen, that aligns perfectly with the wallpaper on the wall. The very definition of ‘time capsule’.
“these guys serve 2 masters”
master 1 – shareholders
master 2 – bankers
SAS
“Is NYC the next housing bust?”
http://tinyurl.com/djggem
Clotpoll says:
January 31, 2009 at 7:24 am
Dollar crisis? What dollar crisis?
Louis Navellier, from Davos:
clot: Is there a particular reason that you are quoting this guy? He fcuked up so bad in 2008 it is utterly mystifying that he has the unmitigated chutzpah to show his face in public. He makes Schiff look like an S&P 500 Index fund. He bet the house, the farm, the kids, the wife, the frozen embryos, and his own testes on commodities and natural resources.
#324 kettle1
Bloomberg wants the gov employees to pay more for their health insurance. What a novel concept. What’s next, they’ll actually have to do work?
“MACY’S RESHUFFLE COULD COST THOUSANDS OF JOBS”
http://tinyurl.com/bosonm
-to announce next week that it’s consolidating its regional operating divisions, and could lay off hundreds, and possibly thousands, of workers.
I have a dilemma maybe someone can help me with :)
I was never trained to be a manager. I just know how to manage people based upon how I was and how I’d like to be managed. I’ve also read books to edumacate myself, but those only go so far…
That said, I have an employee who I like, get along with, but she has some small issues that I need to address.
Problem is, if I try to “re-train” someone, I (usually) come across like a ton of bricks. I have no skills in “couching” my issue with them, to make it more palatable to them…
I usually try to explain “why” I’m bringing up an issue, as that’s what I usually wanted as an employee, but one of these issues is “just because…”; if I give her the main reason why I need her to change a habit, it’ll come out sounding like she can do it SOMETIMES and I fear she’ll cherry-pick when she refrains from her habit…
Is there any of you out there that can shed some light on how you’ve learned how to give (or get) employer guidance?
I’m not a person to stick my head in the sand, so I WILL deal with these issues…I just don’t want to say something rude or in a rude way if I can avoid it… :)
Of course, I can always just give in to my nickname “napoleon”…
#331….Yes! Let’s do a Gbmint employee bash! How bout a teacher rant~???
333….Uh….too little information there sport….type of industry….goals? Etc…etc….oh on 2nd thought….don’t bother….you’ll be unemployed within the quarter is that is what you bring to tha table.
Essex,
Don’t you need to go take some more loser-laps around the elementary school again?
Oh sry. I forgot. It’s Saturday.
You’re still watching ‘toons.
Didja read your last question? Seriously? I spent a dozen years in management….do you run the night shift a Burger King? COME ON. Read a book —
OK, I’ll toss you a title….WORKING WITH EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE.
Essex says:
“I spent a dozen years in management….”
Doesn’t mean you were good at it.
spam – remember seeing a listing – home was something of a ’50’s time capsule.
Kitchen was listed as “vintage”.
Kind of wanted to check it out just because I admired the listing agent chutzpah.
#335 Spam – If you think she is valuable to you and worth retaining, then take her aside and first tell her all the things she’s doing right and then mention the habit you don’t like. You don’t necessarily need to give a reason. Then drop the topic, smile and tell her you need to get back to work now and leave her to think about it. Short, non-threatening, no big deal. If she’s smart and wants to keep working for you, she’ll get your message. Just an idea.
341….welp I was in the sales end of things….so it was a pretty easy measurement….go figure.
Spam (335) –
I have never been a manager myself, so I will try and give you an employee’s point of view. IMO, it all depends on the employee’s character and attitude. Myself, I am extremely self-critical and therefore am appreciative of any constructive advice from my superiors given in a honest bare-it-all fashion. I am not sure whether employees who are egotistical would take it in the same fashion, and would rather be resentful towards the boss. I guess it also depends on what stage in his/her career, the employee is. I am in the earlier stages and am excited to learn all the time and crave the opportunity to do so, and thus am more receptive to criticism.
Not sure if this helped, but FWIW.
The blind managing the blind….and American Story.
any thoughts on when northern bergen co. will be afordable? If you got $700-800k to spend great selection, under that and most homes on market are stil pos.
Essex says:
January 31, 2009 at 4:18 pm
“341….welp I was in the sales end of things….so it was a pretty easy measurement….go figure.”
I worked in sales. You don’t want to go there. Plenty of pi$$ poor sales managers playing the numbers. Usually get promoted up or moved around before the $hit hit the fan. Usually better at self promotion than actually managing people.
sx – what’s making you so d!cky today? Lost equity giving you heartburn?
Heh heh heh……*sigh*
you guys will love this one … i’ve been notified that between carpeting 4 rooms in our house (they had dogs and cats), and painting over “most” of the interior …
we’re looking at a bill totaling around 10k. and this isn’t getting one estimate, but after extensive, extensive research and talking to multiple options.
10k? hey, that’s what a guy loves to hear super bowl weekend.
these boards are slow pickens again tonight.
SAS
Yikes,
10k seems way too high.
went to my fav mexican food joint in all Bergen county today.
place is called Cinco De Mayo in Hillsdale. Its a total hole in the wall, and everytime I go in there, I’m the only gringo, and the telemundo is blasting. Just the way i like it.
i usually get the shrimp in Green tomotillo sauce.
it 2-3 buisness down from the starbucks.
SAS
only negative is that there guacomole is so/so…
SAS
safe – would have been higher if we had went with home depot. and we’re even pulling up the carpets ourselves.
im still doing homework on it, and trying to do whatever the heck i can to get the price down.
Yikes,
Do it yourself. For what they are charging, you could screw it up three times while you learn how to do it and still come out ahead. Supply costs for what you are doing shouldn’t even be over $1,000. Carpet runs about $2 to $3 per square foot and paint is about $100 for five gallons. How big is your joint?
I know time is money, but I wouldn’t pay someone $9K for less than a weeks worth of work.
interesting list:
“The Misery Index
Who’s feeling the hurt of the recession? Here’s a look at the toll that 2008 took on households across the country”
http://tinyurl.com/d6euw5
Idaho! Here I come. Good link SAS.
Breakfast of Champions!
http://extras.newsoftheworld.co.uk/downloads/phelps_big_0102.jpg
Frank says:
January 31, 2009 at 1:05 pm
#281, “Last year many were touting the bonuses on WS. It will save NJ housing. What a bunch of crap. Do a little research. What % of the bonuses were paid out in cash?”
75-100%. This year’s bonuses at 2 bankrupt companies, Merrill and Citi were incredible, I know departments that have lost billions and employees have made the same as last year and a lot more than during profitable years. The compensation boom on Wall St. continues. Recession my ass.
can speak to m or citi, but a good friend of mine at wachovia said EVERYONE there got f’d. badly.
he received 15% of his usual bonus. that is the case with many of his fellow employees. in fact, he WANTS to get laid off so he can move out of NYC.
“NBC sells out Super Bowl ads for record $206M”
http://tinyurl.com/ao2sbp
2 bedroom, 2 bath, no basement for
898K??
lol
lol
craig’s list to SELL your place is a last refuge. must be really desperate.
i wouldn’t pay over 500k for that.
what are the taxes like in kinnelon?
spam, the “just because” counseling is tough if you call it “a habit you just don’t like.”
We all know that everybody is different. Everybody thinks different things are important or has an idea of what is minimally necessary to get a job done. For some reason, one of her work-related behaviors or work-related attitudes is raising the hair on your neck. That ain’t ‘just because.’ Pinpoint for yourself the reason that you behave in a different way than she does on this topic. For example, if it’s personal hygiene, like nail biting, explain that it’s a distraction to you when you are doing ______. If it’s arriving a half an hour later than you every other day, even if you don’t have a set start time, explain to her that you like to see her there by ____ before you start to plan the day/week.
So, you’re goal before confronting her (gently at first) is to define your own reaction first.
spam spam bacon spam says:
January 31, 2009 at 3:36 pm
I have a dilemma maybe someone can help me with :)
spam: I’m sure you will answers from everywhere….one factor among everything is the generation…..gen X will probably tell you to f– off; gen Y will burst into tears because they have never got taken to task
safeashouses says:
January 31, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Yikes, 10k seems way too high.
s: as long as you remember whose wearing the trousers….
http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com
TY to Outofstater, lisoosh and victorian, pat and chifi…
I’ll give more dirt:
She’s a kid. 20 yrs old. She’s GREAT in a LOT of areas! She’s smart, catches on quick and does a job for me that’s not really “definable”…:) receptionist, personal assistant, clerical, runs business related and personal errands (not many personal, I only throw one or two every couple months maybe)… she fits right in with her skills…she can spell(!), use MS software, has the ability to multi-task, is a self-starter and things I’ve taught her she’s easily caught on to…(time organization, communication, thoroughness, etc)
She shows up EVERYDAY, ON TIME, does her job and doesn’t d*ck around on Myspace…
There’s no “degree” she can have to do this job, it’s a jack of all trades, master at none :)
She’s definately a keeper.
Anyway, she’s “quiet” about her personal life, what I may consider introverted (but I could be wrong) and isn’t “wordy” about stuff.
She’s born here of eastern European parents and English is actually a second language for her.
With that said, being she’s a kid, she’s taken to yelling “Hey, YOU!” to my partner when she has a phone call for him (we don’t do voice mail-you get live people all the way down)… now I know she’s doing that because she feels comfortable enough with him to become “casual” with him, and being immature, it’s her way of being “social”… however, it’s not “professional”. I’ve asked him about his feelings and he doesn’t care, he said, as long as no one else is around.
There’s the thing. If I tell her it’s innappropriate to yell “HEY, YOU…BLAH BLAH IS ON THE PHONE FOR YOU!..she may still do it when she doesn’t see anybody.
She doesn’t do it to me. I think she sees me as a direct boss, whereas my partner is a “side-boss” if you get me…
Spam, she likes him. Good. But “Hey, you..” is also a flirting mechanism at the immature child/father level. She won’t recognize this. Therefore, he has encouraged and allowed it. He must take care of this with her.
Here’s the other thing:
Our office dress code is “office casual”.
Her dress code is “whoa my gawd wtf is that ur wearing”…
Our employee handbook spells out our dress code pretty clearly, but her interpretation is “loose”.
Her favorite pair of boots are “very high heel – black patent leather – above the knee – with gold plated heels – complete with spurs”…
The rest of the outfit is usually to match.
I actually thought about printing pictures of people dressed in “office casual” to help guide her, but have not done so… :)
Help!!!!
spam: So your small-business problem is having a sexy 20-year old EE chick at office?
This truly is a recession.
Thanks Pat.
My partner is not a person who will deal with it. He’s fired people, but it’s usually last straw with little prior dicussions to curb the poor behaviour.
He’s a very technical guy. (VERY) Thinks digital, not analog…
It’s either an open circuit or it’s a closed circuit. No in-between.
I got the “deal with the peeps” job :)
Sad thing is, I’m also in a technical position, but my particular position with the company also makes me the fall guy for human resource issues…
I WISH I could throw this issue on him, but no dice. He’s busy being technical.
(He’s in the Hall of Fame for our industry, so we’re NOT talking idiot here… but if I sent him off to take care of this, I’d be sending the wrong person.)
Jamil:
EE?
American dream is alive!
Forbes:
“Don’t let anyone tell you the American dream has faded. the truth is the U.S. is still minting lots of millionaires. Glenn Goss is one of them.
Goss retired four years ago, at 42, from a $90,000 job as a police commander in Delray Beach, Fla. He immediately began drawing a $65,000 annual pension that is guaranteed for life, is indexed to keep up with inflation and comes with full health benefits.
Goss promptly took a new job as police chief in nearby Highland Beach. One big lure: the benefits.
Given that the average man his age will live to 78, Goss is already worth nearly $2 million, based on the present value of his vested retirement benefits. Looked at another way, he is a $2 million liability to Florida taxpayers.”
spam: Eastern European
spam,
sounds like he simply doesn’t mind the attention/flirtation. I don’t buy the “he can’t deal with it” stuff. If “Hey YOU” is the big offense, I’d say the problem is minor enough to let it go. Office flirtations are going to happen.
374/ Yeah….so? Perhaps we are in a new age….no more pensions…no more CEO perks….No more bonus’s….we’ll all just get the same amount to do the Same Job…Comrade.
I gotta scoot for paint (love being a homeowner!!!) at Hoe Depot, be back later tonight to catch up.
Jamil:
Not sure what you meant by “truly is a recession.”
‘splain?
372…whenever someone mentions “partner” I think LPGA .
spam (295)-
Dude will probably die of something he’s been inhaling everyday at work for decades.
vodka (321)-
End of the empire. No doubt about it.
I’m not pissed. I just want to go where I can see good soccer.
vodka (325)-
What do you think you have to feed him? I say peanuts and water.
“will even hire Bi, he will be our contrarian black box!”
Spam, get him on board. He needs the interpersonal development. If he doesn’t think this other human being is important enough to work with on this, or that your feelings of discomfort are worthy, then your real problem is him.
What would happen if your business grew? Would he be the clogged up wheel around which everyone would need to rotate? That’s a dying sun, and it’s deadly. It’s all well and good to be the designated driver (in terms of dealing with HR issues) when it’s for an occasional or one-time thing, but when you’ve been turned into the limo drive for a “star” then you should predict all the possible outcomes of encouraging his poor management style.
What would happen if she ended up working solely for him, and you had another admin in the future? Where could you see their relationship going? How would it impact other employees?
At the least, she needs to asked by him, “What would my wife think if she came into the office and heard you, a young female yelling “Hey, you” to me?
Spam – then it might be easier than you think. Just explain that “Hey You” is fine outside the office but that’s not the kind of image the organizations is trying to present. Same with the clothes – she looks great in them but if she could gradually tone it down, that would be wonderful. Then say she is an integral part of the organization and because she is so important, she really owes it to herself to look more professional. If you talk to her as a mentor giving her counsel, she may not be offended. Good luck!
chi (332)-
He usually rights himself pretty well after taking a hit. I diverged from his course for the entirety of ’08. Turned out to be my best year ever in the market and his worst. I’m not dumb enough to think I can repeat that performance.
yikes (351)-
Buy down the Steelers to -6.5, and go to sleep. I ain’t even watching the game. Will be over by halftime.
spam (370)-
Send her over to my office. The mortgage guys can “work” with her.
How does she feel about beers at 2 in the afternoon?
bring her to next GTG.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/news/0901/gallery.money_summit/index.html
Clotpoll says:
January 31, 2009 at 7:13 pm
chi (332)- He usually rights himself pretty well after taking a hit.
clot: You are giving him a mulligan?……for fcuking up that much….in that way? Can you hook me up with a “get out of jail free card” for some year in the future that I perform such holistic inverse alchemy?
NJReReport Hedge Fund LLP.
Setting it up is the easy part, takes about 90 days to get through the paperwork.
I would think as an investment strategy designed to capitalize on the upcoming “Bad Bank” would be an easy sell to investors. We buy assets for 5 cents on the dollar and turn around and flip the property using our network of brokers.
Call it the Misery Fund
I am on the computer and Hunter comes over and sits in my lap. He points to my wallet and asks “what’s that?”
I tell him what it is and ask “what is inside my wallet?”
“mmmmmm…..credit cards…”
?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????
chi (391)-
Not a free pass. The guy does have a long-term track record. It’s good.
I didn’t like his way-too-bullish take going into ’08 and went my own way. However, to his credit, he did start (by midsummer) to get religion about AIG, BAC, C and the other swine at the trough.
Navellier has a publisher and a research machine that have no ability or propensity to work the short side of the street. If you don’t live in that district, you simply cannot make money in this environment. I proved this to myself last year by deciding that even if I made massive f-ups going all-in to the short side, I’d still be better off than being long anything other than Armageddon.
Navellier is a good- and proven- growth investor. He’ll come back. He’s building good core positions right now in AMGN, MCD, PG, GIS and WMT. I still cannot see myself long anything in the near future, but I can’t see him getting blown out again, unless the Dow spends some significant time in the 7,000s, pushing down on a 6 handle.
sean (392)-
As a veteran of RTC, let me assure you that vulturing gubmint-seized assets is a high colonic of the highest order.
And, RTC disposed of actual, valuable and tangible assets. Many primo Class A office properties went for as little as .05/USD. I know, because my pops and I bought some. And at several auctions, guys who looked like a cross between Boone Pickens and the Grim Reaper told my dad and I that we’d been had when the auctions ended. Believe me when I tell you that this is a very unsettling thing to hear.
Now, the same gubmint wants to set up a “bad bank” that will somehow auction off dubious paper of dubious quality…that may also carry a gubmint guarantee back to the issuers???…that may have been purchased at insanely-high prices???…that may have already failed???…in an environment in which the issuers have not been seized and shuttered???
I think I’ll sit out this dance.
8 gold medals to photographed taking bong hits.
good times
http://tinyurl.com/c9vs6e
ChiFi/Clot… I’ve done quite well for quite a long time by not following any analysts or supposed gurus. Maybe I’ve been lucky, but playing macroeconomic trends has always worked the best for me. I’ve tracked at least twenty of these so called gurus over the years and none really have done all that well in the long run. Everyone gets some right sometimes. Ultimately, I still feel the best strategy is to learn to read the the fundamentals of a company, understand the balance sheet and financial pages of the quarterly reports and stay abreast of current macro-economic events.
If any of these so-called gurus were truly able to time the market or make such amazing calls with regularity, they wouldn’t be selling their calls. Instead they would simply invest in them.
Now if I could just get 8400 back on the DJIA, I could safely reverse my only large improper paper call that I made in the last two years. That is going back long (50%) in my 401K.
I swear, patience is all one really needs to do well when investing. Too bad so few have any.
Clot: dumped all the defensive stuff weeks ago…..did you look at that stuff in January…it’s gotten the $hit kicked out of it…..sounds like Stu has it right….the ones who are screwed? just look at anyone who has a huge debtload coming due in 2008. They will be paying up….you can cut capital spending, but at a certain point, you actually wreck the business without necessary cash flow FOR operations….
First you advocate market-timing, then buy-and-hold. If you believe you can beat the market by investigating balance sheets or trends you are a fool. As you said, everybody gets it right occasionally. Sorry to break this to you, but you can only get market returns (minus transaction costs) in the long run. I guess only exception is that you may be able to spot massive bubbles (like gold, oil and housing in recent years) and limit exposure to them.
The experts in this forum got only the housing bubble right.
Better to stick with indexing.
“8 gold medals to photographed taking bong hits”
sounds similar to the special forces team i was on in the military during the early 70s.
SAS
How about investing in Venezuela?
In the past, US didn’t tolerate this sort of actions.
forbes:
“This week, Venezuelan national oil company PDVSA seized control of an offshore drilling rig owned by Dallas-based Ensco International. It was an audacious move that reflects the slow-motion breakdown of one of the world’s biggest state-owned oil companies. PDVSA subsidiary Petrosucre is in arrears on $35.5 million it owes Ensco for drilling services;”
“Los Angeles Times to cut 300 jobs”
http://tinyurl.com/d6c7hd
Pat & OutofStater…
Both excellent replies.
My partner certainly has brought his interpersonal skills out from the dark ages (I used to translate for him: from geek to human. I no longer have to… :)
I learned (the hard way) not to send the wrong person to do the job. That’s not to say we can all avoid the nasty tasks we suck at, but at the least, I’m not asking a highly trained tech to clean the bathroom or asking the janitor to design a new circuit…
Additionally, we have rules here at our company that your direct supervisor is the person who you go to with all your issues and is also the person who deals with you when you need “guidance”…
Our company does work that by it’s very nature, creates closely intertwined departments. Our accounting works with technical, technical is sales, sales is floor, floor works with accounting…
Because of that, many employees would get confused as to just who is really their boss…
So we created a hierachy where your supervisor is your “end all be all” and other supervisors must ask your supervisor if they can “jump thru”… if yes, then your supervisor gives the nod to you and then can bring up any caveats as to time/resources that might be relevant… you’ll deal with your non-supervisor as to the specifics, but your supervisor is still in charge.
When I have a problem with one of my partner’s support staff, I tell him. It’s his gig to deal with it. :)
And Clot, she’s just slightly older than your daughter.
Down, boy!
;)
OOS,
I will take your advice.
Wish me luck :)
“And Clot, she’s just slightly older than your daughter”
my wife is younger than my oldest daughter.
you don’t think i get funny looks at the holiday parties.
I’m a god damn freak show.
thats what happens when you’ve been married 5x.
and i will work to pay for it all till i drop.
SAS
Calgon, take me away!
cause i sure as hell need it.
SAS
spam, somehow, I had the idea this was a very small shop, with everyone working around each other with a more informal approach to lines. She does work for your partner, such as taking his calls, so it implied that he should have some level of review and control over her.
Maybe, in a knowledge-seeking way, when you do your light chat with her, you could ask her whether or not she thinks she would do this “Hey, you” call if Tom/Dick/Harry were a female, instead. It might let her to have her own Ah-ha moment and keep you from being the always critical b/tch.
Jammin Jamil,
How much did you lose in your 401K and IRAs since August of 2007?
How’s that indexing working out for you?
Put the 20% down on my multi from my tech bubble profits. Only started with 10K BTW.
Suck it!
anyone read the new yorker story about the doom and gloomers? it’s awesome. they changed everything around and you can’t do a copy/paste (sucks), but here’s a great sentence:
http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=2009-01-26#folio=040
“As long-term infrasturcture, McMansion subdivisions and the big-box retailers that service them are only worth the scraps that can be salvaged by scavenging, he contends, and when oil stops allowing people to indulge the current fantasy, Bergen and Fairfield counties will become Hobbesian slums, highway strip malls will be recolonized by sumac trees, and the hulking sheds formerly known as Kmarts will be good for little more than Pentecostal roller rinks.”
it basically talks about upcoming survivalism and compounds and sh*t. this board would LOVE it.
Bacon: my advice is to not obsess about it. She will either quit or change; maybe this change will be not as rapid as you’d like but as we get older we change. I had been totally amazed a few years ago when we hired a coop engineering student tattooed on par with your average Harley guy, and manners to match – hey you! had been quite common to hear from him. Last summer he came for the permanent job, and he is one of the best and most hard-working young engineers I’ve ever seen. However, he likes his music – and because we can’t wear headphones at work he plays it in his office very quetly but loud enough for me next door to hear. My request to tone it down usually works our jobs still exist then) it will be longer…
for some reason, the line before the last got lost:
My request to tone it down usually works for about 2 weeks – but I am sure a year from now (if our jobs still exist then) it will be longer…
416 stu: “How much did you lose in your 401K and IRAs since August of 2007?”
I haven’t checked for a few weeks, probably ~30% in 401k, but there was little I could do. I have >8% company match, though.
Only “safe/stable” solution in my 401k was “stable fund” consisting MBSs and other vague collateral things. I thought those were risky things so I didn’t want to have 100% there (only 15%). My taxable is 100% in tax-exempt money market. Originally it was my NJ/NY house fund, but I’m having second thoughts on that. I’m actually looking for Singapore, UAE and London house prices right now. Hope congresscritters would change 401k legislation so that you could move your money to Roth/IRA every year.
Anyway, unfortunately, that nasty US exit tax complicates things a lot for me.
I haven’t checked, either. Can’t figure out if I’m an ostrich in the sand or a true long-term investor.
What would be the deciding factor, here?
wow, Pentecostal roller rink thing kills me. I went to one of those in the 80s in Delrain, NJ. A little water rat town in SJ.
Grim #88 & 89 ~ Thanks for the explanation on “comps” and “comp killers”. That’s what I thought it was but wasn’t sure. BTW your site is unreal (in a good way) with all the insane action.
Barbara,
I used to live in Delran on Chester Ave. Drank at the Eagle Tavern (nickname, the dirty bird) down the road until the had a murder. The house we had was infested with crickets that kept us up all night long in the summer.
Chinese Premier Blames Recession on U.S. Actionsz.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao directly accused the United States – the world of the deep economic recession led to the financial system, the most public sign yet of the U.S. government and its main creditor of the disagreement between. The leaders of China, the third world economy, is surprised and upset by the U.S. China’s financial sector property damage have hurt more. In response, Beijing again examine its funding from the American people are familiar with the knowledge that the government accepted.
Mr. Wen, Davos, Switzerland in the world economy and the political leadership in the house of the annual visit of Chinese Prime Minister, but obviously not in the U.S., mainly because of the strong condemnation issued crisis. In the blind achieve profits, Mr. Wen and the development of model unsustainable, low long-term savings and high consumption characteristic of the financial sector of the lack of government supervision of financial institutions to an expansion of the blame.
chi (398)-
I’m not touching the defensive stuff yet, either. I actually bought tiny slivers of MCD, GIS and BUD for my daughter during the big Nov. swoon, but that’s about it. Those purchases are still looking ok, but I’m not racing to add to them.
Still locked and loaded short. Waiting for Armageddon.
jamil (399)-
You are an idiot.
sas (409)-
That’s very Kentucky. Or Hollywood. Or something. :)
jamil (399)-
So, earnings don’t matter? Fundamentals don’t prevail in the long run? You can’t ride a short-term trend? The only way to make money is in some quant-baked index fund?
Please post your alleged “strategy” here sometime. Along with your rockin’ portfolio…assuming it hasn’t been ground down to 0.
jamil (416)-
Please leave anyway. You can do it.
Final confirmation of Jamil’s idiocy:
“haven’t checked for a few weeks, probably ~30% in 401k, but there was little I could do. I have >8% company match, though.”
This week, I am selling chickens at a .05 USD loss per chicken. That’s ok, though…I’ll make it up on volume.
hurray,
my car just got hit while parked in front of my house……….. their front tire hit my rear quarter panel and rear tire and it ripped their front tire off; my rear tire is now toed inward.
I have a quartto audi. this is not going to be cheap to fix….. oh well i shouldnt have to pay for it…..
The person who hit me has the same insurance company as me. Can an insurance company sue itself???????
J/K
recent stock collapse put to music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-BZfFakpzc&eurl=http://i.gizmodo.com/5143572/microsoft-songsmith-cheerily-documents-the-collapse-of-the-world-economy
430 Kettle
No, but they sure as hell have to cover the damages.
Good luck.
Thanks for this blog entry – in fact, I’ve just started my make home nice tips.Happy February!
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As I move from the bedroom into the bathroom, the bathroom lighting emits a soothing light to improve my laid- back Saturday morning experience. I take a leak; what a relief. However, me taking a leak unchained an invisible process taking place right inside the urinal. Instant analysis of my urine is sent to the seamlessly integrated computing system running my home. As I move away from the toilet to the sink, an embedded User Interface in the mirror lights up: the visual items are styled according to my bathroom’ …