From the PMI Group (the mortgage insurance company):
Economic and Real Estate Trends – 2010 Q3
(I’m pointing this out because when you are writing insurance against mortgages, it is probably good business to know where home prices are going.)
(click to enlarge)
The PMI US Market Risk Index is published quarterly, and attempts to gauge the probability of home prices declines over the next two years. A score of 100 means the index is predicting, with a 100% probability, that home prices will fall.
While the index has improved for Northern NJ in the first quarter of this year, over the 4th quarter of last year, the risk of further home price declines is still extraordinarily high.
The risk of home prices declines in the Newark-Union, NJ-PA MSA stood at 94.7% in Q1 down from 96.1% in Q4.
* Essex County, NJ
* Union County, NJ
* Morris County, NJ
* Sussex County, NJ
* Hunterdon County, NJ
* Pike County, PA
The risk index for the Edison-New Brunswick, NJ MSA was also 94.7% in Q1 down from 96.0% in Q4.
* Middlesex County
* Monmouth County
* Ocean County
* Somerset County
New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ was 90.4%, down from 93.5% in Q4.
* Kings County (Brooklyn), NY
* Queens County, NY
* New York County (Manhattan), NY
* Bronx County, NY
* Richmond County (Staten Island), NY
* Westchester County, NY
* Bergen County, NJ
* Hudson County, NJ
* Passaic County, NJ
* Rockland County, NY
* Putnam County, NY
Nassau-Suffolk rounds out the NY Metropolitan Area at a 91.5%, down from 94.4%
* Suffolk County
* Nassau County
(click to enlarge)
While the PMI Group does break out only the largest metropolitan areas in their reporting, they do provide a graphical illustration of home price decline risk, which shows all of New Jersey and some of the surrounding areas firmly in the red (highest risk areas).
From Fitch Ratings:
Fitch: U.S. Prime RMBS Delinquencies May Be Nearing Plateau As Liquidations Rise
Though still rising, the slowing rate of U.S. Prime RMBS serious delinquencies may signal a nearing highwater mark, according to the latest Performance Metrics results from Fitch Ratings.
Prime delinquencies rose for the 38th consecutive month as Alt-A (fourth month in a row) and subprime RMBS (fifth-straight month) delinquencies continue to drop. However, the rate of increases has slowed considerably since April due to numerous factors, chief among them the increased liquidation rate of delinquent loans, according to Managing Director Vincent Barberio.
‘Prime delinquency increases have averaged 12 basis points a month since April, which compare favorably to 44-bp monthly averages between April 2009 and March 2010,’ said Barberio. ‘While increased liquidations of distressed properties are helping to stem the rise in delinquencies, it also means that realized losses are rising.’
In fact, the monthly annualized net-loss rate for prime RMBS has more than doubled from .8% to 1.7% over the past year.
Prime jumbo RMBS 60+ day delinquencies rose to 10.6% for July, up from 10.4% for June and 6.9% a year ago. The delinquency rate for loans originated prior to 2005 was 4.9% while the rate for 2005-2008 vintage loans is more than doubled at 12.5%
Subprime RMBS delinquencies fell again in July, down to 43% from 43.7% the prior month. They remain above the 41.8% rate of a year ago. The roll rate for July rose slightly to 4.3% from 4.2% the prior month but remained well below the trailing 12-month average of 5.2%.
Alt-A RMBS delinquencies decreased to 33.6% in July from 33.7% in June (up from 29.7% in July 2009). This represents the fourth month-over-month decline since April 2006.
…
The five states with the highest volume of prime RMBS loans outstanding (California, New York, Florida, Virginia, and New Jersey) combined represent approximately two-thirds of the total sector. Prime jumbo RMBS 60+ day delinquencies for these states at July 2010 compared to the prior month, and their approximate share of the estimated $347 billion market, are as follows:
–California: 12.2%; up from 12.1% (44% share of the market);
–New York: 7.3%; up from 7.1% (7% share);
–Florida: 18.5%; up from 18.1% (6% share);
–Virginia: 5.6%; up from 5.5% (5% share);
–New Jersey: 9.1%; up from 8.7% (3% share).
From Kiplinger:
Fewer Homeowners Underwater, but Price Declines May Accelerate
The percentage of homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their home is worth has been on the decline since last year, Zillow.com reports. But a slowdown in the economy could result in renewed home price declines and cause the underwater-borrower rate to surge.
According to the home-data website, 21.5 percent of homeowners were in negative equity in the second quarter. In the first quarter, by contrast, the rate was 23.3 percent; in the second quarter of 2009, it was 23 percent.
So it appears that more homeowners are getting their heads above water, so to speak. A report released August 9 by Moody’s Investors Service suggests, however, that the risk of a double-dip recession is rising – and says that if the economy turns south once again, home prices could plummet.
In the event of a double-dip recession, the ratings firm predicts, home prices would slump by 20 percent and would not stabilize until 2012.
First
And last
From the Star Ledger:
Five lenders take control of troubled Meadowlands Xanadu project
The lights went out at Xanadu months ago.
Today, they pulled the plug.
With the Christie administration pushing hard for a resolution of the long-stalled, half-finished entertainment and retail complex in the Meadowlands, a consortium of five lenders took control of the high-profile project from a group led by California-based Colony Capital LLC, with the aim of finally completing it.
…
Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for Gov. Chris Christie said the governor wants a resolution to Xanadu. “We’re not so much concerned over who holds the title, but that whoever holds the title finishes the project,” Roberts said.
Libtard
I wish people here would focus on something more real like the looting of America buy ALL of the clowns in charge. Take a look at that MarketWatch article. Pretty scary stuff. There’s plenty of critical left wing literature too, ripping the left.
In the end, our government is going broke both literally and morally. How anyone today can cheer-lead for either team is beyond me.
the hour is late and the fox has long since raided the hen house. You are right that red v blue debates are mostly pointless. But rarely has history seen a mess of this scale resolved in the peoples favor short of a decisive revolution.
So Bank of America is selling it’s Balboa insurance unit. As I understand it, Balboa insures all the crap loans for BOA and perhaps others.
BOA has been accelerating its foreclosure process which I believe means Balboa as the insurer eats those losses. BOA is selling Balboa and BOA is cleaning up much of their foreclosure portfolio.
Am I correct assuming that BOA is just dumping their crap, letting Balboa take the hit, then dumping this insurer with a load of crap on it’s back? If so, who buys Balboa – LBO firm that loads up their balance sheet further or a competitor who gets it at a fire sale, keeps the assets and fires a lot of employees?
Word is that once BOA sells Balboa, the foreclosure floodgates open.
A cousin of ours bought on a cul de sac in Parsippany about three or four years ago. It was a CHC, needed a little work. They paid $615,000. The same type of house, two doors away, in basically the same shape just went under contract. Price tag? $480,000. They told us last night. I love them, I feel for them and thankfully, they’re ok with jobs and finances but it really makes me sad. I find it hard to muster up this anger, humor and sarcasm these days. I have a sense that things in this country are getting worse instead of better. I don’t see a glimmer of light of the end of the tunnel.
From the Record:
North Jersey companies announce 441 layoffs
North Jersey companies have announced 441 layoffs at three facilities, including manufacturers of cardboard and cosmetics, and the Wayne office of Toshiba America Consumer Products, LLC, state records show.
President Container Group, a 63-year-old maker of cardboard packaging and point-of-purchase materials in Moonachie, said it will cut 234 jobs at the start of October, according to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development website.
The company is consolidating its operations into a new facility in the Town of Wallkill, N.Y., the MidHudsonNews.Com, a Middletown, NY-website reported.
…
Cosmetic Essence, LLC, a manufacturer and supplier of creams and lotions, expects to lay off 147 workers in Teterboro at the end of August, the labor department reported.
…
The announcement follows a report 16 months ago that a contractor for Cosmetic Essence, American Distribution Service Inc. of Ridgefield, would lay off 101 workers in May 2009.
…
The labor department also said Toshiba America Consumer Products, will lay off 60 people at the end of September.
Grim
FYI, the comment numbers dont show up in the latest version of Opera.
Gary
History gives us a pretty good idea of where this goes and the only light at the end of the tunnel in the immediate future is a freight train.
Government employment. As a place to work, local, state, and federal government used to be a respite from recession, with stable jobs and benefits generally better than those in the private sector. But government has become top-heavy and out of alignment with the rest of the economy. A recent USA Today analysis found that government employees, on average, earn about $123,000 a year in pay and benefits–twice what private-sector worker earn. That’s a huge gap that’s largely funded by taxpayers feeling the pain of a lousy economy. And gains in public-sector compensation have risen far faster than private pay, which has been fairly stagnant over the last decade.
[See how the government is swallowing the economy.]
This dichotomy has already produced taxpayer revolts in some municipalities, and those are likely to spread. Battles with public-employee unions to reduce pay and benefits are now erupting much the way that money-losing automakers fought their unions for decades–and finally won deep concessions, when the automakers were on the brink of insolvency. And with federal stimulus aid to states fading, local and state governments are starting to trim their own payrolls, much like private companies have done over the last two years. Over time, the rewards of public-sector work must come back into alignment with those in the private sector–an adjustment that will impact the quality and availability of government services across America
“The amazing location of this 3brm.1.5bth Cape Cod in pristine cond., on an ave.of spectacular estates is a perfect house for today’s lifestyle. ”
Sure, it’s a 1600 SF cape on a 96×45 lot 2 houses away from East Orange, but it is Ridgewood Avenue, right?
GSMLS 2794573 14 Ridgewood Ave/Glen Ridge
LP $379,000
Sold 9/1/2005 $330,000
Gary,
We are going to come to a point in this country where the current model of “we make appliances, computers, cells that only last X amount of years so that people will keep buying and you and I will stay employed” to ” realistically, there are about 3 honest work days available to every able body, so better get used to holding onto things for far longer than they were made to last.”
4 year college was a good “breather” for the economy, keeping a lot of bodies out of the workforce, giving the economy some breathing room. That’s run its course, now we will need large scale military maneuvers and full on wars to maintain the illusion of a 5 day work week and a vibrant economy.
The water is finding its level.
An advertorial from Parsippany Life, but it mentions Hapgood and Stickley, so I’m posting it:
Home honors Hapgood traditions, with modern provisions
“The word that is best loved in the language of every nation is home, for when a man’s home is born out of his heart and developed through his labor and perfected through his sense of beauty, it is the very cornerstone of his life,” said Gustave Stickley, founder of the Arts and Crafts Movement.
Herbert Hapgood, a developer, was solicited in 1908 to head up a new development that was to be a retreat from the polluted, busy New York City life. The vision included a return to the simple life of the rural community and the arts and crafts designs of Gustave Stickley. The Arts and Crafts Movement, which began in Europe, was founded in the belief of preserving family life and stability and building with quality, natural materials. The community he envisioned included man-made lakes, parks and walking paths. The homes were built out of natural materials readily available such as chestnut wood, oak and field stones. The homes included the “family hearth” as the center of the home. Here the family could gather and spend time together.
From CNBC:
Unemployment Drives More US Home Sellers to Cut Price
Owners cut prices on one-quarter of U.S. homes listed for sale in July, a fourth straight monthly rise, as job market fallout trumped record low mortgage rates, real estate website Trulia.com said Wednesday.
Sellers in the 50 largest cities slashed $30.1 billion from prices on houses on the market as of Aug. 1st, up from $27.3 billion in the prior month, San Francisco-based Trulia said in a report provided to Reuters before official release.
…
“With one out of every four homes experiencing at least one price reduction, sellers are feeling no relief this summer in a market climate of fewer qualified buyers and widespread uncertainty about the job market,” said Pete Flint, Trulia chief executive.
The average discount on homes reduced at least once held at 10 percent from the original asking price in July from June.
…
The real estate market will keep languishing until the job market recovers, said Trulia’s Tara Nelson.
“Sellers need to continue to be very aggressive with pricing to compete against all the low-priced short sales and foreclosures that they’ll be on the market with, for a long time to come,” she said.
gary (8)-
This country is totally fuct. It’s now just descending further into Third World irrelevancy.
Perhaps its time for a Muslim Sheriff in Passaic county. It’s the right thing to do since
we have become a third world country.
Time for no sheriff in Passaic Co. Let the animals kill each other.
Dealbreaker reporting rumors of big cuts at Barclays coming this month. FT is also picking up the rumors as well.
615 in Parsippany? 2006? That best places to live list must have really made an impression.
Apparently the economy in Buffalo is so bad people have resorted to eating their cats.
Although notes on the preparation were scant, it appears that the gastronomist in Buffalo was going for the lesser known, but equally tasty, General Tsos Kitten.
Generally, chefs marinate cats after they have been killed.
tosh comments are priceless. New slogan for Buffalo animal shelters “Adopt a meal”
I’m wondering how he survived the blood loss incurred from covering the cat “in a mixture of oil, crushed red peppers, chili pepper and salt“.
I don’t know why in the hell they just don’t give me the stinking money. After getting my ass out of the sling it’s in, I’d stimulate the damn economy a lot damn quicker than these damn stingy ass banks.
I’d like to see them force the idiots who sat on the sidelines during the real estate boom to take a damn loan. If they love this country, they’d want to do so anyway and if they refuse, they should be detained for questioning as a suspected real estate terrorist.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Fed-worried-about-recovery-apf-2353655020.html?x=0
Fed, worried about recovery, will buy US debt
The Fed takes a small step to buy government debt, signaling worry about the recovery
WASHINGTON (AP) — As recently as two months ago, the Federal Reserve sounded optimistic about the economic recovery. Now the central bank is clearly more worried, and economists say there’s not much more it can do to help.
The Fed said Tuesday that it would spend a relatively small amount of money — about $10 billion a month, economists estimate — buying government debt. The move is designed to drive interest rates on mortgages and corporate borrowing at least a little lower and help the economy grow faster.
In a statement after a one-day meeting, the Fed said the pace of the recovery “has slowed in recent months.” After its last meeting in late June, the Fed was rosier, saying that the recovery was “proceeding” and the job market actually improving.
The decision to buy government debt, using proceeds from Fed investments in mortgage bonds, was a shift from earlier this year, when the Fed was laying out plans to roll back some of the measures it took during the financial crisis.
At that time, the Fed was also preparing a strategy to begin raising interest rates again, a step taken to keep a growing economy from overheating. Now, though, the Fed has decided to keep its benchmark interest rate near zero.
“I don’t think they are going to raise interest rates until it is very clear that unemployment is moving definitively lower and that doesn’t look likely until late 2011,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.
Economists pointed out that buying $10 billion of government debt in a $14 trillion economy is a relatively small move, and they said they did not expect it to have a dramatic impact.
“The Fed talked loudly but carried a small stick,” said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors.
He said that while the financial system has the money to lend, banks are unwilling or unable to find suitable loans to make. Until they do, he said, “the recovery will be softer than anyone hoped for and there may be little the Fed can do about it.”
With interest rates so low, Congress, economists note, has more power than the Fed to stimulate the economy. But with midterm elections nearing, Congress is divided on whether the best move is short-term government spending, tax cuts or some combination.
On Tuesday, the House, called back from its summer break for a one-day session, pushed through a $26 billion bill to protect 300,000 teachers, police and other workers from layoffs this year. President Barack Obama signed it almost immediately.
The Fed action also came on a day when new figures showed worker productivity in the U.S. dropped this spring for the first time in more than a year — a sign that companies that want to grow may need to hire more people.
I don’t know why in the hell they just don’t give me the stinking money. After getting my ass out of the sling it’s in, I’d stimulate the damn economy a lot damn quicker than these damn stingy ass banks.
______________________________________________
Simple reason – You are not in the TBTF club. You are a bagholder. Sorry dude, hate to burst your bubble but that’s the reality.
#27 – re –I’d like to see them force the idiots who sat on the sidelines during the real estate boom to take a damn loan. If they love this country, they’d want to do so anyway and if they refuse, they should be detained for questioning as a suspected real estate terrorist.
Who knew my fiscal conservatism would eventually be labeled as dangerous anti-American radicalism?
If I start hording gold could I get my face on t-shirts a la Che?
#
#
Final Doom says:
August 11, 2010 at 7:12 am
Time for no sheriff in Passaic Co. Let the animals kill each other.
had a job that brought me into passaic county on a daily basis. i thought passaic was more dangerous than paterson.
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/08/mba-mortgage-applications-essentially.html
At CR – MBA: Mortgage Applications Essentially Unchanged Despite Lowest Rates
How low do folks here think the rates will go?
I can confirm the cuts at Barclays, apparantly going down this week. A few friends who are there and think they will be affected
“How low do folks here think the rates will go?”
Maybe they should pay people like me to take the stinking money. I damn sure deserve it for all I tried to contribute to this damn country. Cheapskates like Tosh should never be considered for any damn loan unless the interest is jacked up well beyond norms.
Gary #8
Aren’t dropping home prices good for the country, at least in terms of home affordability? We were all cheering for prices to come down, so why the despair when the prices are actually coming down (and that too in a slow, orderly process)?
S
Sas3
besides re101 who is upset about price drops? The frustration is that the government insists on putting an artificial floor under the market and dump a trillion or so down the drain in the process
We just bought a house in West Windsor — would have preferred to wait a while longer, but eldest son is about to start Kindergarten and with the low rates and the tax credit, we went ahead with it. Got our mortgage from BOA. Two weeks after closing, we got a letter informing us that our mortgage was now owned by Freddie Mac. Didn’t they just post a huge loss? Aren’t we taxpayers subsidizing them? I mean, I guess ours would be a decent loan to own compared to some others, but isn’t this really just taxpayers really just providing the hedge/bailout for BOA et al’s profits?
Despite the benefits of strategic default put forth by some posters here, we don’t have immediate plans to do so — but just getting that letter made me think, “why the F not?” If my taxes are going to Freddie Mac so they can buy crappy mortgages, take losses and ask for more of my taxes, why shouldn’t I get a piece back? I don’t always agree with the apocalyptic talk here, but I’m beginning to agree that it’s like a massive carousel from hell we’re all on.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/08/10/2037213/californians-income-drops-40b.html
Well let’s put a number on the pain…”Californians’ income drops $40 Billion”
The state’s first year-to-year decline since World War 2.
And we’re off!
http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2010/08/july-tax-collections-in-some-states-are.html
Okay…”July Tax Collections in Some States Are Booming”
Oooppps…no CA or NJ here.
Hmmmm, banks won’t loan since they know their balance sheets are atrocious so they horde their money for the upcoming episode of ‘survival of the fittest.’ Homeowners have all refinanced already so unless interest rates drop to 3.5% on the 30-year, that temporary bank relief game is essentially over. Fewer and fewer people can qualify for a mortgage anyway due to lack of down-payment, poor work history and a declining wage, not to mention worsening credit histories.
Anecdotally (my new word) and after 24 months of searching for a home, I’m fairly certain that prices are dropping substantially right now. Of course there is a 3-month lag before we will find this out. Lots of homes in Regal Montclair and Glen Ridge are not selling, falling out of contract and/or are entering various levels of distress. This past rebate induced Spring, nothing lasted even a week. The last three or four homes we looked at that were in pretty good condition are just rotting. They are all priced to high and floundering. Eventually, the banks are going to evict the residents on their non-performing loans and the unmotivated sellers are going to become motivated when these foreclosures sell for significantly less than their overpriced palaces.
When the home across the street from us sold last year for $445K, it immediately killed our personal assessment. The professional assessment for our tax appeal brought the reality home. This is coming to a town near you. Those PMI numbers Grim linked are no joke. Houses are sitting like I’ve never witnessed. Even some decent ones. As much as northeast home prices surprised us by holding up much better than so much of the rest of the country, I really think they are dropping right now. I know Grim thinks we are within 10% of the bottom. I was starting to feel that way too. Until the past month or so of house hunting. These nice homes are just rotting.
I was wondering why Ben’s words didn’t spook the market yesterday.
pasteur (36)-
West Windsor schools also accept the children of renters.
Lib (40)-
Oblivion is dead ahead. The inventory is surging, and there are absolutely no buyers out there. It’s just plain hard to buy a home when you’ve lost your job…or don’t feel too cozy in the job you have.
I am much more pessimistic than Grim on this. My call is still for a blow-off bottom, prices bottoming at 1999 levels and 20-40 years of utter devastation on the back end of all that.
Being out in the field every day, I can assure everyone here that the reality is much, much worse than anything MSM is giving us.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/08/10/democrats-advocacy-groups-blast-cuts-food-stamps-fund-m-jobs/
“I fought very hard for the food assistance money in the Recovery Act, and the fact is that participation in the food stamps program has jumped dramatically with the economic crisis, from 31.1 million persons to 38.2 million just in one year,” DeLauro said in an e-mail sent to FoxNews.com. “But I know that states across the nation and my own state of Connecticut also desperately need these resources to save jobs and avoid Draconian cuts to essential services for low income
families.”
Over 12% of this country is on food stamps and that number is rising, so the logical thing to do is cut the amount of funding available to feed these folks. Of course, the teachers will be able to feed them all knowledge now and that’s all that matters, who cares if the kids haven’t eaten in 2 days.
Stu (41)-
The markets had already priced in QE2-lite. Anything less, and it would’ve flash-crashed.
One food stamp bennies are cut, the current Depression will begin to look more like a Depression.
My Mom grew up during the Depression and says the only diff between then and now is the availability of social services, TV and the internet.
Disclaimer: my Mom lives in Memphis (which now resembles Buenos Aires during the Saqueo).
Another four appraisal shortfalls this week…and it’s only Wed.
The only steady demand I see in the North Jersey market is for inner city 3 & 4 unit properties. Lots of people deciding to repair REO in Newark and become landlords to Section 8 tenants.
Only 2 inspectors left in Newark to do CCC inspections. Two week wait for an inspection date.
I am currently in the deep red southeast. The level of resentment i hear towards not just obama, but the government in general is a little surprising. As one local fellow commented “i may not understand what a wallstreet banker does, but i know a robbery when i see one”. Down here you can pick up a case of beer a few guns and the ammo all at the same time at your local walmart! From some of the comments people make, you would think they were reading this blog and quoting Final Doom. The remainder of the middle class and upper class is getting quite fed up with the government supported leaches.
The government has quite the little problem on their hands if the proletariat start to get out of hand.
Doom 47
I am there now and i agree 100%. Stay in the nice “enclaves” and all appears well. Step outside and it gets very ugly very quickly.
Anyone who has the financial ability has fled Memphis proper for the surround exurbs/suburbs. Those left in Memphis proper for whatever reason are F’d. It doesnt help when you have a heat index of 110F!
Doom – 42 – Fair point, but we looked at a bunch of rental houses and they were pretty crappy and mostly more than what we’d pay for a house monthly when you factor in the tax deduction.
45. Over 12% of this country is on food stamps and that number is rising, so the logical thing to do is cut the amount of funding available to feed these folks. Of course, the teachers will be able to feed them all knowledge now and that’s all that matters, who cares if the kids haven’t eaten in 2 days
NJEA says if the children have no bread, let them eat cake.
Morning commute was extended by an hour this morning due to broken down NJT trains. Frustrating, but I did get some surprise morning entertainment. Got to see our fake Glen Ridge friend explain to a bunch of folks from the day care why her son will be attending Brookdale School and not Forest Ave in the fall. These are folks she’s been telling for years that she lives in GR.
Was really fun to watch her explain that her house was in Bloomfield and that the Bloomfield folks on the street were considering petitioning to be ‘rezoned’ because it is ridiculous that her kid can’t go to the school down the block. Apparently in their world it is irrelevant that she pays taxes to a different town. Even funnier is that I guess her plan was to pay high Bloomfield taxes and then pay to send 2 or 3 kids to GR schools as tuition students. I guess neither of them were math majors.
I’ll have to check in on their secession movement later on. I am sure Bloomfield will willingly let some of the most expensive tax paying homes jump ship to another town. Sarcasm off.
ten-year 2.7. 2.69 crossed the wire earlier.
Can someone tell me if a condo has recently been sold for over $600k at 402 9th St. in Hoboken? I find it utterly impossible. Thanks.
For the photo bugs ont he blog,
1906 color photos of europe
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/08/11/1906.html
Utterly impossible? Why so? Sale closed may 3 2010
It sold for 735k in 2006. 401 ninth street #E6A…..
120k loss just considering price alone.
Tech-Ticker:
“Waves of More Foreclosures” = More Bank Failures + Big Trouble for the FDIC, Suttmeier Says
http://tinyurl.com/2db38f6
“Meanwhile, the backdoor bailout of the housing market continues. Freddie Mac reported a $4.7 billion second quarter loss Monday and asked the government for another $1.8 billion in aid. Last week, Fannie Mae – Freddie Mac’s larger counterpart – asked the government for $1.5 billion. That brings the total tab for the government-sponsored entities to $148 billion. Suttmeier estimates, Fannie and Freddie, will wind up costing taxpayers at least $400 billion.
All of this housing trouble creates a vicious cycle for the economy, jobs and the fragile banking system, Suttmeier tells Aaron in this clip, predicting another 30% drop in home prices by 2014, as measured by the Case-Shiller Index.”
Spain was the model for the US and Gov Motors! How many $41,000 GM Volts are going to be sold?
“Spain’s plans to have 2,000 electric cars on the road by the end of 2010 have been dealt a blow as figures showed just 16 have been sold. The government-backed REVE electric car and wind power project said 15 cars had been sold so far this year, in addition to one last year”
Gas chambers for geese? Final solution for our fine feathered fiends. this is a tax expenditure I can get behind
http://www.northjersey.com/community/100433074_Geese_gas_numbers_at_almost_800_at_Bergen_parks.html
Today somehow feels like a Flash Crash day for the stock market
63, that’s the feeling pretty much everywhere, except in White House. I think time for Obama and Michelle Antoinette to go for another vacation. 10-days in Martha’s Vineyard, yeah baby let food stampers eat cake!
37. Cindy
California is a disaster. The middle class is gone, so all you have is the mega-rich, a small slice of working poor, and all the illegal immigrants. Not that I have an issue with the immigrants like the Dittoheads do… I have an issue with the rich jokers that employ them. Add on a real estate tax cap and guess what: forty years later you’ve got schools that you can’t send kids too except in the most expensive suburbs of all, you’ve got asphalt conditions and road congestion that make Jersey’s look like heaven ($1,500 of damage a year to every car in LA caused by the roads… and that’s the city’s own estimates). Now you have a government in free-fall collapse.
Taxes on those who can afford it AND massive tax cuts are the only way out. Fiscal responsibility. No more ponies for anyone until this is taken care of.
Taxes on those who can afford it AND massive tax cuts are the only way out.
65, yeah, more taxes in CA is the answer /sarc
Liberalism is a mental disease, indeed.
Hey Chairman,
By any chance, is your name Jamil?
hey libtard, by any chance is your name Stu or Jamal Van Jones?
Everyone knows that libtard is Stu.
68 touche’! Stu the gauntlet is laid.
BN 8:30 *HUD WILL OFFER INTEREST-FREE LOANS TO DISTRESSED HOMEOWNERS
Free money is starting to flow. Hurry up and grab your greenpieces of paper with dead guys pictures on it today!
MikeIW (70): I don’t even like sharing my country with Jamil and now I have to share a glove with him?
Clot is it time for a cocktail yet? Never mind it’s after 12, heading out back to pool lots of ice 16oz tumbler. Come on over, Scotch for all.
Ket 50 must be hotter than hades. Deep red southeast?
stu 72 no just rap him across the face with it & throw on ground.
Stu 72 No just rap him across face with it & throw on ground.
Chairman,
Deficit reduction and lower taxes are conflicting objectives, especially when the defense and other areas can’t be touched! However, lower spending and higher taxes are compatible with deficit reduction. Continuing the current tax policy will drag US to the level of BRIC very quickly.
S
In the “nice” Boston suburbs, I see a high end, top down, crush forming. Accelerated price reductions of the most expensive homes.
Sas Pentagon is cutting the Joint forces command.
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/08/joint-forces-command-closure-part-bigger-plan
pasteur (53)-
My definition of “crappy” is making a home purchase, knowing whatever cash DP you brought to the table will soon be flushed down the crapper.
gator (55)-
I’d rather live in Detroit than Bloomfield. My uncle got out 12 years ago…and he is the biggest flaming liberal you’d ever want to meet. I guess being robbed over and over trumps politics when it gets to crunch time.
66. I assume you’re subscribe to that sophisticated school of thought known as dittoheaddom?
This is why the country is screwed. The Republicans are as stupid as the Democrats. Both are only interested in a quick fix. Get a grip people: the deficit and the debt are the problems. Until we get those down to a manageable size, we’re screwed.
I keep forgetting that most people haven’t taken macroeconomics and haven’t the foggiest idea but just keep spouting whatever idiocy that comes into their heads.
A while ago I had built up a lot of personal debt, over $65,000 between us. We were young and didn’t know what we were doing. We kept repeating platitudes like “it takes money to make money,” saying we needed a car to get to work, or a new dress to get a job.
After a while of getting sick of paying as much on interest as we did on our debt, we paid it off. It took a few years of huge cutbacks (no eating out, no new clothes) and working extra jobs.
Oh yeah, it was miserable. But guess what? But it’s gone and we’ve been some of those ultra-rare Americans who have had yearly surpluses ever since. It’s an easy enough lesson to learn. Pay off your debts! Until then, don’t expect anything but deteriorating quality of life and an economy in the toilet.
I mean heck, I guess the other alternatives are scrap the current system and go back to whoever has the biggest gun in the neighborhood wins. The only problem for the Dittoheads who love that idea is that the boys from Irvington will be glad to fight ’em out when there are no more cops to help their sorry White ass. Once they’re done with the train towns, they’ll head West. I guess we can try Communism too if that’s what you’d prefer to anarchy.
Homebroken (71):
She may be right after all… We are getting close!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P36x8rTb3jI
NJ homeowners eligible for govt no interest loans for up to $50k
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/government-to-spend-3-billion-to-help-homeowners-2010-08-11
I got an itchy trigger finger today.
Re 101 Your free money!
$50k no interest up to 24 months.How do they expect us to pay $50k in 2 years with no job?Not unless it becomes free money after 2 years of no good luck.
“Retired FBI “Honcho” Ted Gunderson goes all out in this video and with sincere patriotic fervor explains the cancerous infestation of organized felony crime that has infiltrated the United States government at the local, State and Federal levels. He explains the continuing crime and corruption being carried on under color of law by the Illuminati, the crooked FBI, the murderous CIA and other out-of-control agencies of the federal government. Ted warns that unless Americans “wake up” and take individual action to demand that the gangsters in government be arrested and prosecuted—then, God help us all because we are soon to witness the complete ruination of America and our people who will be ruled by the “iron rod” of a Fascistoid Police State.” Now you know.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8671163977017666031&hl=en#
10 years at 2.69.
84. Satara you don’t get it! They just need to prop up the market for another 24 months so that people who could afford to buy because they have no debt and have been renting won’t. See, the market is just not going down. Everyone in Wall Street and DC is busy cooking up another ponzi scheme that will make sure everything is alright. Then we’ll be back to lots of services and low taxes. Everybody will be happy. After all, this is just the Big O.’s midterm slump. He’ll be back, just like our hero Georgie Orgy.
[34] sastry
“Aren’t dropping home prices good for the country, at least in terms of home affordability? We were all cheering for prices to come down, so why the despair when the prices are actually coming down (and that too in a slow, orderly process)? ”
I had said in the past that this would be a goal of a democratic admin as it makes homes more broadly affordable. I hadn’t predicted quite the morass we have though. Sucks for folks who bought near a top (like me–off the top, but not off enough), but there may be externalities that support home values in upper end towns. At least one can hope.
When will we just be able to sack various gubmint buildings and summarily execute the crooks?
Tapping the huge mortgage-bond portfolio to buy debt? Isn’t that kind of like using a HELOC to buy off your credit card debt in 2007?
#85 – Ted Gunderson, wow there’s a blast from the past. I thought he was still hot in pursuit of those epidemic wave of satanic cults that were wantonly murdering people and destroying any evidence with mobile crematoriums*…. Boy, the 80’s were a strange time.
He explains the continuing crime and corruption being carried on under color of law by the Illuminati, the crooked FBI, the murderous CIA and other out-of-control agencies of the federal government
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain…. or me either.
* – Gasp!
[75] NJ ExPat says:
“In the “nice” Boston suburbs, I see a high end, top down, crush forming. Accelerated price reductions of the most expensive homes.”
Rut roh! But the Boston area had an obscene run-up, one that I thought unsustainable years ahead of the collapse. So hopefully it is an outlier.
more money for “housing” http://www.cnbc.com/id/38658978
Doom 78 – It was just as amusing listening to the clueless folks she was talking to saying what a bum deal she was getting. “Your mail gets sent to Glen Ridge. You totally live in Glen Ridge. That’s crazy!” which gets a response “When I put my address in my GPS, it won’t find it in Bloomfield, you have to put in Glen Ridge.”
Um no. You chose to pay about $200k less for your house and at least $5-6k less in taxes per year. Forest Avenue School does not have to welcome Junior with open arms. You can dress your 5 year old in Polo Ralph Lauren every day, but at the end of the day he still lives in Bloomfield.
36 JP, recently saw a BOA foreclosure on the sheriff list, followed up and the post the foreclosure it is now under a title for “HUD”
Pain
maybe we could us the commuter rail to transport geese to a central gassing location and make the process mire efficient
Hyde 96 – Not likely. They would probably be endlessly delayed.
True Gator,
If NJTransit ran the rails in Nazi Germany, there would be a lot more Jews alive today.
Gator, having been a border dweller (North Plainfied/Green Brook; and West Orange/Livingston), I think it is good as long as there are no school-age kids in the mix.
“You can dress your 5 year old in Polo Ralph Lauren every day, but at the end of the day he still lives in Bloomfield.”
Wow! That would hurt. I hope you never say such a thing in person to anyone.
SEASIDE HEIGHTS — A Seaside Heights boardwalk game that uses a caricature of President Obama will remove the statue and replace it with another figure, according to a report on Philly.com.
The replacement will be a political figure, the report said. The game’s owner said the figure, possibly Hillary Clinton, will be unveiled later today, according to the report.
Chifi, good or bad for my American General Bonds. BTW I thought you said this stuff was going bk in 2009, who would have thunk
Fortress to buy most of AIG consumer finance unit
REUTERS — 30 MINUTES AGO
NEW YORK (Reuters) – American International Group Inc (Symbol : AIG/PA
said on Wednesday it will sell most of its consumer finance unit to Fortress Investment Group ) and take a $1.9 billion pre-tax loss due to the sale.
AIG, majority owned by the U.S. government, is selling 80 percent of American General Finance to Fortress managed funds and affiliates as it restructures after a bailout.
615 in Parsippany? 2006? That best places to live list must have really made an impression.
I grew up in Parsippany and can’t imagine a house that needed some work going that high. Maybe in Powder Mill? A lot of the town is updated summer homes and the grittier Lake Hiawatha area.
Then again, a realtor friend in Parsippany is upside down on a huge house on a cul de sac…maybe they’re neighbors…
Does anyone here think this situation is unethical? My buyers agent shows me a fsbo, I offer on it and in the process of presenting my offer which they countered, he becomes the listing agent, sends me an email that he is dual disclosing himself. Considering I gave him all kinds of information about what I was willing to pay etc, doesn’t this seem unethical and/or illegal?
103
Sounds at least shady, don’t know about the legality of it.
I’d fire them, hire a new buyers agent, and then drop your offer by at least 6%.
jcer (103)-
On its face, not illegal or unethical. If he gets loose-lipped about stuff you told him in confidence, that’s another story.
A buyer has every right to be allowed to obtain his own agent and reject dual agency. Might be the best solution.
Doom, I’m going to tell him to f*ck himself. I think it’s totally unethical, he was my buyers agent in the middle of a negotiation he begins representing the other side? My agent had a responsibility to me going in and basically decided he could get the listing and pretty much instead of trying to make a deal or convince the sellers to take less(home was on the market 400 days, had 2 or 3 brokers, finally fsbo), he got himself a listing and flipped 180 degrees on what he thought the property was worth.
I also think he is trying to squeeze me because he knows I need to move my lease is up etc and this is one of the few homes we’ve liked(inventory is pretty bad).
Also the fact that my wife fell in love with the place and he is totally trying to use this against us, little does he know she is super cheap and doesn’t like the idea of getting ripped off.
why would you use a buyers agent on a FSBO? When I sold a house FSBO someone with a buyers agent if they wanted me to pay I need them to beat the next best offer by enough to cover commission. A;sp
jcer says:
August 11, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Does anyone here think this situation is unethical? My buyers agent shows me a fsbo, I offer on it and in the process of presenting my offer which they countered, he becomes the listing agent, sends me an email that he is dual disclosing himself. Considering I gave him all kinds of information about what I was willing to pay etc, doesn’t this seem unethical and/or illegal?
Only because we were working with him and he brought us to the property. It was in MLS.
“I gave him all kinds of information about what I was willing to pay”
Never give out such info, to anyone. Loose lips…
“he knows I need to move my lease is up”
Same here. Everyone should think you have no problem leasing for the next 5 years.
HUD Offers Interest-Free Loans to Reduce Foreclosures (Update1)
Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration will offer $1 billion in zero-interest loans to help homeowners who’ve lost income avoid foreclosure as part of $3 billion in additional aid targeting economically distressed areas.
Under the new $1 billion program, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will offer loans of up to $50,000 to borrowers “in hard hit local areas” to make mortgage, tax and insurance payments for as long as two years, HUD said today in a statement. The Treasury Department will also offer as much as $2 billion in aid under an existing program for 17 states and the District of Columbia, according to the news release.
The initiatives “will ultimately impact a broad group of struggling borrowers across the country and in doing so further contribute to the administration’s efforts to stabilize housing markets and communities,” Bill Apgar, HUD’s senior adviser for mortgage finance, said in the statement.
Unemployment, following the worst housing crash since the Great Depression, is helping accelerate foreclosures. A record 269,962 U.S. homes were seized in the second quarter, according to RealtyTrac Inc. Foreclosures probably will top 1 million this year, the Irvine, California-based data company said in a July 15 report.
HUD’s Emergency Homeowners Loan Program aims to help to people who have experienced a “substantial reduction” in income because of involuntary unemployment, underemployment or a medical condition, according to the statement.
Aid recipients must be at least three months delinquent on loans and have “a reasonable likelihood” of being able to resume payments and other housing expenses within two years, HUD said. Borrowers must live in the home and demonstrate a good payment history prior to their loss of income.
The existing program, known as the Hardest-Hit Fund, helps states with unemployment rates at or above the national average during the past 12 months, according to the statement.
hey ExPat – what burbs are you talking about, concorde, Lexington?
re: HUD interest free loans:
FREE CHEESE for everyone!!!!
My big issue, is that I think every broker they tried to work with told them they’d have to concede on price but my idiot agent has them convinced they are priced correctly. That false hope is not what I needed them to have now to make a deal. As far as I’m concerned, they had their price for the last 5 months and if they didn’t get it during the credit, how likely are they to get it now? I know they will concede eventually, but it doesn’t help me now.
I knew something smelled wrong when the listing was 525k, my offer was 425k, they purchased the home for 370k in summer of 2004 and he was giving me some nonsense about them putting 100k into the home so 485k would be a fair offer. My thoughts were well, 2004 was close to the peak of the market and nobody pays 100 cents on the dollar for improvements and repairs, let alone a premium. Especially when we were coming up with a price he looked up the sale and told me that 2004 was in line with the market.
Now he has listed it and raised the price by 20k.
20,000 HUD loans won’t do a dang thing.
Double down, the agent asked for the purpose of negotiation what my ceiling was, I gave him a low number, my wife foolishly mentioned she didn’t want another rental only wants to move once and from the pre approval business, we offered on a much more expensive home, he knows we have the money and the income to overpay.
Jcer #116
I think 2004 price + 50% of upgrades is a fair deal, say 420k
Ricky, hence my offer, I was willing to go higher, probably to 450k or so, which I think is pretty generous and my position to my agent was a bank would be unlikely to lend on a value higher than that.
sas3 93 – A bit of sarcasm. These folks are interested in style over substance and there are school age kids in the mix.
I could care less if they live in Bloomfield. We know plenty of folks who do.
My point is they are blowing all this money on a label, and at the end of the day, it was more important for her kid to look the part of the well to do Glen Ridge prepster than to actually get him into a good school system. They chose the gold plated option – the pretty house with the Glen Ridge mailing address, instead of the solid gold one – a more modest house which would get him into the Glen Ridge schools, all the while snubbing lots of folks who don’t keep up with the Jones.
The Obama administration is providing $112 million to unemployed New Jersey homeowners facing foreclosure as part of a $3 billion package sent to the nation’s toughest job markets.
The Treasury Department says it will send $2 billion to 17 states that have unemployment rates higher than the national average for a year. They will use the money for programs to aid unemployed homeowners. Some of those states have already designed such programs.
Another $1 billion will go to a new program being run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It will provide homeowners with emergency zero-interest rate loans of up to $50,000 for up to two years.
The administration was required to launch the programs by the financial regulatory bill signed by President Barack Obama last month. The money to pay for the efforts is coming from $50 billion set aside for homeowner assistance from the $700 billion Wall Street bailout.
California will get the largest share of money for the Treasury program, at $476 million. Florida is in line for nearly $239 million. Illinois will receive $166 million and Ohio will receive $149 million.
The Obama administration has rolled out numerous attempts to tackle the foreclosure crisis but has made only a small dent in the problem. More than 40 percent, or about 530,000 homeowners, have fallen out of the administration’s main effort to assist those facing foreclosure.
That program, known as Making Home Affordable, provides lenders with incentives to reduce mortgage payments. So far, it has provided permanent help to about 390,000 homeowners, or 30 percent of the 1.3 million who have enrolled since March 2009.
Also receiving money are Michigan, $129 million; Georgia, $127 million; North Carolina, $121 million; New Jersey, $112 million; Indiana, $83 million and Tennessee, $81 million.
Alabama is due to receive $61 million, South Carolina, $59 million; Kentucky, $56 million; Oregon, $49 million; Mississippi, $38 million; Nevada, $34 million; Rhode Island, $14 million; and Washington, D.C., $8 million.
Come on Gator,
Tell ’em what the mom does for a living.
jcer
fire your agent, clearly they are not working for you.
I agree. That agent no longer works for you. Sorry Charlie.
sumbuddy wants their commish-mish and will say and do “whatever it takes to be closing.” buh buy.
jcer lol. Some agents are very schemey. I would play with it some more. I personally don’t think upgrades matter right now as much as they used to. They certainly shouldn’t reflect on the listing price to such an extreme level especially with home prices as low as they are. I would play with the guy and act like I’m not interested. They’ll probably come running back to you.
>>The Obama administration is providing $112 million to unemployed New Jersey homeowners facing foreclosure as part of a $3 billion package sent to the nation’s toughest job markets.
The Treasury Department says it will send $2 billion to 17 states that have unemployment rates higher than the national average for a year. They will use the money for programs to aid unemployed homeowners. Some of those states have already designed such programs. <<
This is bullspit. I don't want a damn thing from Obama and you damn well betcha that some republican governors are going to turn down that damn blood money. The damn government has no business doling out a bunch of damn money to grub for a bunch of damn votes.
That's totally different from the fed's quantitative easing. The damn people who run the fed are business people and they know what the hell they're doing and are far more efficient and less wasteful. Plus they're non political. All of that gives me a damn warm and cozy that I don't get from that damn socialist. The fed can give me all the damn money they want.
I'd rather do a swan dive into hell with some C-4 strapped to my ass before I take one red cent from Obama.
jcer – agree, fire the agent. Ask the agent how he/she would feel if you contacted the FSBO directly and cut him out of a comission?
100 confused, yes because we can not make caricutures of our black president that would be racist. so instead lets put a universally despised woman that most consider an uber b!tch. how very politically correct of them. i really hate the band of pu$$ies we have become
2.68
A picture is worth a thousand words . . .
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100811/od_yblog_upshot/behold-americas-educational-system-captured-in-a-single-photograph
Wonder if the guy who painted this had NEA teachers?
#128 – I’d rather do a swan dive into hell with some C-4 strapped to my ass before I take one red cent from Obama.
I’m taking my huge pile of hoarded cash and gold and I’m putting super low-ball bids on any house near you RE.
We have no budget, but Mayor Fraud is on his way back to China. No further comment necessary.
The Ka-Ching In China Is Luring Mayor Jerry Fried Back Again This Month
The mayor plans to make his second trip to China, leaving a week from Sunday, and will speak at a sustainability conference.
http://montclair.patch.com/articles/the-ka-ching-in-china-is-luring-mayor-jerry-fried-back-again-this-month
jcer (107)-
Now that I know the whole story, I’m with you. Tell the douche I said fcuk you, too.
jcer, wait for a few months and you will get the same house or similar for much less :) If it sat for 400 days, raising its price will only make it sit for a bit longer.
Gator, I was just noting how powerful your sentence would be if one were ever to say it… And, people with fake pride do tend to get offended more when presented with simple facts :)
gator (134)-
Someone should tip off the Chinese to ask this fcuktard to produce his town’s budget for the coming year.
Pain:
“lets put a universally despised woman that most consider an uber b!tch”?
She is well respected for her role as a senator, and as the SOS now…
“because we can not make caricutures of our black president that would be racist”
Shooting range picture of a current President? If someone in another country did to our president, we’d be crying foul. If someone did that to W, they’d have ended up in Gitmo.
Really, would you have condoned similar thing against W? After all, he lied and caused deaths of a thousands of US soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Still, it was “support our president” at that time.
S
Think this guy is short???
“America is a “Mickey Mouse economy” that is technically bankrupt, according to Jochen Wermuth, the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) and managing partner at Wermuth Asset Management.
“America today looks like Russia in 1998. Consumers, companies and the government are all highly indebted. America as a result is a bankrupt Mickey Mouse economy,” Wermuth told CNBC.”
sastry (138)-
What is it in you that causes you to respect scum? Hillary Clinton is a national embarrassment.
Most of the homes in my area of Central Jersey that are in a desirable neighborhood and in decent shape are selling in the 275k to 350K range after being on the market 3-6 months which I gues is OK in this enviroment. The homes 500K and above just seem to sit there some close to a year . Once these die hards give in and start lowering them to a more resonable price the lower range will go down in price
Natch, nothing will ever happen to Hillary on her many foreign junkets.
She is a walking ad for AQ’s claims of American degeneracy.
This is what the dittoheads wanted in office. Incredible.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/11/john-mccain-snooki-too-go_n_678401.html
Mike,
don’t know where you are but the Princeton/south brunswick/cranberry area is still insanely priced. For 350 you get a drywall box with 1.5 bathrooms, 3 beds and a lot of pastel wallpaper to take down.
smathers (143)-
Instead, we elected a retard who surrounded himself with more retards who think it’s OK to run a country without a budget and spend money created out of thin air.
Doom
“Instead, we elected a retard who surrounded himself with more retards who think it’s OK to run a country without a budget and spend money created out of thin air.”
Are you talking about W and unfunded wars? At least Obama put expenses on budget. I know you subscribe to “dems and repubs are pigs” ideology, but there is still a big difference between the two.
(Reuters) – A new superbug could spread around the world after reaching Britain from India — in part because of medical tourism — and scientists say there are almost no drugs to treat it.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67A0YU20100811
Dems…repubs, same crap but different interest groups.
Barbara, I’m in the Union County area.
Doom #145… Looks like your calibration is set too unreasonably. Tell me which well known current politicians are not scum, and that will give a point of reference.
“hey ExPat – what burbs are you talking about, concorde, Lexington?”
All of them, but I pay more attention to Newton/Wellesley/Weston. Go to trulia.com and select any of these towns (or Concorde/Lex) and sort by Price Reduced Date and you’ll see 4-6 agressive price reductions just about every day and even more heading into the weekend. Here’s Lexington:
here:
http://www.trulia.com/for_sale/reduceddt;d_sort/Lexington,MA/
sas3 150.
now there’s an idea.
what a horror show: http://www.trulia.com/property/1080966386-28-Tyler-Rd-Lexington-MA-02420
ugliest house ever.
#154 – ewww, that’s not a house. It’s a small office complex.
Love it, looking through a listing “ADD REM: Shows beautifully!”
Clearly trying to appeal to the equine crowd.
ADD
REM: Toilets flush quietly even with excessive paper!
ricky_nu,
Fair to whom? The seller? 2004 was prime bubble pricing and upgrades only return if they are new, not 5 – 6 years old. I say 2003 price and leave it at that.
Hey NJ folks taxes $7,600 on a 1.6 mil house now that is good thing. You could pay more on POS cape in BC or a bilevel in the hinterland will set you back 6200.
Looking at those interior photos is deja vu.
I must have been in the same house in Jersey at least 40 times this year.
So, how’s your day going?
Worked last night…my only saving grace is my godfather returning from a 6 week work detail in Vt.
After being “reported” for not ordering Demerol for some drug-addled swine I get to sit front and center while one of our most mild mannered colleagues is grilled and persecuted by a “patient advocate.” Some mentally ill fu.ck who came in for v@ginal bleeding was mad at him for not catering to her every ridiculous, petty and sociopathic whim.
This is a guy who *never* gets angry and this morning he was beet-red, stuttering and popping veins on his forehead.
If you don’t think our society is doomed, guess again. In the following hour I learn that my ex’s brother (an anesthesiologist) has shot himself in the head (they think about 10 to 12 days ago and they just found him yesterday.) 90+ degree weather, small un-air conditioned cabin, you can picture what that was like. He, like many anesthesiologists, succumbed to the allure of drugs. He chose the coward’s way out after finding that he couldn’t end his addiction, he instead chose to end his life.
I just have anger today I can’t form words to express.
I’ve decided that we live in just a hate filled society of degenerates that empower the drug addicts and mentally ill rather than pushing them to get help. We’re supposed to just “shut up and keep them happy.”
The events of this morning are the results. The depths of my disgust cannot be plumbed. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
As for the Demerol-demanding sc.um. She better be fu.cking glad I’m not moving into her neighborhood.
sl
Grim 161 Christ I have just about the same kitchen, just a rental folks.
Sl deep breathes then Scotch, doctor heal thyself.
smathers #153 and Doom #145.
My wording was way off. I wanted to know who, in Doom’s opinion, is not scum.
I think people that are many people that are fairly decent: Obama, Hillary, Bloomberg, Franken, Grayson, Weiner, Kucinich. I used to think McCain was decent till 2000, but he turned out to be what he is now… In relation to current GOP, Bush Sr seems very decent.
Thanks, Mike, 163
I’m past deep breathing. Scotch would render me comatose at this point. I’m just sitting here, coffee mug in hand, trying to think of a better way. Really just trying to think of how to cope with dealing with other humans.
sl
#165 Sl – How about a vacation, far away, like the South Pacific, on a beach, with umbrella drinks, and stay long enough so the sharp edges of those experiences are smoothed away a little. You have to take care of yourself first, you know.
trying to think of a better way
Too hot for scotch, a little lemoncello on the rocks, maybe a nice Padron anejo margarita made with fresh lime juice. I’ve been shaking up a nice blueberry martini made with St. Germain lately, also a good choice.
lot of new parasites and Dem voters..
WSJ: “One in twelve babies born in the U.S. in 2008 were the offspring of illegal immigrants, according to a new study, a statistic that could inflame the debate over birthright citizenship.
Undocumented immigrants make up slightly more than 4% of the U.S. adult population. However, their babies represented twice that share, or 8%, of all births on U.S. soil in 2008, according to the nonpartisan Pew Research Center’s report. “
#168… Chairman, may be they will grow up on the back of the US taxpayers of their parents’ generation, and when they become successful, they will promptly turn Republican, just like a big chunk of whiners that complain about taxes even though they are historically at the lowest levels.
Or, may be they will turn into bigots that hate anything that doesn’t look like them.
Jail turns former Republican Congressman into Prison Reform Advocate…
After Four Years Behind Bars, Duke Becomes A Prison Reform Advocate
Duke Cunningham, former congressman and current convict (and the inspiration for the Golden Dukes), is halfway through his eight year prison sentence. And he wants to make a change.
“Maybe that’s why God put me here, to bring about much needed prison reform,” Cunningham wrote in a letter to San Diego City Beat.
“The USA has more prisoners than any other nation, including Russian & China,” he writes. “The US Attorneys win 98% of their cases and if you do not plead in which 80-90% is not true they threaten your wife children etc with prison time.”
Cunningham’s numbers are slightly off. The U.S. Department of Justice’s 2009 statistics show that federal prosecutors won 94.1 percent of cases. In 96 percent of those convictions, the defendant pleaded guilty before trial. The difference doesn’t affect Cunningham’s point.
[…]”Millions of prisoners but 4x that in families are harmed.”
Cunningham is staying in a minimum security prison in Tucson, Ariz., which is adjacent to a maximum security facility. He’s there for accepting $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors in exchange for shuttling contracts their way. (One of those contractors, in fact, is raking in the dough while out on bail.)
Cunningham also wrote that he’s been teaching fellow prisoners working toward their GEDs.
“[Too] many students have severe learning disabilities from either drugs or genetic[s],” he wrote, according to CityBeat. “During the past 4 years only one of my students was unable to graduate–I taught him life skills, using a calculator to add, subtract, [multiply and divide]. This way he could at least balance a check book.”
Cunningham, a former Navy fighter pilot, signed the letter, “Check six & G-d bless, Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham.”
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/08/after_four_years_behind_bars_duke_becomes_a_prison.php?ref=fpblg
Some Job Screening Tactics Are Illegal:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100811/ap_on_bi_ge/us_job_screening_illegal_tactics
re:@171 -Great the EEOC can start with Federal Government jobs and work their way down. There are loads of checks the government performs on candidates. How about the Secret Service and the FBI and their discriminatory tests? The US Military shuns felons too how about them?
Sorry, I had to do it.
From the WSJ:
Grim Voter Mood Turns Grimmer
Americans are growing more pessimistic about the economy and the war in Afghanistan, and are losing faith that Democrats have better solutions than Republicans, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.
Underpinning the gloom: Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe the economy has yet to hit bottom, a sharply higher percentage than the 53% who felt that way in January.
sastry (164)-
There is really no hope for you.
Al Franken?
sl (165)-
Why don’t you cook up some hot shots for a few of these losers? Do us all a service.
161: sl
Damn girl, you need a vacation. I sympathize with your situation. Bet that’s not quite why you got into medicine.
With all due respect, what are you going to do about it?
gator (170)-
We could’ve saved a lot of dough by just executing that crook.
The Chinese have it right when it comes to stuff like this.
Should’ve executed Rostenkowski a few years back, too.
172: At least they’re looking for work. How else are they going to utilize the slip & fall scheme.
Doom 179 – My subway car this morning was covered in “Bodies – The Exhibition” advertisements. All Chinese preserved bodies on display. Loved the disclaimer a the bottom of the ad that the provenance of all bodies in the exhibit “could not be independently verified”…because they’re all executed Chinese prisoners.
You want something done right, give it to the Chinese.
Except for those shredded cardboard bun thingys.
Clot:
I am talking to still_looking right now. We both agree that we need to hang out with you!!!!!
WooHoo!
Knob Creek at the Real Estate Office????
Through the police blotter today, we discovered that our neighbors are not as bright as we gave them credit. Their kids (youngest is 4)sleep alone on the ground floor, they sleep upstairs. Burglars came in through an unlocked door on the ground floor.
Our dog did get an anonymous mention in the article too. We’re so proud!
Wait so its ok to discriminate in hiring if your skin is white, right? but some people are just MORE equal then others i guess.
A blanket refusal to hire workers based on criminal records or credit problems can be illegal if it has a disparate impact on racial minorities,
Doom hear about this lately?
BEIJING—Intense flooding has swept thick layers of garbage down the Yangtze River that are threatening to block the gates of the Three Gorges Dam, state media reported Monday.
“The large amount of waste in the dam area could jam the miter gate of the Three Gorges Dam,” dam official Chen Lei told the official China Daily in an interview, referring to the dam’s huge shipping locks.
http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_15656734
notice this picture in the article.
Oh and they think the damn that was supposedly designed to handle a 1000 yr flood could possibly overflow if the rains continue.
A layer of garbage about 60 centimeters deep (nearly 2 feet) covering an area of more than 50,000 square meters (about a half million square feet) began to form in front of the dam when the rainy season began in early July, the China Daily reported, citing the Hubei Daily newspaper. In some areas, the trash is so thick that people can walk on it, it said.
#187: article says 875,000 homes destroyed from floods… just one way to burn through inventory.
I think someone here posted their tax return on slate.com?
http://cartoonbox.slate.com/static/144.html
186.Mr Hyde says:
August 11, 2010 at 9:49 pm
Wait so its ok to discriminate in hiring if your skin is white, right? but some people are just MORE equal then others i guess.
A blanket refusal to hire workers based on criminal records or credit problems can be illegal if it has a disparate impact on racial minorities
Actually, you would have to be a “White Male Heterosexual from a Christian Denomination”. All others are minorities or protected groups based upon Race, Religion, Gender, Orientatiion, etc.
190: Super rich > two nickels to rub together?
[151] expat
Sorry to nitpick, but I am from that neck of the woods.
It’s “Concord”, not “Concorde”.
Understandable, but for folks from Middlesex county (Mass.), it rankles.
So Biden tools around in a 757… Lol……..
THE END IS NIGH……………..
WSJ
TECHNOLOGY
AUGUST 12, 2010
Far From H-P, a Job in New Jersey
By ALEXANDRA BERZON in Los Angeles, ELLEN BYRON in Flanders, N.J., and BEN WORTHEN in San Francisco
Jodie Fisher, the woman at the center of the Hewlett-Packard Co. scandal, has traded a life in Hollywood to work as a branch manager at a New Jersey staffing agency run by her mother.
Ms. Fisher moved to New Jersey because she “needed work like a lot of people these days,” said her mother, Polly McDonald, founder and president of TeleSearch Staffing Solutions. She said her daughter sought her counsel on whether to proceed with sexual harassment allegations against former H-P Chief Executive Mark Hurd “some months ago” and her mother urged her to go forward.
Ms. McDonald declined to discuss her daughter’s relationship with Mr. Hurd or Ms. Fisher’s work at H-P, saying she was included in a confidentiality agreement so she could discuss the matter with her daughter. Before he was asked to resign by H-P’s board Friday, Mr. Hurd reached a private settlement with Ms. Fisher for an undisclosed amount.
“She did the right thing on this but I knew going in that she was going to get negative press on this, that’s just the way it is,” Ms. McDonald said in an interview at her office in Flanders, N.J.
After years of seeking her big break as an actress in Los Angeles, Ms. Fisher left the West Coast last year, shortly after the end of her freelance stint with H-P where she worked at marketing events with Mr. Hurd.
H-P said a board investigation found Mr. Hurd had a “close personal relationship” with Ms. Fisher and violated ethics rules but didn’t violate the company’s policy against sexual harassment. Ms. Fisher and a spokesman for Mr. Hurd denied the two had sexual relations.
Ms. Fisher, 50 years old, works in Swedesboro, N.J., about two hours from Manhattan, in a small strip mall off a highway exit, at a TeleSearch branch that is sandwiched between a dry cleaner and a hair salon. A TeleSearch employee at the Swedesboro office, who declined to give her name, said Ms. Fisher wasn’t in the office Wednesday.
Ms. Fisher is currently taking time off from her job as branch manager, her mother said. Ms. McDonald said her daughter has already been offered a job for a marketing representative position that was sent via Facebook after the H-P scandal broke.
Ms. Fisher and her attorney, Gloria Allred, declined to comment.
Ms. Fisher was hired by Mr. Hurd’s office to work on a freelance basis for H-P between late 2007 and late 2009 at customer events. According to people familiar with the gatherings, Ms. Fisher would study the H-P clients slated to attend the functions, where she would help Mr. Hurd minimize the time he spent with less-important customers, in favor of the bigger fish.
“Her role was a new role,” said one person who remembers Ms. Fisher. “It wasn’t a role we had before her, but it was helpful so that execs didn’t get consumed with one CEO with a small account and never get to the CEOs with the biggest accounts. It was a worthwhile facilitator role.”
The events were gatherings for top executives of companies that buy H-P products, which the company has hosted at fancy hotels in New York, Pebble Beach, Calif., Orlando, Fla., Rome, Prague and other cities.
Marc West, a technology executive who has attended several H-P events, remembers seeing Ms. Fisher on a couple of occasions, most recently about a year ago. “You’d go in and she would meet you and greet you by name,” he said. Then she’d pull a customer aside and “make sure that you got time with Mark.”
Typically at tech companies, such work was handled by account managers. In the case of Ms. Fisher, “One of the distinctive characteristics was the lack of a sales pitch,” he said. “I never felt that it was inappropriate,” Mr. West added.
Ms. Fisher worked at a dozen or so such events including at least one in Europe and one in Asia, according to people familiar with the matter. Ms. Fisher was typically paid between $1,000 to $5,000 per event, these people said.
After the H-P gigs dried up in 2009, Ms. Fisher apparently gave up her Hollywood dreams and moved with her 12-year-old son to New Jersey.
“She seemed to have a good life and take care of her son very well,” said Hayley Mortison, a close friend of Ms. Fisher’s in Los Angeles. “She wanted to go out and help her mom and learn the business with her so she decided to take that opportunity and make that change.”
Ms. Mortison declined to discuss Ms. Fisher’s relationship with Mr. Hurd. She said Ms. Fisher reached out to her and others in her close circle of fellow moms in Los Angeles about problems she was having. Ms. Mortison wouldn’t elaborate.
“She’s not a gold-digger,” Ms. Mortison said. “It takes a lot of courage to go through what you need to go through with something like that. I don’t think she wanted to hurt anyone in this situation.”
Ms. Fisher moved to L.A. around 19 years ago to pursue a career in acting and modeling, friends said. The closest Ms. Fisher got to a serious career was a series of roles in a handful of mostly racy movies and TV shows. That line of work petered out in 1999.
“She wanted to see if she could” make it as an actress, said Phil Pitzer, who said he has been close friends with Ms. Fisher for 25 years since meeting her just as she was graduating from Texas Tech University.
In her first film, a 1992 er-tic thriller called “Intimate Obsession,” she played a woman who was married to a rich man and had an affair with a handsome boxer. The film aired on Showtime and other cable channels, said James Quattrochi, who played the boxer in the film and is now a producer and director. “We both had aspirations of being movie stars,” he said.
On Wednesday, Playb-y Enterprises Inc. posted nude photos of Ms. Fisher on its website from a 1980 magazine shoot.
Regarding her daughter’s wilder days, Ms. McDonald said: “She’s the first to say she sowed some wild oats when she was young. But she turned her life around and she’s a very fine, upstanding woman now. We back her all the way.”
Friends this week said they weren’t clear what kind of work she was doing after her film career. At one point she managed a Los Angeles apartment complex called Belle Fontaine.
Ms. Fisher was for several years married to a California man who has worked as an artist, model and chef among other pursuits, according to a person who knows his family. They divorced in 2003. Court records show Ms. Fisher received no spousal support, only household furniture and $500 a month in child support. Both she and her husband were listed as earning $2,000 a month each at the time.
At 46, Ms. Fisher returned to show business via the reality television show “Age of Love,” which aired on NBC in the summer of 2007. Soon after, Ms. Fisher also worked on a film for the first time in years—a sequel to “Easy Rider” produced by her old friend Mr. Pitzer. She filmed for a single day and had a few lines as a bartender. The film hasn’t been distributed in theaters.
As she was starting the job at H-P, several people said she was very excited about the new gig.
“It was a good opportunity,” said Mr. Pitzer. “She’s very good with people. She makes a great appearance. She can carry on a great conversation. She was perfect for it.”
—Ethan Smith, Lauren Schuker and Dionne Searcey contributed to this article.
Write to Alexandra Berzon at alexandra.berzon@wsj.com, Ellen Byron at ellen.byron@wsj.com and Ben Worthen at ben.worthen@wsj.com
re: #165 – SL condolences…. And to fully embrace what you have said earlier on how to “think of how to cope with dealing with other humans.” Just think of the amazing things a bunch of apes have accomplished throughout the millenia because the crap has always been there,and will always be. To perhaps quote some religious deity “there is a price for your enlightenment,but it is your choice to do what you want with it.” <—-Deity and Author Unknown…..
For example my 9 month old son just figured out the buttons to switch the TV Channel and he promptly switched to a skin flick. I think his mother would have preferred something else,but for me I am glad it was not CNBC.
All the Best…..