From Bloomberg:
Builders Probably Began Work on Fewer U.S. Houses in Sign Recovery Delayed
Builders in the U.S. probably began work on fewer homes in September, a sign the residential real estate market will be slow to recover from the worst recession since the 1930s, economists said before a report today.
Housing starts fell 3 percent to a 580,000 annual rate, according to the median estimate of 71 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Building permits, a proxy of future production, were little changed, the survey showed.
Mounting foreclosures, near record-low home sales and a lack of jobs will make it difficult for housing, the industry that precipitated the economic slump, to rebound. Broadening foreclosure moratoria caused by faulty documentation at some of the nation’s biggest banks also raises the risk the mending process will be delayed even more.
“Builders are faced with weak new-home sales, competition from foreclosures and, if anything, uncertainty around the foreclosure environment has increased,” said Michelle Meyer, a senior U.S. economist at BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research in New York. The housing outlook is “deteriorating,” she said.
The Commerce Department’s report is due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Survey estimates ranged from 550,000 to 624,000. Starts plunged to a record-low 477,000 pace in April 2009 after reaching a three-decade high of 2.27 million in January 2006.
From the WSJ:
Bondholders Pick a Fight With Banks
As banks restart foreclosures they had suspended, bondholders are stepping up efforts to recoup losses on soured mortgage portfolios amid concern about sloppy mortgage servicing and underwriting practices.
In a letter Monday, a group of institutional bond investors raised objections to the handling of 115 bond deals issued by affiliates of Countrywide Financial Corp., acquired by Bank of America Corp. in 2008.
The investor actions, which seek to have certain loans be repurchased among other things, come as Bank of America on Monday took steps to defuse claims that its foreclosure troubles are deep-seated. The bank on Monday said it was restarting the foreclosure of more than 100,000 homes.
The letter, to Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and Bank of America, cited Bank of America’s “failure to observe and perform, in material respects” its duties as the servicer for the bond deals. The failure to properly handle the loans “has materially affected the rights” of bondholders, the letter said.
The institutional investors, who include mutual-fund managers, government-related entities, insurance companies and investment partnerships, are seeking to have loans that didn’t meet underwriting requirements repurchased and to be compensated for losses due to inadequate mortgage servicing, says Kathy Patrick, an attorney with Gibbs & Bruns, a Houston law firm representing the investors.
The group says it holds roughly $16.5 billion—or more than 25%—of the $47 billion in outstanding mortgage-backed securities from these deals.
From the Washington Post:
Bank of America to restart foreclosures in 23 states
Just 10 days after announcing a nationwide halt to foreclosure sales, Bank of America, the nation’s largest bank, said Monday that it would begin resubmitting paperwork on Oct. 25 to restart foreclosures on borrowers who missed their payments in 23 states.
If judges approve the new filings, the bank expects that the sales of foreclosed properties will start up once again in the states where a court order is needed to foreclose on a home.
The bank said it will continue to freeze foreclosure sales and review files in the District of Columbia and the other 27 states, including Maryland and Virginia, which do not require a judge’s action. Reviewing its process in those jurisdictions will take several more weeks, the bank said in a statement.
Guess BAC got a pretty good feeling that judges in the judicial-review states will wave through their new FK filings.
Banks always win. Always.
Unites States of America = United States of Bank of America
Quality rant:
“I suspect that good ole Rick Santelli and those intrepid folks dreaming of trading the THC within the CME missed it with their tea bags. What is realized here off S. Main is that what we have here is a genuine, certified, 100% bona fide C0ndomNation. A place where we are getting forcibly fcuked by a bunch of STD/blood borne disease ridden bitches & bastards that refuse to glove up or give any disclosure since to do so would “undermine confidence”. That is as if that confidence crap couldn’t get pounded any harder than it already has been. Even those hopelessly co-dependent folks at the TBTF’s and those addicted to the TBTF’s dog food are left to say; “Honey, don’t forget the lube this time .. Please”. Damn, I have to remember that these folks are in the addiction business. So wondering why these heroin/dog food/HOPIUM peddlers would want to extend and pretend their game should come as no surprise.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest-post-how-can-everyone-be-so-incompetent
Found on MSN this morning “Top Ten Reasons To Buy A House Now” the only one that came close was there’s alot to choose from http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/HomeFinancing/10-reasons-you-should-buy-a-home-now.aspx?cp-documentid=25948264>1=33006#q=10%20reasons%20you%20should%20buy%20a%20home%20now%20%3A%20You%20can%20get%20a%20good%20deal
Will the DOW hit 12000 by year’s end?
a) yes
b) no
c) Guns
12k Dow, not year end but 1q 2011
Bond picks today, LUK, BAC, CVC. or maybe stock picks, love when bonds/stocks down for short term reasons.
Yikes,
When in doubt (C).
Housing Starts in U.S. Unexpectedly Rise to Five-Month High
Builders in the U.S. unexpectedly began work on more homes in September, a sign the real estate market is stabilizing at depressed levels.
Housing starts rose to a 610,000 annual rate, the most since April and up 0.3 percent from a revised 608,000 rate in August that was higher than previously estimated, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Building permits dropped to the lowest level in more than a year, reflecting a plunge in multifamily units that are often volatile
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-19/housing-starts-in-u-s-unexpectedly-gain-to-five-month-high-permits-slump.html
Who, exactly, is financing this pace of 610K annual housing starts? What, if any, are the chances that even 30% can be sold quickly and profitably?
Did someone say guns http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdACdkUZdB0
[12] mike
I WANT ONE!!!!
Shiny getting hammered this morning on China’s 25 bp cd rate hike. Stairs up, elevator down (I hope).
Where’s Golden Boy Bob? We need his input on when to get back in.
A Prayer for Those Trying to Sell a Home
While you were sleeping huge quadruple run-up in US equities, Foreign Equities, Bonds and Commodities in last 20 months. Combined with the fact those who did not get fired who got stock bonuses in January 2009 and January 2010 in lieu of cash as some firms did are now actually sitting on a lot of stock up around 50% that some is about to vest in January 2011 while they are getting 2011 bonuses more on cash side this year.
Tony bedroom communities have pent up buyers looking to move. Hard to believe I have seen it first hand.
Prudent savers who kept their downpayment money in short term fixed instruments, CDs, and money markets got creamed in 2009 and 2010 with 1% interest to show. Others who were reckless and heavy into commodities, stocks and junk bonds with their downpayment money have been rewarded with their stupidity.
Bottom line, those who got all stock bonuses in January 2009 and January 2010, kept their job and did not bail out of stocks during March 2009 are sitting on lots of potential cash with mortgage rates hovering around 4% and Mr. O saying if you don’t sell your stocks by 12-31 I will punish you with large cap gains.
[165] [prior thread] shore
““New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he’ll consider restarting a stalled New Jersey-New York rail tunnel if someone else helps pick up the tab. ”
The Big C is playing a game of chicken with Obama/Menendez/Lout. This is a good strategy, but he is so far failing to press his advantage in two ways”
1. He should be trumpeting about how he doesn’t want ARC tunnel to become another Big Dig. Should play especially well since Big Dig is in Boston, and NJ/NYers don’t want to do anything the way it is done in Mass.
2. He should be playing divide and conquer by drumbeating this issue in South Jersey. Basically, he should be asking folks in SoJo if they want to pay extra in taxes so that fatcats on WS can get to work faster, or that union hacks can have a bigger slush fund to play with. I can guarantee that the folks in Swedesboro or Hammonton don’t care much for lining pockets in PBC. Christie should fan that anger.
Once he builds this groundswell, he can go back to Lout and Menendoesn’t and say “look, I would love to do this, but my hands are tied. Help me out here.”
17.
Nom,
The paper shorts keep piling up on physical and the miners. Doubling in some cases over the past year. Dont worry. The gold vigilantes will be back next week.
Buy mines, sell banks
At its meeting November 3, the day after the US mid-term elections, the Fed appears poised to launch a second round of quantitative easing, purchasing $500 billion – $1 trillion of government and agency bonds.
Banks and financial institutions anticipate this activity with relish, as they anticipate yet more volume and additional security in their lucrative games. However, in reality there will be two unanticipated effects on the banks of the Fed’s quantitative easing: first, since short-term rates are already close to zero, they can’t go any lower, so the game played by banks in buying long-term Treasuries and agency bonds will become less profitable. This might make the banks start lending to small business again, but don’t hold your breath; it will certainly reduce their profitability and the cash available for bonuses.
Second, the Fed’s bond purchases, monetizing the national debt, will bring back inflation in a big way – not a gentle swelling to 3%, 4% or 5% but a massive and very rapid surge into double digits. We are already seeing this in the global commodity markets, of which more later. The attempt by the Fed and its fellow central banks to depress all currencies simultaneously, if not checked in time, will send the dollar the way of the 1946 Hungarian pengo. (While the new currency, the forint, was worth only 4×1,029 paper pengos, real money, in the form of the 1931 gold pengo, was at its peak worth 130×1,029 paper pengos.) This will at some point cause a crisis in the Treasury bond market, in which confidence is lost and yields soar – wiping out the banking system’s capital positions. The Fed will attempt to resist this by further quantitative easing, but the longer it continues this suicidal policy, the higher inflation will get.
New Home for Clot?
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Violence+adds+French+pension+protest+headaches/3693495/story.html
great Geithner quote
No country “can devalue its way to prosperity,” said Geithner.
C’mon turbo Tax Timmay it was your doing any way. just fess up
Pain,
Welcome back for lands yonders.
Apparently “No nation can devalue its way to prosperity”, and “We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”
So we’re hosed right?
The Sacramento home of Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach) has been listed as a short sale months after Sacramento County documents indicated the congresswoman was behind on house payments by more than $42,000.
The Sacramento home of Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach) has been listed as a short sale months after Sacramento County documents indicated the congresswoman was behind on house payments by more than $42,000.
Mike 12 Nom 13 Ditto that, a really nice piece of work.
mikeinwating, wag
drinks tonight?
SG 23 that is ok she is a D, for O’Donnell it was a bad thing.
http://homesoftherich.net/2009/09/massive-colts-neck-nj-mansion.html
owner convicted of mortgage fraud today, Findel was the nut who bid 400K for two Jets PSLs when he had no money.
Hyde the usual place? Give me a time,I’m in.
I watched Chris Walen on Kudlow last night, and he said something I’ve heard very often lately. The fact that now that we have the Dodd/Frank resolution authority (from the new bill), we can send a bank(s) through the bankruptcy process and do whatever needs to be done.
Can someone explain to this to me? I was under the impression that a bank, like any other institution, could go bankrupt and the shareholders would get wiped out, bondholders and other creditors would get paid back in order of senior, junior, whatever (I’m not expert). The only difference between a bank any other companies, is that the FDIC would be a part of this process, and the very first stakeholder to get money would be the depositors (who are insured, haha, up to the limit).
What changed from before Dodd/Frank to post Dodd/Frank? Why do people act like banks couldn’t go bankrupt before hand?
19.
Official non adjusted inflation is running at 8.4% annually per John Williams who has the most trusted figures around.
mike (12)-
Thanks for providing me with my Xmas wish list for this year.
plume (14)-
25 bps on a currency that’s pegged to the rapidly-degrading USD? It’s the currency version of a circle jerk.
Methinks BC will tell us any entry point is a good entry point for shiny. The weak/late longs will be routed quickly, I suspect.
juice (20)-
I have a nephew in St. Denis whose specialty is flipping cars and torching them.
re: #29 – Jocye the whole argument from day one was that neither the Fed, Treasury, FDIC, CTFC, DTCC etc had the power to wind down TBTF companies and if anyone tried it the music would stop for everyone and nobody would get to the life rafts. TARP in itself (the bailout mechanism) was barely passed on the second vote under exterme congressional coercion by the administration and lobbyists that there would be anarchy in the streets and Martial law declared of the bailout was not passed and the TBTF Banks were forced into bankruptcy.
Dodd -Frank now gives us a credible commitment by government not to intervene or bail out firms must be the centerpiece of the resolution mechanism. FDIC will be in charge of winding down TBTF commercial banks. They are currently writing the rules for it which need to be finalized by next summer. Not everyone will be happy however with he new rules.
More here on the ongoing rule writing.
http://ftalphaville.ft.com/blog/2010/10/18/372971/moodys-does-not-like-the-fdics-tbtf-fix/a
lamar 32
I would imagine that it depends on how you play. if you go in leveraged you are a little more concerned about your entry point hen if you go in leveraged. if you go in leveraged you better have some serious margin behind you.
My nephew is so crazy, he doesn’t care whether he fights with or against the Muslims.
Hyde, unfortunately it takes 12 Union guys to operate the hose and I think they are on break
hyde (35)-
I’m pretty much locked & loaded and have been for awhile. Anything I’d want to do now would be with very, very tight stops.
Disclaimer: I am also the person who invented soaking pot in formaldehyde.
(34)
Thanks juice.
So to reiterate, banks (albeit small ones) did fail from time to time before said law? They did go bankrupt and the FDIC came in w/ other regulators and did their thing. But the largest 4-6 banks, whatever, were claimed to be too big and that’s how this idea of ‘there is no way to wind them down’ came about.
But was it that they couldn’t wind them down, or they didn’t have the authority/power to wind them down? The latter is what I don’t understand.
That is not true, they have the ability but not the balls. I helped unwind Drexel, took one minute. They could not meet collateral requirements so we yanked their DTCC number, did a demand of collateral, froze their DTCC positions and used the Fed Link to do “reverse wires”. Only Fed and DTCC who had a direct Fed Link up can do “reverse wires” Normally if you wire money in error the person has to send it back to you, you can’t yank the money out of their accounts. Well we reversed wired every nickle out of every bank accounts and settle up all the T+7 trades. Funny as crap watching the bond bad boys standing on broad street scratching their heads. We yanked them at around two ish in afternoon, trader screens useless cash gone, that as an isolated incident on a firm that pissed off everyone by causing S&L crisis. You can’t do that to JPM, C or BAC as soon as you did the demand of collateral action and reverse wires you just created the great depression in a matter of seconds. Imagine 500k Chase workers out of work with no severance as soon as I hit the button, ugly.
Juice Box says:
October 19, 2010 at 10:29 am
re: #29 – Jocye the whole argument from day one was that neither the Fed, Treasury, FDIC, CTFC, DTCC etc had the power to wind down TBTF companies and if anyone tried it the music would stop for everyone and nobody would get to the life rafts. TARP in itself (the bailout mechanism) was barely passed on the second vote under exterme congressional coercion by the administration and lobbyists that there would be anarchy in the streets and Martial law declared of the bailout was not passed and the TBTF Banks were forced into bankruptcy.
Dodd -Frank now gives us a credible commitment by government not to intervene or bail out firms must be the centerpiece of the resolution mechanism. FDIC will be in charge of winding down TBTF commercial banks. They are currently writing the rules for it which need to be finalized by next summer. Not everyone will be happy however with he new rules.
More here on the ongoing rule writing.
Here’s a way to wind down big banks:
1. FDIC closes all their physical centers of operation: back office, branches, trading desks…everything. All at the same time, same day.
2. FDIC announces the shareholders are blown out. Debtholders will all get whacked, then made whole in order of seniority.
3. FDIC and/or SEC voids all derivatives positions. No exceptions.
4. Board and executives of shut down banks are given show trials, then hastened to televised summary executions.
Do this once, and TBTF becomes a thing of the past.
re #33 Clot – Funny how the labor movement here won’t even take a rubber bullet when their pension benefits are threatened by Gov Christie. Those NJ Government Union folks are truly sheep. At least the French including the high school students who walked out treat protesting as an honor and right in France.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2010/10/15/15709701.html
jj (40)-
Apparently, you missed the memo that these brainiacs have already managed to plunge us into Great Depression II.
“You can’t do that to JPM, C or BAC as soon as you did the demand of collateral action and reverse wires you just created the great depression in a matter of seconds. Imagine 500k Chase workers out of work with no severance as soon as I hit the button, ugly.”
juice (42)-
It’s pathetic watching all these state worker types fight like hell to preserve benefits that will never actually be paid to them.
If I were a younger parasite on the NJ gubmint teat, I’d be trying to figure out a way to build some sort of nest egg outside the union system. It’s gonna get real ugly when all the municipalities start the rolling BK process and voiding all these insane agreements.
re: #40 -JJ – Balls if right, so if they could not hit the ugly button becasue of TBTF companies they sure as heck could have stopped the daylight robbery with the bonuses given out in 08, 09 and this year. Cuomo tried it and was stopped dead in his tracks, and he had them dead to rights under NY state’s debtor-creditor laws.
There would no contest for governor if Cuomo did the perp walks, that will be his main mistake in this election season if he loses.
JJ = Dick Bove
Cuomo is in on the bank robbery. Bojangles, Palin, your local mayor…everyone who is in or near the gubmint IS IN ON IT. If they accept a penny of insurance, financial services, real estate or healthcare campaign money…THEY’RE IN ON IT.
Even some people who don’t think they’re in on it ARE UNWITTINGLY IN ON IT.
That’s why we have to blow the mf’er up and start over.
The good news is that it appears it will all implode from within, so the rest of us can just pull up a chair and sip fruity drinks while it happens.
WOW BOA now says it may refuse to honor their agreements for put-backs with MBS, Fannie and Freddie etc.
Here is a presentation on their potential put-back liabilities.
http://www.businessinsider.com/manal-mehta-branch-hill-capital-bac-2010-10#-1
Ah a man with a plan.
“The good news is that it appears it will all implode from within, so the rest of us can just pull up a chair and sip fruity drinks while it happens.”
Sounds good Clot, yesterday received couple dozen farm fresh eggs (brown) from guy down the road yummy, love the hinterland! He has so many gives them away.
Dodd -Frank now gives us a credible commitment by government not to intervene or bail out firms must be the centerpiece of the resolution mechanism. FDIC will be in charge of winding down TBTF commercial banks. They are currently writing the rules for it which need to be finalized by next summer. Not everyone will be happy however with he new rules
My understanding of TARP was to avoid liquidity trap. In the case of lack of trust in the market when everybody is selling their shares,who is going to buy this shares?What kept liquidity during the downturn,when the market was loosing 350 points a day.When individual investors are getting out , it was the GS,MS,JPM that were buying to keep liquidity in the market.Without them the market shares will just keep on going down in value waiting for buyers.Explain to me how the Dodd-Frank bill will work if you let all this TBTF go BK at the same time.
re: #50 – .Explain to me how the Dodd-Frank bill will work if you let all this TBTF go BK at the same time.
I would think the FDIC does not have the resources to shut down tens of thousands of bank branches at the same time so in theory your scenario cannot happen.
Juice (51)-
Precisely. The FDIC is tapped out and probably couldn’t take over a series of lemonade stands. In fact, THEY’RE IN ON THE BANK ROBBERY, TOO.
Dodd-Frank is probably a giant pile of hogwash, filled with all sorts of resolution protocols that will never be invoked.
Why won’t they be invoked? Because Congress answers to banks, not vice-versa.
#51 My scenario is the TBTF trading business.They are operating as banks but they do trading,If you let them fail at the same time my scenario which is the scenario that was put in to justify TARP
Think Dodd is going to work at a liquor store next year? Watch where he ends up, and then tell me if his law is worth a damn.
Foreclosures have been very, very good to me.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-19/florida-attorney-buys-bugatti-yacht-mansion-with-his-foreclosure-fortune.html
Don’t even get me started on Bawney the chicken hawk.
My continuing dialogue with Montclair’s Mayor Fried.
Tue, October 19, 2010 11:32:03 AM
Re: if you’re really interested in the truth…
…
From: Libtard
To: Jerry Fried
It appears that Cathy has disappeared from Erie Park, which is good. I finally have some time to respond to your last email and thank you for your patience.
From: Jerry Fried
To: Libtard
Sent: Sat, October 9, 2010 6:25:10 PM
Subject: Re: if you’re really interested in the truth…
On Oct 9, 2010, at 5:49 PM, Libtard wrote:
> I did make a point to say ‘I heard’ rather than state this as a fact. You may need to reread what I wrote. Likewise, I read that you called the ‘Elect the Board’ supporters ‘angry.’
>I called the organizers angry, not the supporters.
This is still inappropriate. I was one of the organizers and still feel that the BOE is unaccountable and the lies spread by the supporters of maintaining the status quo were simply deplorable. There was not a single representative of the ETB that desired to dismantle the magnet school system. Additionally, it is of my opinion that there is much more danger of this occurring through our current appointment methodology since a single person (the mayor) chooses the direction the board will go in through his appointments. If the constituents were to vote on the board (and the budget), then the likelihood of this occurring would be much less. Especially if the vote took place in November, during regular elections. It would also make moot the issue that these elections would cost extra if their timing was moved to coincide with the other elections. You of course, know about this and I do support your current proposal to save money by moving Montclair elections to November. It might be a good idea in your press releases on this issue to say that you are aware that it would extend your term, but that is not the current purpose of the initiative. To not mention it lends to the appearance of dishonesty.
Getting back to the BOE, one would think that all of these study groups the board created to look at their budget would concentrate on the only ‘real’ issues which are pensions and benefits. The educators union has obtained oversized benefits and pensions in exchange for their vote in state elections for as long as I can remember. This has resulted in their benefits and pensions becoming unsustainable and continues to eat up more and more of our tax dollars that should go too maintaining small class sizes and better facilities and services. Instead the BOE is focusing on busing and pay to play. Busing obviously can’t be changed due to the need to maintain our magnet system and to keep people from wanting to attend their neighborhood schools. So why are they wasting their time with this? Pay to play is a good idea, but a town that is so hell-bent on maintaining scholarships for those in need will once again leave the haves with the burden of paying for the have nots. This is not a budget cut, this is an additional tax (fee). Additionally, the financial gains from pay to play are minuscule compared to the costs of the health care increases and increased pension payments. Give all of the teachers raises in exchange for balancing out their pensions and benefits with what is standard in the private sector. Otherwise, there will be larger and larger class sizes which is really what we need to avoid. We need big solutions, not savings of $100K here or there on solutions that will have the constituents up in arms.
> The writer in this case was not anonymous. Didn’t you find it strange that the writer of that piece in the Montclair Times risked his livelihood to make this false statement?
>No. I’ve been misquoted many times. The best reporters ask for verification rather than paraphrasing, as happened in this case.
Paraphrasing is a politicians excuse for a verbal blunder. The other one is to claim it was taken out of context. It is better to make friends with your enemies than to call them names.
>
> As long as I have your ear…why was it OK to use some of the money from the sale of the Label Street property to pay for operating costs, but when Cary suggests we use more of it or the MSU sewer connection fees, you claim this is a bad practice?
>The Council negotiated using a portion of Label Street in the budget… now some Council members are going back for more to make a political >point. Compromise is fine, holding up the budget for politics is not.
I think you are wrong about the political posturing. If anyone is posturing, it is you. Regardless of the excuse that we lost so much state assistance, it was up to this council to come up with a fair budget. As mayor, you control the proceedings. How a double-digit municipal tax increase can be deemed acceptable at a time that constituents are foreclosing on their homes, losing their jobs, getting their benefits and salaries cut as well as working harder then ever is simply unacceptable. This is not political posturing. To hear some on the council call this the best we can do is admittance of incompetence. Especially when compared to all of our surrounding towns who were faced with the same set of issues and managed to continue operating with much smaller or no tax increases.
>
> Why is it that you claimed the first downgrade to our debt ‘nothing to be concerned with’ yet you are threatening those who still oppose the current budget with the potential of another debt downgrade?
>You’re paraphrasing here. We had a very small downgrade based on the fact we were going to market with bonds. I wasn’t happy about it but >understood it in its context. As far as not passing the budget, the CFO and Manager are concerned about a significant downgrade based on our
>budgeting. I have also talked to my “tax reform” group at Rutgers about our non-passage and am concerned.
So what you are saying then is that a small downgrade is minor, but a large downgrade would incur much more significant financial damage? I can accept this. Unfortunately, I do not feel our current level of debt is acceptable, regardless of the report given by the Benecke group. There is obviously a conflict of interest that arises when a town hires a consultant to give a report on their financial situation. On a macro level, this is exactly what happened when the rating agencies were paid by the investment banks to rate their mortgage backed securities. Look how well that worked out. Subprime toxic mortgages received triple-A ratings. I agree that trying to make changes at month ten to a twelve month budget is difficult, but the fact that Lewis, Demming-Weller and you chose not to even make an attempt once the so-called political posturing began was arrogant and reeked more of political posturing then what Terry, Africk and Baskerville were trying to do.
>
> Why is it that you ran on a platform of transparency, yet you have not revealed why it was so important to replace the town lawyer with Ira as well as supported our new municipal judge appointment, disregarding the will of every single public speaker at the council meeting as well as the recommendations of many leaders in our town?
>I think you’re using transparency when you mean something else. It is not ethical to discuss the merits of different candidates in open session. The >Council is empowered to choose its own appointees and this is the way it works in our form of government. I found the public comment on the >Attorney to be inappropriate. Do you really believe that we should have had a “forum” where pro and anti voices talked about the candidates?
I absolutely do. These are public servants and discussing their merits and shortcomings in a public forum come with the territory. They volunteer to serve and we pay their salaries. Only in the areas of personal issues and salaries do I believe discussions should be held behind closed doors.
Additionally, you have been quoted over and over saying that we want to take Montclair in a new direction. It would be nice to know what this new direction is and it might help your credibility a bit to divulge this new direction.
>
> Why is it that every council meeting is attended by constituents who overwhelmingly oppose so many of the actions of yours, Lewis’ and Weller?
>Democracy works this way. Those in opposition are welcome to offer their opinions. I have contact with hundreds of township residents and speak >to many of them about policy. I have the most respect for those who back up their opinions with facts and supporting information from other >municipalities. Speakers at Council meetings are a part of the public but not the only way we hear the public.
This still does not explain why the attendees at the meetings are overwhelmingly in opposition. I didn’t ask if you gathered opinions from other townsfolk. I think you dodged the bullet on this one.
>I particularly welcome people who are willing to engage in actual conversation. In the world of people who care about Montclair, there is a >continuum from “people who don’t know anything about town government” through people who serve on the Township Council volunteering as much >as 70 hours a week in an attempt to make the town better. In my experience, the people who volunteer on the Township’s committees, commissions >and Boards are the best example of non-elected citizens who advocate for a better Montclair.
No one is unappreciative of those who volunteer for the town. Only a fool would serve who is uninterested in bettering our collective quality of life. Though, I do feel that so many of these volunteers are serving in a bit of a vacuum. To not allow new blood into these roles is to claim that the status quo performance has been exemplary and there is no need for new ideas. Last night’s quote by Shelley Lombard is one example of what is wrong with not changing the makeup of these boards. She said, “We all know the economy is not recovering the way we thought it might.” No one on the outside of the vacuum thought the economy was recovering. Those living in the private sector, outside of the heavily government subsidized Wall Street sector, continue to witness layoffs and benefit cuts. The only thing that is increasing is corporate earnings, but this is do to continued cuts in labor (us) and asking the remaining to be more productive than ever. This is evidenced in the unemployment numbers which refuse to come down. Someone from the outside might have said, things are tough and we need to develop contingencies just in case this recovery is not real. The town council should have done the same when it came to relying on transitional aid to lower the municipal tax levy. But what do I know Mayor? I don’t have a tax-reform group at my beckon call.
>
> Why is it that the mentally ill homeless person who used to live in Crane Park was moved to Erie Park (just a few feet away from my home) when the town had no legal right to do so? Yet when we contacted the police, the town manager and Renee, all have told us it would be illegal to remove her. Let me correct that. Marc never even acknowledged our concern.
>I don’t know anything about this. When was the last time you contacted Mr. Dashield about it? I’d be happy to follow up if you give me a >chronology.
>JF
This issue has been resolved and I thank you for the assistance on it.
By the way, my wife and I have been pestering various members of this and the prior town council about performing another reval. So many other towns have done this to the tune of enormous tax savings. We were told by the prior town council that this couldn’t be done. We bothered Cary at least three times over the last two years with this issue as it is a no-brainer, and he always came back and said that he would look into it but the council does not see it as a priority or doable. The town would have saved upwards of 2 million dollars if they listened to us. My wife is a bit of an expert in this area. Well now I see we finally have approval to make this happen in 2012. We will probably spend close to another 2 million before we level the property tax playing field. One simple solution offered by this one ‘angry’ family was ignored to the tune of 4 million dollars. This is just terrible.
I called Joan, our tax assessor, this morning to see if she was will willing to negotiate with us prior to our appeal for tax year 2011. She said she does not do this. Glen Ridge has been doing this for years to save on attorney costs and overpayments to the county that the town does not get back in the case of a successful appeal. Once again, Montclair is giving up big bucks and these two issues smack of incompetence.
I am not surprised by this after reading your quote about people who appeal their taxes. You were quoted saying, “Along with this are the many property tax appeals which benefit the few and harm the many.” This is so wrong on so many levels. It is my democratic right to appeal my taxes. It is also an absolute necessity in the face of town council after town council who couldn’t balance a budget if Montclair discovered oil under the municipal building.
So in closing, I really have one last question that I think needs to be answered. Are escalating property taxes not a factor in ones quality of life?
>
> Do you have any answers to these questions?
>
>
> From: Jerry Fried
> To: Libtard
> Sent: Sat, October 9, 2010 5:14:45 PM
> Subject: if you’re really interested in the truth…
>
> Try using facts to make your point, not rumors. “He refused to meet with them” is a lie. It’s usually better to try and find out if something is true before repeating it as fact. When the source you’re citing remains “anonymous”, there’s usually a reason to be suspicious.
>
> JF
>
>
Pat (151 yesterday):
“”Why monkeys? I just can’t understand why the fun coin machines in the supermarket don’t take gold.
“And make that crunching sound like the ticket eater machine at Chuck E Cheese.”
This was the funniest thing I’ve read here in weeks. Thank you. Those without kids, you’ll get it in a few years.
I submit post #158 as evidence that we have sunk squarely into Third World status.
I think I’ll hang out at the local reservoir, shooting jet-skiers and beheading sheriff’s officers.
Yo’me not getting into a TARP debate anymore, since It literally is water under the bridge. However during the bank run in 2008 Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley became bank holding companies at the height of the financial crisis, in order to gain access to cheap FED funds as liquidity dried up in the market, as well as reassure the customers during the bank runs of 2008.
The Dodd -Frank law as written gives the FDIC a year to write up the rules for unwinding these companies. They the FDIC now has the power to continue to operate the TBTF company all they would do is remove the officers and board and appoint someone to run things until it can be unwound and transferred etc. Trading Operations would continue, so there would be no run on the bank, FDIC would I gather provide liquidity if needed. Either way I don’t think the FDIC would for example attempt to take over Citi, JPMorgan, Goldman and BoA and Morgan Stanley at the same time.
There is a public comments section for the FDIC, you can post your comment directly to them.
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Implementing Certain Orderly Liquidation Authority Provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
Comment Period End: November 18, 2010
http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/federal/propose.html
Lamar,
How about a few virtual kidnappings? (google it if you dont know it)
Bank Shareholders got crushed, BAC at $12 and C at $4 today, still a crushing blow. Junior Debt holders (perf) go crushed too. Senior debt holders and bank depositors did not get crushed. Nor should we.
One of my parent’s friends got taken in one of these virtual kidnappings. She swore it was her daughter on the phone. I told my folks that if I ever got kidnapped, they should simply thank the kidnappers.
Lib, when good ole Jerry runs for re-election you should post his idiotic rant for all his constituents to see. you truly live in the land of the idiots.
my funny story about local elections; I was cutting wood while in the driveway of my shiny used home in tony Morris county when a car pulls in. Woman gets out mid thirties, not JJ material, hands me a card (demorat) states she is running for mayor and could she put a sign in my yard. Politely thanked her for the card and said sure. The catch being you could only put it where there is poison ivy and she had to roll around in it prior to getting back in her car. Of course her response was that the request was unreasonable as the benefits were exceedingly outweigned by the negatives. I looked at her, smiled, and retorted “now you know what it feels like to pay taxes in NJ.” She huffed and drove off. There is no fixing stupid
Clot: You got it right. Great Depression II and maybe the revolution. UE masked but at record levels; fiat money circling the drain; enough debt to gag a galaxy; social mores breaking down because only idiots play by the rules; lack of faith in gov’t retards to do anything right; we’ve hit the reset button but I’ll be out of Makers Mark before the SHTF.
laugh of the day
The White House warned banks Tuesday it would pursue them for any mortgage practices that violated the law, piling pressure on the financial sector after two institutions lifted their freezes on home foreclosures.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/39741136
LOL If that was true then it is safe to assume that Bank of America will shortly be out of business. Heck, that would probably mean that all of the TBTF banks are about to be litigated out of business.
To bad there is no real media source that calls these idiots out.
lib (65)-
I would think you’d tell them to start looking at Jerry Fried as suspect #1.
“I told my folks that if I ever got kidnapped, they should simply thank the kidnappers.”
hyde (68)-
They’re all in on the bank robbery. All else is smokescreen.
pain (66)-
Wouldn’t it have just been easier to fire a left jab to her nose?
Dang…you even had an ax handy.
71 lamar
all he was missing was a wood chipper and he would have some excellent fresh compost for his vegetable garden!
If anybody’s in the midtown area, Celebrity Apprentice is filming right now (til 3pm) at La Famiglia Pizza on 50th and Broadway. The women’s team is running the pizzeria for their challenge.
Fat man sitting on a little stool
Takes the money from my hand while his eyes take a walk all over you
Hands me two tickets smiles and whispers good luck, well
Cuddle up angel cuddle up my little dove
And we’ll ride down baby into this tunnel of love
For U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, a weaker dollar may now be in the national interest.
The dollar has dropped more than 7 percent since Aug. 27, when Chairman Ben S. Bernanke signaled the Federal Reserve is prepared to ease monetary policy. Where once such a decline may have been met with resistance from the U.S., Geithner may now be tolerating it as a way of bolstering the recovery.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart said on Tuesday that further easing by the Fed has to be large enough to help boost demand, and purchases of $100 billion of securities a month would be a possibility.
“If we’re going to pursue another round of quantitative easing, it has to be a large enough number to make a difference,” Lockhart said in an interview on CNBC.
“As a monthly number ($100 billion) is fairly consistent with what we did before, and so I think it would certainly be in the range of numbers one might consider … but if you were talking about $100 billion as simply the overall program, I think that’s too small,” he said.
Most analysts expect the Fed to announce another round of large-scale asset purchases at its next policy meeting scheduled for November 2-3, and expect buying of around $500 billion overall.
Lockhart said he is leaning toward providing further help to the weak recovery.
“I think the risks associated with it are acceptable,” he said. “Quantitative easing will help improve a recovery that is going very slowly and improve the trajectory of the economy overall
Speaking of kidnapping, one Thursday night I was at an old meat market, North Shore Grill. Meet these two single girls around 28. One is smoking hot. Hot enough that I approached them the moment they walk in as in a meat market time is of the essence.
Ok, I am by my self with no wingman and one of the girls looked fairly sensible. Buy them a round, then I think I can’t keep buying them drinks, I am here by myself and I can’t close tonight, so I remember I have basketball tickets for that Saturday and I go to hot blonde, you like basketball, she goes, who doesn’t so I ask her to game she says yes.
Now comes the weird part. Since game is at 7pm, I go how about I pick you up around 4pm and we go for something to eat and drinks before game, once again ok.
So I pick her up and she lives at home, no clue that was going to happen she never mentions it. Parents had no clue I was coming, Dad was in boxers unshaven laying on coach. She goes see you later and off she goes with me. Parents don’t ask who I am but girl did say she met me in a bar two days earlier.
Ok, 4pm pick up, TGIF appetizers, food and drinks, basketball game, then back to a bar across the street from my apt, then to my apt, now it is 2am, can I drive you home, nope, why, do you want to call home, (girl has no cell with her), nope. Fall asleep, wake up fool around, have coffee, hinting I have to go out, she hits showers, whips out undies and a toothbrush. Well at this point hungry I say I really need some eggs, well onto diner, now I am thinking good dressed fed lets get her home, now it is getting crazy, she goes why don’t we get a video and get some snacks and go back to your place, , I was exhusted from hang over and the fact this girl was like a bunny, and I actually passed out at 6pm and woke up at 8pm starving, she orders chinese take out, finally I get her in the car at 11pm Sunday from a 4pm saturday date, walk her to door, Dad is laying down on coach still in boxers smoking a stogie and she goes good night dad, he just nods.
Turns out, this girl dropped of college at 19, got engaged, moved in, broke engagement, moved back home, re-moved out with some guy, moved back home switch majors and restarted college full time and parents wanted her butt out the door. Mom and Dad really could care less if I kidnapped daughter and left her in ditch. I swear if something happened to that girl no one would care. Even more amazing she was like 5 foot seven, 119 beautiful blonde girl, kidnappers delight.
Now this story is not an isolated incident four times this happened. Favorite of all time a girl who moved back home where Mom Remarried and Step Dad clearly did under assumption no kids. First time picking her up Step Dad was in fight with her. I ring bell Step Dad answers while still yelling, I am taking girl to a wedding so I am in a suit and she is dressed up, guy yells at me is that your Mercedes, I go yes, he goes lease or own, I say own, yells where do you live I say I have an apartment, he goes rent or own, I go own. Guy turns and goes to step daughter, you got a guy here in a suit, with a job who owns a Mercedes and a Coop why the heck are you livin here, you should get out and marry him. I was going to ask for a goat or something but he slammed door.
Steve Martin once said in planes, trains and automobiles a story is more interesting if it has a point, so I guess point is no ransom paid here.
78: Draper,
That would have been a good story from me. From you, B-. Was expecting better after your second sentence. I take it neither was a Pagan?
Meet these two single girls around 28.
Nancy Pelosi isn’t the most popular person in her party these days. But that’s not keeping her off the campaign trail.
The House Speaker, who Republicans have dubbed the “wicked witch” of Washington, told a union crowd in Pittsburgh on Monday that it’s crucial the Democrats win in the midterm elections.
She made no mention about current anti-incumbent, anti-Obama, and anti-Pelosi sentiment. But soon after her speech, — where protestors rallied outside — the Republican Party of Pennsylvania noted that endangered Democratic Reps. Jason Altmire, Kathy Dahlkemper and Mark Critz were “no shows” at the event.
While she fares much better in her own state, other embattled House Democrats, like Georgia’s Jim Marshall and Mississippi’s Gene Taylor, have tried to distance themselves from the once-popular politician, vowing to not support her for Speaker.
A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that Pelosi has a mere 22% approval rating and a 50% disapproval rating, which makes her less popular than President Obama, former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin and Minority Leader John Boehner.
Meanwhile, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele brought his “Fire Pelosi Bus Tour,” part of a 100-city-circuit to Louisville, Kentucky to energize the GOP, the Courier-Journal reported.
Republicans need to win 39 seats take control of the House and 10 seats to capture control of the Senate.
Cook Political Report predicted a GOP net gain of at least 40 seats in the House and seven to nine seats in the Senate.
But Pelosi doesn’t seem to be worried about the mounting criticism. And although she’s been the GOP punching bag, most political insiders believe Pelosi will easily be re-elected to her seat.
She recently told an audience during a dinner for Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women Summit her job requires a “suit of armor,” adding if “no one’s talking about you, you have to wonder what you were doing. I view that as a highest compliment that they want to take us down.”
JJ – sounds like you were banging Brenda Rinetti
JJ – you gotta write a book or something
Friend of mine pointed this out to me the other day. What word is conspicuous in it’s absence from campaign posters this time around?
Re-elect.
I’m going to split the difference and mold my own bullets out of Gold. This way I’m covered either way.
78. Say if that were my daughter, it’d be ‘you’ they’d be filing the missing person’s report on monday.
Who had Tom Bosley in the dead pool?
I wonder what John’s organs are worth in Deal, NJ.
How bout dem Yankees?
Bank of America Corp NY Fed and PIMCO reportedly requesting a BAC repurchase of mortgages
….need more popcorn!
Hyde -run out and get some more popcorn, Congress won’t be back till the third week in January. Unless Turbo Timmay decides to go off the reservation and re-open TARP this is going to get messy.
Quote of the day on getting paid off at par for the MBS put-back mess.
When you get people saying, ‘I bought a Chevy Vega, but I wanted to be in a Mercedes with a 12-cylinder’ … we’re not putting up with that,” said CEO Brian Moynihan.
JJ,
Anybody else vote JJ go back and review JPM’s financials and leave us alone.
/runs out to get popcorn and fruity drinks with paper umbrellas
Mikeinwaiting
kroghs at 7pm?
JJ,
Usually, your stories are better.
Hyde – gonna need party balloons too.
Pacific Investment Management Co., BlackRock Inc. and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York are seeking to force Bank of America Corp. to repurchase soured mortgages packaged into $47 billion of bonds by its Countrywide Financial Corp. unit, people familiar with the matter said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-19/pimco-new-york-fed-said-to-seek-bank-of-america-repurchase-of-mortgages.html
sx (87)-
Worth nada. Trayf.
re: #74 – would you buy pizza from this guy?
http://gawker.com/5667849/gary-busey-yells-at-pedestrians-for-celebrity-apprentice
Juice,
Good thing BAC restarted its foreclosure process when most of them are illegitimate. Nothing like 120,000 cases of fraud committed by single corp.
juice (91)-
Problem is, the Chevy Vega was marketed as being a Mercedes.
juice (98)-
There’s another idiot, asking for a left jab to the snout.
Gee…I wonder if Tangelo Mazola’s deal with Justice shields him from further legal or financial exposure to the vomit-up of the billions in worthless sausage he and his henchmen ground and stuffed down these idiot investors’ throats.
Vigoda…will…not…die!!!!!
101. He was good in Buddy Holly. Give the man that…
Also liked him in Point Break, FWIW
I’d say his breaking point came when he fell off that motorcycle on his head.
Is Gary still job hunting?
Got this in email:
THE NORTHERN NEW JERSEY JOB FAIR
Wednesday, Oct. 20 – 10:30a to 2:00p
Holiday Inn – Somerset
195 Davidson Ave., Somerset, NJ
==Account Executives, Advertising, Associate Director, Asst. Store Managers, Financial Sales Reps, Insurance Sales Agents, Marketing Associate (P/T), Outside Sales Reps, Retail, Sales Agents and Satellite TV Installers==
Please go to http://www1.jobnotification.com/
for details and to per-register for quick access to this event.
107. Those things sucked when the economy was good. Cannot imagine the absolute waste of time one of those would be now.
Probably have better luck finding a job by standing out in front of a corporate center with your resume on a sandwich board.
71 Lamar yeah but i had the problem of disposing of the car, and unfortunately no woodchiiper available. although, I do have a turkey frier.
Pain,
Nommy, deep fried long pig!
Hyde what was the name of that cookbook again?
The end is nigh……………
New Jersey Turnpike Bowling League Among $43 Million of Waste, Audit Finds
By Dunstan McNichol – Oct 19, 2010 11:40 AM ET Tweet LinkedIn Share
Business ExchangeBuzz up!DiggPrint Email .The New Jersey Turnpike Authority paid employees millions of dollars in inappropriate bonuses, including $227,000 for working on birthdays and $3.8 million a year for unused sick days, state Comptroller Matthew Boxer said.
The toll-road operator, which collects $1.1 billion in annual revenue and plans to issue $2.5 billion in bonds by year- end, paid the $12,000 cost of sponsoring an employee bowling league, according to a report released today by Boxer’s office. The agency also gave employees $430,000 of free rides on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway and overpaid a private law firm $224,000 last year, the audit found.
The bonuses enabled at least five of the agency’s senior managers to earn more last year than the $141,000 paid to New Jersey Cabinet members including Transportation Commissioner James Simpson, according to the report. The bonuses were being paid as the authority increased tolls in December 2008 and plans to raise them again in 2012, Boxer said.
“While tolls are going up, the Turnpike Authority is overpaying its employees, overpaying its management, overpaying for its health plan and overpaying for legal services,” Boxer said in a statement.
No Free Rides
Some of the bonuses and perks cited by the comptroller, such as annual bonuses for employees on the job for more than ten years and free toll passes for employees, have been eliminated, Veronique Hakim, executive director of the Turnpike Authority, said in a written response to the report.
“There is no evidence to support a finding that the authority’s executive management negotiators did not always negotiate in a manner that was in the best interests of the authority,” the response says.
The authority collected $950 million in tolls last year. Its operating expenses were $481 million, with the remaining revenue allocated to debt-service payments and reserves, the report says.
The authority is scheduled to sell $2 billion in taxable Build America Bonds and $538 million in refunding bonds before Dec. 31 as part of a seven-year, $7 billion capital program.
Each of the Turnpike Authority’s 10 labor contracts is due to expire next year, according to the report.
Fran Ehret, president of International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers Local 194, which represents Turnpike workers, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
PtDk6m bkrgvoarscvx, [url=http://kvjxpwepmzkd.com/]kvjxpwepmzkd[/url], [link=http://yhwezwzwlaze.com/]yhwezwzwlaze[/link], http://rmvuodbvouqx.com/
Juice,
Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago sues BofA over MBS quality
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago is suing Bank of America (BAC: 12.1091 -1.87%) for allegedly providing misinformation regarding residential mortgage-backed securities sold to the firm between 2005 and 2007.
According to a letter to investors from President and CEO of the FHLBC, Matthew Feldman, the securities listed in the complaint totaled more than $4.3 billion and were all rated triple-A when purchased.
“We contend that the quality of the loans that comprise the pools of securities cited in today’s complaints was inconsistent with the description in the pre-purchase documents prepared by the underwriters and issuers of the securities,” Feldman wrote.
It’s a party!!!!
Possibly the best title of an adult movie in years…..maybe since the Sperminator….
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1298566/
unmod?
116.chicagofinance says:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
October 19, 2010 at 4:19 pm
Possibly the best title of an adult movie in years…..maybe since the Sp-rminator….
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1298566/
Looks like the trade wars are heating up…
China Is Said to Halt Exports to U.S. of Some Key Minerals
By KEITH BRADSHER, NYT
Published: October 19, 2010
HONG KONG — China, which has been blocking shipments of crucial minerals to Japan for the last month, has now quietly halted shipments of some of those same materials to the United States and Europe, three industry officials said on Tuesday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/business/global/20rare.html?hp
JJ
It looks like your Buddy at PIMCO might have run quite the game on BAC.
Lets say you’re B of A and you had a RMBS that had an initial value of $10,000,000. During the height of the initial crisis the value dropped 30% and B of A just wanted to get it off of their books, so they sold it to Pimco for 7,000,000. So B of A just ate $3,000,000. Now you’re Pimco, you knew some crazy shit was going on in these RMBSs, you figure out B of A sold you a ‘defective’ RMBS and legally you have a right to put it back on B of A at par. So Pimco makes B of A repurchase the security at par $10,000,000. Pimco makes $3,000,000 and B of A is out another $3,000,000 and stuck with the same shittty RMBS. Uh oh!!!
Scenario Recap:
B of A: -$6,000,000 + Holding shittty RMBS
Pimco: +$3,000,000, 40%+ gain on shittty RMBS for holding it for a year or two.
Here is a new twist, Securitized lawsuits?
Franklin created a clearing house where investors can pool claims and potentially create the necessary legal clout to force mortgage lenders to buy back improperly made loans at the heart of the securities.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-23/mortgage-investors-target-banks-using-texas-lawyer-s-novel-clearing-house.html
Carl Paladino and Meg Whitman…GOP running mates 2012 POTUS election.
sounds like the banks will be busy
Shovel Ready:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg6xD9Jolyc
(regards to Pat)
MERS’s relationship to the bank that owned a loan in question was “more akin to that of a straw man than to a party possessing all the rights given a buyer,” the Kansas Supreme Court wrote. “What stake in the outcome of an independent action for foreclosure could MERS have?”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-19/u-s-electronic-mortgage-registry-comes-under-fire-in-foreclosure-crisis.html
12. Sweet.
Hyde 94 Just got in sorry. Got held up, will try your cell.
Does anyone know of a good tax appeal processor in Northern NJ? Thinking about buying a home, but the taxes are outrageous. If you buy a home for $200,000 less than the appraised value, is it reasonable to assume, an appeal would lower the property taxes significantly to make a difference? Thanks for any advice.
Thebest tax appealers I know are Stu md Gator. The dynamic duo of tax appeals.
Open mouth, insert foot, forget about winning senate seat:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=682971&f=77
md = and
Uncle Jay,
It’s no guarantee, although it is likely. Google property tax appeal and learn how it works. It’s really quite simple actually. It’s all about comparing your home and amenities to that of your neighbors. If some sucker overpays on the house next door, your assessment will end up in the middle. If there are three similar houses that others overpaid for, the assessor will say you got a lucky deal and will not offer you a break. Gator can explain it better.
Want to know how much coin your Doc is getting for “consulting” work for big pharma?
Gotta wonder about the kiddie doc and their relationship w Lilly and what about the endocrinologist who seems to do a lot of work for GSK.
http://projects.propublica.org/docdollars/top_earners
NJC,
You have mail, from the very-deep south.
10 labor contracts for the NJ Tpk?
Stu,
How are you recovering?
7.5 days until the cast is removed and potentially taking the first step. I am staying in good spirits and my dog is very happy about the injury although scared of my crutches.
I have managed to finish the internet twice now.
Thanks for asking.
6Mo8eO lylqzijtsich, [url=http://oiugvxqzkqcm.com/]oiugvxqzkqcm[/url], [link=http://vuhxujvbewie.com/]vuhxujvbewie[/link], http://eoonuqlvtvrl.com/
Hmmm.. I guess TPTB are postponing Armageddon……
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20101019/sc_livescience/endoftheearthpostponed
So treasure every moment that you have!
Inspirational…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJWRekqYE2E&feature=related
‘Wealth Transfer’
One of those subsidies is the $350 billion that savers forgo each year because the Fed keeps interest rates near zero, according to Petzel’s calculations. While banks can borrow at close to zero from the Fed, they lend to consumers and corporations at almost 5 percent, or to the Treasury at 2.5 percent, and they get to keep the difference.
“The huge wealth transfer from fixed-income pensioners to the banks has helped the banks repay TARP,” Petzel said.
The government and the Fed took on more risk than just TARP during the crisis, which isn’t reflected in the program’s cost, said Nomi Prins, a former Goldman Sachs managing director and author of the 2009 book, “It Takes a Pillage: Behind the Bailouts, Bonuses, and Backroom Deals from Washington to Wall Street.”
According to Prins’s tally, the money plowed into the financial system to prop it up peaked at $19.4 trillion. Banks have benefited from that cash, which helped keep prices of mortgage securities, house prices and other assets overvalued, Prins said in an interview. Even though some of the support has been withdrawn, part of it will likely be lost, such as the hundreds of billions of dollars put into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, she said.
“These are all indirect subsidies the banks got,” Prins said. “So the TARP gains touted by the Treasury are only true if you ignore all the other costs.”
shore (129)-
Dunno. The dumber you are, the more successful you might be in US politics.
It’s not exactly an incubator for rocket scientists.
I was at the Upper Monclair country club yesterday. I saw lots of small houses wedged close to each other. What’s the difference between Montclair and Upper Montclair?
Ok nomad 132, I’ll explain it for you since I work in Clinical Research, All Hype can as well. Those consulting fees typically are for enrolling patients into new drug studies. Without those studies, which are a requirement to get any new drug on the market, pharma companies can not tell if a particular treatment is safe an effective. Studies are labor intensive and costly. They require additional staff, and space that the physician has to pay for. If the doctor is a key opinion leader, he make a little more in publishing fees but overall those consulting fees are used to supplement their practice so they can treat more patients in a cost effective manner. Especially since malpractice insurance is insanely high. While there are some doctors who line there pockets with the money, there are bad apples in every proffesion, the increase in overall compensation to most doctors is minimal when you account for overhead.
There you just learned something and I justified my phony baloney job. Although, if you want to just take aspirin for everything or see a witch doctor. Feel free to get the torches and round the mob up to burn a few doctors. Blame them for leveraging their experience and knowledge for a few extra bucks while employing more people.
Also when did it become a crime to use your knowledge and skillset to make more money in this country.
The lawyer running this BAC take-down Talcott Franklin works out of his house in Texas and is using attorney client privilege in a game of Texas Hold-em so nobody has to reveal their exposure to the MBS.
His clients know as “The Syndicate” are investors representing over $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities, they combined own bonds giving them 25% of voting rights in over 2,300 deals, 50% voting rights in more than 900 deals, and 66% voting rights of the bonds in more than 450 deals.
Turbo Timmay is probably regretting shutting TARP down prematurely and Bernake may need to do a QE2 Helicopter drop sooner rather than later.
Funny thing is if Paulson and Geither actually used TARP for what it was legislated for which was to buy up all of the junk mortgages in the first place, we probably would not be in this predicament TWO years later.