From New Jersey Newsroom:
N.J. jobless rate climbs to 9.7 percent, highest in 33 years
New Jersey unemployment climbed to a 33-year-high of 9.7 percent in August but preliminary estimates show that job growth continued for a second month after 17 months of job losses.
As the jobless rate increased from 9.3 percent, 2,900 people found private sector jobs but 2,100 others lost government and schools position, making the overall jobs gain 800.
The state’s unemployment rate of 9.7 percent now equals the national jobless rate.
According to preliminary estimates from the Labor Department’s monthly survey of employers, nonfarm wage and salary employment in the Garden State increased to a total of 3,930,500 in August.
“In August, New Jersey’s private sector employers continued to add workers to their payrolls,” said Labor Commissioner David j. Socolow. “It is encouraging that New Jersey continued to see a four-month trend of private sector employment stabilizing and moving in a positive direction. But the unemployment rate demonstrates that there is much more to do to put New Jersey back to work.”
From the Star Ledger:
N.J. unemployment jumps to 9.7 percent, matches U.S. rate
The unemployment rate in New Jersey jumped from 9.3 percent to 9.7 percent in August, matching the national figure, the state said today.
“That is significant because we’re now at the same level as the nation, and we’re just shy of double-digit unemployment,” said James Hughes, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. “There’s nothing positive. Most of the individual components are moving in the wrong direction.”
The state Department of Labor and Workforce Development said the total number of jobs rose by 800, though that number can be volatile. In the July report, the state said jobs rose by 5,600, but revised figures released today indicate the state actually lost 500 jobs in that month.
The private sector saw job growth of 2.9 percent in its second straight month of increases. Meanwhile, in the public sector — which is about a fifth of the size of the private sector — jobs fell by 2.1 percent.
From the NJ Department of Labor:
August preliminary estimates showed that private sector employment in New Jersey continued an encouraging trend, as employers added 2,900 private sector jobs. Overall, employment rose by 800 jobs, as public sector employment declined by -2,100.
The state’s unemployment rate rose 0.4 percentage point in August to 9.7 percent, mirroring the national trend.
From the APP:
More jobs in N.J., but not enough
The monthly unemployment report showed the state added 2,900 private-sector jobs and lost 2,100 public sector jobs for a net gain of 800 jobs. It also showed the unemployment rate jumped from 9.3 percent in July to 9.7 percent in August, the highest rate since April 1977.
…
One caution flag: The state revises the figures each month, which can turn a stellar report into a lousy one. In July, for example, the state initially reported that the economy added 5,900 jobs. On Wednesday, it revised the figure and said the state lost 500 jobs.
Do the numbers count the illegals who are stacking up like cord wood at Home Depot? Look for congress to extend jobless bennys soon we be running out!
now that I think about it, HD sould have a labor isle, get your ditch digging supplies and someone to dig the ditch.
marty:
NJ has been a welfare state for years.
the Pols actually think that the illegals
help the state.
Look what just went on in Passaic.
Under a new program the President has authorized an “adoption” option in which each family will have the option of adopting an illegal alien and receiving a $13k tax credit.
they would have to expand that to 2/3 in
passaic,garfield,paterson,elizabeth,camden,trenton,plainfield,dover,etc
It’s really time to turn Michigan into a supermax penal colony.
Anyone who’s inclined to bet against Whitney Tilson…good luck to you. Here’s the latest smackdown (can’t believe TARP-corrupted CNBC keeps having this guy on):
http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-tilson-enjoy-the-housing-head-fake-while-it-lasts-2009-9
Someone sent this to me the other day and I meant to post it, but don’t think I ever got around to doing so. B.O., King Jon, etc., should consider these sentiments:
” You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”
shore (8)-
We’re way past the point of no return. The dolts have already wrecked everything. All that’s left is to see how long the current regime can gloss over the damage and kick the can down the road.
The next market crash will take us right back to 1929.
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/tg288.htm
BC – You told me to watch these TIC reports so I am…Is this one any better?
Thanks..C.
CLot
Unfortunately history shows that corrupt and inept governments can struggle on much longer then most people expect.
This will not be over quickly, perhaps a generation or two if we are lucky….
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601110&sid=aXHsFeEaL3GQ
“California Will Investigate Rating Firms Attorney General Says”
“For their work, the agencies earned billions of dollars in revenue, at a rate double what they earned for rating other financial products.”
They were calling them super safe and Jerry Brown is saying – uh, no….
Will he get anywhere? Who knows….
how much can the NJ taxpayer take?
where is the breaking point, or will
the average go along with it.
no choice?
Cindy,
I will put up a few charts on TIC data for you later today / early tonight……
You’re the First to Know
Dear Friend,
Well, it looks like you have made a difference.
Based upon the unbelievable support that I have receieved from 10,000 supporters like you, I have decided to throw my hat into the ring to challenge Chris Dodd for the honor of representing the state of Connecticut in the United States Senate. I will announce my candidacy on MSNBC’s Morning Joe show on Thursday, September 17 at 8:15am eastern time. Sorry for the short notice, but its important to honor commitments and keep these things under raps until the day the news breaks.
grim’s headline of the day “NJ unemployment rockets to 9.7%”
…. will be getting even higher once my company completes its second reduction in force today, first RIF was back in April. Today comes blow #2. My staff of 7 became a staff of 6 and now a staff of 4. Reassignment of duties means I am really going to be a one-person show.
I work squarely in the consumer disposable income space. There does not appear to be any disposable income left. The DJIA can hit 14k again for all I know but it won’t be based on anything even remotely fundamental.
freedy (14)-
Sadly, the answer is “go along with it”. The multi-generational brainwashing of NJ is pretty much complete.
You can tell that thinking people are way outnumbered, because how else could an entire population stomach the incoherent bleatings of dopes like Corzine, Codey, Milgram, Christie, et al?
We’ve been narcoticized into a soci@list stupor.
Jobless claims in at 545,000. Previous week revised upwards to 557k from 550k.
Yeah, I’m gonna rush out and hire somebody to get myself that sack of peanuts Corzine is offering as some sort of incentive.
Yeah, that’s the ticket…
make (16)-
Steel cage match!
CAVpoll,
Seriously, the sack of peanuts won’t even cover two weeks worth of a benefits package.
the Baucus bill does nothing for me. Nothing in it for the self employed. The whole preexsisting thing was already in place in NJ. Looks like a family of 3 earning 55k will still be expected to shell out substantial money in premiums and no word on outrageous deductibles.
No one seems to be talking about the deductibles. A 12k a year plan is really a 15k a year plan when there is a 5k deductible.
Thanks Kettle @ 15. No more Brad Setzer.
“Previous week revised upwards to 557k from 550k.”
I’m shocked, SHOCKED!
The temporary federal insurance on money market funds ends Sept 19. Anyone have any concerns about that?
#26,
buy some SRS if you are concerned. opps.
stater (26)-
Sure. No shortage of money market geniuses still out there who possess all the talent needed to break the buck.
As long as there’s the prospect of “enhanced” yield, I’m scared.
frank (27)-
Your latte stand offer breakfast sandwiches? I smell something burning.
16.make money says:
September 17, 2009 at 8:31 am
You’re the First to Know
albani: I will say that he is not likeable enough. He comes off as too slick and not enough of a listener. The problem with his slick is that you can see him trying…..almost as when Meryl Streep over-acts….
The end is nigh….
Mr. Sulu goes for the jugular…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090917/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_newlywed_gay_couple
chi (30)-
Ms. McMahon will choke-slam him from the top rope.
OK – HERE is the all-time the end is nigh (for Mets fans)
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/mvp_could_be_castillo_zCrB7AFEXFecsCCUHleNUJ
RE: Sulu
boldly going where no two men had gone before…
re: unemployment
Remember many job losses are occurring in industries with broken business models. These jobs won’t return ever.
The current U-6 (long term employment over a year) stands at 16.8%. It increased a .5% from July to August and at the current pace may hit 19% when the year ends.Close to my 20% prediction for 2009.
Hey Chifi, you bad boy bond boy. What is the 411 on my EK bond. KKR is supposed to help a brother out and I don’t see any prices this morning. I got in at 52 hoping for a tender and now it looks like I may get one but what will it be? I don’t have a BB terminal so I am in the dark.
BTW this was a ZOHAN bond purchase. I just used my inner peace to look into the future. Reading finanicals hurts my head, a tall boy with a late edition post is much better.
EASTMAN KODAK CO SR NT 9.20000% 06/01/2021
CUSIP 277461AV1
BTW I am more suprised that over 90% of people in NJ have a job, other than working at the Airport, collecting tolls, working at the mall or selling beer at Giant stadium there really isn’t a job base in the whole state.
http://quotingthecrisis.tumblr.com/post/189343745/think4yourself-savingpaper-inothernews-tom
Cartoon: surprise us….
john (36)-
This does not portend well for the future of capitalism.
“I just used my inner peace to look into the future.”
z (34)-
I’ll never be able to see the starship Enterprise as just a spacecraft anymore.
“The world is on track to add another 2.5 billion people by 2050, and many will be aspiring to live American-like, high-energy lifestyles. In such a world, renewable energy — where the variable cost of your fuel, sun or wind, is zero — will be in huge demand.
China now understands that. It no longer believes it can pollute its way to prosperity because it would choke to death. That is the most important shift in the world in the last 18 months. China has decided that clean-tech is going to be the next great global industry and is now creating a massive domestic market for solar and wind, which will give it a great export platform.
In October, Applied will be opening the world’s largest solar research center — in Xian, China. Gotta go where the customers are. So, if you like importing oil from Saudi Arabia, you’re going to love importing solar panels from China.”
On second thought, #36 is just necrophilia, pure and simple.
CAV,
For you and dog lovers everywhere:
http://pics.blameitonthevoices.com/082009/small_uss%20enterprise%20dog.jpg
Does anyone have an experience switching to the alternative natural gas supplier? Looks like some 12% savings v. PSE&G – what are the pitfalls here?
z (43)-
I think my dachshund has her Halloween costume. :)
[36] john
Don’t Mess with the Zohan
(sorry, couldn’t resist)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNEKjTV0N_Y
Albani,
If you’re a limited gov’t and a free market type of guy then I can’t think of one reason why you won’t wote for him.
re #41 – Veto – fully thing Applied Materials does not have a single Solar Plant in the USA.
What are we going to do for electricity with cap n trade in full effect?
“What are we going to do for electricity with cap n trade in full effect?”
We’ll put our illegals on treadmills.
Sean,
We will buy them from the Chinese and Germans of course.
I think we are missing an opportunity by not getting ourselves more involved in that industry.
I thought that was part of our plan, to build that industry here and then institute cap n trade to create demand and then use it as our cash cow for the next decade.
Sometimes I know the answer without reading the question. 16 years of taking tests in school without ever studying has served me well.
Cyclonic Action Vacuum says:
September 17, 2009 at 9:27 am
john (36)-
This does not portend well for the future of capitalism.
“I just used my inner peace to look into the future.”
Actually Israel, China and German are the best fit.
Out in Great Neck I always used to see the rich jewish people drive their Mercedes to go get Chinese Food.
Frank,
What does SRS stand for?
Green energy dudes,
I’ve actually visited plants making turbines for windmills in China. Talking to the big electric power equipment manufacturers, they’re all following the government money. But while they hope to make money selling this stuff, they know that it’s a sideshow, given that there’s no way this hippie electricity production comes close to meeting national energy needs. The smart, long term money, is preparing for the massive push into nuclear, which has economies of scale and very low variable cost. Capital costs are a bit high, but it’s a better investment than US Govt bonds for sure, and most of the cost of building a nuclear plant in the US is fighting the hippies and regulators, which the Chinese don’t have to worry about. So nuclear is going to be the backbone of the real “clean” energy push in China. Windmills and solar power is window dressing, or mostly good for isolated locations, and for impressing greenies.
Veto – re: “I thought that was part of our plan”
Solar is an industry like many others that we created here. What does it say for this country when the largest manufacturer in the world does not have a single plant in the US?
The plan by the way is Nuclear. The Cap N Trade bill paves the way to for Nuclear to Replace Coal about 40% of electrical energy needs. There are plans for about 125 Nuke plants over the next three decades.
One of the reasons why Solar will fail is it nearly impossible to get a solar farm going due to local zoning NIMBY laws and getting your solar hooked up to the grid to sell it back. There is a maze of laws at the state and local levels that require you to hire expensive lawyers and engineers. Not so in Germany or China.
A West, Thats some interesting insight.
I dont know much about green anything except for what gets into the ny times and the one environmental class that i took in school.
Money aside, I get excited about (1) removing our reliance on mid-east oil, (2) a cleaner environment and (3) anything that helps even the playing field against the third world.
If taxes, utilities and food prices increase 20% as a result, that suks, but im ok with it.
Nuclear waste suks too. But its better than lining the pockets of sheiks while they hurl commercial airplanes into our more important buildings.
Great info at this blog.
All this talk of illegals. Please people, the correct PC talk is ‘undocumented worker’.
All is well! Remain calm! Unless you’re in Philly….
http://www.kyw1060.com/Phila–Police-Brace-for-Mass-Layoffs/5233743
53#, Raul, its an ETF, now traded at $8.75.
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=SRS#chart6:symbol=srs;range=5d;indicator=volume;charttype=candlestick;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined
>Raul V says:
September 17, 2009 at 9:54 am
Frank,
What does SRS stand for?
John says:
September 17, 2009 at 9:19 am
you bad boy bond boy. What is the 411 on my EK bond. KKR is supposed to help a brother out and I don’t see any prices this morning. I got in at 52 hoping for a tender and now it looks like I may get one but what will it be?
EASTMAN KODAK CO SR NT 9.20000% 06/01/2021
CUSIP 277461AV1
Someone cashing in on the bid…..
50.000 10 09/17/2009 10:15:45
50.000 10 09/17/2009 10:15:38
49.786 10 09/17/2009 10:15:38
I’ll get more….
zieba says:
September 17, 2009 at 9:17 am
RE: Sulu boldly going where no two men had gone before…
really witty…excellent
It’s easy for people in the US or Europe to say they’re ok with food prices rising, or electricity prices rising in return for greener mandates, because basically everything the consume is a luxury good. But when the greens insist on telling very poor people that they must use green energy, then in effect they are telling some poor kid in a poor country that they can’t have a light to study at night, or they can’t afford to eat meat that week. This is the modern day version of “let them eat cake,” coming from a bunch of spoiled birkenstock wearing, Prius-driving multinational bureaucrats and their fans to the barefoot and hungry trying to catch up with the industrial revolution.
Feels a lot like Warren Buffet telling the government to raise my taxes, because he personally wouldn’t notice the difference.
Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.47%, down from 4.5% last week and 5.35% a year ago. The mortgage rate is at its lowest since Freddie Mac started tracking it in 1991.
The mortgage rate is at its lowest since Freddie Mac started tracking it in 1991.
And still crappy sales. What happens when rates go back to 7-8%? What are the unintended consequences of the Fed goosing the market by trying to keep the rates low?
Our company will conribute to unemployment by the end of the year as well. By my estimate, at least 1/3 of our ~75 employee will be gone :(
JJ: asks for that bond are pushing up to 55-area
make money says:
September 17, 2009 at 9:37 am
Albani, If you’re a limited gov’t and a free market type of guy then I can’t think of one reason why you won’t wote for him.
albani: One reason…I don’t live in CT
thanks! bi….
looks like it is down for the count! LOL
JJ: Quote me in the future to keep me honest.
It looks as if the KKR money is going to be used to make sure that EK has sufficient reserves so they can swap out a bunch of converts to something with better terms. There is a put provision in the converts that is in-the-money and can be exercise in 10/2010. Without the KKR money, I think some hedgies would be holding a gun to their head. I am guessing the embedded call in the bonds on EK is severely underwater. I am not going to really do the due diligence here.
OK – I messed with the Zohan….I think what you did is fine, but there is no special sauce here that is going to get you a 2-bagger or even an upside of 20-40% on a quick takeout.
this is 5 minutes of browsing..OK?
What does SRS stand for?
#
chicagofinance says:
September 17, 2009 at 10:43 am
John says:
September 17, 2009 at 9:19 am
you bad boy bond boy. What is the 411 on my EK bond. KKR is supposed to help a brother out and I don’t see any prices this morning. I got in at 52 hoping for a tender and now it looks like I may get one but what will it be?
Chifi,
Kodak is being purchased?
[59] danzud
Given how much Philly cops don’t want people to carry, legally or not, one can expect the time to permit to grow dramatically. And the courts won’t be much help, essentially letting the police disregard the law there.
As for police layoffs, Phila cops are so useless that no one in center city will notice, unless you run a Dunkin’s. After all, how many do you need to string up crime scene tape?
The prudent in Philly (and there aren’t that many) would have procured their carry permits long ago.
[43] zieba
That’s hysterical. Cruel, but hysterical.
US July TIC data suggests private capital flight from the USD?
http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/345220-kentpaul/27738-us-july-tic-data-suggests-private-capital-flight-from-the-usd
Somebody jumped from the GWB this morning, 2nd actual jumper in about a month. Usually they just threaten to jump….
tosh (65)-
They’re trying to do cancer surgery with a hammer and a hand saw.
Obama sounds like he is still campaigning. And yet, he is elected. Someone please explain.
Jackasses like this guy are the reason I’ve become a self-loathing Realtor. Unlike him, however, I’m not a gubmint-subsidized corporate welfare queen:
“Senator John Isakson (R. Ga.) knows how to sell real estate. For twenty years he built up Northside Realty outside of Atlanta. His company is one of the largest independent RE brokerages in the country. With that much experience he knows full well that when you provide 95% LTV loans and a tax rebate that allows the buyer to put up net-net zero money down on a home purchase you can move real estate again. The Senator is pushing hard to extend the existing first time home buyer program. He wants to dramatically expand the scope (and cost) of the program as well.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/senator-isakson-re-we-need-more-gas
70. Whoa, you finance guy have your own language. Another reason to loathe you.
@ 72
Nom,
You’d be amazed how effective my Rhodesian Ridgeback is. It’s really quite ridiculous because he’s nothing but a teddy bear. But on the other hand, my wife loves the parting of the sea reaction he has on pedestrians. I certainly don’t need a Cop when walking down South St on a Saturday Night.
Shore Guy says:
September 17, 2009 at 11:28 am
Chifi, Kodak is being purchased?
No – Kohlberg Kravis lent them $400M on usurious terms with equity upside…
Kohlberg Kravis lent them $400M on usurious terms with equity upside…
So how long until the parts are broken up and sold off?
tosh (82)-
I hear KKR is gonna hire Bud Fox to cut up the corpse of EK.
Chifi,
So, should I assume that means one more iconic US company is headed for the ash heap? After all, why would one need to borrow under such terms if the underlying business were sound?
What the heck do they make anymore? The last Kodak product I saw was a picture frame, which I bet they are buying from someone else and just slapping their name on.
chicagofinance you right it looks like that kooky bond has an option to covert to equity that since it is underwater people may be banging their tin cups looking for their principal back instead of near worthless shares. However, KKR does have a gun to their head and they will dilute the stock. But the investment is a bad one if EK goes BK and this is a Senior with a bit of a RR. They can take my kodachrome away but they aint taking a 9+% coupon away from me unless they cash me out at 70 cents or more.
I do think KKR money is better news for senior bond holders than it is for equity holders. Friday is expiration and their were some options out their with a 7 strike that people were buying even earlier this week. Ouch.
I have some AMR bonds too I bought at 32 cents on a dollar, they also have some cash coming their way today, maybe they will pop instead.
Tosh,
What is there to cut up? What on earth do they make anymore? Remember when it seemed that every picture was taken on Kodak film or printed on Kodak paper? Now the paper is HP, etc., and the cameras are Canon, etc.
Our first digital camera was a Kodak and it was such a dog and the customer service call center overseas so bad we tossed it and bought a foreign brand and have never regretted our choice.
NEWS Americans’ net worth increases in second quarter for the first time in nearly 2 years, government says.
BTW Shoreguy. Canon is moving its worldwide HQ to Melville LI in 2011 so soon it will be an American Company. So is HP. God Bless America. Kodak rocks the house. They acutally make a great home printer that runs on cheap ink. Plus they have tons of patents. Other than that just empty buildings in Rochester NY.
#82 – I LOL’d.
#84 – What the heck do they make anymore?
A lot, arguably too much. They rebrand a bunch of generic digicams under their own name. They make sensors for some fairly high-end studio equipment (Leica and Hassy as well I think). Have a large medical imaging business. Still have regular old film/development business, Ektachrome VS is very nice and they’ve introduced some new 120 films as well.
No too shabby…. until you realize all of these aren’t enough to support a company as large as EK is.
John is Mike Milken.
He uses the stories to throw us off.
You printing gus may find this interesting. The big digital printing presses sold by NexPress, Kodak’s venture with Heidelberger, are usually referred to as Heidelberger machines, even though Kodak supplies the technology. Why? Heidelberger, which makes offset presses, is better known among commercial printing companies.
Garrison Keillor is my new deadpool entrant. I think he has what it takes:
“He said his doctors did not tell him what to do or not to do after his stroke, and he plans no lifestyle changes.
“I don’t exercise and I don’t diet, so those are off the table,” Keillor said.
Keillor doesn’t think his workload contributed to his stroke. This summer he finished a novel, “Pilgrims,” and a novella, “A Christmas Blizzard,” which both come out this fall. He also celebrated the 35th anniversary of “A Prairie Home Companion” with a Fourth of July performance that attracted an estimated 10,000 people to Avon, a central Minnesota town that is one of the inspirations for Keillor’s imaginary hometown of Lake Wobegon.”
At least I am no Dennis Levine. Who the heck opens an offshore account using their mothers maden name Diamond as the pass code.
Funny story when they busted Dennis who was the bag man for Ivan Boesky, the SEC said look we don’t want a long trial just do a few years and tell us everything you know right now and plead guilty. Well Dennis wasn’t buying, well finally they tell him they want his info so bad they have a five minute one time offer on table plead guilty do a min sentence and tell us everything you know and we won’t even make you give back the money. The guy signed and the SEC and Feds told him thanks and BTW you have no money as we already got it back cause you were so stupid to use you moms maden name as a passowrd and since he used the same pay phone all the time outside 55 Borad, they had the long distance number he was dialing for the offshore bank. What an idiot.
Schumpeter says:
September 17, 2009 at 12:24 pm
John is Mike Milken.
He uses the stories to throw us off.
82.toshiro_mifune says:
September 17, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Kohlberg Kravis lent them $400M on usurious terms with equity upside…
So how long until the parts are broken up and sold off?
Long since underway. Medical Imaging was spun off two years ago as “Carestream” to Onex (actually quite funny how they had to physically divide the HQ to accomplish that). Subsequent layoffs on the EK side, presumably to make what was left more attractive for buyout.
John says:
September 17, 2009 at 12:15 pm
chicagofinance you right it looks like that kooky bond has an option to covert to equity that since it is underwater people may be banging their tin cups looking for their principal back instead of near worthless shares.
JJ: EK must have been in serious (no duh!) trouble in the past, because a convert with a put provision on the principle is a fcuking b!tch.
#86 – Shore – What is there to cut up? What on earth do they make anymore?
There’s probably enough there for the individual companies to be profitable. As John pointed out most of the non film business isn’t easily observed.
They built a very very large company based on the film sales and development business, which is now (largely) gone. It’s just too big to be supported on the existing revenue.
Mike Milken was a smart man, here is what he said about GM back in the 1990’s.
Why is book value not important? Let’s look at General Motors. At the beginning of this decade [1990], GM had historical book equity of $37 billion and market value of about $28.8 billion, less than 80% of book value. And they earned $900 million in the second quarter of 1990. That was followed by 10 consecutive quarters of losses, taking their book value to $6.6 billion. If you knew then that GM’s book value in the next three years was going to go from $37 billion to $6.6 billion, would you have bought the stock? My guess is most of you would not have estimated today’s [1993] market value would be $35 billion, more than five times book. But that $6.6 billion book value is meaningless because their unfunded pension liability is more than $20 billion. If they decide to take a write-off for unfunded pensions, they will have negative book value. One of our largest industrial enterprises with enormous market value now has no book value and no net worth. So what should you pay for things? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but the marketplace will later decide whether your eye was a good one.”
John,
As a printing guy, you are correct about the Nexpress being known mostly as a Heidelberg. We went up to Rochester a few years ago when building out our digital print facility and they couldn’t even get their press to run. It was, by far, the most embarrassing situation I ever saw a company big wigs go through. We then bought three Xerox iGens.
Tosh,
Pretty sure Kodak sold off their large medical imaging business two year’s ago for survival.
#93 – Long since underway. Medical Imaging was spun off two years ago
Now that you mention it, I think I remember reading about that.
My primary concern with EK is the preservation of Tri-X, Ekatchrome VS and Ektar 100 production in 120 (might as well do 35 too). Also to cajole them into re-releasing Kodachrome in 4×5.
Really? You mean I bought a bond with a 18.5% yield that has a risk of default? Who would have thunk it.
chicagofinance says:
September 17, 2009 at 12:36 pm
John says:
September 17, 2009 at 12:15 pm
chicagofinance you right it looks like that kooky bond has an option to covert to equity that since it is underwater people may be banging their tin cups looking for their principal back instead of near worthless shares.
JJ: EK must have been in serious (no duh!) trouble in the past, because a convert with a put provision on the principle is a fcuking b!tch.
toshiro_mifune says:
September 17, 2009 at 12:22 pm
No too shabby…. until you realize all of these aren’t enough to support a company as large as EK is.
tosh: I saw the dismantling of AT&T. I am sure the same is happening at the U.S. auto makers et al.
The people on the ground there are just disconnected from reality. The fight over budgets, create bureaucratic processes etc….you try to explain to them that the company that they see in front of them doesn’t exist anymore. It is some serious defect in the human psyche.
It is similar to take a person who lives in a McMansion and dropping them into a 2BR condo, but they don’t accept and understand it.
“I have to hire a lawn service” – no, you have no lawn
“The floors need to be vacuumed, when does the cleaning service show up?” – go grab the machine in the closet, you can clean the entire apartment in about 15 minutes.
“We have to think through the house decor”….. one room is a bedroom, it has a bed; the other room is the office, it has a desk and computer; make sure the cable is hooked up…you are done….
BUT – BUT – BUT……………STFU
Well, at least their empty buildings makes then RE related
#100 – Chifi – I saw the dismantling of AT&T. I am sure the same is happening at the U.S. auto makers et al.
My father worked for AT&T his entire adult life. I know exactly the mindset you’re talking about.
Cannon is located in Jamesburg. I’ve taken my SLR there to get serviced more than once….
them
-n
Good work if you can get it.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/Records_Bergen_Tech_super_reimbursed_for_15000_in_expenses.html
RE: “Obama sounds like he is still campaigning. And yet, he is elected. Someone please explain.”
What can one expect from someone who has never governed anything, led anything, or created anything.
Hillary Clinton explains:
“I think that I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. Senator John McCain has a lifetime of experience that he’d bring to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002.”
Hey…did you know that qwerty in Arabic means ‘broken record?’
I may make the trip up the Palisades for this today…
http://offthebroiler.wordpress.com/2006/06/05/ny-dining-preview-baileys-smokehouse/
Fink used to run Stickey’s in Teaneck before opening up shop here.
Zieba,
Let us know how it is. Still looking for good Mexican/BBQ in the northeast.
Could be an excellent location for a Monday Night Football GTG.
Strictly from a selfish perspective, I hope they extend the first-time buyer tax credit and remove the income restriction (if our closing is pushed past November 30, of course- otherwise, I think the credit is a horrible policy and I am strongly opposed to it).
Peter Schiff announces run for senate! Woot! I hope he wins!
Wow so intstead if interest KKR gets paid out in the form of new debt that also pays interest. Kinda like a neg am loan, someone pass the vasoline. EK is already paying me 18% on my bond and now KKR has tapped in so EK is getting tag teamed. Actually tripled teamed. Borowing to pay debt on a loan with a loan that automatically results in more debt. OOOOHHHHH, are the American Home Mortgage people now working at KKR?
Proceeds from the new financing will go toward repurchasing $575 million in Kodak convertible debt due in 2033. Holders of those notes were almost certain to exercise an October 2010 put option forcing Kodak to repurchase them. When the convertibles were issued in 2003 investors were given the option to convert them to stock at $31.02 a share, a premium of 47% to the $21.10 share price at the time. Kodak
shares have since fallen sharply and recently traded down 9.3% at $6.06.
Under Kodak’s existing credit agreement, the company couldn’t tap its bank credit facility to pay for the put option on the convertible notes, so it needed to find alternative means of financing.
The notes issued to KKR will bear payable-in-kind interest, through which interest is paid with additional debt instead of cash. The amount of PIK interest is fixed at a rate between 0.5% and 1.5% a year.
John (133)-
They will toggle this thing until it implodes. Hope you time it right.
From my Realtor:
Please don’t think I’m trying to push this property on you, but I have regular conversations with this agent now.
I just got a call from the agent at 17 Indian King. It has not hit the MLS yet, but they are lowering the price to $319, 900, and they are willing to negotiate some of the furniture, including the pool table, etc., plus leave the refrigerator. Does that change your thoughts on the home? Again, no pressure. I’m just trying to pass the info along as I get it. This house will definitely not last long once they publish it. Let me know.
p.s.
house originally listed at 400, i responded by saying i’m ready to talk when the list begins with a 2.
JJ: Give me some credit. I pulled that analysis out of my a%% and you just went to a disclosure and confirmed it. There is a WSJ article I saw on my coffee run that puts what I said in layman’s language.
Secondary,
I was impressed and caught offguard by how strong the activity was in jul and aug in my county – but not a day into sept i noticed the activity dropped off a cliff. all of the sudden my realtor has all the time in the world to show me places. Its like a seized up market again as far as i can tell. even new listings are coming on about $30-40K less than i thought they would. If this is a sign of what is to come, i cant wait.
Of course there are still the dillusionals leaving their home listed out there for over a year now way overpriced, having only lowered the price by $10K since their first listing. But i dont even count them anymore.
For the first time since 2004, i feel like the buyers have a huge upper hand.
Dear Colts Neck Moms group,
In just a few weeks we will be hosting the Bring Sean Home Walkathon and Fundrasier in Pier Village.
http://bringseanhome.org/walkathon/index.html
I hope you can join us on October 3 at 10:00am for a short walk along the boardwalk, followed by a few Jersey Shore bands. Registration is free. Pier Village is a great place to eat, shop and just hang out. All monies raised will go directly to The David and Sean Fund, to help David Goldman with his staggering bills in his over 5-year effort to bring his kidnapped son home from Brazil. Many people do not know this, but SEAN IS STILL NOT HOME!
If you are able to attend, please print the attached “Walkathon Fundraiser Form” and try to raise any amount of funds. (Fundraising can also be done online through Active Giving, but they do get a cut of every dollar raised.)
If you are unable to attend but are able to sponsor me, please make a check out to The David and Sean Fund and send to my address – 18 Grandview Drive, Holmdel NJ 07733. I will turn in all checks on October 3rd.
I do feel awkward about asking friends and family to support a cause I am personally involved with, and understand if you are unable to help. However. I feel such compassion for David, whom we have come to know, and he deserves help in many ways. Hopefully the next development in the legal aspect of the case will be in the next few weeks, as we all expect. Stay tuned!
Many thanks for your consideration.
Christine
—
Christine Schmitt
732.444.1087
I have been spending some time looking for a new rental around my area. I have been focused on looking for rentable single family homes or townhomes. When I walk into a new place I usually ask a few questions.
1. Are you the owner?
2. When will the place be available for rent?
3. Are you going to be making any further updates to the place before move in?
4. Are you thinking about installing new appliances?
5. How long has it remained unrented?
6. Why have you removed the deadbolt lock? Have you just recently evicted someone?
The clincher
7. I am detecting softness in the housing and rental market. Are you flexible on price?
At this point I usually give them a long hard stare that makes their mouth go dry as they try to process the reality of the situation. On the last question nearly all of them relent and say that price is flexible with one asking me what I wanted to pay. I quote “Tell me what you want to pay” (of course I didn’t answer). Another said that they had already come down in price to as low as they could but conceeded that if the right person (I’m guessing someone with stable, verifiable income) came along they could negotiate.
I only had one person stick to their guns and say that the price was firm. That means that 80%+ percent of rentals have very soft prices at this time in the Metro Washington D.C. area.
So much for BRAC strengthening rental prices.
I was talking with one owner of multiple rental properties and after a short discussion on how things were going she opened up and began spilling her situtation.
“If I don’t get some of these properties rented soon I’m going to have to default. There is no way I can continue paying for these properties unrented.”
I hear a great sucking sound comming this winter for the Washington DC metro area.
veto,
i hear ya. it was my strategy to begin looking in the summer but not make any offers until after the school year begins. i was shocked to see so many house we looked at sell but i obviously chalked that up to seasonal – “hurry before school starts” buyers. now its been nothing but the opposite since late august. price adjustment after adjustment and 1 in every 3 homes we view is an r.e.o.
as much as my realtor tries to fight it, the writing is on the wall and i’m holding firm on my stance. i won’t pay a lot for that muffler!
“i won’t pay a lot for that muffler!’
No reason to.
I’m past my expiration date too. At this point, if i find the right house with a reasonable asking price and a halfway motivated seller, i’ll throw a reasonable low-ball circa 2003 with the intention of making the deal work.
But i refuse to pay 2005 price. no way.
Chi-fi I give you credit, just mad as that deal so assbackwards the firm got new cash and bond went from 54 to 50. Lets hope my AMR bond does better with their new cash. I am officially throwing in the towel. I now HATE BONDS. I have lost that loving feeling.
BO is now soft on defence. Witness the lowering of our missile shield. He does give a good speech though and I’m sure we’ll be hearing many versions as we head down to the destruction of America…
Does that missile shield even work?
Sure it does. You haven’t noticed any missiles falling in Newark have you?
John,
Really? That capone bond is up to 109+ now. nice little 8% gain on the 10%+ interest. I think you still have some love deep down.
Sold! Bernie Madoff Beach House Goes to Contract at $8.75 Mil +
Conman’s Montauk Home Sold at Over Asking Price in “Fast and Furious” Sale
Bernard Madoff’s Montauk beach house on New York’s Long Island has been sold to an unidentified buyer in an all cash deal “over the asking price,” realtors Joan and Raymond Hegner of the Corcoran Group told ABCNews.com.
We have a fully signed contract,” said Joan Hegner, who added that interest in the convicted conman’s beachfront property was “fast and furious.”
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Madoff/bernie-madoffs-long-island-beach-house-sold-price/story?id=8601191
Jim 127-
Very true, no missiles in Newark. That reminds me… Corzine owes me $10M for the anti-tidal wave system I installed for the 2009 summer season.
d2b,
If the missile shield didn’t work do you think that the Russians would be making such a big fuss?
I would put my money on the fact that it not only works but it works very, very well.
If the missile shield didn’t work…
We wouldn’t be around to be upset about it.
I don’t how to find the site map. Is there one?
I posted this picture yesterday (http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx130/NJGator_photos/yard.png). It was an aerial view of a house that Stu and I were going to look at in Glen Ridge. We never did get to see it, because it sold the first weekend it was listed. I guess a granite kitchen and a shiny new bathroom trump foul balls in your windows and proximity to East Orange with the Park Slopers.
Tosh,
My point is if it was just a waste of American dollars then the Russians wouldn’t care.
If I shoot 5 missiles and you hit one who gives a hoot about you “missile defense system” aka giant waste of money.
I think that American technology in missile defense has made serious leaps in efficacy. I recall a while back (1 year ago) that I read a news paper report that there were some test off the coast of California (Vandenburg) that noted 5/5 hit ratio on some missiles they tested.
I’m guessing that American missile defense systems have moved beyond the much thought of “Patriot Missile Battery” to “OMG, your offense never left your airspace”
That is the real reason why Russia/China/Iran are up in arms about us installing missile defense systems all over Europe.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-missiles-text18-2009sep18,0,2298424.story
Fact Sheet on U.S. Missile Defense Policy
Nicholas,
Well the Russians sure didn’t like us operating within their sphere of influence. That alone was probably worth the price.
http://www.mda.mil/mdalink/html/mdalink.html
31 July 2009 – This marks the 19th successful intercept in 23 at sea firings for the AGEIS BMD program.
We have an 82%+ hit rate when firing from a mobile platform. What do you think our hit rate is when we are firing from a stable platform?
I have located a picture of the programming interface for the North American missile defense. Targets are selected and destroyed with amazing accuracy.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/86/A5200_Missile_Command.png
HOUSE VOTES TO DEFUND ACORN–FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL
FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 718
H R 3221 RECORDED VOTE 17-Sep-2009 2:06 PM
QUESTION: On Motion to Recommit with Instructions
BILL TITLE: Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009
Ayes = 345
Noes = 75
New Jersey Noes
Pallone (D)
Holt (D)
Pascrell (D)
Payne (D)
Sires (D)
Well this is great.
Alap, I know I am like Vince Chase at Black Jack, even though I know I always win in the end it still hurts when you lose a hand. Although Johnny Drama is my favorite character. E and Turtle I can live without, but Ari, that is another lvoe of mine.
Alap says:
September 17, 2009 at 4:17 pm
John,
Really? That capone bond is up to 109+ now. nice little 8% gain on the 10%+ interest. I think you still have some love deep down.
Btw since you own the bond around two months you are moving at a 48% annualized rate not counting the actual interest on the bond. Take that ING!!
Alap says:
September 17, 2009 at 4:17 pm
John,
Really? That capone bond is up to 109+ now. nice little 8% gain on the 10%+ interest. I think you still have some love deep down.
Getting near time to email the clueless wonder at BankRate. Here was his gem a few months back.
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/269908/Don't-Hold-Your-Breath-Mortgage-Rates-Below-5-Are-Gone-for-Good?tickers=fnm,fre,xhb,tol,kbh,%5Edji,%5Espx
KKR can’t toggle us senior bond holders too bad. Remember, they may be willing to lose on the equity side but if they force a BK they can wipe out the equity holders and beat up sub bonds. But us Senior Bond holders I want a piece of the action, debt for equity swap. Till them I got a 12K bond I paid 6K for paying 1K a year interest. Every six months I get closer to a who cares moment lets take this bad boy down and kill the equity holders. Sorry now that I am in bed with KKR I am all Gordon Gecko like.
[120] Pretty good strategy for renting. I’m looking around and will be doing the same. One thing I will insist on is a 60-day exit clause in my lease, so that if I need to move I can get out of the deal without any issues. So far, one prospective landlord has balked at that (probably because I negotiated the price downward too) but I think it’s do-able in this economy. Especially for professional tenants with high and stable incomes and excellent credit.
[115]
“This house will definitely not last long once they publish it.”
Hurry! Buy now or miss an opportunity to lose substantial sums of money forever!
[139] nicholas
Remember that movie from the 80’s with Val Kilmer as an iconoclastic engineering geek at Cal Poly, who develops a mega-laser?
http://www.mda.mil/mdalink/pdf/09news0017.pdf
Bagholder
66 Weston Ave, Chatham
Sold 10/19/06 at $660,000
Asking $575,000
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Chatham-Boro_NJ_07928_1112267407
3 Bed, 2 Bath | 0.34 Acres (14,810 Sq Ft Lot) |
MLS ID #2710458
Lawn 3 feet high, vacant…..
Chatham Twp, NJ 07928
$599,900
4 Bed, 2 Bath | 0.46 Acres (20,037 Sq Ft Lot) |
MLS ID #2696511
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/Chatham-Twp_NJ_07928_1110713910
#148 Real Genius
150: To each his own, but that is one fugly casa-at any price.
comment intended for 66 weston
City Unemployment Rate Exceeds 10%
New York City’s unemployment rate jumped to 10.3 percent in August as the number of city residents unable to find work rose to a record high of 415,800, state officials said on Thursday.
The city’s unemployment rate, up from 9.5 percent in July, is higher than the national rate of 9.7 percent and much higher than the 8 percent reported for the rest of the state, the State Labor Department’s figures show. Gov. David A. Paterson and other state officials said that the new data emphasized how the financial crisis has devastated the financial services industry that was the main engine of the city’s growth in the last boom.
The recession may be over for the rest of the nation, as Ben S. Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, has suggested, Mr. Paterson said, but New York is still caught in its throes.
“What he’s saying about the national recession doesn’t apply to us,” Mr. Paterson said at a news conference at the Borough of Manhattan Community college in Lower Manhattan.
New York is going to face “tough sledding” for another year or more, he said.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/17/city-unemployment-rate-exceeds-10/?hp
Chi,
RE: Dear Colts Neck Moms group
That father needs to call the likes of SAS. Kid will be home in a weekend.
150: The “open prairie” look is making a comeback.
John says:
September 17, 2009 at 3:58 pm
I now HATE BONDS. I have lost that loving feeling.
JJ: What about the Zohan????????
$950,000 POS cape…..
12 Yarmouth Road Chatham Twp, NJ 07928
$949,500
3 Bed, 2.5 Bath | 0.19 Acres (8,276 Sq Ft Lot) |
MLS ID #2696959
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/12-Yarmouth-Road_Chatham-Twp_NJ_07928_1110756729
pascrell , what a rat
“TIRED OF THE DRAMA & FRUSTRATION OF FORECLOSURES & SHORT SALES?”
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3946-Winters-Hill-Drive_Norcross_GA_30360_1108111299
John (124)-
That’s OK. You’ll still have Vidalia.
“Chi-fi I give you credit, just mad as that deal so assbackwards the firm got new cash and bond went from 54 to 50. Lets hope my AMR bond does better with their new cash. I am officially throwing in the towel. I now HATE BONDS. I have lost that loving feeling.”
qwert (150)-
Put a 4-handle on that POS, or the pipes will blow this Winter…
qwerty (160)-
I think I saw that agent in a movie once…
Which valuation site do you think is most accurate?
Zillow, cyberhomes or homegain?
“We have an 82%+ hit rate when firing from a mobile platform. What do you think our hit rate is when we are firing from a stable platform”
I am all for developing anti-missile systems and have no issue with poking our fingers an any nation’s eyes if it is in our national iterest but, this kill ratio comes when: 1) we know the test is coming; 2) we know from where it is coming; 3) we know the intended “target”; and, 4) there is a single target and no decoys (which in space can be a mylar balloon).
We are far from ready for prime time with land and sea systems and our ABL is teetering on the edge of extinction.
Gator,
I am not surprised that Bernie’shouse sold or that it sold above asking as it is a fantastic BEACH HOUSE, as opposed to a McMansion by the sea.
yeah, my montclair realtor called again last week, sent over some “really interesting” stuff. Yes, 150k overpriced 3 bed 2 bath in a sketchy hood is “interesting.”
This time I didn’t call back, I’m sick of saying the same thing re: I’m not going to pay 2005 prices. Its like she pretends zillow doesn’t exist.
#160 “Almost Dunwoody.” That’s hilarious. In other news, Cobb County, Georgia, where I live, will have 1609 properties auctioned off on the courthouse steps on October 6th. 11,083 have already been advertised for foreclosure auction so far this year and our unemployment rate is right where yours is: 9.7% Yee-haaa!!!! Give us a hit offa the moonshine in that there Mason jar, Bubba!
look, only 477 days on market. Better hurry
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/Near-Chestnut-St-Montclair-NJ-07042/2145485466_zpid/
Goodness, houses are practically free in Georgia. NJ property is at least 4X the price. Imagine inviting Georgia relatives to come see your new $950k house in Chatham, and they discover it’s a tiny POS cape with no yard. But at least all your neighbors drive Land Rovers, and none of the kids in the school are dumb other than those stricken with ADHD.
From the NYT:
Unemployment Hits 10.3% in New York City
Continuing layoffs on Wall Street drove New York City’s unemployment rate to 10.3 percent in August, a 16-year high that underscores the need to retrain former financial services workers for other jobs, state officials said Thursday.
In the year since the Lehman Brothers investment bank collapsed and others had to be rescued from failing, the number of unemployed city residents has risen to more than 415,000, the highest total on record—. The still-shrinking financial sector, which had been the main engine of employment growth in the city before the downturn, has essentially been declared to be in a state of emergency.
The State Department of Labor has begun using a “national emergency grant” of $11 million in federal funds to help those laid off on Wall Street shift into other fields, like health care and education. Emphasizing the need for such a shift, M. Patricia Smith, the state labor commissioner, said, “Our economists don’t see the financial-services sector ever coming back as strong as it was.”
Barbara 167 – Did you see that ugly house (one with the bright green shutters) re-listed on Watchung? They were asking $671k for ages. Now they are asking $499k short. Still about 100k too much.
# 158 Q
……speechless……
gator,
I just looked again on zillow and I didn’t see it.
Did you see all the pages of preforclosures in Montclair? Damn. If you took away all the listings that were not upsidedown, I truly think you would see 3 houses in all. No closings in 30s! These realtors are going to start cannibalizing each other at one of the outdoor cafes on Bloomfield.
Quite the staring contest.
Barbara – it is 207 Watchung. Ain’t she a beaut?
http://emailrpt.gsmls.com/public/media.do?method=gethigresmedia&num=0&sysid=3977525_null&pubid=233171
Gator,
oysh. it does have a promising roof line for the studio/masterbedroom suite I want to build. You and stu are pricing houses at the same price point as I have been, 150k over, yep.
158. Q
its finally time to start crank calling these realtors.
158 Q
example:
“I’m pre approved and willing to pay the asking as long as you can find me some long term tenants at 5k a month. Call me.”
ACORN
sure alot of talk in the press about these hooligans. back in 1990, i had my run with some of those people.
Its a whole shady web onto itself. It lead me to an Egyptian cargo ship, a big package heading straight to Rwanda. What i saw on that ship, i stalled the cargo, caused a little commotion, and made some calls to reroute that ship to the best of my ability.
come to find out, Northwestern University Transportation Center was helping finance the whole thing.
what was that package? lets just put it this way.. it was Boutros-Ghali approved.
SAS
Some fun for tonight :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc1Wzk2Tsxg
179.
sas
Was it a large golden arc?
OUTSTANDING, Essex.
Essex says:
September 16, 2009 at 6:54 pm
194. NJ is like the land of misfit toys, and local people who think they are “smart”, and middle aged wimmen with bad work done.
the season premiere of the office was tremendous
“Was it a large golden arc?”
no. I wish it was a golden arc.
I estimate that cargo to be worth about 20-30 million USD, going straight to the hands of Impuzamugambi.
if you didn’t think i lived in fear for sometime after that stunt we did to redirect that ship? i didn’t stay in the sample spot for more than 4 hrs for several years after that one.
in any case, i’m way off topic.
back to real estate,
SAS
gator, are Florida fans talking about the wife of the tenn coach, layla kiffin?
http://tiny.cc/0fmUD
if there is a coach with a hotter wife, i have not seen her
Cyclonic Action Vacuum says:
September 17, 2009 at 7:48 am
It’s really time to turn Michigan into a supermax penal colony.
agreed
@ Gator (134)
And don’t forget the fact that it sits on top of a former Superfund site.
@ Barbara (174):
I count 35-40 closings in Montclair & Glen Ridge since July 1. Here are the most recent I’ve seen:
10 Stanford Place (MTC); OLP: $469,000; SP: $482,000; CD: 8/27/09
382 Grove Street (MTC); OLP: $539,000; SP: $450,000; CD: 8/28/09
119 Squire Hill Road (MTC); OLP: $515,000; SP: $480,000; CD: 8/27/09
5 Emerson Place (MTC); OLP: $535,000; SP: $601,500; CD: 8/24/09
105 Buckingham Road (MTC); OLP: $539,000; SP: $520,000; CD: 8/28/09
567 Highland Ave (MTC); OLP: $549,000; SP: $542,000; CD: 8/28/09
823 Bloomfield Ave (MTC); OLP: $557,000; SP: $550,000; CD: 8/27/09
61 Fairview Place (MTC); OLP: $639,000; SP: $655,000; CD: 8/28/09
14 Notting Hill Way (MTC); OLP: $734,900; SP: $685,000; CD: 8/27/09
120 Westview Road; OLP: $675,000; SP: $595,000; CD: 9/8/09
136 Essex Ave (GR); OLP: $599,000; SP: $580,000; CD: 9/11/09
Not that I don’t agree with your general sentiment. But I believe I saw you saying in a previous thread that there have been “no closings in the last 30 days”. Just want to clear up that there’s definitely been *some* activity in MTC and GR this summer. (My wife and I are going to be responsible for a closing later this fall, most likely. We just couldn’t hold out any longer.)
Yikes 184 – She is a ZTA from UF
http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/04/28/layla-kiffin-appeals-to-bruce-pearl/
On the fence 186 – That should add about 50k in value, right?
Gator (189):
Sure; no need for a microwave!
187.
according to zillow, none in the last 30. Some people say that zillow is dependable, some not so I don’t know.
Barbara 191 – Zillow probably gets their records from SR1As filed with Essex County. Essex County does not have online public records and everything probably takes eons to be searchable there.
When Stu went to file our LLC name for our investment club, they gave him printed books to review to check for conflicts on our name, not a searchable database.
Every time this site goes down, I fear Grim is under DOS attack.
Zillow blows.
Grim – Dunno what kind of hosting you have, but you should check out the Rackspace Cloud for WordPress…
http://www.rackspacecloud.com/cloud_hosting_demos/cloud_computing_word_press_install
re #194 – Clot – For those of us without MLS access we need to use these sites. I prefer Trulia to track price drops. Their “Price reduced” Feature works well.
http://www.trulia.com/NJ/Ridgewood/#for_sale/Ridgewood,NJ/reduceddt;d_sort/365_pr/
N.J. politicians criticize affordable housing appeals court ruling
Chris Christie asked Gov. Jon Corzine to call a special legislative session and denounce an Appellate Division decision issued Monday, that may set a precedent for towns already meeting the Council on Affordable Housing quota.
Whoa!!! COAH regulations does not prevent towns from Lawsuits ???? Oh my god, Politicians better take away powers quickly from Judges.
N.J. appeals court rules towns can alter zoning laws to allow affordable housing after meeting quota
sean (196)-
Trulia way better than Zillow.
They should rename COAH “Cornfields to Condos”.
Much catchier. Can’t wait to see bus stops in the middle of Holland Twp, too.
For those MLS enabled: 355 Canterbury in 07446 sold recently for $680k. Can anyone tell me what the ask was? Did it even hit MLS? Thanks in advance.
Gary, you’re going to bust a gut on this one.
Putting aside the merits of the court’s COAH decision, if towns cooperate with meeting COAH standards (even if they did not want to in the first place) and then get hammered in court and by administrative agencies anyway, why would they go along without a fight for future mandates? It seems to provide a disincentive toward promoting cooperation.
Sorry folks scheduled maintenance this morning.
Shore,
Important. Check your email.
Can you hear me?
COAH – Don’t towns “buy” excess capacity of units from the cities?
For example, Jersey City sold or rents 698 COAH approved Units to these towns.
Project / Program Mechanism
Allendale II RCA / Lafayette Park, Phase VII New Construction – 100% Afford 8 8
Allendale I RCA / Salem Lafayette New Construction – 100% Afford 32 32
Old Tappan II RCA / Bayview Homes New Construction – 100% Afford 14 14
Old Tappan I RCA / Lafayette Park, Phase III New Construction – 100% Afford 7 7
Paramus RCA / Gupta Associates New Construction – 100% Afford 26 26
Paramus RCA / Journal Square Inclusionary Development 30 30
Paramus RCA / Pacific Court Townhouses Inclusionary Development 57
Paramus RCA / Whiton Street Associates New Construction – 100% Afford 34 34
Ramsey II RCA / Ocean Bayview North New Construction – 100% Afford 43 43
Ramsey I RCA / 138 Duncan Avenue New Construction – 100% Afford 9 9
Ramsey I RCA / Clinton Avenue New Construction – 100% Afford 24 24
Ramsey I RCA / Ocean Bayview North New Construction – 100% Afford 12 12
Ramsey RCA I / Arlington Gardens Rehab 58 58
Ramsey RCA I / Rehab Program Rehab 3
Rockleigh RCA / Ocean Bayview North New Construction – 100% Afford 5 5
Upper Saddle River RCA / Seaview Avenue Supp/Spec Needs Hsg 17 17
On page 47
http://www.state.nj.us/dca/affiliates/coah/reports/units.pdf
BC,
Ugggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! My son is in a play those dates.
I wonder if he would want to drop out of the cast and come to a show instead?
If someone works for the city, where can I go to se their salary.
Make:
http://www.nj.com/news/bythenumbers/
If you meant NYC, then this is another resource:
http://www.seethroughny.net/Payrolls/tabid/55/Default.aspx
[188] gator
I liked the description of ZTA as “wild and cool, but a little bit slutty.”
That was arguably Tri-Sig on our campus. And it wasn’t until AFTER graduation that I learned one of the Tri-Sigs (also smoking hot) really wanted me.
Sigh. Let this be a lesson. He who hesitates . . .
Like the cops don’t have better things to do.
More than 700 ticketed in N.J. crosswalk sting
In all, Cherry Hill, Collingswood, Pennsauken, Burlington City and Rowan University police handed out 728 tickets for failing to yield to a pedestrian, talking on a cell phone or not wearing a seatbelt.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090916/NEWS/90916051/More+than+700+ticketed+in+N.J.+crosswalk+sting
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Housing Administration says its cash cushion will dip below mandated levels for the first time, but insists it won’t need an immediate taxpayer rescue.
The agency, a growing source of funds for first-time homebuyers, faces mounting concerns that it will soon need a taxpayer bailout as losses grow from homeowners who lose their jobs and can’t pay their mortgages. Federal law requires the agency to have 2 percent more cash than its expected losses for the next 30 years.
The FHA says a study being sent to Congress in November is expected to show that ratio dipping below required levels for the first time.
The agency now insures about 5.3 million mortgages, up from about 4 million three years ago.
Sean [210],
I have a couple of bil’s who are cops. There is a major push to write tickets for any infraction. Local towns are desperate for cash. 5 miles over the speed limit, watch out.
ALAP (211):
“The Federal Housing Administration says its cash cushion will dip below mandated levels for the first time, but insists it won’t need an immediate taxpayer rescue.”
August 8, 2008.
Daniel Mudd says, “Fannie won’t need our money for a bailout.”
July 23, 2009.
“Fannie has received $34.2 billion of direct government support since last summer.”
[210] sean
Sorry, but I disagree. This is exactly what I want them doing: Their jobs.
Cops make more arrests for “real” crimes as a result of traffic stops than by most other means.
I used to be all in favor of doing whatever you wanted behind the wheel. But I have fallen into the “driving is a privilege” camp and have no problem accepting some “restraints” on our liberty when it is demonstrably proven that a goodly number of New Jerseyans (and others, to be fair) routinely abuse the privilege.
Of course, if we can hold those that cause accidents responisible under the Hammurabic Code, I would be more amenable to letting folks have the freedom to yak on the phones, or drive the way they want. Thus, if you kill my family with your car, I get to kill yours.
Stu (213) – From the Washington post. I think history is starting to rhyme again.
Housing Agency’s Cash Reserves Will Drop Below Requirement
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/17/AR2009091704594.html
“Earlier this year, HUD Inspector General Kenneth Donohue told a Senate panel that falling below the reserve’s minimum threshold would require an “increase in premiums or congressional appropriation intervention to make up the shortfall.”
But Stevens, who became FHA commissioner in July, said these options are not on the table. “We are absolutely not going to Congress and asking for money for FHA,” he said. “We’re not going to need a special subsidy or special funding of any kind.”
#416,
Homer: “Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol is working like a charm!”
Lisa: “That’s specious reasoning, dad.”
“By your logic, I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away.”
Homer: “Hmm how does it work?”
Lisa: “It doesn’t work; it’s just a stupid rock!”
Homer: “Uh-huh.”
Lisa: “… but I don’t see any tigers around, do you?”
Homer: “Lisa, I want to buy your rock…”
Bravo wsj, bravo…
Uncle Sam Bets the House on Mortgages
Right now, housing remains on government life support. Treasury-backed entities are guaranteeing about 85% of new mortgages, while the Fed buys 80% of the securities into which these taxpayer-backed mortgages are packaged.
The optimistic take is that this support, though large, will shrink when market forces regain confidence. But there is a darker possible outcome: The emergency assistance is entrenching a system in which the taxpayer takes the default risk on most mortgages, while a small number of large banks get a larger share of the fee revenue from originating and servicing mortgages.
Rather than trying to implement change, the government appears to be reinforcing a system in which it provides subsidies to an asset that periodically goes through highly leveraged speculative booms.
Despite the bust, conforming mortgages that qualify for government backing remain mispriced. That can be seen in the fact that banks have no desire to keep the most common mortgage on their books. Wells’s chief executive, John Stumpf, recently said: “We’re not putting on 30-year [fixed-rate] mortgages at these rates.”
So why should the taxpayer take them?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125322329116020929.html#mod=WSJ_hps_sections_realestate
Alap (211)-
The detonator is in place for the 10-megaton discharge.
re: #214 – Comrade – this is about money not law enforcement in the nanny state.
Why not use the limited police resources to take aim at crimes that involve violence or loss of property instead? Opps wait! there is no fine money for the town there!
veto [217],
Largest hedge fund trade [bet/gamble] ever. Wonder why capital is fleeing this country?
BC, they call that ‘double or nothin’ in AC…
Sounds like a self fullfilling prophercy. Take for instance Lynbrook Long Island, the town we all know and love as it is where they supposedly lived in “Everyone Loves Raymond” Like the TV show it is a small sleepy safe town full of little capes on 60 by 100 plots and a good school district with very little crime.
However, the police there somehow got themselves a 150K a year average salary. Nice, but they better be bringing in some revenue via tickets if they want to keep a 150K salary for a 3 day workweek.
BC Bob says:
September 18, 2009 at 10:19 am
Sean [210],
I have a couple of bil’s who are cops. There is a major push to write tickets for any infraction. Local towns are desperate for cash. 5 miles over the speed limit, watch out.
veto,
Whatever happened to limit your losses? Maybe our govt is trying to educate us pertaining to dollar cost averaging?
Sean 210 – The Montclair PD did this a few months ago and it was a great success. We can’t cross the county road near our house to get a slice of pizza without risking our lives. We have clearly signed crosswalks and signs in the middle of the road reminding drivers to stop for pedestrians and people still blow by. I can be walking clearly visible with small child and dog, and people will drive right by us in a crosswalk.
When our sting operation started the town put up a billboard with the weekly crosswalk compliance. It started off at 15% of drivers. By the time the project was over, that number was up to about 50%. It helps that the tickets were written as court appearance required and cost folks about $400 to contest.
ha, I think they are embracing the mantra, ‘what wont kill you will only make you stronger’ in the literal sense.
re#224 – NJGator missing the point….
This is more effective, works 24 x 7 and does not need unlimited coffee and donuts–> http://www.dawginc.com/starvisor/images/documents/speed-hump1-crop.jpg
Than the cost of this.
—> http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Uploads/Graphics/004-0716051520-cop-ticket.jpg
Grim #226 in Mod
Green Shoots => Khov selling plots in FL at $3,000 apiece.
First Home sells last lots
Hovnanian Enterprises – Lee County’s biggest homebuilder for a brief, shining moment – has quietly sold its last 1,409 lots here for $4.2 million to a group of Czech investors.
At $3,000 apiece, the lots, mostly in Lehigh Acres, were far less expensive than the 812 lots in Cape Coral that Hovnanian sold in December 2007 to Ocala-based Deltona Corp. for $16.2 million. That came to $19,700 apiece.
I think Montclair is a distant wannabe to this fast-dying burg:
http://greenwich-gossip.blogspot.com/
The very rich aren’t so different from you and me, it appears.
http://www.portfolio-adviser.com/lwm/article/747
One more article on FL deal by KHOV.
Hovnanian: Done with Fort Myers?
From reuters
FDIC to consider ways to replenish deposit fund
http://tiny.cc/TgnP0
“let’s put that deck chair over here and those deck chairs over there….I like the band! They’re loud enough to drown out that hull-cracking sound.”
sl
Just anectdata…
Went to pick kid up from preschool. Haven’t in a long time.
Drove down rte 17 looking for the usual landmark to turn off and damn near missed it. Sign gone, store gone.
Chalk up a pile of new vacancies on 17 south.
sl
Kudos to our resident Michael Milken, Jahnny baby.
But investors should not throw the towel in just yet. First of all, very few would have had the skill and luck to buy at the bottom of the market. It could have been argued that corporate bonds were very cheap during the second half of 2008, but an investment made at that time would have been significantly under water within a matter of weeks. There were also a number of false dawns along the way, which could have sucked in investors who were hoping to use turning points to enter the market. Moreover, it took a very brave investment decision to buy any risky asset class at the start of 2009 given consensus expectations of a 1930s style depression and the very real risk of a collapse in financial markets. In short, if you missed the opportunity to invest at the cheapest point, you are not alone.
sl (231)-
Nothing so mundane as that. Count on Sheilababy to exponentially ratchet up the stupid by forcing solvent, well-run banks- who had nothing to do with this mess- to contribute crippling amounts of money to the replenishment effort.
Once this is done, every bank in the US will be dead man walking.
Gotta stop and take a sake/raw fish break now.
veto (233)-
Only John anticipated the extent to which the gubmint was willing to go to transfuse the corpse known as the US economy.
Unfortunately, the corpse is still very much dead…and rotting.
Veto That (217)
So here’s the dillemma for a home shopper right now:
Mortgage interest rates are really cheap now thanks to government intervention, and in NJ this is helped by higher limits for conforming loans, up to over $700k. On the margin, this is helping homes sell an keeping prices up by supporting monthly affordability.
Net result: you pay more for a home today, but have less expensive mortgage payments during the time that you own the home.
If the subsidies and supports end and mortgage rates rise while availability falls, then there will be a gap when it’s really a bad time to buy. Sellers aren’t going to mark down their prices and capitulate the first months that this happens. So for a while there will be a time when prices are still high, while mortgage interest goes higher as well.
I recently got a warning from my Realtor suggesting that all contracts be scheduled to close by 11/15/09, when the agencies may drop down the dollar limits on conforming loans. Can anyone confirm/deny an impending change on the size of conforming loans in NJ?
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2009-09-17-homeowner-aid-unemployed-obama_N.htm
Unemployed homeowners could get financial assistance
By Stephanie Armour, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is engaged in high-level talks about providing financial assistance to homeowners who’ve lost their jobs and can’t afford their mortgage payments.
The Treasury Department held meetings on the subject as recently as Thursday with key stakeholders, according to Laura Armstrong, a spokeswoman for Hope Now, an alliance of non-profits and mortgage servicers, and more discussions are planned.
Proposals include getting servicers to let jobless homeowners skip some monthly payments, according to Faith Schwartz, executive director of Hope Now.
Another possibility that has been discussed includes grants or loans to temporarily cover part of the mortgage costs for homeowners who become unemployed, says Paul Willen, a Federal Reserve Bank of Boston economist.
BC or anyone else… I have 4x uppers (together) for U2 this Wednesday, 9/23. You can get my e-mail from Grim if interested in purchasing.
I apologize for the interruption, carry on.
Still,
Equally distressed is the rt.4 corridor from rt. 17 heading east. The fallen were mMostly specialty retailers like furniture and jewelry.
Some time ago, I stopped at The Riverside mall in Hackenscak and was blown away. It looked like a marble tomb! Entire wings almost boarded up, low foot traffic… I guess everyone’s over at Gardenstate.
Burn baby, burn!
Another possibility that has been discussed includes grants or loans to temporarily cover part of the mortgage costs for homeowners who become unemployed, says Paul Willen, a Federal Reserve Bank of Boston economist.
God, this is so stupid! We already have a way of dealing with delinquency – bankruptcy and/or walkaway. Keep the plebes chained to servicing the debt so that the banks do not go bankrupt, with more debt.
Nothing is going to get resolved unless the debt is written down. Obama is a one-timer, at best.
west (236)-
Haven’t heard anything about this. Usually, we get advance notice on this kind of change.
“Can anyone confirm/deny an impending change on the size of conforming loans in NJ?”
Then again, I fully expect the next big change in the US mortgage market will be its complete meltdown.
“If the subsidies end and mortgage rates rise, then there will be a gap when it’s really a bad time to buy. Sellers aren’t going to mark down their prices and capitulate the first months that this happens.”
A West, I agree with the logic. And who knows how long a stand off like that could last.
Another thing to consider is that an uptick in inflation will likely coincide with the initial rise with the mortg rates, which may trigger bad flashbacks of the seventies and cause an initial surge in demand of housing, giving sellers even more reason to keep askig prices high.
Another important factor to consider is when the banks will start dumping the foreclosed inventory, if ever.
I think this will be a lengthy wind down in prices and someone looking to cash in on a house at the bottom will need a good 4-5 more years.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2009-08-03-mortgage-help_N.htm?obref=obinsite#uslPageReturn
free8765 (0 friends, send message) wrote: 8/4/2009 7:32:23 AM
A few years ago my wife and I purchased our home for $900,000. I had my wife stop working and I delayed my bonus in order to get our AGI lowered. Last week our principle was reduced from $900,000 down to $500,000 and we were converted to a 30 year fixed rate. In one smooth move our net worth increased by 1/2 million dollars. Folks you need to stop fighting Mr. Obama and play along with the new rules he has created. It is the only way to get ahead. If you set there an struggle each month to pay your mortgage on time you will never get ahead.
#240 – We already have a way of dealing with delinquency – bankruptcy and/or walkaway.
Yes, but then banks might have to lose money. I think it’s pretty clear our govt is being courageous by not letting that happen….
@236
yup! just got a quote from usaa. 5.1% on a 30yr fixed no points. (caveat – 08003 cherry hill nj is considered a declining market). music to my ears if you ask me. if an appraisal comes back lower than contract price i win and the bar is lowered for future offers.
A.West says:
September 18, 2009 at 11:41 am
Veto That (217)
So here’s the dillemma for a home shopper right now:
Mortgage interest rates are really cheap now thanks to government intervention, and in NJ this is helped by higher limits for conforming loans, up to over $700k.
WRT 243
who is assessed the 400K loss?
sl
I think it’s pretty clear our govt is being courageous by not letting that happen
Yes, obviously one of the tenets of soi@lism is –
1. Thou shalt not let the banks lose money.
The teabaggers and the lefties are too preoccupied with the hitler imagery to pay attention to the real issues.
This just made my whole day…
Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) — John Thain, the former chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch & Co. who was accused of overspending on an office renovation as the broker teetered, said he should have bought less-expensive furniture at Ikea.
http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=abbxR4DYUyPI
Secondary Market, or anyone else who knows.
I have a question about appraisals.
What if i make an offer to buy a house for 350K and the appraisal comes back at 340K?
If im putting down 20% or 10% for the mortgage, then the bank will still give me the loan so no problem there.
But do i have basis to negotiate a lower purchase price at that point?
veto,
absolutely! the only issue is if the seller is willing to come to terms that house is worth less then the negotiated contract price. either way, you can walk.
#247 – The teabaggers and the lefties are too preoccupied with the hitler imagery to pay attention to the real issues.
You can even point it out to them; that they are being blindly robbed by crooks who aren’t even trying too hard to hide it. They would rather continue the same stupid arguments you mention.
I’d say it was very discouraging only I think it may have been my fault for hoping things would ever be different.
If you’ll pardon me I’m off to gawker. I need to know what’s going on with Taylor Momsen.
“BC, they call that ‘double or nothin’ in AC…”
More like ‘box cars’ when you look at the risks.
# 249 and Re: appraisal issue — I have been dealing with stubborn and what I thought were unrealistic sellers on a townhouse – I ultimately agreed to their price with full expectation that it would far underappraise and then, due to the mortgage contingency, I would then renegotiate the price in line with the appraisal value. To my great shock and disbelief, it appraised…yet extremely comparable recent comps, almost exactly the same as this home in every respect, have all sold for far less…….the last time a comp sold for this amount was a full two years ago! I am utterly confused at how it could have appraised. I’m talking at least $100,000 off………Does anyone have a clue?–I thought bank appraisers are all erring on being too conservative and underappraising?…..
Sean
“re: #214 – Comrade – this is about money not law enforcement in the nanny state.
Why not use the limited police resources to take aim at crimes that involve violence or loss of property instead? Opps wait! there is no fine money for the town there!”
Ever been in a serious car accident? Its pretty violent, I’ve been in two, neither my fault.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/omers-grants-nomura-six-years-free-rent
Problems with CRE? Pshaw…aw, c’mon! We always award SIX years of free rent!
sl
245. Secondary
08003 is dropping like a stone. You can’t lose by waiting imo.
Kodiak,
Who is the appraiser? Where are they homed out of? Who is paying them to do the appraisal?
In the face of a blatant lie of an appraisal I would look for a conflict of interest. I would then argumentatively discount the initial appraisal and have my own done with an appraiser that at least can explain well his value position.
cindy,
for you as promised
TIC data
http://www.scribd.com/full/19873075?access_key=key-y4n4bpb8lesh1by2jmc
Cindy,
Unemployment data as well.
http://www.scribd.com/full/19872781?access_key=key-16rogj2zgqxjdnjdsnbg
Cindy
Its a good thing bernanke told us the recession is over…..
#253
Even now you will find banks giving loans well above realistci values of the house. It is up to the buyer if they want to tie the noose around their necks..
relo :201
355 Canterbury Dr, Ramsey Boro
A 1960’s Split on 0.2 Acres. Ooooh….overlooking the Country Club. $11K in taxes, plus $145 per month Assoc Fee.
Sold for $680K on 8/21 after 64 DOM.
Original List price $729,900.
Get the de-fibulator ready for Gary.
230: FL prices have come full circle to the late 90s when we were trf there. Lehigh was a place where every pool guy, landscaper, etc. bought multiple lots to flip. At the height of the market, the local paper decried the lack of affordable housing for civil servants, etc. (ironic since they owned multiple “flip” properties). Problem solved, no one is there anymore.
kodiak :253
There’s no way the bank will accept 2 year old comp sales. Something is way off here.
Can you tell us which townhouse complex you are considering ???
Doyle [238],
Going on Thurs. Thanks, anyway. I will ask around. Just picked up tic’s for Bruce, MSG, 11/7.
[220] sean
Would I like a cop patrolling my hood 24/7 to keep the criminals out? Sure, but at what cost in taxes? And talk about nanny state then!!!
As for cops enforcing laws like traffic laws, it does have a collateral effect. If hoods know that Town A is very aggressive, and will pull folks over just for smelling funny, maybe they avoid that town. Hoods tend not to congregate where cops are, so a visible presence tends to reduce crime.
Now, if all the cops are doing is writing tix in the town center, and not patrolling the hoods, I have a problem with that. I find pulling over folks for 5+ tacky when there are plenty doing 50 in a school zone. Brigadoon is like that, and the cops have themselves some pretty swelled heads (and I do plan to raise that with the chief in ways that get results, not tickets). But to suggest that by writing tix for speeders (who are breaking the law BTW, or is it your contention that no harm-no foul ought to be the rule of law?) isn’t law enforcement and doesn’t add value to the overall safety of a community, well, you aren’t paying attention.
I pay these guys. I want them visible and proactive, and protecting me and mine. If that includes pulling over your hotrodding azz (or the cops in your town pulling over my hotrodding azz), so be it.
JS,(209)
Thank you.
grim says:
September 18, 2009 at 9:49 am
Sorry folks scheduled maintenance this morning.
You had a colonoscopy?
BC Bob says:
September 18, 2009 at 9:51 am
Shore, Important. Check your email.
Can you hear me?
can only mean Boss tix
still_looking says:
September 18, 2009 at 11:37 am
“Just anectdata…
Went to pick kid up from preschool. Haven’t in a long time. ”
What, you just leave him there?
/kidding ;-)
201: Fiddy, thanks.
UGh, so on top of the $11k in taxes, pay $145/mo for the privlege of saying you live in “the club”. Lovey, where did I place my monocle?
Sean says:
September 18, 2009 at 10:10 am
Like the cops don’t have better things to do.
More than 700 ticketed in N.J. crosswalk sting
s: two years ago I saw a cop giving pedestrians jaywalking tix in Red Bank; stuff such as cross a street when the signal says don’t walk…not just mid-block et al…
“can only mean Boss tix”
Chi,
“Down here its just winners and losers and dont
Get caught on the wrong side of that line”
Pret’s fav line. By the way, where is that guy? Which side of that line lies his body?
“Well now, everything dies, baby, thats a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back”
My fav line.
relo (263) or others:
We are seriously considering relocating to SE Florida in about a year. We moved here in 2006, and at that time I needed to be here, but now there is nothing keeping us in NJ. We rent, so disposing of a property isn’t an issue. I do need access to a decent airport like Miami, Ft. Lauderdale or W. Palm. I can work from home and travel to visit clients.
NJ weather is our main consideration. My wife and I both hate the short summers here. We love the beaches, especially Sandy Hook, but that’s not reason enough when the warm season is so short. We would like to be within 1/2 hour of the ocean, but not so close that a hurricane strike would mean certain destruction.
I would love the type of information found here, but for the SE Florida market.
Any ideas or suggestions?
“Drove down rte 17 looking for the usual landmark to turn off and damn near missed it. Sign gone”
SL,
Not Satin Dolls?
Oh Great, the chosen one got duped. He lowers the euro shield in return for russsia not verbally trashing the dollar and then Putin trashes the dollar anyway. We’re screwed. There is more to this. They must have some cards on us.
SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday said other currencies besides the dollar should be used as global reserves to reduce the risks posed by swelling U.S. debt.
Putin chided the United States for “an uncontrolled issue of dollars” and said the American currency’s dominance had been “one of the triggers” of the global crisis.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Russias-Putin-says-US-debt-apf-3505475808.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=6&asset=&ccode=
Ramsey Golf Club –
50 Grand off on a $730K asking price…..less than 7% off. Yet some buyer is convinced he got a good deal.
Let’s all send a Condolence Card to the address. It would be worth the 44 cents or whatever the heck the stamp costs.
272: Had no idea what jaywalking was until I got a ticket for it in another state. I tried to explain, but the cop said “well, you’re not in NJ”.
I would love the type of information found here, but for the SE Florida market.
Any ideas or suggestions?
Increase your greenhouse gas output to speed up the process of global warming.
New in NJ says:
September 18, 2009 at 1:00 pm
My wife and I both hate the short summers here.
NNJ: I won’t defend the weather here, although I consider it practically ideal for anyone that enjoys variety. However, I have literally never heard a comment of this type. I find it interesting.
For a frame of reference, there are many parts of the country where it is summer from July 4th to the end of August. There are also many places that have much longer summer weather type periods, but if you lose 1-4 months of it because you cannot be outside for more than 30 minutes, then what is the advantage?
Had no idea what jaywalking was until I got a ticket for it in another state
My own realization that Giuliani was a complete d-bag came when he attempted to ban jay walking in `98… in NYC.
Nicholas (279)
Burn firewood? Crank the heat up to 90 this winter? Drive to keep up with traffic on the GSP?
re: #273 – herein lies the problem with the overpaid jack booted thugs that patrol the downtowns of New Jersey, not often enough to have any meaningful effect.
Nom,
I agree with your philosophy RE law enforcement. However in practice, when half the laws are nanny laws that very few if any reasonable adult will ever both to consider then your philosophy falls apart in the real world.
In terms f speed limits. Consider that roads are generally designed iin such a way that the 85th percentile rule will give you the natural speed of the road. Arbitrarily setting the speed limit, such as 55mh on 287N in morris county where the road is design to and easily drivable at 80+ in good daylight conditions, guarantees that people are going to break the rules.
Its a classic case of make enough laws and everyone is guilty of something.
85th percentile rule
Traffic engineers may rely on the 85th percentile rule[13][14] to establish speed limits. The speed limit should be set to the speed that separates the bottom 85% of vehicle speeds from the top 15%. The 85th percentile is slightly greater than a speed that is one standard deviation (SD) above the mean of a normal distribution.
The theory is that traffic laws that reflect the behavior of the majority of motorists may have better compliance than laws that arbitrarily criminalize the majority of motorists and encourage violations. The latter kinds of laws lack public support and often fail to bring about desirable changes in driving behavior. An example is United States’s old 55 mph (88 km/h) speed limit that was removed in part because of notoriously low compliance.
Most U.S. jurisdictions report using the 85th percentile speed as the basis for their speed limits, so the 85th-percentile speed and speed limits should be closely matched. However, a review of available speed studies demonstrates that the posted speed limit is almost always set well below the 85th-percentile speed by as much as 8 to 12 mph (13 to 19 km/h).[15] Some reasons for this include:
274: New
Not familiar w/ the east coast other than by reputation. Infer what you will. Search for local a REIA in the area you’re interested in.
If you are not familiar, rent for a while. If you are in FL at all, Cat 4 or 5 hurricane is cause for concern. east coast and northern gulf areas seem more prone. Codes have changed radically, so try to buy newer if/when you do.
But for the fact that we need to make a living, would much rather be in SWFL for lifestyle. Depending on where you need to fly, SWFL Int’l might meet your needs, but not likely.
Good luck.
John says:
September 18, 2009 at 11:32 am
JJ: I was working on some quick calcs…….I have balanced portfolios that are 50/50 fixed income and they are outgunning the YTD S&P 500 return…..that is jaw dropping, considering the underlying UST performance…..
chifi (280)
I grew up in the south, about 200 miles ESE of Clot in northern Alabama. Except for a three-year expat I did in Germany in the later 1990s, and the past three years here, I’ve lived in the south all my life.
I have traveled plenty – such as to Montreal one winter when I thought I was going to die walking two blocks – so I have a fair idea what I like and don’t like in climate.
At least Wiesbaden has saunas. Whenever the cold got to be too much I’d just spend an afternoon in the cooker.
SE coastal Florida isn’t like Dallas, where I saw 108 degrees one afternoon this summer on my way to the airport. I don’t consider 90 to 95 degrees to be all that bad. And NJ summer temperatures are more or less equivalent to south FL winter.
Yes that is what I am suggesting. I also suggest eating more beef since it will force manufactures to raise more cows. Methane is more effective at causing global warming.
Raise the temperature of NJ so that it becomes a comfortable place to live.
Here’s an amusing anecdote on a house I didn’t manage to buy:
Late this spring I saw the open house on Trulia and we stopped by – listing price 950k. Open house wasn’t on, realtor said they had accepted an offer. We looked around though, even looked into the back yard – really pretty, 1.5 acres. A couple weeks later, we learned that the sellers were fighting with the buyers over ajustments after inspection, and were invited to look at the house. So we looked, the house was not quite ideal, but still nice, and wife really loved the yard. Knowing they were fighting we wrote up an offer of $900k, in case things fell apart. Somehow they made up, and never responded. A few weeks later, we heard that the buyers didn’t make their offer deadline for getting their mortgage done – so the sellers would have been within their rights to blow off the early buyer and switch to us. But they didn’t. A couple weeks ago we heard through the grapevine that on closing day, buyers suddenly demanded all the concessions they didn’t get before, and knocked another $20k off their price, taking it down to $850k!
So these chumps cancelled an open house, and walked away from an extra $50k from us, just so they could close with these buyers that they ended up really detesting.
But, at least they got the deal done before school started, which not that many houses in this price range in this area have done. And it seems there will be more of these houses on the market in 2010 than this year.
New [287],
Roll Tide Roll.
Teterboro Airport in New Jersey is hosting a military air show from 9/17/09 through 9/19/09. Expect military aircraft flyovers above the New York Harbor and the Hudson River.
Back a few months ago I said bonds are the new stocks. Anytime investment grade bonds yield over 10% jump in. Plus you are smoothing returns. Look HIG and XL bonds 20 year out were yielding 16% YTM a few months ago. Even if I only locked in 25% of my porfolio imagine how easy it is to break historical 10% return when you locked in 18% on 25% of portfolio. Buffet is no fool chicagofinance says:
September 18, 2009 at 1:26 pm
John says:
September 18, 2009 at 11:32 am
JJ: I was working on some quick calcs…….I have balanced portfolios that are 50/50 fixed income and they are outgunning the YTD S&P 500 return…..that is jaw dropping, considering the underlying UST performance…..
BC (290)
The joke down there went like this:
A guy died and went to heaven. He kept seeing this guy walking around in a porkpie hat. He asked St. Peter who it is. St. Peter said, “Oh, that’s God. He thinks he’s Paul Bear Bryant.”
BC:
Lately I keep coming back to:
All those dreams that seemd so important,
well Mister, they just vanished right into the air.
*249 Why bother putting so much down? Just go FHA with 3.5 dowmn, and save your money.
Jahnny, If you are truly who you say you are, you will do this…
VISTEON CORP
Price: 12.00
Coupon (%): 8.250
Maturity Date: 1-Aug-2010
Yield to Maturity (%): 328.08%
Current Yield (%): 68.750
Fitch Ratings: CC
Coupon Payment Frequency: Semi-Annual
Callable: No
289: Caveat venditor!
LTLV, yeah im considering that option but points are silly and then i have to sweat about investment risks.
I might do FHA with 5-10% down… or something like that.
New [293],
I’m sure he didn’t think it was Mike DuBose.
relo [294],
A friend of mine; her brother works with the guy that got Mary pregnant, down at the river.
relo
Thanks for the SW FL suggestion. I’ll check it out.
We’ll probably make a couple of exploratory trips down there this winter once we’ve narrowed the field.
One of the reasons we were looking at SE is because we both rather like a little ethnic grit as long as it’s not too much on the hoodlum side.
We were planning to rent for at least a year anyway. I doubt that the RE market there will have shaken out and recovered enough to make a difference in two years from now.
I bought my first house in 1978 and was never a non-owner until I sold my last one in 2004. I have to admit that it has been pretty nice just picking up the phone and calling the landlord when things stop working. And just writing a letter saying “I’m outta here” when the time comes to move.
Jahn, C’mon… now u r going to get all picky and turn your nose up to E Trade?
**B Rating. If this was a test, your mom could hang that on the fridge.
E TRADE FINANCIAL CORP
Price: 70.00
Coupon (%): 8.000
Maturity Date: 15-Jun-2011
Yield to Maturity (%): 28.273
Current Yield (%): 11.429
Fitch Ratings: B
Coupon Payment Frequency: Semi-Annual
Callable: Yes
living in FL = running into a fire
veto (302)-
Solid. Blue chip.
I think my lunch is coming up.
Is it just me or has Toys-R-Us been destined to default since the mid 80s?
Can you say.. Oportunity???
TOYS R US INC
Price: 81.00
Coupon (%): 7.625
Maturity Date: 1-Aug-2011
Yield to Maturity (%): 18.622
Current Yield (%): 9.414
Fitch Ratings: CCC
Coupon Payment Frequency: Semi-Annual
Callable: No
Schumpeter
“living in FL = running into a fire”
In what way?
…and how do you choose your handle for each post?
300: No kidding? Inordinately curious about how it turned out if you care to divulge. Maybe I don’t?
I like the music, but I’m not what you would call a big fan. The lyrics I could read all day and always a fan of him personally.
Visteon files for bankruptcy after 9 profitless years
http://www.autonews.com/article/20090528/ANA02/905289997/1128
“The lyrics I could read all day and always a fan of him personally.”
relo [308],
For a boring Fri afternoon. I think they are still married.
Funny thing about the lyrics. At one of the shows I was talking to someone from Montreal. He has been a big fan for years. His good friend is an English professor, some college in Montreal. The prof. never saw Bruce nor read any lyrics. The fan printed out 10 songs, brought the lyrics to the prof and asked him to read. The prof was floored. He stated that the writer was the best short story writer that he had ever read.
He could not believe that it was Bruce.
#265
BC, nice… I had Fri, turned in to Wed, can’t do it. We got rid of them a little while ago. I saw the Bruce sale today, but have a baby due right around then, purchasing Bruce and approaching the severely pregnant wife is probably not prudent.
[278] relo
“I tried to explain, but the cop said ‘well, you’re not in NJ’”.
Yeah, about that. Word to NJers: People outside of NJ don’t much care for what passes for normal behavior here. Especially the driving part—remember, “jersey driver” is only a compliment here.
If one forgets, some folks in flyover or leaf-peeping country might remind you of that (usually by communicating in the NJer’s native language), and some, especially in states where Obama did not get a majority, might be a little less gracious.
In fairness, NJ drivers that travel aren’t that stupid. I have observed that when I lived in Va. and N.E., NY/NJ folks were downright restrained. Even the NJ driver that scared the crap out of my daughter one day wasn’t doing anything wrong (though I did find it amusing that she yelled “daddy, keep me safe from the bad Philly drivers. Wife from Philly wasn’t so amused).
I will be tailgating at the Bruce show on Oct 3rd with a dozen close friends, some who are flying in for this one since most of us now have kids and can’t get out to see shows anymore.
Sean [313],
Remind me, as we get closer, about this. I’ll try to meet you in the parking lot.
302: New
To be sure, not much grit in Naples, which was an adjustment. Ft. Myers has a diverse population. May not concern you, but schools are better in Collier Co. than Lee Co. Also, be wary on HOA stability if in such a neighborhood.
You might want to include Sarasota and outskirts in your search.
Kudos on your timing.
Clot’s remarks are not necessarily hyperbole. But it sounds like your eyes are open to the downside risks.
Doyle [311],
Just another roll of the dice.
BC, Precisely…
What’s it like tailgating behind wheelchairs?
Off Topic;
“Housing will not rebound to its former exuberance once the economy rebounds, says Bill Gross, manager of bond giant Pimco.”
The new economy will pay off its debt, increase its savings, and see more “delevering, deglobalization, and regulation,” he said.
“All of those three in combination, to us at Pimco, means that if you are a child of the bull market, it’s time to grow up and become a chastened adult,” Gross writes.
http://moneynews.newsmax.com/streettalk/gross_housing_recovery/2009/09/17/261303.html
278 Nom,
That encounter was a good two decades ago and was a paradigm shift for a Jersey boy. FWIW, it was in the soutwest and they too share the inferiority complex. kidding.
I like Etrade, just can’t can buy it as it is a BD on restricted list. Most of wall street can only buy stock in their own BD. Kinda silly if johnny mac was loading up on JPM and GS stock when he is supposed to be crushing them.
Veto That says:
September 18, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Jahn, C’mon… now u r going to get all picky and turn your nose up to E Trade?
**B Rating. If this was a test, your mom could hang that on the fridge.
E TRADE FINANCIAL CORP
Price: 70.00
Coupon (%): 8.000
Maturity Date: 15-Jun-2011
Yield to Maturity (%): 28.273
Current Yield (%): 11.429
Fitch Ratings: B
Coupon Payment Frequency: Semi-Annual
Callable: Yes
VISTEON CORP – whats the coupon, maybe I will pick up 100K piece for 18K.
“What’s it like tailgating behind wheelchairs?”
“You can tell her there’s a hot sun beating on the black top
She keeps talkin’ she’ll be walkin’ that last block
She can take a subway back to the ghetto tonight
Well I got some beer and the highway’s free
And I got you, and baby you’ve got me
Hey, hey, hey what you say Sherry Darlin'”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpa2JF0TOpE&feature=related
new (306)-
Everyone in FL who can get out is getting out. They now are experiencing net population loss.
Just like our beloved Peoples’ Republic.
Nom,
From the Reckoning;
“The state of Maryland couldn’t balance its budget last year. So the state decided the right way to raise tax dollars was to fleece the millionaires… Maryland state politicians created a ‘millionaire’ tax bracket.
“Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley of course expected tax receipts to go up. He said Maryland’s 3,000 millionaires were ‘willing to pay their fair share.’ The Baltimore Sun said the rich would ‘grin and bear it.’
“But the opposite happened…
“Instead of 3,000 Maryland millionaires filing taxes in April 2009, only 2,000 did. According to The Wall Street Journal: ‘Instead of the state coffers gaining the extra $106 million the politicians predicted, millionaires paid $100 million less in taxes than they did last year – even at higher rates.’
new – 306, I’ve been living in the Florida Keys for a few years full time. Weather is awesome, quality of life is good. No complaints here. Airport is 5 minutes away with frequent connections to Mia, FLL, Tampa. Good luck!!
BC, Nom
Blood from a stone
Clot 324 – You think the property tax system is bad here? Go to Florida, where if you haven’t lived there for 20 years, they rob you blind.
My friend’s parents live in Plantation in a house they have owned since the 80’s. They pay $2,900/year in property tax. Their neighbors across the street purchased the same size house in 2003. They pay $7,500.
Moody’s bearish on housing recovery
Analysts say it will take more than 10 years to recapture peak home prices.
NY/NJ predicted to recover 2018-2022!!
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/home-prices-wont-regain-peak-this-decade-moodys-2009-09-18
329 even better 2030 is the year florida will recover.
“Moody’s bearish on housing recovery”
Sean,
Wonder if one should now be bullish? Hope they didn’t stamp this bear AAA?
I used to be a Big Bruce fan, saw in in 1978, 1980 and 1984. He lost me as a fan with that river album mumbo jumbo.
BC Bob says:
September 18, 2009 at 2:46 pm
“What’s it like tailgating behind wheelchairs?”
“You can tell her there’s a hot sun beating on the black top
She keeps talkin’ she’ll be walkin’ that last block
She can take a subway back to the ghetto tonight
Well I got some beer and the highway’s free
And I got you, and baby you’ve got me
Hey, hey, hey what you say Sherry Darlin’”
I don’t know what other hidden costs might be lurking, but I could pay the $7500 property tax bill with what I’d save on NJ income tax.
328- actually due to the FL RE crash many counties / cities have had to re-cast valuations. My RE tax dropped from about $4k in 2005 to less than $2k for 2010. God bless house speaker Marco Rubio!!
John,
Just curious. Why would a big bond trader sell Jets-Pats tickets for a measly couple of hundred over face? Regardless of the outcone, seems like a sh#t trade to me?
334 NJEscapee – Yes, taxes are dropping, but the inequities still exist for the oldtimers versus the newcomers or anyone who can’t take a homestead exemption.
Help me with a refi situation.
I’ve been trying to get my brother to refi a four year old mortgage at 6.5% for 30 years.
Can you refi at an odd number of years or do you need to take out a loan for 30 or 20 years? Will a company do a 26 year mortgage?
At what point does the APR drop start to make sense? Does a refi start to look attractive when one can shave off a full percentage point?
He is going nowhere for at least 10 years.
homestead is the key. Snow birds have been subsidizing full-timers. what a concept!!
re: #332 – BC Bob – “Wonder if one should now be bullish?”
Only if someone blows up another bubble.
gator (328)-
Thus ends today’s installment of How to Start a Civil War.
Gator, NJ has its has its own peculiarities. i.e., RE tax rebates now based on income.
Snowbirds in FL don’t seem to mind too much. Many of the SBs I know are pretty well off.
Depends on how big mortgage is for one thing? Under 100K balance better to just pay it off or do a home equity like of credit. The whole 100K is tax deductable. 15 and 30 are popular, but some banks like ridgewood even do 5 and ten years and some do 20. However, with 15 and 30 nearly every bank does it so you have greater competion so rates can be better. Also depends where your brother lives. In NY if you refinance from a different bank you get assessed a whole new mortgage recording tax but same bank no, also some banks hold your mortgage. In that case there is just a small modificaion fee and it is worth doing even for an 1/8 of a point.
d2b says:
September 18, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Help me with a refi situation.
I’ve been trying to get my brother to refi a four year old mortgage at 6.5% for 30 years.
Can you refi at an odd number of years or do you need to take out a loan for 30 or 20 years? Will a company do a 26 year mortgage?
At what point does the APR drop start to make sense? Does a refi start to look attractive when one can shave off a full percentage point?
He is going nowhere for at least 10 years.
Grim 343: I think I’ve been introduced to the cryptic : in mod?
I gotta rusha homa, us gentiles gotta keep it real too.
33 New – Hurricane and Flood Insurance
From DealBreaker…
The guy who called for the end of the recession (Dennie Kneale) is now unemployed. This Merits an ironic chuckle, but doesn’t really rise to the level of dancing for joy.
The illusion of free choice:
http://abstrusegoose.com/183
[326] BC
I heard that story some months back. Liberals were dismissing it, and there was reference to the market, however the markets had not crashed in 2005-06.
One thing to remember is that many of the millionaires in MD live and work in or around DC, and there are tax compacts with MD/VA/DC, meaning that folks working in these states and DC are taxed by residence, not work location. Thus, they need only relo across the river and they avoid the MD tax hike without adding to their commute. With MD taxes already subtantially higher than VA taxes, it was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
Cool.
Help your children obtain first-time buyer incentive
sean (346)-
They should blast that fool all the way back to Sesame Street.
Beaker-ass byatch.
L’Shana Tovah to those celebrating this weekend.
I am headed down to Monmouth County to meet up with Lil Gator, Stu and the rest of the family. The NJCL train engineer is driving like a NYC cabbie, so if we do make it down to Matawan, at least I will be early!
New thread, up!
RE: my # 253 – a townhouse in Mountain Lakes, in the development known as Spruce Edge. I haven’t seen the written appraisal yet, only got advised verbally by the bank. It’s an appraiser the bank hired. The unit has various upgrades, but all the comps have various upgrades too — I’m scratching my head how any of this unit’s upgrades could be worth that much in the appraiser’s eyes compared to the slightly different upgrades that may be in each different comp, and in fact there are several comps going back just a few months, and the most recent one as recent as a month ago. It’s a total mystery to me.
Hey 274… LEAVE NJ
We Moved from Mantoloking to New Smyrna Beach, FL. right before Mc Greevy added the millionaire tax for people exiting the state… ( real bright ) plus we sold all props at the top ! ! !` Daytona Airport 10 Min, Sanford Airport 30 Min., Orlando Airport 60 min. All beach areas have a nice causeway for access. Nearest Amtrak is 30 miles away so it is not attractive as a pass through settlement/ annex like Ft Laud., and Miami are. I travelled the entire state of Fl and where we are is great, and similiar to the best NJ has to offer. Beach Block for under $250… nicer areas Oceanfront for about 1mm. Distress still settling in here. Big bank props. being taken back and no remarket ” at this time ” in some cases don’t even make it to Realty Trac… pretty slick… We’ll see… Just got sick of paying 22k taxes for a beach prop. Disgusting… and the best is yet to come… wait until after the election.