While we usually discuss home sales on a closed basis here (looking backwards by 2-3 months) it is often helpful to gauge home sales by looking at contract sales (signed contracts to buy). This measure is very similar (if not exactly the same) as the National Association of Realtors (NAR) pending home sales index. While contract sales are a more recent indicator than closed sales, it is a noisier measure. A percentage of contract sales don’t make it to closing, and that percentage does tend to vary. For example, Union County contract sales in January 2008 were originally reported at 209, that number was revised down by 10% to 188 over the year. Those 21 contracts never made it to closing. Closed sales tend to see a less significant revision, which are typically due to data entry mistakes or not logging a closed sale in a timely manner.
Despite the gloomy contracts picture, there were two bright spots on a year over year basis, Union and Essex. However, on a year over year over year basis (whew!), we’re still trending down with the pack. I’d be very careful of using this as any kind of bottom indicator. We saw a brief increase in contract sales during the first quarter of 2007. This trend completely reversed itself by the second quarter and contract sales plunged throughout the rest of the year.
February data should be out any day now (GSMLS), but I do have preliminary data from NJMLS for Bergen that might be worth sharing to give you all a glimpse of the most current month. Contract sales in February 2009 were 439, down from 520 in 2008 and 762 in 2007 (Down 15.6% YOY, 42.4% 2xYOY).
Bergen
(NJMLS)
January 2007 – 682
January 2008 – 476
January 2009 – 363 (Down 23.7% YOY, 46.8% 2xYOY)
Essex
(GSMLS)
January 2007 – 364
January 2008 – 222
January 2009 – 226 (Up 1.0%, Down 37.9% 2xYOY)
Hunterdon
(GSMLS)
January 2007 – 105
January 2008 – 94
January 2009 – 56 (Down 40.4%, Down 46.7% 2xYOY)
Morris
(GSMLS)
January 2007 – 410
January 2008 – 281
January 2009 – 214 (Down 23.8%, Down 47.8% 2xYOY)
Passaic
(GSMLS)
January 2007 – 410
January 2008 – 281
January 2009 – 184 (Down 34.5%, Down 55.1% 2xYOY)
Somerset
(GSMLS)
January 2007 – 312
January 2008 – 195
January 2009 – 150 (Down 23.1%, 51.9% 2xYOY)
Sussex
(GSMLS)
January 2007 – 134
January 2008 – 101
January 2009 – 87 (Down 13.9%, Down 35.1% 2xYOY)
Union
(GSMLS)
January 2007 – 302
January 2008 – 188
January 2009 – 214 (Up 13.8%, Down 29.1% 2xYOY)
Warren
(GSMLS)
January 2007 – 103
January 2008 – 69
January 2009 – 50 (Down 27.5%, Down 51.4% 2xYOY)
Frist?
2nd
The increase in Union is curious, especially when you factor in the town by town movement within the broader number.
Towns showing decreases
Cranford
Kenilworth
New Providence
Roselle Park
Springfield
Summit (Huge decrease, from 20 to 4)
Westfield
Flat
Clark
Garwood
Plainfield
Towns showing increases
Berkeley Heights
Elizabeth (Huge increase, from 12 to 25)
Fanwood
Hillside
Linden
Mountainside
Rahway
Roselle
Union (Huge increase, from 17 to 33)
Great data, Grim. Thanks. Hunterdon down 40 percent YOY? Wow…
Grim,
Great info as usual.
Do you have any data on areas like Arizona, California, and Florida. I thought those areas had tremendous volume drops right before they plunged in price. But those areas also had huge building booms so they do have a different base then NNJ.
#3 Grim,
The increases in volume in Union County towns is odd. Crosses socie-economic lines. Yet the decreases seem to be mainly in higher end towns.
from my post the other day, the tea parties in response to Rick’s revolt were held Sat.
not one reference on any news site (cnn, abc, msn, msnbc even fox) I found this buried on the Dick Armey site:
http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/bstein80/video-from-the-dc-tea-party
now tell me the media isn’t biased
there was a smal spot on fos news late last night that my husband heard…they said if this momentum keeps up (tea parties) it will not be good for the current admin, but one day does not matter
The increases in volume in Union County towns is odd. Crosses socie-economic lines. Yet the decreases seem to be mainly in higher end towns.
Monthly town data is too noisy to be useful, you’ve got to aggregate upwards for it to make any sense at all. But, we’ve got nothing else to look at, at this level, so we might as well peek.
The big standouts are Elizabeth and Union to the upside, and Summit to the downside.
I’m wondering if we’re seeing an increase in contract sales in these areas due to sharp price declines.
Elizabeth
Median Price
January 2008 – $305,000
January 2009 – $200,000 (Down 34%)
Average Price
January 2008 – $303,892
January 2009 – $199,924 (Down 34%)
Union
Median Price
January 2008 – $339,900
January 2009 – $299,999 (Down 12%)
Average Price
January 2008 – $342,453
January 2009 – $304,233 (Down 11%)
Hillside (Up to 14 from 8)
Median Price
January 2008 – $299,900
January 2009 – $199,000 (Down 34%)
Average Price
January 2008 – $357,325
January 2009 – $200,557 (Down 44%)
Clot – You pointed out yesterday @532 and Hubba @459 – “O and the gubmint have effectively squeezed private lending out of the student loan biz.
Aren’t they also squeezing appraisers and private lenders out with the new refi proposal? From what I’m reading, the plan is only to refi loans with Freddie/Fannie and they can be at 105% LTV. Since they are “modifications” they will not require new appraisals or mortgage insurance.
So if these turn out to be crap loans – we pick up the tab again.
Also, here in CA – we now have a $10,000 credit for new home purchases only. All sorts of ads yesterday “buy today and get $18,000 tax credit.” Folks can be of any income level to qualify and it does not have to be a first home purchase. So much for the foreclosure sales.
So I have to pay new taxes but there is a program afoot to benefit home builders so they can clear their inventory and start building again.
It is as though the new role of government is to choose winners and losers.
The same trend is notable in Essex as well.
The shining stars of Essex County?
Newark, East Orange and Irvington.
Newark contracts up to 32 from 19 year over year, and EO up to 23 from 12 and Irvington up to 12 from 5.
East Orange
Median Price
January 2008 – $184,000
January 2009 – $99,900 (Down 46%)
Average Price
January 2008 – $215,642
January 2009 – $113,209 (Down 48%)
Newark
Median Price
January 2008 – $230,000
January 2009 – $150,000 (Down 35%)
Average Price
January 2008 – $220,579
January 2009 – $159,105 (Down 28%)
Irvington
Median Price
January 2008 – $189,900
January 2009 – $59,900 (Down 68%)
Average Price
January 2008 – $227,940
January 2009 – $76,050 (Down 67%)
Motivated Buyers – Up to $18,000 in tax credits
Fixed the link
safe,
Maybe it isn’t so curious at all, house prices appear to be collapsing across the urban areas of North Jersey.
(14) Thanks Grim…Pretty unbelievable, huh. They are encouraging buying into a declining market and my new taxes are helping to finance it!
Can someone tell me what is your problem with Maplewood other than its neighboring towns? Can someone tell me why taxes here are higher than any other NNJ town close to the city?
I dont know maplewood from albuquerque. This sounds like a quesiton for your local congressman. I’d also ask: If the taxes are so jacked up, I presume it’s been that way for awhile … why’d you move there if that’s the case?
cobbler says:
March 1, 2009 at 1:03 am
Clot [536] – while I am armed, I doubt I could be able to hold off MS-13 if more than 2 of them show up. Could you?
This isn’t a scenario i’d like to think about. Hopefully, you have an alarm at your house. And you live near the cops. And maybe your wife knows how to operate a weapon.
I hope MS13 doesn’t cross the river into my town in PA. When I think of those degenerates, I think of the scene in “Training Day” where Denzel leaves Ethan Hawke at the house of those spanish fellows, and they have no issue with killing him.
Going up against a gang of people who don’t value life at all seems scary.
Rally the neighborhood behind you (They could be next!), channel Liam Neeson in “Taken” and hope for the best.
speaking of those drug cartels … sounds like they don’t mess around.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/world/americas/01juarez.html?_r=1&hp
good info Cindy…I am in the camp that “now is the worst time to buy” myself
Since I’ve read about 50% of closed sales are foreclosure/short sales, then it would make sense that more sales are taking place in more urban areas – since it’s likely a higher percentage are being bought from banks.
Ok, we need to get something straight on the Maplewood thing.
Maplewood has a long history here, just like Brigadoon (Westfield) and Cliffside Park (Duckyville).
Since the Summer of 2005, we’ve had folks coming through, trolling the ol’ “it is different here” line. Especially so with regard to these towns. In some cases it was just one person, like the Duck, but in others there have been a long stream of trolls. Maplewood just so happens to be one of those towns.
I don’t know why, it just is. But when someone comes in here, touting the superiority of their town, they are going to get slammed. By me, and by the rest of the vocal community here. It’s transcended any kind of seriousness and is really just nothing more than troll baiting.
We’re equal opportunity here, I’ve taken as many shots at upscale as we have downscale. If anything, Upper Haughtyville in Bergen County gets it a dozen times worse than Maplewood ever did.
Me? I’m an uneducated blue collar schmuck that lives in the ghetto of Clifton. But I don’t troll internet message boards trying to convince anyone that “it’s different here.”
now grim why would clifton be a getto?
(20) House Hunter – Keep your eyes open. Once things break downward – they snowballed here in no time at all.
People were buying up the 50% off foreclosures then CA did another moratorium of foreclosures – 3 months – until May I think.
Meanwhile….the $10,000 credit pops up…
It just feels like they are choosing who wins and who loses. Right now, the new home builders are in the spotlight.
I also heard that folks could put in for the $8,000 credit – this year on their taxes – with the intent to buy a new home before 12/09. BUT – since they did not say it had to be used for the down payment – they could take that money and head for Vegas if they wanted.
Is that true anyone????
Best Editorial in a while.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/opinion/01rich.html?_r=1
P.S. The Tea Party idea from a CNBC Cheerleader is possibly as offensive as referring the the rich traders in that room as the ‘real Americans’…
Cindy, ref 11: “It is as though the new role of government is to choose winners and losers.”
No. The role of the gov ‘t is to chose donors and voters.
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/22010/
shows home values since prior to the great depression…not other time in history have we had prices so high
grim says:
March 1, 2009 at 8:23 am
Me? I’m an uneducated blue collar schmuck that lives in the ghetto of Clifton.
grim: lather, rinse, repeat….
Cindy, I did not hear about the “might buy” option. I did hear about something in NJ regarding the home builders/new construction.
A lot of projects were stopped due to no funds to continue, they want to give the construction co’s a 5 year “no tax” deal in order to finish all the projects…i may be paraphrasing here…but essentially what you said, chosing who they help
video summary of US financial crisis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tpl4Cr3-Tm0&feature=related
Essex, this is not all about Santelli and his sound bites…he was a catalyst for what most are trying to articlate…if this is the first thing you have heard him comment on, you are missing the boat on who he really is…
grim: lather, rinse, repeat….
I don’t wash either.
Kettle1:
Wen warns economic crisis spreading in China
Sunday March 1, 2:11 am ET
Premier Wen warns economic crisis still spreading in China; says recovering will be arduous
BEIJING (AP) — Premier Wen Jiabao warned that the impact of the global financial crisis was still spreading in China and the country faces the long and arduous task of combating its effects.
The official Xinhua News Agency quoted Wen as saying Saturday that China “must strengthen confidence in the face of the crisis and be ready to take firmer and stronger actions when necessary.” He did not go into specifics.
ADVERTISEMENT
China is one of the only major economies still growing, though it has slowed. Growth fell to a seven-year low of 6.8 percent in the final quarter of 2008 compared with the same time a year earlier.
The government announced a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) plan in November aimed at boosting domestic consumption to shield China from the global slowdown, which has battered Chinese exporters. But its effects are not expected to be felt for several months.
The plan calls for spurring domestic consumption by pumping money into the economy through higher spending on public works. State companies have been ordered to speed up plans to build power plants and other facilities.
Wen noted Saturday that trade-dependent coastal areas have been hit by waves of factory closures and layoffs and that the country’s migrant workers have been hardest hit by the crisis.
“I want to take the opportunity to extend my gratitude to our migrant workers,” Wen said, adding that the government should encourage workers who have lost their jobs to start their own businesses by offering tax incentives and training opportunities.
The government says about 20 million migrants have lost their jobs and communist leaders worry about possible unrest.
On Friday the deputy chairman of China’s planning agency said China is confident it can meet its growth target of 8 percent this year, though “downward pressure” from the global economic crisis is growing.
The comments were Beijing’s latest effort to reassure uneasy consumers and companies and encourage them to keep spending.
33 –
“The government says about 20 million migrants have lost their jobs and communist leaders worry about possible unrest.”
I think this is the beginning of the end of communist China…
-am
yikes says:
March 1, 2009 at 8:12 am
“I hope MS13 doesn’t cross the river into my town in PA. When I think of those degenerates, I think of the scene in “Training Day” where Denzel leaves Ethan Hawke at the house of those spanish fellows, and they have no issue with killing him.”
Yikes –
1. They are already there.
2. Training Day is a MOVIE.
3. Pampered suburban “gangs” are a very poor facsimile of the West Coast mafia/gangster types. Chalk and cheese.
This discussion has been had here many times. NJPatient had some of the best posts on it as he had lived in bad parts of LA back in the day.
china is a time bomb waiting to explode.
overpopulated, underemployed and soon to be underfed….
ok Essex here is one for you. A townhome for 305,000 subject to short sale…so already the 305,000 asking price is “lower” than is what owed…it was bought in 2000…how in the heck did this person leverage OVER 100,000 with little to no equity in the home? maybe there is a cadillac escalade in the drive way?
why should I bail this person out?
http://www.glorianilson.com/real-estate/searchdetail.cfm?SearchType=MLSNumber&MLSNumber=5481984+&btn_submit_1=Search
37…I knew this would get political–but here goes….As a top % tax payer…and we’ll continue to get hosed (household income-wise) I have more issues with my money going to gitmo and bad banks than trying to maintain a middle class. I ‘own’ a home….pay bills…etc. So?
31. Bullshite…he was pandering. Pure and simple. I quit watching CNBC when Cramer pushed motorola as a buy– Cramer and co have ZERO credibility…..
From Crains:
Meet NY’s wobbliest banks
But the area’s biggest basket case is Citizens Community Bank of Ridgewood, N.J. The four-year-old, one-branch bank has a stunning Texas ratio of 686%, according to SNL. Citizens has $44 million of deposits and an equal amount of assets. But it has just $141,000 of capital after big losses in a portfolio filled with residential construction and commercial real estate loans, according to an FDIC filing.
Last fall, regulators told Citizens to cease “hazardous lending practices” and raise fresh cash. A call to Chief Executive Joseph Atieh about the order was taken by an employee who said, “We are not answering any questions about that.”
P.S. I don’t pretend to understand this crap….but I know that many folks have lost homes and many will continue to. Our Gubmint has very few safety nets (ever ‘been on unemployment’??) and even less in the way of programs to help people who pay taxes. It does a great job ‘helping’ foreign nations that hate us and giving breaks to firms who wish to sell here but are loath to hire anyone from the states to work for them.
37…I dunno dude. I bought a 1953 home from the original owner. It needed work but is built like a tank in a nice location. I know/like my neighbors. First step was to replace the old crappy windows with top tier double-paned. Worth it’s weight in gold. Made the old digs feel like a new place. Performed a lot of sweat equity with the help of a surfer buddy from college who needed money to go to Costa Rica. Stripped out old rugs…..painted….etc. Did a gut rehab on kitchen….awesome — love it more than anything…did new roof and electrical….(Whew) and finally a patio with drainage to send water the right way. Viola. $100K SPENT.
#3,
“The increase in Union is curious”
The answer is simple, the increase in sales is contributed to lender liquidations. I see a ton of liquidations in towns where people have no equity in their homes and price to income ratios are very high. In higher end towns people have more equity in their homes and more cash in the bank to hold on to their properties but when severance payments run out, cash for keys deals will be coming to Westfield as well.
#10 grim:I’m wondering if we’re seeing an increase in contract sales in these areas due to sharp price declines.
That makes the most sense, when looking at the huge decline in median price in those areas from 07 to 08.
40-somethingth. Just like B.O. I must be full of hope.
#32 grim
I don’t wash either.
You’ve lowered your carbon foot print too.
Let me take the side of the President for just a moment. His budget — to me — looks promising from the standpoint of making investments in domestic programs. As opposed to the past 8 years when the infrastructure continued to languish. It is hard for me to understand the blind followers the GOP who now seem spellbound like deers in headlamps when we need new ideas.
“The government says about 20 million migrants have lost their jobs and communist leaders worry about possible unrest.”
I think this is the beginning of the end of communist China…”
In past years, when authortarian governments needed to reduce population or divert citizen anger, officials found a convenient enemy and went to war. Could it be Ugihers and Central Asian nations this time? They do have a boatload of Oil that China could use, they can be linked to “terrorists,” and they have no military strength to speak of. Russia could get ticked off but, with a wink and a nod to allow Russia to grab Georgia and poinst west of the Caspian…. Veto in the Security Council, priceless.
Bill Maher’s New Rules on How to Deal with the Economic Meltdown:
• New Rule: When you eat at McDonald’s, complain loudly to the manager that you found a tiny piece of nutrition in your burger — your money will be cheerfully refunded.
• New Rule: If you’re reasonably attractive, hang around outside offices of MTV or Bravo and eventually they’ll give you a reality show.
• New Rule: Marry Paul McCartney.
• New Rule: Don’t be pressured into an investment that you’re not sure about. Take your time, read every prospectus thoroughly, and find the Ponzi scheme that’s right for you.
• New Rule: If you’re a Latino family having trouble with food and day care expenses, let Angelina Jolie adopt one of your kids. Let’s face it: you need the financial breathing room, and Brad and Angelina need a Mexican. Can you say “win-win”?
shore,
dont forget that china has an excessivly large single male population. that is a very destabilizing factor for any nation
shore,
if china loses control over north korea, things could get very ugly throughout asia. South korea has said that they will not allow a mass exodus of NK people into SK as they would be overwhelmed and their social system could collapse.
Essex,
What this taxpayer sees is a hand in my pocket and my children’s college money going to pay the debts of people (Bankers, investors, home buyers) who should lose everything for their reckless behavior.
I see the AMT. I see loss of mortgage deduction for any recreational homes we buy. I see higher tax rates. I see loss of charitable deduction. I see higher property taxes to pay for misguided state and local spending decisions. I see mounting debt that will may kill my childrens’ prospects for living in an economically-strong nation. I see no pension and my retirement accounts getting hammered. I see less and less reason for Mrs. Shore and I to spend 75 hours a week away from each other working our @sses off to try and get ahead.
I see politicians scapegoating the professional class in this nation much the way the Bolshavicks did the to the kulacks back in the days of the Russian Revolution and during the Russian Civil War. In the final analysis, the rich will be fine; they always are. They can take their cash and go anyplace. In the game the Obamaunists are playing, the ones who have not made out so well take from those who have and do so in the name of “fairness.” Bull! These are unsettling times for the debt-free, those who have accumulated a little wealth, and who are on their own for retirement security. We have giant targets painted on our backs and we can expect to get squeezed for every spare penny they can get from us; after all, it seems tht fairness requires it.
“South korea has said that they will not allow a mass exodus of NK people into SK as they would be overwhelmed and their social system could collapse”
ROK has no way to stop this. At any moment, PRK can send all of Korea into a tailspin. It just depends on how crazy the leadership is. If China goes into Central Asia, that may be the PRK’s logical opportunity. China might not like it but, still, it would take an ewconomic competitor off the wolrd stage.
Nicely put shore. Sucks doesn’t it. I cannot fathom ‘what’ the GOP would be doing right now though. What would ‘you’ do? Let it all fail. Shrink it all down and hope for the trickle?
Well said Shore.
Obama wants to extend health coverage to the more than 40 million uninsured, revamp industry so that it stops producing so many emissions that cause climate change, develop alternative energy sources and invest billions of dollars more in education.
HENRY is just a modern word for Kulak.
“hope for the trickle”
Oh, no need to wait, B.O. is already starting to trickle all over my family.
Essex,
B.O. wants to appear to be doing those things. If the whole bundle of cash went to making us independent of energy from outside North America, it would produce jobs, jobs with health benefits that is, it would reduce emmisions, it would do everything he says he wants to do but efficiently. This bill is the Pelosi/Reid sprinkle case to our friends bill with a few B here and there for B.O.’s agenda. Five years frome noe, I suspect we will be just as dependent on imported energy as today. We will have missed an opportunity and we will be deeper in debt. We are so deep in the hole now I am not sure if we can throw the dirt up and out of the hole or if we are just starting to cover ourselves in dirt.
beer (4)-
Told you Hunterdon was slow death…
Essex,
When you know nothing of which you speak it is best not to speak. You are a Democratic zealot who should just shut up already. You seem to think that this message board is populated by a bunch of GOP yes-men. You’re wrong. It’s filled with political athiests and economic realists.
You take anyone, Rick Santelli, Peter Schiff, etc that point out the idiocy of the current administrations policies (most of which are continuations of the past administrations economic policies) and try to paint them with a broad brush as if they are all Glenn Beck.
So please do us all a favor and take your Democratic talking points roll them sideways and shove them up your @ss!
Hunter (8)-
Same reason you don’t see any media coverage of riots all over the world.
The wheels are coming off. Too bad most people’s first taste of it will be when the banks don’t open one day, and the supermarkets are empty.
Cindy (11)-
Bingo. The train is now headed for a wall at 110 mph.
Buyers and sellers are so confused by all this new stuff, they’re just sitting on their hands. I had two deals in atty review when the housing bailout was announced, and both buyers withdrew their offers.
Cindy (11)-
I think it’s also safe to assume that with this gubmint picking winners and losers, we’re all the losers.
Moreover I find it quite interesting this Essex clown shows up shortly after Grim starts popping up in the NYT.
Don’t worry Essex, we all know the biggest fear of the government is when the joe six pack’s in this country see the emperor has no clothes and start thinking for themselves, that’s when the jig will be up, and that day isn’t too far in the future.
Fair enough, I’ll take off for while. The board has been pretty educational from a nihilistic standpoint. But the problem with godless/hopelessness is that it usually means you die alone. But hey we all die right?
hey essex, take a hike.
who’s kidding who
sx (47)-
That’d be great, if the gubmint were actually going to “invest” in anything. What this will turn into will more resemble a giant porkbarrel fiesta, complete with fraud, waste and sops to party apparatchiks.
Turn on Face the Nation right now and watch this lying sack of shit Rahm Emmanuel, and you’ll know the depths to which we’re fcuked. That guy’s face and body language scream, “I’m lying”.
#59 Clotpoll
Re: slow death
Sellers still hoping to resusitate the corpse. Wonder what it smell like by summer…
#67 i’m glad you said it. along with the
others as well. sold down the river
it will…
(Curses the inability to edit post)
sx (55)-
I just received notice that my crummy health insurance will see a premium increase of 30% in May. No enhancements or improvements to coverage, natch (there never has been in the 8 years I’ve been insured by this company)
However, I’m certain that I will now be taxed into oblivion to pay for coverage for deadbeats and illegals.
I’m actually for nationalization of healthcare; however, the incremental steps the US takes toward getting there are going to kill me.
Pretty soon, it won’t matter. Wife is talking to me a lot more about Chile now.
“I think it’s also safe to assume that with this gubmint picking winners and losers, we’re all the losers.”
Clot,
I disagree. Those who have something will lose; those with nothing will gain. Fail and move up, tovarish.
Chile? What happened to Costa Rica?
Shore (72)-
Nah. Those with nothing will lose something more important than money or a benefit; they will lose their right to fail.
This whole notion is what began the 20th century cycle of poverty in this country. This is what begat the permanent underclass. This is what gave us Cabrini Green.
The essence of the word “nigger” has nothing to do with color: at its core, it describes people who interpret kindness as weakness; as the interpretation deepens and twists, it turns into rage against the benefactor.
We aren’t becoming fairer. We’re creating the 21st century nigger.
Pragmatism is not nihilism.
syb (73)-
Costa Rica? That’s so 2006. Pricey, dangerous, and jammed with too many Americans.
Plus, the soccer sucks there.
Plus, I’m pretty sure I can find work in the wine business right away in the Maipo Valley in Chile.
Clotpoll,
You should consider moving to Clifton; it’s different here. ;)
from my post the other day, the tea parties in response to Rick’s revolt were held Sat.
not one reference on any news site (cnn, abc, msn, msnbc even fox) I found this buried on the Dick Armey site:
Manufactured PR events usually don’t get much play, especially ones whose sparse attendance brings to mind a town council meeting.
If that video is any indication, the group should be encouraged by their strong support across ethnic lines.
I do sense the tide is starting to turn a bit against O’s big government tax and spend orgy amongst the liberla professional class.
Spent yesterday with two relatives who live up in Boston, typical O supporters – college educated, high incomes but little in assets, very high standard of living fueled by MEW’s. Two kids about to enter school. While highly educated, neither really know much about the economy, finance, or politics for that matter. They voted for O because he “went to Harvard” and was “well spoken”, and all of their friends did. They had been to a meeting w/ their tax planner who laid out what for them what the next few years will look like. Needless to say, they were starting to become a little skeptical of The Messiah and his plans. It’s funny how liberals respond to “fairness” of wealth distribution when the figures are laid out in front of them. When it means you might have to make tough choices like god forbid sending your kids to public school instead of the fancy private school they “deserve”. When it means no more vacations for your family, no more 2nd homes in Vermont.
It will be interesting to watch how this plays out, if O loses this base of support, his approval will go to Bush levels.
Good to know Essex is on board with the plan though.
“FBI arrest men linked to $339 million in frozen Iowa pension money”
http://tinyurl.com/delfv4
househunter, #7
Thanks for the link to FreedomWorks.
They had something a couple of days ago, protesting the prospective 18% tax on sugary soda.
Sorry I missed the tea party.
That soda tax is specific to NYS, btw.
“speaking of those drug cartels … sounds like they don’t mess around”
a little trick:
tontine managers have built a “Virtual Pentagon” where they have the means to pre-select a sole surviving gang in any region wide drug war.
tontine managers have VoIP links to Bombardier aircraft modified for high-altitude surveillance; maritime patrol, command, control and communications and tactical and strategic reconnaissance.
With access to the three independ ent C4ISR networks;
tontines can arrange which shipments of drugs pass and which shipments are interdicted; which gang members profit and which gang members are arrested or killed.
SAS
then the question:
whom are the tontine managers?
it ain’t the mexican, they just want a piece of the pie cause there economy is on a collapse
who then?
well, I’d like to see tomorrow.
Cheers:)
SAS
Hi, I’m new here. I’m thinking about buying a house soon. I’m the “good” citizen – been renting for years and trying to save, only to find out the house price keeping rising and government would not let the price come down.
Anyway, anybody has any info around Princeton area? Looks to me the price does not change much.
34#, communist china finished 20 years ago. they are more capitalism than us.
>I think this is the beginning of the end of communist China…
JBJB
That’s a lot of talking points for one post.
The typical O supporters description is priceless.
very soon, it will become true that maplewood = clifton = newark = short hills = alpine.
Don’t miss: tonight on CNBC: “House of Cards” (airs at midnight).
#86
Do you actually want to live within Princeton, or are you willing to leave in one of the neighboring towns? People do seem willing to still pay quite a bit for that Princeton address.
Yes, in my travels through the intertubes, I came across a rather nice attempt to compile the Bailout
Taxpayers for Common Sense:
(Hit the Bailout Tab)
http://www.taxpayer.net/index.php
————————————-
whom are the tontine managers?
Tontine, I haven’t picked up Costaine in years—that word made me think of that…
Stramineus homo
“Freedom from mobs AS WELL AS kings”
“John Kinsman: Nation’s food system nearly broke”
http://tinyurl.com/d4r7tz
Was this one posted?
From Bloomberg:
Low Mortgage Rates a Mirage as Fees Climb, Eligibility Tightens
By James Sterngold
Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) — Brian Wickert, a mortgage banker in Butler, Wisconsin, prides himself on screening applicants carefully. That’s why he was stunned when a customer who sailed through four home loans tried to do a refinancing in January, only to be rejected by three national lenders.
The borrower’s credit standing and income were solid, said Wickert, 47, president of Accunet Mortgage. The problem was that, with home sales plummeting along with prices, the appraiser couldn’t find the required three comparable sales in six months within a one-mile radius.
[snip]
The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped to 5.07 percent for the week ending Feb. 26 from 6.63 percent for the one ending July 24, according to data compiled by McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac. Meanwhile, the percent of mortgage applications that led to closings fell nationwide to 59 percent in the first half of 2008 from 66.3 percent in 2006, the most recent period for which data is available, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213&sid=a8ta_MEhUZ9E&refer=home
Consolidation?
best know your local farmers and support them.
“Food Is Gold, So Billions Invested in Farming”
http://tinyurl.com/bp7y4z
“Seized: The 2008 land grab for food and financial security”
http://tinyurl.com/belnp4
“Burying their own pensions”
http://tinyurl.com/aru7ms
-Local governments cannot afford to fund the pensions they’re promising to their workers. So New Jersey has proposed a solution: don’t pay it
Grim or someone else with GSMLS access, can you please give me the status for 73 Christopher in Montclair? Withdrawn or UC? If UC, what is the estimated close date? Curious because we are hoping to use this as a comp.
Also I see that 49 Christopher is finally UC. What is the anticipated close date?
Thanks!
Shore Guy says:
March 1, 2009 at 11:05 am
“I think it’s also safe to assume that with this gubmint picking winners and losers, we’re all the losers.”
Clot,
I disagree. Those who have something will lose; those with nothing will gain. Fail and move up, tovarish.
————————————-
Those with nothing will still have nothing-those with something will have nothing too. Those with nothing will have the satisfaction of that-after all that’s fair………..everyone is the same.
Haahaa, what a circle jerk.
“Freedom from mobs AS WELL AS kings.”
Somebody put General Motors out of OUR misery — PLEASE??? Cut this scuker loose before we all drown. GM execs were “surprised” to learn that the company pension plan went from at $20 billion surplus at the end of 07 to a $12.4 billion deficit at the end of 08. They raided it to pay for buyouts, retiree healthcare and “white collar incentives.” “SURPRISED???” When are these guys going to get a fcuking clue???
http://www.freep.com/article/20090301/BUSINESS01/903010405/Questions+arise+from+GM+s+use+of+pension
Wow, sounds like everyone is giving up capitalism from the tone of many of the posts today.
In my opinion, there will ALWAYS be opportunities to make money in this country for folks willing to work harder than their colleagues/neighbors. Even if the opportunities are different moving forward, they will be there nonetheless.
Contrary to the opinions of most people here today, we will not become communist Cuba or Russia under O. The rich will stay rich, the poor, poor. Those willing to take risks, and work hard, will either succeed or fail. This is no different than it has ever been.
I still have faith in the USA, even with all its problems. We definitely have some tough times ahead, and this fact wouldn’t be different if McCain had won. The question is how long the tough times will last before we ultimately resume productive growth, not whether or not we will make it out of this alive.
“HOME$ STILL TO FALL
ECONOMISTS: US NEEDS A BUST AFTER BOOM”
http://tinyurl.com/c7wud4
Now we are nationalizing financial instittutions (AIG 80% and C 40% already). Next, it will be Ciena, UnitedHealthCare, Merck and etc.
since mr. and mrs. o are ivies, i don’t expect they will nationalize univerisities. i won’t be too suprised to see a new president whose high degree is from a community college and whose agenda is to nationalize universities.
Has anyone seen is and is it bs or true?
Feds grant eminent domain as collateral to China for US debts.
http://www.liveleak.comview?i=0f8_1235673139
Oh the implications.
80#, JBJB, in 3 months, these college kids will start to ask where the “hope” is..
>I do sense the tide is starting to turn a bit against O’s big government tax and spend orgy amongst the liberla professional class.
corrected link
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0f8_1235673139
36#, kettle, this bomd has been there for over 4000 years. the trick is if it is going to explode in 2 months or 200 years.
kettle1 says:
March 1, 2009 at 9:30 am
china is a time bomb waiting to explode.
overpopulated, underemployed and soon to be underfed….
Sas,
I am endlessly frustrated that I can’t access your links because my firewall won’t allow me to do those tinyurls.
Could you use the regular ones?
“Has anyone seen is and is it bs or true?
Feds grant eminent domain as collateral to China for US debts”
i had mention sometime ago for people to keep an eye out for such situations, and I am sticking to it because I believe this may happen in your lifetime.
However, I suspect this article you post
isn’t true. There are other ways to do such things and it doesn’t have to be obvious to the avg prozac zombie schmuck.
SAS
sas says:
March 1, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Consolidation?
best know your local farmers and support them.
————————————–
One of my great grandfathers came here from Poland in the 1890’s-with money behind him. He opened a local butcher shop and carried many through the downturn of the 30’s- I wonder if the grocery corps-agri conglomerates will do the same… what do you think?
What’s good-is what’s good for me, ehh?
————————————
Mr. Grim, there exists other economic theory
I’ll blow the dust off of this:
Social Credit
From Wikipedia
Social Credit is a socio-economic philosophy, interdisciplinary in nature, encompassing the fields of philosophy, economics, political science, history, accounting, and physics. The term Social Credit, as a formal name, originated from the writings of British engineer and originator of the Social Credit movement, C. H. Douglas[1] (1879–1952), who wrote a book by that name in 1924. According to Douglas, the true purpose of production is consumption, and production must serve the genuine, freely expressed interests of consumers. Each citizen is to have a beneficial, not direct, inheritance in the communal capital conferred by complete and dynamic access to the fruits of industry assured by the National Dividend and Compensated Price.[2] Consumers, fully provided with adequate purchasing power, will establish the policy of production through exercise of their monetary vote.[2] In this view, the term economic democracy does not mean worker control of industry.[2] Removing the policy of production from banking institutions, government, and industry, Social Credit envisages an “aristocracy of producers, serving and accredited by a democracy of consumers.”[2] Assuming the only safe place for power is in many hands, Social Credit is a distributive philosophy, and its policy is to disperse power to individuals. Social Credit philosophy is best summed by Douglas when he said, “Systems were made for men, and not men for systems, and the interest of man which is self-development, is above all systems, whether theological, political or economic.”[3]
C. H. Douglas[1] (1879–1952),
“Freedom from mobs AS WELL AS kings.”
“Could you use the regular ones?”
cut & paste the headlines.
if its a short URL, i will just post the link.
but, sometimes those URLs are very long and makes the posts not very clean.
I will make a better effort to find a happy medium.
SAS
sas,
Thank you.
[460][yesterday] yikes
Yikes asked “why diapers?”
Expecting 2nd little Deplume in 6 weeks.
It is also a metaphor for stocking up on things you need, but don’t necessarily eat, to hedge against price rises, either due to supply disruption, government action, or plain old inflation.
For example, cotton prices are going to rise due to droughts and (if the Messiah gets his way) cuts in cotton subsidies. So I think it only sensible that I stock up on skivvies if I think the price will go up due to market forces and inflation. Same thing with “feminine” products, though I will defer to the actual consumers on what must be stocked.
Besides, helluva lotta good my bucks are doing in the bank. Might as well take advantage of this lull in inflation.
Anyone suffer through any of the Limbaugh hot air yesterday? The disingenuous arguments, one after another was breathtaking. And everytime he insisted that his ilk were salt of the earth love everyone not racists types, it was followed with a racial stereotype or metaphor in joke or anecdotal form. This happened at least three times. I don’t even think he knows he does it.
It was kind of funny, but sad too.
“One of my great grandfathers came here from Poland in the 1890’s-with money behind him. He opened a local butcher shop and carried many through the downturn of the 30’s”
very smart.
and some asked about future opportunities, its thinking like thise.
“I wonder if the grocery corps-agri conglomerates will do the same… what do you think?”
oh they will provide. but at what price, and what quality? can you say taint & antibiotics? I love melamine.
and only few will sell, so money stays in the hands of the few.
I’d hate to be in Cuba right now.
“What’s good-is what’s good for me, ehh?”
sure
why not:)
SAS
Limbaugh = propaganda to get you caught up on right vs .left.
Omama = failure
SAS
I love CO2
SAS
[104] hubba,
I think that is a little too farfetched outside of a TEOTWAWKI scenario.
One econ. theory posited years ago was that the U.S. could wind up as the granary for Asia, though that involved ag demand in Asia, and payment in US dollars from american consumers here. Essentially, ag would be our only meaningful industry. In fact, about a year before the run up in oil and ag prices, WSJ ran a report on how farmland was being snapped up by investors.
Some other cash-rich countries have been buying land in places like Africa, to insure that it can feed its citizens. But that involves outright purchasing (which may be happening here, if farmland prices are any indication).
But my gut tells me that, if there is one thing more than anything else that would spark a state’s secession, it would be the prospect of a China sovereign fund attempting to trade its T-bonds for land in that state, and using the USG as its enforcer. People would demand that the state secede and repudiate the federal debt before it is forced to exchange valuable land for rapidly declining dollars.
In some secession scenarios I have contemplated, if the feds wanted to send in the army, there is little a state could do, but the citizenry could essentially subvert by bringing much of the economy underground (or by a tax strike). But an actual land grab by the feds, for land that will only grow crops for China, well, you can see how well that would be received. The state will be forced to secede by popular pressure, and will likely recall its guard units. It would probably also authorize creation of private militias as it could not possibly train state militias in time. There will be plenty of candidates as the fringe elements will flock to the state to help defend it. This would force the feds to consider whether to crush the state or hold off as there would most certainly be bloodshed, and such an event may force other states to arm up and talk mutual defense. Now you have a low-intensity civil war on your hands.
This will also be most contentious in states where there is federal land (though admittedly that would not involve eminent domain). Secession would essentially be a land grab by the state over BLM land, and that adds a new dimension.
(101) Sybarite –
“I still have faith in the USA, even with all its problems.”
Me too – I’m just more aware of the shenanigans (that were always going on – no matter the party) these days.
[95, 96] SAS
Now you see at least one motivation for the Nompound, and why I was looking for enough land to tenant-farm, not just self-sustain.
I believe Spam told someone once on this board that a 10 acre spread wouldn’t support income farming, and I believe her (regardless of what she may think of my Nompound plan, I do value her input on ag issues, as she is actively involved and has a acute understanding of the economics).
[120] redux
(too quick on the enter button)
That is one reason the Nompound has to be large enough to support some income farming and CSA farming for the Nompound participants.
It is also a reason I considered, as one alternate plan for investing, putting the Nompound into an LP, with limited partners that get fewer access rights but can use the nompound for CSA farming and TSHTF sanctuary (while full Nompound partners would get “timeshare” rights to the residence(s), and a greater share of any rental or depletion income).
To any of Santelli’s Fan – I used to be one – This is from Barry Ritholtz’ -Big Picture Blog
So always ask yourself the Marcus Aurelius – The why/who/when/who benefits of any news. As a long time lurker – I noticed is the last few days – a certain tone that was not here before – Should I dare call it -ideoligical fake.
I was interviewed by several journalists last week about Rick Santelli’s Rant — my exact quote was it had a “Faux” feel to it. (I haven’t seen it in print yet)
What was so odd about this was that Santelli is usually on the ball; we usually agree more often than we disagree. He’s been responsible for some of the best moments on Squawk Box.
But his rant somehow felt wrong. After we’ve pissed through over $7 trillion dollars in Federal bailouts to banks, brokers, automakers, insurers, etc., this was a pittance, the least offensive of all the vast sums of wasted money spent on “losers” to use Santelli’s phrase. It seemed like a whole lot of noise over “just” $75 billion, or 1% of the rest of the total ne’er-do-well bailout monies.
It turns out that there may be more to the story then originally met the eye, according to (yes, really) Playboy magazine.
Excerpt:
“How did a minor-league TV figure, whose contract with CNBC is due this summer, get so quickly launched into a nationwide rightwing blog sensation? Why were there so many sites and organizations online and live within minutes or hours after his rant, leading to a nationwide protest just a week after his rant?
What hasn’t been reported until now is evidence linking Santelli’s “tea party” rant with some very familiar names in the Republican rightwing machine, from PR operatives who specialize in imitation-grassroots PR campaigns (called “astroturfing”) to bigwig politicians and notorious billionaire funders. As veteran Russia reporters, both of us spent years watching the Kremlin use fake grassroots movements to influence and control the political landscape. To us, the uncanny speed and direction the movement took and the players involved in promoting it had a strangely forced quality to it. If it seemed scripted, that’s because it was.
What we discovered is that Santelli’s “rant” was not at all spontaneous
Has anyone ever been to Singapore?
Lurker,
is there a link to the article? I don’t subscribe despite the great articles but I’d need to see the evidence reported, you clip falls just short of what seems to be the specifics that follow.
Barry Rithholtz site is http://www.ritholtz.com/blog
is about 1/4 of web page down.
Reference article http://www.playboy.com/blog/2009/02/backstabber.html
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/02/rick-santellis-faux-rant/
(124) Barbara – I think this is the link.
I don’t doubt Santelli being legit. I won’t deny that his rant has been used for political mileage by the Republican party blogosphere.
If Bush had put forth such a program undoubtedly Santelli would have said the same thing and the Democratic blogosphere would be all over it putting it up on every website.
End of the day it’s the same establishment party using and individuals candid comments for their own political gain.
The Americans people are saps.
So, we can expect to get 2″ per hour tomorrow, huh?
Clot 61…exactly…controlled news. Never surprises me. Not quite sure where you can get anything without a slant these days. Any sources you feel tell it like it really is?
saw another townhouse today. 338,000 but it sold in 2007 for 355,000. as we left the realtor stated, the owner is not occupying the home right now, but she is not in a situation either. huh? I be that situation is soon to be here…Why isn’t she asking 380 then?
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/
Tyler Cowen – Marginal Revolution
“Why the Banking System is Hard to Fix”
Okay – I get the part about the pensions falling apart now…
His article taps into a link to Megan McCardle @ The Atlantic….
“It’s easy to blithely say “Why don’t they just make the bondholders take a haircut?” Harder when you think about who those bondholders are: insurers, pension funds, the bond component of your 401k. Financial debt makes up something like a third of the bond market, and the largest holders are pensions and insurers.
The insurers are the biggest problem because they are just so closely regulated. They’re not allowed to hold risky assets. Convert their bonds to equity and they will be forced to dump that equity at prices that will trend toward zero. Many insurers will see their capital impaired below the regulatory limits, requiring a government bailout.
Pension funds are the next biggest problem…etc. etc.
These are some tough choices…
#123 wallies,
I’ve been to Singapore twice. Why do you ask?
I was interviewed by several journalists last week about Rick Santelli’s Rant — my exact quote was it had a “Faux” feel to it.
That’s my take on it. Yesterday looked like those manufactured protests from Florida in 2000, or the Clear Channel organized anti-Dixie Chick events.
House Hunter, you ARE aware that your “tea parties” are part of a massive astroturf effort, right?
cave house…very funny
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/29446798#29446798
[132] schabadoo
There you go again. If it doesn’t fit your worldview, it must be contrived, artificial, false, and deserving of opprobrium or prosecution.
Watching the clips of Santelli, one doesn’t come away with a “scripted” quality, especially since it wasn’t very articulate (or perhaps that lack of articulation was scripted). Nor was it very long or especially meaningful or insightful. What it was, was raw and public, and from a more legitimate source than a blog. Finally, it was not much of a departure from how he acts regularly (Santelli is usually almost as animated as in that clip). It was the the fact that it departed (and not by much) from the rest of the programming that made it novel. But it was not Howard Beal’s rant from Network either.
That it had a brief flame in the blogosphere is also not surprising, nor is the fact that it did not set the countryside alight. These things have a tendency to flame out on their own, especially if they appeal to the right, which has always had a difficult time mounting protests (if, for no other reason, most of the potential protesters are at work).
Finally, most protests are manufactured (or, if you agree with the movement’s viewpoint, it is at worst “organized”). A protest that is not manufactured/organized is usually called a disturbance, or, sometimes, a riot.
Essex, ref 47: there are lots of people on this board whose opinions I respect because they work daily in the areas they discuss. As far our political system goes, its never been about dems or reps (and I suspect others here have frequently made this point) its the system that stinks. Any congressional rep of either party can steer as much money as they can get their hands on to their pet projects any time they want. Fact is, your representatives get re-elected by building new bridges rather than repairing old ones. The reason our infrastructure sucks is because politicans of both parties at all levels would rather steer your tax dollars to friends than do something with it for the public good. We waste more annually in our budget than most nations produce in a decade. Shovel ready? Hahahahaha.
Oh, by the way, this administration and many of my ex-pat friends believe that the most important goal of our foreign policy is for other countries to “like” us. That’s why we spend so much money trying to buy friends
#131 Safeashouses
I was wondering if it would be a good SHTF location…or even just to go on vacation.
grim (22)
I never said nor I believe that maplewood is much different than most other areas in NNJ. I think taxes are high, commute great, and schools acceptable.
Someone said maplewood sucks, clifton sucks, and montclair is superior but I could not understand what makes them say that.
These things have a tendency to flame out on their own
Yes, especially when they’ve pre-registered the domain name for this ‘spontaneous’ event. It’s at least good to see Dick Armey has a hobby.
It’s good to see that pesky facts still aren’t affecting what you believe to be true.
[138] wallies,
as for the former, I think you would have to be Jim Rogers.
Course, if I had his money, I wouldn’t be worried about TSHTF. Or about The One’s economic agenda (for now, these are separate things).
[140] schab.
You really gotta stop getting your facts from blogs. Why don’t you try a more reputable source, like the National Enquirer?
I really gotta wonder sometimes what color you believe the sky to be in your world.
You can keep trolling if you like. I gotta get back to work. Someone has to pay for your bailout.
Santelli’s Tea Party
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1039849853
I don’t see what the big deal is. He’s pretty much voicing on MSM what many of us post on this blog.
You really gotta stop getting your facts from blogs.
I get it. You don’t like facts that don’t support your believes.
No reason to keep saying it.
You can keep trolling if you like.
Going for irony? Your signal to noise is off the charts.
#138 wallies,
It’s a great place for a vacation. Google Jurong Bird Park, Sentosa Island, and Singapore Zoo.
The food is great and cheap. I recommend eating at the arcades (malls) the locals eat at, as well as restaurants on the side streets. I found Chinatown to be a dump, it’s also probably the place in Singapore you are most likely to get your pocket picked (according to some locals I knew).
The chilli crab is delicious but hard to eat. Tiger beer is great. There are are some good museums too. try to plan your day around the sun since it is so hot. Like do some outdoor stuff early in the morning, then move indoors like museums or shopping from 11 am to 2 pm.
A shtf place there are pros and cons. Singapore imports most of its food. Even most of its water is imported from Malaysia, plus you can see Indonesia from the heights on Sentosa Island on a clear day. Really depends on how stable Indonesia and Malaysia are.
Singapore also has the one of the best medical systems in the world and the best defense forces in Southeast Asia. Jim Rodgers moved there over China since Singapore is much cleaner.
It is one of my places I would move to though.
#145
Also the trainlines/subways are very clean and efficient.
Singapore is pretty small though, about the size of Ocean county.
JBJB (80)
perhaps your high income highly educated friends are not so educated after all. Because otherwise the would understand that O seems to be doing what he promised to do BEFORE the election. They should have known better.
I don’t see what the big deal is.
His rant is no big thing.
It’s the mechinations behind it that are annoying.
147. maplewoodian says:
March 1, 2009 at 4:52 pm
JBJB (80)
perhaps your high income highly educated friends are not so educated after all. Because otherwise the would understand that O seems to be doing what he promised to do BEFORE the election. They should have known better.
xxxx
Trollwood,
Would you please just go away? Now you are annoying. You are like a female Frank but you live in a worse town.
I am in my second hour of The Ascent of Money… if you have’t seen you really should. Look for pieces of it on you tube, six pieces each divided into five sections. History of finance from the dawn of man, from the opium trade to LTCM and back….
No income, No Job, No Assets = NINJA
This is the collateral damage of this mess.
Forced From Executive Pay to Hourly Wage
Nine months ago he lost his job as the security manager for the western United States for a Fortune 500 company, overseeing a budget of $1.2 million and earning about $70,000 a year. Now he is grateful for the $12 an hour he makes in what is known in unemployment circles as a “survival job” at a friend’s janitorial services company.
About 1.7 million people, however, were working part-time in January because they could not find full-time work, a 40 percent jump from December 2007, when the recession began, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/us/01survival.html?em
comrade nom deplume says:
March 1, 2009 at 4:26 pm
” These things have a tendency to flame out on their own, especially if they appeal to the right, which has always had a difficult time mounting protests (if, for no other reason, most of the potential protesters are at work).”
?????
I’d say the right has a pretty efficient and well oiled machine when it comes to “protests”.
The left has a tendancy towards indecision and internal debate.
The right – Hannity, Limbaugh, Coulter all get on the case in a heartbeat and the protests follow. Thus we got the 2000 election “all the votes have been counted”, Terri Schiavo, the “War on Christmas”, ten commandments in court houses and a whole slew of “popular protests”. That a number flame out is usually due to the fact the they aren’t popular at all – like the Schiavo debacle .
Methinks you doth protest too much.
#139 Maplewood:and schools acceptable.
I guess if you leave out the High school.
Lisoosh (153) –
“Methinks you doth protest too much.”
– ROFLOL!
Where’s Hudson county in these and other stats?
3b (154)
I guess if you leave out the High school.
OK Columbia HS is average in NJ. I wish we could afford a town with a better high school
157
If you’re stuck in MW by the time your kids go to HS, there’s always private schools, too.
[153] lisoosh
“Methinks you doth protest too much.”
Methinks I don’t protest at all.
In some secession scenarios I have contemplated, if the feds wanted to send in the army, there is little a state could do, but the citizenry could essentially subvert by bringing much of the economy underground (or by a tax strike). But an actual land grab by the feds, for land that will only grow crops for China, well, you can see how well that would be received. The state will be forced to secede by popular pressure, and will likely recall its guard units. It would probably also authorize creation of private militias as it could not possibly train state militias in time. There will be plenty of candidates as the fringe elements will flock to the state to help defend it. This would force the feds to consider whether to crush the state or hold off as there would most certainly be bloodshed, and such an event may force other states to arm up and talk mutual defense. Now you have a low-intensity civil war on your hands.
NOM – i enjoy your posts … but this one seems a bit too movie-like.
my guess is that the US would sooner just default on its debut than boot US homeowners from their property to grow food for China.
at BEST, maybe they could pick an area that isn’t populated at all (first thought: out west, somewhere) …
NOM – follow-up …
what land would you see as the best to grow vegetation? if you had to ‘toss out’ three areas that might be enviable, what areas would they be?
wallies says:
March 1, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Has anyone ever been to Singapore?
yes, what do you want to know?
touk-touk’s are fun and dangerous
Assuming China gets some agricultural land here in exchange for our debt, what will they do with it? If they import Chinese peasants to farm it, the guys will run away to the Chinese takeouts the next day (they are still paying the smugglers upwards of $10K to get here). If they try to make the U.S. farmers till it for them, good luck…
China currently is self-sufficient in ag products, they even export some – and the population growth is very slow due to the government controls. They may be interested in some tropical land to grow stuff they can’t plant domestically – but not the farmland here.
It’s interesting, “O” is like “G.B.’s” shadow, spend, spend, spend, on the wrong things. GB takes us half way to Hell in eight years, and “O” runs the other half in four. Amazing how anyone in the Oval Office, fails to cast a reflection in a mirror, immediately after the Coronation.
comrade nom deplume says:
March 1, 2009 at 6:41 pm
“Methinks I don’t protest at all.”
Dude! A hefty portion of your posts are a shade away from Limbaughs “white men are the true minority”.
confused,
O’s been in office <2 months, and you already know what’s going to happen in 2012?
Sybarite (127)
“there’s always private schools, too.”
yes, I would prefer public because middle school isn’t great here either and paying for 6 years might justify higher premium town. Any suggestions?
167
Not really. I went to Seton Hall Prep but probably wouldn’t send my kids there. I don’t like the idea of sacrificing some valuable lesson time religion classes.
I don’t have any kids so I don’t know much about the quality of various public or private schools, but I’m sure there are tons of resources for researching them.
To: #91 House Whine
From: #86
Actually I’m looking at Plainsboro and West Winsor area. I need the train access. Both towns are holding up pretty hold. Like other people said, the train to NYC still crowded.
(168)
I don’t care for parochial schools-I was wondering for Seton-thanks
“Has anyone ever been to Singapore?”
many times.
don’t want to be there when the SHTF.
too far away.
SAS
#153—You left out Elian Gonzalez and the countless protests at virtually every clinic that provides abortions (and sometimes birth control). And just to add to your point, the right (which in my democratic worldview = republicans) haven’t really had a reason to protest for the past 8 years.
Just as a general point about many of the posts I read here: People, could we please just get along? I get that the prevailing tone here is that a democratic president and congress will run the country into the ground; I don’t need (or want) to read it every day. Nor do I need (or want) to see any and every “liberal” poster denounced as a troll.
Finally, Shore Guy: Your life is far, far from miserable. From what you’ve posted, I’d say you’re financially better off than anyone else posting here. SAS: enough with the conspiracy theories and spy stories. Nom: Unless someone on this blog intends to invest in your “nompound,” and since you have no intention of setting it up in NJ, I fail to see its relevance here. Clotpoll: Is there really a need to toss off one-liners about 50% of the posts? Stu and Kettle: I do envy your jobs. My employers always expected me to actually spend the hours for which they were paying me working for them.
JB: Even though I don’t live in Northern New Jersey (and really have no intention of moving there), I have appreciated both the information you’ve provided and the fact that every morning you start the blog with a real estate- or NJ-related post. But the non real estate, partisan, put-down and doom-predicting comments are just too much to bear.
public schools = govt reeducation camps
“work hard, goto a good college, get a good job…”
lol, a sucker is born everyday.
SAS
“SAS: enough with the conspiracy theories and spy stories”
a theory is something you can’t prove.
everything i say ties directly into the economy.
When they take your 401k & pension funds, just remember who did it to you.
I love CO2
SAS
translation: my fellow citizens, please forget whatever hope and change i preached last year. that’s last year’s BS. lets move on.
WSJ:
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, said the president wasn’t happy with the 9,000-or-so earmarks that lawmakers added to the legislation. But “this is last year’s business,” Mr. Emanuel said, adding that Mr. 0bama would sign the bill, once it is approved by Congress.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123592142217703383.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
AIG to rebrand P&C business, sell stake to public
http://uk.reuters.com/article/marketsNewsUS/idUKWEN535420090301
wow, does’nt this make the rest of AIG worthless and govt paid $150B for that ?
oh my! another consipracy theory.
lets just close our eyes and think positive. -SAS
“Stanford CFO declines to cooperate in SEC Probe”
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE5202OM20090301
“Warren Buffett Loses His Way”
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/03/warren-buffett-loses-his-way.html
“Buy American. I am”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/opinion/17buffett.html
08/16/2008 DOW 8979
02/27/2009 DOW 7062
~21% drop.
I guess he was wrong.
and William J. Lynn III had nothing to do with the missing trillions sucked out of the states, who now is the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense appointed by Omama.
(raythoen lobbyist, audited financial statements missing while aschief financial officer for the Department of Defense)
this is what you want…this is what you get.
Omama=Bush= high crime on steriods.
but hey, thats just a theory..
I love CO2
SAS
one person can not steal $3.3 trillion and can not do it in a short period of time.
We are looking at a SYSTEM. The SYSTEM is very deep and very old. It involves thousands of people, numerous government agencies, including intelligence agencies, banks and defense contractors, not to mention societies and secret societies.
:)
SAS
166.Sybarite says:
March 1, 2009 at 6:59 pm
confused,
O’s been in office <2 months, and you already know what’s going to happen in 2012?
His announced plans take us to 2012 and total and complete Bankruptcy. Like Bush, he hasn’t addressed one problem with a workable solution. He is still working on outdated wish lists. He should Nationalize Healthcare as Non Profit, if he really wants workable Healthcare Change. Societys Health should not play second fiddle to shareowner profits.
confused,
I agree with much of your post and have my doubts about O’s promises, but I don’t pretend that I know how it will all turn out. Who knows what will happen.
I agree about healthcare; whatever joker said that “free-markets” will fix healthcare is a fool.
The snow in Atlanta was really pretty today – huge flakes – but it’s getting colder and unusually windy. If you guys get the wind along with the snow tomorrow, watch out!!
Peace
you seem to make a lot of assumptions that dont have anything behind them.
maybe nom is independently wealthy, maybe he is a trust fudn brat, or maybe he makes 75K and lives like he makes 25K.
SAS maybe 007 and he may not, but if you dig into the background of some of his claims, some are very real, i can speak to that first hand. so maybe he is 50% BS he% real.
Me, well everyone seems to think the other guy has it better. be careful what you wish for. The average joe wishes he was a ceo making 2 million/yr, but if he realized that that would mean he rarely see’s his own children or wife and tries to assuage his guilt by buying them shiny stuff, would it still be worth it.
This is an internet blog, so deal with the characters, you will have them on any and all blogs.
Regarding the doom and gloom; many of the posters on this blog have nailed the sequence of events that have occurred long before even the so called experts began to discuss any of it.
lighten up, join the freak show and as long as grim is happy with the blog its not really relevant, as its his blog…
#172 HEY! I LIKE the posts by Shore, SAS, Nom, Stu, Kettle and just about everyone else here. And I especially like Clot’s one liners so keep ’em coming!
PPPPFFFFFFTTTTTT!!!!!!!
What’s the difference between Bush and Obama?
Bush was just plain stupid to understand what was really going on.
Obama is so intelligent that he thinks he knows whats best. He rationalizes his thoughts into favorable twisted statistical outcomes. Everyone on the left thinks a well educated man must be smarter than the rest. All of our lefties in office have the same beliefs. They spend too much time in the classroom listening to all that left wing bull!!!!!! They have never really pulled the bootstings up of a small business. Im talking about Contractors, store owners, and auto repair shops. We care about our employees, their like our kids. We want only the best for them. But the eduacated leftwing feels jaded, to think a less educated man who owns his own business could make more than them.
At least Bush understood the average person. The democaratic party instead tells the less fortunate that they will solve your problems.
Social programs only keep the poor man down. Wake up lefties!! wake up!
tell you the truth, I like to read all posts, and enjoy reading all inputs, even if I don’t agree:)
what rubs me the wrong way is when someone basically says: don’t post cause I don’t like what you say.
hell, i even like reinvestor101 and think maplewoodian sometimes makes a good rebuttal.
SAS
so jack,
All business owners, contractors, etc are Republican, by your reasoning? I love the broad stroke generalizations.
Don’t look now but Japan and Australia are all down >3%.
Off to my hockey game in Hackensack. Toodles and catch you all in the snowy morning.
Way too much partisan BS this weekend for me.
Gator was Stu there, but you all figured that out (I hope).
#157 maplewood Average?? Delusional??
Peacenow:
Who cares ;)
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/03/q4-bank-stress-ratings-for-all-us-banks-bac-c-jpm-and-wfc/#comments
“C” gets an “F”
Sybarite – I think we are pretty darn positive. I’m not so political but I hate seeing bad behavior rewarded. You are just asking for it further down the road.
Anyone who ever raised a kid knows that.
Because protectionism is a bad thing (unless it protects one of those highly civilized countries…psssst: London, Canada, Germany, France….you know; it’s not that they are arrogant-they are just better than everyone else)
Times Online
The Times
March 2, 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5828279.ece
Suspicion and self-interest behind the European Union rift
David Charter in Brussels
“The Czech Republic, which holds the rotating EU presidency, called the summit on the back of a row that President Sarkozy started when he suggested that French car companies with plants in Eastern Europe should relocate to France to create local jobs. “
nom,
congrats on the new little nom :)
“Wake up lefties!! wake up!”
Jack – Go back to sleep.
Cindy,
“I’m not so political but I hate seeing bad behavior rewarded. You are just asking for it further down the road.”
You and me both. It sickens me to hear about bailouts for the greedy and irresponsible.
It’s the partisanship lately that drives me nuts. Now that a Democrat has been elected our future is pre-ordained to failure?
The same argument goes for the other side, by the way. Had a Republican been elected odds are the economy would be in the same place it will be in 4 years.
Re 192#: cindy
last december is the only month in last 6 months when the market moved up. why? because congress was in recession an neither bush nor 0bama were in charge.
the market itself is figuring out good banks/bad banks. even with friday’s sell-off, JPM, USB and WFC moved up siginficantly for the week and BAC moved up slightly.
“Don’t look now but Japan and Australia are all down >3%.”
Stu – Tomorrow, we dine in HELL!
Middle east investors getting nervous…
Abu Dhabi reviewing Citigroup investment -sources
Abu Dhabi is assessing its $7.5 billion investment in Citigroup as the bank’s problems deepen and consequences of a possible nationalisation become clearer, according to sources close to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). ADIA invested $7.5 billon last year in Citi through convertible bonds that pay 11 percent in interest, but it must start converting the bonds into 235.6 million shares in Citigroup from March next year. “Nothing has changed from ADIA’s perspective at this point. ADIA’s convertible bonds are due for conversion in a phased manner between March 2010 and September 2011, and that stands,” an Abu Dhabi government official told Reuters. “But it is carefully assessing its options due to the latest events — although no decision is taken yet,” he said, declining to be named.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/marketsNewsUS/idUKL160589620090301
perhaps black monday will have an added dimension because the SNOWSTORM OF THE CENTURY is about to hit?
#198 “Dine in HELL” Can I get a coupon for that?
Bank of America carries loans $44 billion above market value
Bank of America Corp is carrying loans on its balance sheet marked at more than $44 billion above their fair value, the company said in its annual report filed with U.S. regulators on Friday. The bank said it ended 2008 with $886.2 billion in loans, but estimated the fair value — or market price — for these loans as $841.6 billion. The bank intends to hold these loans to maturity, not for sale, said spokesman Scott Silvestri, explaining why the loans are marked above market value. The report showed the bank struggled throughout the year as losses on consumer debt including mortgages, home equity and credit cards piled up.
http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE51R04L20090228?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews
http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/18/parliament-bonus-london-opinions-columnists_0219_britain_banker.html
(197) Bi – You may have something there.
“Last week I bumbled along to Parliament to see four ex-bankers being drawn and quartered or the modern equivalent thereof.”
EX-bankers – But not here.
So what will it take to make Mr. Market happy? Should we break up C?
Logical 193 And so it begins, distrust, protectionism,self interest is a b*tch isn’t it.
The whole world will follow the script just like last time (human nature). These will be trying times my friends stock up & don’t get noticed. If you do be ready. Off to restaurant depot this week to get some more goods in bulk wholesale. Better safe than sorry, you can always use it.
Outofstater 201 Ask Stu he has one for everything.
Vic,
for you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_Zp-BxLoew&feature=related
kettle,
where is my vid?
SAS
I’m not so political but I hate seeing bad behavior rewarded.
I agree with this.
MBS
NINJA loans
And yet the banks have been bailed out for how much now? Unreal.
In a more civilized society they’d be up against a wall.
SAS
here is yours,
keep the idea of how clandestine services often fund themselves, work i believe you have had contact with
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0s5UOVsMDg
Ket (210) –
That is the movie I had in mind! Terrible movie, nice quote!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4jY8WxcFMo
SAS Here is one for you.
“Nine Inch Nails – The Perfect Drug”
wow, that video scared the hell out of me.
you like that music?
give me Burt Bacharach.
:)
SAS
schabadoo (212) –
“And yet the banks have been bailed out for how much now? Unreal.”
– Go back to hugging that tree. Don’t you know we need to bail them out, so that we can all get wealthy by all the trickling down action!
/snark
They might as well ask for all debts to be canceled. Western EU has no money to give. The western EU banks are leverage 50+:1. and have huge foriegn currency liabilities that the nations cannot cover with out collapsing
EU’s Eastern States Plead for Aid as Crisis Escalates
Eastern European leaders pleaded with richer western European countries to boost financial aid and keep trade flowing, warning that the recession risks splitting the European Union. The worst slump since World War II is devastating the ex- communist economies in the EU’s east, sinking their currencies and driving two countries — Hungary and Latvia — to tap international aid to avert default. “They are in a deep crisis and they need our solidarity,” Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt told reporters before a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels today. The EU’s $17 trillion economy will contract 1.8 percent in 2009, the European Commission predicts. Latvia, the bloc’s star performer only three years ago, will shrink 6.9 percent. Growth in Poland, the biggest eastern economy, will tumble to 2 percent, the slackest pace since 2002.
SAS
yes, i do. I also like chamber music and this…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JzzBLQkHk0
all 3 help me think. clears the mind. which of the 3 i listen depends on the type of problem i am trying to solve.
NIN goes well with (6aR,9R)- N,N- diethyl- 7-methyl- 4,6,6a,7,8,9- hexahydroindolo- [4,3-fg] quinoline- 9-carboxamide
While the music at the link goes well with 1-(benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-yl)- N-methylpropan-2-amine
“007 Quantum Of Solace – Official Theatrical Trailer”
yeah, thats a fun movie. i like that one. no real truth to it, but still fun.
some recent movies that are fun to watch that have a ring of truth to it.
AMerican Gangster-surprized it was ever made its so true, however it was’t rogue, everyone did it & still does.
(Opium, afganistan etc..)
Syriana- ThePetroleum politics is pretty accurate
The Bourne Identity-plot is silly, but what is VERY accuarate, is that when they want you and come after you, they hit you at all angles, non-stop. That methodology is accurate.
Enemy of the State- story line is familiar.
but, i do like old episodes of Abbott & Costello. Those are so damn funny! classic.
SAS
SAS
here you, some burt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hUhtLYhlhE
maplewoodian says:
March 1, 2009 at 6:09 pm
3b (154)
I guess if you leave out the High school.
OK Columbia HS is average in NJ. I wish we could afford a town with a better high school
mapes: why don’t you rent a home in Millburn…….BTW I state flat out that people need to define “better high school”….does it imply where your kid goes to college, or what they learn?
PeaceNow says:
March 1, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Good. I see that the Mode was left off your list of complaints…AS IT SHOULD BE
Some one get those gentlemen a healthy bonus, this takes ome serious F’ing talent!!!
AIG is expected to post a roughly $60 billion fourth-quarter loss on Monday, produced in large part by write-downs on certain tax assets and commercial mortgage backed securities, the source said. The loss — which works out to about $460,000 per minute — is mostly non-cash, the source said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE51Q61I20090301?sp=true
Didnt someone on this blog ask about insurance policies?
AIG talks weigh securitizing life policies
American International Group Inc may securitize some U.S. life insurance policies and have the interest rate on a government loan lowered, as talks continue to help the insurer deal with its financial problems, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. The U.S. government, AIG and credit rating agencies, including Moody’s, S&P and A.M. Best, are in discussions, the source said, as the troubled insurer prepares to post a roughly $60 billion quarterly loss. The loss, which equates to about $460,000 per minute, would be the largest in corporate history. The possibilities of relief for AIG, once the world’s largest insurer by market value, include eliminating the London Interbank Offered Rate floor on the interest rate it pays on the government’s $60 billion credit line. The company currently pays 3 percentage points above Libor.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090228/bs_nm/us_aig_7
grim, 22, 32 [and add chifi]
hee hee hee, hee hee…. he said Schmuck!
And a dirty schmuck at that!
And according to chifi, a dirty, hairy! schmuck at that…
hee hee hee hee
sl (sorry! been up since 0400, did 7-3 (turned into 6) got home and after having some 65 y/o guy flash me, a 70 yr old guy absentmindedly fondle himself while I was taking his history…. I’ve reached delirium….sadly, coffee won out over scotch this night… :(
sl
If anyone needs a “lather rinse repeat” today — it most certainly is me.
sl
American Boomers: 30% underwater
Many of those nearing retirement will have very little to live on thanks to an erosion of home equity.
What a turnaround for the American Dream! According to a report released Wednesday, the real estate market bust and stock market declines have carved a huge chunk out of the assets of baby boomers. So much home equity has been lost that 30% of boomers, aged 45 to 54, are underwater in their homes, according to “The Wealth of the Baby Boom Cohorts After the Collapse of the Housing Bubble. ” The report, released by D.C.-based think tank the Center for Economic and Policy Research, also found that 18% of boomers aged 55 to 64 would owe money at close if they sold their homes.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/25/real_estate/boomer_wealth_evaporating/index.htm?ref=patrick.net
Grim,
you by chance 6’2 or taller?
SAS
The DOW futures have a 6 handle. Asian markets are off 3% in early trading. Should be another rough week.
Louisiana bank is first to return TARP funds
Iberiabank Corp. became the first bank to pull out of the government’s bailout program Friday, saying it would be returning the $90 million it received from the government in early December under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The Lafayette, La., bank said it will buy back the 90,000 class A shares held by the Treasury, plus a pro-rated dividend accrual of $575,000. That will make Iberiabank the first institution to return TARP funds, according to a Treasury spokesman. TARP has helped provide stability to the banking system overall but recent changes would put IBERIA at a disadvantage, said Daryl Byrd, the bank’s chief executive. “We believe recent actions, interpretations, and commentary regarding various aspects of the program places our company at an unacceptable competitive disadvantage,” said Byrd in a statement.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/27/news/companies/iberia_tarp/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote
SAS
you could probably add some interesting commentray to this article
The violent battle for control of a border city
http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=20501865
knocked up is a great, great movie
“Logical 193 And so it begins, distrust, protectionism,self interest is a b*tch isn’t it.”
It’s rather ironic, no? The Slavs give the world a man like this:
Nicolaus Copernicus (February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543)
Among the great polymaths of the Renaissance, Copernicus was a mathematician, astronomer, physician, classical scholar, translator, artist,[1] Catholic cleric, jurist, governor, military leader, diplomat and economist. Among his many responsibilities, astronomy figured as little more than an avocation — yet it was in that field that he made his mark upon the world.
In 1526 Copernicus wrote a study on the value of money, Monetae cudendae ratio. In it, Copernicus formulated an early iteration of the theory, now called “Gresham’s Law,” that “bad” (debased) coinage drives “good” (un-debased) coinage out of circulation, 70 years before Gresham. He also formulated a version of quantity theory of money.
At a time when the oh so civilized Celts were still painting their faces blue and hanging from tree….
ehh? It is their system………
“White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, said the president wasn’t happy with the 9,000-or-so earmarks that lawmakers added to the legislation. But “this is last year’s business,” Mr. Emanuel said, adding that Mr. 0bama would sign the bill, once it is approved by Congress.”
His failure to veto the bill and DEMAND a clean bill marks him as one who can be rolled.
AIG gets more of our money.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0134457520090302
Peace, when a person hangs out someplace for a long time, and then complains about a lot of the people, it kinda sorta makes me go, “Hmmmmmm.”
I’m thinking about all those nice folks ..the ones who just all get along. They don’t snipe or say nasty things. Sweet aren’t they?
Imagine that a hungry, rioting inhabitant is coming at you with club.
Now quick.
Who’s got your back?
yikes says:
March 1, 2009 at 10:13 pm
knocked up is a great, great movie
y: You are kidding right? Unfunny and it makes no sense. The guy is an utter zero and is not even nice. Seth Rogen is Banya….
Glenn Beck’s heart-stopping housing chart
His failure to veto the bill and DEMAND a clean bill marks him as one who can be rolled.
I wonder if you’re confusing the stimulus with the budget. The budget has earmarks, that’s where they’ve always been.
“PeaceNow” @ 7:25 pm:
Holy moley — any other posting rules you’d like to lay down?
Book that vacation, stat.
ChiFi, this is just weird:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bsXOcK9_Cw&fmt=22
RE: Glenn Beck’s heart-stopping housing chart
The 2006 bubble peak on his chart is actually half the proper height — perhaps not enough room on the monitor.
http://www.iaconoresearch.com/BlogImages/07-10-04b_ensign_bernanke.jpg
CNBC’s excellent “House of Cards” starts in 12 minutes…
http://www.cnbc.com/id/28892719
The news finally addresses some real issues! (video)
http://tinyurl.com/agkebl
Qwerty says:
March 1, 2009 at 11:46 pm
ChiFi, this is just weird:
Q: I think it is a publicity stunt more than anything else. Personally, while it is an enjoyable film, it detracts from the music, which is relegated to background soundtrack status.
This video is better, starting at minute 1:00….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INLNeY6zTHc
chicago (222)
“people need to define “better high school”….does it imply where your kid goes to college, or what they learn?”
To encounter a large group of peers who are academically inclined and competent teachers fostering this.
No way to tell without personal experience I guess one has to go with the numbers.
Renting not a bad idea. Trying the magnet schools is another.
Mutiny at the Market.
A tenants’ mutiny at Grand Central Market was resolved last week after a group of merchants who had withheld their February rents came to an agreement with the landlord and paid up.
As part of the resolution with landlord The Yellin Company, rents will be lowered and advertising fees charged to the tenants will be eliminated.
Adele Yellin, president of the Yellin Company, said that the move will lower costs for the 40 merchants.
http://www.downtownnews.com/articles/2009/02/23/news/02-23-09-news03.txt
Warren buffet gets wacked.
Berkshire Profit Plunges 96% on Stock Market Bets.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. posted a fifth-straight profit drop, the longest streak of quarterly declines in at least 17 years, on losses from derivative bets tied to stock markets.
Fourth-quarter net income fell 96 percent to $117 million, or $76 a share, from $2.95 billion, or $1,904 a share, in the same period a year earlier, the Omaha, Nebraska-based firm said in its annual report. Book value per share, a measure of assets minus liabilities that Buffett highlights in his yearly letter to shareholders, slipped 9.6 percent for all of 2008, the worst performance since Buffett took control in 1965.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aOYOfTNCuQIQ
Chi — this one is interesting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxTNsc3U53c&fmt=18
qwerty, ChiFi
Never heard of Dave Gahan, thanks for the intro. good music!
PeaceNow –
Shore Guy doesn’t claim that his life is miserable, and he acknowledges that he’s well off financially. his complaint is that it is possible to work really, really hard, in all the “right” ways, *and* be lucky, and still feel *comfortable* affluence slip away. which of course is not a human tragedy; his point is that the system is set up to discourage that degree of effort. and he’s quite right that it’s a problem because people who work in that way are the ones who create jobs. personally I’d rather work (far) less and be far less affluent, but even so I’d like to see hard work rewarded.
of course, it’s even worse (per denninger) that the system is not set up to reward *honesty.*
SAS: please continue providing the conspiracy theories. I hope you’re wrong re TIAA CREF; I fear you’re right.
Nom: “nompound” is great. have you ever read “The Day of the Triffids” (sp.?) by John Wyndham?
Clotpoll: yes! one liners!
Kettle’s posts: these remind me of a great sequence I once found in a Catholic catechism for adults (I’m not Catholic, but I’ll read anything)(sorry re the lousy paraphrasing; I’m working from long-term memory).
question: Isn’t the Catholic Church’s claim to be the sole source of ultimate truth, arrogant?
answer: it’s not arrogant, if it’s *true.*
so, doom and gloom predictions and analyses are not annoying and irrelevant, if they’re RIGHT.
The facts always speak for themselves and it’s true what you said about not being near the bottom just yet. Perhaps prices will get there towards mid to late 2009?