From the APP:
Bidding wars, rebounding prices signal the Jersey Shore real estate market is coming back
Shortly after it came on the market, Michelle M. Johnson and her husband rushed to put in a bid on an old, three-bedroom farmhouse in Wall, a home that already attracted the interest of another prospective buyer.
Soon, she found herself in a little bidding war. After bids went back and forth, the seller asked for the best and final offer. “I guess I won,” said Johnson, an auditor. She offered $1,000 more than the asking price.
It’s not like the glory days of 2004 and 2005, but homes are attracting multiple offers again.
In New Jersey, contract sales for the year through August were up 24 percent compared with the same period last year, according to the Otteau Valuation Group, an East Brunswick real estate consulting firm.
Nine of the state’s 21 counties, including Monmouth, saw a median sales price increase, albeit quite small, in the second quarter, the firm said. And the overall median price in New Jersey, down 0.5 percent in the second quarter, is primed to increase in the next couple of quarters.
“It seems like we are about to turn the corner here on house prices pretty soon,” said Jeffrey Otteau, president of the Otteau Valuation. “The bottom line here is there is a recovery taking place.”
…
Contract sales have skyrocketed in both counties for the year through August compared with 2011. They’re up 25 percent in Monmouth County and up 26 percent in Ocean County, Otteau said.And there are fewer homes for sale, another good sign for sellers. Unsold inventory in Monmouth is down 22 percent and in Ocean, 19 percent, according to Otteau’s statistics.
…
“There isn’t a lot of picking,” said Diane Turton, broker and owner of Diane Turton Realtors, which has 16 sales offices in Monmouth and Ocean counties. A good listing will result in multiple offers, she said.
…
“Home buyers expect that prices are at the bottom now,” Otteau said. “There is less fear of buying at the top and seeing the house you buy be worth less in the future.”
Jobs Day!
From Bloomberg:
Jobless Rate Probably Climbed as U.S. Employers Limited Hiring
The jobless rate in the U.S. probably rose in September as employers limited hiring, keeping the labor market’s lack of progress at the center of Federal Reserve deliberations and the presidential election.
Unemployment increased to 8.2 percent last month from 8.1 percent in August, according to the median projection of 88 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Payrolls climbed by 115,000 workers, less than the 139,000 average over the first eight months of the year, the report may also show.
“We’re running in place,” said Ethan Harris, co-head of global economics research at Bank of America Corp. in New York. “A gain of around 100,000 or so jobs is just enough to absorb the population of new workers.”
Joblessness that’s exceeded 8 percent for an unprecedented 43 months is restraining incomes and impeding consumers’ ability to support the economy as global demand and business investment wane. Today’s release marks the second-to-last jobs report before the November elections as President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney debate who’s best equipped to boost employment.
The Labor Department will issue the report at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Payroll estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from gains of 60,000 to 165,000.
Good Morning New Jersey
From MarketWatch:
Real-estate agents get cheated too (don’t cheer)
Real-estate professionals are often painted with a broad brush and the colors aren’t too appealing. Many realty pros are honest and hard-working, but lots of consumers don’t see it that way. People tend to think agents and brokers are way overpaid and will cheat you any way they can. In fact, many readers are probably snickering right now over your fate.
I don’t believe the professionals who ply the real-estate trade are worse than used-car salesmen. But even I sometimes succumb to the temptation of blaming all for the sins of a few.
Once, a few years back, I was being interviewed on a local radio show when the interviewer whose name is long forgotten said several local agents had fallen for some kind of listing swindle in which they were asked to put up several hundred dollars in advance. I was asked how I felt about that and I responded that I didn’t see it as much of a story because the real-estate community is held in such low esteem that I doubted consumers would have much sympathy for the bilked agents.
I didn’t say I could care less. I said most listeners/readers could care less. But you should have heard the radio jockeys howl! They thought it was disgraceful that their fellow agents were being ripped off and thought it was just as big a story as consumers being cheated.
From MarketWatch:
Fewer foreclosures in August: CoreLogic
There were about 57,000 completed foreclosures in August, down from about 75,000 in the same month last year, according to CoreLogic Thursday. In July there were 58,000 completed foreclosures. According to the report there were roughly 3.8 million homes lost to foreclosure since the financial crisis began in September 2008. According to CoreLogic there were about 1.3 million homes in the so-called national foreclosure inventory as of August, down from 1.4 million in August 2011. The foreclosure inventory is the share of all mortgages in some stage of the foreclosure process.
Also from CoreLogic (sorry to ruin your Friday):
The five states with the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were: Florida (11.0 percent), New Jersey (6.5 percent), New York (5.2 percent), Illinois (4.8 percent) and Nevada (4.6 percent).
Grim 4 You know I’m by no means a fan of them, but I do believe a full time one is better to work with than someone doing it on the side.
7 – hookers or realtors?
8 All depends on who’s doing the open house
9 – that works on so many levels
Payrolls +114k, slightly above or below estimates depending on the survey, but unemployment drops to 7.8% (huh?)
From Bloomberg:
U.S. Jobless Rate Unexpectedly Falls to 7.8%; 114,000 Jobs Added
The unemployment rate in the U.S. unexpectedly fell to 7.8 percent in September, the lowest since January 2009 as employers took on more part-time workers.
The economy added 114,000 workers last month after a revised 142,000 gain in August that was more than initially estimated, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate of 92 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for an advance of 115,000. The jobless rate dropped from 8.1 percent and hourly earnings climbed more than forecast.
should one celebrate the good news on the jobs front or, pathologically seek the negative side of it?
Interesting.
I was getting out of my car at the house after bringing my 9YO to school, and I heard a small turbofan engine, like a large ultralight or other small plane (could also hear a secondary fan-like noise so it did not sound like your ordinary Cessna or ultralight).
I thought “damn, that plane sounds low” and looked around. But I couldn’t see a plane.
Heard the sound, pegged the direction and scanned the sky. Nothing. Thought it very strange that I could not see something I could hear so clearly.
Then I got all clot-like and thought to myself , “Drone!”
[13] Grim,
I do believe that you thought the jobs report would be the October Surprise, did you not?
My neighbor to the left is working 15 hours in Stop N Shop and a few hours per day for an old guy who makes drapery. My neighbor to the right is a part-time LPN at a local care facility at 20 hours per week. These are the good-paying, highly skilled jobs, right?
Change in the labor force participation rate?
11.grim says:
October 5, 2012 at 8:33 am
Payrolls +114k, slightly above or below estimates depending on the survey, but unemployment drops to 7.8% (huh?)
Nj unemployment rate 2 points higher than national. Good job dough boy
From CNBC:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/49299718
…
But the government said the total number of jobs employed surged by 873,000, the highest one-month jump in 29 years. The total of unemployed people tumbled by 456,000.
The labor force participation rate, which reflects those working as well as looking for work, edged higher to 63.6 percent but remained around 30-year lows. The total labor force grew by 418,000, possibly accounting for the relatively modest net level of job growth.
…
Economists were expecting 113,000 more jobs and the rate to rise to 8.2 percent. Last month saw 142,000 new jobs as the rate dropped from 8.3 percent in July.
However, those numbers were revised higher, with the Labor Department putting July’s number at 181,000 from the previously reported 141,000 and August up from an originally reported 96,000.
An August revision upward from 96K to 142k???? Either that was an absolutely epic miss back in August or the bureaucrats are carrying the president’s water.
Not that they would do that, would they? Bueller? Bueller?
Jack Welch absolutely beside himself over this. Accuses Obama outright of cooking the books.
Net revisions for July and August were around +85k, that’s not a revision, that’s like a whole other month of jobs growth.
Looks like Obama played a little “rope a dope” at the first debate. Thanks to the ministry of propaganda he will absolutely crucify Mittens at the next debate with this data.
Still, many of the jobs added last month were part time. The number of people with part-time jobs who wanted full-time work rose 7.5 percent to 8.6 million.
Believe it or not, I can’t completely blame Oblama for a growing populace who can’t construct a sentence. If you’re 28 years old and still snickering like a 5 year old, driving a tow truck for Fred’s Garage is the most you can expect. Although, he has relayed the message that having tats and piercings is the new definition of conformity.
[24] grim,
Yesterday, ADP revised August and July as well. Downward. Well, you’ve already heard me expound on how this administration manipulates data; I have even less faith in these numbers than I usually do. And how can U3 take a dive but U6 remains constant?
All hype is right; Obama will beat Mitt like a drum with this, and the media won’t question a single data point.
Menendez-Kyrillos Debate:
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/10/menendez-kyrillos_senate_race.html
#22 grim: Still for me at least, this report does not seem to be anything to get real excited about.
Ok, so let’s talk serious. Does the headline unemployment rate even matter? Isn’t it the unemployment rate of qualified home buyers that we care about?
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm
Table A-4. Employment status of the civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment
Bachelor’s degree and higher
September 2011 – Unemployment rate – 4.2%
September 2012 – Unemployment rate – 4.0%
Look, unless you are a successful small business owner, if you dropped out after high school, you probably don’t have the income to support a house.
(I’m looking to stir up some conversation here, it’s pretty quiet this morning)
#28 Good point! I wish we know the same numbers in NJ. Numbers of bachelors degree and higher that are renting and would be buyers.
Here’s all I know….it’s hard to find smart people to work for you. I used to manage a small group and the biggest challenge was finding people who weren’t socially retarded (client services). And maybe an IQ of 100. And these were good jobs, starting anywhere from $40 to $70K. If you had any social skills at all, and an IQ over a 100, you were automatically a star and management material.
29/30 – Here is a nice graph from 2011
http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm
In other news, Bystander enter his month 5 of desperately seeking employment outside his decaying IB. Opportunities include 3 month contract for report writer in beautiful Secaucus for $25 an hour or AFLAC sales. Recruiters with living wage jobs are quickly contacted but call backs do not occur. They are mirages in an oasis of excrement. Oh and we are laying off hundreds more..fresh off the press.
31 There you go. Not enough smart people.
Unfortunately the NAR profile of buyers and sellers for NJ (2011) doesn’t include educational attainment.
Although every time I flip through the buyer income slide, I pause. I really wish they expanded the income brackets, there are an awful lot of people in the $200k+ category (almost 1 in 5 home buyers in NJ).
Less than $25,000 2.3%
$25,000 to $34,999 5.8%
$35,000 to $44,999 4.1%
$45,000 to $54,999 2.9%
$55,000 to $64,999 4.7%
$65,000 to $74,999 4.7%
$75,000 to $84,999 9.3%
$85,000 to $99,999 9.9%
$100,000 to $124,999 15.7%
$125,000 to $149,999 9.3%
$150,000 to $174,999 7%
$175,000 to $199,999 5.2%
$200,000 or more 19.1%
Step aside Clint. I just grabbed the grumpy, old, ranting white guy spotlight for a while.
I cheated on my wife so I wouldn’t put it past anyone cheating on the jobs numbers.
Bogus unemployment numbers like these would make even Big Brother blush.
So if we assume that this report is good ( I am not so sure it is). And Bernanke is doing his 40 billion a month MBS purchases, to stimulate the economy further, because of the Fed’s concern about the jobs front, will the Fed continue on this path to stimulate further? What about their promise to keep rates low until the middle of 2015?
Recent history at the Fed has made it abundantly clear that they feel the mandate of maintaining maximum employment is superior to maintaining stable prices. Most every unemployed or underemployed citizen would probably agree.
#38 Grin. Understand, just wondering if this report will impact what they do going forward. It is the last UE report until after the election.
Besides, what better way to fix a debt problem than inflation?
39 – No way, wavering in any way would be detrimental to confidence.
Yes, please, some inflation….5-6% would be nice…
O’Malley in attack mode, claiming that the GOP is trying to tank the economy by suppressing job growth.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/49301088
BTW, the report notes that O’Malley’s report was a few minutes ahead of the jobs report. Seems that neither the democrats nor the Japanese can time their attacks correctly.
Grim [28];
(I’m looking to stir up some conversation here, it’s pretty quiet this morning)
Who’s got the time? We’ve all got mortgages to pay now (!). [TIC]
As for gaming the numbers — do we really need someone to admit what’s going on in order to believe our own lying eyes? From Roger L. Simon:
Get cash for surveys http://getcashforsurveys.ukax.net/
43 – I was only half surprised when I saw the claim that Christie was suppressing the use of the Hardest Hit dollars in an attempt to sandbag until after the election. Given the track record on NJ governors, it’s not so unbelievable.
I contacted a guy I know over at BLS (Obama supporter, natch). He maintains that manipulation of BLS data is right wing b.s. But when I asked him to weigh in on a few of the data points, he replied “The household employment number is very surprising” and he said he could not comment more until he got back to the office.
47 – BLS is too headline for that, Occam’s Razor, there is enough volatility in the numbers that this is more simply explained as noise.
[48] grim,
There may be reasons (e.g., using the funds to prop up other accounts) but the idea that any pol would risk the awful and sure retribution from a revelation that they were intentionally keeping people unemployed/in poverty/in foreclosure/etc. solely in order to hurt the oppo party defies credibility.
Believe it or not, politicians are ruthlessly rational people, and that it isn’t a rational act because the cost-benefit is too heavily skewed toward cost and high risk cost at that. And for all their seeming irrationality, most all political actions are quite rational.
49 – That is a crock of shit.
In other news, Warren playing hide-the-ball with her legal practice in Massachusetts, and the Boston Globe gets caught covering up for her.
http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/10/elizabeth-warren-issues-incomplete-list-of-cases/
This just in:
The auto numbers are cooked!
The consumer confidence numbers are cooked!
The ISM numbers are cooked!
Apple’s share price is (Tim) Cooked!
They have infiltrated everything. I am heading to my underground bunker. Farewell!
Wish they’d cook me lunch, I’m getting hungry.
[50] jack
Oh, I am so rebuked. Must hang head in shame now that my point has been so effectively disproven by you. Truth in your words evident for all to see.
[52] jack
No need for a bunker. Buy a greek island. They are going cheap. Or a tax office. They are for sale too (though, in one sense, they aways were).
Welcome to the last act in the decline of Western Civilization.
I only hope I’m dead when it’s finished off for good.
Back to the race for class president (btw, we are the losers, no matter which of these chimps wins).
Only thing that could be more fun than the shenanigans here would be if Israel starts to get an itchy trigger finger before Election Day.
Who needs a Greek Island when Jack Welch parks his sausage in that young trick he met. She worked for him or something I suppose. There are winners and losers in this world and baby Jack in a W I N N E R. She loves him for him of course.
I think that the whole nation is relieved that unemployment is lower today. Especially Elmo and Big Bird.
[60] essex
Yep, Jack is a winner. Winning, baby!
And a fellow UMass grad. Winning!
Gotta go do some tax things and register to vote in PA (last day). Maybe my vote will mean something on this side of the Delaware.
Not likely but one hopes.
Peace out, y’all, even you Jack.
57. Israel has every right to hammer that little c*nt.
49
“Believe it or not, politicians are ruthlessly rational people”
You don’t know shit you pansy. What a ridiculous, pompous generalization. We should believe it because you said it? You don’t have anything to offer a politician so why the hell would anyone be on the take from you??? What politician is gonna get “real” with YOU…a nobody? Slimy politicians and people like me see guys like you as the mark. On the one hand you are insinuating that pols fudged the numbers for political gain while at the same time saying pols wouldn’t prevent jobs bill for political gain? Obviously you love the sound of your own voice but do you even give a goddamn whit about what you are spewing?
I eat punks like you for breakfast and shit you out by lunch.
WSJ
SPREAD SHEET
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444180004578018353491734558.html
A Motivated Seller by Any Other Name… .
Houses that real-estate agents describe as “move-in condition” sell 12% faster than homes listed without those words. “Starter homes” sell 9% faster. But be careful: A house called a “handyman special” sells about 50% faster, but the final price is 30% lower than listings that lack those words.
For the past decade, Paul Anglin, associate professor of real estate at the University of Guelph in Ontario, has been studying the effect of certain words in house descriptions.
One of the worst offenders is “motivated” sellers, which both lowers the sell price and slows the sale. Oddly, frantic pleas of “must sell” have no effect on sell time or price, Prof. Anglin says.
In a 2005 National Bureau of Economic Research study, words that depict distinct attributes—”granite,” “maple” and “gourmet”—correspond with higher sale prices. Words deemed “superficially positive”—like “clean,” “quiet,” “fantastic” and “charming”—are either ineffective or even hurt prices.
In a separate study, words that describe specific attributes are more likely to boost the selling price: Mentioning “garage” increases the sale price by 9.8%, “fireplace” by 6.8% and “lake” by 5.6%, says Thomas Thomson, a professor of real estate and finance at the University of Texas at San Antonio who co-wrote “Real Estate Agent Remarks: Help or Hype?”
Don’t mention minor improvements without citing more substantial ones. Bragging about your home’s recently painted walls or new carpet may decrease the final sale price, Prof. Thomson adds. These phrases may lead buyers to form overblown expectations, and they are disappointed after actually viewing it.
“It’s like putting lipstick on a pig. If you put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig,” he says.
—Sanette Tanaka
A version of this article appeared October 5, 2012, on page M4 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: A Motivated Seller by Any Other Name….
The fake Jack Welch must be from the same ventriloquist as Re101. Likes to use tems like “pansy” “pantywaist” and “rock-ribbed”. He must think that’s how a fake manly man talks.
Welch started his affair with Suzy, when she was senior editor of the Harvard Business Review, and she was giving him an interview for publication. She had to quit before the interview was published.
Ann #33: Well, we live in a society that values sports figures and Kim Kardashian, and calls smart people “elites” — derisively. What do you expect?
Just going to lay in the weeds until someone says something?
WSJ
NY CULTURE
October 4, 2012, 9:20 p.m. ET
Uncorking the City
Wine City, N.J. .
By LETTIE TEAGUE
When a town or a neighborhood experiences a “renaissance,” it usually happens in a series of waves: first come the artists, then the developers and finally the restaurants and shops. Eventually, someone will open a wine store. In fact, the presence of a shop with a good selection of bottles may be the best indication of an area’s full blossoming.
The renaissance of Jersey City has been well documented; its growth as a wine city is less widely known. After a few visits, I’m happy to report that a Jersey City wine renaissance appears to be well under way.
Of course, a wine renaissance can occur only where there is already an appreciation of good food, and there are two particularly successful pairings in Jersey City right now: Madame Claude Café and Madame Claude Wine and, a few doors down on Jersey Avenue, Thirty Acres restaurant and Jersey Wine & Spirits.
Madame Claude’s proprietors are Mattias Gustafsson and Alice Troietto, a husband and wife team. The couple has owned their small bistro for years, and recently decided to open a wine shop as well. The landlord of the wine shop wanted Mr. Gustafsson to open a restaurant in the location, but Mr. Gustafsson wanted to open a wine shop instead. He liked the bistro’s Fourth Street location, though it’s a 10-minute or so walk from his wine store.
Mr. Gustafsson grew up in Paris “in the Seventh,” and his cultural heritage is readily apparent—from the selection of the wines (mostly French) to the writing on the store shelves (prices are written in chalk, a common practice in France). There are wines from other places as well, though Provence, Ms. Troietto’s home, gets especially big play. One highlighted producer, Domaine de Terrebrune, is from Ms. Troietto’s home town. Red, white and rosé versions are all offered. I purchased the red 2007 Chateau Terrebrune ($37). A “lovely wine with soft tannins,” said Mr. Gustafsson. (He was right.)
The connection between Thirty Acres and Jersey Wine & Spirits is not as direct, though it’s clearly collegial; the Thirty Acres website counsels would-be diners to check out “the lovely liquor store on our block called Jersey Wine & Spirits” for a bottle to bring along to the restaurant, which is now BYOB.
I followed that advice on the night of my visit to Thirty Acres, and found that the manager of Jersey Wine & Spirits, Chip Hughes, knew “exactly” what sort of wine I should pair with the Thirty Acres food. “Something with a lot of acidity—red or white. The food there is all about acidity,” he declared. Although I’d also brought a wine of my own (a German Pinot Noir), I was happy to take Mr. Hughes’s advice.
As Mr. Hughes and I browsed among the Loire Valley offerings (the store has a particularly strong selection of French and Italian wines), a well-dressed man approached Mr. Hughes. “Don’t worry, he’s a regular,” said Mr. Hughes, who chose the 2010 Clos du Tue-Bouef Cheverny ($24) for me to take to Thirty Acres. The well-dressed man had liked it as well, said Mr. Hughes. The well-dressed man confirmed that this was so. The store has a strong following among local residents as well as Thirty Acres diners, said Mr. Hughes. As he put it: “We’re kind of the bar, wine cellar and a waiting room for everyone.”
Although Thirty Acres sounds like some sort of farm, it was actually named for a Jersey City arena built in 1921 for a boxing match. While the arena was designed to accommodate 80,000 people, Thirty Acres seats about 40—but the tables are almost always filled, as the press has been universally good for the restaurant that’s been around for less than a year.
The chef and owner of Thirty Acres, Kevin Pemoulie, is an alumnus of both Craft and Momofuku Noodle Bar in New York, and his cooking history shows in a menu with an emphasis on fresh, local ingredients and unexpected combinations—like my cappelletti pasta with eggplant ricotta, tomato sauce, stravecchio and shishito peppers, a smart combination of savory and sweet. The same was true of the perfectly cooked pork chop paired with apples, seckel pear, escarole and onions that paired nicely with the Loire Valley red chosen by Mr. Hughes. (My German Pinot Noir from Villa Wolf was just as good.)
Wine drinkers who like to bring their own bottles might want to visit Thirty Acres sooner rather than later, as the proprietors are looking to get a liquor license sometime soon—maybe before the end of the year. I guess that’s the next step in its own renaissance.
Write to Lettie Teague at lettie.teague@wsj.com
A version of this article appeared October 5, 2012, on page A16 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Wine City, N.J..
I believe that is what they are trying to do.Although 2-4% is the range.Fed will not be able to sell the bonds they are holding quick enough to not create inflation.
Carlito says:
October 5, 2012 at 10:30 am
Yes, please, some inflation….5-6% would be nice…
Americans giving up looking for work.
Just to keep unemployment at 8.1%, without the further drop in the labor-participation rate America would have needed to create 125,000 jobs. Per BLS’ data, 114,000 net new jobs were added, including part-time position. But again this month BLS dropped over 350,000 Americans from the labor force — a similar number to what they did in computing the August rate which dropped to 8.1% from 8.3%.
So basically, America has now added 200,000 net new jobs the past two months and lost 700,000 Americans from the roles of job seekers which caused our unemployment rate to drop from 8.3% in July to 7.8% today.
BSL has now determined that basically 4.5 million Americans who were in the Labor force in 2008 have now given up looking for work. According to BSL, America’s labor-force participation rate is now over 4% lower than what it was before the recession began.
There are 160 million people in this country with a below average IQ that have no f.ucking idea what the statement above represents. And those are the ones that will elect Oblama to four more years. What’s even more startling is the ones with above average IQ will allow it to happen. Fitting isn’t it? Stup1d is the new norm for a pudgy-fingered nation and rationale has become obsolete.
While we are still on the “wine” theme, we can segue to a murder with a corkscrew…..
‘Insane’ details of boy toy on sugar daddy ‘mutilation murder’ revealed as trial begins
By LAURA ITALIANO
Meet the boy toy from hell.
Opening statements were made in Manhattan this morning in a young stud-on-sugar daddy mutilation murder so brutal jurors were screened for their ability to handle graphic autopsy photos and testimony.
Renato Seabra, 22, a Portuguese underwear model, is on trial for bludgeoning, strangling and then castrating his older, wealthy lover, a well-known Portuguese fashion writer, as they argued on vacation in their Times Square hotel room in January 2011.
Carlos Castro, 65, was still alive, though likely unconscious, as his testicles were removed with a cork screw, according to the evidence to come in the next three weeks of testimony. Defense lawyers are hoping to prove that Seabra was not guilty by reason of insanity.
“He was choked,” lead prosecutor Maxine Rosenthal told the eight-woman, four-man jury this morning.
“He was bashed over the head [with a computer] and his head was stomped on,” she said — making special note that Seabra’s sneaker-prints were found on the victim’s face.
Rosenthal blamed the murder on rage — the younger man’s fury that three months into the relationship, he was getting kicked off the gravy train.
The older man who’d lavished money on him — escorting him to dinners, shows and modeling agencies in London, Madrid, and now New York — was casting him aside, possibly because Seabra had begun cruelly flaunting a new interest in young women.
“Tension was in the air,” Rosenthal said, describing Castro’s anguished complaint to his dear friend, Wanda Perez, in the hotel lobby the night before the murder.
“Where’s Renato?” Perez had asked her doomed friend as they prepared to go to dinner at Paulino’s in the Lower East Side.
“I don’t know. He left,” Castro answered. “I saw him talking to two girls, and he gave them his number. I think he went to meet them.”
Defense lawyer Ruben Sinins addressed the jurors next, insisting that Seabra simply snapped that night, suffering a first-ever psychotic break, as evidenced by his actions that night and his later interactions with cops and shrinks.
“The evidence will show that during the incident, Renato Seabra took a cork screw and hacked at Carlos Castro, at his testicles — that he dug them out, that he pulled them out, with a corkscrew,” Sinins told jurors.
“The evidence will further show that as he explained to the police, the very next day, he believed Mr. Castro’s testicles were demons, and that by pulling them out everything would be right with the world.
Seabra then slit his own wrists there in the hotel room, the lawyer said — and the craziness got even crazier.
“He took the testicles and put one on each wrist,” Sinins said. “This is what the evidence will show — and you didn’t hear about this from the people’s opening.
“He explained that this was for his protection, and he could also harness the power — harness the power! — of Carlos Castro’s testicles,” the lawyer said, his voice rising dramatically.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said. “This is insanity.”
Don’t buy it, the prosecutor warned jurors.
“This defendant had no mental illness prior to committing this crime,” she told them. “Not a single sign of mental illness in the years, months or days leading up to this crime.”
“He knew that he was beating and choking and mutilating Carlos Castro,” she said. ” And he knew that it was wrong.”
JJ: are you related to this guy?
Seabra then slit his own wrists there in the hotel room, the lawyer said — and the craziness got even crazier.
“He took the testicles and put one on each wrist,” Sinins said. “This is what the evidence will show — and you didn’t hear about this from the people’s opening.
“He explained that this was for his protection, and he could also harness the power — harness the power! — of Carlos Castro’s testicles,” the lawyer said, his voice rising dramatically.
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64 Interesting article….When we were on a fake house hunt this summer, I wanted sellers to use the text part of the MLS to point out maybe the three best attributes of their house. I think sometimes listings get overwhelmed with all of those key words. But again, I’m not someone who cares about granite.
66 True, very true. I think the nerds have the last laugh though, overall.
Question:
What should I expect for a ballpark amount psf for new construction in the region? I am seeing what may be opportunities near me for infill development. Unfortunately, it looks like the dirt is offered at ~$1m/acre.
Now that the Official Partially Employed Rate is at 7.8%, I guess the Real Unemployment Rate has dropped to @ 22%. Go “O”! At this rate 12/21/2012 is just around the corner. Maybe “O” is actually a Mayan?
chi (67)-
Thanks. I always feel weird about tooting my own horn here.
I’m also available to help you buy or short sell a POS FK, too.
gary (69)-
And to think, a cartoon (Wall-E) pretty much sums up the whole mess.
62
Essex,
Israel can do whatever it wants. Just leave the US out of it.
joyce (79)-
Impossible. When it comes to Israel, we are along for the ride.
re # 67 – Meh, the “No Snooki” story went international.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2105588/Snooki-banned-local-wine-shop-BEFORE-moves-in.html
clot: Do you sell scratch off lottery tickets?
It’s all just a game. Stop whining.
One guy lies to start a war because he has daddy issues and the other lies and says he is American.
One raises bogus color-coded “threat levels” before an election and the other juices an employment rate.
It is a game and everyone is trying to win. The nincompoop who said that politicians are rational is clueless.
Read all about it in my book “Winning” by Jack Welch
chi (82)-
Yeah. And malt liquor and rolling papers. ;)
Nixon messed with the BLS.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/10/05/there-was-one-president-who-tried-to-manipulate-bls/?wprss=rss_campaigns
The absolute confirmation that the end is nigh for this country is when the birth of a Snooklet took the media headline over the death of Neil Armstrong.
All of the gains in employment were due to full-time jobs
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fact-check-most-new-jobs-are-full-time-ones-2012-10-05?link=MW_home_latest_news
Paper or plastic?
May I take your order please?
It’s your fault. Your new job counts.
89.Fast Eddie says:
October 5, 2012 at 3:03 pm
May I take your order please?
Brian [90],
116 candidates applied for the job I landed. Amazing, isn’t it? I guess my line of sh1t was better than the rest. It makes you wonder, how many of those other candidates fell off the employment rolls and are no longer counted. You think they’re eager to pull the lever for the Annointed One? The unemployment rate should actually be going up a little more with 300,000 plus jobs being added month over month. But alas, the proletariat will gladly feast on the globulin forced down their gullet by the village media spaced out on their own stup1dity.
I just located this site arbitrarily, then again it was interesting.
There are no new jobs forthcoming. We are stupid, shiftless and utterly without merit.
Going down fast.
Speaking of going down fast…..are you aware that Kraft just spun-out its international food divisions? The name of the new company is Mondelez……translated in Russian slang it means “lick pussy”…..
Ernest Money says:
October 5, 2012 at 3:34 pm
Going down fast.
un mod?
Speaking of going down fast…..are you aware that Kraft just spun-out its international food divisions? The name of the new company is Mondelez……translated in Russian slang it means “lick pus%y”…..
Ernest Money says:
October 5, 2012 at 3:34 pm
Going down fast.
Iranian Currency Falls 17% in One Day
Sanctions against Iran are making their impact, on the innocent working-class people of Iran–and the destruction of the currency may be getting a boost from the CIA.
International trade is dying and the currency is in free fall. It fell 17% this morning. The rial has lost more than 80 percent of its value since the start of the year.
I am also hearing that the CIA may be pumping newly (CIA printed) rial into the country in an effort to destabilize the country through hyper-inflation. The Fed may think money printing boosts an economy, but the CIA knows what it really does.
More:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hC11iXimP…
And: http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2012/10/iranian-currenc…
PS The have done it in Vietnam years ago: http://www.psywarrior.com/Vietnambanknote.html
The media seems to be all over the place today on the jobs front, good, bad, not so bad, really bad, no difference etc. Lots of arguments on the 800k increase too. I am still kind of scratching me head on that one too.
I’ll never look at Kraft mayonnaise the same way again.
“translated in Russian slang it means “lick pus%y”…..”
79,
Joyce,
With allies like Israel who needs enemies?
The zionists can’t hide behind judaism forever. The mask is coming off.
Even Henry Kissenger says Israel won’t exist in 20 years. If you live in Israel you should expedite your plans on getting out. You are being set up.
Lol!
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/247993_10151270030991393_1054933640_n.jpg
[63] ragnar,
I dont concern myself with internet bullies like JW. I got a laugh out of it.
Further, I am confident in my ass-kicking ability in any forum or endeavor, and with the tools designated. Not that I need to be. Fabius had the stones to show up. He is and will always be the exception.
[65] chifi
Already read it. I am on Money’s email list. And I posted a pic on my FB page of the wine shelves, loaded mostly with Money’s offerings.
[83] juice,
Nixon also messed with the IRS. And I don’t suggest that Obama or the Plouffer picked up the phone and ordered 7.8. But I do not discount the possibility that there was no need for them to.
JW was on Kudlow this evening. Larry put him in his place saying that if people don’t trust the numbers they put out then it will all turn to black. I do believe the y have been playing with their models as Larry had said their models may be flawed, the overall participation rate has not changed and that means Bernake is full of it this is now structural after 5 years ala Japan style where fully 1/3rd of their workforce Is now part time.
Re: 101 Nom I loaded up on a 1.5 cases from Money this evening, he does have a nack for picking wine. I am glad I made it out of there without getting jammed into a steamer trunk in the basement!
Nice write-up Chip! Whose gonna mind the store when the next housing bubble inflates? :P
You know, I lived in a Brownstone near the corner of Sixth and Jersey a ways back? Nice to see the neighborhood continue to improve. It’s a shame the schools don’t.
[104] juice,
I have sampled a great many of money’s picks and did not like most of them. But that is wine. I know that they are good, reasonable wines, my research tells me that, but they don’t always agree with me.
That said, when I do get a winner from Money, and I got several, I will get 1-3 cases of it. The prices can’t be touched.
Once, in the brig, I went to one of my regular wine sellers. Very knowledgeable; knew Chip’s predecessor. Looked at Chip’s suggestions and ticked off a bunch of wines he thought good. Then he looked at the prices and said “I can’t touch that. Help your friend.”
[105] lib,
The area around Chip’s shop reminded me a lot of the neighborhoods around Rittenhouse and Washington Squares in Philadelphia, and they were considered tony areas of the city. I was over near Fitler Square so I knew it well.
There’s a workstation in the mudroom in my new Nompound, and a funky smell. Either the stinkbugs have been at work or my dog’s bed really needs to be replaced. Ewww.
Juice, I recently bought the L’effet Papillon grenache and the Touraine from Chip. Previously, I got the Los Nevados, which I also think is a grenache but could be CS. Before that the Peyrassol but that requires some air time. Also good is the Alhondra chardonnay but it is higher priced and I don’t keep a lot of whites on hand going into winter.
Chip also set me up with some others that I haven’t tried yet or that are good but inconsistent. I liked the Luzon Verde once but not twice. Still have two bottles so the sampling isn’t done.
Finally, and this is no reflection on Chip, who is my Numero Uno guy, I do shop around and have knowledgeable people in other shops that I frequent. They all carry diffferent labels and my experiences there are the same as with Chip—I try them out and there are some winners and losers. But in general, Chip is the go-to guy.
Nom I drink Cab, I cleared Money out of his 06 Chimney Rock, he was kind enough to give me a discount. There will be allot of celebrating in my house come next week or so since our second child will be arriving along with relatives, hopefully the good wine will encourage them to stay longer to help out. I also picked up some Alhondra for my wife however she does not seem to like it, but she is a bit of a Chardonay snob from growing up in Northern Cali. I like Franciscan Chard for our sushi meals, tonight it was served with pizza so it may go better with fish. I know we have allot of beer conisours here but since I met my wife the only beer I drink is Guinness these days that might make me a bit of a wine snob too.
Re: 102 – Nixon
Did an oral book report on him when I was in the 5th grade. Book was called Nixon’s Head written in the 70s about his paranoia. The teacher thought I should see a school counselor after that oration. I don’t think O is squeezing the BLS but when you have read about what has happened in the past in the White House it is hard to discount the possibility of manipulation after all Clinton wagged the dog over Monica did he not?
One of the most interesting discussions on gun control I have ever had can be summarized in this video: “Its not a question of not who did? But who would?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu_0h2GZX
Corrected link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHOA_XtENW8
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