From the Daily Record:
A mighty Oak: Fully restored, historic Empire-style Victorian on market for $499,000
Four years ago, Bob and Michele Pulis bought a historic, circa-1818 house atop Schooley’s Mountain in Long Valley. Vacant for 40 years, the Oak Cottage was in serious disrepair, its only residents a family of raccoons.
“I can remember standing out there and just looking up at the (house),” Bob Pulis says. “It was sad. It was like (it was saying), ‘C’mon, man, help me.’ ”
Bob and Michele saw beyond the overgrown landscape, rotting wood and mounds of raccoon droppings to the Victorian charm the house exuded in its heyday. According to local lore, visitors to the three-story, 13-room home, with its distinctive mansard roof and shingled cedar siding, may have included Ulysses S. Grant and his family. This was when Schooley’s Mountain was an elite summer community.
The couple had just finished building their own house in Jefferson, but they wanted what Michele calls “one more family project.” So they decided to rescue the historic property, once known as “The Gem of the Mountain.” They would spend the next 3-1/2 years — and more than $525,000 — restoring the Oak Cottage to its former glory.
Last Memorial Day weekend, they proudly showed the refurbished Empire-style Victorian to more than 1,000 potential buyers. Its list price was $885,000.
“We bought it right at the peak of the market. We never foresaw an economic apocalypse coming,” Michele says.
Today, the Oak Cottage is still for sale — for $499,000.
First
15 percent of NJ mortgages in trouble
The percentage of New Jersey mortgage holders with troubled loans jumped to about 15 percent in the first quarter, up from about 12 percent a year earlier, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.
Nationally, about 14 percent of homeowners were either late on their payments or in the foreclosure process, the mortgage bankers reported. Although that’s an increase from the first quarter of 2009, the group also said there were signs the foreclosure situation is stabilizing.
“If mortgage delinquencies are not yet clearly improving, it also appears they are not getting worse,” said Jay Brinkmann, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association. “However, a bad situation that is not getting worse is still bad.”
The high rate of homeowner distress partly reflects the unemployment rate, which has remained close to 10 percent despite signs that the economy is growing again. New Jersey’s unemployment rate was 9.8 percent in April, compared with 9.9 percent nationwide.
How bad is the housing situation?
Really bad, at least if you believe new data out of the Mortgage Banker’s Association. One in every 10 mortgage holders is now officially “delinquent” — that is to say, late on at least one payment. That’s an all-time high. And that’s not the only record we’re setting: About one in 20 loans is now in foreclosure, which also qualifies as a first. All in all, about 15 percent of mortgage-holders are now delinquent or in foreclosure.
Also worrying is where the problems are cropping up. The problem, at least until recently, was largely concentrated in Florida, Arizona, Nevada, and California . But now we’re seeing other states move into the lead: “Washington, Maryland, Oregon, and Georgia showed the greatest overall increases in foreclosures started compared to last quarter,” reports the MBA.
So much for the credit..
From the MBAA:
Mortgage Purchase Applications Plummet While Refinance Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 14, 2010. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 1.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3.1 percent compared with the previous week.
…
The Refinance Index increased 14.5 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 27.1 percent from one week earlier. This is the lowest Purchase Index observed in the survey since May of 1997. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 27.0 percent compared with the previous week and was 24.1 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
“Purchase applications plummeted 27 percent last week and have declined almost 20 percent over the past month, despite relatively low interest rates. The data continue to suggest that the tax credit pulled sales into April at the expense of the remainder of the spring buying season. In fact, this drop occurred even as rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages continued to fall, and at 4.83 percent are at their lowest level since November 2009,” said Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics. “However, refinance borrowers did react to these lower rates, with refi applications up almost 15 percent, hitting their highest level in nine weeks.”
oak cottage. Lots of work, and lots of mistakes and shortcuts in that place.
A kitchen can still be useful without granite countertops and tile floor. As far as I’m concerned, old Bob cut his profit by at least 65k by forcing the kitchen into a stone-faced mausoleum like some architectural version of a California Democrat.
And that white woodwork. Why not just have Bob Toll come over and bulldoze.
People have no clue. Especially people looking for profit.
according to the Bergen record. all is well. unemployment getting better.
after all this is NJ, the Garden State.
Thought you painted trim white when you couldn’t afford clear lumber to stain.
At least that’s the way it used to be.
Whoever told Joe Sixpack that painted molding was classy pulled a fast one over on him.
Toll is king of extruded synthetic moldings (Aka foam).
Crown molding loses a little bit of it’s allure when you realize it’s the same stuff that your flatscreen came packed in.
I just don’t know why that house makes me angrier than a WSJ op ed calling for a Federal bailout of public schools.
Usually, I’m more rational after the second cup.
Market futures look pretty ugly today.
I get that way when I see a mid-century modern converted into a colonial, floral wall paper borders and all.
Somebody should lob a Stinger missile into that shitbox.
Overpriced @ 499K. It’s fcuking Schooley’s Mountain, for God’s sake.
Time to embrace the oblivion.
http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/20/2763780/california-foreclosure-crisis.html
According to this report, things are looking better here in CA. Huh?
And a Home Depot-looking FSBO, to boot.
Hopefully, this dump will break the investors & they will never be able to r@pe another house.
“We bought it right at the peak of the market. We never foresaw an economic apocalypse coming,” Michele says.
Nor did the 3 amigo’s; the committee to save the world.
http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19990215,00.html
“The percentage of New Jersey mortgage holders with troubled loans jumped to about 15 percent in the first quarter, up from about 12 percent a year earlier, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today”
Some V shaped recovery?
Cindy (13)-
I’ll know the crisis is subsiding when large, insolvent US cities (Scaramento, Detroit) stop electing retired NBA players as mayors.
Mr. Wat (15)-
Better they call them Larry, Curly and Moe.
Best of all, they should be the three lead actors in our own remake of “A Very Ceaucescu Christmas”.
Chris Dudley is now running for guvnor of Oregon?
Oh shit.
Doom [17],
Ford dribbles right, down low to Lanier, back to Bing, Bang!
I think Antoine Walker should be named head of the Office of Mgmt and Budget.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Former-Celtics-star-Antoine-Walker-is-broke-and-?urn=nba,198509
Nice day for a riot.
In Greece, that is.
471K weekly jobless claims.
Green shoots!
Hoboken market on fire, 13UC this week.
http://hudson.fnismls.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=38769d19-3463-4f55-86b6-bf4f4a554f3a&Report=Yes
We should all take solace in the thought that Bergabe is sitting in the lead spot at FedCo’s trading desk, hitting the “buy” button on EUR like a meth-crazed Skinner Box rat.
Move along; nothing to see here.
http://www.google.com/finance?q=eurjpy
#24 – Hoboken market on fire, 13UC this week.
Isn’t that, roughly, a %40 decrease in contracts in a 3 week time-span? (IIRC we were seeing 21-22 units UC for a while)
We’re back to Feb UC numbers. The market couldn’t have been ‘on fire’ during both periods. Unless you mean it literally.
Also, sub $200k 1 bedrooms…
Looking on the bright side, oil is below $70 per barrel again. So how low does the 10-year treasury rate go? Me thinks the mortgage rate discount will be much more lucrative than the $8000 home buyer tax credit. And if NJ passes the $15,000 credit…hooray for the buyer who should patience.
should = showed…sorry, the dog disrupted my beauty sleep way to early today.
Hooray for nobody. We’re going down hard.
Doom [26],
The global thermometer for risk. Ouch.
nothing to see here, move along
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100520/ap_on_re_as/as_skorea_ship_sinks
FYI that place is a dump
Corzine is a total ahole, when he was a gov. he would not fire anyone, as soon as he gets to Wall St. 10% gets laidoff.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/05/20/bloomberg1376-L2PXFJ0D9L36-4.DTL
It’s about time, something reasonable from NJ.
N.J. Senate sets vote on public employee residency
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20100520_N_J__Senate_sets_vote_on_public_employee_residency.html#axzz0oTT7KqvJ
No, it’s not any better in Greenwich, CT:
“Because there is no real estate news. Nothing is selling, nothing is going under contract, price cuts are too insignificant to mention and new listings are ridiculously, horribly overpriced. It’s going to be a slow summer – I’m looking into an extended camping trip in Wyoming and Montana.”
http://christopherfountain.com/2010/05/19/why-no-real-estate-news-2/
The molding and the kitchen in that house are horrendous.
He should have used wainscoting if he wanted to do something to decorate the walls. If he had gone for beadboard paneling it would have continued the theme of the cabinets. If he used veneered instead of milled wooden panels to save money he could have painted them a color to compliment the walls.
I really dislike granite countertops. Quartz is a bit cheaper and nonporous, and I think would look much better in an older house. Plus white cabinets with white appliances looks too sterile. If he put cabinets from a big box store instead of something like showplace or brookhaven cabinets he deserves to go bust.
If you are going to buy an old house and restore, do it right, or don’t bother.
Doom 35 so that realtor is going into the wilderness so to speak, how apprapo
http://seekingalpha.com/article/206013-housing-recovery-where
No really, don’t hold back – just tell us what you really think…
Housing Recovery? Where?
“What we are left with in housing are millions of empty houses that are prices where no one can afford to buy them in a market where there is no demand.”
prices=priced
Montclair will ask to waive 4 percent tax cap
Confronting a 2010 Municipal Budget that may require an 11 percent tax increase, the municipality will apply to exceed the state-mandated 4 percent tax-levy cap.
Township Manager Marc D. Dashield said Montclair has seen a $3.2 million reduction in revenue from 2009. This is an extraordinary circumstance that should more than justify asking for the waiver, even considering Gov. Chris Christie’s antipathy toward tax increases, Dashield said.
“What they’re looking for [are] communities who have really looked at their budget and made some hard decisions,” he said.
The municipality is scheduled to request the waiver during the first week of June.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/94396289_Montclair_will_ask_state_to_waive_tax_cap.html
33.frank says:
May 20, 2010 at 8:59 am
Corzine is a total ahole, when he was a gov. he would not fire anyone, as soon as he gets to Wall St. 10% gets laidoff.
Guess there was no Carla Katz there to midigate layoffs.
Upon the closing of his inaugural address Corzine said “I ask you – the citizens of New Jersey, hold me accountable.”
And we did!
^TNX = 3.28
aw cmon’ it must be the school district …it that house was in a train town it would sell in a heartbeat!
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/hamptons-listings-said-under-investigation/
Hampton’s listings said to be under investigation
They say somebody isn’t playing fair…
“I think Antoine Walker should be named head of the Office of Mgmt and Budget.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Former-Celtics-star-Antoine-Walker-is-broke-and-?urn=nba,198509”
That article is nonsense. Walker didn’t go broke. It was the bond vigilantes and speculators that are undermining his ability to pay his debts.
Funny how nations with fiscal restraint don’t have to worry about those darn bond vigilantes at all.
Gator you need to get Stu to re-adjust his thoughts on commuting. They are nuts!
Pain – Stu is not the issue. He is NJ based now and can be superflexible where we live. He has lots of town options that would provide him a reasonable commute.
The problem is me. I still have to get to NY. And I am selfish enough to require a reasonable commute that will allow me some time with Lil Gator.
And I keep telling Gator that Lil’ Gator will want nothing to do with mom in about three more years :P
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/05/weekly-initial-unemployment-claims_20.html
CR – Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims Increase 25,000
Lib 50 – And of course I will want to trade that time for more time on the bus or train? What a win for me :P
Think Canada is out to poach some banking biz from Europe and NYC?
“Canada Reiterates Bank Tax Opposition
Speaking in Ottawa on May 18, Industry Minister, Tony Clement and Foreign Affairs Minister, Lawrence Cannon underscored Canada’s steadfast rejection of a global bank tax on financial institutions, as part of a campaign to drum up support for opposition. . . .”
[33] frank
Bloomberg reported that Corzine is laying off 15%.
I find this deliciously ironic, and emblematic of what is wrong with NJ.
I also think it gives Christie some cover: He should lop off 5% and say “hey, your former democratic governor just axed 15% in the private sector. Quit yer b1tching”
Bloomberg TV also devoted an entire segment to NJ–needless to say, it wasn’t flattering.
[17] Doom
“I’ll know the crisis is subsiding when large, insolvent US cities (Scaramento, Detroit) stop electing retired NBA players as mayors.”
My nominee for Post of the Day!
[34] frank
Folks will go nuts in Trenton. Everyone that works in Trenton lives in PA (or so it seems when trying to get across the river at rush hour).
In the end, this won’t happen, so Christie will pass an exec order that excludes public workers from the NJ/PA tax compact. I question the legality of that move though.
Well, 8 years old over here and and still clinging to me and begging me not to go back to work full-time. When I work now, she asks me a million questions about what time I’ll be home and what to do about homework.
We have to sit on the couch together every morning to “make up for all those times she sat waiting alone in the booster seat eating nutrigrain bars and pieces out of my lunch.”
She’s really getting good at working me over. I never should have taken pictures of her in the car.
Uggh I guess inferring cl0t and rev0lt in the same sentence get you moderated.
Gator – you win on need for mommy time
#50 Nope. That doesn’t start til middle school, maybe fifth grade. The elementary school years are the most fun. Take as much time to enjoy them as you can.
[58] pat
We try to give time (not easy) and I find myself sometimes wishing that my firm would lay me off (things are so slow now that I think it is inevitable).
The plus side is that I calculated roughly 27,000 in direct annual savings if I became a SAHD, and I can easily bump that up to well over 30K from indirect savings and reduction of future expenses. Add in tax savings and unemployment, and I would likely be at 60%-65% of take home.
As long as we’re talking hoops, how about Bobby Knight for Secretary of State?
“Dashield said Montclair has seen a $3.2 million reduction in revenue from 2009. This is an extraordinary circumstance that should more than justify asking for the waiver, ”
I don’t think that CC and grant the waiver without damaging his own message that all levels of government need to cut, not just fat, but meat too.
During a visit to an elementary school in Langley Park, Maryland, to promote her anti-obesity campaign, first lady Michelle Obama faced a tough question from one second-grader.
“My mom said that Barack Obama is taking everybody away that doesn’t have papers,” the second-grader said when Obama called on her.
“Yeah, well, that’s something that we have to work on, right? To make sure that people can be here with the right kind of papers, right? That’s exactly right.” Obama said.
The girl interrupted her, saying, “My mom doesn’t have papers.”
“Well, we have to work on that, we have to fix that,” Obama replied. “Everybody’s got to work together in Congress to make sure that that happens.”
Interesting, the First Lady just commited a crime and doesn’t even realize it.
Pat just curious why do you want to work full time?
In my town women with young kids who work full time fall into four groups:
1) Career women
2) Have to work to pay basic bills, heat, food mortgage etc.
3) Have to work so they can do Disney, get a new car, go to dinner, have parties out, etc. Husbands salary can’t suport all the extras, just the basics.
4) Not cut out to be with kids and would rather be at work and have day care or nanny take care of it.
I actually have a female cousin who is working for all four reasons!!!
Pat says:
May 20, 2010 at 9:59 am
Well, 8 years old over here and and still clinging to me and begging me not to go back to work full-time. When I work now, she asks me a million questions about what time I’ll be home and what to do about homework.
We have to sit on the couch together every morning to “make up for all those times she sat waiting alone in the booster seat eating nutrigrain bars and pieces out of my lunch.”
She’s really getting good at working me over. I never should have taken pictures of her in the car.
Gator,
And once children get to the age when they are capable of coming home to an empty house, that is when parents do well to ensure that one of them is there to greet the child (or at least soon after) otherwise (especially 8th grade and up, many negative things can easily unfold).
#66 I agree completely. Middle school and high school kids really do need to come home to a house with an adult present or at least liable to show up at any moment.
“Take as much time to enjoy them as you can.”
Thanks for all the support.
Honestly, I completely respect Gator’s wishes to spend as much time as is possible with the little guy as I would like to as well. Especially considering that we only plan to have one child. Unfortunately, it’s the Captain Cheapo in me that I’m constantly fighting with. With that said, how long is the commute from the beautiful traintown of Paterson?
Better make an early wake up call to the PPT. And it’s not even Friday!
Shore 66,
Come on man, that would have precluded a number of my highschool liaisons from taking place!!! :(
jj, for me, it’s more of a health and communications issue.
I like speaking with adults about planning, solutions and options.
I’ve tried volunteering and community activism, but for me, without the responsibilities accompany private employment, my health is suffering. Stress has always been very good for me. It’s just that until I had no job stress, I didn’t appreciate job stress.
THAT accompany
Shore 63 – I would not be surprised if CC did not grant a waiver for Montclair. Or if he does, I would expect him to further reduce Municipal aid by the amount we go over cap.
This is one nice fat juicy pitch right over home plate for Fat Man. Ultra-liberal, Tax and Spend Montclair will be the perfect poster child for everything he says is wrong with municipal government in NJ.
#68 Just teasing you, Lib. As far as Captain Cheapo goes, let him lose the fight. When you’re 85 and in the rocking chair, you won’t remember how much money you saved, you’ll remember the people in your life. But, uh, forget Paterson.
Leading indicators drop 0.1 percent in April
Research group says leading indicators dropped in April for first month in more than a year
jj, selecting from your limited options, I must be number 4.
*yawn* finally awake…
hmmm wonder how my portfolio is doing…
*choke*
….I need coffee.
sl
Shore 66 – And that parent will have to be Stu. Even in a close-in train town, the best I can hope, without flexible hours, is to be home by 6.
on a fun note…
I have been tracking back my family tree…what a blast this has been!
wow! You can’t believe the data that’s out there from ages ago… it’s really kinda cool… really time consuming but a blast none-the-less!
sl
Funny Pat I have heard lots of women say that. If tables were turned and I could stay home with an 8 year old that was in school 9-3 every day, I would be at the beach, gym, on a boat, golfing and flirting with all the hot nannies and divorcies. Couple good sports bars near house so could catch a few day games with firemen and cops who seem to be off five days for every two days worked. Come to think of it, maybe I would work too, in my way I am divorced in six months.
Pat says:
May 20, 2010 at 10:25 am
jj, for me, it’s more of a health and communications issue.
I like speaking with adults about planning, solutions and options.
I’ve tried volunteering and community activism, but for me, without the responsibilities accompany private employment, my health is suffering. Stress has always been very good for me. It’s just that until I had no job stress, I didn’t appreciate job stress.
[76] pat
For JJ, life is simple. Things are clear.
Not a lot of gray there.
@24 – bagholders of the worst kind, every last one of ’em.
“I would not be surprised if CC did not grant a waiver for Montclair.”
I actually would be surprised if he DIDN’T grant the waiver. Many of his decisions so far reek more of political pandering than actually concern for the future of NJ.
I’ve said it since the beginning of his term…If he can’t pass the 2.5% cap, then all he will have succeeded to do through cutting state aid to municipalities is transferring the tax burden to localities to raise property taxes to make up for the revenue shortfall.
Considering the increases being levied on every public service I utilize, my guess is that more of my income will go to paying for the public sector than even when Corslime was running the show. I really hope I’m wrong, but I highly doubt it.
@28, Lib –
“Looking on the bright side, oil is below $70 per barrel again.”
And yet prices at the pump continue to go up by leaps and bounds. Lucy has some ‘splainin’ to do.
Tax News of the Day:
“Democratic Tax Writers Unveil Updated Extenders Package; House Vote May 21
Democratic House and Senate tax writers released a massive tax extenders package (H.R. 4213) May 20 that is partly paid for with a change in the taxation of carried interest on investment fund managers as well as a host of international tax changes that lawmakers said would close tax “loopholes.”
Legislative language will be released later May 20, according to a news release from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and House Ways and Means Chairman Sander Levin (D-Mich.). A House vote on the package is expected May 21.
The carried interest provision, which has not yet been scored, is a modified version of what had originally been proposed. Under the plan, for the first two years, investment fund managers would pay ordinary income rates on 50 percent of the income and capital gains rates on the other 50 percent. Beginning in 2013, the percentages would shift to 75 percent at ordinary income rates and 25 percent at capital gains rates.
Another offset will make it more difficult for S corporations to avoid paying employment taxes. Lawmakers also included a modification to the rules related to Reverse Morris Trust maneuvers that allow companies to recognize tax-free gains from sales of spun-off subsidiaries.
On the international front, while lawmakers did not include the so-called Doggett treaty shopping provisions, written by Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), they did include a provision repealing special rules for interest and dividends received from persons meeting the 80 percent foreign business requirements. Also included is language from President Obama’s fiscal year 2011 budget proposal allowing the credit for foreign taxes when, and to the extent, the associated foreign income is subject to U.S. tax in the hands of the taxpayer claiming the credit under tax code Section 901.
The offsets in the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010 will pay for more than $30 billion in popular business and individual tax cuts that expired at the end of 2009 including the research and development tax credit, the active financing exception from Subpart F, and the deduction for state and local taxes as well as other priorities such as an extension of the Build America Bonds program and other measures taken out of the House-passed small business tax bill (H.R. 4849).
The legislation also includes a number of nontax measures, including provisions related to single employer and multiemployer defined benefit plans, a summer employment program for teens, an extension of unemployment compensation benefits, an extension of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, provisions related to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, and an extension of premium assistance for health care benefits for the unemployed.
As for language related to Medicare physician payment rates, lawmakers chose to “provide reasonable updates in physician payments rates” for 2010 and 2011, according to a summary. For 2012 and 2013 the rates would continue to increase “if spending growth on physician services is within reasonable limits, with an extra allowance for primary and preventive care.” Also included is a six-month extension of the temporary increase in the Federal Medicaid Matching Rate (FMAP).”
At least if this passes, we will have a pretty good idea when the next leg down will be, and invest accordingly.
Meter,
Prices are actually inching down, which is unusual for this time of the year as the oil companies like to use the increase in demand for oil for the Memorial day weekend as an excuse to generate more profit.
@40, Gator –
Look out above!
[26] doom
EUR actually up vs. the looney.
I am liking the trend.
Perhaps Wanta, formerly known as Bob, has some insight on when to get into the looney.
“transferring the tax burden to localities” I thought that was the idea. To force more spending by the local gov’ts in order to lessen the burden on the state. So you have local councils, the people you know and see around town, raising taxes to pay for services. Isn’t it easier to speak up and say “he## no” right to their faces than to send the same message to Trenton? A town can have whatever level of services they desire; they just have to pay for it.
[86] libtard
Prices on Route 22 unbrand and nonmajors have dropped by at least 20 cents in the past week. I am not tanking up, but depleting my reserves going into that weekend on the hope that the high distillates inventory will keep prices low.
I also plan to pick up a couple more 2.5 gallon cans (on sale at Ace) in order to have a rotating stock and plenty of Gulf War/TSHTF reserves.
[89] outofstater
That’s the idea, which is why I agree with libtard that Christie won’t fight town overrides. If Montklair wants to tax its own residents into oblivion, Trenton doesn’t, and shouldn’t, care.
In fact, it gives Christie even more leverage to squeeze them, IMHO.
lib (50)-
Start telling Little Gator that his college money is all going in taxes to the secretariat of Montklair.
gator (52)-
Looks to me like all your working time now is being spent shoveling your income into a raging incinerator.
Meter,
One of many factors is gas prices is that gas prices are also effected by refinery stocks and uptimes. I havent looked at those lately, but if refinery inventories are low or you have a major refinery down for service you would see upward pressure on prices. the oil:gas price relation is not a direct one.
Of course as stu mentioned, there is also the profit factor that oil companies play with.
Wow,
look at the USDJPY. That looks like a juicy low.
I learned FOREX from a 5th grade special education student
Speaking of a raging incinerator, I once again had to move the recycling bin that our overpaid, underworked and non-privatized Montclair garbage collecters left in the middle of my driveway this morning. It’s bad enough that I had to get up at 6am since they sent my dog on a barking rampage at 5:55am. I can’t blame them though. Last I heard, the earlier they finish their route, the sooner their workdays end. Let’s hear it for the unions once again. On a more positive note, they finally took the bin of grass that has been at my curb for 3 weeks. We can no longer plastic bag grass unless you use a paper lawn bag. Ever try to empty your mower bag into one of them?
More (not so cheery) Tax News of the Day:
“Economic Projections for State Governments
Could Spell Longer Crisis for Public Pensions
The financial crisis facing state governments and public pension funds could continue for at least a decade, Raymond Scheppach, executive director of the National Governors Association, said May 19.
States are unlikely to see tax revenue recover to fiscal 2008 levels until 2014, and then states must cope with increased Medicaid expenses as provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Pub. L. No. 111-148) take effect, Scheppach said at a conference sponsored by the New America Foundation and the University of California Retirement Security Institute.
Scheppach said states are facing a jobless recovery from a deep recession and obligations to replenish money that they borrowed from pension funds, highway trust funds, and other sources of rainy day funds. “Add that all together, and it’s about 10 years of difficulty,” he told the conference.
Shrinking Tax Base
States will be unable to deal with the financial squeeze unless the tax system is changed to capture revenue from internet-based businesses, where the growth is, Scheppach said. Until states create new tax systems, they cannot count on 6.5 percent average revenue increases each year as they did in the past, he said. “Our tax systems are built for a 1950s economy,” Scheppach said. Meanwhile, states are missing a major source of sales taxes by not taxing internet businesses, he added.
Besides finding new sources of tax revenue, states must try innovative ways to cut their overhead by using information technology to deliver state-funded services, Scheppach said. “We need to look seriously at taking huge programs and putting them online,” he said.
Employment Crisis
Sherle Schwenninger, director of the Economic Growth Program at the New America Foundation and director of the foundation’s Global Middle Class Initiative, said at the conference that the United States will be trying to solve a public pension and retirement crisis in what he termed a difficult macroeconomic environment.
“We don’t want to solve the pension problem by adding to the structural employment problems,” Schwenninger said. “We don’t want to force people who have reached retirement age to go back and take jobs away from the next generation.”
The tax base for funding public pensions is under stress from other factors such as low interest rates and increasing labor mobility, Henning Bohn, professor of economics at the University of California at Santa Barbara, said at the conference. “If we can’t rely on having a secure tax base to bail us out of problems, what can [state] governments actually do?”
“You cannot do anything with these paintings. All countries in the world are aware, and no collector is stupid enough to buy a painting that, one, he can’t show to other collectors, and two, risks sending him to prison,” he said on LCI television.
“In general, you find these paintings,” he said. “These five paintings are un-sellable, so thieves, sirs, you are imbeciles, now return them.”
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/lone_burglar_steals_paintings_worth_qxSRLurmhBIZAOdlHhnURJ#ixzz0oTyRfRZQ
SG #2,
French news circa 1940:
The number of German troops have not been increasing thus showing signs that France has stabilized.
Doom 93 – We have ruled out buying the 2nd place in Montclair. Eventually we will just be funneling the tenant’s money into the giant incinerator.
Something’s brewing at work and I don’t think I will be getting my fantasy severance package anytime soon. So much for the idea of taking 9 months salary, buying a Vegas foreclosure for cash and dealing blackjack for the rest of my productive years. Looks like we will be stuck in NJ for a while.
Nom,
The end game here is simple from a thermodynamics point of view. If you look at economics as a work producing heat engine, the most efficient method of operation is in simplified terms slow and steady.
The faster you run a heat engine (i.e. the higher the rate of work produced by the engine) the more waste heat you produce and the less net usable work can be produced from you “hotsource”.
In short, entropy is a B1TCH and the current global heat engine has just about saturated its available “coldsink”.
All economists should be required to study thermodynamics. They seem to consistently believe that they can build perpetual motion machines.
Make,
I would guess the heist was commissioned by a collector who has no intention of selling them. if the collector is in the middle east or parts of asia then the paintings are probably already being hung in someones private gallery or over their toilet.
Nom,
If your curious, look at this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnot%27s_theorem_(thermodynamics)
Nom,
wrong link, this is it
http://tiny.cc/93i3o
Oil-encrusted shrimp on a menu near you?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100513-science-environment-gulf-oil-spill-cap-leak/
BP must die.
Residency requirements as proposed by CC- Currently,in some counties in NJ you must be a resident of that county in order to be employed by them. Mercer County has this requirement. I think that’s a bit onerous.
stater (74)-
Except they won’t be in rocking chairs. They will have to work every single day of their lives. Collectivist schemes around the world are devolving to a point at which the productive must be worked 24/7/365 in order to keep the Ponzi going.
Then, they will drop dead at work. Perhaps there will be a moment of silence as the meatwagon carts them away. If they are not mgmt or executive level workers, no one will even notice.
This is what the vast majority of us are facing.
Bring out your dead!
meter (105)-
BP is multinational oil corporation. Eventually, they will simply profit. I have no doubt some scheme will be devised in which ordinary people will end up paying for all this, and BP just keeps ringing the register.
Remember: Halliburton, Cameron, Trans Ocean and God knows who else are in on this. That’s a lot of political and financial clout.
Pat (108)-
Just another way of saying “straight back to the 16th century”.
Which is where we’re headed.
gator (100)-
This may become the catchphrase of this entire fetid decade:
“Something’s brewing at work…”
Hyde(102),
Bingo. However, they’re probably in Europe and the robber demands payment in shiny hence the reason someoen in Germany is buying the physical.
Fcuking thieves.
Meter, Njescapee.
BP new what the risks were here and they knew that most of the oil would end up staying in underwater plumes, the oil industry has done studies on subsurface oil leaks/plumes.
http://www.iosc.org/papers/02334.pdf
Read the conclusion on page 6. What is currently happening matches models created and tested in open waters in 1995 and 1996.
Bergabe still jackhammering the “buy” button on EUR.
Wonder how many of our childrens’ futures he’s selling down the river to keep that sucker at $1.23?
@114, Hyde –
Yep, already read that (linked from another site). That’s why they must die. Accidents are accidents – this was a known quantity and they (and the companies Doom cited) all cut corners.
I’m hoping a bunch of eco-terrorists go on a target party with some energy CEOs. We’ll see what ‘cost-cutting’ really looks like.
Hyde, 113: can we demand that Obama, his cabinet and the criminal congress / senate resign immediately?
Hyde i echo your sentiments regarding the art heist. those particular pieces weren’t stolen for the name, somebody went in with a shopping list. The fact that they were removed from the frame not cut out screams professional with a mission. not some random art theif.
Meter Nj escapee.
The funny thing is, with the dispersents the are pushing the majority of the oil into underwater emulsions which is great from a PR perspective as it minimizes the classic oil spill images of black goo on the beaches.
Pushing the oil into underwater emulsions doesnt really solve anything, it takes longer for the oil to be degraded by microorganisms at depth then it does on or close to the surface. It also most likely makes it easier for BP and the other companies to defend various lawsuits in the near future.
meter (115)-
Amazing how a few people are moving to the “vote with a bullet” concept.
I think this will be one of the big trends in 2011.
doom 114
the long he hits buy the quicker it drops to parity when he stops hitting the button.
make 112,
you mean tungsten?
Problem is there is usually only one best way to do anything. People think their choice is best but usually it is not. I approach dating, marriage, college, jobs, investing, even buy tickets to football in a practical manner using the method that gets me max return.
The women working thing is interesting as I have had a lot of opportunity to work with people who make a ton of money at work. Also had the oppportunity to work with tons of male staffers between 26-40 whose wives work and have kids.
For fun and out of interest I pointed out to the the staffers with working wifes and young kids that it is hard for them to get ahead if they don’t have time to go back for an MBA, study for certificates, work late, come in early, travel etc. as they are juggling child care responsibilities Also said same thing to women whose wife’s work btw. I then pointed out that the CEO, CFO, COO, CIO, Head Traders, Partners in our Big 4 firm etc. none of their spouse work. Then I get well when I get to their level my spouse can stay home too. However, they don’t realize in the vast majority of the executives I talked to at one point one career starting moving quicker than the other and one took a step back to care for the kids while other advanced. Think Michelle O who quit her job so hubbie could be president.
None of them believe me and after watching this for 15 years with my own friends the average friend whose wife stayed home makes triple the average salary of my friends whose wife works.
Of course not everyone this will work for but it can’t work if you don’t try.
Another thing of interest is bosses and HR judge working couples in an unique way. If I have a male staffer who has a wife who is a doctor, big lawyer, big trader etc. who takes a day off for the cable guy, kids sick, roof leaks I get her job is important and his job is not. I assume he does not care about his job or career whether true or not. Therefore, he has a hurdle to overcome, meanwhile her job assumes she really cares about work as she would never take off for trival matters. It is extremely hard for working couples to have similarly good careers and have a few kids. Something;s got to give.
Comrade Nom Deplume says:
May 20, 2010 at 10:32 am
[76] pat
For JJ, life is simple. Things are clear.
Not a lot of gray there.
Njescappe, meter,
The other fun aspect of underwater and potentially deepwater plumes, is that you are poisoning the bottom of the food chair as opposed the top of the food chain. Thats a very bad idea, unless your goal is to collapse an ecosystem. of course the end results may take a few months to a few years to really show up so it makes lawsuits easier to defend
@119, Hyde –
You mean like this?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/photogalleries/100519-gulf-heavy-oil-marsh-bp-shore-washing-up-pictures#gulf-oil-reaching-marshes-wide_20690_600x450.jpg
It may not be black, but it’s probably not much better PR-wise.
(Click thru for other images)
I know that earth will heal itself and I tend not play into the ‘Man is killing the planet’ meme*, but this seems like a whole ‘nother ball of wax.
* Though I think we’re hastening the demise of our own species, both directly and indirectly.
Meter,
My Jamil-like boss states it as fact that the rig was sabotaged by liberal environmentalists. That’s what he heard when one of the anonymous rig workers who worked on the platform called into WABC. Apparently this same guy appeared on 60-minutes too. He said the batteries on the pipe cutter were dead which is why it did not engage.
I then asked, well did the environmentalist also cause the explosion? Because leaving the batteries dead on a fail-safe would only be effective if there was a major accident which would trigger the crimper to do it’s thing. This must be part of the truth that WABC likes to forget to inform their listeners about.
jj (122)-
Others might call this sociopathy.
“I approach dating, marriage, college, jobs, investing, even buy tickets to football in a practical manner using the method that gets me max return.”
Pilfered from another site, but the original source is George Carlin:
We’re so self-important. So self-important. Everybody’s going to save something now. “Save the trees, save the bees, save the whales, save those snails.” And the greatest arrogance of all: save the planet. What? Are these f*cking people kidding me? Save the planet, we don’t even know how to take care of ourselves yet. We haven’t learned how to care for one another, we’re gonna save the f*cking planet?
I’m getting tired of that sh*t. Tired of that sh*t. I’m tired of f*cking Earth Day, I’m tired of these self-righteous environmentalists, these white, bourgeois liberals who think the only thing wrong with this country is there aren’t enough bicycle paths. People trying to make the world save for their Volvos. Besides, environmentalists don’t give a sh*t about the planet. They don’t care about the planet. Not in the abstract they don’t. Not in the abstract they don’t. You know what they’re interested in? A clean place to live. Their own habitat. They’re worried that some day in the future, they might be personally inconvenienced. Narrow, unenlightened self-interest doesn’t impress me.
Besides, there is nothing wrong with the planet. Nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine. The PEOPLE are f*cked. Difference. Difference. The planet is fine. Compared to the people, the planet is doing great. Been here four and a half billion years. Did you ever think about the arithmetic? The planet has been here four and a half billion years. We’ve been here, what, a hundred thousand? Maybe two hundred thousand? And we’ve only been engaged in heavy industry for a little over two hundred years. Two hundred years versus four and a half billion. And we have the CONCEIT to think that somehow we’re a threat? That somehow we’re gonna put in jeopardy this beautiful little blue-green ball that’s just a-floatin’ around the sun?
The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles…hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worlwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages…And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet…the planet…the planet isn’t going anywhere. WE ARE!
We’re going away. Pack your sh*t, folks. We’re going away. And we won’t leave much of a trace, either. Thank God for that. Maybe a little styrofoam. Maybe. A little styrofoam. The planet’ll be here and we’ll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet’ll shake us off like a bad case of fleas. A surface nuisance.
You wanna know how the planet’s doing? Ask those people at Pompeii, who are frozen into position from volcanic ash, how the planet’s doing. You wanna know if the planet’s all right, ask those people in Mexico City or Armenia or a hundred other places buried under thousands of tons of earthquake rubble, if they feel like a threat to the planet this week. Or how about those people in Kilowaia, Hawaii, who built their homes right next to an active volcano, and then wonder why they have lava in the living room.
The planet will be here for a long, long, LONG time after we’re gone, and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, ’cause that’s what it does. It’s a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed, and if it’s true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new pardigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn’t share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn’t know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, “Why are we here?” Plastic…a**hole.
So, the plastic is here, our job is done, we can be phased out now. And I think that’s begun. Don’t you think that’s already started? I think, to be fair, the planet sees us as a mild threat. Something to be dealt with. And the planet can defend itself in an organized, collective way, the way a beehive or an ant colony can. A collective defense mechanism. The planet will think of something. What would you do if you were the planet? How would you defend yourself against this troublesome, pesky species? Let’s see… Viruses. Viruses might be good. They seem vulnerable to viruses. And, uh…viruses are tricky, always mutating and forming new strains whenever a vaccine is developed. Perhaps, this first virus could be one that compromises the immune system of these creatures. Perhaps a human immunodeficiency virus, making them vulnerable to all sorts of other diseases and infections that might come along. And maybe it could be spread sexually, making them a little reluctant to engage in the act of reproduction.
Well, that’s a poetic note. And it’s a start. And I can dream, can’t I? See I don’t worry about the little things: bees, trees, whales, snails. I think we’re part of a greater wisdom than we will ever understand. A higher order. Call it what you want. Know what I call it? The Big Electron. The Big Electron…whoooa. Whoooa. Whoooa. It doesn’t punish, it doesn’t reward, it doesn’t judge at all. It just is. And so are we. For a little while.
I would love to know what JJ considers max return on dating. College too.
Meter,
The CEO’s and GOV know more or less exactly what the flowrate is and was, as well as what the probable size and effects of the plumes are.
Of course they do not want that info public, because if the public really becomes aware of it, it would shutdown deepwater drilling in the gulf. COnsider that deepwater drilling in the gulf has been considered of strategic importance to the US and you understand why the government is in bed with the companies involved.
There is also a study from Columbia from about 2000 or so that states that the deepwater plays will only pay off if the oil companies can drastically cut exploration and extraction costs.
http://leanenergy.ldeo.columbia.edu/docs/UltraDeep%20Prosp%2010-22-02.pdf
This was predictable 10 years ago.
128. whether or not it comes with onions.
lib (128)-
I think he’s given us ample indication of his opinion on both.
What scares me is that he seems to be a fairly high-up person in one of those self-destructo doomsday machines on WS.
Lib BJ and a 25% return on investment works for both
JJ at 12:17 pm,
In your postings consideration is always given to the “career” and/or money.
Where do the kids rank on the priority scale — does a constant flow of new video games and gadgets serve as a replacement for time spent together?
Which is a happier family, one where the focus is on work and money, or where the focus is on enjoying time together during our limited time here on Earth?
Hyde, please tell me why the thimbleful of freshman-year physics info my brain has retained tells me this is 100% bullshit:
May 20 (Bloomberg) — BP Plc took steps toward attempting to cap its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday as it increased the amount of crude it’s capturing and thick oil began to appear in Louisiana’s wetlands.
BP will try as early as May 23 to inject heavy drilling fluids and cement into the well to seal it, a tactic known as “top kill,” Doug Suttles, chief operating officer of exploration and production for the company, said on a conference call with reporters yesterday.
Perhaps my BS meter went off because the first attempt to “top kill” involved golf balls and shredded tires.
I don’t focus on overall money. I focus on best overall value. I am always with my kids and go to all their events and I don’t work late or travel and get plenty of vacation. I did my 15 years of of busting my butt before kids were born up to they were very little. My kids don’t even ever remember me working late. Problem is at some point you need to do it. I remember my first job I had a boss with a big corner office making tons of cash and leaving on time and I worked my self to death, he said keep it up and one day you will be me. Otherwise you are doomed to be in a cube when you are 50!!!! Yikes. Man was smart, 99% did not listen but I did and my office is bigger than his.
It is a complete myth that high salary equals long hours, that is what poor people tell themselves to keep from going crazy. However, at some point you have to do it and I did plenty of it.
Qwerty says:
May 20, 2010 at 12:35 pm
JJ at 12:17 pm,
In your postings consideration is always given to the “career” and/or money.
Where do the kids rank on the priority scale — does a constant flow of new video games and gadgets serve as a replacement for time spent together?
Which is a happier family, one where the focus is on work and money, or where the focus is on enjoying time together during our limited time here on Earth?
Gator, Stu –
You’ll appreciate this; so we just lost out on a GR house, though we came well over ask (which we had to, since it was already in attorney review). But the buyers, who were relo, pretty much matched our offer AND put down 30% down… AND waived the appraisal contingency (probably related). Looks like the seller, who bought in 2004, will actually get out whole. It was the only decent-condition <$700K GR house we’ve seen long time.
Our agent said since most GR sellers aimed for tax-credit season, looks like there won’t be that many proverbial “Congrats Class of 2010/For Sale” signs out front in the coming wks. So I guess we just wait ’til Fall to see if any new wave of inventory happens.
Interesting observation: there’s a HUGE glut of $900K-999K homes in Montklair suddently. What’s up w/ that?
Doom,
The odds of any of the recent kill plans working are log shots at best. Im my opinion its a PR game while they drill the kill wells.
It wouldnt go over so well if they didnt put a dog and pony-show on while waiting the 90-120 days to finish the kill wells.
They could finish them sooner then that but its unlikely barring them cutting some massive corners, which is indeed possible.
VIX is way up, look at below!
oil dropping like a rock – deflation is back…
John, nobody believes in your form of crappy accounting firm economics. It’s not the hard work, for most, anyway, it’s whether or not you were klug enough in college to find out which chick had a ptr Daddy.
What’s really important is, “Do you, or do you not, have a unibrow?”
For college I picked majors soley on income after graduation and then on best school I could go to that tuition would be 100% covered by financial aid and then which major I could actually do without studying too much and did not require graduate school to get a job. I would have majored in nose picking if it fit my needs.
For dating I picked girls based on hottest, lowest milage, richest, wildest and occassional good girls. Loved girls with rich parents or owned something of use. Also like to get psedo famous girls. One was on cover of cosmo once, one was a bit actress on TV, one was the daughter of a billionaire. Also like cool jobs, architect, nurse, firewomen, model, actress, Kellog Ceral Chemist. She made all those funky chemicals you see on the box. Sounded boring but girl spent day imagining new and wild crazy positons in bed to get thorugh day. Also liked girls whose dad had season tickets. Did date a nice girl briefly who was lawyer, worked late a lot and could talked about work a lot, boooorrring. Also only liked girls who were “geographically desirable” Hated girls who lived too close to me as they would drop by, hated girls who lived to far from me as I don’t like commutuing. When I was in city, 40 blocks were good, when I was in suburbs 10-25 miles was good. Also liked to have hottest GF, no point dating a rich girl with a buther face. In fact if she was not the hottest girl you had to explain stuff like dude her parents has a ski house and a house in florida.
Libtard says:
May 20, 2010 at 12:29 pm
I would love to know what JJ considers max return on dating. College too.
Sadly Pat in the end I decided to marry a pretty nice girl whose parents have no education or money. The rich girls dad’s always expected me to take over their business or be a kind of glorified gigalo who will do what ever they want. Was easy in the end just to become a millionaire on my own.
I actually sometimes run into people I partied incrediablly hard with or dated and dumped way back in the day and they are always highly disappointed nothing bad has ever happened to me. I feel like Charlie Sheen in two and 1/2 man when Jon Cryier keeps complaining how come he does bad things and yet nothing bad happens to him.
I don’t have a unibrow but would gladly get one for money.
Pat says:
May 20, 2010 at 12:54 pm
John, nobody believes in your form of crappy accounting firm economics. It’s not the hard work, for most, anyway, it’s whether or not you were klug enough in college to find out which chick had a ptr Daddy.
What’s really important is, “Do you, or do you not, have a unibrow?”
Juice,
more good news:
The FDIC’s quarterly banking profile has been released. Inbetween all the fluff we find that the deposit “insurance” agency has exactly negative $20.7 billion to satisfy any upcoming bank runs and liquidations
Hyde – calc risk has a write up on it.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/05/fdic-q1-banking-profile-775-problem.html
Looking to move to Jersey very soon. Bergen
Buy or Rent? What you guys think?
Manhattan Jersey sucks, millionaire taxes, sky high re taxes, high state taxes, NJ transit just went up and you can’t shop on sunday, other than to catch a flight or see a football game there is no reason to go there.
Whipped says:
May 20, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Looking to move to Jersey very soon. Bergen
Buy or Rent? What you guys think?
146…seriously??
My job is there. No alternative
Venus Hum band caught in the gulf slick ……http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5-ClvcHtK4&feature=related
“Better make an early wake up call to the PPT. And it’s not even Friday!”
Lib [69],
Please introduce them to Leonardo Fibonacci.
whipped (146)-
Is “flee for your life” a choice?
“there’s a HUGE glut of $900K-999K homes in Montklair suddently. What’s up w/ that?”
Hmmm. Might have something to do with that impending tax increase coming. Our services BLOW in Montclair. Was at a town council meeting last year where some old lady from up the hill uttered the funniest thing I’ve ever heard at a meeting. She said, “I have lived in Montclair my entire life and now pay over $30,000 per year in taxes. NO amount of money could get me to send my children to the Montclair public schools!”
At least in Glen Ridge, $30,000 in taxes is much cheaper than sending two kids to private school. In Montclair, $30,000 in taxes gives you the privilege of subsidizing the poor folk of the 4th ward and not much else.
whipped (149)-
Sure there is. Rob a couple of banks, and head for a non-extradition country.
“My job is there. No alternative.”
Beanbear 137- Sorry to hear that. That seller owes you big time for the extra gift you got them.
I concur with your agent. There has been pretty much 0 decent inventory coming on. The 2 new houses just listed are in absolute crap locations (High St and Hillside Ave houses are both right near Bloomfield Ave, the train trestle, parking lots, schools). The inventory that is sitting is outdated, overpriced and almost invariably overassessed. Looks like we are going to be stockpiling cash and bidding against you for the next decent place to hit the market.
Whipped only if your starting a meth lab, I’m leaving Bergen in 6 weeks.
Seriously where is your job? probably cheaper alternatives rent wise. don’t buy unless the PITI to rent ratios wash. Good Luck finding that in Bergen.
Well after 13 years of employment, I have gotten a call from our HR department to produce I9 documentation. Seems like they’ve been a bit sloppy with their record keeping and can’t find it for about 1,000 of us.
Our customer service manager got the call first and thought they were going all AZ on her a*s because she’s Puerto Rican. Now that 5 more of us have been called down too she feels a little better.
Gator I’m calling INS right now don’t worry they don’t enforce any laws any way
Mayhem in the currency markets. They are partying like its 1999. Who would have thought the Euro trade would remind us of the Russian Ruble and the emerging markets, Bhat, currency crisis.
Contagion? Nobody could see this coming.
Lib
At least in Glen Ridge, $30,000 in taxes is much cheaper than sending two kids to private school. In Montclair, $30,000 in taxes gives you the privilege of subsidizing the poor folk of the 4th ward and not much else.
But you OWE them! The town, state and nation has failed the fourth ward and hence its your responsibility to pay for it.
bean,gator
I was looking for a place in montclair but with all your talk about GR you got me looking for a place in GR. we will all be bidding on the same properties. GR owners are lucky; no loss in equity. I thought there was an re crash, nj was overtaxed, no money lending, people fleeing nj, and soon riots on GR streets.
re white molding.
If I recall correctly, molding, and plaster originally were meant to resemble the stone found in important buildings. Only in later was wood grain deemed preferable. The Mansard roof implies Second Empire, for which painted moldings is probably more appropriate.
I love a good bank run.
“Yesterday we disclosed that the reason for numerous SNB interventions in the EURCHF was due to billions in deposits rushing out of Germany and seeking the relative stability of Swiss neutrality. A quick look at the trading pattern of the GBPCHF shows that it is now UK depositors who are panicking and shifting their money to unnamed (not so much anymore) Zurich bank vaults. The result: a 300 pip move in the GBPCHF as the SNB rushes to put out this particular capital flight fire. Too bad it only succeeded for about 12 hours. The run on the bank (to another bank) in Europe is now on.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/pan-european-bank-run-now-capital-flight-uk-switzerland-gbpchf-intervention-strikes-next
PPT is apparently on the job, just not here.
They are out buying euros.
Battle stations!
Smoke ’em while you got ’em, Texas hedge and hold on tight.
Lib 153 – I believe the actual quote was “I pay $90,000 a year in taxes and the schools still suck!”.
Nom
check this out
http://finviz.com/map.ashx?t=sec
Wow was it that much… Awsomah powah!
Smoke ‘em while you got ‘em, Texas hedge and hold on tight.
Doom,
I I capetan…
Beanbear/Poor Guy – Stu and I suggest a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors as a fair way of determining which one of us gets the next house. Losers sit out the bidding, minimizing the amount that the “winner” has to bid to get the place.
Are you both in?
Poor Guy, Bean,
We obviously must get together to collude on the next GR property. Oh this would be just too funny.
I have a friend who has a father who used to flip houses. He would collude with some other flippers to get them to come in with a really cheap bid, prior to his dad issuing his less cheap (but well under true value) bid. It worked like a charm for them many times over during the 2002 to 2005 housing madness.
Say we all go down to Fitzgerald’s grab a beer and plot this strategy out. I know Clot would approve. It would sure beat bidding against each other. What say you guys?
Beer for me please.
Lib,
Sounds like fun, you could probably get a few of the bloggers here to toss in some low alls as well.
Hey, isnt that what the central banks are doing to the currency market?
Nearly every day I see a post from JJ and think “He can NEVER top that one.”
And on the following day, almost without exception, he types out another beauty, easily topping the last.
The consistency is really quite impressive.
lib (171)-
All’s fair. There are no friends in real estate.
Stu, poor guy, Gator,
My wife & I are in… tho’ depending on how many beers, her bar brawler self may come out and demand we substitute “ro-sham-bo” for rock/paper/scissors!
Well we should definitely correspond via email offline. As something comes on the market, we’ll exchange email addresses and will go from there. I just hope there aren’t too many bidders who have not yet found this blog!
lib,gator
count me in. if sellers/reagents do it, why not us? a monobuy setting prices will be a first in the nj realtidom.
I would guess Doyle would be interested as well…
I know we’ve run into each other looking at GR properties.
You know everything I’ve been saying about Montclair in the past three years are complete lies. You DO know that. Montclair is really a utopia, and I’ve been lying through my teeth to not let the secret out. The truth is, the town has been paying us property taxes, not the other way around.
ahh collusion, you all bring a tear to my eye.
Jpl – Unless someone’s Grandma passes, I don’t think we will be bidding against you or Doyle anytime soon. Looks like 2 separate games of Rock/Paper/Scissors are in order!
JJ is my spiritual advisor. His posts are entertaining and educational, the way PBS tv should be.
I still like beer. : )
And your collection of abodes will put you pretty long on RE as well.
Hey Hyde and Doom
Aren’t you glad they have nukes part II
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100520/ap_on_hi_te/as_pakistan_internet_crackdown
Time to ousource A$$ kicking to India. Have the CIA start a dust up in Kashmir, should do the trick.
Ah, Beer. The great equalizer.
When is this GTG going to happen?
Stu –
“Montclair is really a utopia, and I’ve been lying through my teeth to not let the secret out.”
You must also be on the Board of Directors of the forthcoming Montclair Film Festival? Yes, there’s a forthcoming Film Festival, tho’ King Jerry isn’t putting town money in (yet)…
Beanbear – Whatever town money there is left will surely be going to bike lanes and bike racks.
Can’t wait for Mayor Jerry to get back from his trade mission to China. I am sure it will result in a big increase to the local tax base.
Gator,
I hear bike lanes cleaned up Camden overnight!!! You guys should construct bike lanes on every street of the fourth ward!
[180] libtard
“Montclair is really a utopia, and I’ve been lying through my teeth to not let the secret out.”
Since we are baring our souls, I should also say that Brigadoon is an absolute Shangri-la. I feel guilty not paying triple in taxes for the feeling of pure estacy I get living here, where they are turning my children into future Nobel laureates by advanced osmosis method teaching, and the town pool waters cure cancer and other ailments. Why travel to Lourdes?
Spain now following Greece’s lead with austerity measures followed by a swift union reprisal.
Guess I will be making other travel plans this summer. Somewhere relatively calm/safe. Anyone been to South Korea?
Spain now following Greece’s lead with austerity measures following with a swift union reprisal.
Guess I will be making other travel plans this summer. Somewhere relatively calm/safe. Anyone been to South Korea?
Informal poll question:
Anyone still contributing to a 401k or IRA?
Follow up:
Why?
Meter:
Somewhere relatively calm/safe….
i didnt know they had commercial flights to Mars yet.
meter says:
most people have long hit the max already by now
May 20, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Informal poll question:
Anyone still contributing to a 401k or IRA?
Follow up:
Why?
FYI – NJTransit already giving the heads up that Bon Jovi will be ruining your commute next week. BTW – Would you pay $169/ticket for this? Our Red Bank friends did.
http://www.njtransit.com/sa/sa_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=ServiceAdjustmentTo&AdjustmentId=6645
BTW PPT is sniffing at my crotch today, didn’t bite but have a feeling they are about to.
Spain is watching old I Love Lucy episodes to see how Ricky controlled Lucy’s spending.
Nom 190 – Is that because Graydon and Ellery pee in the pool?
meter 191
watch what happens when you introduce austerity and have 50%+ youth unemployment.
The only way to introduce austerity without the people rising up is to stick it to the bankers even harder, the one group the people hate more then the politicians. Unfortunately if you do that its likely you will shortly be involved in an ACCIDENT resulting in your unfortunate demise and a replacement who understands the national importance of a strong “free market” banking sector
Nasty close, nasty close
Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), a not-for-profit genomic research organization, published results today describing the successful construction of the first self-replicating, synthetic bacterial cell.
http://www.jcvi.org/cms/press/press-releases/full-text/article/first-self-replicating-synthetic-bacterial-cell-constructed-by-j-craig-venter-institute-researcher/
Stu, are you sure the film festival Montklair is hosting isn’t NAMBLA’s?
Meter 201
Sweet, we are now gods.
HE (200)-
Are you kidding? That was a thing of beauty.
Risk off.
Synthetic cells only to be available in Montklair and Brigadoon.
Now Venter has sown the seeds for his own personal security force! Just a matter of time…
Clone army > guns > gold
Meter,
if you were wondering how the world ends in 2012…. synthetic life out-competes humans…..
I hope they’re at least hot.
Oh I loved it Clot. HEHEHE made some $ today. Just surprised there wasn’t any short covering.
Came home to find a letter from my home insurance company that they plan to raise my rates by 27% (never filed a claim/home or auto in my life). This is after last year’s increase of about 12%. Hey, what’s another $300 in this deflationary environment. I thought everything was supposed to get cheaper!
I’m also happy that every stinkin’ penny of my future home downpayment is locked away making between 1/2 and 1.5%.
Trillions spent, guaranteed and looted. The end result; global jitters?
Damn currency markets, are they the new vigilantes?
Stu – I assume you’re in CDs.
If so, at least it’s federally insured by a healthy backstop.
Oh wait…
Wantan
Lets see how long those Central bank FX interventions last. 24 hrs?
[206] meter
The spouse worked for Venter. Hated it toward the end.
Best part was when her former boss (and later his protege) came to her new employer, looking for work. She gleefully was able to ding him and his protege.
[198] gator,
No, it was because Stu did!
Watch now as the Dow quickly gives up 8 months of fake gains. I suspect Bernanke announces QE 2.0 once we lose 30%.
apparently some commentator on CNBC stated “Sell everything”
then they have headline:
“Stocks to Tumble Another 20%, Cash the Safest Place: Roubini”
sheep are getting restless.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/20/real_estate/most_affordable_cities/index.htm
I like to read comments. Comments are fun. Who invented comments and are they very, very happy?
“Lets see how long those Central bank FX interventions last. 24 hrs?”
Hyde,
There are not nearly enough levers to pull, to ward off the evil wolfpack. The manipulators will never get it; Mr Market always wins.
“apparently some commentator on CNBC stated “Sell everything”
Hyde,
I’m appearing next on CNBC. Sell? Sell to whom?
John is actually very honest with what he has to work with.
He’s like an ar-teest with partial memory loss.
You get blobs of beauty with lots of empty canvas.
Just kidding, John. I did your path for seven long biblical years and completely understand why you are such a radical.
Nom,
I didn’t PEE in the pool.
Final Doom says:
May 20, 2010 at 1:29 pm
whipped (149)-
Sure there is. Rob a couple of banks, and head for a non-extradition country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHDYfoRYcqQ&feature=related
Doom
market rumor is that a single entity bought 400 million EURUSD today. i wonder who was behind that trade.
Hyde [225],
NJ Vulture Fund?
Hyde [225],
Come to think of it, probably Budweiser.
HE (209)-
Only short covering on the EUR. All based on a desperate rumor.
I just loaded up against it some more. :)
Disclaimer: I am more successful at roulette than fx trading.
Vaccaro responded to me…..
planning.com]
Sent: Wed 5/19/2010 3:21 PM
To: Michael.Vaccaro
Subject:
Michael: Long-time Mets fan here…when does Jose Reyes’ performance begin the transition from “still in spring training/hasn’t played in 12 months” to “highly suspicious”..or were we there several weeks ago?
________________________________________
From: Michael.Vaccaro
Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2010 11:47 AM
To:
Subject: RE:
Great question, Jordan. I think we are at that precise moment, truth be told. I was going to give him a full month to shake off the rust, and the rust has been shaken off, his defense seems fine, he seems to run fine … but, man, he just can’t hit any more. As much as anything, I think, THAT is what ails the Mets …
hyde (225)-
Bergabe…in his Skinner Box…pounding the “buy” button…as Eraserhead pipes nitrous oxide into the box.
Short-covering, my ass.
This is what Bergabe thinks he’s doing as he sinks the future of the next 17 American generations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_5sQyHnbY4
N.J. Assembly approves $100M in tax credits for new homebuyers to improve housing market
By Matt Friedman/Statehouse Bureau May 20, 2010, 5:33PM
TRENTON — The state Assembly approved a measure today that seeks to rejuvenate the state’s housing market by giving out $100 million in tax credits to homebuyers.
The bill establishes the New Jersey Homebuyer Tax Credit Program, which will give new homeowners credits worth either $15,000 or five percent of the home purchase price, whichever is less. It will be distributed over a three year period on a first come, first serve basis for purchases during 2010.
The bill passed 66-8, with three abstentions and still needs to pass in the state Senate.
The total payout from the state is capped at $100 million, though supporters of the bill and members of the home building industry who pushed for it said it will generate far more revenue from the creation of jobs related to the industry and other related economic activity.
Seventy-five million dollars of the credit is reserved for new construction, while $25 million is set aside for buyers of existing homes.
The credit, which would start in 2011, comes after an $8,000 tax credit federal first-time homebuyer and $6,500 for repeat buyers expired on April 30.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/05/nj_assembly_approves_100m_tax.html
So many beer references today…
Makes me thirsty.
Luckily, there was a Stella 12 pack sale at the local beer store. They’ve been brewing since 1366, I figure they must know what they’re doing by now…
cf, don’t give up on Reyes yet. I think he just needs a little motivation. And you never know what’s going to motivate.
A deflated balloon with a white powdery substance? And they had no idea what that might be?
I still remember my first day at Temple Health Sciences campus, listening to the crunch-crunch-crunch of crack vials breaking beneath my feet…
Liberty Bell area is evacuated after suspicious package found in Philadelphia
By The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk
May 20, 2010, 5:35PM
PHILADELPHIA — A suspicious device was found near the Liberty Bell this afternoon, causing officials to evacuate a section of Independence Mall, according to a report on Philly.com.
A deflated balloon with a white powdery substance inside was found around 2:35 p.m., the report said.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/05/liberty_bell_area_is_evacuated.html
I see nothing in the bill language that would indicate the $15K is for new or first time homebuyers only. I think the nj.com article may be misleading in that respect.
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2010/Bills/A2000/1678_R1.HTM
Addionally, if only $25M of the $100M is dedicated to existing homes, that means approximately 1666 sales will receive the credit before it is done. Is that even a months worth of sales?
Can someone play devil’s advocate and tell me how this is not an absolute gift to homebuilders.
“The credit, which would start in 2011, comes after an $8,000 tax credit federal first-time homebuyer and $6,500 for repeat buyers expired on April 30.”
Suppose the kicked can reaches the end of the road, prior to 2011? Will the lights still be on in NNJ, at that time?
Please take my pos, just pay my taxes.
“Can someone play devil’s advocate and tell me how this is not an absolute gift to homebuilders.”
Dink,
H-Builders are Elvis Vernell Patterson.
Doom #175,
True dat. I have two recent stories about friends buying homes then using uncles in real estate industry to ‘save money’. Each got screwed on appraisal and attorney fees respectively. Both found out it would have been cheaper to use perfect strangers. Bad blood now. I trust no one when it comes to real estate.
211.
If you have your down payment locked in at 1.5% then you are going to be one of the victims that gets wiped out.
Carrier group leaves for Middle East tomorrow, more to follow. Hyde, Shore, whaddya think?
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/us-begins-massive-military-build-around-iran-sending-4-new-carrier-groups-region
Happy Draw Mohammed Day!
The characters above form an image of that pervert kid lover.
#225 Ket
market rumor is that a single entity bought 400 million EURUSD today. i wonder who was behind that trade.
This is not that suprising. Th probably means that someone went bargain basement shopping in European Equities. Or someone covering a big EUR short
Gulf Oil Spill 2010: Plans to evacuate Tampa Bay area expected to be announced
Plans to evacuate the Tampa Bay area are expected to be announced in the coming days as FEMA prepares for what is now being called the worst oil disaster in the history of the world.
http://www.examiner.com/x-17299-Hernando-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2010m5d9-Gulf-Oil-Spill-2010-Plans-to-evacuate-Tampa-Bay-area-expected-to-be-announced
Benzene in the atmosphere. The horsemen ride on…..
Al, get a grip, man.
Here. Buy some furniture.
While watching baseball, I was shopping for stuff that would fit the house JB referenced this morning. Then the Munsters can go home to Jersey.
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/fuo/1751371134.html
Gold is dow again big time. Some hedgies must be getting killed with margin calls.
244.
Pat,
John Waters couldn’t top that.
Pat says:
May 20, 2010 at 6:30 pm
cf, don’t give up on Reyes yet. I think he just needs a little motivation. And you never know what’s going to motivate.
Pat: how about a syringe?
#244 Pat,
I like the bordello waiting room look.
“Carrier group leaves for Middle East tomorrow, more to follow. Hyde, Shore, whaddya think?”
Either a prudent show of force to encourage Iran to get with the program or the first step towards “diplomacy by other means.”
600,000 gallons of dispersants and counting:
http://m2.tbo.com/content/2010/may/21/na-oil-dispersant-to-require-epa-approval/news-metro/
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