From Bloomberg:
New Jersey’s October Unemployment Rate Falls to 9.2% With Business Hires
New Jersey’s unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage point to 9.2 percent last month, the lowest since May 2009, as businesses recruited workers, according to the state’s labor department and data compiled by Bloomberg.
Total employment in the state rose by 2,600 jobs to 3.8 million, with all the gains coming from companies hiring in October. The federal, state and local government workforce shrank 2,200 overall while private businesses created 4,800 jobs, the department said in a news release today.
Businesses in the state have added a net 1,500 jobs this year through October, compared with 111,000 jobs eliminated during the same period a year earlier, the figures show.
New Jersey lost 16,100 jobs in September, according to revised data, compared with a preliminary estimate of 20,200 jobs lost, the department said.
The state’s unemployment rate was below the national unemployment rate of 9.6 percent in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Industries that hired the most last month include professional and business services that added 2,700 jobs, and financial services, which added 1,600, the state said.
Although we seem to have lost track of the 7,200 workers who left the labor force.
From the Daily Record:
Montville, NJ, man, son plead guilty in $4.5M mortgage fraud scheme
A Montville resident and his son pleaded guilty to theft charges Wednesday for stealing approximately $4.5 million from mortgage lenders by providing false information in home loan applications handled by their Totowa-based real estate firms.
…
Between December 2005 and September 2007, the defendants deceived seven mortgage lenders into providing approximately $4.5 million in loans for purchases of 14 homes. Six homes were in Paterson, six in Newark and two in East Orange, the release said.
“These defendants preyed on vulnerable investors, using them in a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders of $4.5 million,” said Attorney General Paula Dow. “The results were defaulted loans, foreclosures, and communities blighted with dilapidated homes.”
From the Record:
NJ’s commercial foreclosures continue at 2009 pace
New Jersey reported 1,116 commercial real estate foreclosures through September, six fewer than were filed at that point last year, as owners of income-generating properties remained under stress.
The state had 1,471 commercial mortgages last year, the most since at least 2006, according to records provided by the New Jersey judiciary.
That lenders and loan servicers are going to court to take back New Jersey properties at the same pace as last year is a sign of continuing strain on owners of income-producing properties — office buildings, shopping centers, apartments, hotels and industrial sites.
From the Press of Atlantic City:
Atlantic City casinos’ third quarter gaming profits slump 24 percent
Casino operating profits tumbled 24.3 percent to $209.8 million in the third quarter, including losses at Atlantic City’s two weakest gaming halls.
…
The third quarter includes the peak summer tourism season and is traditionally the casinos’ strongest money-making period. Yet third-quarter earnings have declined five years in a row amid the fragile economy.
From HousingWire:
CoreLogic: Mortgage fraud up 20% from 2009
When CoreLogic analyzed 7 million loan files in its database, it found the rate of mortgage fraud increased by more than 20% from early 2009 with specific processes and products being targeted.
CoreLogic said fraudsters are migrating toward higher risk, high-volume loan programs particularly the Federal Housing Administration, and the government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program. Short sales and REO sales continue to be a favorite among fraudsters as well.
An honest loan is hard to find
The woman who runs the NJ casino commission has a mental problem . She’s on a different planet .
#2
“Six homes were in Paterson, six in Newark and two in East Orange”
The trifecta of best places to live in NJ. None in Irvington. Hmm, must be too close to Maplewood. I wouldn’t want to live in a town that borders Maplewood either.
From CNBC:
Mortgage Rate Spike: How High Will They Go?
Higher yields on 10-year treasury bonds are wreaking havoc on mortgage rates, but will they do the same to housing’s recovery? A jump in rates was enough to prompt online home sale site Zillow.com to put out a “Media Alert” that the 30-year fixed had reached 4.34 percent—the highest rate reported on the site in 16 weeks.
…
“While the Federal Reserve expected a second round of quantitative easing to push yields down, or at least keep them low, the opposite appears to be happening,” writes Zillow’s Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries in the release. “This trend has only been exacerbated in the past week when fears increased that the bond-buying program might be facing political challenges which ran counter to market expectations that the government would be in the marketplace.”
So how high will rates go?
…
With 7 million borrowers either facing or already in foreclosure, big banks facing whippings in Congress and many-fold investigations over foreclosure practices, and home prices taking a turn for the worse, rising mortgage rates will only put another barrier in front of would-be buyers. 4.34 percent is still an historically, ridiculously low interest rate, but a quarter-point jump in mortgage rates inside of a week is a bullet to buyer confidence.
From the WSJ:
Mortgage Rates Rise, Applications Fall to Four Month Low
Mortgage applications plunged last week to a four-month low after mortgage rates jumped to 4.46% for an average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, up from 4.28% in the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported on Wednesday.
Overall applications were down 14.4%, but the plunge was sharper among refinances, which are much more sensitive to swings in rate. Refinance applications were down 16.5%, to the lowest level since July, while purchase applications were down 5%.
The MBA attributed the increase in rates to stronger economic data and “lingering uncertainty regarding the structure and impact” of the Federal Reserve’s new round of debt purchases. Rates have become incredibly volatile over the past week as investors have sold off mortgage-backed securities. Yields on the 10-year Treasury note, to which mortgage rates are closely tied, have climbed steadily over the past week.
The state wants to steal the unused gift card money. How low can they go ?
#11 – What, you are surprised? They already have their hands in your wallet to get your cash, why not your cards too?
From the Washington Post:
More bad news for 3 struggling AC casinos
Quarterly financial information released Wednesday by New Jersey casino regulators paints a grim picture for Atlantic City’s three most endangered casinos.
Financial figures for the third quarter of this year show big losses for the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort, which is trying to restructure its debt and hasn’t made a loan payment in nearly a year and a half, and the Resorts Atlantic City, which is trying to hold on for three more weeks until new owners take over.
The numbers released by the state Casino Control Commission also show gross operating profits at Trump Marina Hotel Casino fell by more than 96 percent to just $247,000.
…
The news was also bad for Resorts, the nation’s first casino to open outside Nevada. It is due to be taken over by Dennis Gomes, a veteran casino industry executive, and New York real estate developer Morris Bailey in early December for the cut-rate price of $35 million – by far the lowest price ever paid for an Atlantic City casino.
Resorts reported a gross operating loss of $2.9 million for the quarter compared to a gross operating profit of $706,000 a year ago.
The new owners are terminating all employees when they take over and requiring anyone who wants to stay to reapply for their jobs, but at lower salaries.
“Affidavit two-step”: occurs when a lender replaces false and/or forged affidavits in a foreclosure with fresh, new “legitimate” documents. GMAC has done close to 10,000 in the short period of time that’s passed between the breaking of the Fraudclosure news and now.
I saw one yesterday. It’s hard to believe that any judge who is not mentally disabled couldn’t read one of these documents and realize it’s just as bogus as the one it replaced.
I guess having someone at the bank read a document, then sign it in the presence of an actual notary is enough to have the court consider it true.
Even if the document is premised on a lie or is full of lies.
Even if the document is premised on a lie or is full of lies.
More honesty in the drug trade.
Anyone needing to vomit can find world class thug and influence-peddler Steve Rattner on Squawk right now, taking “credit” for GM.
We are truly fcuked. Next stop, oblivion.
did anyone ask that rat ,rattner where he stands with the NY AG.
Green flashing across the globe.JJ must be waking up in a good mood.
Grim Number 3 – Not just the office buildings, shopping centers, apartments, hotels and industrial sites but these little 1 bay warehouses, mom & pop deli buildings etc. My mechanic had his 3 bay repair shop along with a combination used car lot for sale back in 2005 with an offer of $1,000,000 on it. His greediness paid off and now he’s lucky if he can get a little over $500K for the property. Comes out to about 15000 oil changes to make up for the difference.
From the Irish Times:
IT MAY seem strange to some that The Irish Times would ask whether this is what the men of 1916 died for: a bailout from the German chancellor with a few shillings of sympathy from the British chancellor on the side. There is the shame of it all. Having obtained our political independence from Britain to be the masters of our own affairs, we have now surrendered our sovereignty to the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. Their representatives ride into Merrion Street today.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/1118/1224283626246.html?via=rel
HERE COMES THE BULLDOZERS!
Rust Belt Cities Raze Homes as Defaults Blight Neighborhoods
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-18/rust-belt-cities-demolish-homes-as-foreclosures-blight-cleveland-detroit.html
“HERE COMES THE BULLDOZERS!”
Cool make sure they pay a visit to Xanadu
GM IPO risk factor page 30 of their prospectus:
“We have determined that our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting are currently not effective. The lack of effective internal controls could materially adversely affect our financial condition and ability to carry out our business plan.
Our management team for financial reporting, under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our internal controls. At December 31, 2009, because of the inability to sufficiently test the effectiveness of remediated internal controls, we concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective. At September 30, 2010 we concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective at a reasonable assurance level because of the material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting that continued to exist. Until we have been able to test the operating effectiveness of remediated internal controls and ensure the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures, any material weaknesses may materially adversely affect our ability to report accurately our financial condition and results of operations in the future in a timely and reliable manner. In addition, although we continually review and evaluate internal control systems to allow management to report on the sufficiency of our internal controls, we cannot assure you that we will not discover additional weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. Any such additional weakness or failure to remediate the existing weakness could materially adversely affect our financial condition or ability to comply with applicable financial reporting requirements and the requirements of the Company’s various financing agreements. ”
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1467858/000119312510263484/d424b1.htm
You can’t make sh*t like that up. Sounds like it definately is being run by the government. “Well we may become a profitable company if you believe the numbers we’ve made up.”
While ‘money printing’ is most associated with the U.S. right now, the world’s fastest emerging superpower is actually expanding its supply of currency at a far more rapid rate.
Even when adjusted for higher GDP growth, China leads U.S. money printing by a mile
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/china-printing-press-2010-11#ixzz15dbixp9O
[1] grim
and/or the state.
“Higher yields on 10-year treasury bonds are wreaking havoc on mortgage rates, but will they do the same to housing’s recovery?”
[9],
What recovery? The duration and depth, of this bust, will be much worse than the morons can imagine. Lifetime highs are in, lows are far away.
“While the Federal Reserve expected a second round of quantitative easing to push yields down, or at least keep them low, the opposite appears to be happening,”
Bulldoze the fed and take the crooks down with them. Our only hope is to implode and build back. QE is for fools. You can’t paper over paper. No nation has ever printed their way to prosperity. This will not be the first.
[21],
Ireland does not need a bailout. It’s all a charade. It’s the German, French, etc.. banks that need the bailout. Oh, don’t forget the IMF and the feds swap line to the ECB.
He [24],
The govt should have a gold statue of Ken Lay on Penn Ave..
#1 Grim — I can’t figure out how adding a mere 2,600 jobs to the state’s workforce of 3.8 million could lower unemployment by .2% either. It’s got to be another one of those thing where workforce shrunk or more people looked for work that changes the statistics but not the reality.
I would love it if someone could come along and explain this wizardry.
Also how could there have been a net gain of 2,600 jobs in October and yet “Businesses in the state have added a net 1,500 jobs this year through October, compared with 111,000 jobs eliminated during the same period a year earlier, the figures show.” I don’t understand. See I thought 1,500 was less than 2,600 but apparently three’s some exceptions I didn’t know about.
#22 –
Will the last person leaving Cleveland and Detroit turn out the lights.
BTW – anyone think GM is really going to survive? Wonder if it will struggle in the US and ultimately get taken over by a foreign entity for its mfg capabilities and distribution outside of N. America
All we need to know today is that a sham corporation- fully controlled by the gubmint and created from the ruins of the biggest violation of bankruptcy law in history- is rolling out an IPO that is oversubscribed…likely by many of the same people who were blown out in that company’s previous BK. Never mind that many of that corporation’s suppliers are either in or close to BK themselves and that the primary reason for the IPO is to raise cash for unsustainable legacy benefits and to dilute the equity position of the unwilling US taxpayer.
With a foundation like this, how can the cars this sham corporation create be anything other than unsafe at any speed?
Next exit, oblivion.
change (31)-
I think we’ve pretty much all figured out that these UE reports are pure lies. Any rational look at the real state of affairs pegs UE at about 20-22%.
Nomad (32)-
Maybe the Indians should have another 10-Cent Beer Night this season. Whatever flows from that could finish off that vile municipality.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=beernight/080604
“My point was that the wealthiest plutocrats now actually control a greater share of the pie in the United States than in historically unstable countries like Nicaragua, Venezuela and Guyana. But readers protested that this was glib and unfair, and after reviewing the evidence I regretfully confess that they have a point.
That’s right: I may have wronged the banana republics.
You see, some Latin Americans were indignant at what they saw as an invidious and hurtful comparison. The truth is that Latin America has matured and become more equal in recent decades, even as the distribution in the United States has become steadily more unequal.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/opinion/18kristof.html
thank god for the NYPD.
If they wouldn’t hunt down these chess players, next week there might be people playing backgammon.
“Cops bust seven men playing chess in upper Manhattan park”
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/kiddie_pawn_shock_KnKyQ0JfMITAIqGawRJf8J
GM IPO, just checked out the Volt and new Camaro Convertible. Guards at NYSE however would not let me take it out for a spin even after I told them I am an owner of GM.
GO GM!!!
The unemployment nubers will go up next year with all the layoffs at Roche. 1000 people gone from the Nutley campus.
#24 Dissident –
It sure sounds like government workers, but I suspect this loss of control over their accounting is something that developed over a long period of time. It may well have been part of the reason they went down the toilet, starting decades before they finally ended up in the government’s hands. All those GMAC profits concealed their incomprehension of their manufacturing accounting. Then, when it reached endgame, the few good people that had some kind of grasp of the larger picture moved on, leaving behind only the clueless.
IF GM goes up more than 5% today I am buying me a McRib, daddy knows how to party!
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/11/17/why-it-doesn%E2%80%99t-mcmatter-if-you-dont-like-the-mcrib/?t-mcmatter-if-you-dont-like-the-mcrib/
Fifth Grade Teacher
ONE OF THE BEST STORIES I’VE EVER HEARD!
As she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children an untruth. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. However, that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard.
Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath.. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X’s and then putting a big ‘F’ at the top of his papers.
At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child’s past records and she put Teddy’s off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.
Teddy’s first grade teacher wrote, ‘Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners…he is a joy to be around.
His second grade teacher wrote, ‘Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle.’
His third grade teacher wrote, ‘His mother’s death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn’t show much interest, and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren’t taken.’
Teddy’s fourth grade teacher wrote, ‘Teddy is withdrawn and doesn’t show much interest in school. He doesn’t have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class.’
By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy’s. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children’s laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, ‘Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to.’
After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her ‘teacher’s pets..’
A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.
Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in life.
Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he’d stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life.
Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor’s degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer. The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.
The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.
They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, ‘Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference.’
Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, ‘Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.’
(For you that don’t know, Teddy Stoddard is the Dr at Iowa Methodist in Des Moines that has the Stoddard Cancer Wing.)
42
http://www.snopes.com/glurge/teddy.asp
Cancer center was named for a real estate developer.
a teacher who did her job is the best ever? I like where kids have to buy her gifts and she delights in giving kids big F’s on their assignments.
My best teacher was freshman year a new spanish teacher, who was super hot and if we did our work she let us come to her classroom after class and thought us spanish curse words. La Chis Chis es muy grande!!
More importantly it is a BULL MARKET TODAY>
Fifth Grade Teacher
ONE OF THE BEST STORIES I’VE EVER HEARD!
And their off!!
Market Tracker
11/18 9:34:31am ET
Dow+112.50 11,120.38+1.02%Nasdaq+32.7 62,508.77+1.32%S&P 500+14.02 1,192.61+1.19%Treasurys+0.0510-year yield2.92%Oil+1.12Price/barrel$81.56U.S. Dollar-0.0060
God Bless General Motors and the US Auto Industry, they are doing the Lord’s work. The backbone of american capitalism. GM AND THE MCRIB back in the same month. Does it get any better?
Can’t wait till take my Escalade to my Crib to eat my McRib
I guess they didnt factor in boatloads of people taking jobs out of state and many converting from unemployed to early retirement.
The Eurotrash tried to steal our doom with their antics. Looks like the melt up is back on.
GM Tweet
9:43a @matthewinc02More interested in pac rim turnaroubd than $GM – though liking the early morning bounce
9:43a @princetontrader$GM CEO’s initial response to question re ability to pay pension obligations. “I think so.” Well, I’m sold. GM is now a well-run co.
9:43a @gtotoyPairs trade Long $GM short $F
9:42a @TheArmoTraderI dont get it. Wasnt $GM priced at 33. So why does it open at 35?? Can anyone explain that? $$
9:42a @BigSpookyam I being too cynical if I see everything today as a giant orchestrated pump? $GM
9:42a @matthewinc02RT @herbgreenberg: this for sure re $GM: don’t expect any SEC investigations anytime soon!!!
9:41a @GETGroupRT @tradefast: sold $GM 35.75 — wanted to be the first idiot to scalp the stock — took out a qtr :) // No wonder you got shut out
9:41a @chitowntrader$GM now up 9%
9:41a @shanedrozdowski$GM IPO opens up at $35/share! Wow! Good sign for markets I feel.
9:40a @weneversleepHaving fun watching T&S/Level 2 quotes for $GM this morning.
9:40a @HRomanticisthysteria might take $GM higher over few days, but i bet it never sees 50.
9:40a @chrisgeorge4General Motors Stock Begins Trading on the New York Stock Exchange $GM $$
9:40a @MrDayer$GM is back! The only question is…. for how long? lol! Silly GM, government is for kids. #mkt #bulls #tlot
9:40a @CentrifugalAdded 5.9% long $GM, 35.64 ave
9:40a @chitowntrader$GM is looking pretty good. Nice 8% open.
9:39a @Street_Insider$GM market cap $52.5B based on $35 opening. Or $63.7B in you include MLC warrants
9:39a @tradefastsold $GM 35.75 — wanted to be the first idiot to scalp the stock — took out a qtr :)
9:39a @MantaPartner$GM … as expected no borrows available.
9:39a @lamonicabuzz$GM is back. Stock opens at $35 a share, 9% above its offering price. At last check, $GM trading at $35.80. So far, so good.
9:38a @krljacob$GM long 1 share lol
9:38a @hankw24hLong $gm 35.42
9:38a @PipCzar$GM finally open $$
9:33a @benzinga$gm to open at $35.35
9:33a @MantaPartnerCome-on you pumpers put that $GM on the quote board and lets see what its made of.
9:32a @__phlox$GM 2.0: same extortionist unions, same shitty cars, new round of “investors” to fleece. have fun with that.
9:32a @SunriseTrader$GM looking to open 35 to 35.25
9:31a @agwarner$GM 35.25 they say on TV
9:30a @princetontraderAll these GM pumpers realize that these bozos still have to sell a car at some point. $GM
Well Charlie Brown’s should be about -2,000 for NJ November.
9:47a @VictorZubarevNew $GM opens at 35.00, high so far $35.99 at 1040ET, now 35.30. #MurreyMath 7/8ths= 35.9375, assume 0/8ths= 25.00, MM 8/8ths= 37.50
JJ,
Any restrictions on how long you got to hold that GM turd before letting it fly?
Up 7.5% Ready for the McRib?
42.Teddy says:
November 18, 2010 at 9:17 am
Fifth Grade Teacher
ONE OF THE BEST STORIES I’VE EVER HEARD
Snopes say’s it’s Fiction!
15 days, but GM is a lifestyle stock like Apple and owning it makes me feel special.
I was a nancy boy the broker had me green lighted for 5,000 shares yesterday, but all RVP/DVP. I sissie’d out and only bought 300 shares.
[50] confused
Paradoxically, the CBs in Brigadoon (yes, there is one) appears to be open.
Lol,
“15 days, but GM is a lifestyle stock like Apple and owning it makes me feel special. ”
That might have been the funniest line I’ve ever heard on this board, awesome:)
Can’t wait for every American’s 401-k mutual fund and pension fund gets their heavy allotment of that sh*t company. Nothing beats getting burned three times over: pre-bankruptcy S&P 500 constituent; taxpayer DIP financing; and now they are going to pump this thing right back into the S&P 500 so every American owns a piece of the POS whether they like it or not .
So what’s the over/under on their going bankrupt again? 10 years?
Prior Consensus Consensus Range Actual
Leading Indicators – M/M change 0.3 % 0.6 % 0.2 % to 0.8 % 0.5 %
Missed consensus
Phillie fed survey
Prior Consensus Consensus Range Actual
General Business Conditions Index – Level 1.0 5.6 4.0 to 9.6 22.5
This killed consensus
Wantan,
Are you watching whats going on at the COMEX?
“”The problem for the big shorts was that not only were they experiencing financial stress due to the rising price, they were unable to reduce their short positions, thereby leaving the source of their problem intact. That was a circumstance that threatened to result in financial ruin if permitted to continue. Faced with that… and the growing awareness by many of the predicament the big shorts were in, they resorted to their only alternative to that ruin–create a large and dramatic sell-off. That was what we began to see [last] Tuesday, with the CME’s criminally-timed silver margin increase and collusive vicious sell-off on Friday, under the cover of general commodity weakness.”
Ted Butler
Crash JP Morgan Buy Silver.
Teddy Number 42 Nice
Bloomberg Set To Announce Thousands Of Layoffs
http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/129152/bloomberg-set-to-announce-thousands-of-layoffs
On the prospects of GM shares.
My advice would be to treat them as if their performance and reliability will mimic the autos they make. Translation, make sure the shares you buy come with OnStar cause your gonna need roadside assistance!
Funny I actually bought a decent amount of GMAC and Ford bonds back in 2009. Lucky for me I did not own any old GM stock or bonds. Actually, underwriters had a 5,000 share limit on GM stock. which is only like $165,000 bucks. That was also for funds. Plus the underwriters put a 10K limit on margin. So it was RVP/DVP to keep flippers out. Tons and Tons of people bought GM, unlike Travelers where people were putting in 100 million dollar orders. Theory being american taxpayers should all have a chance to profit and shareholders, like me are more likely to buy a GM car if they own the stock. I own a 2005 GMC Truck and other than one problem last year with the belts the thing runs great and I plan on keeping it another ten years.
Dissident HEHEHE says:
November 18, 2010 at 10:09 am
Lol,
“15 days, but GM is a lifestyle stock like Apple and owning it makes me feel special. ”
That might have been the funniest line I’ve ever heard on this board, awesome:)
Can’t wait for every American’s 401-k mutual fund and pension fund gets their heavy allotment of that sh*t company. Nothing beats getting burned three times over: pre-bankruptcy S&P 500 constituent; taxpayer DIP financing; and now they are going to pump this thing right back into the S&P 500 so every American owns a piece of the POS whether they like it or not .
So what’s the over/under on their going bankrupt again? 10 years?
Can we now start singing Happy Days are here again? Where is reinvestor he know this song!
The good old days on the NYSE are back too!!
“Ten minutes before the official market opening, more than 100 brokers and traders on the trading floor screamed for recognition, in attempts to buy GM shares.”
In the front of the stock exchange, at 11 Wall Street, a giant blue General Motors sign was posted with a new, silver logo that replaced the iconic GM square logo familiar worldwide. The blue sign reads: “GM NYSE Listed” and “Design, build and sell the world’s best cars, trucks and crossovers.”
http://www.detnews.com/article/20101118/AUTO01/11180438/GM-trades-again–stock-opens-at-$35.40
Bloomberg this AM, Auto analyst paints bullish rosy picture for the Auto Industy in USA gonna sell an additional million units!
We sure as heck got jobs and credit to create that demand too.
ROLF don’t get suckered by the HAL 9000, 35.40 open for GM thanks to the Robots at GETCO…
Lamar,
Ahh .10 beer night, one of Cleveland’s finer moments…
along with a river that burns and the spouse of their mayor who opted for a night of bowling vs meeting the first lady.
Stick a fork in it.
JJ,
Good luck with that!
wow that is good news. My old 1967 Firebird is still on the road and can light up its tires like nobody’s business, meanwhile my 1996 Carmry I sold as it needed a lot of repairs. I will buy a jap car when they learn how to make cars that last 100 years. But I do admit when I went to smoke the tires last summer on the bird I could hear some lifters rattling in my engine. Gonna write a complaint letter to GM, if I have to do an engine rebuild every 44 years it will eat into my maint budget.
Nomad says:
November 18, 2010 at 10:20 am
On the prospects of GM shares.
My advice would be to treat them as if their performance and reliability will mimic the autos they make. Translation, make sure the shares you buy come with OnStar cause your gonna need roadside assistance!
Watching video of armed robbery at a Chuck E. Cheese.
During business hours.
In Newark.
Go figure.
Happy Days Are Here Again / Get Happy
Here is Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand singing it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf53oFb4IKA
“Theory being american taxpayers should all have a chance to profit”
LMAO. LTCM picked up zillions of nickels, in theory.
“In Theory everything is possible; however, I live in Practice and the road to Theory has been washed out.”
Not sure who gets the credit?
AG [59],
JPM, HSBC, etc are desperate to buy at much lower levels. Like magic, MSM reports chaos in Europe, the Euro gets pounded, at the same time margins are increased on the CME. In addition to this, China needs to buy a mint (they hope lower). Like magic, they report inflation is increasing.
On 10% pullbacks buy. If 20%, back up the truck.
Disclaimer- None needed, get out of the USD.
[42]
Darn shame it was a myth. Even with the perception of your average NJEA teacher being what it is, that was somewhat believeable for two reasons: First, it appears to have been decades ago, when a lot of teachers gave a damn, and, second, it really wasn’t that heavy a lift for a teacher to show some modicum of compassion for an obviously troubled teacher.
Something to aspire to, and it turns out to be a hoax.
71.
Wantan,
Im thinking about making a major purchase of bling. Just have to convince the wife.
AG [73],
Be patient, scale in.
GM up 8% today on an annualized basis that is 2,920%. Just kidding, I am not drinking the koolaid.
But really if you think about it, this is why in good times people buy stocks instead of investment properties. After 365 days of work on an investment property if you are turning an 8% return after accounting for all costs you are lucky. Most wives would say didn’t harry up the block make 8% for 30 seconds work getting into the GM IPO. Why didn’t you do that? Of course you can’t hit her with a phone book so you just suck it up.
Can someone tell me the absolute and/or relative increase in the USD monetary base from QE2? I’ve been wondering by how much the USD has been devalued and whether the stock market’s “baked in” gains were in direct proportion to the amount of dollars added to the base.
-from a longtime reader and infrequent poster
JJ [55];
I was a nancy boy the broker had me green lighted for 5,000 shares yesterday, but all RVP/DVP. I sissie’d out and only bought 300 shares.
Good call. From 500 shares max per head to a magical supply 10x more than expected/predicted/planned for? Something’s not right there; makes teh hair on the back of my neck stand up. What did you do to deserve such generousity? Enjoy the novelty of owning your 300 shares, but I wouldn’t buy 5,000 with your money.
goon [76],
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?s%5B1%5D%5Bid%5D=AMBNS
goon [76],
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/BASENS
Anyone have any experience in dealing with Wells-Fargo shortsales in Northern NJ (specifically Bergen County)? How long did it take to get approval? How were they to deal with? Were their counter offers resonable? Etc. Any comments would be helpful. Thanks in advance!
Actually, Oddly enough Smith Barney was the underwriter, since they are not fully integrated with Morgan Stanley did not get a full allocations. So a Smith Barney customer could get whole 5,000 shares, then the same MS customer who put in for 5,000 maybe have only got 500 to 1,000 shares and then a customer at Fidelity or something who put in for 5,000 shares may have only got 100-200 shares.
Interesting, Smith Barney was offering the 5,000 shares to brand new accounts, Schwab and Etrade who were shut out from IPO was mad as you could just open a SB account and get the 5,000 shares.
To me that is marketing, why give it away for free. Since it was RVP/DVP and assets under mgt is important lots of cash in door.
Anon E. Moose says:
November 18, 2010 at 11:03 am
JJ [55];
I was a nancy boy the broker had me green lighted for 5,000 shares yesterday, but all RVP/DVP. I sissie’d out and only bought 300 shares.
Good call. From 500 shares max per head to a magical supply 10x more than expected/predicted/planned for? Something’s not right there; makes teh hair on the back of my neck stand up. What did you do to deserve such generousity? Enjoy the novelty of owning your 300 shares, but I wouldn’t buy 5,000 with your money.
He’s the Cal State Fresno student body president — and an illegal immigrant
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1118-illegal-immigrant-presiden20101118,0,5635027.story
Sad for him but Mom and Dad messed up and they should all leave, whatever fallout there is is his parent’s fault, not yours, mine, or the citizens of California:
“it wasn’t until that night in their kitchen when the high school valedictorian was filling out university applications that they told him a missing detail — he wasn’t a United States citizen. He was born in Mexico. He came to this country when he was 3 years old.”
GM is now below the open already…the robots have been busy.
Let’s look at the BS I mean the Balance Sheet to figure where the IPO money is going since it ain’t gonna be used to build new plants and revitalize the Auto Industry and hire 100k workers.
$2.8 billion to the trust set up to manage health care costs for UAW
$6 billion into its GMs American pension plans
$4 billion or so of preferred stock
$9.3 billion of underfinanced non-U.A.W. retiree obligations
$2.1 billion in preferred stock held by the United States Treasury
After all is said and done they might be able to squeeze out a dividend check for a few cents sometime after the recovery whenever that will be 2012, 2013?
Wan [78, 79],
Thanks. It looks like QE2 has not shown up on these charts yet. Am I correct that it’s just gotten started in November? 11/3 is the last data point here.
I’ve never really understood what was going on w/ QE2. I thought that the amount of currency in circulation was being increased, but I see now that this is not true. Instead, the Fed is purchasing securities from banks so they have more money to lend. I figured the market gains that were “priced in” were the result of their assets being worth more in USD since the USD had been devalued. But I suppose that is wrong, unless you’re factoring in the increase in inflation the Fed is hoping for (up to 2%), but that wouldn’t explain the much larger runup in the stock market.
So what is the reason that gains have been priced in? For the banks, is it just that the ability to sell treasuries back to the Fed at a higher rate than the discount rate adds to their bottom line? If so, why are share price gains baked into the market at large? Is it just that QE2 is expected to provide stimulus at large to the entire economy with increased lending, lower rates, and hence greater ROI?
ANyone wonder why the Mortgagefraud scandal is guarenteed to be papaered over?
-From the Summary Statement of Adam Levitin testifying at the Foreclosure Hearings.
http://financialservices.house.gov/Media/file/hearings/111/Levitin111810.pdf
Adam J. Levitin
Associate Professor of Law
Georgetown University Law Center
Before the
House Financial Services Committee
Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity
“Robo-Singing, Chain of Title, Loss Mitigation, and Other Issues in Mortgage Servicing”
November 18, 2010
“Casino operating profits tumbled 24.3 percent ”
Atlantic city is not easy to get to. Try taking a train there sometime. The Parkway south of Exit 98 is BHAD. It is on the water but there is no highspeed ferry service from either Boston or NY. The airport is a joke. And, much of the town is still a dump.
Huh, it is hard to figure why revenues would fall when alternate venues open. What is the draw? Because it is there? It wass there in the 1930s too, before it wasn’t anymore.
If the city cannot be a shining attraction apart from the casino rooms, there is no reason to travel to gamble there when other reasonable alternatives exist.
“GM is now below the open already”
It will no doubt his its nadir when the USG sells its stake.
Let’s call it the bubble that never happened.
In un-related and under reported news it seems the carbon tax is dead.
The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) announced on October 21, 2010 that it will cease carbon trading this year, When founded in November 2000, CCX’s carbon trading market was predicted to grow anywhere between $500 billion and $10 trillion.
Barack Obama was a board member of the Joyce Foundation that funded the fledgling CCX.
If Al Gore’s Chicago Climate Exchange Suffers Total Failure, Does the MSM Make a Sound?
#80 – kidstar,
They are a pain to work with. They came back with a counteroffer after 4 months, then after title search also wanted me to pay $8k on a $9k lien on the property, and even though they owned both mortgages on the property, could not work out how to properly split the proceeds amongst the 2. I eventually walked away and on to another property. It was not worth the trouble at all. Why sit around with such uncertainty when there are plenty of properties out there just waiting for someone to lowball
Shore [88];
The airport is a joke.
When Bader Field was still open it was an easy and convenient fly-in. Neighborhood notwithstanding, it was a cheap and quick cab ride from the field to any of the boardwalk casinos. The city cut all funding to let the airport deteriorate, until it was forced to close to make way for new real estate development (How’s that going for ya?). AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) pulled their annual convention from AC in protest when Bader closed.
Now its a $30 cab ride each way, the length of which rivals the length of any flight one might take to get there. If a NNJ pilot wants to gamble, he can fly into Groton, CT (Foxwoods/Mohegan); Pocono Mt. (Mt. Airy); Northeast Philly (Parx); Griffis – Rome, NY (Turning Stone); not to mention WVa or DE outlets. Gambling isn’t special anymore. There are many alternatives, including online. People don’t need many reasons to go elsewhere, or decide to stay home and not go at all.
# 91- (Alap)
Thanks for the information. How far was the counteroffer from your original offer? Since you walked away after 4 months of waiting, seems like like they don’t like to negotiate with the buyer?
Its beyond clear at this point that any sane government would force the major banks into receivership and clear the system. To bad the world has gone insane.
Still a boatload of people outside NYSE snapping pictures of chevy volt and camaro convertible. Does Honda or Toyota even sell cars that people want to have their picture taken with the car.
If GM dips I am getting in their mandatory converts with a 5 coupon that went off at 50 today.
We are in a full blown recovery. Money everywhere. Inflation now is the issue.
Juice Box says:
November 18, 2010 at 12:06 pm
GM is now below the open already…the robots have been busy.
Let’s look at the BS I mean the Balance Sheet to figure where the IPO money is going since it ain’t gonna be used to build new plants and revitalize the Auto Industry and hire 100k workers.
$2.8 billion to the trust set up to manage health care costs for UAW
$6 billion into its GMs American pension plans
$4 billion or so of preferred stock
$9.3 billion of underfinanced non-U.A.W. retiree obligations
$2.1 billion in preferred stock held by the United States Treasury
After all is said and done they might be able to squeeze out a dividend check for a few cents sometime after the recovery whenever that will be 2012, 2013?
Ill never buy a GM. There pieces of junk. I bought a saturn when I was a kid and the friggin thing blew a head gasket at 90k miles.
85.
Goon,
QE2 started last week. All this week are POMO days as are most days going into the 1st 2 weeks of Dec.
“Does Honda or Toyota even sell cars that people want to have their picture taken with the car”
JJ,
http://designercars.nl/biler/Honda-model-431.jpg
Before descending into the mine for another day:
“Its beyond clear at this point that any sane government would force the major banks into receivership and clear the system”
I have advocated for quite some time now taking a given troubled bank, stripping it of every good asset, transferring those good assets to a newly-capitalized bank of the same name but the prefix new, and letting the executives and stockholders of the old bank take whatever haircut the receive. If we spend a single dime to bail out banks, it should be to replace the bad actors and replace them with new entities.
While we are at it, we can outlaw derivatives, and void all existing derivative contracts. The downside seems to have proven itself to outweigh any benefit a given firm may derive from them.
Shoreguy …” outlaw derivatives” …..Warren will have no such talk !
82 Does DREAM Act stand for Democrats Re-Engineering A Majority (thanks to illegal immigrants)?
88 If the city cannot be a shining attraction apart from the casino rooms, there is no reason to travel to gamble there when other reasonable alternatives exist.
Do they have any plan to combat the new options? It seems like it could go closer to Detroit in the coming years.
I had a confirmation of interest with Fidelity for 2,500 shares and got a ZERO allocation. Rep made it sound like the allocation went to whomever Fidelity collects the most fees from and our account had only a few trades for the year. Total hassle too because I spent the last couple of days wiring money from different accounts to meet the 500k requirement.
From the times –
A Hedge Fund Republic? (or let’s tax the rich)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/opinion/18kristof.html?hp
while I don’t disagree with some of the points made, the claim that “For example, Republicans would give the richest 0.1 percent of Americans an average tax cut of $370,000. ” bothers me (as do all the statistics that are routinely twisted to make a point).
The problem is, in order to get a $370k average tax cut, you have to make something like $12mm/yr – and I don’t disagree that these folks maybe should pay a little more in taxes. However, what is routinely proposed by the Dems names the “rich” as $250k/yr and above. That is quite a difference, and I don’t necessarily see a $250k/yr guy as “rich” (yes they are doing just fine though).
Fidelity is not the underwriter. Fidelity did not even offer the man convt pref shares to its customers and got extremely little common. Usually at Fid it is how much cash you have, how active a trader you are and how many IPOs you have participated in before in and how long you owned the shares to show you are not a flipper. But why did you not just open a Smith Barney account? Could have got up to 5,000 shares, even better they told me allocation day before so I knew exactly how many shares I was getting and it was T+3 settlement you did not have to put the money up front you had T+3 to settle up with cash.
Usually in a hot IPO you have to go with underwritter, that is why I also have a smith barney account.
prtraders2000 says:
November 18, 2010 at 1:02 pm
I had a confirmation of interest with Fidelity for 2,500 shares and got a ZERO allocation. Rep made it sound like the allocation went to whomever Fidelity collects the most fees from and our account had only a few trades for the year. Total hassle too because I spent the last couple of days wiring money from different accounts to meet the 500k requirement.
Prime US Mtg foreclosures at record – small uptick but an uptick
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-18/prime-u-s-mortgage-foreclosures-rise-to-record-on-unemployment-pressure.html
250K household could be a good living if Dad works full time and Mom is a stay at home wife and you bought your house pre-bubble.
Someone who bought at peak, husband and wife both work and are paying child care 250K house hold income is very far from a good living.
Never made it out of moderation yesterday…
Mount Olive cop: Politicians caused pension woes
Posted: Friday, November 12, 2010 12:00 am
Editor’s note: The writer, Michael Poquat, is a police officer in Mount Olive Township.
As a police officer in the state of New Jersey, I find myself unable to sit by while the current climate of public employee bashing continues under the misinformation fed to the public by the media and our current governor.
While I can not comment on the teacher’s retirement system, I can speak about the Police and Fire Retirement Fund (PFRS), and more specifically, how it has been mishandled by some of our elected officials. The truth should come out, and the public has a right to know how we got to where we are today.
Long before I became a police officer, the state of New Jersey enacted a law which required police officers and firemen to contribute a certain percentage of their salary into the state’s “secure” pension fund. Throughout my 22 year career, I have paid 8.5 percent of my salary, as mandated by law, into this fund every pay period.
I was not given the option to place my 8.5 percent in an IRA or other investment fund. Every pay check since I was 25 years old had the 8.5 percent taken out of my pay and placed into the PFRS with the promise that the money would be there when I retired. By law, towns and municipalities were required to match that 8.5 percent.
By the time Gov. Christine Todd Whitman took office, there was over $100 billion in the fund. This meant that at the current rate of retirements, pension costs for police officers and firemen were funded at 104 percent, well into the future. This was a prudent and financially responsible plan that worked, and it provided security for the families of these men and woman who risked their lives every day serving and protecting the citizens of New Jersey.
In no way was it heavily over funded or excessive. It covered the costs of promised retirements with a small cushion left over. It was at this time that Whitman stepped in. Gov. Whitman recognized the billions of dollars in our “secure” and “separate” pension fund, and she proceeded to raid that fund. Unknown and unannounced to the public, monies were indiscriminately withdrawn from the PFRS and used to pay for Whitman’s tax cuts and to balance the state budget.
Billions of dollars were taken, and to make matters worse, the Whitman administration passed a law allowing towns and municipalities to no longer contribute to the fund. Over $3 billion in contributions were skipped over the next eight years, while the individual police officers and firefighters continued to have their 8.5 percent contribution taken from them and placed into the PFRS.
The state gambled for years, relying heavily on the returns from the stock market to cover the missing funds. Politicians misspoke on the campaign trail, touting the virtues of how their financial genius was able to balance their state and local budgets, and the public was lulled into a sense of false financial security.
But the small print in Whitman’s bill was ignored. The funds they failed to contribute would have to be made up at a later date. The pension reprieve was temporary and their contributions would have to be paid back, just like any other loan. It was quietly suggested by the Whitman administration that towns set these contributions aside for when the state called to make good on them. It appears most towns and municipalities failed to heed this advice.
Governors (Donald) DiFrancesco, (James) McGreevy, and (Richard) Codey continued this trend, and all failed to call the towns and municipalities on their “loan” while the PFRS fund continued to dwindle down close to $66 billion. They remained silent. To bring this to light at this point would certainly mean political suicide, knowing that towns and municipalities would have to raise taxes to make up for their error in financial judgment and planning.
It wasn’t until Gov. Jon Corzine took office that this trend was stopped, but unfortunately, the damage was done. Gov. Corzine made the call the governors before him were afraid to make. He advised the towns and municipalities that it was time to pay back the monies the towns had been given a temporary reprieve on. And the media jumped on this, printing bold headlines “Towns going broke over police and fire pensions.”
This attention grabbing and misleading headline made it appear that your police and firemen were bilking the taxpayers dry, when the truth is totally the opposite. The politicians bilked your police officers and firemen dry and in the long run, the tax payers of New Jersey.
Towns and municipalities knew they were going to have to pay this money back and for them to insinuate otherwise is simply not true. Realizing the gravity of the situation, a new bill was introduced and passed into law. This allowed the towns to pay back the loan given to them by their public employees in increments; starting at 20 percent, 40 percent, 60 percent, 80 percent, and finally 100 percent each proceeding year.
Towns and municipalities continue to act as if they have been caught unaware and shocked by this entire process. The public is being told that payments for police and fire pensions are doubling, tripling and quadrupling and that the public employee system is out of control. What the public needs to know is that they are the victims of a mounting debt that was created by the Whitman administration and compounded by those following her tenure.
To blame your public employees for the abuses of the pension system is ludicrous at best, especially when our elected officials are the ones responsible for raiding the fund and then enacting the legislation on how and when to pay it back.
Gov. Jim Florio recognized the financial hardship facing the state of New Jersey and proceeded to raise the state sales tax to 7 percent. This helped spell political suicide for him, and Gov. Whitman was not going to make the same mistake. She repealed the 7 percent, dropping it back down to the 6 percent, knowing full well this money would have to come from somewhere.
Her solution was to raid the Police and Fire Pension System, allowing her to balance the state budget and give the false appearance that all was fiscally sound under her watch.
Our current governor, facing the same financial crisis of those going before him, has chosen a similar route, but one with a more vilifying tone. He has again found the same victim: Your public employees. When asked about the pension situation in the state of New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie replied “I wasn’t going to put $3 billion into a failing pension system. We need pension reform. I passed some already for new hirees, and this fall we are going after the current employees and pension reform and benefits because we are broke.”
Nowhere does he mention how the public employees had already bailed out this state years before, and now he is focused on “going after” the current employees to fix a mess created and compounded by politicians. To say otherwise for him would be political suicide should he aspire to higher political office, and as most of those before him, he is not about to risk his future. Rather, he would gamble on the future of those men and woman and their families who have served this state with honor and integrity.
The principals of the pension system are not broken Mr. Governor. What is broken is the manner in which the politicians have treated and abused it. Yes, the system is failing now, but not because of your police officers and firemen. As of 2009, the pension fund should have assets of $112 billion to meet its obligations, yet it is currently sitting at $66 billion.
It is the largest unfunded liability in the country. New Jersey is the first state ever to be charged with fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Gov. Christie, strangely, has no comment on this. Yet he continues his rhetoric on the evils done to us by our police officers and firemen, ignoring the truth and lambasting and vilifying us at every turn.
As the saying goes, “Politics has no shame when it comes to preserving your place in office. Why let the truth get in between a good, attention grabbing headline?”
The system is on the brink of collapse and continued arrogance and mudslinging will not fix it. The truth is what it is Mr. Governor, and there is no getting around that. Politicians put us in this mess for their own political gain, not our public employees, as you would like the public to believe. You know this and need to stop ignoring the facts. How we deal with it from here is the measure of each of our character and integrity. I know the public is smart enough to recognize this and I hope that you are too. Long after you are gone, we will still be here, protecting and serving as we always have. In the end, all we have left is our name. Let’s hope yours is remembered for you’re integrity and not for what you have slung so far in your race for political aspiration. I challenge you to do the right thing, as so many police officers and firemen strive to do every day for their families and the citizens of New Jersey.
http://newjerseyhills.com/mt_olive_chronicle/opinion/columns/article_487cc442-ec43-11df-8ac0-001cc4c002e0.html?ref=nf
WSJ Calling GM IPO a FLOP
http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2010/11/18/gms-ipo-underwriters-a-master-class-in-marketing/
JJ [107];
250K household could be a good living if Dad works full time and Mom is a stay at home wife and you bought your house pre-bubble.
Someone who bought at peak, husband and wife both work and are paying child care 250K house hold income is very far from a good living.
Amen, brotha.
Top of the GM order book in BATS.
Top of Book
Price Size
34.79 4,300
34.78 2,300
34.77 2,400
34.76 3,700
34.75 14,455
Ask
Price Size
34.81 2,600
34.82 2,300
34.83 2,400
34.84 4,400
34.85 4,700
Best part is at minute 4:10 when he says “….let’s go have a beer, Doc…”
warning….lotso profanity….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOZxT9MHAJU
Wantan,
I present the Silver Manifesto.
“1 – JP Morgan has a huge short position in Silver – estimated to be 3.3 billion ounces – tied to an enormous, extremely precarious derivatives position (estimated to represent 1.5 trillion in risk to its balance sheet at $500 Silver).
2 – Various exchanges around the world have been caught manipulating the price of Silver using ‘naked’ short sales i.e., counterfeiting.
3 – Of all the actively traded commodities traded around the world, Silver is one of the least plentiful and its supply is shrinking, but its industrial uses are multiplying. The ‘networked’ age of global communications is built with Silver.
4 – Hedge funds are taking physical delivery of Silver – adding substantial demand as well as exposing these exchange’s naked short positions – who are already scrambling to deliver – jacking prices up to multi-decade highs – and inspiring these predatory funds to buy more Silver.
5 – There are billions of people around the world who are aware that banks have been committing fraud and embezzlement who are upset that their politicians seem only interested in helping the banks commit more fraud – who are looking for a cheap way to non-aggressively fight back and decapitalize these banks.
6 – Many of these people have the access and wherewithal to purchase 1 ounce of Silver – thus removing hundreds of millions of ounces of Silver from the ‘paper’ market – forcing additional scrambling by dealers to fill orders by buying back short positions – inspiring the funds to buy and take physical delivery of more Silver – creating a colossal short squeeze – in which JP Morgan stands to be the biggest loser.
7 – Buying Silver is how the world is monetizing its anger at the banks who stole their wealth.
8 – Crash JP Morgan Buy Silver”
Well now I know, but when I was transferring the cash in and making my intentions known, no one at Fidelity said, “BTW – you probably won’t get any.” Live and learn.
“Watching video of armed robbery at a Chuck E. Cheese.”
I would have put a couple of bullets into that ticket counting machine that makes the annoying chomping sound. Besides how inedible the food is there, that machine is #2 on my list as to why CEC is evil.
Fidelity sucks for IPOs, just call center people and against their rules to recommend it. I think full commission brokers are robbers however, on an IPO the insight of the underwriter and a person to discuss should I buy or not is important. Fidelity will let you put your life savings into a dog IPO no problem. Interesting at SB Assets under Management is a big plus come bonus time. If you had 500K in an account and took a big hit on an IPO you will close account and he will lose 500K in assets, but a ten% pop he has 550K under assets, Greed is Good in this case as broker wins when you win and loses when you lose. Fidility that is not the case. I love Fidility to death great commissions, but buying 100 shares of IBM or a ten year muni at Fidelity is a lot different than buying 2,500 shares in an IPO
prt (113):
I tried to get in on the IPO of Chipotle Mexican Grill. Priced at 23, but I couldn’t get in as it required a 97K investment. I was willing to go in for about 50K. I bought it on the open market at 40 when it opened for trading. Sold it a couple of years later around 115. I wish I had the cajones to have done the IPO. There’s a huge difference between 287% and 575%. I lived and learned as well. Haven’t found another IPO as enticing since then. If one comes around, I won’t wimp out next time.
Unemployment extension failed to pass. Get ready for the riots.
travelers and visa were good ones, travelers was very hard to get into I got shut out of that and shut out of CBOE. There really are only a few good brand name IPOs at most each year.
I am watching the GM Mandatory Convt B’s closely that went off at $50 today, they a 5% dividend and in 36 months they convert and if GM stock rises you get a heft bonus. If GM sells off in next year sometime or general market sell off I may jump in on the B shares.
Going to JFK next week for an international flight. Does anyone use off-site parking there? Recommendations?
Re# 119 – The Port Authority lot with AirTrain service about 4 miles from the airport is $18 a day, right off the Belt Parkway and near the VanWyck is what I use.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=lefferts+blvd+queens&client=firefox-a&channel=s&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Lefferts+Blvd,+Queens,+New+York&gl=us&ei=JH_lTPOGPMX6lwfU_pi0Cw&oi=geocode_result&sqi=2&ved=0CBMQ8gEwAA&ll=40.662329,-73.824306&spn=0.009099,0.016544&t=h&z=16
d2b [119];
Avistar. Get off the Belt onto S. Conduit before the Airtrain overpass to avoid having to double back. Check the web for their standard discount offer.
GM gonna tank into the close? It’s at 34.07 right now….
The AirTrain accessible long term parking lot is $18 per day at JFK (tax included). Best you can do off-airport is $13 and change when you factor in the (19% tax). I wouldn’t do it unless your stay was over a week. It’s just not worth the hassle and potential damage to your car. Much safer and more convenient in the PA lot.
And if travelling for over a month, then pay a monthly fee at any parking garage in Queens $100 and take the subway.
Lib [124];
Parking is strictly a sub-week deal. If more than 6 days ($100) probably cheaper and definitely easier to take a sedan both ways. If you want cheap and REALLY off-airport, stick the car in Jamacia lot and hop on the Airtrain.
Al,
Unemployment WILL get extended in some form or fashion. Not extending it is tantamount to asking for social unrest at this point. It only takes a handful of really pissed off people, sitting and watching the businesses and banks reap TRILLIONS in government handouts while they, joe sixpack get nada, engaging in some form of violent protest, to spark serious unrest.
NJ RER
Real Estate, Economics, Politics, Airport Parking Advice
2 Madoff associates taken into custody
http://www.housingwire.com/2010/11/18/two-bernie-madoff-close-associates-taken-into-custody-sec-files-charges
“The other arrest Thursday of JoAnn “Jodi” Crupi at her home in Westfield, N.J., is based on allegations that when the fraud was on the verge of collapse, she helped decide which accounts should be cashed out.”
For the skiers out there. I am booking my annual Christmas trip and I am looking at mountains I have not been to. Airfare is reasonable to Colorado only $300 round trip which I won’t waste miles on and I have two vouchers good for $200 each which will get me onto a connecting flight to any of the ski mountains.
I can fly cheap, ski cheap and stay at 5 star resorts cheap. Boy do I love a recession.
Any recommendations for Telluride or Steamboat?
JJ (107)
Finally, someone understands my POV.
130 – Totally agree, 2 full time employees making $250k combined is firmly middle class in the northeast. No debating that. Problem is that the other 99% of the country don’t give a crap, and will vote the laws in such a way that most benefits themselves.
Good, but don’t be stupid in how you use….
http://www.airportparkingreservations.com/
119.d2b says:
November 18, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Going to JFK next week for an international flight. Does anyone use off-site parking there? Recommendations?
The drawback is that you are prepaid, so no last minute changes……
HB [131];
Rewrite!
Problem is that the other 99% of the country don’t give a crap, and will vote [for] the [pols who promise to pass] laws [that punish the northeast middle-class “rich” and enrich the pols and their friends] in such a way that [appears to throw a few off crumbs of] benefits [to] themselves.
Airtrain? Is that a monorail like in Newark? Do you need to pay for it?
Totally agree, 2 full time employees making $250k combined is firmly middle class in the northeast.
I can never tell when people are kidding when they say this…
JJ didn’t know you were on Facebook.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/web_flirts_sent_wife_into_fury_couc3Ur4YV3x9Kaqtyxd6O
GE
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THERE IS MORE VOLUME ON GE THAN THE DOW
he (57)-
Owning GM shares is like washing your clothes in piss.
GM
$250k goes pretty quick in ol’ NJ. If you drive a cheapo car and limit hobbies and shopping trips, you may be able to put a kid thru college. Unless you are taxed to high heaven like most people in my area. Amazing really.
Airtrain is free, modern and quick. It’s everything Newarks airtrain isn’t.
It also connects to the LIRR and some subway lines as well, but there may be a charge for it. If you drive the Van Wick Expressway, you’ve seen the tracks above the median. One tip for ya. If you are going to the western most terminals (Jet Blue) you are better off transferring to the circular train that runs clockwise and stays on the airport grounds as soon as you get a chance. It’s a long way around the airport going clockwise if you are the last stop. I’m doing the airtrain in December.
d2b [135];
Just like the EWR monorail. Connects to LIRR out of Penn via Jamaica. More info here.
“JoAnn Jodi Crupi ”
Cue John for the women’s prison movie tales.
AAPL +2.61% and they didn’t IPO last I checked.
Do you think it is more or less?
POS split on 60×100 in some bedroom communities bought at peak that can’t be refinanced with 12K in taxes can run you with insurance 5k a month plus day care with two kids of $2,400 a month, plus two cars, two sets of lunches two commutes and a 40% tax bracket. .
schabadoo says:
November 18, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Totally agree, 2 full time employees making $250k combined is firmly middle class in the northeast.
I can never tell when people are kidding when they say this…
Of course, if she goes to prison, I suppose it could mean aanother distressed homeowner who NEEDS to sell. Gotta stockpile cigatettes to trade, after all.
AAPL still charging forward after hours
After Hours
AAPL
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I hate Steve Jobs he is the devil.
re: #147 – Shore – if she goes to prison? Bernie’s lieutenant Frank DiPascali was the one who fingered the Secretaries to shave a few years off his sentence, he is out on bail after pleading guilty to 10 counts and is naming names. I would be surprised if he doesn’t finger the copier repair man too.
I have known Orthodox Jew family paying $6000 in tuition for each kid.If you are familiar with their tradition,you know how many kids they have.Add the mortgages and tax.Woman have the man sign a contract that he will provide.
An interesting reality TV show would be to put them all in a single large jail cell and just film whatever happens.
Lib [145],
Yeah, but did AAPL state this in their prospectus?
”Our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting are currently not effective.”
PT Barnum is spinning.
136 schab,
valid point. $250k HH in East Orange, Hillside, Paterson and you buy a whole block of homes. $250k HH in Rumson, Millburn, Summit and you buy a Cape Cod.
Its all a matter of perspective. If you earn 300,000 and think its proper to pay the same federal tax rate as someone earning 3 million, more power to you. I am sure the guy earning 3 million thinks it unfair to pay the same rate as the guy who banked 30 million.
JJ #146
I will take the under (that they are NOT living la-vida-loca on $250k)
I met Ed Koch while at Lincoln Center back in 82 for a performance of Fiddler on the Roof, that makes me somewhat of an expert on their marriage tradition. They really do consider you dead if you marry outside of the faith and if you only have three kids you should get divorced and remarry another one to have at least ten offspring.
JJ will say he did it with a sheet once that makes him an expert on tradition too.
apple is a ponzi scheme. they make nothing of value, I have a tv, I have a phone, I have a pc, what do I need from Apple. I am going old school
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/mobile/
I met Abe Beame when I was five years old and I was taller than him.
Kochs boyfriends bone him through a sheet so they dont have to see his wrinkled butt.
Now two people making 250K each is more like it.
that’s a bit different….
Speaking of Rumson;
Burger night at Fromagerie?
“The streets are filled with distracting ‘for sale’ signs,” says one resident. “Lots of husbands are hanging out at the bagel deli. They used to be working and now are picking up bagels. There’s a new class of Americans in Rumson: the formerly rich.”
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/town_is_down_on_its_luxe_h2KfL1RTRUF68NNBtb04IL
re: #159 250k x 2. Yeah being in the same tax bracket as Warren Buffet is great.
Comfortable sure. Not rich by any means. The below scenario is one job loss away from eviction. Not sure I would qualify that as rich.
250,000 Gross Pay
(87,500) taxes @ 35%
(15,000) 401(k) @ 6%
(8,000) healthcare
(5,000) commuting (train/bus etc)
(24,000) day care (2k/mth)
(54,000) housing (all in + mtce)
(6,000) Food bill (500/mth)
(4,800) car payment 2 used @ 200/mth/car
(3,600) car insurance (2cars)
(2,000) Car maintenance
(2,400) clothing (50/mth/person)
(7,200) 2 529’s @ 300/mth
(1,800) utilities
(3,600) Credit Card Debt
(6,000) Emergency fund
19,100 Disposable Income
BC (161)-
If David Burke is cooking it, I don’t want to eat it.
That guy’s best days are way behind him. Much like Rumson itself.
NJ has the highest household income in the country, and you are talking 4x that amount. What ‘middle’ is that near?
Didn’t see a $250k stat, but only 4.3% of New Jersey households have annual incomes of or over $200,000. I assume that includes John’s firemen and teachers.
BC (153)-
This is the kind of crap that emanates from the unholy marriage of GM and the Fascist States of Amerika. However, the current generation of Financial Idiots Who Destroyed the World figure it’s worthy of an IPO.
Charles Ponzi must be spinning in his grave. Bet he never thought allegedly legit people could take his ideas and one-up them into system-killing thermonuclear weapons.
”Our disclosure controls and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting are currently not effective.”
Bill Arnsparger [164],
“That guy’s best days are way behind him. Much like Rumson itself.”
It finally hit me; Glory Days.
Just want to point out to everyone that tax brackets are marginal.
Therefore, someone making 250K does not pay 35% in tax on the vast majority of their income, if at all. The federal tax brackets are as follows:
0-$12K – 10%
11K -45K – 15%
45K-117K – 25%
117K-190K – 28%
190K-250K – 33%
> 373K – 35%
So a person who makes 250K is not at all in Warren Buffets tax bracket. A person making over 373K is in Warren Buffets tax bracket only for dollars earned over that amount.
re: #168 – It’s 250k x 2 incomes.
If you are making only 250k between two incomes and live in Joisey you might as well move to the Poconos and recycle cans for a living you will do better.
Juice (169)-
Thanks for that advice. I might take you up on it.
schabadoo,
the 250k as merely middleclass stance is the ultimate njrere pretense.
nj(un)real [168];
Marginal is where its all at. At 5PM when I can punch out and go home to hug my kids or stay at work to do whats necessary to grown the business (and maybe hire a few people on the way), how much of that additional income do I get to keep?
0-$12K – 10%——–$ 1,200
11K -45K – 15%——$ 5,100
45K-117K – 25%—–$18,000
117K-190K – 28%—-$20,440
190K-[373]K – 33%–$60,390
373K-500K – 35%— $44,450
———-
$149,580, or 30% of $500,000
Also, exactly what part of NJ are you living in that exempts you from state income tax? Some municipal pension benefit I’m not aware of?
The end is nigh……
http://www.cnbc.com/id/40256223
Mike Krieger’s latest. Looks like sayonara to the NYC gulag.
“One thing I do not want this article to be is a giant bashfest of New York City. I love this place. It is where I was born and it has shaped my personality in every way. The energy is like nothing else on the planet and it will always hold a spot near and dear to my psyche. Who knows, maybe I will return. That said, the current leadership in this city, and by that I mean the financial services industry and the TBTF banks in particular are destroying the city to such a degree that I think it could take a generation to recover. I hope I am wrong on this, but the longer the paper ponzi pushers control this town the worse the devastation will be.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/leaving-new-york-mike-krieger-biggest-trade-his-life
174.
Interesting article along with the comments. I am most definitely leaving the area as soon as it makes sense. Im done with home ownership as well. It doesnt make any sense anymore either. A big ass boat and a little rented apartment for my junk is all I need.
Chi [173],
It’s coming. There’s no difference between a country in Europe and a state in the US. If a bank/pension plan holds state paper, it’s QE till infinity.
165 – OK, so if only 4.3% of NJ’ers make $200k plus then let’s lower our “rich” standard.
How about any household that makes more than $105,000 is considered rich. Median Household income in the USA was 52,000. So anyone that makes double that amount must be rich.
My problem is not with the titles, it is with the arbitrary nature with which the goverment assigned the haves vs the have nots.
68: Hello, AMT. I know, that’s not 35% either.
168: Also, it’s a lot different making X on a W-2 vs. being an owner of a business making X in terms of what (legally of course, Nom) is disposable.
179 relo
Wanna take a guess at how many business owners sold their going concerns over the past 2 years in exchange for cash and a full-time “consulting” contract only to have the new owners “fire” them so that they can now collect unemployment. Millionaires sucking even more from the government teat with each extension of UE benefits.
Dual-income HH of $250K coming from a corporation reporting every last cent of your earnings? Yeah, thats rich alright. In the same way that Kraft Easy Cheese is rich, smooth and delicious.
Up!
180: 250,
Sorry, not sure I follow. I was being facetious about business owners in an attempt to illustrate that the $250k in reportable income is not equal across the board.
Dual-income HH of $250K coming from a corporation reporting every last cent of your earnings? Yeah, thats rich alright. In the same way that Kraft Easy Cheese is rich, smooth and delicious.
What the hell is everyone doing that they are making over $250k a year in NJ, specifically North NJ. Is everyone a top of the line corporate attorney, a doctor, etc..?? Business owners? It can’t be.
I’m newer to the area but it is crazy some of the prices on some of these houses up here. 30 years old, work in insurance, nothing special. 65k, great credit. Seriously, I’ve looked around numerous neighborhoods, on the midtown direct lines and no train areas, nothing but garbage under $400k. Nothing…. On a simple $300k mortgage for a crap cape, my payments would be almost all my income with the taxes. Forget about a vehicle, having a kid, etc. What the hell are people doing to afford these homes at these asking prices? Is it seriously everyone is THAT successful in north jersey?