From the Star Ledger:
Foreclosure court hearing postponed a third time
For the third time in nearly a month, the state has postponed a hearing for six of the country’s biggest mortgage lenders that have been called to court to defend their foreclosure practices.
Edward Dauber, the attorney appointed to represent the state in the case, requested a third extension to allow the parties additional time to negotiate a settlement, according to the court order released yesterday.
In December, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner ordered six banks, including Citibank, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, to outline their past and present foreclosure processes amid fears homeowners were unnecessarily forced out of their homes. The banks responded with hundreds of pages of documents, arguing new systems are already in place to avoid that from happening and plans for additional changes are underway.
The banks must now appear in court March 15, instead of earlier dates of March 1 and Feb. 14. At the hearing, Judge Mary Jacobson will decide whether the banks’ pending foreclosures should be suspended, unless the case is settled out of court earlier.
From HousingWire:
Foreclosure filings down 17% in January as reviews continue: RealtyTrac
Lenders slowed by procedural reviews conducted foreclosure filings on 261,333 properties in January, a 17% drop from a year ago, according to RealtyTrac.
The company monitors default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions (REO) in counties across the U.S. In 2010, foreclosures reached record highs, but RealtyTrac forecasted this year’s filings to be even higher once the reviews are completed. January marked the third straight month of fewer than 300,000 properties receiving a filing, following 20 straight months of higher numbers.
“Unfortunately this is less a sign of a robust housing recovery and more a sign that lenders have become bogged down in reviewing procedures, resubmitting paperwork and formulating legal arguments related to accusations of improper foreclosure processing,” RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said.
From CNN/Money:
Foreclosures are falling – but it’s a fake out
Foreclosure filings plunged in January, but don’t shake those pom-poms yet. It’s strictly a fake out.
The number of homes receiving foreclosure filings — default notices, auctions and repossessions — fell 17% in January compared to a year earlier, RealtyTrac reported on Thursday. But that’s still 261,333 properties and a 1% increase compared to December.
…
Even with the slowdown, more than 78,000 borrowers lost their homes in January, easing off the record 102,000 that was reached last September.
But, experts argue, this doesn’t reflect the true number of potential foreclosures since most are just being postponed. Inevitably, they’ll show up in future RealtyTrac statistics.
…
“We expect a spike in the first quarter,” said Rick Sharga, a RealtyTrac spokesman. “If we don’t get that, it could mean that the foreclosures are being pushed back even more and that the time needed for recovery will be prolonged.”
From Bloomberg:
U.S. Foreclosure Filings Decline for Fourth Consecutive Month
All 50 states are investigating the way lenders and loan servicers handle foreclosures after claims some were marred by faulty documentation or by “robo-signing,” the mass processing of paperwork without proper verification. The coordinated probe began in October after the biggest U.S. banks suspended some home repossessions to review their procedures. In December, filings declined 26 percent, the biggest year-over year drop in RealtyTrac data going back to January 2005.
Foreclosure filings last month rose 1 percent from December, according to RealtyTrac.
Default notices in January fell 1 percent from December and 27 percent from a year earlier to 75,198, the lowest monthly total since July 2007. Defaults have declined for 12 straight months on an annual basis, and sequentially for four months.
Good Morning New Jersey
But, experts argue, this doesn’t reflect the true number of potential foreclosures since most are just being postponed. Inevitably, they’ll show up in future RealtyTrac statistics.
Inevitably.
tick…. tick…. tick…. tick….
Off to work… need to support the Oblama new society.
One more before I leave:
http://tinyurl.com/2ahcsc
With Job Openings Falling, Trouble Could Be Coming
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/careers/falling-job-openings-trouble-labor-market/19835311/
Saudis ‘overstated oil reserves’
”
THE US fears Saudi Arabia may not have enough oil reserves to prevent prices rising sharply, according to leaked cables.
The cables from the US embassy in Riyadh, obtained by WikiLeaks, urge Washington to take heed of a warning from a former Saudi government oil executive that the kingdom’s crude oil reserves may have been overstated by as much as 40 per cent.
US diplomats reported that Sadad al-Husseini, the ex-head of exploration at Saudi oil monopoly Aramco, “disagreed” with Aramco’s analysis that it had reserves of 716 billion barrels and that would rise to 900 billion barrels in 20 years.”
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/saudi-oil-reserves-overstated/story-fn7mjon9-1226003360891#ixzz1DYmsela6
If the US government thinks they are overstated by 40% then wouldn’t you say the number is likely 60-70%?
Left from yesterday – If 16 shells weren’t so expensive and a pain to find in certain shot I would get one. If you want to shoot 16 get a 12 and buy a couple of chamber reducers. I shoot 28 g out of my 20 sometime with them.
Pain, 20 g is a nice all around load. Good for hunting, trap, skeet and sporting clays. If memory serves me correctly also a bit less expensive than 12 g.
HeHe, auto mfgs have and are developing a lot of small cars that are full featured and profitable to build. No doubt, gas prices going up. I had once heard that demand for gas in the US is inelastic up to $5 / gal. BTW, is that newspaper you posted a link for reputable? Gas prices in PA actually down a bit the last few days.
Spoke to another NJREReport contributor last night, and heard NJ got downgraded. Nary a mention here. Will have to look into this.
Yup. NJ now AA-, down from AA.
http://www.northjersey.com/news/020911_NJs_credit_rating_downgraded.html
As Gary would say, tick. . . .tick . . . . tick.
Not entirely unexpected downgrade. Time to cut up the credit cards!
[14] sx
Or, if you side with the dems, time to soak the rich with a millionaire’s tax.
Of course, the border isn’t that far away.
Personally, I would not mind seeing the millionaire’s tax come back; it means business for tax attorneys. Bad for whatever governor passes it, and if MD’s example repeats, bad for NJ, but good for me.
In itself….meaningless…in context…par for the course…..has not affected pricing…the levels were already there….
Comrade Nom Deplume says:
February 10, 2011 at 9:03 am
Yup. NJ now AA-, down from AA.
As Gary would say, tick. . . .tick . . . . tick.
Essex says:
February 10, 2011 at 9:10 am
Not entirely unexpected downgrade. Time to cut up the credit cards!
Too bad Lorena Bobbitt never got to you……
Nom, all whistling past the graveyard, AA- or not we all no the debt obligations make us a big fat F
Is this the millionaire’s tax that starts at AGIs of $250K?
The Hughey Long Millionaire Tax Act of 2011 — Everyone’s a millionaire. So, pay up.
“starts at AGIs of $250K”
No, it will start at $250.00 AGI.
Chicago Tribune – 30 minutes ago
(CNN) — Sarah Palin is mixing it up with potential rival Rick Santorum, suggesting the former Pennsylvania senator and presidential hopeful is a “knuckle-dragging Neanderthal.
Urban Affairs
America’s Most Miserable Cities
Kurt Badenhausen, 02.02.11, 12:00 PM EST
California has never looked less golden, with eight of its cities making the top 20 on our annual list.
http://www.forbes.com/2011/02/02/stockton-miami-cleveland-business-washington-miserable-cities.html
How can Stockton be worse than Camden? I bet they even have bike trails
“California’s troubles helped it land eight of the 20 spots on our annual list of America’s Most Miserable Cities, with Stockton ranking first for the second time in three years.”
The good weather and lack of a state income tax are the only things that kept Miami out of the top spot. In addition to housing problems (prices are down 50% over three years), corruption is off the charts, with 404 government officials convicted of crimes this decade in South Florida. Factor in violent crime rates among the worst in the country and long commutes, and it’s easy to understand why Miami has steadily moved up our list, from No. 9 in 2009 to No. 6 last year to the runner-up spot this year.
Hey the Golden girls lived in Miami. that’s gotta count for something.
Nom, et. al:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/04/AR2011020406709.html
Why 33 rounds makes sense in a defensive weapon
Big whoop. Take th eside of Millionaire’s who add very little to society or Billionaires who sup at the public teat for stadium construction:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2011/02/nfl-union-owners-cancel-negotiating-session/1
Of course, Stockton, CA has bike trails…….Therefore, the report is hopelessly flawed and inaccurate.
Bike and Jogging Paths
Completed bike/jogging paths include the following:
Calaveras River Bike Path
From Buckley Cove to Cherokee Road: 7:43 miles
East Bay Municipal Utility District Right-of-Way (south side of March Lane)
From Buckley Cove to El Dorado
Weston Ranch
Pacific Gas and Electric Greenbelt: 1.75 miles
San Joaquin River Trail/French Camp Slough Trail: approximately three miles
The San Joaquin Council of Governments, with the support of San Joaquin County and the City of Stockton, extended the Calaveras River path from West Lane to Cherokee Road as a joint project. The extension of the existing 12-foot wide bike path included construction of a bike-pedestrian bridge across the Calaveras River east of West Lane.
17. Deep breath….now let it go….let it allllll gooooo.
Shore,
it isnt unusual to empty a standard magazine in a defensive situation and it can be very difficult to reload under fire if you haven’t trained to do so, and that assumes you ready access to additional pre-loaded magazines. The point about conceal ability is accurate as well. If you want high capacity and conceal ability you will carry multiple handguns with standard capacity magazines all concealed (think of Neo in The Matrix, when he strapped up with weapons). Then you can fire until empty then drop it and pull out one of the fresh guns. You will get more rounds accurately on target that way then carrying a 30rd magazine in a standard pistol.
Nom,
Both Grim and I posted about it yesterday and no one seemed interested. Don,t worry it’s already “priced in” ;)
Oh my God, Rick Santorum, that’s all this country needs again.
I wish Rick Santorum would send Palin a photo of himself in the same state of undress as that Congresscritter yesterday.
Then, both those mouth-breathers would go away forever.
Santorum is prima facie evidence of parthenogenesis.
Republican.democrat zombie revolt, shoot them to end their political careers and they keep rising from the dead
Pain,
Only a head shot works, i thought you knew that!
Pain
Any data on whether or not a broadhead through the cranium will stop a zombie? I’m not sure that would cause enough trauma. You might have to stick with you sXs.
Debt,
Here Comes Executive Order 6102 For The QE Generation: Dutch Central Bank Orders Pension Fund To Sell Its Gold
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/here-comes-executive-order-6102-qe-generation-dutch-central-bank-orders-pension-fund-sell-it
Of course they are selling gold they would be a fool not to.
Aloca for instances lets tons of cans, scrab and other molten by-products with Alumunim that is expense to recycle pile up the roof. They are so crazy even crap they illegally dumped decades ago they track. When Alumunim hits sky high prices they force all this junk out into the market to capture high prices, catching competitors off guard causing prices to sink then locking in contracts to buy back alum at lower prices.
I had a vault of gold same concept. Who needs the damm physical, dump the vault in a flood of sales while market is peaking when you have lowered prices lock in contracts to buy it back.
Not much chatter about Egypt here. If this is what food riots look like, maybe the US apocalypse will be far more benign than some would predict.
most Americans have about 60 days of fat stores, however we do get cranky if we can’t get our daily mochafrappachinocarmelwhippedcreamed1200calories coffee drink. There could be some dust ups at the local Starbucks/Dunkin.
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall:
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-552830?hpt=Sbin
The Garden, anyway.
Moose,
I think there would be a lot more blood shed if it weren’t for the military trying to take a somewhat neutral stance until it sees who is going to come out on top. The dynamic there is unique compared to the US. We have a long way to go before we could motivate that many americans to get off the couch.
If the world trade and G8 protests are any example, american protests like those in Egypt would probably turn violent quite quickly with police initiating the violence through agent provocateurs
jj (40)-
Call Dimon and ask him how his strategy for selling gold (especially the gold he doesn’t have) is working out lately.
Sometimes, you’re a seller.
Sometimes, you’re just a lemon getting squeezed.
Moose,
Mubarak just declared he is staying in power. We may yet get some serious violence. I image there are a lot of pissed of Egyptians after his speech. The question now, is whether the military backs Mubarak or the protesters. Either way it will probably involve blood.
Shore,
I’m hearing rumors of unrest building in India, what do you think?
Moose,
Mubarak probably incited a few of the protesters when he proclaimed “I will not leave Egypt until I am buried underneath it.”
re: #48 – big f-u to Obama
Barb,
why Americans arent protesting
http://i.imgur.com/x434t.jpg
50.
They have yet to make a snack chip that I hate…
Mubarak entered my office deadpool today.
Watch Vigoda finally croak now.
Anybody catch this little tidbit? Gold confisc@tion starting in the Eurozone:
“Perhaps the most stunning example of what may be in store for asset managers and pension funds (and possibly retail holders) who dare to challenge central bank monetary authority comes from the Netherlands, where we have just witnessed the 21st century equivalent of Executive Order 6102. The story in a nutshell (and as translated loosely from the primary source presented below): the glassworkers pension fund (SPVG) was ordered by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB, or the equivalent of the Dutch central bank), that it has to sell the bulk of its gold assets. After the SPVG refused to comply with the order, the DNB went to court and the decision has come out, siding with the central bank, ordering the SPVG to sell the required gold within two months. The pension fund, which invests for 1142 employees, in late 2009 had gold bars worth 34.6 million euros, or about 1400 kilograms. The total fund assets amounted to 288 million euros at that time. The DNB argued gold is a commodity and holding 13 percent was overweight in comparison to the 2.7% average that pension funds are invested in commodities. DNB has found that such a large proportion of gold is inconsistent with the interests of the participants. SPVG sees gold as a medium of exchange, such as euros, but DNB believes that the price of gold fluctuates too much for it to be classified as an investment. Translation of the translation: the central bank has now directly ordered a fund how to allocate its gold assets, because it explicitly disagreed with the fund’s statement that gold is money, claiming instead that it is nothing but a very volatile commodity. Very soon no pension funds in the Netherlands will be allowed to hold any amount of gold more than the merely nominal. This latest gold confisc@tion equivalent event is most certainly coming to a banana republic near you.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/here-comes-executive-order-6102-qe-generation-dutch-central-bank-orders-pension-fund-sell-it
College is expensive you know…..
Associated Press
ITHACA, N.Y. — A 26-year-old Cornell University student is charged with possession of more than $150,000 worth of heroin in one of the largest drug busts in Ithaca Police Department history.
Police say Keri Lynn Blakinger was stopped in a motel parking lot with nearly six ounces of heroin in a plastic container Sunday morning. She was charged with felony criminal possession of a controlled substance and sent to the Tompkins County Jail without bail.
Deputy Police Chief John Barber said the uncut heroin represented about 500 doses of the drug.
Cornell officials declined to comment, citing federal privacy laws.
—Copyright 2010 Associated Press
Anyone remeber the 1989 Romanian revolution? I wonder if Mubarak knows how that ended?
Revenue down again in Atlantic City. I s this news any longer? guess nobody gives a
hoot .
My cousin was as CIA spook stationed in Romania just before the coup.
The homeownership rate in the U.S. fell in the fourth quarter of 2010 to 66.5%, according to data recently released by the Census Bureau. That was the lowest homeownership rate in 13 years, since the 66.4% rate in the fourth quarter of 1998, and it looks like it will probably fall further in the coming years.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/251996-homeownership-rate-falls-to-13-year-low?source=dashboard_macro-view
Got demand?
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Is World Stuck in ‘Juggle Mode’?
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Have you ever gone to the circus and watched a juggler?
It’s always so cool watching all of those balls fly so effortlessly through the air.
If you are a big fan of jugglers then I have some great news for you!!! You no longer have to pay for a ticket to the circus in order to watch. In fact, you no longer even need to leave your house.
These days all you have to do is turn on CNBC and you can see all the juggling you want for FREE.
Some of Wednesday’s best juggling was seen in the bond market:
“The government’s auction of 10-year notes drew greater interest than expected from investors, including foreign buyers. Indirect bidders, a rough proxy for foreign funds and banks, took 71 percent of the notes, the largest share since May 2003.”
At the same time bonds were soaring the currency dropped sharply:
(Click to enlarge)
Quick Take:
This makes no sense of course. Why would a dollar denominated asset like bonds soar on a day the dollar sells off hard?
Answer: Because the world’s juggling central bankers are printing money like madmen and throwing it wherever they have to in order to keep all of the “balls” in the air.
Wednesday’s gaping hole was in bonds so that’s where the money went.
Juggling Creates Distortions and Inflation:
There are unintended consequences when you decide to pursue reckless monetary policies. The banks of the world have decided to pursue this reckless path and they are desperately doing everything in their power in order to keep this pig of a market propped up.
Remember folks, this is a globally coordinated central banking system at this point. If one domino falls they all do, so they are all in this together and for now they are loaded with boatloads of cheap money.
This will likely keep the game going in the near term. The problem is it’s creating a boatload of inflation.
Just look at Cisco (CSCO).
“Cisco Systems reported financial results Wednesday that topped expectations, but investors punished shares after hours as weaker margins added to concerns about increasing competition.
Cisco, which sells computer networking equipment to businesses, earned 37 cents a share excluding special items in its fiscal second quarter, against 40 cents a share last year. The company’s net profit for the quarter ending Jan. 29 fell to $1.5 billion from $1.9 billion.
The company garnered sales of $10.4 billion in the quarter. This time last year, Cisco reported sales of $9.815 billion.”
OK, so let me get this straight: Sales are up from $9.81 billion to $10.4 billion, but profits are down about 25% from $1.5 billion from $1.9 billion from the same time a year ago????
HUH????…Bbbuuttt…Ben Bernanke said there was no inflation!
I can’t think of another reason why Cisco’s profits would get creamed like they did. Another possible cause for this drop is if Cisco had to drop prices a bit in order to hold share. I don’t buy that excuse for one second. Their “profit pain” came from a weakening dollar and higher costs. Either way, this is not good news for Cisco or the stock market.
The Housing Collapse Rolls On!
It appears that the only things that don’t rise in price in this market are houses:
“The number of borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth took a huge leap in the fourth quarter of 2010. A full 27 percent of borrowers are now under water on their mortgages, up from 23 percent in the previous quarter,” according to a new report from Zillow. Foreclosure moratoriums and falling home prices are to blame.
I have said for a long time now, housing is deader than dead and is never coming back in our lifetimes.
Things are only going to get worse as more and more people end up under water in their homes because they will not have the ability to sell them. These borrowers will then eventually be forced to default after running out of options. This is going to then put even more pressure on already depressed housing prices as inventories continue to rise.
Let me also add that I am starting to see some blue skies:
Some areas like Miami, LasVegas, and some parts of California are now starting to show signs of stabilization after seeing 70% price declines. This makes sense in these areas at this point. About 25-50% of these buyers are paying cash.
We could very well be nearing a bottom in these devastated areas. However, I don’t think you will see any appreciation in these properties for years, and many of these buyers will likely see losses over the next several years before things turn around. Nonetheless, if you are paying cash and can rent them out, do you really care? Food for thought.
Let me repeat, don’t misconstrue what I am saying here: Most housing markets are going to see devastating housing declines and are nowhere near the bottom. A 50-70% drop in prices will be the norm in the majority of housing markets by the time this is all said and done. We are only down about 30% nationally at this point so there is a ways to go”
If this guy doesn’t post here he should, would be very welcomed by the crew.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/252022-is-world-stuck-in-juggle-mode?source=dashboard_macro-view
Now borrowers bringing suit because they got a mod at the teaser rate, you can’t make this stuff up.
“In the standard narrative of the mortgage crisis, there were prescient bears who got it right, and then a head-in-the-sand majority which missed what was going on until it was too late. But in a fascinating article about a lawsuit against former Lehman subsidiary Aurora Loan Services, Kate Berry of American Banker shows that it’s a bit more subtle than that.
A large part of the bear case, when it came to mortgages, was that there was a huge number of adjustable-rate mortgages whose “teaser rates” were going to expire, landing homeowners with massive monthly payments they could never afford. In reality, however, the notorious “exploding ARMs” didn’t explode at all. And now a chap named Andrew WeissMalik is suing Aurora because his ARM didn’t explode, and he wants all the benefits that should have come his way as a result of his interest payments going down.
It turns out that in July 2008, Aurora wrote to WeissMalik — he says he never got the letter — telling him that they were going to modify his loan, and that it would lock in his teaser rate of 5.875% rather than let it explode. He didn’t need to do anything to accept the offer, he just needed to keep on making his monthly payments. Which he did, and his rate stayed at 5.875%, rather than falling as low as 2.625%, as it would have done had the loan not been modified.
Aurora certainly didn’t make it easy to opt out of this modification, which WeissMalik claims has cost him some $20,000:
The form letter, which WeissMalik eventually obtained, says that “we will assume that you have accepted this offer if you make two on-time payments following your adjustment date at your current, unadjusted monthly payment amount.”
The letter describes only one way to decline the offer: it told borrowers that if they did not make the two required mortgage payments, the servicer “would assume that you declined our offer and we will adjust the interest rate and monthly payment as provided in your mortgae note.”
“To reject Aurora’s ‘offer’ for modification,” Davidson said, “WeissMalik would have to be required to default on his mortgage loan … thereby damaging his credit score and putting himself at risk of other adverse risks of nonpayment.”
There’s a malign view of what Aurora did — which is that it could see the writing on the wall, reckoned that the Fed would be forced to slash interest rates in order to save the economy, and therefore locked in the teaser rates before they fell sharply. I don’t buy that entirely.
More likely, I think, is that Aurora knew that its borrowers couldn’t afford to see their interest rates explode, and had no ability to refinance. So it decided to just keep them on their teaser rates instead, on the grounds that it would have many fewer defaults that way. And because it was an incompetent Lehman Brothers subsidiary, Aurora failed to modify the loans in a legally or ethically defensible way — even if its heart was in the right place.
Still, I don’t think Aurora has a remotely colorable defense in this case. I wonder how many other people accepted the modification and don’t even know how much money they’ve lost as a result.”
http://seekingalpha.com/article/252182-lehman-s-indefensible-mortgage-modifications?source=dashboard_macro-view
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