From HousingWire:
Nameless, formless crisis enveloping nation’s home price indices
Fears of a double dip in housing are giving away to a realization that the nation’s mortgage markets are facing a much colder reality — something that will not so easily be named, but is nonetheless hanging around for a very long time.
Both Standard & Poor’s and Radar Logic Research released updates Monday on the prices sellers are asking for residential properties. Neither is positive.
“No matter what you call it, a ‘double dip’ or the continuation of a long process of deterioration, the current trend in home prices is evidence that housing markets are continuing to languish,” said Quinn Eddins, director of research at Radar Logic.
“We expect the negative trend to continue under a severe supply overhang that includes a large and growing ‘shadow inventory’ of homes in default or foreclosure,” Eddins said.
In the past, such market behavior would be called a “w-shaped” recovery. But the National Bureau of Economic Research called an end to the recession in June 2009, and nearly two years later, there is not enough improvement to resemble a recovery in the housing market.
Good Morning New Jersey
From Bloomberg:
Home Sales Accelerate as Prices Decline With U.S. Rebound Seen Sustainable
The third decline in U.S. home prices in three years is driving a pickup in sales as bargain hunters rush to buy before mortgage rates rise, even as values may slump further.
Mounting foreclosures pushed the median price for a U.S. existing home to $158,800 in January, the lowest level since 2002, according to the National Association of Realtors. At the same time, sales climbed 22 percent from October, the biggest three-month gain since the end of a homebuyer tax credit. The rally began as mortgage rates started to rise from record lows in November and the economic expansion picked up speed.
“The job market is beginning to gain traction, consumer confidence is improving, and even though mortgage rates have increased, they’re near historic lows,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “Prices may go down a bit more, but we’re still seeing a pop in sales.”
Fannie Mae, the largest mortgage-finance company, forecasts home prices will fall further this year and sales will jump. Discounts on foreclosed properties are eroding the values of other homes, making houses more affordable and opening the market to more people. A sustained increase in sales may signal a bottom in values as prices fall to levels buyers can’t resist.
Didn’t this thing just open? Wasn’t this going to be the game changer for south Jersey?
From the Press of AC:
New Jersey Motorsports Park files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
The New Jersey Motorsports Park filed for bankruptcy Monday. Operators say the bad economy has stalled the residential and retail development on which they depended for full financial success.
The filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection — less than three years after the park opened — will allow for debt restructuring and the addition of new equity that operators say will allow the facility to remain open.
Park officials would not comment on exact details of the Chapter 11 action. A U.S. Bankruptcy Court spokeswoman, Deputy-in-Charge Mary Shashaty, said the agency had not received a filing involving any of the names under which the park’s owners operate.
However, park owner and managing partner Lee Brahin said in a statement that the filing was “necessary to protect future operations and to allow the park to continue providing employment and other economic support to the local and regional communities.”
Park officials, who held a job fair about two weeks ago, said the park will operate for the 2011 season, adding that while the racing aspect of the facility was progressing well, the money from planned luxury villas, retail space and hotels never materialized.
Co-owner Joe Savaro said one of the park’s main “profit centers” was to be its potential real estate development.
“When we opened in 2008, it was the beginning of the worst recession in economic times in 50 or 60 years,” Savaro said. “We never were really able to develop … that commercial or residential aspect. That clearly has been a struggle for us from the very beginning. We don’t see the residential market turning in 2011. It will be a challenge to get hotel financing in New Jersey to begin with. We were kind of stymied on both of those for the foreseeable 2011 calendar year.”
From Bloomberg:
New Jersey Towns Seek Voter Permission to Break Christie Property Tax Cap
At least 12 New Jersey communities want to exceed Governor Chris Christie’s 2 percent cap on property-tax increases, less than three months after it took effect.
The communities placed advertisements in newspapers alerting voters to referendums in April, Bill Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities said yesterday in an e-mail. Towns readying for the referendums included Brick and Edgewater Park, he said. In addition, the Record reported that Riverdale, North Arlington and Chesilhurst also signaled they intend to hold referendums.
New Jersey had the nation’s highest state and local tax burden in fiscal 2009 for the third straight year, the Washington-based Tax Foundation said last month. Residents paid 12.2 percent of their incomes in state and local levies. New York was next with 12.1 percent.
“It’s going to be a tough sell, but once people see the reality of the services that may be cut, I think they will vote yes,” said Scott Pezarras, business administrator and chief financial officer in Brick, a township of 79,000 people near the Jersey Shore. “Most people are going to understand.
From New Jersey Newsroom:
N.J. lawmaker says $7.1M payout to retiring Atlantic City police, firefighters shows need for sick leave caps
Following a report that the Atlantic City government used the $2.2 million in proceeds gained from large scale police and firefighter layoffs to finance payouts of unused sick leave to retiring city employees, Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R- Monmouth) Monday again renewed his call for the Senate to pass comprehensive caps on unused sick leave for public employees.
The Press of Atlantic City reported that city officials used the $2.2 million gained from layoffs of 60 police officers and 30 firefighters last year to help offset $7.1 million in terminal leave payments to veteran police and fire employees upon retirement. Last week, Kyrillos’ motion to take up legislation that would end this practice was defeated by Senate Democrats.
“Sick leave should be used as time off when one is sick, not hoarded and cashed out as a parting gift upon retirement, ” Kyrillos said. “There is simply no reason any municipality should be forced to lay off public safety workers to pay for the unused sick time of those lucky enough to keep their jobs. The amounts paid to certain employees are also startling: sixteen workers receiving in excess of $100,000 and in some cases, $200,000. Any employee who believes that sick leave payments this large are reasonable should seriously re-examine his or her choice to enter public service.
The referendum in Brick is scheduled for April 27th.
“The mayor said he intends to lobby for the referendum until April 27, the day of the vote, and promised if the question passes, no cap-exception questions would be needed for at least another “four or five years.”
“Everyone in Brick will be affected, and no department will be spared if we can’t exceed the cap,” Acropolis said. “The average homeowner pays about $135 per month for all the services we provide right now. I can practically guarantee it will cost everyone living in the senior communities more than that to pay someone just to have their trash picked up.”
http://www.app.com/article/20110302/NJNEWS/103020373/1001/NEWS&source=rss
I have to get the f_ck out of this state. Hey Acropolis! I am voting no and I am dragging everyone I know to vote no as well!
Negative predictions for the real estate market and they don’t even factor in unrest in Saudi Arabia. To me the Saudi factor is not an if, it is a when. If Libya’s small impact on world oil can cause the price increases that have occurred to date, what happens when the sh*t hits the fan in Saudi Arabia? What does an event capable of causing a recession on it’s own do to an already sick international economy? Ain’t gonna be pretty!
Now that Charlie Sheen has joined the ranks of the unemployed, will he
get to collect unemployment checks?
30 yr. regarding Saudi Arabia – you are concerned with the wrong things…..
the Middle East is not the panic, the real panic is all we have left of
Two and a half Men is RERUNS!! Oh the humanity!!
Just Kidding.
Serenity Number 8 Watch how fast another network picks him up
“It’s going to be a tough sell, but once people see the reality of the services that may be cut, I think they will vote yes,” said Scott Pezarras, business administrator and chief financial officer in Brick, a township of 79,000 people near the Jersey Shore. “Most people are going to understand.
Post a list of the salaries of every township official, administrator, deputy, assistant and then ask if most people will understand.
“We expect the negative trend to continue under a severe supply overhang that includes a large and growing ‘shadow inventory’ of homes in default or foreclosure,” Eddins said.
Not here. Not in North Jersey. My daily listings for a 4/2 split or ranch still show a price tag in the upper 500s to low 600s. With a 20% down payment and taxes at $1000 per month, you’re looking at a PITI of $3500 per month just to put the key in the front door. Factor in the current cost of food and fuel alone and let me know how that feels. But…. it’s different here, right? Right?
grim (4)-
The gubmental equivalent of a junkie begging for another hit.
30 year (7)-
Saudi? Hell, they haven’t factored in that our very own Bernank is holding 1.2 trillion in MBS that is marked to perfection, and worth what I just wiped my ass with a flushed down the toilet.
“Negative predictions for the real estate market and they don’t even factor in unrest in Saudi Arabia.”
serenity (8)-
I think they are being direct deposited with his coke dealer.
“Now that Charlie Sheen has joined the ranks of the unemployed, will he
get to collect unemployment checks?”
mike (10)-
The network is going to be HDNet. Mark Cuban is going to pair him with Rudy Maxa to do a world tour of pr0stitution and drug dens.
Just keep raising taxes very gradually, the proletarians don’t suspect a thing. As long as the shelves are stocked with processed foods and DVDs of Jersey Shore, season six, nobody will notice.
I would pay good money to see Rudy Maxa high on camera.
And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
http://tinyurl.com/4l5uruv
#4 Why is there a League of Municipalities? Does it do anything but have a big party in Atlantic City every year? Where does the money for Dressel’s salary come from? Please, God, not the taxpayers.
#5 Cashing out sick leave. What a scam. Most places, you use it when you need it and it goes away if you leave or retire. It’s not extra vacation.
#6 We have a private company pick up our trash. They gave us a nice big dumpster on wheels, they come once a week, they take everything we put out and they charge 15 bucks a month.
30 Yr – I hope you are wrong about Saudi Arabia – if that happens, gas will be > $6 / gallon and I don’t even want to think where diesel is going to and food prices will escalate even faster. Plenty of banter on the board about SHTF but I think this would potentially be the catalyst to push things over the top.
On the topic of children going without food in our country, why the hell has not anyone or any entity on a large scale tried to tear down vacant / dilapidated houses in our nations cities and turn them into farms? Seems to me that the farms would take away some of the eyesore, give unemployed people honest work, a sense of community pride and a supply of delicious and healthy food. Better food = better health, weight loss, lower healthcare costs.
The year? 2012
The Place? The corner of Ridgewood Ave. and Maple Ave.
The scenario? Graydon’s Mommie looking for the next mortgage payment
http://tinyurl.com/4wytoyp
Ridgewood ave looks like a neutron bomb hit it. Never seen so many vacant storefronts.
No worries though, you can still spend 100 grand on kitchen cabinets at Clive Christian.
Gary #17 – You got that right! Absolutely pathetic.
grim,
We rode down the street a few weeks ago, I said the same thing. If that’s not an indication that many are just sqeaking by, then what is?
serenity now,
Yup! There is so much truth in satire, irony and sarcasm.
Did Trattoria Fratelli close too? Drove by the other night and it was dark.
Don’t know if that restaurant is open or closed. Once and a while I have to make a pit stop at Brooklyn’s Brick Oven to oblige the family.
Chifi/Clot… The money needed for any hunger relief effort will be peanuts compared to most types of government spending (even a small fraction of money that was “lost” in Iraq will do it). So, there should not be so much debate over such spending, deficits not withstanding.
Considering the fact that living overseas is free, We probably won’t sell if we go. Renting is a real consideration.
Gary, taxes have been trending down for exactly 10 years, starting with W’s refund checks in early ’01. They worked wonderfully since the only things we need to worry seem to be abortion, sharia law, gay marriage, and O’s “real, original” birth certificate.
gary: I do not know whether you heard the story about Wall this winter. It was the scuttlebutt…..essentially, this past November there was a public referendum on whether the town should keep a permanent sanitation force, or have sanitation backed out of property taxes, have the residents pay for it themselves and pay for snow/road maintenance on a contract/as-needed basis. They decided to save a bunch of jobs and keep the force as part of the municiapl budget.
How did these guys show their gratitude?
During snowmaggedon at Christmas you may have heard how Wall was completely snowbound….what happened? Well, since the santitation force of Wall had a guaranteed paycheck, they blew off clearing the town for the first 48 hours and instead used the town’s equipment to go out and freelance for money on the side before they did their job………Booya…
gary says:
March 8, 2011 at 7:10 am
“It’s going to be a tough sell, but once people see the reality of the services that may be cut, I think they will vote yes,” said Scott Pezarras, business administrator and chief financial officer in Brick, a township of 79,000 people near the Jersey Shore. “Most people are going to understand.
Post a list of the salaries of every township official, administrator, deputy, assistant and then ask if most people will understand.
Looks like supernova is getting his wish. How prophetic….or pathetic:
(warning: Chas. Sheen content) http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13167959
6
I pay $75 a quarter for trash pickup. They come twice a week. I’m not in Brick but I imagine the same companies would do it.
Groupons Central Jerseyoffer today is $20 for $40 at Delicious Orchards. Ummm, cider donuts.
From APP:
http://www.app.com/article/20110308/NJNEWS/110308010/Ticket-writing-up-NJ-make-roads-safer-just-money-grab-?odyssey=mod|lateststories
#5 – grim –Park officials, who held a job fair about two weeks ago, said the park will operate for the 2011 season, adding that while the racing aspect of the facility was progressing well, the money from planned luxury villas, retail space and hotels never materialized.
Wow, I didn’t even know they had opened. Has there even been a race there yet?
There had been plans on opening some sort of racetrack by AC for god only knows how long. I remember people talking about it when I was going to Stockton for undergrad work back in the early 90’s, it was supposed to F-1 then CART then NASCAR.
Also, they really planned on selling ‘ luxury villas’ next to this place? What lunatic would buy a house, even a vacation one, within earshot of cars regularly running straight pipes?
Anger brews over government workers’ benefits http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Anger-brews-over-government-apf-1175674107.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=2&asset=&ccode=
Chifi,
Never fail to use a bad situation to one’s advantage. :) Eventually, all services will be contracted. It will be a very slow transition but it will happen.
I am seeing lots of asking prices that exceed reasonable current day market. One look further and you see these people bought in ’04-’07, are underwater, and asking a price to cover the debt they still have, not the reasonable price/value of their home. These are also the homes that sit for 180+ days and eventually come to preforeclosure/short status, and then often to full blown foreclosure. Anything on the market asking $449,000 can prolly be purchased for $379,000. Anything on the market for $399,000 can probably be purchased for $339,000. They days of ‘reaching’ to catch a sucker are gone.
Ridgewood retail, how long do you think the Homemade Pizza Company will last? Am I underestimating the market for uncooked pizza?
#37 – If they host a 24 hours of lemons race, I’m in. You in? We can set up an NJRE team.
They are hosting a lemons race, April 9th. Damn, I missed the registration cutoff.
#42 – If they host a 24 hours of lemons race
Oh, I am soooo in! What to call the team though?
April 9th
Nuts. I’m still might stop by for a gander though.
toast (21)-
They’ve been doing that in Detroit for over two years now.
Long piece on the discontent in Saudi Arabia on AlJazeera today: “Inside Story – Saudi Arabia’s Growing Voices of Discontent”
http://www.youtube.com/aljazeeraenglish
Mute the lower screen’s live feed so you can hear what’s on the upper screen.
State attorneys general are pushing lenders to reduce loan balances and said they hope to reach a final settlement with banks over their mortgage-servicing and foreclosure practices within two months.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-07/foreclosure-settlement-said-to-be-sought-by-states-u-s-within-two-months.html
sastry (30)-
In Amerika:
– the poor deserve what they get
– the poor bring it on themselves
– the poor got that way because God hates them
– if you associate with the poor, you will become poor
– being poor is a crime
– if we don’t cultivate poverty, who will fight our wars?
– if we don’t cultivate poverty, who will star on gratuitous home makeover shows?
– without the poor, politicians will have no other populous base to exploit
I think I heard somewhere that Dick Cheney wants to execute poor people.
Why isnt our fearless Nobel peace prize winning leader calling for a no fly zone over Saudi to suppor the “rebels” as they fight the oppressive regime?
This house sold for 380K in 2004 and is currently listed for 715K. I mean, what do expect? It’s the price you pay for lotsa granite! :0 My prediction? A meteor the size of Staten Island hits the f*cking planet Earth before this thing sells.
http://www.trulia.com/property/3042795758-610-Witthill-Rd-Ridgewood-NJ-07450
I think our country ran a whole lot better when it was in the hands of war criminals.
Kettle,
Oblammy is holed up 200 feet below ground, somewhere in Nebraska, chain smoking Kools and swigging Ripple wrapped in a paper sack.
Didnt O promise to close GITMO? I wonder how restarting military tribunals at GITMO fits into that plan of his?
Now, for some hopeful news from Graham Summers:
“As you can see, The Rogers Agricultural index only broke above its multi-year resistance level after the Fed indicated it was going “all in” on its reflation efforts with QE lite.
This in turn has resulted in riots and revolutions worldwide. Already we’ve seen this occur in Tunisia, Algeria, the Ivory Coast, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Iran, and now Saudi Arabia. We’ve also seen the start of this in China.
The primary driver of these situations has been higher food prices. Food accounts for 50% of spending in many emerging markets. With food prices hitting record highs and going higher, many folks are literally starving. As a result, they’ve become violent and are moving to overthrow the elites in control of their countries.
This situation is a stark warning of what’s to come in the US. While many believe the US is immune to this kind of disorder, ZeroHedge recently noted that the US has a similar wealth gap to most emerging markets.
[snip]
The reasons the US hasn’t been gripped by riots are the following:
1) The security nets (food stamps, welfare, etc) continue to keep lower income Americans afloat… for now.
2) Food in the US is so processed that increases in agricultural prices don’t pass through as rapidly into higher food prices.
Neither of this will last much longer. Regarding #1, the US Government is broke. In fact they’re so broke than an aide to Nancy Pelosi (who I can’t stand) has revealed that the US Government might actually shut down at some point in the near future.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/why-haven’t-riots-hit-us-yet
“No fly zone”
That sounds like half the airports in America the moment a snowflake shows up.
Gary,
Dick does NOT want to execute poor people. He just wants them to die, or kill each other — perhaps while hunting.
“Didnt O promise to close GITMO”
Yes but he said it to the tune of Someday My Prince Will Come:
Someday that base will close
For Kettle:
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/eper_07.htm
Outofstater says:
March 8, 2011 at 7:39 am
…
#6 We have a private company pick up our trash. They gave us a nice big dumpster on wheels, they come once a week, they take everything we put out and they charge 15 bucks a month.
My private trash hauler since being acquired by Waste Management raises prices evry year, and the current one is $160 per quarter for 2x weekly pickup. If I paid for it through the muni tax it’d be less (looking at the neighboring town budget), and subject to a tax deduction. Also, I don’t own WM stock, and don’t care about them “sustaining an acceptable ROI” as the most recent price increase letter stated.
Shore,
Thanks for the link. We need to cross paths one of the days. We could have some interesting discussions.
To bad the existing grid couldn’t handle the load created by wide scale adoption of electric cars. And to think that a national smart grid could be had for about a trillion and would generate a decade of jobs building it. They might also want to consider how to power that grid while they are at it.
I just saw the following and it made me wonder, once again, whay any Britton would support a continuation of their monarchy. How a government based on heredity makes any sense in the modern world is beyond me. Pension-off the buggers for a generation or two and convert the palaces into public spaces.
“Should Britain’s Prince Andrew step down as the country’s unpaid trade ambassador? He’s friends with a convicted U.S. sex offender, hosted the son-in-law of the ousted Tunisian president, plus meets with Gadhafi’s son. Tonight, royal commentator and editor of Majesty magazine Ingrid Seward joins us.”
Nope, they will leave that to the ICC. The devil is always in the details.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/03/08/gadhafi-step-down-offer479.html
Rebels won’t pursue Gadhafi if he quits soon
We already blew, uhhh, ummm, invested, our trillion. We need to leave it to others to drag the world into the future. We are too busy looking at our scrapbook of past glories.
re #20 Cash out of sick leave.
This was developed to bribe workers to come in instead of using their sick time to avoid losing it.
Back when I was consulting for state govt, most govt workers I knew used it as extra vacation pre-bribe.
We had a college football reunion a while back and it was interesting. Some of the guys had matured gracefully and others were doggedly clinging to their past self, the one they were 30+ years ago. I can tell you that aging is no picnic but growing up is far more productive, and less pathetic, than clinging to past glories. One must constantly achieve new glories or become a characture of ones’ own self.
From the AP:
Underwater mortgages rise as home prices fall
The number of Americans who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth rose at the end of last year, preventing many people from selling their homes in an already weak housing market.
CoreLogic says about 11.1 million households, or 23.1 percent of all mortgaged homes, were underwater in the October-December quarter. That’s up from 22.5 percent, or 10.8 million households, in the July-September quarter.
Not having to use sick leave is benefit enough, no? It means one was healthy enough not to need to use sick leave, no? Isnt it like house insurance? You know, one pays into it each year hoping like heck never to have to use it.
Only losers owe less on their homes than the mortgage or market value. Solvency is so, 20th Century.
Speaking of which, I need to go tell someone they no longer have a job.
66 – Needs to go the way of the private sector. Fixed paid time off, your choice whether you want to use those days for vacation, a sick day, or just to take a day off. Use it or lose it. At least in this manner, financial exposure is fully known and understood, and there isn’t any fraud over using sick days when you aren’t sick.
Re: 60 Min. story [prev thread];
The most amazing thing to me is not that the underlying facts exist, but that they were reported during a Democratic administration. A casual observer of mainstream media would be forgiven for believing that pandemic homelessness of the 1980’s was eraditacted in 1993, only to reappear in 2001. The Journo-list must be all atwitter this week.
Clot 56 food inflation: It would seem we are destabilizing friend and foe alike but mostly foes. Not a bad tool if you are that Machiavellian. We can produce more food if we need it , no? Aren’t we paying farmers not to grow? At this point we have the water and farm land, they don’t, you use the power/tools you have.
Bill Gross – US living standards doomed to fall
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/“no-way-out”-of-debt-trap-gross-says-u.s.-living-standards-doomed-to-fall 536001.html;_ylt=AmHVR_iMT7kbLExZB0S.xiG7YWsA;_ylu=X3oDMTE2Z2c5MHUwBHBvcwMxMgRzZWMDdG9wU3RvcmllcwRzbGsDbm93YXlvdXRvZmRl?tickers=%5EDJI,%5EGSPC,%5ETNX,GLD,GDX,TLT,MUB&sec=topStories&pos=9&asset=&ccode=
No fraud, no fun, grim.
mikey (74)-
I’ve always maintained that the US’ two major exports are debt and inflation.
#77 – We do a good job of filling up the empty containers in port newark with dollars and shipping them back to china.
“Bill Gross – US living standards doomed to fall” No sh*t Sherlock!
My coworker thinks the target market for this “summer camp” is Wall Street executives that are cheating on their spouses.
Bilingual Buds takes Mandarin immersion “on the road” with this unique summer travel experience for children ages 4-12 and their parents. With Beijing as the setting and young travelers as the focus, the camp offers families an extraordinary look at language, customs, food, culture–and a different way of life.
Bilingual Buds Summer Camp in Beijing
Who:Children ages 4-12 and their parents
What: Students join native-speaking children at a summer camp/private school for playful learning in Mandarin. Activities include puppetry, painting, cooking, calligraphy, chess, martial arts, and more. Parents enjoy daily sightseeing, cultural experiences and shopping adventures. Five-star hotel suites included.
Where: ZhongGuanCun
When: July 13- July 30, 2011 (18 days)
Cost: $5805 for one parent with one child; $7130 for two parents with one child; other family sizes can be quoted upon request.
We also kick ass with cigs……
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=PM+Interactive#chart1:symbol=pm;range=1y;indicator=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=undefined
78.grim says:
March 8, 2011 at 11:04 am
#77 – We do a good job of filling up the empty containers in port newark with dollars and shipping them back to china.
30-yr [41];
Sounds doomed because very few people have home ovens hot enough to cook pizza well, even if good components are well assembled.
#81 – You read the Zippo piece in the WSJ? They should be shipping over containers of lighters along with those cigs.
Ket, #55, O over-promised a under-delivered (probably an understatement of the week/month). Too much hope and too little change. He is no FDR. May be he will grow a spine in his second term.
Grim 77 and when the SHTF they will be left holding the bag. Maybe we ain’t so dumb after all.
sastry (84)-
Maybe we will stop electing people with retarded adult development as President and Bojangles will spend the rest of his life giving speeches on the rubber chicken circuit.
Perhaps he will even take up skydiving with Bush 1.
SAS3
May be he will grow a spine in his second term.
HAHA, he is a bought and paid for empty suit.
Too bad Bojangles’ skin color has merely delayed- not prevented- the slow public realization that he is- at his core- a second-rate, bought-and-paid for Chicago political machine hack.
Clot, other than HRC, O seems to the most sane one around. What is a reasonable alternative from the current contender list?
Brick is a joke they jammed the waterfront owners with a 50% tax increase.
The 1 acre waterfront forclosure I looked at in Brick now has 27k in taxes
And cannot sell at even 620k. The jersey shore is doomed.
Grim (3) – As someone who had the unfortunate experience of growing up in South Jersey, I can tell you that this thing was doomed before the first shovel ever hit the ground. The supporting infrastructure was never put in place for the project. The main road leading to it is a 2 lane county road. Route 55 is the nearest highway, and during the summer months it is packed with the shore crowd. Any event drawing 30k+ people creates a logistical nightmare for locals.
Millville is a completely backward town, and the surrounding area is not much better. Coal miners from West Virginia moved to the area during the 60’s and 70’s to work in the glass factories. They brought their advanced culture with them. It thrives to this day. Even if this thing was built pre-bubble, the luxury villas and retail space would never have materialized.
Park officials, who held a job fair about two weeks ago, said the park will operate for the 2011 season, adding that while the racing aspect of the facility was progressing well, the money from planned luxury villas, retail space and hotels never materialized.
Interesting tib bit I learned yesterday. Fed Primary Dealers of Treasuries, the huge commerical banks are ongoing stress tests by OCC/Fed to determine effect of QE2 ending and the sucking of liquidity out of market effect it will have on the large banks. That loud sucking noise is coming soon, overnight rates and mortgages will rise quickly if and when that happens.
Oddly to prepare, either move out of market. Or “barbell”. Barbell means 50% short term and 50% long term. The short term you can roll over at higher rates, the long term actual does not get hurt too bad as it shows Fed is taking longer term inflation seriously, the 7-20 year bonds get killed though. Also coupon kickers are good. Bonds with high coupons callable in next 2-5 years. They don’t go for much above par. Since coupon is high won’t fall much and even if rates rise quickly worse that happens is it won’t get called. Worse is a long term non callable bond with a low coupon or a zero. Absolute destruction.
Fun times ahead
Gary,
you need to get out of your funk. The sarcasm and negative rants are indicative of someone who has given up. Happiness is not found in an expensive house or specific town. You’ve got to find it in your heart, first. Put your energy to better use. And don’t go blowing your top just because I’m brave enough to offer advice. Jobs come and go. Houses too. Find your niche. Something that truly means something to you. You shall see, the power of positive thinking is underrated! :)
Hart – Forgive me for butting in, but Gary works in outrage the way an artist works in oils. It’s a good way to reduce stress and it keeps the rest of us amused.
Hart-O-Gold,
Phew!! Your post came just in the nick of time. I was just standing on a ledge with a gun to my head. :) I’m Kidding!!! I’m fine! Believe me, I’m fine! :)
Outofstater,
How intuitive of you! :)
I think Gary actually loves NJ, warts and all, and is a secret admirer of O!
Gary, enraged? You’re lucky you weren’t sitting next to him when Paterson Plank Joe greased it.
(97) Sas3 – This is for you, a critique of O, from the people that matter most: celebrities.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/from-no-1-fan-to-criticinchief-damon-takes-aim-at-obama-2233622.htmlhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/from-no-1-fan-to-criticinchief-damon-takes-aim-at-obama-2233622.html
From No 1 fan to critic-in-chief, Damon takes aim at Obama
The President has rolled over to Wall Street completely, the star tells Tom Teodorczuk
sas3
No current politician has the cojones or the will to do what needs to be done and any that show the slightest hint that they are even considering are promptly neutralized. Its not really very difficult. Just tell their constituents that Mr politician wants to cut their government cheese.
The die are cast. Sit back and enjoy the show. Go to a football game and imagine your in ancient Rome. Panem et Circenses!
And now something completely irrelevant and politically incorrect.
The origin of Irish dancing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0rrLdWLu_0
It’s only because I care….
I love Gary’s anger. He speaks for US! He’s my go to after extensive MLS searches in multiple markets. Its either Gary’s rants or I’m going to resort to spray paint.
Anyone here a lawyer, specifically dealt with envorimental contamination regaurding underground storage tank? Gimmie an e-mail, I’d like to have a chat.
Hear-O-Gold [93];
Happiness is not found in an expensive house or specific town. You’ve got to find it in your heart, first.
That sounds like a circa 2006 prelude to spending $750,000 on a POS ramshackle cape in a frontier town. How long have you been selling used houses?
Nothing goes better together than luxury villas and auto racing, except, maybe, milk and sand.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2057116_2057343_2057287,00.html
grim,
Does this make you want to pull your chest hair out?
Well, Gary, it appears that your friends are taking care of you! ;)
Put your anger into your music!
95: gary.. . .what type of gun? You know we all love guns on this board! Let the gun talk commence!
“Put your anger into your music!”
Gary’s fav song;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGfQk9XXm24
Maybe the south should be taxed more to cover its poor health:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/218550.php
Gator, (80)
I visited a Bilingual Buds preschool open house in Summit once. Looked designed to separate wealthy from their money. Teaching your kid mandarin became hot after Jim Rogers talked it up, but he can afford a Chinese nanny. Probably a lot of kids named Greydon at Bilingual buds, but there were a few Chinese kids there too. Most Chinese know there’s a better, cheaper way to teach chinese than high priced programs like Bilingual Buds.
My daughter knows mandarin because she has no choice but to speak it to her grandparents. She learned to read and write in weekend Chinese school in Edison, which only costs a few hundred bucks per year, and time doing homework. Her first year in Chinese kindergarten, she sat at the front of class, and I sat in the back. She did better than I did. Main problem for white kids is that these Chinese schools assume that the kids already are speaking some Chinese at home, and aren’t user friendly for non-Chinese families.
Tomorrow, on March 9, the S&P 500 is scheduled to celebrate its second bull-market birthday. The historic rally has been dramatic and, for many strategists and analysts, unexpected. Two years ago, how many of your friends and neighbors would have bet that the US stock market would rocket up more than 90% after suffering a nearly 60% drubbing over a 17-month period?
Happy Birthday Bull!!!!
Warren Buffet & the Secret of Subprime Mortgage Success
http://blog.hsh.com/index.php/2011/03/warren-buffett-the-secret-of-subprime-mortgage-success/?doing_wp_cron
I am convinced the Chinese don’t even have a language, when they see us white devils they all go wing wong ching chong ping pong or what ever mumbo jumbo comes to mind, then as soon as we leave they are like, Hey you see the Knicks game last night?
In Chinese, “hello”, literally translated, is “You good, huh?”
But that Chinese lady at the open house definitely isn’t going to let JJ know what she’s saying. I know enough Chinese to tell whether people are saying good or bad things about me.
sastry (89)-
No hope at all for Amerika. The decline will continue until the world completely catches our contagion.
At that point, the human race will self-destruct.
jj (92)-
Even better, this round of stress tests feature the banks being tested allowed to create their own stress tests.
The only “barbell” at work here is the fiscal one that’s been dropped across the throat of the US taxpayer, who is backstopping these giant, TBTF banks which, in reality, are giant GSEs.
gary (95)-
Why do harm to yourself, when you could track down this Hartz Mountain loser and bust a cap on him?
Grim,
Here is a new thread for you:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-08/bofa-segregates-almost-half-its-mortgages-into-bad-bank-under-laughlin.html
“Nameless, formless crisis enveloping nation’s home price indices”
I’d (accurately) call it the Baby Boomer Depression, but they’d think I was merely concerned about their mental health.
Con’t [121];
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQZmCJUSC6g
My friends’ Chinese parents once ripped him a new one when he was 9 years old. He came home with a Korean, Japanese kid, an African-American and me.
The called the Korean a “go-leye”(sp?), Japanese something that translated as turnip head (lo-bahk-tao?), and the black kid and me – bah-kwee and hah-kwee which I think means black ghost and white ghost…is this right? ….I also think they might all be slurs too.
116.A.West says:
March 8, 2011 at 2:47 pm
In Chinese, “hello”, literally translated, is “You good, huh?”
But that Chinese lady at the open house definitely isn’t going to let JJ know what she’s saying. I know enough Chinese to tell whether people are saying good or bad things about me.
clot: lay off the sauce a little eh?
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/BrownForman-Reports-32-bw-1173995899.html?x=0&.v=1
#124 – Needs a polock, and you should have been walking into a bar.
JJ,
Re: Stress tests,
What’s your take on this? Do you think they will abruptly stop QE 2, cause a flash crash/scare, then justify QE 3? Or perhaps they will just do QE 3 without announcing it similiar to how they started QE 2 in June of 2010 and making it formal in Nov 2010.
http://www.portableairconditionerdeals.com.au/daikin-air-conditioners.html Thanks for that awesome posting. It saved MUCH time :-)
Moose, you can be kinda funny in a creepy way.
Actually, I used to work with lots of asian women right from asia. I could never read them. Interesting they have no hang up about fooling around. For instance, I want a hot blonde, ask her out, dress nice, take her to nice restaurant, take her to bar, try to pump a lot of drinks into her, flirt, she how she responds, flirt somemore and eventually you score. Lots of work and money.
Asian girls at work, were like, meet them at starbucks for coffee, take about nothing, they just come as is, you come as is, no need to even buy a drink. End of date with the emotion of washing dishes they throw it to you and you leave.
Usually when I see american guys married to asian girls I assume they are lazy. Buy her cup of starbucks boom, home base. Plus nowdays no big deal dating one. Now if I am out which a smoking hot Black girl, I get some real street cred. Out with a spanish or asian girl I don’t even get Vanila Ice street cred. I once checked into a hotel with a crazy hot black girl I just picked up, I got fist bumped by the desk clerk and the bros wanted to strangle me I saw death in their eyes. Then one bro a big one at that goes in the elevator when it was just the three of us, hey why you with him, what about me, she goes I don’t do brothers. OMG, a fly girl, a playa and a playa hater all in elevator together, the guy looked like a little boy just smacked by a Nun. Now that is what I am talking about. Let me tell you those sisters are grading your performance like an ice skating meet. The asian girls three shakes and a squirt they will be like, you were real good.
Wait what does this have to do with 5 year olds studying chinese?
A.West says:
March 8, 2011 at 2:47 pm
In Chinese, “hello”, literally translated, is “You good, huh?”
But that Chinese lady at the open house definitely isn’t going to let JJ know what she’s saying. I know enough Chinese to tell whether people are saying good or bad things about me.
90% two year run up they will start slowly taking punch bowl away. Not so much to crash equities. But people in 30 year treasuries, munis and investment grade clipping big coupons all these years since the 1982 bond bull market started will be spanked very hard.
Al Mossberg says:
March 8, 2011 at 4:41 pm
JJ,
Re: Stress tests,
What’s your take on this? Do you think they will abruptly stop QE 2, cause a flash crash/scare, then justify QE 3? Or perhaps they will just do QE 3 without announcing it similiar to how they started QE 2 in June of 2010 and making it formal in Nov 2010.
Getting back to what’s important, Camden:
“Violent crime spikes after Camden halves police force”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110307/us_yblog_thelookout/violent-crime-spikes-after-camden-halves-police-force
Bike paths, anyone?
After just going to the NASCAR race in Vegas, who the heck would want to live next to a racetrack? Even the rednecks drinking Johnnie Walker black out of the bottle on the way back from the car rental shuttle to the airport wouldn’t live near the smell of burnt rubber or deal with the traffic nightmares. That’s like saying the lights from the high school field are a selling point.
[131] moose,
It isn’t like they halved the police, its like they abolished them. Even when they had numbers, Camden cops did little but hang out in their cars playing computer games or tracing outlines in chalk. The baddies also know, as do most people, when cops feel threatened, they pull inward and don’t do more than they have to (which is surprisingly little).
So when Camden lets half its cops go, the other half say “why the f should I care” and start phoning it in even more. Bad guys notice that there are NO cops on the street anymore, ergo . . .
You also see it on the highways. You’d think people would be slowing down more, afraid of the local revunooers giving out tickets like candy, but drivers are actually worse now. Why? Same reason; they know the cops don’t care and aren’t going to put themselves out. Not that there aren’t outliers, but IMHO, that’s what happens and I have seen in many times in the past.
Wow, how did this get by the Politburo and make it onto MSNBC’s website? Moreover, while it subtly defends NPR, it doesn’t trash O’Keefe. Did Tingly and Red Ed not see this before it got posted?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41970138/ns/politics-more_politics?GT1=43001
And finally, the burning question: How come I am posting this before Jamil? He sick or something?
OMFG.
With apologies to Debt Supernova: Oblivion dead ahead.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/41969508
135.
Nom,
The stench of death is overpowering this week :)
Nom, do you agree with that guy’s argument calling social security payments as “government handouts”?
sas3, you should try to stay away from the MSM spin machine. If the SS $ was thrown into Wall Street to “invest for us” CNBC wouldn’t say boo. Wall Street wants SS $ so that they have another source of funds to play with.
TOKYO – A magnitude 7.2 earthquake has hit northern Japan, shaking buildings in Tokyo and prompting the country’s meteorological agency to issue a tsunami alert for the northeastern coast. There are no immediate reports of damage or injuries, but officials are still assessing the situation.
The meteorological agency says the quake hit at 11:45 a.m. local time Wednesday and was centered about 200 miles (300 kilometers) north of Tokyo at a depth of about 6.2 miles (10 kilometers).
It warned that a tsunami of about 20 inches (50 centimeters) would hit the coast around noon Wednesday, but that time passed without any reports of a wave reaching the shore.
There was a 6.3 magnitude aftershock shortly after the main quake.
The end is nigh (bike lane edition):
Prospect Park West bike lanes suit says crashes increased after lanes were installed last year
By RICH CALDER
A scathing lawsuit filed against the city this week turns the Department of Transportation’s own data against the Bloomberg administration’s push for a bicycle lane along Brooklyn’s Prospect Park West — showing crashes and injuries actually increased after the two-way path was installed there last summer.
The suit, filed Monday in Brooklyn Supreme Court by a group of well-heeled Park Slope residents, seeks the lanes’ immediate removal.
It accuses the city and Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan of manipulating agency data to push an anti-automobile agenda to justify replacing one of three lanes along the busy roadway with a two-way protected bike lane.
It also contends DOT violated state and city law because the bike lane borders two national historic districts and, therefore, an environmental review was needed – but never conducted — before the project was completed in June 2010.
“This was a massive effort to distort the facts and force community support,” said Norman Steisel, a former deputy mayor in the Dinkins administration.
In January, DOT hailed the bike lanes as a huge success by reporting crashes and injuries were down since the lanes were installed. It came to the conclusion by taking a three-year average of the last six months for 2007 through 2009 — which showed 29.7 crashes and 6.3 injuries — and then comparing it with the 25 crashes and five injuries reported during the second half of last year, the suit says.
But Steisel’s group – which includes former DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall, the wife of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer — obtained city DOT data through the Freedom of Information Law. They ran the numbers on a yearly basis and found crashes and injuries had been steadily declining — but then slightly increased in the second half of 2010 once the lanes were installed.
During a rally at City Hall yesterday, Councilman Brad Lander (D-Brooklyn), some Park Slope civic leaders and bicycle activists denounced the suit, saying there is strong community support for the lanes and that their own surveys show speeding has reduced and residents feel safer with the bike lanes.
Both sides are set to collide during a public hearing Thursday night at John Jay High School over plans to modify the bike lane with new signage and pedestrian friendly features.
un mod
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