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Some insanely odd juxtaposition to start off the Weekend (this will be completely meaningless to you if you’ve never seen the movie American Psycho).
Richard Fisher – Head of the Dallas Fed
Miles Fisher – Son of Richard Fisher, Musician/Actor
Richard Fisher
From MarketWatch:
Dallas Fed chief sees ‘deflationary risk’ as pre-eminent
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said late Thursday that he anticipates businesses will continue to keep a tight rein on spending in the near future, as “markets are still a long way from having normalized.”
In remarks prepared for a speech at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Fisher said that for the immediate future, “the risk to price stability is a deflationary risk, not an inflationary one,” placing himself on the side of those policymakers who are still more worried about growth than the risk the Fed’s ultra-loose money policies will result in heated inflation.
Fisher said that based on a survey of CEOs at key companies, he believes the private sector is currently grappling with excess capacity, and “suffering from shock induced by the trauma of the crisis.” He termed the condition “post-traumatic slack syndrome.”
Miles Fisher
Great cover by Miles, although this might not be safe for work (stop watching by minute 2). Alot of folks recognize the American Psycho scenes, but fewer will recognize the smaller cues taken from the movie Wall Street. The soundtrack, This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) by Talking Heads, was prominently featured in Wall Street (I don’t think it was in American Psycho at all), and who could forget Michael Douglas talking on the Motorola DynaTac. Floored when I saw this video, not only do I think the cover is great (I’m a fan of covers), but it melds two of my favorite movies and does it very well.
Frist!
Have a great Labor Day weekend!!
Stop obsessing about real estate for a couple of days
it will still be here when we get back.
Hey, since it’s the end of summer in many ways. Maybe we should look back and try to give this summer a tag line like from a movie.
Here’s mine:
Summer of 2009 – Blood in the Streets.
Taxpayer blood in the streets.
TIme to refresh the tree of liberty.
Very stimulating vid at 7:15.
Afraid to ask, pulled the embed URL from some random site.
Some tunes wake me,
Or shake me.
Never fake me,
Or I’ll hit you with my bloody ax.
Hon, was that the dark roast supercharged this morning?
REPORT: FHA Likely To Be The Next Shoe To Drop in Ongoing Real Estate Crisis
Robert Allen Calls The Bottom Of The Real Estate Market
SG (9)-
The coming FHA implosion will finish off the housing markets for the next 20 years.
SG [10],
What a surprise;
“Robert Allen’s new Investing in a Bottomed-out Market real estate education tour begins in San Francisco on Labor Day.”
“Fisher said that for the immediate future, “the risk to price stability is a deflationary risk, not an inflationary one,”
Good. More debasement of the currency. When the dust settles there will be one sought after currency. The de facto currency.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09042009/news/regionalnews/jets_tix_bidder_sacked_188041.htm
I’m sooo suprised on this one too.
Make [14],
4th and 99 yards to go.
“Suppose I produce a giant steaming turd. Now if I put that turd up for sale, I probably wouldn’t get any offers. Why? Not because my bowel movement is unsaleable, but because no market for it exists. Sure, the relativists will claim that the absence of a market is an indication (if not irrefutable proof) that my feces is worthless, but they’d just be describing its subjective value. Their opinion wouldn’t indicate anything about it’s all-important objective value. And since I produced the product, I’m in the best position to know its objective value and account for it accordingly.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/if-you-believe-all-negative-hype-about-commercial-real-estate-ive-got-few-thousand-vacant-of
16 Clot
That’s awesome breakfast reading.
Clot as a 10 year old down in Memphis;
A salesman goes up to a house and knocks on the front door. It’s opened by a little ten year-old boy who has a lighted cigar in one hand, a glass of
whiskey in the other and a Penthouse magazine tucked under his arm.
Salesman: “Hello son. Is your mom or dad home ?”
Little boy: “What the fuck do you think?”
JB, in mod.
June/July revisions take unemployment to 9.7%.
lost (17)-
Thanks. I think the message here is that we should all get used to a daily shit sandwich.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09042009/news/regionalnews/jets_tix_bidder_sacked_188041.htm
I’m sooo suprised on this one too.
Holy &*#^. Both of my last refi’s were done through his company. First one was sold to Chase; second one is currently with Wells Fargo. Nailed excellent rates on both of those too; 30yr @ 5.625% for the one in 2004; and 15yr @ 4.375% for the one I did earlier this year.
Behind Florida’s Exodus: Rising Taxes, Political Ineptitude
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1919916,00.html?iid=sphere-inline-sidebar
At least they get beautiful weather.
216k jobs lost in August, unemployment up to 9,7%.
Brilliant controlled rant by Denninger, against Dennis Kneale (aka Beaker).
http://www.swampreport.com/economy/denninger-nuff-said/
Let’s try again. Clot as a 10 yr old, in Memphis.
A salesman goes up to a house and knocks on the front door. It’s opened by a little ten year-old boy who has a lighted cigar in one hand, a glass of
whiskey in the other and a P*nthouse magazine tucked under his arm.
Salesman: “Hello son. Is your mom or dad home ?”
Little boy: “What the f*ck do you think?”
Who the f- cares, with U6 prolly sitting at 26%?
9.7 unemployment – good news is that a lot of people get a long weekend. Maybe six months!
“About 2.3 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force
in August, reflecting an increase of 630,000 from a year earlier. (The
data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the
labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a
job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed
because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the sur-
vey. (See table A-13.)”
“Among the marginally attached, the number of discouraged workers in
August (758,000) has nearly doubled over the past 12 months. (The data
are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not cur-
rently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for
them. The other 1.5 million persons marginally attached to the labor
force in August had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the
survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.”
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
End is nigh, for McNabb that is.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced Thursday that Eagles QB Michael Vick will be eligible to play in the third game of the regular season.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/2009/09/03/2009-09-03_nfl_announces_eagles.html#ixzz0Q8tDNVQa
According to bls, u-6 jumped to 16.8% in Aug, up from 16.3% in Jul.
On a non seasonally adj basis it fell a bit.
clot: bost friggin’ serves up this gem and you blow it off? You are a steaming turd!
25.BC Bob says:
September 4, 2009 at 8:34 am
Let’s try again. Clot as a 10 yr old, in Memphis.
A salesman goes up to a house and knocks on the front door. It’s opened by a little ten year-old boy who has a lighted cigar in one hand, a glass of
whiskey in the other and a P*nthouse magazine tucked under his arm.
Salesman: “Hello son. Is your mom or dad home ?”
Little boy: “What the f*ck do you think?”
Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF): Apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch is lowered to Sell from Hold at Citigroup, which takes its target to $24 from $33.
Poor Frank.
Looks like chi is looking for another fight.
Well, one thing I’ve learned working as a contractor: The client gets to abuse you like an unwanted step-child regardless of performance because they know they can replace you with any of the other 65 people waiting in line. Welcome to the economic recovery. Green shoots!
Chifi:
Thought this might interest you?
http://www.vegastripping.com/images/blackjack_basicstrategy.gif
gary (34)
That abuse isn’t just for contrators anymore.
It all depends on where you work. I’ve been in some places where your treatment didn’t depend on contract vs full time and some places where you’re treated like a sub-human
No comments on the Miles Fisher video? You guys blow.
Anyone going to see “American Casino”?
http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/movies/02american.html?hpw
gary
welcome to my world. sometimes you are the b1tch, sometimes you are the king….
#3,
Summer themes? I’ll have to quote another Talking Heads song “Same as it ever was”
chi (31)-
How do I follow that?
Other than to say when I was 10, it was cigarettes and Playboy?
U-6 doesn’t paint the whole picture, we are somewhere around 20% unemployment.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/economy/2009/08/27/is-unemployment-the-worst-since-the-great-depression.html?ref=patrick.net
grim (37)-
I prefer Human League. :)
Sean (42)-
Here’s my measure: about 1/3 my friends and acquaintances are unemployed…recently laid off from white-collar jobs.
If a guy works in Mercer Co, lives in Hunterdon and loses his job, does it count as a Mercer or Hunterdon job loss?
22: Behind Florida’s Exodus: No jobs or remote prospects thereof.
Darlene comes running home from the playground and into the kitchen where her mom is preparing lunch.
“Mommy!” Darlene giggles. “I just saw Tommy’s weewee! It was like a peanut!”
Her mom smirks a little and asks, “Because it was so small?”
Darlene replies, “No. Because it was salty.”
I mention this the other day, I now see lots of Florida Plates in NJ, mostly middle aged men driving 50 mph in the fast lane while talking on their cellphone sans headset.
Ex Realtors perhaps?
sean (48)-
Postmodern version of Tom Joad, in transit.
#38
“Anyone going to see “American Casino”?”
read a review of it in the New Yorker last night. the impression I got is that this is another attempt to portray the homedebtor class as victims.
Summer of 2009 – The Summer of Discontent Because it Never Arrived and I Lost My Job and Lost Money in Stocks and Lost My House and Lost My Great FICO and Lost My Health Insurance and Lost My Ability to Shop
Happy Labor Day! :)
“We rate every deal. It could be structured by cows, and we would rate it.” Another e-mail message voiced the hope that everyone is retired “by the time this house of cards falters.”
Sean [38],
From your post.
The structured finance version of Blodgett, Quattrone, etc..
#48 Sean
Snowbirds. FL is ugly at this time of year. They’ll all be gone by Thanksgiving.
Summer of 2009: Quantitative Easy
Summer of 2009: squatter camps with WiFi.
Summer of 2009: The End of the Beginning
45: Q. If a guy works in Mercer Co, lives in Hunterdon and loses his job, does it count as a Mercer or Hunterdon job loss?
A. It counts as a green shoot.
Maybe Pee wee Herman can make an appearance.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/02/critics-decry-obamas-lesson-plan-students/
relo (58)-
Every fascist regime has to start somewhere.
clot: Hitler video
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/6138037/Adolf-Hitler-sex-video-condemned-by-Aids-charities.html
Hubba says:
September 4, 2009 at 9:21 am
Looks like chi is looking for another fight.
The end is nigh….grim looking for a fight…
grim says:
September 4, 2009 at 9:30 am
No comments on the Miles Fisher video? You guys blow.
Pat: I’ll do my best to get the photo of the dumpster lid. I can’t just walk up their driveway and open their garbage can. The reason I saw it is that they must have left for the weekend, and the dumpster was left in the street empty and open on Saturday after the Friday pickup.
I assume it is a teenage prank or something. I hope it isn’t worse….
Relo (58)-
Some fact checks. I know we all like to decry this administration as soc1alist. I agree, it is soc1alism for the rich and cake for the rest of us.
“”The Democrats have clearly lost the battle to maintain control of the message this summer, so now that school is back in session, President Obama has turned to American’s children to spread his liberal lies, indoctrinating American’s youngest children before they have a chance to decide for themselves,” he concluded.
The release, which we received via e-mail, told us to click a link to learn more about Obama’s speech.
That took us to the U.S. Department of Education Web site, where Secretary Arne Duncan wrote that the speech was about “the importance of education.”
“The president will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning,” Duncan wrote. “He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens.”
We asked the Republican Party of Florida for evidence that Obama intended to discuss health care, banks, automobile companies or taxes with the nation’s schoolchildren. They couldn’t point us to anything.
http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep/02/republican-party-florida/republican-party-florida-says-obama-will-indoctrin/
njre fight club
http://www.japw.net/japstore/dvds/unfinishedbusiness.jpg
OK I WANT BLOOD!
veets: the king of fixed income….explain tendering for debt and how it is a crock….then explain how you can actually get economic value due to corporate taxation, but for no other reason?
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aBX88Fl0LUyw
To veto from the previous thread on Mercer Co.
I moved to Pennington 3 years ago from Ewing. I have a 13 y.o so I wanted him to be in a new district in 4-5th grade. Sold my starter house at the peak…I looked in PA and Hopewell, but just decided to rent in Pennington. We truly thought in about a two year time frame we would see things go down (about 2 years). I think it took until now (3 years) to see this area drop/crack. but the stories are out there…sick of the realtors in this area too…we are going it alone and will work with a listing agent if we do buy something.
We just took a condo rental, all new, nice but a little small. I am in no hurry, as I only have to commit to this area for 6 years…unless I get a great deal, no go for me. We are going to watch into the Spring then decide.
“I can’t just walk up their driveway and open their garbage can.”
Tell me you’ve never observed cruising trash pickers. Put on baggy old dockers with a thick red plaid button jacket, a mets cap, your wife’s largest sunglasses, drive around the block, hop out at the driveway and rifle. Do you need me to burp you, too?
Summer of 2009 – Dulcolax Fed
Yo Pat,
I’ll be down in NoVA in 2 weeks for a new job. Any other reccomendations for towns to look at to rent in (looking for townhouse)? You and some other people said Ashburn so that’s where I’m looking first. I need to be close to Herndon
“I can’t just walk up their driveway and open their garbage can.”
I just hope none of the sanitation workers are Jewish. Yeah, that would be a first.
I was talking to my brother (independent electrical contractor) this week and when work was good he would farm some work out to a union electrician he is friends with.
Union electrician (I’m guessing IBEW Local 26) says that he took a ticket on the jobs list, a FIFO queue, and returned a week later to find that the queue had moved from 298 to 294. Four jobs had been ticketed out in one week with hundreds waiting in line for work.
It could be related to the slowdown in electrical work or because of a 5$ rate hike for all union workers.
Just thought you guys would be interested in some ancedotal story about joblessness among blue collar workers.
X-underwriter says:
September 4, 2009 at 10:56 am
Yo Pat,I’ll be down in NoVA in 2 weeks for a new job. Any other reccomendations for towns to look at to rent in (looking for townhouse)? You and some other people said Ashburn so that’s where I’m looking first. I need to be close to Herndon
X: My recollection is that you will have absolutely no problem at all. The main thing you want to avoid is the accidental landlord who may be under financial duress. I am sure you will be looking at 100% empty units where ever you go. Ask for 2 months free at a minimum.
Summer of 2009: Big Daddy
RE: unemployment up to 9,7%.
Nice touch for our European friends.
Summer of 2009 – The Hoboken real estate fire
Pat says:
September 4, 2009 at 10:49 am
“I can’t just walk up their driveway and open their garbage can.”
Tell me you’ve never observed cruising trash pickers. Do you need me to burp you, too?
Pat: I know :), but really, all the lots here are more than an acre, so you cannot approach a house without being conspicuous and obvious.
soc!alism never benefits the little people. it always a power grab for the politically connected. the rhetoric of soc!alism is just a means to power
Chi (72),
I may just be going through a realtor. Landlord pays the fee down there. I need to move quick but there’s lots of inventory to chose from. Since my wife is due in October, the next several weeks are going to be hairy
Thanks for the tip. I was planning on bargaining down on the monthly nut but it may be easier to say, how many months can you give me free?
Yes, X, Ashburn has a ton of newer stuff for rent, and it’s a decent commute. Plus, the Ashburn area at least has some restaurants. For sushi, we have to drive almost to Rockville.
Re work front.
Regardless of whether the threat is real or not, the Vaccine manufacturers are gearing up big time for large scale production. Most of my work has suddenly shift that way and went from hard to find to a choice of contracts.
They are either going to lose a lot of money or someone is going to be buying huge amounts of vaccine in the next 1 – 3 yrs
pat,
There’s so much stuff in that area, it will take a year to even hear of most of it
Victorian at 10:43am, those aren’t “fact checks,” as the facts aren’t in dispute.
Obama speech to students sparks new controversy
Critics are particularly upset about lesson plans the administration created to accompany the speech. The lesson plans, available online, originally recommended having students “write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president.”
The White House revised the plans Wednesday to say students could “write letters to themselves about how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals.”
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090904/D9AGF8L80.html
X-underwriter says:
September 4, 2009 at 11:07 am
Thanks for the tip. I was planning on bargaining down on the monthly nut but it may be easier to say, how many months can you give me free?
X: Just remember, it is easier for a landlord to stomach free months, because it their mind, the eventually bargain up from the higher rent amount on subsequent leases. That reality cuts both ways for you. You may be able to spend less money now, but if you plan to stay in the rental for awhile, they have a built-in way to jack up you rent 5-20% without having to change the monthly rent.
Unemployment rate rose to 9.7%, highest since the early 80s. Government was only expecting rise to 9.5%. This indicates that the news from last month was only a small positive bump, probably from a couple of government programs, but not something that will sustain a long term, true turnaround. Economy still has a long way to go and by extension, the housing market still has some way to go downward before it bottoms out and turns around. Figure it to bottom out in late 2010 and stay at bottom level for a while. This has a long way to go.
Cyclonic Action Vacuum says:
September 4, 2009 at 9:41 am
“grim (37)-
I prefer Human League. :)”
“Don’t you want me baby?”?
1:4 teenage workers are out of work, and those are just the U3 numbers.
We are truly hosed if we expect these kids to fund our future.
Any restaurant recommendations in the Portland/Old Orchard Beach, Maine area?
SL?
Sean,
idle youth are dangerous for society when they are unhappy….
X (69),
Lived in NoVA (mostly Alexandria) for 6 years and worked in Herndon from 1999 – 2001. Not sure how it has changed but there were apartments in Herndon if you can deal with absence of culture. Otherwise, coming from East, you are travelling on the Route 7 which is jammed or Dulles Toll Road which is still jammed but costly. Reston has some decent spots but prepare for culture shock. I recall one decent pizza place in the are. It was run by brothers from Brooklyn – Buon Appetito in Chantilly. Good luck.
They smash and grab ipods and macbooks from the apple store when they are unhappy.
sean,
when does Obama Corp ramp up? we could have them redo all the national park work from the WPA days.
Qwerty (82) –
I could care less about what happens to Obama. He could fcukin get impeached tomorrow and I wouldn’t give a damn. But when people accuse him of soc!alism, then they are just raising a bogeyman.
As far as I can see, he has been following the exact same policies as Bush has RE: the banks, insurance companies, the war etc. The only thing which he is doing different is letting the Bush tax cuts expire, which were meant to be temporary anyway. I doubt even that will pass when the time comes. Anyways, most of the rich derive their income from capital gains and they won’t be taxed at the same rate as earned income.
IMO, capital gains taxes should be higher and earned income taxes should be lower. This will go a long way in creating a fairer tax burden and reduce the economic rent extracted by such practices.
As far as facts go,
“The lesson plans, available online, originally recommended having students “write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president.””
This is the only controversial statement which was in the original plan . The Repubs associate him with soc!alism and then trump up the charge that he is going to spread soc!ialism. Nowhere in the speech is any mention of soc!ialistic ideologies.
Sorry, this just distracts from the truth that this country is controlled by lobbyists and soc!ialism is the farthest from what we are experiencing right now. Corporate fascism is more like it.
Vic – the level of hysteria is just out of control.
Heard some guy this morning talk about how while it was OK for previous presidents to address students, Obama shouldn’t because he is a “smooth talker”.
He sounded like he was describing Charles Manson.
With “death panel” scaremongering, the birth certificate nonsense (my Californian one also lists “Certificate of Live Birth), and government health options being compared to Nazi politics I wonder how much lower we can go in bowing to the lowest common denominator.
Then I hear that deep fried butter has been “invented” in Texas and I start to eye up Clots apocalyptic future with glee.
On a side note: what are “glee clubs”?
Summer of 2009?
How about winter of 2010;
Banks for clunkers.
re #91 – Kettle1 – the original WPA was made up of mostly grown men maxed at employment levels of 3.3 million in 1938.
To duplicate that program today, the government would need to employ 10 million directly since our population is three times the size it was back in the 1930s.
10 million employed doing what exactly, digging holes and filling them up?
chi, i have no interest in your throwing down the gauntlet like some sequel to revenge of the nerds.
you should have taken the hint yesterday.
but i guess you are not listening to anybody; and are not happy until the whole board is totally consumed by negative antics for the third day in a row.
In all seriousness, dont post to my attention anymore and stop instigating a war out of boredom.
vic (92)-
Bingo. It’s really pure fascism.
“Corporate fascism is more like it.”
You can say that again!
As someone who could care less who you vote for since it truly doesn’t matter, I find the right wings latest attempts to stoop to the curb as a good way to ruin any future the party might have. At best they might convert a couple baby boomers and they ain’t gonna be around for that much longer. The left wingers, on the other hand, have just simply sucked.
Qwerty, one silly phrase “help the president” (which, in the context, is clear that how one can help the president by taking up the challenge to work hard, etc.) drew so much fury. The right is poisoning the debate so much, that there will be no more angry phrases left to accuse the president of. It’s like drug addiction to faux and their viewers, they will keep needing stronger shots. I am afraid this will end badly.
S
X,
As a culture shock, I’ll give an example. My Herndon based company used to do pizza once a month. Originally we ordered from Pizza Hut until, by chance, I found Buon Appetito. Excited that I finally found decent NY style pizza, I took the task of picking it up. After that Friday, we went back to Pizza Hut because most people (native to Herdon area of course) said they liked it better. I nearly fell over. Another example, I asked a girl who’s last name was DiNapilatano or something about good Italian food in the area and she said “huh?”. Yep, I informed her that she had Italian heritage. Not kidding at all.
terminology is slippery. what some people call “progressivism” others might call “soc!alism”. Who is right? It is not black and white. O definitely seems to believe that something closer to European level of government control of the economy is desireable. His agenda goes far beyond temporary stimulus or one-off bailouts. He is in fact proposing massive, permanent expansion in the size and influence of the federal government. Different people will attach different labels on this course, each with some degree of accuracy.
lisoosh:
Seriously? Glee clubs?
Data up to end of July. P/E ratio?
http://www2.standardandpoors.com/portal/site/sp/en/us/page.topic/indices_500/2,3,2,2,0,0,0,0,0,1,11,0,0,0,0,0.html
kettle1:
“idle youth are dangerous for society when they are unhappy….”
or enraged into a meaningless fury — which faux news and the right are trying to do their best, along with some “patriotic” parents.
Oh, did anyone hear about this school in NJ that is hosting an event where they will have a “full bar” and serve alcohol to under 18 kids as long as they have permission from their parents!
Give them alcohol, and when they come back for more, tell them that the “fascist government” wants to deny them their rights, and that they need to “water the tree of liberty”.
Oh, Sh!t, I am turning into a left wing nut! May be following too much of faux stuff is making me pick their logic!
S
96 – the WPA actually built the highway that runs through the Blue ridge Mountains and also planted millions of trees. Indeed, it was adults who worked for food and lodging and were required to send their cash pay home to their families.
Given the state of the US road system, I think there’s plenty for people to do. How about building high speed rail systems in various parts of the middle west that are no longer served by air transport that is convenient. The list goes on.
As to the cultural level in Herndon – I’d have to echo that!
x-underwriter-
I’m a longtime lurker who lives in NOVA and works in Herndon. If you’re looking to rent a TH there are plenty in Herndon itself. Reston is also a good area to look. Ashburn is fine but maybe a bit farther than ideal from Herndon. Traffic in this area is brutal.
From Ritholtz;
UGH.
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Unemployment-august-1948-2009.JPG
Roubini: “U-shaped” recovery is possible
“I believe that the basic scenario is going to be one of a U-shaped economic recovery where growth is going to remain below trend … especially for the advanced economies, for at least 2 or 3 years,” he said at a news conference here.
Roubini’s outlook remains downbeat, however.
“I think that too many people are hopeful that everything is fine and unfortunately the road ahead is going to be at best bumpy, if not worse,” he said.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Roubini-Ushaped-recovery-is-rb-3221405059.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=2&asset=&ccode=
Chi (83)
We’re renting one year max. We’re either going to move somewhere else or buy something in a year.
Stu says:
September 4, 2009 at 12:10 pm
“lisoosh:
Seriously? Glee clubs?”
What seriously? I’ve heard the term, or people described as involved in “the glee club” at school and I have absolutely no idea what they are.
Oh. Bu**er, I’ll just Google it.
That was easier:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glee_club
“A glee club is a musical group, historically of but also of just women or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs—glees—by trios or quartets. The first named Glee Club was founded in London, England, in 1787.[1] Glee clubs were very popular in the UK from then until the mid 1850s but by then they were gradually being superseded by choral societies. By the mid-20th century, proper glee clubs were no longer common. However the term remained (and remains) in use, primarily for choirs found in North American and Japanese colleges and universities despite the fact that most American glee clubs are choruses in the standard sense and no longer perform glees.
The oldest glee clubs in the United States are the Harvard Glee Club, founded in 1858; the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club[2], founded in 1859; and the Yale Glee Club, founded in 1861.[3].”
Loonie and AUD on a roll again.
Bystander says:
Lived in NoVA (mostly Alexandria) for 6 years and worked in Herndon from 1999 – 2001.
I doubt 2009 Herndon resembles at all what 1999 – 2001 was. There’s a million mid-priced new chain restaurants. They’re not bad but certainly not the mom & pop Brooklyn Italian type joints. I think this is how most of the rest of the country is.
lisoosh: Just surprised..that’s all.
Not that I’m a member of a glee club or anything. :P
“I think this is how most of the rest of the country is.”
Yes it is. One of the few good reasons to stay in the New York area.
“Loonie and AUD on a roll again.”
Hubba,
Rock and roll.
Stu – as you can see by the article (:-)), the term fell out of use in the UK in the 1850’s, well before my school years.
As I’ve pointed out before, the UK and the US are VERY different, English notwithstanding.
mjrmjr (107)
Congestion is the one thing that irritates me the most about that area. I grew up in a house with a one acre wooded lot in Morris county. The first thing I’m doing in my house hunt is looking at the birds-eye map photo of the place and looking to see how many neighbors I have to stare at when I’m in the backyard. If I can see what the entire neighborhood is cooking for dinner, I’m not interested.
Stu – actually, I had always thought that glee clubs were a geeky form of cheerleading. Ooops.
Stu (116)
You live in one of the only cool towns in NJ. Take away the NY, and the rest of it is a boring over-policed suburb.
sastry (100)-
Perhaps the war we declare will be upon ourselves.
seriously?
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/966-Chanticleer_Cherry-Hill_NJ_08003_1111774840
Sean 96
no, have the 10,000,000 workers rip down Camden Newark Baltimore la etc stone by stone and rbuild with skilled labor that you train the Obama Corp to do
this proposal would keep them busy and could produce some beautiful an enduring architecture.
Just one possibilty
Summer of 2009- “Weird Finance”
I guess Geithner would be Gary
Bernake could be Wyatt
Maybe the hot British chick on CNBC is Kelly LeBrock’s replacement…..
Who would be Chet?
fxp, srs crushed. This is not a good holiday. 16.8% unemployment and the machines move the market up. I am having a maalox moment
From Jesse –
One of the five reasons Gold is on a tear.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2DePAZe2gA/SqCi6JG0BSI/AAAAAAAAJvc/_qwH_hqWMyE/s1600-h/bendrivingmizpaulson.jpg
anybody have a razor blade
veto that says:
September 4, 2009 at 11:54 am
chi, i have no interest in your throwing down the gauntlet like some sequel to revenge of the nerds.
you should have taken the hint yesterday.
veto: you should have simply not replied; now I know you can’t answer the question; you have anger management issues, and don’t use me as your personal punching bag
chicagofinance says:
September 4, 2009 at 1:12 pm
veto that says:
September 4, 2009 at 11:54 am
chi, i have no interest in your throwing down the gauntlet like some sequel to revenge of the nerds.
you should have taken the hint yesterday.
veets: By the way, revenge of the nerds? Are you fcuking kidding? I saved AT&T $500M in 1998 by explaining this sh!t to the Treasuer…..you are clueless
Summer of 2009!!!!! Great deals on vacations and cars and everyone made a killing in the stock and bond market!!!!! What could be better!!!!!
HE. I’ve been holding UNG for 6 months now.
Not much and mostly for diversification purposes but still. wtf.
Also, got smacked by srs a while back when i thought it was wise to take a gamble.
Seems my portfolio does great during years when S&P crashes 50% but deflationary bull market combinations kill me.
i guess i should re-evaluate my long term strategy.
chifi, 500 million is a rounding error.
About the Herndon area…
I lived in Arlington for a couple of years (2003 – 2004), but I didn’t like the people at all. The only thing I did like was that I could walk 5 minutes to my office.
So I moved to Annandale, where I lived until I moved to NJ in mid-2006. There are lots of Asians in Annandale, especially Koreans, so the restaurants were a lot better than any of the glorified, overpriced chains in Arlington. I got some of the best sushi I’ve ever had in one of the Korean restaurants in Annandale.
But Annandale is quite a long way from Herndon.
Herndon, unlike most other “towns” in the NOVA area, actually has an old town section. Not a whole lot there, but I do remember one place called Jimmy’s (at Spring and Elden) that has decent food and a bit of character.
A friend of mine rented a townhouse on Florida Avenue in Herndon for a time. As I recall each unit had a garage and a deck. Nothing spectacular, but pretty nice.
Florida Avenue circles the townhouse community. From there it’s a short walk to old Herndon and Jimmy’s (and a short stagger home).
danzed 125
Cheney?
Veto,
I am just hanging in and waiting. At this point it would behoove me to sell. Have a sizable loss on paper but you have to figure at some point there has to be a major correction. No markets go one way forever.
“I can’t just walk up their driveway and open their garbage can.”
Do you have a monthly trash pick up day? When I was in Chatham, and i’m sure its in most fancy-ish towns, every month we’d get people rifling through the bulk pickup stuff at the curbs. My neighbor got his piano that way.
If US household income is declining so sharply, we can’t really expect a sharp pick-up in imports, even ignoring the fact that households are also in the process of deleveraging, and so cutting back even more sharply on consumption that their incomes might indicate. But in spite of still-bad news in both the external or internal environments, the markets are nonetheless in a much better mood than they were just a few days ago. Why? The People’s Daily explains:
Chinese equities climbed Wednesday after the country’s securities regulator said it would take measures to promote the steady and healthy development of the market.
Or, if you prefer Bloomberg’s slightly more forthright explanation:
China’s stocks rose the most in two weeks on speculation regulators will adopt measures to boost the nation’s equities following declines in the past month.
The main cause of the surge seems to be a statement made Liu Xinhua, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, at a forum in Beijing yesterday which was proclaimed on the front pages today of China’s two biggest financial newspapers, the China Securities Journal and the Shanghai Securities News. Mr. Liu promised that regulators will promote a “stable and healthy” market. This has been interpreted to mean that the authorities will not let the market continue falling, and will introduce measures to force it up.
http://mpettis.com/
134 – Have you scoped out any favorite Korean places in NJ?
John 131
Great deals on vacations and cars and everyone made a killing in the stock and bond market!!!!! What could be better!!!!!
you want deals? just wait 6 – 12 months and see what happens to the used car market. A good portion of those cash-for-clunker sales will be hitting the used market as people traded a low or nonexistent car payment for a nice new larger payment.
With unemployment increasing it wont be too long before those slightly used cars end up back on the market.
Look what happened to Mitsubishi when they did a “no payments for a year” deal. they took it in the nads when a fair % of the “buyers” never started making payments at the end of the 1 year period and just gave the cars back or waited for the repo man.
HEHE 138
stable eh?
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9ZzZquaXrR8/Sp3rfwH_cwI/AAAAAAAAEvw/I6z6pLRiCo0/s640/china-feb-08-1.gif
chi, as if its not enough that you post your alma matter as your handle, now you try to impress everyone with the top line-items on your resume. are you kidding or what?
Is this the part where i list my case studies and we compare?
your sleasy sales tactics make me itchy and your fits of tourettes explain everything else i need to know about you.
*130/142 Here we go again.
ISTAR FINL INC SR NT 5.125% 04/01/2011
Basic Analytics
Price (Ask) 53.000
Yield to Worst (Ask) 53.086%
OK Bond Boys what do you think? I always am amused by bonds that have the same price and yield. 53 baby!!
clot BC
enjoy
Spain: The Hole In Europe’s Balance Sheet
* Spain = Japan 2.0? – We argue that 1) the real estate crash in Spain is worse than is widely believed, 2) Spanish banks are hiding their losses, and 3) investors are smoking crack if they believe that Spanish banks are among the strongest in Europe, (see Forbes latest Spanish Banks In Top Form). If all these are true, Spain will soon have zombie banks like Japan.
* Banks are hiding losses – We believe that Spanish banks are not marking their real estate loans to market and are extending credit to zombie construction companies. They do this by 1) Getting a boost from accounting changes, 2) Not marking loans to market, 3) Continued lending to zombie companies, 4) Extending 40 year and 100% loan-to-value loans, and other bubble-like lending practices. We look at each of these in turn.
* Spain is in deflation – In a deflationary environment, servicing debt becomes even harder. Even when rates go to zero the real burden of debt goes up. That is why deflation is such a terrible thing. Eastern Europe, Spain and Ireland are now all experiencing the beginning of deflation. We believe that we will see much more deflation to come, which will have broad ramifications across the European banking sector.
* Who’s holding the bag? – The periphery countries are net debtors, and the rest of Europe is the net creditor. When a debtor can’t pay, the creditor suffers. Germany, France and others will need to cope with recapitalizing the periphery and Spain.
http://www.safehaven.com/article-14360.htm
Kettle,
Can’t argue with the facts. No exports so they’ve decided to create asset bubbles. Eventually bubbles pop. I much prefer being on the short side right now given the way things have run up but it’s f’g painful to watch waiting for the correction.
vodka (145)-
I’m also betting that Real Madrid- despite the addition of CR9, Kaka, Albiol, Xabi Alonso, Benzema, etc- will crash out of CL and finish no better than third in La Liga.
There will also be empty seats in the Bernabeu and Camp Nou this year.
John,
Do it. Pocket change.
“Summer of 2009!!!!! Great deals on vacations and cars and everyone made a killing in the stock and bond market!!!!!”
J,
Busted a gut with this one. YOY, summer returns, stock market, down approx 20%. Are you sure you didn’t mean summer of 1999?
Then again, you may be different, you probably sold stocks in 10/07 and bought in 3/09. After all, you are a trader.
“you have to figure at some point there has to be a major correction”
He, yeah you would think. what if the trillions keep seeping into corporate revenue streams and balance sheets and this thing keeps climbing? They have gotten pretty good at pumping up these bubbles. they must have the formula memorized by now.
Thanks for the info everyone. I’ll be focusing my search on Herndon, Reston, and Ashburn
New in NJ (134)
I have heard that the people in DC can be very unfriendly and I’ve witnessed it myself. My wife and I ate at the McCormick and Schmicks at National Harbor over Memorial day. The waiter was so cold and stiff, we were wondering what was wrong with him. He had no business being a waiter. Needless to say he got $1 tip. I noticed it a couple of other times too. Some people definitely don’t have time to talk to you. We’ve also encountered some very friendly people too though. We were looking at a map in the subway station by DuPont circle and several people came up to us and asked if they could help…you never see that in NY. So, I think it’s a mix.
With the good job market there and a crappy one everywhere else, I’d expect a lot of new people to be moving to the area.
On Mike Gallagher’s radio program yesterday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) offered a novel theory as to why Democrats want her out of office: They don’t want her to become the first woman president.
Yay! Palin/Bachmann 2012 – 2014 1/2
Bachman/Cheney 2014 1/2 – 2016
S
and what if the developing nations savings and appetite for debt is growing faster and stronger than we believe? keeping rates lower for longer than we previously thought possible?
Ruggles (139)
I can’t say that I seek out restaurants anywhere, as much as I love good food. We cook at home most of the time because my wife and I both cook well. Our food is better than what most restaurants serve.
That’s the long way of saying “no”, we haven’t been to any Korean restaurants around here.
The restaurant that I referred to in Annandale had massive salt water fish tanks lining the wall at the entrance, like some places have lobster tanks. Their fish was outstanding.
I can’t even tell you the name of the place because the signs were all in Korean.
We live in Madison. There is a decent sushi restaurant less than 5 minutes walk from our house. We eat there about once a month.
We hit the Ironbound in Newark about once a month as well. My wife is carioca (from Rio de Janeiro), so we go there to stock up on Brazilian staples that can’t be bought elsewhere in the area. We’ll often visit one of the restaurants down there when we go. I’ve just about stopped getting the meats because it’s too much for me to eat, but I really enjoy the salad and hot food bars.
When we want churrasco we grill at home, since we can get the familar cuts at the Brazilian butcher shops in Newark.
Veto 153, HEHE
Nope, how do developing nations ave when their money essentially comes from seeing the 1st world useless junk. US, Europe and rapidly pulling back oon consumption and hence where are the developing worlds savings going to come from without the income from 1st world consumption?
The central banks can blow some mighty bubbles, but there are limits. The ultimate liimit is when the people lose faith in their currency, but there are many other limits before that such as the fabled bond vigilantes.
Asset bubbles that have taken decades to inflate are not going to deflate in the course of months, especially when TPTB are fighting it tooth and nail.
in the end they will no more successful then they would at turning back the tides.
kettle1 needs hooked on phonics :(
“how do developing nations ave when their money essentially comes from seeing the 1st world useless junk”
this is good question… i dont know.
but i have the sense that they’re evolving from making cracker jack prizes to making things like rockets, robots, high-end computers, infrastructure, cars, energy efficiency, etc.
Couldnt take that much to start selling cell phones and laptops to their working class. that could be just the beginning. they’re building roads, hospitals and schools like mad. Even if they never consume like greedy slobs, they can start to pick up some slack where we’re cutting back.
ket, i really have no idea. just talking trash.
#130
“veets: By the way, revenge of the nerds? Are you fcuking kidding? I saved AT&T $500M in 1998 by explaining this sh!t to the Treasuer…..you are clueless”
this one time, at band camp…
Gibert: I just wanted to say that I’m a nerd, and I’m here tonight to stand up for the rights of other nerds. I mean uh, all our lives we’ve been laughed at and made to feel inferior. And tonight, those b*stards, they trashed our house. Why? Cause we’re smart? Cause we look different? Well, we’re not. I’m a nerd, and uh, I’m pretty proud of it.
Chi: Hi, Gilbert. I’m a nerd too. I just found that out tonight. We have news for the beautiful people. There’s a lot more of us then there are of you. I know there’s alumni here tonight. When you went to Adams you might’ve been called a spazz, or a dork, or a geek. Any of you that have ever felt stepped on, left out, picked on, put down, whether you think you’re a nerd or not, why don’t you just come down here and join us. Okay? Come on.
BC 87
Sorry! I know BarHarbor/Trenton Bridge area but don’t know much about Old Orchard (though I’d like to!)
Seems like a bit closer, less rural place to vacation!
Lemme know what you find, OK?
I can also ask some of my Maine-iacs, and see what they know, too…
sl
Veto
I know, just some constructive debate
BC 95 “banks for clunkers”
Love it, just love it! :)
sl
SL [161],
Thanks, will be there for the weeek.
New in NJ 154,
…can I come over for churrasco cooking lessons?
And can you recommend a top restaurant in Newark? We used to go to “Spain” when I was a kid, don’t even know if it exists anymore.
Last visit was to some unmemorable place… I can’t even recall the name.
sl
grim says:
September 4, 2009 at 9:30 am
No comments on the Miles Fisher video? You guys blow.
…sorry…guy in the vid looks too “Cruis-ish” — I currently and having a very delightful schoolgirl crush on Alexander Skarsgard…. sigh.
Thank god Swedish guys don’t mind going au naturel! *smitten*
sl
bystander 101
Originally we ordered from Pizza Hut until, by chance, I found Buon Appetito. Excited that I finally found decent NY style pizza, I took the task of picking it up. After that Friday, we went back to Pizza Hut because most people (native to Herdon area of course) said they liked it better.
Reminds me of the f*cking awful “eggplant parmagiana” I got from some hole in the wall pizza joint by Melick’s Farm.
It tasted like ChefBoyardee and I’m not kidding…. the pizza was edible at least.
sl
154 – thanks for the info. Just didn’t want to miss any.
167 – i responded to your rant about Cfon but it went to mod. never ever buy anything to eat here. I hope you learned your lesson.
At band camp. LOL
For whoever is in NOVA, this might be of interest from a culinary perspective:
http://www.tylercowensethnicdiningguide.com/
I have no affiliation with the host, other than that I read his other, better known blog, “Marginal Revolution” frequently.
$80 Million in Unemployment Insurance Being Paid out Per Day in California
* [..] earlier this week 143,000 unemployed Californians exhausted their unemployment benefits. Now, you might think that this is simply a function of a normal recession. It is not. In fact, many of these people have exhausted their 26 weeks of benefits plus three additional extensions.
* Another bill has been introduced to extend benefits for a fourth extension bringing the amount of unemployment insurance available for up to 92 weeks! This is no minor recession but a major economic shift in our economy. Without the extension being passed there will be 264,000 Californians with no unemployment insurance by the end of the year.
* So far this year California has dished out some $11 billion in unemployment insurance. This is the biggest amount on record, dwarfing the previous record set last year at $8.1 billion.
* Weekly benefits range from $65 on the lower end all the way up to $475. The insurance people receive depends on their previous income. The average weekly amount is $319.
http://www.mybudget360.com/california-economy-80-million-in-unemployment-insurance-being-paid-out-per-day-143000-exhausted-their-jobless-benefits-on-september-1-one-in-four-unemployed-workers-without-a-job-for-27-weeks/
ruggles, 169
point well taken… for future reference – the place is near the A&P next to a convenience store and nail salon.
sl
will be interesting to see how the state V counties battle work out….
New York Counties Don’t Want Budget Burden
The state budget gap is big — $2.1 billion — but county executives from across the state are warning legislators not to pass that burden down to the counties. “Should they propose cutting spending, we will stand with them,” said Stephen Acquario, executive director of the New York State Association of Counties. “If they propose cost shifting to county property tax payers, we will not and we will fight these proposals.”
http://www.wicz.com/news2005/viewarticle.asp?a=10321
HEHE Patience.
sl
“it melds two of my favorite movies and does it very well”
grim, nice video. it might actually be better than american psycho in some respects. but how can you do a robert palmer remake music video of wall st and not totally destroy it, ya know?
or maybe its more artistic and i’m missed something…
By any chance did you pick up on any ‘risky business’ undertones in there?
“There will also be empty seats in the Bernabeu and Camp Nou this year.”
No way the former. Not a chance.
wow they actual had this on bloomberg?
Journey Into Deflation – Bloomberg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxuOxvD0ZRI&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Ftheautomaticearth.blogspot.com%2F&feature=player_embedded
Good read for the Greedy Grubbers holding out for 2006 prices.
A Metro NYC Real Estate Horror Story
In 2006 a house not too far from mine came on the market at a very rich price. $2.7mm for a five bedroom home on four acres. It was a nice place. At the time I thought it was way over priced, but I was praying it would sell. That comp would have put money in the pockets of all the neighbors.
It didn’t sell, and then 2007 happened. There was not much price erosion that year. But there were no sales either. So that house sat on the market. The price was lowered several times through 07 and 08. The RE agents let it be know that the seller was “negotiable” at every new sales price. Nothing sold in 2008.
The house was sold this week. It was a short sale. The sale price was $600,000. Less than 25% of its asking price three years ago.
The owners had a total of $1.8mm on the house. A $1.2mm 1st lien and a $600,000 second. I don’t know how the sale proceeds were divided up. The 1st got less than 50% of principal. The 2nd probably got pennies. The loans had been in default for more than a year, so the $90k in arrears were wiped out. An absolute disaster for the lenders.
The new buyer is solid. He shopped for a mortgage on the property for three months. They finally got a mortgage with an advance rate of only $417,000. This number is the Agency limit; therefore the only lender out there was Fannie Mae. This comes to an advance rate of 70%. The buyer had the $183k required down payment so the deal got done.
There are hundreds of $1 million homes within a few miles of this property. This morning they are all worth 40% less.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/metro-nyc-real-estate-horror-story
Bobby I doubled down in March.
BC Bob says:
September 4, 2009 at 1:45 pm
“Summer of 2009!!!!! Great deals on vacations and cars and everyone made a killing in the stock and bond market!!!!!”
J,
Busted a gut with this one. YOY, summer returns, stock market, down approx 20%. Are you sure you didn’t mean summer of 1999?
Then again, you may be different, you probably sold stocks in 10/07 and bought in 3/09. After all, you are a trader.
Sean [179],
Do you know where in Metro NYC?
quick, eat more twinkies!!!!
Betting on US Life Expectancy Proves Risky
Deutsche Bank and other financial institutions manage complex funds that buy up Americans’ life insurance policies and pay their premiums in return for their payouts. But angry German investors are finding that Americans aren’t dying as quickly as expected — and that only the bankers are making a buck. Gisbert Soballa has a rather dispassionate stance toward death. The 72-year-old retired cardiologist says that, to him, dying was always “something completely normal.” Given that, the doctor didn’t pause when his adviser at Deutsche Bank suggested a peculiar deal with death.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,646385,00.html
J [180],
I guess you also doubled up, shorts, in early 2000.
hey veto: you are as paranoid as you are hypocritical…follow your own advice….
You also have a lot of ball$ making such an allegation about me.
Don’t respond. Don’t….don’t do it….don’t respond….don’t….
You also do not even know the derivation of my handle, but regardless, you seem comfortable creating your own reality and then blaming me for it.
re: #182 Kettle1 – when the banks do the insurance viatical Ponzi nobody goes to jail.
When someone else does it they get 20 years in the Federal Pen.
http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2007/lr19978.htm
re #181 – BC Bob – Westchester
Here is the Author’s blog.
http://brucekrasting.blogspot.com/
Ashley DuPree photo…
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09042009/news/regionalnews/feisty_ny_gals_kick_some_ash_188037.htm
173 – yes, that one is actually better than the one in the next plaza. so you totally lucked out. we go to pizza como in clinton, which is hit or miss, and millers tavern which we don’t like much but others rave about (its a poor version of the famous bar pies of Essex and Bergen). But we prefer and often drive the hour to Palermo’s in Bordentown and Ewing.
btw, did you go into the a&p? you really should. esp in summer.
ChiFi,
Just a Jersey girl trying to pay her taxes.
Sean,
Thanks.
Just a Jersey girl trying to pay her RE taxes.
‘Don’t respond, follow your own advice”
ha, ok you’re right about that one.
relax.
i have finally figured out why chifin picked up kettle and veto last few days. this is all because they did “analytic masturbation” in public. no surprise to me since a abused person may think he is the only one entitled to masturbate in public.
Wonder if the FDIC is working tonight.
Where is Frank?
Hoboken Auction Results nearly thirty percent price drop.
http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2009/09/hoboken_auction_results.html#more
DALLAS – Thomas McGowan’s journey from prison to prosperity is about to culminate in $1.8 million, and he knows just how to spend it: on a house with three bedrooms, stainless steel kitchen appliances and a washer and dryer.
“I’ll let my girlfriend pick out the rest,” said McGowan, who was exonerated last year based on DNA evidence after spending nearly 23 years in prison for rape and robbery.
He and other exonerees in Texas, which leads the nation in freeing the wrongly convicted, soon will become instant millionaires under a new state law that took effect this week.
Exonerees will get $80,000 for each year they spent behind bars. The compensation also includes lifetime annuity payments that for most of the wrongly convicted are worth between $40,000 and $50,000 a year — making it by far the nation’s most generous package.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090904/ap_on_re_us/us_exoneree_millionaires
Green Shoots for NJ, Brown Shoots for NYC.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/nyregion/04depository.html?_r=3&ref=nyregion
126#, i thought these etfs are declared dead on this site. remember what i said 6 months ago? these are scam instrument developed by wh0re street.
HEHEHE says:
September 4, 2009 at 12:57 pm
fxp, srs crushed. This is not a good holiday. 16.8% unemployment and the machines move the market up. I am having a maalox moment
A giffen good….
Princeton, Harvard Raise Prices as Economy Burns: Chart of Day
Share | Email | Print | A A A
By Joe Mysak
Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) — Life on top means not having to lower your prices.
The CHART OF THE DAY shows how the cost of a year as an undergraduate at Harvard and Princeton has risen through boom and bust. Tuition and fees at Harvard jumped 67.8 percent over the decade; at Princeton, they increased 43.4 percent.
That hasn’t dented demand. Freshman applications at Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, rose by 60.9 percent over the last 10 years. At Princeton in New Jersey, which started accepting the Common Application standardized form for admission in 2005 (Harvard did so in 1994), demand rose by 47.7 percent.
The two Ivy League schools haven’t been entirely immune from the recession. Harvard this year reported that its endowment fell an estimated 30 percent; Princeton’s, 25 percent.
“They say trees can’t grow to the sky, but apparently there’s no stopping college tuitions,” said Jay Diamond, a managing director at Annaly Capital Management, a New York real estate investment trust with total assets of $86 billion, and member of Princeton class of 1986. “It would appear that an undergraduate degree at a place like Princeton is actually a Giffen good. As a prospective college tuition-paying parent — my kids are in 10th and eighth grades and kindergarten — I wish that colleges competed on price, but that is certainly wishful thinking.”
A Giffen good, first observed by British economist Robert Giffen (1837-1910), is something for which demand rises even as its price goes up.
To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Mysak in New York at jmysakjr@bloomberg.net.
bi says:
September 4, 2009 at 4:25 pm
i have finally figured out why chifin picked up kettle and veto last few days. this is all because they did “analytic masturbation” in public. no surprise to me since a abused person may think he is the only one entitled to masturbate in public.
I have no idea whether I am being attacked or defended. I think attacked.
make money says:
September 4, 2009 at 4:13 pm
ChiFi, Just a Jersey girl trying to pay her taxes.
albani: I think we are going to be able to take on those Berisha bastards and get some justice for the family….no kidding….
ive been trolling this board for a long time now…my name is jason and i am not in the real estate market industry…i think a lot of what you guys and gals state on this board is very insightful and on point…i would make two observations though…while i would love for homes in NJ to cost $1.53 a pop all of the little things the government is doing is and will add up to an end to this disaster…some of these things we know, some we think might happen and some we have no idea about yet…so step back and think about that for a second…if the premises are 1) the government wont let time alone heal the market and 2) lots of little things will heal the market and those things are know and unknown then the tipping point will be sooner than you think…also if you think about what is going on with FHA loans essentially this government is betting the future of this country on the fact that real estate prices will go up…the same way the private sector did…however the difference is the prices now are at more realistic levels (in some cases) than it was in 2004, 2005, 2006…so if the government is better the country on the real estate market recovering because they are allowing people to put 3.5% down in a market that could implode further then they will do everything that they can to prevent this implosion…otherwise this country will wind up like Mugabe’s and we will be essentially over and done with…as for the jobs market i am making the call right now that Novermber’s stats will be the first up month net up month since i have no idea when…this months net numbers were very encouraging…i know -216k is not good… and what we need is +125K a month….we will be in the + side in november…so those are my calls for my first post…i really enjoy learning from you guys and gals…happy labor day…i quit my 6 figure job this week so happy labor day to me!…call me crazy :0)
Let’s all go to AC!
Still time for NJ RE Report Beach Blanket Bingo!
And Stu can teach us how to play video poker!
:)
ChiFi:
What is with your New York Post infatuation? Depeche Mode I can fathom, but can’t believe you read that less than useless paper. Just curious, as I’m certainly not trying to pick a fight.
I’m game for a GTG. I got plenty of comp so I could buy you all a bunch of drinks.
still_looking 165 –
Nothing much to making churrasco, really. Anywhere you go in most of Brazil (the farther south the more prevalent) there will be some meat on the grill. I was there for a couple of weeks in August – my wife was there for the whole month – and we went to three or four.
First, get some decent Brazilian-style pork sausages. Seabra has them with a fine grind or a coarse grind. I prefer coarse. After grilling you slice into pieces and squeeze lime over them. Pork and chicken hearts are marinated briefly in lime juice and “sal grosso” (something between table salt and rock salt, also available at the Brazilian or sometimes Asian markets). Chicken hearts go on a skewer, of course.
Brazilians love the cap from the top sirloin, which is called picanha. This will hit the grill with a lot of sal grosso, and then the excess will be knocked off before serving.
Everything gets sliced into pieces at the grill and the board gets passed around for each to grab a slice.
Farofa is ground, toasted manioc or yucca (manjioca in Portuguese) meal that is used to soak up the juices from the meat. Sometimes the slices of meat will be put on top of a pan full of farofa instead of being served from a board.
Stop by anytime and we’ll be happy to demonstrate!
We often end up at Fernandes at 158 Fleming Avenue. It’s a bit off the Ferry Street trail, but they do nice work. We also go to Brasilia Grill at 99 Monroe Street.
A Portuguese restaurant called Brasa Grill opened in Chatham a bit over a year ago. It’s in the Hickory Square Shopping Center at 641 Shunpike Road. The food is really good, but bring ear plugs because the place is small and the exhaust fans over the grill can be a bit much. It’s so popular I expect that they’ll be moving to a bigger place before long.
SL
New in NJ beat me to it, but I would also recommend Fernandes.
Glad to see they are still there as its been several years since I had to work in that area.
Spain is still there if you’re interested. I have to admit that I always preferred the mom and pop places in the Ironbound over those that are more well known. The trick is having a knowledgable guide. I’ve been away too long for me to be that guide these days.
Chi [200],
I’m glad you’re the one trying to decipher that pant up code.
I talked myself into it. Backyard churrasco tonight. Forgot to mention the caipirinhas, didn’t I?
Natural charcoal like Royal Oak is a must. I use one of the chimney contraptions to start the charcoal. Natural charcoal burns really hot and fast. Use the air controls to slow it down if necessary.
Get some of those USDA prime grade steaks at Costco for $10 a pound. Delicious and tender beyond belief. We’re cooking rib eye tonight.
Obligatory real estate comment: we rent, so we’re not enjoying our life at all.
j (202)-
Put down that pipe.
yome #196
80k for every year of life lost in prison isn’t “very generous”. A generous package should at least include disbarring the public prosecutor and firing other officials (including disbarring judges) if they knowingly withheld evidence…
S
J, welcome.
i would usually take criticism of any new poster who (1) exceeded the kb limit on his first post, (2) introduced himself as a troll and (3) simultaneously made some ballzy calls about an employment turn around within the next three months to boot, but honestly i can’t disagree with your thinking nor can i say you are wrong. i certainly don’t know but I’m open minded about a recovery too, although not overly optimistic.
Consensus here makes a solid argument against home price recovery over the short term based on this: 1- high unemployment 2- tightening lending standards. 3- i’ll add my personal favorite, demographics, wave of retiring baby boomers. Would be interesting to hear your position in light of these little obstacles.
finally, just a friendly heads up, be prepared to take some heat around here for betting on the old red white and blue based purely on track record. Apparently, this is the end of times…
congrats on telling the man to shove it.
Couldn’t this one have waited for a non-holiday weekend? Really Sheila, making the boys work late on a Friday for this?
From the FDIC:
Great American Bank, De Soto, Kansas, Assumes All of the Deposits of First Bank of Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri
First Bank of Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri, was closed today by the Missouri Division of Finance, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Great American Bank, De Soto, Kansas, to assume all of the deposits of First Bank of Kansas City.
…
As of June 30, 2009, First Bank of Kansas City had total assets of $16 million and total deposits of approximately $15 million. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Great American Bank agreed to purchase all of the assets.
…
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $6 million. Great American Bank’s acquisition of all the deposits was the “least costly” resolution for the FDIC’s DIF compared to alternatives. First Bank of Kansas City is the 85th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the second in Missouri. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was American Sterling Bank, Sugar Creek, on April 17, 2009.
JERICHO, Ark. – It was just too much, having to return to court twice on the same day to contest yet another traffic ticket, and Fire Chief Don Payne didn’t hesitate to tell the judge what he thought of the police and their speed traps.
The response from cops? They shot him. Right there in court.
Payne ended up in the hospital, but his shooting last week brought to a boil simmering tensions between residents of this tiny former cotton city and their police force. Drivers quickly learn to slow to a crawl along the gravel roads and the two-lane highway that run through Jericho, but they say sometimes that isn’t enough to fend off the city ticketing machine.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32680338/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/
jason, I’m going out on a limb here, and saying your employment forecast belongs on DOL dot gov.
You know the best thing in times such as these? Optometrists. Optimists. Positive thinkers. Whatever.
Did you identify with Charlie in “Willy Wonka” – when he found the 5th golden ticket?
Stu and Gator-
As foodies and parents you might be interested in this. The Slow Food Organization is having “Eat ins” in 265 towns across the country on Sept. 7 to protest the junk school cafeterias try to pass off as food.
Of course Montclair is one of the towns.
Eat in is at the Van Vleck House-21 Van Vleck St #12-from 3-5PM. Sept 7
For more info:
http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/campaign/time_for_lunch/about/
From the FDIC:
MB Financial Bank, National Association, Chicago, Illinois, Assumes All of the Deposits of InBank, Oak Forest, Illinois
InBank, Oak Forest, Illinois, was closed today by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Banking, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with MB Financial Bank, National Association, Chicago, Illinois, to assume all of the deposits of InBank, except certain brokered deposits.
…
As of August 3, 2009, InBank had total assets of $212 million and total deposits of approximately $199 million. In addition to assuming the deposits of the failed bank, MB Financial Bank, N.A., agreed to purchase essentially all of the assets.
…
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $66 million. MB Financial Bank, N.A.’s acquisition of all the deposits was the “least costly” resolution for the FDIC’s DIF compared to alternatives. InBank is the 86th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the 14th in Illinois. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Mutual Bank, Harvey, on July 31, 2009.
From the FDIC:
Great Southern Bank, Springfield, Missouri, Assumes All of the Deposits of Vantus Bank, Sioux City, Iowa
Vantus Bank, Sioux City, Iowa, was closed today by the Office of Thrift Supervision, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Great Southern Bank, Springfield, Missouri, to assume all of the deposits of Vantus Bank.
…
As of August 28, 2009, Vantus Bank had total assets of $458 million and total deposits of approximately $368 million. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Great Southern Bank agreed to purchase approximately $387 million of the assets. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition.
…
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $168 million. Great Southern Bank’s acquisition of all the deposits was the “least costly” resolution for the FDIC’s DIF compared to alternatives. Vantus Bank is the 87th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Iowa. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Hartford-Carlisle Savings Bank, Carlisle, on January 14, 2000.
“…so if the government is better the country on the real estate market recovering because they are allowing people to put 3.5% down in a market that could implode further then they will do everything that they can to prevent this implosion…)”
[202],
Serious question. What the F are you talking about? Are you trying to run an end around on Bi?
Name me one instance where any govt, in history, has printed their way to prosperity? Your best scenario is Japan, walking dead for 15-20 years. The worst scenario? Stick around for the next 5 years.
[202],
I don’t know what the F you are talking about; “The govt better
maybe “betting”
But why is the government betting? Are we now permitting a bunch of gambling addicts to control our pursestrings?
Is there insurance against this bet?
Bob?
**202 we will be in the + side in november…
Based on what??
Cyclonic Action Vacuum says:
September 4, 2009 at 5:57 pm
j (202)-
Put down that pipe.
Clot: LMFAO!
Grim: BFF 1, 2 & 3
SAS: Thanks for the post yesterday about SIGG
ALL: Happy Labor Day weekend!
Hoboken market on fire this week. 12 UC, but check out the prices. $500+/sqf. Nuts.
http://hudson.fnismls.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=642671b8-d184-4098-945a-cc66a93ebb62&Report=Yes
NJCoast:
Thanks for the advice on the Slow Food thing. I personally wouldn’t attend because I don’t fit in with the holistic medicine/vaccination choice crowd. I have my choice already and that is not to watch small pox resurface again. I support healthier food options, especially in school lunches, but I just can’t stand the whole home medicine, birth into a bathtub, fake bris crowd. Sorry. My kid, does not drink soda nor will he have money to buy candy and/or gatorade (sweetened ocean water) from a vending machine in school. That is, if he isn’t as entrepreneurial as I was as a kid. If he is, then he deserves the soda. I will now step off my soap box.
Thanks for the advice though NJCoast :P
I’ll save an organic heirloom tomato for you at our next GTG.
Stu, I’ve been packing my kid’s lunch this year.
That’s after I found out in May why her lunch fund needed to be replenished so often last year. Stinker told me lunches went up. So I’m sending in fifty bucks over and over. I happen see the lunch lady in May. She tells me darling girl is buying lunch plus snacks and snack beverages every day AND they can use excess for the school store. She had all kinds of toys and smelly erasers and junk in her backpack when she came home on the last day.
So today, one minute before she leaves, she tells me she really wants the Friday pizza, but she can’t remember her student number. Fine. I throw cash.
I rooted through her backpack and found the money after school.
Any advice?
Dr J [202],
Govt will pave the way? Let’s see; Commodity Futures Mod Act, Glass-Steagall, SEC leverage rule change 2004, mark to fantasy, Maiden Lane, Medicare, Soc Sec., etc.. Let’s not even discuss the yen carry trade, now the dollar carry trade.
A bunch of corrupt, inept, incompetent hacks. Yet, the same idiots that never saw this coming and had zero clue what hit us, will now magically correct 20 years of drunken spending/credit in a couple of years? By restributing wealth? Another candidate for asinine post of all time.
I agree, you are a trool. Do what you do best, continue to troll. By the way, you had a 6 figure job? That’s simply amazing, wasn’t aware these were available in this time zone. That and a subway token won’t get you a ride on the subway.
Pat [221],
Insurance? Yeah, all over that. Insurance for this troll? Bend over and kiss it bye-bye.
Friday night and the boys over at the FDIC are still grinding.
FDIC Approves the Payout of Insured Deposits of Platinum Community Bank, Rolling Meadows, Illinois
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) approved the payout of the insured deposits of Platinum Community Bank, Rolling Meadows, Illinois. The bank was closed today by the Office of Thrift Supervision, which appointed the FDIC as receiver.
…
Platinum Community Bank is the 88th FDIC-insured institution to fail this year and the 15th in Illinois. The last bank to be closed in the state was Inbank, Oak Forest, earlier today. The FDIC estimates the cost of the failure to its Deposit Insurance Fund to be approximately $114.3 million.
Sunwest Bank, Tustin, California, Assumes All of the Deposits of First State Bank, Flagstaff, Arizona
First State Bank, Flagstaff, Arizona, was closed today by the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Sunwest Bank, Tustin, California, to assume all of the deposits of First State Bank.
…
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $47 million. Sunwest Bank’s acquisition of all the deposits was the “least costly” resolution for the FDIC’s DIF compared to alternatives. First State Bank is the 89th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the third in Arizona. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Union Bank, National Association, Gilbert, on August 14, 2009.
DIF down a bit under half a billion dollars this Friday. Bail all you want, we’ll print more.
#226 Pat – Ask the school if you can restrict her purchases to lunch only. We have the option of lunch only, extras on Fridays only or extras anytime.
grim (213)-
Don’t worry. Sheilababy and her minions are sweating bullets, trying to find buyer for the twin turds otherwise known as Corus and Fifth Third.
We have a correspondent relationship with Fifth Third; the rep tells me at least once a week she goes into the office expecting it to be her last day.
What, a BFF without a failure in Georgia?? How can that be?
The foreclosure mess has hit our neighborhood – family with 5 school aged children had their house auctioned off on the courthouse steps a few months ago only I assume there were no takers because there has been no activity at the house. The swingset and toys are still in the back yard, curtains at the windows, blinds askew and in a final classy touch, the garage door is wide open. It is just creepy.
OOS, I did that, and also just cut all spending at school. I fear she will still get me. I’m out $2.50 as of week one. I can’t take the money, or she’ll know I ransacked her backpack.
I will keep you posted.
Pat (221)-
Au, AUD…for starters.
“Is there insurance against this bet?”
grim (228)-
Chump change.
226 Pat
Write a note to the teacher (and make a copy if you can before you send it) expressing what she is and is not allowed to use this fund for. Ask the teacher to let whatever staff is covering the lunchroom and school store what your wishes are. Or you can make a copy for each staff member but that’s really overkill.
Good luck.
Frank (224)
I hope Lori is schtupping you for putting all these posts on this blog
Pat
I tried the school lunch last year, literally for the first time. I felt like the money just disappeared….when I called I found out I must have checked snacks and lunch..he was buying those sport drinks etc. So I was told I could switch it to “meals” only…it leaves out a lot of the nonsense stuff. We are going back to packing this year, at least most of the week.
they also said I could ask for a record of what was paid for if I wanted.
204.Stu says:
September 4, 2009 at 5:14 pm
ChiFi: What is with your New York Post infatuation? Depeche Mode I can fathom, but can’t believe you read that less than useless paper. Just curious, as I’m certainly not trying to pick a fight.
Sports coverage. They break all the major sports stories. There are also certain sports writers that make strong points. Also the humor.
I think I could work for the NY Post.
They seem like solid monkeys.
And that’s only from the stuff CF posts. When I think of the Post, I normally visualize aliens hovering over the Tappan Zee.
Why didn’t I know this? Where is John when you need info?
WSJ
Saturday, September 5, 2009
SEPTEMBER 5, 2009
Legal Prostitution Under Pressure in Rhode Island
By SIMMI AUJLA and JENNIFER LEVITZ
PROVIDENCE — Rhode Island has a long tradition of going its own way. Founded by religious outcasts, it was the last of the original 13 colonies to join the union and the state mascot, which sits atop the State House, is a bronze figure named the “Independent Man.”
But there is one distinction about which many in the state aren’t proud: Due to a legal loophole, prostitution is legal in Rhode Island as long as it happens indoors.
Now, Rhode Island lawmakers are pushing to criminalize indoor prostitution, saying it damages the state’s reputation, disturbs neighbors, encourages sex trafficking and puts women in potentially dangerous situations. Nevada is the only other state that permits prostitution, and even there it’s not legal in the three most populous counties.
Rhode Island’s legal quirk has its defenders, including the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and some academics, who say the businesses don’t bother anyone and provide a way for prostitutes, many of whom are Asian immigrants, to support their families. Fifty academics signed an open letter in August saying prostitutes who work indoors are less likely to be assaulted or raped and less likely to use drugs or disturb neighbors than those who solicit in public.
Police estimate the state has at least 40 brothels, often called spas, massage parlors, or health centers, and that the number is growing. Says Providence City Solicitor Joseph Fernandez: “Rhode Island is a great state with many wonderful things, but this is not one of them.”
All forms of prostitution were illegal in the state until 1980, when legislators — while amending the existing law to speed up prosecution — inadvertently deleted the section that addressed the actual act of prostitution. The result was that the only thing that remained illegal was street solicitation, since police mostly use anti-loitering laws to arrest streetwalkers.
This legal loophole went unnoticed and police weren’t thwarted until 2003, when Providence lawyer Michael Kiselica was representing sex workers in a case before the state district court here. He acknowledged to a Providence city prosecutor that the women had offered sex for money to undercover police but asserted no state law was broken. The case was dismissed.
State legislators have tried to restore the law for years, but fell short in the face of opposition by some lawmakers, civil libertarians and academics, who said that allowing the arrest of prostitutes could end up punishing victims of human trafficking.
This year, however, momentum to change the law has grown. Bills have passed both the Rhode Island House and Senate, and the two bodies are now meeting to craft a common piece of legislation to send to the governor.
The new momentum is partly a response to the so-called Craigslist killing. Medical student Philip Markoff was indicted in Massachusetts in June on charges of killing a woman at an upscale Boston hotel who had advertised on the “exotic services” section of Craigslist. Rhode Island officials also charged Mr. Markoff with assault and intent to commit robbery of a stripper he had arranged to meet at a hotel in the state.
Mr. Markoff has pleaded not guilty to the Massachusetts charges and has not yet appeared in Rhode Island to answer charges there. His attorney did not immediately respond Friday to a phone message seeking comment.
Opponents of the change argue that indoor prostitution is safer for women, among other things. Tara Hurley, a Rhode Island filmmaker who did a documentary on sex workers, this summer organized prostitutes who are opposed to the law change to testify at the State House. A reporter accompanied her on Thursday to a Providence spa that she says offers sex. The spa was on the second floor of a mostly vacant office building.
After ringing a buzzer, guests were admitted by an older woman. Ms. Hurley said most spas have an “Imo,” the Korean word for aunt, who cooks and cleans. In a den, off a dimly lit hallway, another woman who said she was an employee sat on a couch in pajamas, munching popcorn and watching a Korean movie.
The woman, who declined to give her name, said she is 41 and that she works at the spa for the money, some of which she sends back to her native Korea to help her family. She said she hopes the state law is not changed. “Nobody likes this work, but they are taking care of their families,” she said. Among those fighting the brothels are nearby businesses. In Middletown, R.I., near Newport, a local toy store relocated 40 minutes away in August after the owners grew frustrated with doing business near what they believed was a brothel.
Eric and Hema Bulmer, owners of Pow! Science! said when they stopped by their store at night, they would see the spa’s neon “open” sign lit and cars parked outside. During the day, men occasionally walked into the store and noticed that Mrs. Bulmer, who is a Nepalese immigrant, was a petite Asian woman. They immediately assumed the toy store was a front for a brothel, Mrs. Bulmer said.
“Guys look at you and think, this must be it,” Mrs. Bulmer said, calling the unwanted attention “humiliating.”
If board disagreements ever came to an all out brawl, my money would be on Pat.
Just sayin.
BC Bob –
Ribollita’s – Modest prices, good portions, small place, popular place so get there early.
(207) 774-2972
41 Middle St
Portland, ME 04101
The montepulciano on the wine list was superb.
Enjoy.
Stu-
What goes on at a fake bris?
I’m no Berkenstock wearing earth mother, but I’d love some of your heirloom tomato seeds.
Yoy guys are all missing the point on the employment numbers Bloomberg got it “U.S. Recovery Leaving Workers Jobless May Stoke Company Profits:
” Companies profits will be soaring so will the stock market ..employment is just a unintended consequence of production equals profits equals the new paycheck without working
[245],
Nobody has missed this. Old, old news. Not only has this been discounted, 4-5% growth, 2010, is also factored in.
Job losses, just one side of the equation. Bigger problem, if we have a jobless recovery, how does a consumer led economy flourish?
GA [243],
Thanks. I’ll check it out.
226 – Send her to Washington.
241 – news to me and i grew up there. guess its not the type of thing brought up at family gatherings.
NJ Coast 244 – They call it a Bris Shalom and they basically say the prayers, but don’t do the cutting.
Our Vegan friends joined the Reconstructionist synagogue and had one for their son.
Stimulus ain’t stimulating here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/business/economy/05stcloud.html?th&emc=th
Paul Krugman, from NYT magazine:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/magazine/06Economic-t.html?_r=1
#251 – What, so robbing Peter to pay Paul has its limits? Who’da thunk.
Krugman’s opinion is worth less than the cost of reading this post.
NJGator (250)
That’s like non-alcoholic beer. What’s the point?
Stu:
For you good buddy.
September 5, 2009 —
IF you thought Page Six was harsh in the way we treat celebrities, check out “Why We Hate You,” the venomous pages on Facebook and Twitter devoted to attacking boldfaced names. Among some particularly wicked recent postings:
* Heather Mills: “Being that Paul McCartney is the most famous living celebrity . . . wouldn’t you think [he] could at least score a broad with two legs?”
* Brody Jenner: “No apparent skills other than [a] winning smile, good hair, and scoring chicks. Career high point: recently beat up . . . Joe Francis.”
* Madonna: “This broad has more veins popping out of her than [Sylvester] Stallone . . . plus, the worst fake English accent we’ve ever heard.”
* Kanye West: “Because you are hands down the most arrogant, least talented, and the most loathsome guy in music. Luckily for Kanye there is a guy named Chris Brown.”
* Paris Hilton: “There are so many reason to hate her, it almost isn’t fair. She’s a talentless fame-whore [and] easier to spread than Skippy Smooth . . . just plain vacant.”
* Kevin Federline: “10 points for nailing Britney [Spears] in her prime, but you lose the whole game for looking like you ate your kids, for trying to be a white rapper, and for sucking up perfectly good oxygen.”
* The Jonas Brothers: “These girly-boys remind us of three other irritating teen queens from the ’90s who had one huge hit, sold millions of records, were wildly famous for about 10 minutes, and then disappeared . . . Remember Hanson?”
* Amy Winehouse: “God definitely has a sick and twisted sense of humor, matching that voice with [her] face, mind and body. Watching Amy is like listening to Heidi Montag sing — painful, yet morbidly entertaining. We predict a minimum of two more trips to rehab.”
255 X – I know. He’s a good kid. I feel bad that one day his college roommates are going to nickname him Sm*gma Man.
225 Stu
Thanks for the advice on the Slow Food thing. I personally wouldn’t attend because I don’t fit in with the holistic medicine/vaccination choice crowd.
Did I mention I love you?
If I hear about one more vegan, rice-cake eatin’ saw-palmetto snorting, kava-kava chewing f*cking nutcake… I’m gonna dust of the Benelli and drill them with M&Ms buckshot.
BTW, my SIL (see above) is about to shit out her next kid in a bathtub birthing pool with husband and 4 yr old son in the pool with her!. Excuse me. I have to go shoot myself now. Or vomit. Or both.
After the night I had in the Pit last night, anything is possible.
sl
Ok, I’m working right now… have to be logged in until 7:00 PM to monitor a whole bunch of processes for Citigroup. I’m one month into this job and it’s been utter chaos. It’s a blue print for the Keystone Cops. 4 different bosses, 1000 emails a day (literally) and bits and pieces of 60 different procedures. There is absolutely nothing systematic about the process and dozens of tasks are seemingly never completed because the priorities seem to change by the minute.
still_looking,
God, I love your posts! :)
SL
But I thought we bonded over Eric. :)
BC 227
Here’s the boiled down equation:
“Jack”::Tyler Durden
as
“Frank”:: jason
just more fractured delusions run amok.
sl
gary…. I’m glad that my pain [cough, cough] amuses you.
I was shitting bricks over a 400# guy with a heart rate of 234!
f*ck, which is the anti-arrhythmic that I can use that won’t kill him or result in me having to zap him with 100 Joules…. f*ck, which is it??? Ah, F*CK.
Yes. My night in a nutshell. I need a clean pair of skivs.
sl
lost 261…. sigh… ain’t he just awesome to stare at? and listen to? His 5 siblings probably want to smack him. He got *all* the great genes. The rest of them….meh.
[will return to quietly drooling over Skarsgard now.]
sl
SL 258 – Did you see the Ricki Lake propaganda piece on home birthers? Months later, I still think I have not recovered.
BTW – Stu and I can give you the name of a local doula who will make a belly cast for your SIL and rent her the birthing tub. Said doula recently lost her home to foreclosure and has been trying to get Montclair to use my tax dollars to build a skate park for her DS because he got arrested for trespassing after the local cops repeatedly told him he could not skateboard on bank property. Of course “he was just being persecuted for doing what he loved”. $10 says he wasn’t vaccinated or circumcised.
sl,
It’s not your pain that amuses me, it’s your distinct and descriptive writing style. I could not do what you do for a living and function normally.
Gator 250
Now I really have to vomit… WTF is that???? and EWwWwWwWwWwW…. In this field I have seen my fair share of “the Uncut Crud”
Like rotten moldy ricotta.
Oh, right… almost forgot…. SIL had her Uncut kid at our house….
Picture the diaper change: My Cut kid asks me, “Mama, how come [name here]’s pen.is is broken??”
[OK, think fast now… switch topic…anything… ANYTHING.]
“Uh, son, why don’t we go outside and find that bag of candy of yours in the car….”
and I wonder why I’m going grey.
sl
F*ck Ricki Lake. Period. And Oprah, too.
sl
gary. normal??? WTF is that?
sl
OK, think I’d hedge my Pat bet with some money on SL too.
OK not that I have the equipment so I’m not going to opine too much. But in all seriousness, a man should know how to keep his d*ck clean, cut or not cut. If he can’t keep it clean, I’m sure there are a lot of other issues going on having nothing to do with his d*ck.
NJGator (257)
Better to get it over when a baby and no memories, not freshman year in college after an embarrassing 1st time indecent.
You ever watch that show Nip/?Tuck from a few years ago? The son went through the whole drama
lis, 270 I’m honored! :)
sl
I also remember a very old Saturday Night Live skit where it was a car commercial and the rabbi did a bris in the back seat of the Ford whatever to show how smooth the ride was.
…sigh. the stories I could tell… just not on here. Pri.apism, broken pen*s, phimosi.s, paraphimosi.s, rashes.
I was doing notes this morning. I cosigned a note for a PA. The first paragraph ended in.
“The new lover was not a prostitute.” Got up. Left the computer. Time for fresh air. Our latest clientele are just da bomb.
sl
time for bed…. I got another shitty night coming up tonight.
sl
258.still_looking says:
September 5, 2009 at 11:31 am
BTW, my SIL (see above) is about to shit out her next kid in a bathtub birthing pool with husband and 4 yr old son in the pool with her!. Excuse me. I have to go shoot myself now. Or vomit. Or both.
This blog has existed for 48 months or so. One of the top ten passages ever written here. Even more important that is was written by a medical practioner.
Yep, you are so right. Thanks for posting this interesting article.
277- shame that post wasn’t during the week for John’s sake.
Finally a good cash for klunkers program.
http://www.sigsauer.com/CustomerService/klunker.aspx
Shark Jumped.
gary (259)-
Why be surprised? It is, after all, Citigroup…home office of the clusterfcuk.
Does anybody else here think John’s wife has him working for her nonstop from Friday PM to Sunday PM?
I bet she’s calling the shots on the bond purchases, too.
277#, please vote: do you think this passage is among the top ten on this blog since its creation?
I vote NO NO NO
“BTW, my SIL (see above) is about to shit out her next kid in a bathtub birthing pool with husband and 4 yr old son in the pool with her!. Excuse me. I have to go shoot myself now. Or vomit. Or both.”
This blog has existed for 48 months or so. One of the top ten passages ever written here. Even more important that is was written by a medical practioner.
Gary 259 – better have a chat with the developers. Tell them to make the changes to systematically check the system and to issue an alert / page you if something goes awry…
Received sales comps over the past year in Randolph. Seems buyers are willing to purchase at ‘2002 prices in the new subdivisions. Realtor sent a mail with the latest sale $200K under OLP w/ the caption that it was a “Great” time to be a buyer. I thought … even a better time to be a “patient” buyer …
276. The big question would be what are you “still looking” for?
233.
Pat
“I can’t take the money, or she’ll know I ransacked her backpack.”
Pat, she has lied and has, essentially stolen money from her family. I think you have grounds for ransacking and a severe grounding/taking away of other goodies at home.
Pat: I passed the dumpster again, but I was with son and baby….I guess it will be an every Saturday occurence. I’ll give it a shot next time…..
for clotus interruptus:
I think this article is fcuking funny.
WSJ
EATING OUT
SEPTEMBER 4, 2009, 7:42 P.M. ET.
True Values in the Hudson Valley
Beso and Le Canard Enchaine offer recession menus worth keeping into the recovery
By RAYMOND SOKOLOV
I got tired of hearing about how three-star Manhattan chefs were deigning to offer recession-hit customers cut-rate dishes in their lounges. So I decided to pass on the truffled hero sandwiches and pheasant sliders that were passing for value meals in New York City’s better eateries and instead drove two hours north to see what down-to-earth restaurateurs in the Hudson Valley were doing to battle hard times.
I stopped at a sophisticated bistro in New Paltz, N.Y., called Beso. And then I returned to Le Canard Enchaine, a French-run shrine to la cuisine française in Kingston, the first capital of New York.
It wouldn’t be quite fair to call Le Canard Enchaine a gastronomic museum, but it is very French, and its chef, Jean-Jacques Carquillat, is a far cry from television’s media-savvy top chefs. For one thing, he is French. And Chef Carquillat has no branch in Las Vegas or Miami, although he does have a second Canard in no-tone Albany. The other night, he was wearing shorts sans apron. With a bill of fare heavy on oldies like onion soup, he’s so far behind the curve that, in a world turned upside down by financial collapse, he’s ahead of it.
Beso
46 Main St.
New Paltz, N.Y.
845-255-1426
http://www.beso-restaurant dot com
Le Canard Enchaine
276 Fair St.
Kingston, N.Y.
845-339-2003
le-canardenchainesrestaurant dot com
Monsieur Carquillat, you see, offers budget-minded customers a prix-fixe menu—but not the fixed-price, $150, 11-course tasting menu that the fine-dining world embraced so firmly some 30 years ago that it’s hard to remember a time when no restaurants had one. Instead, his prix fixe recalls the bargain menu that back in the day many restaurants offered within the a la carte menu. The choices were usually limited to a few of the less-spectacular dishes, but you could pay a cut-rate price for, say, a first course and a main course from that smaller, plainer menu for a still-dandy, all-in, fixed price. And that is just what you can do today at Le Canard.
The $30 prix-fixe menu here is also a kind of early-bird menu, available only 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. It offers a truly splendid Caesar salad or a generous starburst of endive stuffed with walnuts and Roquefort to start, followed by a duck breast or braised lamb shanks, with a glass of house wine thrown in, for about $10 less than you would pay for the same dishes on the regular menu.
Of course, if you insist on ranging freely over the restaurant’s full panoply of dishes, you can order its dark and brooding fricassee of snails and mushrooms, or a crisp, rich double confit of duck legs, for a few bucks more—telling yourself you deserve something special. Indeed, I have always suspected that prix-fixe menus are a wily sort of marketing tool that encourage diners to order more-expensive dishes than they otherwise might have, in order to assert their greater classiness over plebes who hew to the piker’s option. But there it is: Arrive at Le Canard Enchaine at a reasonable hour, order the prix fixe and hold on to $10. A Hamilton saved is a Hamilton earned.
In New Paltz, where the Grateful Dead still visibly lives, Beso has been a game-changing operation. A young couple with impressive food-world résumés brought their Manhattan-honed skills to a former saloon on Main Street in 2005, and suddenly weekenders and food-minded locals didn’t have to drive over the Shawangunk Ridge or across the Hudson River for a fine dinner. The couple, with the Dickensian names Chadwick Greer (chef) and Tammy Ogletree (desserts and front of the house), were initially attracted to the area because of the first-class rock climbing, and because of the network of specialty farm producers. From their first spring days four years ago, they raised the bar for restaurant food in this college town, with dishes such as herb-crusted swordfish in salsa verde and handmade pasta.
Since emerging from kitchen renovations this spring, Mr. Greer has added a recession menu with dishes pegged at a somewhat lower price range than the grander pre-recession menu, which still coexists with the new cut-rate experiment. Beso’s original menu wasn’t a multicourse procession of obligatory small plates; portions were scaled to fit a traditional meal plan of appetizer, main course and dessert. Now, diners are asked to choose from two different menus, but they can pick dishes from either one for the same meal. In other words, the kitchen has really just added a new menu of cheap eats to supplement the pricier choices.
I applaud this gesture toward austerity, for obvious reasons, but also because it has forced Chef Greer to offer a broader set of dishes than before. My all-time favorite on the full-price menu is the honey-chipotle glazed Hereford beef short ribs with sautéed broccoli rabe, homemade cornbread and a sweet-and-pungent honey-chipotle reduction at $28. The full-price menu also features a wood-grilled 10-ounce Hereford strip steak with hand-cut French fries, roasted broccoli and aged balsamic vinegar for the same price. The recession menu offers an 8-ounce version of the same steak for $22—around a 20% price reduction for a 20% reduction in the quantity of meat. The recession menu also offers some demotic items not previously available in the restaurant, barbecue ribs for $17 and a Hereford burger for $13.
As the economy seems to be recovering, I hope Le Canard Enchaine, Beso and others like them won’t abandon their leaner, meaner menus. Beyond the appeal of the lower cost per se, there’s the very attractive freedom of choice in a world unconfined by the tasting-menu straitjacket. And beyond the money part is a more focused, more modest meal for suddenly soberer customers who need cutbacks without downgrades.
288 Barbara… I was relieved when she told me she did pay for lunch. I was wrong- she wasn’t scamming me. It was singles from a daytrip last month. I’m being overly suspicious because I don’t want her eating all the junk.
Far Hills mansion on 11 acres being auctioned off.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/auctioneers_say_that_for_some.html
291
Pat,
Oh thats good. I understand about the junk, I have a 1st grader with eccentric tastes. He WON’T eat sandwiches, never. He won’t eat the school lunches, he will eat salads that I make or a ceaser salad st a restaurant. He also eats steak (!) which I make here at home but how the hell do you pack steak or a salad for that matter, for school lunch?
He doesn’t like MAc n cheese or any pasta. He doesn’t like cheese. He doesn’t like peanut butter. So, for lunch he packs sliced turkey pepperoni and crackers or a portuguese roll.
He drives me nuts.
I use those flat round tupperware hamburger maker containers and I cut up the leftover steak, ribs, chicken…whatever. She eats it cold as long as I give her a container of “sauce.” Anything will do. It’s the dipping she likes.
Did you try Nutella (or Nutella mixed with Peanut Butter) on a rolled up burrito shell, sliced into little rolls?
Pat
I never tried Nutella on him. He seems to dislike all things nutty. He dislikes all types of bread except good crusty french breads, and it has to be in little pieces like finger food, he won’t eat anything sandwichy. Truth be told, I need to try out new things on him again. I revisit the issue every 3-6 months with very limited success.
My 4th grader will not eat the school lunches either. She will have a melt down at the suggestion of buying lunch at school.
This thread is closed! Good riddance.