From CNBC:
Pending Home Sales Sink 2.6 Percent in June
From the AP:
Pending home sales sink 2.6 percent in June
he number of buyers who signed contracts to purchase homes dropped in June, as the weak economy and tight lending standards kept consumers away from the housing market.
The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that its seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes dipped 2.6 percent to a reading of 75.7.
That was the lowest on records dating back to 2001 and down nearly 19 percent from the same month a year earlier. The index has fallen more than 40 percent from its peak in April 2005. May’s reading was revised slightly downward to 77.7.
From Bloomberg:
Pending Sales of Existing U.S. Homes Decrease 2.6%
The number of contracts to purchase previously owned houses unexpectedly fell in June, indicating demand kept unraveling after the expiration of a homebuyer tax credit.
…
“We’re still seeing the aftereffects of the homebuyer tax credit expiration,” said Dean Maki, chief U.S. economist at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York, who forecast a decline in June pending home sales. “The comeback from the housing downturn is likely to be sluggish.”
…
Three of the four regions showed a decline in June, today’s report showed, led by a 12 percent drop in the Northeast. Pending sales fell 9.5 percent in the Midwest and 0.2 percent in the West. They rose 3.7 percent in the South.Compared with June 2009, nationwide pending sales dropped 20 percent.
From the AFP:
Pending US home sales down to nine-year low
The number of contracts signed to purchase existing homes in the United States unexpectedly fell in June to its lowest level in nine years, private data showed Tuesday.
Leave a comment? Like first?
Blankfein’s desktop:
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/desktop.jpg
Real first
Not like first
Or kinda first
Hi fiveeeee….
Off topic, aurora tonight.
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2010/pr201011.html
#33 [previous] Nom
I think the main point of the article hold. The tax breaks are used to reduce the AGI and the net result is they go tax negative.
I ran some numbers for MGI for most of the tax revenue for 2007. While my interpretation may be garbage and I can’t manipulate the numbers like Ket or the other Stats wizards, I personally think it gives a better idea of the truer picture.
Tax Rate Average Income % of oveall tax paid
5 percent $5,819.46 0.37%
10 percent $10,106.97 10.%
15 percent $23,998.04 28%
15 percent $60,326.29 11%
25 percent $27,832.35 20%
28 percent $42,533.11 7%
33 percent $95,314.29 8%
35 percent $646,797.23 23%
Two things jump out here.
While the top tier is paying a lot, the lower to middle tiers are bearing the brunt. The second tier of 15% is people filing capital gains income. As the boomers retire, this number will just keep growing.
Clot, just for you, there is a comment in there from stanbowles, that is just a little harsh.
Northern Rock savings fall but ‘bad bank’ is in the black
Deposits down by £2bn since state guarantee was pulled
Losses continue at ‘good bank’ but privatisation plans on track
‘Bad bank’, which holds mortgages, makes £349m profit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/aug/03/northern-rock-savings-fall-guarantee-withdrawn
I don’t understand the GOP at times. How does this ever work in their favor. The only possible upside is to claw back the wingnut vote in the primaries.
Republicans want review of birthright citizenship
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gqnOBf_QRibbHZe0ieJDDRnvWxRgD9HC9ESG2
MEXICO CITY – President Felipe Calderon said he would consider a debate on legalizing drugs Tuesday as his government announced that more than 28,000 people have been killed in drug violence since he launched a crackdown against cartels in 2006.
Intelligence agency director Guillermo Valdes also said authorities have confiscated about 84,000 weapons and made total cash seizures of $411 million in U.S. currency and $26 million worth in pesos (330 million pesos).
“Graham’s suggestion that citizenship rights be repealed for children of illegal immigrants.”
Works for me. If one is here legally, then her U.S.-born offspring are citizens. If she is not here legally, her U.S.-born offspring are not citizens. This is an easy fix should chogress have the guts to do the right thing.
congress, even
13th…..
I am soooo glad Bush did not complete the fence on the southern border and that Obama also refuses to complete it:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-10860614
snip
In the objective of establishing conditions for peace and recovering control of regions affected by organized crime, we have not achieved what we wanted. We have growing violence,” he said.
Corrupting influence
Mr Valdes also said the government had to do more to tackle money laundering and reinforce public institutions that were too weak to ensure security and justice.
The Mexican government was involved in a “dispute and struggle” for control of state and local police forces, many of which had come under the control of drugs gangs, he added.
Mr Valdes said the Mexico government was confronting a multiple challenge from criminal organisations that were well organised, with great fire power and a massive ability to corrupt.
Violent clashes between drugs gangs fighting for territory and control of smuggling routes into the US had led to a general climate of insecurity throughout Mexico, he said.
For those of you who watch the Jersey Shore program:
http://www.radaronline.com/sites/radaronline.com/files/snookimugshot.pdf
Gator,
Is this a better commute for you?
http://www.app.com/article/20100803/BUSINESS/100803044/AP-source-Conde-Nast-agrees-to-move-to-WTC-tower
That common sense moves to address illegals (sorry, that’s “undocumented workers” in newspeak) is in any way controversial, illustrates how far our society has sunk.
Spineless, short-sighted.
In the “old days” executives thought long term — what’s good for business and the country over the long haul. Today, all that matters are the next quarter, how to cook the books for best perception, and how to increase “efficiencies” by shipping maximum US jobs to 3rd world countries. The long term, and the country, are not even an afterthought.
18
Unofortunately, the Ruling Class thinks long-term. By importing millions of spanish-speaking parasites and applying proven racial policies, they hope to enable permanent Dem majority. This is course assumes they can keep the parasites dependent on Gov and separated in special communities (see blacks in the US, Gaza)
Would someone with GSMLS access please give me the status of 6 John Ringo Rd in East Amwell?
First there was a for sale sign, then under contract, then the sign was gone and the house appears to be vacant.
I drive by it all the time. Just curious.
Thanks in advance.
Shore 17 – No. Now I just have to figure out how I can get approved for a work from home arrangement by 2014;
Hey everybody! It’s not so bad. Just think — you can tell your grandkids you lived through The Depression.
gluteus (9)-
The Magpies will take Man U on opening day, win 5-6 on the trot, have 30 points by Boxing Day and qualify for Europa League.
“Cheer up Roy Keane,
Oh what can it mean,
To a sad mackems bastard,
And a shit football team”
Go you Toon!!!!
Doom, did you have anything to do with this?
Shooting game depicting President Barack Obama raises firestorm
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
By DOUGLAS B. BRILL
The Express-Times
(snip)
“I just can’t believe how far things have come that now on church property you can shoot the president and get a prize if you hit him in the head or heart.”
A game called Alien Attack at the Big Time celebration encouraged players to shoot at an image of a suited black man holding a health care bill and wearing a belt buckle with a presidential seal.
(snip)
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/slate-belt/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1280894724309330.xml&coll=3
21. On the plus side you will be in walking distance to the Mosque.
beer (20)-
6 John Ringo sold for $327,000. Closed on 5-26-10.
Do you get double points for a Lee Harvey shot in that game?
It’s actually amazing that the Government thinks it’s impossible to stem it’s Domestic Invasion, yet thinks it can be successful in places like Afghanistan, where you can’t even identify the enemy. But then again maybe they are right. It creates Laws which prohibit identifying the invader, so it has defacto turned the invasion into gourilla warfare.
It looks more and more like the American people are about to put the breaks on B.O.’s agenda. One can only hope the Dems don’t come back for a lame-duck session and pass all sorts of bad bills on the way out of town:
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/08/03/bleak-house/?xid=rss-topstories
Posted by Joe Klein Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at 2:05 pm
63 Comments • Related Topics: congress
We’re now three months away from the Congressional elections and all the polling trends are holding–and so we can now, officially, say that things are looking pretty awful for the Democrats. This report from the Democratic polling firm of Greenberg, Quinlan and Rosner has all the gory details. People are pessimistic about the country’s direction, the economy and their own finances. The summer’s mild slump has erased the springtime blip upwards. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner lays out the best case for the Obama Administration’s economic policies in the New York Times today. But his bottom line is: it could’ve been worse–never a dynamite argument in American politics.
snip
I am long time NJRE report reader, and have not commented for a while. I would like to thank the board for keeping me out of real estate for the last 4 years. I am finally giving up and voting with my foot, and going abroad for work. We came very close in buying a house this last year and the contract fell through twice in Attorney review. Would like to know the board’s advice as to whether we should send our real estate agent a present? She has been working with us for 3 years and have been a good sport in not forcing us to buy. Any suggestion from the board is greatly appreciated.
29. Knob Creek FTW
Frist!
essex that would work for clot. How about gift cert. for a good restaurant.
Three years? Ouch. How many hours has the agent worked for you? Use that as a guide.
#26. Doom
Thanks. That house is cute but its the first house on the right after John Ringo continues into Ringoes from Route 31N, just past the Route 202 overpass. Can’t believe it sold for that price. Must have been the $8000 credit.
Shore Guy says:
August 3, 2010 at 10:57 pm
“Graham’s suggestion that citizenship rights be repealed for children of illegal immigrants.”
Works for me. If one is here legally, then her U.S.-born offspring are citizens. If she is not here legally, her U.S.-born offspring are not citizens. This is an easy fix should congress have the guts to do the right thing.
It makes sense but this definitely will not go over well with the general public. No shot a republican takes office after Barry O’s 4 yrs are done. None.
this anchor baby thing….its ruined many towns. Infrastructure, housing, development and school size are all interrelated. When you cram 8 school aged kids in a house built for a family of five max, and then tax that house on its market values – which declines as the invasion takes root – forget it, impossible situation. I have had to cross off several viable towns because of this. Just use Great Schools – look at the demos for the elementary grades, in towns with otherwise good HSs. When you see high % of hispanic in the elementary levels, but very low at HS, thats a town under pressure from illegal immigration and that HS will not survive by the time my kids are of age.
Three years? Ouch.
Grim, 3 years in this environment? Our Realtor has been working with us for longer than that. Part of the reason for that is because Realtors have a lock on the information that we need to evaluate properties. There are many properties we’ve seen that we wouldn’t have gotten him involved if we knew things like: address, days on market etc. Don’t get me started on re-listings.
Clot would we’ll never buy a house, but we’ve made offers and we’ve been close. In fact, our day is coming – it’s just that we’ve been pricedOut.
BTW these town take overs are no accident. You’ll find that any given town with a large illegal population will have a large % from a single mexican village/town. Its very organized, towns here are “scouted” and trafficers are informed. Nothing new here, same thing happened in the south jersey /philly area in the 1960s-70s with a mini wave of Greek immigrants, some legal, some not, but most towns went island by island.
Is Hillsborough on this ‘Mexican trajectory’?
Not counting the foreign tourist that anticipate the date of delivery.Free charity hospital delivery with a guaranteed US Citizen kid.Who can ask for more?Let us just keep on shooting ourselves on the foot.why not?We gave away the house of cards anyway.
confused (27)-
Allowing illegals to overrun our country is just another strategy in the gubmint’s war against us.
I liked this board a lot more when it was about real estate and not full of open, unabashed bigots and racists.
grim (33)-
I just look at stories like that and feel better about getting out of this racket.
The gubmint, the banks and our own industry have destroyed the housing market. It is a broken, fraudulent morass that will not clear. Classic bid/ask standoff. Don’t look for recovery anytime in the next 20 years.
beer (34)-
Yeah. That 8K brought out the last wave of greater fools that we’ll see in our lifetimes.
#11 Shore
There is a simple answer to solving immigration that does not involve throwing the constitution under the bus, cut off the supply of jobs by going after the employers.
This bill is proposed every few years by the rightwing GOP and dies in committee. For the GOP leadership to bring this front and centre is a mistake. I can see the attack ads already. Pictures of Lincoln showing him getting shot by Mitch McConnell.
At least they are equal opportunity haters…..minorities…fat people…government workers…people with credit card debt etc.
#23 Clot
Nice to see you positive on something for a change. With the season about to start, its not all doom and gloom.
barb (36)-
Bingo. One other funny thing I’ve noticed (as a guy with a kid who plays soccer all over the NE): many legal and illegal immigrants come here and shave 2-3 years off their kids’ ages. Their rationale is that it takes the academic pressure off while the kids learn English and acclimate to the culture.
My kid is 12, and his team regularly plays other alleged “U-12” outfits featuring players who are at least 15, with moustaches, muscles on muscles and girlfriends waiting for the guys after games. It is actually a bonus for us, as it’s made our guys better players.
GENERAL MTRS ACCEP CPSMARTNBE 6.80000% 04/15/2013CALL
Quantity Available 10
Ask Price 99.500 Bid
Chifi that is stupid sick, this is junk I am dumping I bought at 47.
When I ment cap grill, I ment beers at lunch time. today or friday or the week after next, next week I have lots of business stuff at lunch time. Don’t you guys watch madmen? Players still have liquid lunches now and then. I need to get a big bar in my office, working on who fills the ice cubes.
priced out (37)-
If a Realtor works with you for more than six months, it’s your assurance that you’re with a shit Realtor. Realtors who have a good flow of prospects “catch and release”.
The first thing a good Realtor does is “qualify” prospects and categorize as to the likelihood and motivation to act quickly.
You are never going to buy a house, because you’ve figured out a way to undermine yourself by never hitting the bid.
renter (39)-
No.
Jill (42)-
Perhaps it would be better if I turned my hatred toward you.
“I liked this board a lot more when it was about real estate and not full of open, unabashed bigots and racists.”
gluteus (47)-
One of the best places in the world is Newcastle on game day when the Magpies are in form.
Perhaps the fact that it’s perfectly OK to guzzle high-octane ale at 8 AM has something to do with this.
Shore,
I agree with Fabius. Walls and unenforced laws will do nothing to stop illegal immigration. The only effective method is an extensive crackdown on employers who employ illegal aliens. Begin fining employers 50,000 per illegal employee found in their business for a first offense and revocation of business license for a second offense, and see how quickly the illegal immigration problem resolves itself.
Although in theory i dont see altering the 14th amendment as such an assult on the constitution. That change alone would not solve the immigration issue just as a wall and/or armed border security would fail to solve the issue
(49)-
Translation: Mom says I have to clean out the garage this week.
“When I ment cap grill, I ment beers at lunch time. today or friday or the week after next, next week I have lots of business stuff at lunch time. Don’t you guys watch madmen? Players still have liquid lunches now and then. I need to get a big bar in my office, working on who fills the ice cubes.”
Clot – we shall see…
Next offer pending. We are looking for a place to live, not an investment.
We are finally seeing livable places in our price range, although there are still too many high-priced dumps.
Our Realtor is also a friend and has been very good to us. Although there have been times, I’ve had to immunize myself against his NAR-speak using comments on this board.
Today @ ZH:
Letter from the CIO of Federal Reserve Capital LLC
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June suggests that the economic outlook remains unusually uncertain.
Recently, market participants have become somewhat concerned about how we are going to manage our portfolio. To provide support to mortgage lending and housing markets and to improve overall conditions in private credit markets, we purchased $1.25 trillion of agency mortgage-backed securities and about $175 billion of agency debt. We also bought some treasury bill last year and are doing pretty well on that investment. About 200billion or so of this paper will be maturing by the end of 2011. It seems there are a lot of people out there that are worried about the impact on the economy of our balance sheet shrinking if this cash is not immediately reinvested. We would like to take this opportunity to address those concerns. To be clear, we have no intention of reinvesting this cash in mortgage related assets. With over $1 trillion in excess reserves out there we really don’t see how it would accomplish anything. Instead, we have decided on a new strategy; we think you will like it. We are currently in the process of setting up Federal Reserve Capital LLC. FRC is a multi-strategy market leading diversified fund. FRC invests across all assets classes.
As our mortgage investments mature, we will use the cash proceeds to seed FRC. FRC will then go out and buy S&P 500 futures, wheat, etf’s, leaps, reit paper, speculative biotech stocks, BRIC assets, and anything else you can think of. The Fund’s mandate is to be long only-everything- anywhere on earth.
Oh, if you want to front run us, we will commence buying tomorrow as we already have secured a credit line from the FRBNY against upcoming maturities.
-Ben Bernanke, CIO
Clot – actually, it’s been my assurance that this environment has been a housing market anomaly and this board (thanks Grim), along with my Realtor have been excellent educators.
After the Reagan Immigration Amnesty in the 80’s.there was a law passed,penalizing employers caught hiring illegals, $10,000 fine each person.The laws were made,implementing the law is the problem.
priced (56)-
You should not use a Realtor who is your “friend”. At crucial moments in the process, friends will either tell you very painful, uncomfortable truths (in which case, you might decide they aren’t your friends anymore), or swallow their tongues (in which case, you will decide later that they aren’t your friends anymore).
priced (58)-
Anomalies don’t last 20-40 years. The way things are now is the way they will be for the next 1-2 generations…although I can construct a powerful argument that it will actually get much, much worse.
Can anyone provide an address on:
MLS#: 2792282
Thanks!
(62)-
12 Summit St, Glen Ridge.
Thanks Doom!
“I don’t understand the GOP at times. How does this ever work in their favor. The only possible upside is to claw back the wingnut vote in the primaries.”
The GOP has been hijacked by crazy lunatics the past 20 years. The GOP’s only saving grace were it’s principles on the economy and the size of government. In the mid 90s, they shifted towards the evangelical crowd and continued the rhetoric of free market and small government. Meanwhile, they destroyed the free market and increased the size of government more than any Democrat prior. They learned this from Reagan. Reagan, for all his rhetoric, followed none of it. All we got was Alan Greenspan bailing out Wall Street and bigger government.
The best way to cut off illegal immigration is to stop subsidizing it.
1. Stop giving their children citizenship.
2. Stop giving their children free education.
3. Stop giving them free medical care.
That being said, they really should create a simple registration program so that Mexicans and other immigrants can legally work here and pay taxes. Had this issue been tackled 30 years ago, we wouldn’t have any of these problems.
Shore, the war over “illegal immigration” sounds very much like the war on drugs. All rhetoric, simple solutions exist (decriminalize some drugs; go after employers that hire without verification of employment status — and enforce the laws; but the media will then lose the boogeyman).
It is a slippery slope. For starters, who is “illegal”? Someone that enters legally but whose status has expired? Someone whose status is in transition? What about a legal resident that commits a felony? Can citizenship be revoked (e.g. after finding after the fact that the parents’ visa status expired). Or, will it be just Mexicans that will be the target?
And, do you know how difficult it is for someone to bring their child into the country if the kids didn’t come with them to US? Permanent residents marrying a non-US person is very painful (3+ years of wait before spouse can join in).
Many sets of immigrants have established a strong base in the US and are contributing to the US well (Chinese, Irish, Jews, Arabs, Italian, Greek, etc.) The good thing is that while bigotry has always existed in the US (and everywhere else), most of the time it is overcome, even if a bit slowly.
The only way we grow out of this mess and fix long term problems like Social Security etc is by growing our labor force and population. Reforming our immigration policy is key to mainatining our global position.
We should welcome any enterprenuer with capital and/or anyone who is educated and in mid 20’s to early 40’s.
Otherwise, we are toast.
Those of you waiting for your day to buy, what are doing with your dp now. Had mine in Discover Bank @ 1.2%, but moved 90% of it over to an Ameritrade account to get a $200 Amazon gift card! Momma needs a new pair of shoes or ipod. Any ideas/suggestions. CD ladders? High Rotation Dividend ETF? I was even considering doing covered calls on high dividend yielding stocks just before the ex-dividend date. I also thought about buying corporate bonds close to maturity, but it seems like you end up paying +3% over the quoted price on the transaction with Ameritrade.
We need to grow our population systematically by at least 50-60 million. Forget about ilegal or legal debate.
If you came here ilegally 10 years ago and put away 150K sitting in cash then you should be given a greencard immediately after you pay a 10K fine to the IRS(back taxes) and 10K for breaking the law.(summons).
Clot – I hear you on both counts….
Re. friend. Became friends through the process. Met him about the same time we started looking (same age kids in school). I have to trust that he’ll, as a friend, tell it like it is. I also have to trust that he, as a friend, will speak the truth with the understanding that I can take it. That’s what true friends do. So far so good.
Re. anomaly – you gotta live.
Clot-
Since I have occasion to actually post here, as I am on vacation, in addition to my thanks to Grim, I also owe you, and others on this board, my thanks for your invaluable insight.
pricedOut
prtraders2000 (69 ooh la la):
“Those of you waiting for your day to buy, what are doing with your dp now.”
Adding to it!
I suppose it depends on how soon you plan to pull the trigger. Gator and I’ve got it earning about the same as you in a supposed high yield online savings account. We plan to buy as soon as something matches our needs. With the limited inventory in Glen Ridge, this has been a struggle to say the least. Unfortunately, we can’t really lock anything in to any investment with a required holding period. On the bright side, we get free check reorders and can use an out of network ATM without incurring any fees. We also get .05% interest (oh my) in our linked checking account and Chase now worships me like a deity.
i wonder if this is Re-investor looking for Pat, and he’s on the run from the boys in blue
http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/local/man-arrested-for-spraying-substance-073010
(warning – that ‘substance’ is gross)
Libtard,
What are your thoughts on reward checking accounts? Provident in Bloomfield offers 3% APY. Conditions are you have a direct deposit linked to the account and have 10 purchases a month on the debit card.
They have ATM fee reimbursement as well.
Whats the catch?
re Citizenship:
In Wong Kim Ark the Supreme Court held that under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, a man born within the United States to foreigners (in that case, Chinese citizens) who have a permanent domicile and residence in the United States and are carrying on business in the United States[10] and who were not employed in a diplomatic or other official capacity by a foreign power, was a citizen of the United States.
Under these two rulings, the following persons born in the United States are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States, and thus do not qualify for automatic citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment:
* Children born to foreign diplomats
* Children born to enemy forces in hostile occupation of the United States
* Children born to Native Americans who are members of tribes not taxed (These were later given full citizenship by the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.)
All other persons born in the United States were citizens.
———————————————————————————
To me, hostile occupation means illegals.
If someone comes here to visit, and gives birth, that child born is not a citizen. If someone is here illegally, and gives birth, IMHO the child should not be considered a citizen because the parents are already citizens of another country and fall under the category of hostile occupation.
Read the Constitution, 14th Amendment.
Orion,
Its not occupation, we need them to come here. At least 50 million of them.
By importing millions of spanish-speaking parasites and applying proven racial policies, they hope to enable permanent Dem majority.
Yes, that’s why Reagan and Bush pushed for amnesty…
Orion,
Thousands of Mexicans coming to US to work low paying jobs is hostile occupation. Thousands of US troops in Iraq is liberation.
Thank you for educating me. I didn’t realize my ESL skills were so bad.
S
Dink (75):
Here’s the catch:
Balance Rate APY
Balances Through $25,000.00 2.97% 3.01%
$25,000.01 – $999,999,999.99 0.65% 0.65%
Now do the math on the deal. The 10 debit card purchase requirement would be a pita as well for me. I suppose you could open an account in your name and your wife could as well to up the 3.01% up to 50,000 (I have not read the fine print to see if it’s per address), but then it would require 20 debit purchases. For me, I’d rather just get the cashback (5%) on all my credit purchases and take the 1.5% my bank offers me with no strings attached, except the 50K minimum balance and direct deposit requirement.
Make money
Attempting to grow out of the top of a ponzi based exponential growth phase is suicidal. Growth is not the answer, contraction is the answer. contraction within available resource availability.
Exponential growth tends to produce an ugly end for those who push it to failure.
Dink (also) $15 fee for closing account in first 6 months. No biggie, but if it works for you, it seems legit to me. Just remember to make 10 POS debit purchases every month or your interest drops to .65 and your ATM charges are not reimbursed.
As a proponent of individual rights, I support open immigration.
Most of the anti-immigration folks are worried about immigrants overusing America’s welfare-state facilities. I say get rid of the welfare state, and get rid of hostility towards immigrants. Let both native borns and immigrants work and produce freely, with no one (neither native-born, or immigrant) expecting to leech off of someone else’s life.
Good article here connecting immigration and individual rights:
http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2008-spring/immigration-individual-rights.asp
Lib, 5% cash back on all purchases? What card? Amex and Chase give 1% :(
S
SAS3….Not all purchases. Sorry. Gas, Grocery and drugstore. Everything else gets 1.5%. Amex Blue Cash. Bigger rebates don’t kick in until $4,500 in purchases is made, but that can be overcome easily with a gold purchase :P
Fatwallet has a forum on $1 automatic monthly donations to charities which satisfy the debit requirement so there is a workaround there.
The cap is a problem however, as I would need to open up multiple similar accounts to properly deploy my DP. Seems like the extra work and tracking probably wouldnt be worth the extra 1.5% or so I would receive.
I’m also guessing that banks that offer these aren’t always the healthiest, so there may be some exposure to potential bank failure complications.
A west
In a world of unrestrained resources an open immigration policy like you suggest makes sense. In a resource constrained world open immigration does not make sense.
Best of all, they are running the cheapo deal of the century. Every 4 swipes at Dunkin Donuts yields a $5 DD gift card. Been getting a virtually free coffee every day for months. This deal extends into 2011. If you just buy a munchkin, you could probably make a $1 a day. But even being that cheap is below me.
After the Reagan Immigration Amnesty in the 80′s.there was a law passed,penalizing employers caught hiring illegals, $10,000 fine each person.The laws were made,implementing the law is the problem.
There’s the rub. Companies don’t want enforcement, so they make sure it’s not enforced. Enforcement = higher wages, and no one wants that.
Look at the raids on meat packing plants, for example. Some slaps on the wrist and then business as usual. Great press fodder.
In what foreign country is it customary to vomit at sporting events?
38.Barbara says:
August 4, 2010 at 8:42 am
BTW these town take overs are no accident. You’ll find that any given town with a large illegal population will have a large % from a single mexican village/town. Its very organized, towns here are “scouted” and trafficers are informed.
jj: let’s shoot for week of 16th… we will spec it out when it gets closer…..
49.jj says:
August 4, 2010 at 9:19 am
When I ment cap grill, I ment beers at lunch time. today or friday or the week after next, next week I have lots of business stuff at lunch time.
Immigration reform, GOP, racism, real estate, yields, high fiveeee, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
For some real entertainment here is an auto-tuned version of a previous post with our friend Antoine Dodson, a guy with real star quality. If you are not a fan of the Gregory Brothers work, you should be.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMtZfW2z9dw (1:00 to 1:14 = genius, or, maybe all auto-tune music is cr*p.)
China Said to Test Banks for 60% Home-Price Drop
Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) — China’s banking regulator told lenders last month to conduct a new round of stress tests to gauge the impact of residential property prices falling as much as 60 percent in the hardest-hit markets, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
More at: http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=asWxNLqZVc4o
75
I actually have an account at Provident with the max amount on which they’ll pay 3%. They legitimately pay the interest, at about $60 a month.
For the 10 POS, I just do 10 refills on my MetroCard at $1 each. The catch for doing that is you can only refill your MetroCard twice a day with the same card. So it takes me 5 days to finish the 10 transactions. No biggie for me, since I’m obsessive compulsive about it. But I can easily see how this would be an annoyance to someone else.
Yahoo!, via Investopedia, gives a big wet kiss (to choose a more polite descriptive oral act) to the NAR:
BE AFRAID! BE VERY AFRAID! YOU WILL MAKE THESE MISTAKES AS A FIRST TIME HME-BUYERS! ONE OF WHICH IS NOT HIRING A MEMBER OF THE GUILD TO SPEND YOUR MONEY FOR YOU!!!! DANGER, WILL ROBINSON, DANGER!
[barf]
http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/10-worst-first-time-homebuyer-mistakes-2010
Week of the 16th works for me. Tuesday or Friday liquid lunch only though.
[8] fabius
That’s a good effort. I would have to review it to be sure, and there are studies that suggest that a sizeable portion of taxes are borne by the very top tier, but one always has to consider methodology.
FWIW, and putting aside “fairness” arguments, I don’t think that it is a very stable thing to have a very disproportional percentage of your taxes fall on the group best able to avoid it and do lasting damage to the public fisc.
hyde (81)-
Cancer is also a phenomenon of exponential growth, and nobody is out there trying to get it.
Funny that the only equivalent parallels to the US economy are cancer and addiction.
[29] NJEFF
“Would like to know the board’s advice as to whether we should send our real estate agent a present?”
My 0.02? Post her info here as a reference. That may prove to be far more valuable than a trinket.
Chi (90)-
Easy…Philadelphia.
“In what foreign country is it customary to vomit at sporting events?”
liquid lunch week of 16 sounds good or that week I am freer after work. Btw today is first time in three years I sold bonds, Hartford and American General to take profit and could not find a single bond worth re-investing in. I have cash in my account, yikes.
[24] WWFB
That gives me a great idea . . . shooting range paper targets with Pelosi, Frank and Reid’s pictures on them. Putting Obama’s on them would earn you a visit from the boys with one earpiece and no sense of humor.
“shooting range paper targets with Pelosi, Frank and Reid’s pictures on them.”
That would be a waste of perfectly good ammo IMO.
I’d like to dunk Pelosi into a tank of dispersant.
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/tg813.htm
“I’d like to dunk Pelosi into a tank of dispersant.”
I’d like to clog the BP well with Barney Frank’s head.
Libtard
How about we see how many politicians it takes to plug the well. Start with congress and work our way down until the well is permanently plugged
[104] libtard
Well, you gotta shoot at something, right?
{I sooo know I am opening up for a comebacker}
funny
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38540676
WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats on Wednesday overcame Republican opposition and cleared the way for a $26 billion measure to help states ease their severe budget problems and save the jobs of tens of thousands of teachers and other public employees.
The bill advanced by a 61-38 tally that ensures the measure will pass the Senate on Wednesday or Thursday. The House may return early during from its August recess for a final vote that would deliver the bill to President Barack Obama, his larger jobs agenda curtailed by Republicans who argue against the spending it would entail.
Moderate Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine cast the key votes to break the GOP filibuster.
The bill would extend programs enacted in last year’s stimulus law to help preserve the jobs of teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public employees.
111: We don’t need no stinking budgets.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704499604575407584128526218.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsForth
Doom, do you know of realtor contact in Mercer County? you can get my e-mail from Grim or if you are not comfortable doing so that is fine. Anyone have suggestions?
relo (113)-
Massive fail.
Hunter (114)-
Just e-mail me: chipdothughes@attdotnet
[111] confused.
I wonder if this will trigger a race to the bottom. Governments in states with surpluses or no real budget problems can go on a spending spree, pay down bonds, or reduce taxes, then seek largesse from DC because they cannot afford their teachers.
Doom,
My neice worked in Newcastle for P&G. We went to visit her a few years back and I have never seen a more decadent party town in my life. In the dead of winter, women in tube tops and minis, stone drunk in the streets beforee sun down dancing to music blasting out of the pubs until the sun rise.
A. West: try entering any other country in the world the way you suggest people enter ours.
DL (118)-
I was there during the time “The Entertainers” were in first place and headed toward the championship (which, natch, they gagged up at the end) in ’96. I have never seen people drink so much, so fast.
I have been all over Europe and S. America. There is no better soccer city on the planet.
118.Comrade Nom Deplume aux maison says:
August 4, 2010 at 2:53 pm
[111] confused.
I wonder if this will trigger a race to the bottom. Governments in states with surpluses or no real budget problems can go on a spending spree, pay down bonds, or reduce taxes, then seek largesse from DC because they cannot afford their teachers
What’s interesting is people vote down school budgets because they can’t afford them, causing teacher layoffs, and then their vote is bypassed by the Feds who use their Tax Dollars through the back door to retain the same teachers? A vicious circle without end until the whole charade implodes.
confused (121)-
To think that people call me nuts for advocating armed overthrow of the gubmint.
Yet somehow, people think that the gubmint brazenly stealing from us- then using the proceeds to wage open economic war against us- makes sense.
Shoreguy:
I’m off to my annual drinkfest in the neder regions of Nanticoke Friday morning. I’ll be thinking of you.
102.jj says:
August 4, 2010 at 1:26 pm
liquid lunch week of 16 sounds good or that week I am freer after work. Btw today is first time in three years I sold bonds, Hartford and American General to take profit and could not find a single bond worth re-investing in. I have cash in my account, yikes.
check the video….forget the part about equities…listen to his commentary about bonds…
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38557705
Pluckemin Inn rules….all beers are preceded by a shot….
102.jj says:
August 4, 2010 at 1:26 pm
liquid lunch week of 16 sounds good or that week I am freer after work
Nom….JJ needs free tax advice….find thy way to Capitalle Grill…..
The owner of the Phoenix Suns basketball team, Robert Sarver, opposes AZ’s new immigration laws. Arizona’s Governor, Jan Brewer, released the following statement in response to Sarver’s criticism of the new law:
“What if the owners of the Suns discovered that hordes of people were sneaking into games without paying? What if they had a good idea who the gate-crashers are, but the ushers and security personnel were not allowed to ask these folks to produce their ticket stubs, thus non-paying attendees couldn’t be ejected. Furthermore, what if Suns’ ownership was expected to provide those who sneaked in with complimentary eats and drink? And what if, on those days when a gate-crasher became ill or injured, the Suns had to provide free medical care and shelter?” -Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer
Chifi, love it, I am a bond bear! I could use a good melt up in equities, look at these dogs I unloaded today for a 100% profit. Bought back in March 2009.
08/04/2010 YOU SOLD
02635PTF0 AMERICAN GEN FIN MEDTM SRNT BE 5.62500% 08/17/2011 FR
Price: $98.8857
08/04/2010 YOU SOLD 416592AC7 HARTFORD LIFE INC DEB 7.65000% 06/15/2027 Price: $106.85
jj,
You would have made more money if you had just bought their stocks.
Common sense has exited American thought. It’s all about pandering, victimization, the ability to claim victimhood and “feelings”.
We are truly fuct.
130. According to my old man. we’ve been f’ed for decades.
[126] chifi
I can easily do that, provided it is for the after work drinkfest. Cannot do lunch.
You have my email (personal, not old office), so keep me posted.
130: Clot,
I find that to be very insensitive and offensive. At I have long suspected, your thinly veiled anti-victimhood stance is outed.
As
(77) Make, I agree, we do need them. What I wish for is they do it legally. Be it by temporary visa, permanent visa, whatever. We need to know who is residing in the US. This type of policy worked well in the past (30 yrs. ago). While they’re here working, if they need medical care, schooling for kids, etc., that’s fine. While they’re here.
(79) Sas3, Thousands of Mexicans coming to United States ILLEGALLY to work low paying jobs is hostile occupation, IMHO. And, if they (any nationality) are here legally, maybe, just maybe, their pay might be higher.
We are at WAR with Iraq.
It is not my intent to educate you, I’m not a teacher. If your ESL skills are so bad, go back to school.
FYI- IMHO means “in my humble opinion”. Re-read my earlier post.
The end.
OT question for the computer or music production experts in the house:
I need a laptop capable of competently handling reltime audio processing, in particular Pro Tools, Sibelius, and related applications. Should I be looking at Core i5 or 7? I know that more is just about always better but this is a machine I will not always have tight control of and I hate to spend much more than needed to accomplish what I need.
Any suggestions for manufacturers who are producing good machines now or warnings? I had some Dell workstations over the years, which were fine but EVERY last person I know who has gotten a Dell in the past few years has had mojor problems.
Thanks!
” Nanticoke Friday morning.”
Hey, enjoy. If you need an excursion, there is a pretty good place to eat in Chincoteague — actually just one, aside from a little sandwich stand that is awsome, but not worth an hour drive. E-mail me before you leave and I can get you the name.
Shore get a mac pro, they can rum windows xp faster then pc’s
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123.Final Doom-Muzzled says:
August 4, 2010 at 3:32 pm
confused (121)-
Yet somehow, people think that the gubmint brazenly stealing from us- then using the proceeds to wage open economic war against us- makes sense.
Sad but true. People today don’t look beyond personal & immediate impact. They believe anything goes unless it directly and overtly effects them, real time. They don’t even want to bother thinking about covert immediate effects, or long term effects. We have the most educated, and most ignorant, society ever.
Federal Judge Walker was born in Watseka, Illinois, and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1966 and Stanford Law School in 1970.[1] After serving as a law clerk for United States District Court for the Central District of California judge Robert J. Kelleher from 1971 to 1972, he practiced in San Francisco at Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro from 1972 until his September 7, 1989, nomination by President George H. W. Bush to a seat on the federal district court vacated by Spencer M. Williams.[1] Walker was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 21, 1989, on unanimous consent and received commission on November 27, 1989. Walker is one of two federal judges publicly known to be gay.[2]
Nom 132 – Stu says bring the kid to the bar.
Great dinner tonight at the Ragin Cagun in Belmar – the Cajun Mussels were awesome as an appetizer! Still no house though – big white house one block from the beach on 4th went for 1.7 mil, HUGE place – very mafioso. Otherwise about 1.4 m to be 2 houses in, North Belmar. Saw some friends – husband’s salary cut by 30% at a big DC law firm, others worried about getting cut… these things don’t show up on the unemployment stats…my sister’s been out of work for a year, has now gone through 4 interviews withh the same company and they’re still deciding…tough here Stateside! But hopefully Hoboken is still on fire and the weather has been gorgeous!
Nanticoke? PA?
Crap, Stu,. I’ll be around that vicinity on Fri/Sun/Mon. NY Sat.
Where you drinking?
this can’t be good
Local and state governments, as well as some companies, are squeezing their employees to work the same amount for less money in cost-saving measures that are often described as a last-ditch effort to avoid layoffs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/business/economy/04paycuts.html?hp
Bum,
How long are you in town?
” get a mac pro”
Really?
My last Apple was a IIe. Anyone else second the Mac or have a counter recomendation?
Nom: My wife can be a wet nurse if needed…..
NJGator says:
August 4, 2010 at 9:42 pm
Nom 132 – Stu says bring the kid to the bar.
YID-ney Moncrief speaks…….
http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/knicksblog/video_knicks_stoudemire_visits_israel_yDxQ7zsBk7ZlD4GZP0HJAP
is it too late for scotch?
sl
Shore – here until Saturday – got to go shopping in Short Hills tomorrow. Been enjoyng the time though!
still_looking says:
August 4, 2010 at 11:19 pm
is it too late for scotch?
sl
Go with warm milk and cognac……
Why control-based laws exist
Wednesday 04 August 2010 at 3:07 pm You may find yourself at some point impeded by a law, and asking yourself, “Why am I banned from doing this relatively innocuous thing?”
The answer is simple: other people doing that thing caused problems. Those problems interrupted what most people in a society have in common, which is a career/family focus. Any society that lacks career/family focus falls apart if not through lack of reproduction, through lack of work ethic.
Signs of Germany’s liberal public drinking laws are everywhere. Indeed, for many visitors to the country, sipping a beer while walking down the street is almost as exhilarating as a high-speed drive down the autobahn.
Increasingly, though, municipalities are tiring of public drinking — and the inevitable public drunkenness that results. Numerous movements are afoot to ban the practice. From the country’s northeast to the southwest, politicians of all stripes are exploring ways to put the cap back on the bottle.
“We have a problem with alcohol consumption in public places and with people who drink too much and cause disturbances,” Reinhold Gall, a state parliamentarian in Baden-Württemberg for the Social Democrats (SPD), told SPIEGEL ONLINE. – Der Spiegel
Public drinking has always been illegal in America and legal in most of Europe — why? And why is it changing now?
Europe originally had more of a social order, so people would of their own volition avoid causing problems with it. But Europe’s social order has broken down. There is no longer an agreed-upon culture and set of values in common. In other words, Europe has caught up with America in the race toward disorder.
So now here come the American-style laws. When there’s no social standard, governments need to intervene with control standards. This is the price you pay for “tolerance”: lack of agreement, hence a need for bigger cops with more laws.
Good thinking, Europe. I think we now know why Europe has feigned superiority over the USA — they’re afraid they’re following our path. Now they get to face the consequences.
Source: Anus.com
chifi, 153
I don’t have any cognac.. :(
sl
[149] chifi
Too much information, but if your spouse wants to babysit a 15 month old, well I am all over that.
Nanticoke MD.