From American Banker:
HARP 2.0, the expanded GSE refinancing program unveiled late last year, kicked into full speed during the first quarter with volumes doubling to 180,000 units compared to the prior period.
The program is geared to Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac mortgagors with LTVs north of 80% who are having difficulty refinancing because of a lack of home equity.
In March alone, servicers completed 80,000 refinancings of Fannie/Freddie loans under the expanded Home Affordable Refinancing Program. The key to the program’s success: totally removing the LTV cap, allowing for loans with LTVs north of 125% to refinance.
A Federal Housing Finance Agency report released Friday shows that 4,400 borrowers with loan-to-value ratios above 125% were refinanced in the first quarter, including 2,900 in March alone.
The HARP charges approved by the FHFA and implemented by Fannie and Freddie during the winter have also boosted refis of GSE loans with LTVs greater than 105% and up to 125%.
Refinancings of loans in the 105%-125% bracket jumped from 13,100 in the fourth quarter to 36,850 in the first quarter. In March 18,700 loans in that bracket were refinanced.
The FHFA attributed the refi surge to the unbridled LTV caps, and the elimination or reduction of certain loan fees.
From HousingWire:
HARP nearly doubles refinanced mortgages in first quarter
HARP launched in April 2009 to allow more borrowers who owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth to refinance. But few severely underwater borrowers could take advantage of historically low rates. The FHFA expanded the program last fall to remove the loan-to-value ceiling of 125% — the so-called HARP 2.0 — and to reduce upfront fees and eliminate repurchase risk if the original servicer on the loan completes the workout.
With the surge in the first quarter, total HARP refinancing now totals more than 1.2 million loans.
And more severely underwater borrowers are finally being included.
…
More than 4,400 borrowers with LTVs above 125% refinanced through HARP in the first quarter. More than half of them were located in California, Florida and Arizona, states hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis.Borrowers in the 105% to 125% range were often shut out as well, but that changed under the expanded program as well. In the first quarter, nearly 37,000 of these underwater borrowers refinanced, nearly triple the 13,000 in the previous quarter.
Good Morning New Jersey
From MarketWatch:
Hurry and cash in on short-sale tax savings
An increasing number of homeowners who are underwater on their mortgage are selling their homes by short sale, and that could become an even more popular option during the rest of the year.
That’s partly because of a law set to expire at the end of 2012 that offers tax relief for homeowners who sold their home in a short sale or have had some other sort of mortgage debt forgiven or canceled, such as in a foreclosure or modification that included principal reduction. While there are efforts in Washington to extend these tax benefits, it’s hard to guess whether they’ll be renewed.
…
The current savings for taxpayers is significant.
Say a homeowner took out a $200,000 mortgage on a home, and subsequently became underwater by about 20%, or $40,000, during the housing downturn. Without the current tax law, if the bank forgives that amount the borrower is underwater, such as through a short sale, they’d be subject to pay taxes on that forgiven amount, since the Internal Revenue Service regards it as income.
So for someone in the 25% tax bracket, forgiveness of $40,000 would mean a $10,000 tax bill at the end of the year, says Mark Luscombe, principal federal tax analyst for CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business and a provider of tax, accounting and audit information, software and services.
“Of course, the concept always strikes people as strange. They’re struggling and trying to get debt forgiven and then are hit with a tax,” Luscombe said.
SRK: I responded to your question in yesterday’s thread.
2 Just out curiosity what are the rules if any for a bank to forgive debt on a modification. Hardships, income, or is everything done on an individual basis as they see fit?
Updated charts. So far you guys owe me and grim a beer for accuracy.
http://tinyurl.com/7oj67js
http://nj1015.com/nj-homeowner-associations-squeezing-residents/
The nerve to ask questions of the association
6 – Lots of people fled Eastern Europe because they no longer wanted to live in grey concrete communist-ruled tenement blocks.
Funny that everyone who refinanced in Q1 of 2012 is ready to be refinanced again. Lots of fee income for banks.
A lot of the properties that I have mentioned as “under contract” in Tenafly are now long past the posted “Est Cl Date.” Many of them were set to close last week in May and still no closing information is posted. Deals hitting snags? Financing/appraisal issues? Lazy agents not entering the info? I don’t know…but if a property was estimated to close on May 25th I would think it would be entered by now.
Facebook for kids? Yeah, this is going to turn out well.
NJMLS is horrible from a timeliness standpoint compared to GSMLS. Although I’d argue that both systems are downright archaic.
some of them seem to post same day. maybe a bunch aren’t going off without a hitch.
Print or Doom.
“It’s all about the Fed next week,” said Keith Springer, president of Springer Financial Advisors in Sacramento Calif. “If the Fed comes through with a QE program, that could save the market — if not the market will fall off a cliff.”
http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/03/investing/stocks-lookahead/index.htm?source=cnn_bin
Bernanke explained
http://www.godlikeproductions.com/sm/custom/3d8ae0c708.jpg
FB For Kids?
South Park Covered this topic two years ago.
You have zero friends
Kyle “friends” the wrong person on Facebook, and all of his friends abandon him as a result. When he becomes desperate for just one person to friend him, he turns to Stan. But when Stan tries to help, his Facebook account goes rogue, and he finds himself in the digital realm forced to battle his own profile.
http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s14e04-you-have-0-friends
The End Is Nigh (New Rules Edition):
Bill Maher buys minority share of Mets
He’s not joking — comedian and lifelong Mets fan Bill Maher now owns a piece of the team.
HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” host made a surprise announcement that he’s a minority owner before last night’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals after a VIP tour with Mets Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wilpon.
“I think it’s a great investment,” said Maher, sporting a Mets cap for his inaugural trip to Citi Field.
“I had my money in Lehman Brothers in 2008, so this looked pretty good,” he quipped.
“I’m really happy that it turned out that this team is good this year. Because nobody picked them to be good.
“It’s a New York state of mind today.”
Maher, 56, who lives in LA, declined to say how much of the team he bought or what he paid for his minority stake.
“I can’t talk about that,” he said, but noted that the deal went through “months ago.”
Maher said he decided to invest in the team after reading last year that the Wilpons — in financial trouble because of their relationship with Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff — were putting 12 minority ownership shares up for sale for $20 million apiece.
In March, Wilpon announced the family had raised $240 million through the sale of the shares, but — aside from four shares bought by cable companies — wouldn’t say who bought them.
Maher hinted at the news on Twitter just hours before game time.
“Heading out to Citi Field for the Mets game . . . this is one baseball game I’m going to remember,” he tweeted.
Maher, who was born in New York City and raised in River Vale, NJ, fondly recalled his first memories of the Amazin’s as he stood outside the clubhouse for his pre-game chat with reporters.
“My earliest memory is my father sitting at the kitchen table . . . reading the newspaper and telling my mother that New York was getting a National League team again.
“I must have been 5, and I remember that distinctly.”
Maher also recalled sitting in an LA bar with Jerry Seinfeld, watching the ball roll between Bill Buckner’s legs in the famous Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
Asked if he’d try to get Seinfeld to buy in, Maher cracked, “Why he didn’t, I have no idea.
“He’s sure got more money than I do.”
Jill, Just saw your reply in other thread, thanks a lot, absolutely will go by that advice.
Mikeinwaiting, thanks for your feedback too and sharing your experience, left a reply for you there yesterday.
Yet another reason to consider dropping being a mets fan and walk away from baseball forever. I only watch during the playoffs these days anyway.
I don’t know, as a proud and unabashed libby, it gives me MORE reason to watch this team. (Maher is still a sexist pig, though.)
Why do Jewish People love the Mets? It has the highest percentage of Jewish fans of any team in baseball.
Jill says:
June 4, 2012 at 9:17 am
I don’t know, as a proud and unabashed libby, it gives me MORE reason to watch this team. (Maher is still a sexist pig, though.)
Jill – Boomer cult of me is what Maher is about, he rejection of anything on the right including family values which you interpret as sexism. It is not sexism but his rejection of family because he would then have to swing towards the center just like his buddy Seinfeld has.
20 – can you cite your resource for that stat?
LOL My best friend, who *is* Jewish, once asked me why there are so many Chinese restaurants on Long Island. I’ll give you the same answer I gave him: Really?
Why do Jewish People love the Mets? It has the highest percentage of Jewish fans of any team in baseball.
Went to 5 open houses yesterday as I basically mentioned in the weekend thread. The prices still make me scratch my head but it’s the property taxes that really make me wonder how people are doing it. I sit there and twist numbers every which way and I still can’t figure it out. And it seems like every house I go into needs some aspect of major overhaul to get it liveable.
Decks, walkways and driveways are a mess, or bathrooms and kitchens are horrid or siding and roofing needs to be replaced or heating/cooling is ancient. It seems that if you don’t have a hefty six digits to work with, a decent house in sought after neighborhood is totally out of reach.
Tack on the no-frills economic transformation and the new pay-as-you-go work force and I can’t figure out what’s holding up the structure. Where is the income to sustain a family of 4 after you’ve depleted every cent just to turn the key?
Is it possible that a lot more people are underwater and the trickle of short sales and bankruptcies is actually a tidal wave in the making?
[23] BTW, my friend, like me is a Yankees fan. He also married a Methodist.
[16] chifi
Not that I need much of a reason, but now I have to hate the Mets even more.
I am not a plagiarist. It is my own stat. Pretty much every person Jewish person I know is a Mets fan. And towns like Great Neck 99% of people have Mets stuff on. I went to a kids thing in a Jewish town this weekend after the Mets no-hitter and more Mets stuff being worn than the Giants stuff the day of superbowl.
Also lots of Jewish Jets fans. I see a bunch of orthodox jews even at Jets game. Then again Jewish is the ultimate Jewish sports, no games of Fridays or Saturday. As long as no one puts may on the pigskin it is all good. US Open is also a big Jewish fan event.
Now Yankees and Giants not so Jewish.
Mets have had some great Jewish players, Heck the Jets even had a Jewish QB
seif says:
June 4, 2012 at 9:31 am
20 – can you cite your resource for that stat?
24 – how are they doing it? big down payments? rich parents? living paycheck to paycheck? its a good question.
26 -hate the Mets? that’s like hating the Cubs. they are barely a threat, why waste the energy?
Nom you’ll be one of the few to appreciate this One on my buddies was redshirted a BU for hockey in the early 90s so we go up to visit. Trolling around boston with a few of his teamates we drop into like the third bar for the night which loaded with sawks memorabilia. i think they even had one of Yaz’s jocks on the wall. Three more beers in I take off my polo to reveal a T shirt with the ball going through Buckner’s legs on the front and you gotta believe on the back.
Needless to say I did not get another beer that night but did hook up with some Mets fan who went to BU and thought I was brave. I’m probably lucky I didn’t get killed
[24] gary – housing prices, like inflation but perhaps more so, have great inertia. Once stopped it’s very hard to get them moving again, once moving it’s very had to get them stopped. IMO, the Fed has been trying to engineer 7-10% annual inflation to get prices moving up and make all the bank loans eventually “good”, in nominal terms. Unfortunately, price inflation won’t do a hill of beans for home prices unless accompanies by true wage inflation and sharply dropping unemployment like we had in the very late 90’s. Remember when you couldn’t walk through a mall without seeing help wanted signs in every store window? Now you can’t walk through some of those malls…period.
Is it possible that a lot more people are underwater and the trickle of short sales and bankruptcies is actually a tidal wave in the making?
veets (5)-
Can I revise my prediction to a total collapse of Western civilization?
U.S. APRIL FACTORY ORDERS FALL 0.6%
Not so rosy. Could I venture an “unexpected”.
“NEW YORK CITY REPORT ON BUSINESS Screeching Halt New York City business activity fell abruptly to a six-month low, according to the survey taken by the Institute for Supply Management-New York (ISM-NY). The Current Business Conditions index dropped to 49.9 in May from 61.2 in April. Readings below 50 are consistent with contraction. The 11.3-point decline was the biggest downswing in three years. Future optimism grinded down to a seven-month low, but remained in expansion territory suggesting any slowdown might be temporary. The Six-Month Outlook index fell to 60.2 in May from 63.1 in April.”
Link33: http://www.ismny.org/newsimages/ISM-New%20York%20May%202012%20Report%20On%20Business.pdf
pain (18)-
Did Maher just buy into a team that: a) mortgaged the contract of one of its worst players ever; b) got swindled, and possibly abetted the swindler; c) actually employed Mel Rojas????
I hope Maher is at least as successful as Mike Hampton.
Steinbrenner’s German heritage did not engender them to be Yankee fans perhaps?
Most of the people I know who are Mets fans was due of their win in 86 perhaps the same holds true for the boomers who were coming of age in 69. The team wasn’t around long enough for the previous generation so they were Yankees fans or ex-Dodger fans who switched to Mets because they just hated the Yankees. I took two die hard Mets fans my brother and my boss to game five for the 2000 Subway series. I was able to get the tickets although they were nosebleeds by the pigeon roosting in the rafter at the old Shea but they were happy until the 9th when Rivera closed the door for any chance they had to win the Series. Train ride home with dejected Mets fans was no fun they didn’t even want to have a celebratory drink and I was buying too. :)
It’s all going to black, and the pace is accelerating.
Another day in hell.
Well Maher is a lefty, correct? I would bet he is because, like most lefties, they just seem to be around years and years after what should be their expiration date. It’s hard to find a lefty with talent. rife with puns.
I hope Maher is at least as successful as Mike Hampton.
To Help Fix Housing, Disclose Mortgage Addresses
(in RMBS)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-03/to-help-fix-housing-disclose-mortgage-addresses.html
Just about every 8, 9, & 10 year old on my block jumped on the Mets bandwagon in 1969 and stayed there. Our houses were all built new in ’65-’66 so there were lots of kids from Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, white-flighters. There were no more neighborhood ties to teams and it seemed like most of the Dads in my neighborhood, including mine, didn’t seem to care at all about sports, so the kids just jumped on the Mets bandwagon because the Yankees were done. Mantle retired at Spring training in ’69 and the Miracle Mets won the World series in ’69 and there was no pressure to be loyal to any team from the neighborhood because the neighborhood was just born a couple years before, so most kids went Mets. There were probably lots of neighborhoods just like mine in new suburbs all around the NNJ/NY area. I think that’s where the Mets fan base reached critical mass.
[40] And I say 8,9 & 10 year olds because we were the oldest kids in the neighborhood. All new families in new houses, moving from apartments in Paterson and all 5 boros. My parents bought a starter house in ’61 and this was their second house, so our family was a couple years older and I was one of the oldest kids in the neighborhood, with a couple of cohorts from similar families.
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/wsj-trustee-mf-global-may-assert-claims-against-corzine-others-20120604-00740
Can we get an opening line on Corzine leaving for Brazil?
FB:US
26.8399 USD
wonder if anyone who got in on opening day is still holding this dog?
Last LP: $848,000 ML#: 1206409
Addr: 68 HOMESTEAD RD RES/S
TENAFLY Zip: 07670
Orig LP: $899,000
Sold: $815,000
Taxes: $19,573
SD: 6/1/2012 UCD: 5/4/2012 DOM: 74
24 Gary, And the misleadings continue too. A house currently on the market which was under tax-abatement on improvements for the past 5 years is coming out of that program, and taxes are going up from 5.5K (pretty low for even this area where taxes range from 6.5 to 7.8) to 8.7K this year, and yet the ad for the house says ‘low taxes’. I dont know how many buyers are going to check with the township like I did.
Re: Mets: The first game I ever watched was Jim Bunning’s no-no against them on Father’s Day 1964. It was then that I bonded with my dad for probably the first time. He didn’t really relate well to kids as kids; he would play “kill Scrabble” with me and win every time, he tried to teach me to play bridge once and reduced me to tears. Mom was always depressed, they fought all the time, but once we bonded over baseball, it gave us something in common. He used to take me out to Shea where you could slip an old-guy usher chomping a cheap White Owl cigar a buck and he’s move you down to the field boxes right along the 1st base line where you were close enough to see Ed Kranepool’s 5 o’clock shadow. I always say that the Mets saved my childhood.
SRK [45],
Explain to me what program you’re referring to? What did you verify with the township? I’m looking at property tax histories on these properties and speaking with these realtors yesterday and the taxes have completely decoupled and are rising year after year at a nauseating pace. I cannot see how anyone can sustain this assault. It’s impossible to have taxes rise at outrageous intervals and stay solvent.
Step dad took me to shea in 78 against the Reds. Mets got killed guess I have been a fan since. Was at game 1 of the 86 series (f*ck you Tim Teuffel) kept up my fanhood ever since, but with less and less time devoted to wasting 4 hours on glorous spring and summer days I don’t pay much attention unless I’m at the ballpark (which is a pain in the a$$ to get to from Jersey) or the playoffs. Life is too short to spend it watching an afternoon game in the spring and summer. that and they should go back to a 142 game schedule baseball ending in November is stupid. just like Hockey ending in June (and I’m a much bigger Hockey fan)
First baseball game I saw was in the Original Yankee Stadium. Tommy Lasoda gave my Dad tickets to take his kids. Get there and they are in the first row of UD and my seat is directly behind a large beam. Can’t see squat. Did see a rookie Bobby Mercer get a broken bat single. Of course I was leaning way right to see it.
Hey Tommy, how about better seats next time!!!!
Speaking of MF, I heard from a commodities broker that a few weeks ago lying Jon boy was spotted at the NYSC and apparently a customer who is missing millions from his accounts was there. The customer of MF had to be physically restrained by his friends to keep him from pulling a Dick Fuld on the treadmill. Jon boy has been laying low but not low enough apparently, eventually when it sinks in their money won’t come back via legal means I would not be surprised if he goes missing.
Biox Agrees to Build Biodiesel Plant at New York Harbor
By Jessica Resnick-Ault – Jun 4, 2012 7:13 AM ET
.BIOX Corp. agreed to build a 100 million liter (26 million gallon) capacity biodiesel production facility in Bayonne, New Jersey, at New York Harbor.
BIOX said North American biodiesel demand would support the terminal, which is twice the size of the company’s existing plant in Ontario, according to a statement today.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-04/biox-agrees-to-build-biodiesel-plant-at-new-york-harbor.html
http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/986059/biox-signs-definitive-agreements-for-construction-of-a-100-million-litre-biodiesel-production-facility-in-new-york-harbor
Did not end up doing open houses yersterday. Too busy doing yardwork, in a house I am getting out of!!!. Place is falling apart, could not take it any more.
Gone too soon!
Eduard Khil Dead: Viral Star Known As The ‘Trololo’ Singer Dies At 77
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oavMtUWDBTM#!
47 Gary, I myself never heard of such a program before, this is the first time.
Following from township site WIPP:
Year Due Date Billed Balance Interest Total Due Status
2012 02/01/2012 1,922.97 0.00 0.00 0.00 PAID
2012 05/01/2012 1,922.97 0.00 0.00 0.00 PAID
Total 2012 3,845.94 0.00 0.00 0.00
2011 02/01/2011 1,360.26 0.00 0.00 0.00 PAID
2011 05/01/2011 1,360.25 0.00 0.00 0.00 PAID
2011 08/01/2011 1,399.38 0.00 0.00 0.00 PAID
2011 11/01/2011 1,399.37 0.00 0.00 0.00 PAID
Total 2011 5,519.26 0.00 0.00 0.00
2010 02/01/2010 1,280.44 0.00 0.00 0.00 PAID
2010 05/01/2010 1,280.43 0.00 0.00 0.00 PAID
2010 08/01/2010 1,345.33 0.00 0.00 0.00 PAID
2010 11/01/2010 1,345.33 0.00 0.00 0.00 PAID
Total 2010 5,251.53 0.00 0.00 0.00
In the tax1.co.monmouth site, the following was what I saw :
Taxes for 2012: 3845.94 / 4861.49
Assessments:
Land/Imp/Tot Exemption Assessed
2012:
22700 0 81300
58600
81300
2009, 2010, 2011:
22700 21000 60300
58600
60300
So I called the township about the exemption, why it had been granted and why it was being removed. And she explained that there was some tax-abatement program under which improvements are not taxed for the first 5 years. May be this is a township specific program ?
usually the zoning or assessment dept has programs for delaying taxes on improvements for five years. it is a way to get people to actually apply for permits. if not for this five year program of not jacking taxes on improvements nobody would file for permits.
How much lower can Mortgage rates reasonably be expected to drop in the next 2 months? There seems to be a lot of downward pressure on the rates, and I am thinking of floating my rate instead of Locking in at 3.75%
But the practical side of me is saying, by historical standards at least, 3.75 is pretty much “free money”. Is a “little more free” worth the risk? Its just every time we say they cant get any lower, they do just that…
They have a program like that where I live. It only applies to the homes in the area designated as “historic”. Most of those homes/businesses are over 100+ years old in that zone.
http://newtontownhall.com/DocumentView.aspx?DID=274
Here is a good one from Turbo Timmay, plan for Fannie and Freddie wind down will come in Spring well after I am long gone.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-01/geithner-adviser-says-options-for-gse-reform-need-further-study.html
Over listing price!
Last LP: $480,000 ML#: 1215223
Addr: 1 INNESS RD
Twn: TENAFLY Zip: 07670
Orig LP: $480,000
Sold: $485,000
SD: 5/30/2012 UCD: 5/11/2012 DOM: 15
Hamilton has the 2.75 no point APR rate on the 15-year. Still waiting for the 2.5.
The day of property tax reckoning is almost here. June 12th is when the North Dakota constitutional amendment (Constitutional Measure 2) to ban property tax is voted on.
#50, Juice Box
I had a similar experience with Jon boy. When he was elected as governor, he made an appearance at the Mercer County Italian Festival. There was a class on making fresh mozzarella taking place at 3:30 and Jon Boy and his state troopers kinda took over the room so he could sit around and drink bottled water for 30 minutes. I had to leave at 4:15. I believe he finally left and the class started at 4:30. The guy is a genuine sociopath who believes everyone around him is there to serve him and he is entitled to everything.
I think last week someone asked about, JPM I said around 31 it gets interesting. Well it just hit it. I think around 30 the yield alone should stop the slide. But not for faint of heart. If it hits 29. I think insiders will start buying. But still scary that blue chip stocks are in free fall. Even stocks in Dow that really have little to do with europe or banking are way down in last few weeks.
How can stocks, commodities and interest rates keep falling and home prices not be effected I don’t know. Combination deflation where assets are worth less combined with our interest income is non-existant and bonuses are going to be bleak, dont see how home prices can rise, where does cash to buy them come from.
NYX, also has some nice yield.
Snapshot:JPM
JP MORGAN CHASE AND CO
30.99Down -0.94 (-2.94 %
61 If that could even fly in NJ they would just replace the property taxes with fees. Personally I’d like to be able to shop for my own Garbage disposal co. and recycling pick up
Pain #64: Move to WT. You can’t pick your own recycler, but you can pick from two trash haulers.
JJ:
That was me and I’ve got my buys in place. Will take my first bite at a penny under thirty unless the market rebounds a bit in which I’ll probably just purchase at any price down here in the 30s or low 31s. I want to do some analysis tonight, although, admittedly, I hate performing DD on banks and insurance companies. If I don’t get my sub 30, only thing lost will have been the opportunity.
Growing up we had to pay for our own garbage pick up, Dad was told when he bought house that the same Italian Mob controlled Garbage company did whole block. One neighbor decided he wanted to use another company, no one of course would do it as it was that Italian Company’s block. Out of spite he took it to dump himself. A few years go by and town does not like fact mob controlled firm does everyone’s home and decides to put it in our taxes put it out to bid and have the town do it. Only firm that bid was the same Italian Firm no one else would bid, guess what same price as before. But now it is in our property tax bill so we could write off garage pick up.
JJ:
In Montclair, they took our sewer fees out of the property tax to claim a much smaller municipal tax increase back in 2007 (I think). The town’s folk were so oblivious to the slight of hand that they didn’t even notice until they did their taxes in 2008. By then, the new council had been voted in. Good old Montclair. Can’t wait to see the state take it over. First will be the schools, then it will be the municipal government. I’ll be watching from two doors over the border.
In the past Jamie himself made purchases as soon as it broke 30. I think the dividend is safe, buybacks are dead and they may have regulatory pressure from botched risk mgt controls. Over past ten years moves alot in price from 28-48. Getting in around 29-30 with the yield and back out at 45 in 2-3 years may just work.
If researching bank stocks, broker told me on Friday some of his bigger clients last week was buying the Citigroup Pref J TRUP with a 8.25% coupon. Lotsa of yield. Call of 25. I had no time to research, so just wrote down the info.
Libtard in the City says:
June 4, 2012 at 1:58 pm
JJ:
That was me and I’ve got my buys in place. Will take my first bite at a penny under thirty unless the market rebounds a bit in which I’ll probably just purchase at any price down here in the 30s or low 31s. I want to do some analysis tonight, although, admittedly, I hate performing DD on banks and insurance companies. If I don’t get my sub 30, only thing lost will have been the opportunity.
(64)
Garbage pickup in my Hunterdon County town costs – $6 to $8 a month, depending upon how many of those oversize garbage containers I put out once a week. Recycling is free, the recycling company gives you a container for free. It is so large, a VW beetle can fit in it. Plus they give you some kind of freebies based upon usage.
Now, that’s the way it should work. Free enterprise at it’s best. I have to give kudos to the County fathers. They are the cheapest SOBs anywhere in govt. They’re mostly farmer types and stick it to the government class, including judges, cops, sheriff, etc. any chance they get.
You can pick whatever garbage company you want here. Recycling pickup is only once a month and they only take comingled cans/bottles/plastic and newspapers. you have to drive cardboard to the recycling center yourself. They’re open twice a week thurs/saturdays.
Makes me wonder why we moved out here. Doesn’t really save me that much money in my taxes. I was looking at my grandparents old place in Cliffside Park the other day and they pay pretty much what I do in taxes! WTF?
65.Jill says:
June 4, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Pain #64: Move to WT. You can’t pick your own recycler, but you can pick from two trash haulers.
They label this as list of Top MBA employers
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2012/pf/jobs/1205/gallery.top-MBA-employers/9.html
But it appears that the criteria is “% of MBAs who want to work there”
What kind of bassackwards nonsense is that?
moderated? what gives grim?
I don’t understand enough about bonds so I pretty much allocate my bond percentage to two or three bonds funds in my 401k. Moved my 401k into 50% bonds (from 25%) back when the Dow was at 12,900. Was surprised to see it continue its rally into the 13s but knew a pullback was do. Will probably stay at 50% until the ECB announces that their plan is to print Euro’s like their American brethren to bail out the PIGS. Then I’ll go back to 90% growth. It’s tricky to time your 401k. Gotta to make your moves only at the extremes due to the lack of liquidity (or rules which penalize you for making too many moves). Hence, I only make a move about once per year. Sometimes not even that often.
I don’t think you can shop around for a recycler in NJ because the New Jersey Statewide Mandatory Source Separation and Recycling Act requires that in addition to recycling pickup, municipalities provide residents with a recycling drop-off service.
[61] buyer,
Hard to believe it is a right wing measure. Abolishing property taxes will force state takeovers and shift tax burdens onto income. Both of these would trend redistributionist. In fact, liberal orthodoxy is to decouple local spending, educ in particular, from property taxes.
Whoa.
Cuomo Said to Seek Decriminalization of Small Amounts of Pot
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-04/cuomo-said-to-seek-decriminalization-of-small-amounts-of-pot.html
[61] buyer,
Personally, I would like to see states pass amendments barring property taxes at the state level. Then there would be less pressure on nompounds.
In fact, a total ban could render unoccupied, unproductive property totally tax free. This is a nompound dream as the nompound would be unoccupied officially until TSHTF, thus tax exempt, but it is so implausible and destabilizing that the consequences make it undesirable.
When the discussion turns to banning soda and legalizing weed, the end must be nigh. I’m not pro or con either way but it justifies my point that the object of debate as well as the debate itself is becoming dumb and dumber.
re: #76 – Makes sense, if it wasn’t for the billions handed out in to 2009 Recovery Act there may been allot of prisons closed around the country. Cuomo promised last year to shut a half dozen NY state prisons. They need to cut the budget and this is just one way to do it.
ch1t, why not hit the revenue side to. Regulate it and tax it too.
80.Juice Box says:
June 4, 2012 at 3:05 pm
re: #76 – Makes sense, if it wasn’t for the billions handed out in to 2009 Recovery Act there may been allot of prisons closed around the country. Cuomo promised last year to shut a half dozen NY state prisons. They need to cut the budget and this is just one way to do it.
The following happened in Pennsylvania, but it’s so surprising that I think everybody should be aware of this happening anywhere in the U.S.
A nursing home is — so far — succeeding in making a son responsible for the medical bills of his mother, who was under 65 at the time and was not a long term placement. From what I gather, the hiding or transfer of assets was not in question, nor was the son her guardian.
The article discusses “filial support laws” which I, like most people, thought were long gone.
I don’t know what the situation in New Jersey and New York are on filial support. I doubt many in Pennsylvania thought they could ever be held responsible for their parents’ bills under these circumstances.
I wonder now, can parents be held responsible for the medical bills of their adult children, too? If there ever were laws like that, maybe they are still around also.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/pennsylvania-son-stuck-moms-93000-nursing-home-bill/story?id=16405807#.T80IXrDWZbw
Pennsylvania Man Appeals to Court to Avoid Paying Mom’s $93,000 Nursing Home Bill
“Katherine Pearson, law professor and director of the Elder Protection Clinic at Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law, said the Superior Court’s decision earlier this month plowed new legal ground.”
….
Pearson said there are 29 states that have some type of legal obligation that could, in theory, be used to obligate adult children to provide financial assistance to a needy parent.
At one time as many as 45 states had filial support laws, but most were repealed, abandoned, or fell into obscurity, with the increase in importance for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, she said.
…
“John Karoly III, Pittas’ attorney, said that had Pittas not filed the appeal this week, the collection of the $93,000 would likely have started immediately.
“He would be required to pay the amount immediately upon exhausting all his appeals,” Karoly said.
Karoly said interest on the payment is accruing since the date of the judgment at 6 percent per annum.
A surprising aspect of the decision, he said, is that there is no record of “fault” in Pittas’ case, unlike previous Pennsylvania filial support cases in which a child has, for example, defrauded an elderly parent, or helped create the debt in question.
Another surprising element of the ruling this month is that it “expressly puts the burden on children to sue their siblings or a parent’s spouse if contending that the support duty must be shared.”
ok…so I can only carry 15 grams…but how much do I have to grow to get that farming tax write-off everyone was talking about a few weeks ago?
Jill I’m never going back to Bc if I can help it
#65 Jill: Any thoughts on Beech/Colonial.
(75)
Comrade,
If they could abolish property and income taxes, it would be a win for freedom.
(80)
Brian,
It is a weed, basically. If small amounts are legal, then it can be grown locally and avoid any taxes.
81,
NJ is one of the states with a “filial support law” :
http://assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/articles/bulletin/interactive/filialpiety/index.html
3b #84: Depends on where you are. Both are pretty streets, Colonial is a tad busier because it goes through from Washington Ave. to Ridgewood Road, then again from Washington Ave. north to Hillsdale Ave. Not what you’d call a main drag, but not a “play ball in the street” road either. Beech is a bit less busy because it angles off by the school
What listings are you looking at?
Just an fyi to all… not sure how long its had the capability, but the monmouth county tax board site (linked to the right under Tools) allows you to pull in excel format now. You can quickly put together a decent town analysis using this functionality.
[89] Wuh-Ho! Great find Pete. I just downloaded all of Ravine Drive in Matawan. Very cool.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/aigs-benmosche-speaking-his-seaside-villa-says-world-will-need-retire-80
Speaking from the comfort of his foreign seaside villa,tells us work till your 80 and
have a nice life.
Freedy like you thought it would be any different
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303640104577436943559786340.html#articleTabs%3Dcomments
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TRENTON — Online retailer Amazon.com has agreed to collect 7% sales tax on purchases made in New Jersey starting in July 2013, the same time it plans to begin building two new distribution warehouses in the state.
19 out of 30 mlb teams are above .500 right now, including the entire AL & NL East. Haven’t seen that one before this late.
(93)
Double Down,
LOL, they agree to begin collecting sales taxes starting when they’re about to build warehouses which would legitimately make them liable to do so. Wow.
I never confirmed this, but over at the Market Ticker, I read their margins were razor thin and avoiding sales taxes was the only thing keeping them profitable.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/starbucks-acquires-san-francisco-bakery-chain-2012-06-04?link=MW_home_latest_news
what happens if they say you can only eat small donuts?
#88 Jill: Thanks. Looked at some sold listings there, and prices were within the range I want to spend. Someone also suggested Midland Park, not familiar with the town, but it would definitely add to my commute, and I am a commute/train diva dont forget!!
I read their margins were razor thin and avoiding sales taxes was the only thing keeping them profitable.
I almost exclusively bought tech from Newegg, that changed once they opened their NJ warehouse. Pretty easy to ring up $1000 sale when you are talking technology. That’s a pretty big chunk of change to save, especially when shipping prices are competitive across all vendors.
I really believe that internet presence for sales should constitute nexus in all states/territories.
94
Expat,
The order of the teams in standings is also amazing.
98
grim,
I think that’s somewhat fair and debatable. It’s gets really tricky. Let’s say you have your manufacturing, warehouse, call center all in one State, but you advertise via internet everywhere. Nexus? In some random hypotheicals, I’m not sure which way to go. The only thing I know is many ‘online’ companies would go out of business overnight if they had to collect sales taxes. It wouldn’t be a net job loss for the economy as the demand would just shift to brick and motor.
Plenty of major retailers in UEZ zones in NJ. 3.5% is still better than 7%.
http://www.state.nj.us/dca/affiliates/uez/publications/pdf/UEZBrochure.pdf
I think the differentiation is e-commerce sales via the internet, and not just advertising.
(I do realize that this probably opens a dozen loopholes for interpretation: Does calling to confirm your order, or to provide payment details constitute a phone or web transaction?).
I agree on your perspective around sales tax killing a large portion of online retailers. If the only reason they exist is due to online sales tax arbitrage, they shouldn’t exist.
Grim – Just tell that to the Indians and their reservation stores too. Should we even have UEZ zones? How about online retailers set it’s warehouse up in Newark will they only then have to charge 3.5%
Reality is deficits are enormous along with unfunded liabilities and they really haven’t gotten creative yet we are still coasting on Fed assistance. I can see lots of new taxes coming down the pipe.
Filial support. Another good reason for an asset protection trust, preferably in an offshore jurisdiction.
Do you need to be armed when going into an UEZ?
Those new taxes are another good reason as well. Anything to avoid nexus.
(102)
grim,
completely agree
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/nj-drivers-can-now-be-fined-up-to-1000-for-not-restraining-animals-in-the-car/
Coming to NJ? Click it (the dog,cat)
freedy,
Link from within your article.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=8685069
In Berkeley, they want to ban sitting on the sidewalk. Next they will ban walking on the sidewalk.
If researching bank stocks, broker told me on Friday some of his bigger clients last week was buying the Citigroup Pref J TRUP with a 8.25% coupon. Lotsa of yield. Call of 25. I had no time to research, so just wrote down the info.
How do they deal with the fact that the security is trading at a $0.75 to par to the issue price of $25, which is also the price at which they can be called at any time?
The above should have read:
How do they deal with the fact that the security is trading at a $0.75 premium to the issue price of $25, which is also the price at which they can be called at any time?
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