From the Press of Atlantic City:
New Jersey leads nation in foreclosures
New Jersey now leads the nation with the highest percentage of loans in foreclosure, the Mortgage Bankers Association says.
South Jersey is also mired in the problem.Sheriff’s sales on mortgage foreclosures in Atlantic County have nearly doubled from a year ago, said Pam Hoerter, a fiscal officer for the Sheriff’s Office.
“There are more. A lot more,” she said.
The public property auctions, held every Thursday, average about 20 to 35 a week now, compared with about 10 to 15 weekly a year ago, she said.
Atlantic and Cumberland counties saw the second and third highest rates of foreclosure activity in the state in April, according to California-based market data firm RealtyTrac.An abundance of distressed homes weighs on overall home values.
And the region’s weak job market has done little to lift housing demand, said Richard Perniciaro, director of Atlantic Cape Community College’s Center for Regional and Business Research.
“Getting out of this mess is going to take a long time,” he said.
The state’s current second wave of foreclosure activity — which includes initial filings, notices of sale and bank repossessions — has gradually built up over the past two years, said Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac.
This counters a national trend that has seen the number of distressed properties declining.
Part of this is because foreclosures in New Jersey can take a very long time.
The processing of distressed properties that happened in much of the U.S. from 2009 to 2011 is now occurring here, Blomquist said.
“It’s almost as if in New Jersey there was a time capsule, and this got pushed down,” he said. “The foreclosures got put in a time capsule, they’ve been dug up again and they’re happening.”
…
S&P Case Shiller Day!
No quick end to NJ’s foreclosure crisis…bring on the inventory! So happy to be busy again!
There’s a new
sheriffclerk in town.http://www.morriscountyclerk.org/index.php/about-us/ann-f-grossi/
Check out some of the runs of previous MC clerks (especially the Mott Dynasty):
http://www.morriscountyclerk.org/index.php/about-us/history-of-the-clerks-office/
grim, Key West Distillery is planning to make vodka
Pretty common for new distilleries to attempt multiple product lines, more of a diversified approach.
Resurgence in craft gins and unaged whiskies are partly due to this phenomenon.
For example, selling a “straight” whiskey requires 2 years in a barrel. Attempting this at scale would require an incredible investment in building inventory, with no cash flow for 2 years – to make it worse, you can’t even build your brand until you’ve got product, so year 3 isn’t the finish line, it’s the start.
Vodkas are technically more complicated to produce than rums, the distillation equipment isn’t entirely different, but different enough that it requires a new investment in equipment.
Sad to say, most craft companies that go down this route simply buy barrels or 200-300 gallon totes of alcohol from an industrial manufacturer, water it down, proof it, and bottle it as a craft spirit. It’s not bad vodka, but it ain’t craft.
Vodka is a very difficult market, look at the vodka shelf at the liquor store, probably no less than 200 different bottles. How do you stand out? Custom bottle? That is a huge investment. Those with tasting rooms in tourist areas can probably pull it off, since they’ve got a near captive tourist market to sell into. These sales end up being one-time souvenir purchases than anything else. Key West’s place is close enough to the cruise ship ports that they can bring in good volume.
That said, Jersey Artisans rum is pretty spectacular, better than anything coming out of the islands. I’ve got a $50+ bottle of Don Q that isn’t nearly as good as Jersey’s basic dark rum.
A shot of whiskey would be nice right now.
“It’s almost as if in New Jersey there was a time capsule, and this got pushed down,” he said. “The foreclosures got put in a time capsule, they’ve been dug up again and they’re happening.”
Much supply coming in the urban areas. For the more desirable neighborhoods, those that overpaid are stuck. Yeah, they’re making payments but don’t have the choice of selling; thus, the unqualified seller. Or, as 30 year realtor states, not really a seller at all. No plankton, no food chain.
Clot [6];
A shot of whiskey would be nice right now.
Sounds like the pharmacist saying ‘Gee, I could use an asprin.”
I was bombarded by the MSNBC hacks over the weekend in Montauk. I attempted to lay low. I realized the impact only after noting that I managed to down 1 1/2 bottles of scotch in two days…..which is WAY overboard for me.
Anyway, we were driving back on the Sunrise Highway in slow but moving traffic when someone balled up a bag and threw it out of the window of their (upscale) car. I turned to my wife and said “I literally can’t believe what I just saw.” Several minutes later traffic slowed and we managed to move past that car and saw who threw the garbage………….this whole event had a big visceral impact on me…..I was brought up with the MSNBC crowd and I care about these people, and then when I remove myself from the ivory tower, I get smacked with a dose of reality……and I feel like a heretic for it…….but I am justified….
just got back from monitoring the European elections. not particularly good news.
anyway, i was waiting to see who posted the fist idiocy today and it had to be chifi. you never disappoint dude
chicagofinance says:
May 27, 2014 at 9:22 am
I was bombarded by the MSNBC
[9] chifi,
That’s a little too free associative for me. Did you nearly have a breakdown because some a-hole tossed trash out of the car?
@BillMoyersHQ:
“The payment of reparations would represent America’s maturation out of the myth of its innocence”
-Ta-Nehisi Coates http://t.co/J4HaagEb83
Google Maps “Street View” in Mantoloking is now comprised of pictures from October 2013 of the newly restored route 35. Pretty amazing sights near the bridge. Lots of new houses on the Bay side, lots of no houses still on the ocean side where $7 million were washed away, lots and all. You can now see the lone surviving house on the corner of Barnegat and Herbert Lanes close up, no longer on it’s own island. It’s pretty amazing to have Zillow open in another browser window to view the homes that once stood while looking at the reconstituted sand lots along the ocean. I wonder how long it took to settle the insurance claims where both house and land were completely vanquished. Does the insurance company just hold off settling until they see how much land gets put back by the government?
^^^ I meant to say “$7 million dollar houses”
[13] Even better, does the insurance company say, “Well yeah, your whole house is gone, but you now have much better lot built brand new by the government, so your net loss is less than the value of the home that no longer exists.”?
anon (the good one),
“The payment of reparations would represent America’s maturation out of the myth of its innocence”
How much are you putting up towards the payment?
“just got back from monitoring the European elections. not particularly good news.”
It is great news. This will delay the EU from falling into the abyss for another year.
[10] anon,
Don’t despair. You ran a close second.
Hello my friend! I want to say that this post is
amazing, nice written and include approximately all significant
infos. I’d like to peer more posts like this .
It isn’t just the “to die for” towns that are extorting whatever they could, most any town with a so-called decent section is expecting more because of the inventory shortage. This is Hawthorne, which, in the valley section is nothing more than an extension of Paterson. The ask is $599,000; walnut paneling in places, washer & dryer in the kitchen (ugh!), wall paper in sections and around $16,000 in taxes. Affordable for a family of four, right? (vomit…)
http://www.njmls.com/listings/index.cfm?action=dsp.info&mlsnum=1410745&dayssince=&countysearch=false
[16] eddie
“How much are you putting up towards the payment?”
anon would probably say “That depends. How much have you got?”
Here’s one of my reasons for not wanting to eat out that often. This is a bigger problem than people think.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101700648
First off….the offending party was a woman….second, it is amazing how much thought and effort go into coddling people who have so little regard for the effort, and further the world in general. To elaborate further, there were clearly tied garbage bags on the side of the highway where either volunteers or chain-gangs had collected detritus. Also, we were in a pristine stretch called the Pine Barrens…..I remark WTF?
Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:
May 27, 2014 at 9:31 am
[9] chifi, That’s a little too free associative for me. Did you nearly have a breakdown because some a-hole tossed trash out of the car?
The time for reparations is long past. The injustice is too far removed and would not accomplish anything good. The newly liberated slaves really could have used reparations. Tell me again how slavery has wronged people today 4 generations removed. Reparations would have been a good thing before the dawn of the 20th century, now it is just ridiculous just the overhead of determining who should be paid and really who should paid for it is insane. The actual slave holders who profited should have been held accountable.
You caught Rachel Maddow throwing a puppy out of her car to die?
You caught MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow throwing a puppy in a black bag out of her car window to kill it?
Well said….agree!
jcer says:
May 27, 2014 at 10:58 am
The time for reparations is long past. The injustice is too far removed and would not accomplish anything good. The newly liberated slaves really could have used reparations. Tell me again how slavery has wronged people today 4 generations removed. Reparations would have been a good thing before the dawn of the 20th century, now it is just ridiculous just the overhead of determining who should be paid and really who should paid for it is insane. The actual slave holders who profited should have been held accountable.
Why stop at only 4 generations? Perhaps Egypt should pony up too. They are still making tourism blood money off the backs of slave labor.
[23] chifi
Still trying to figure out the MSNBC link.
[28] grim,
Then there’s all the back rent payments we owe to indian. . . er, native americans, who really owned this country in the first place.
[24] jcer
Not to mention that if we finally paid them off, they still won’t go away in a metaphorical sense.
There’s a very old, un-PC joke that goes “What’s the difference between a hurdle and slavery?” You will have to google the answer as anon and ottoman will want to “re-educate” me in person for it and I don’t want to have to shoot them.
jcer [24];
Reparations would be a straight-up payoff to the identity politics hucksters — which is what it was all about in the first place.
That aside, I wonder if it wouldn’t be worth paying the price to get all of them to STFU already and stop poisioning our politics. Once you cash to the settlement check, the dispute is over.
REAL ESTATE AND THE RECOVERY
Rent or Buy? The Math Is Changing
MAY 21, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/upshot/rent-or-buy-the-math-is-changing.html
I actually learned about the recent essay calling for reparations from an African American Woman who thinks they are absolutely fcucking stupid.
CHIFI folks out East are instructed to throw stuff at any car with a New Jersey License Plate. You dont belong out there. We tried out best to raise tolls on the GWB, and Throggs Neck Bridge, left every pothole unfilled in the Bronx and back up the whole cross island and belt parkway to keep you folk out yet you keeping coming.
Just a friendly PSA from your good friends on Constitution Avenue, N.W.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-news/ir-02-08.pdf
FWIW, 40 acres and a mule are a pretty good deal, and I think they can start with the land disputed by Clive Bundy (sp?). Imagine if he had to pay grazing fees to descendants of former slaves. Someone had me the popcorn.
[35] JJ
That reminds me of our all-purpose directions for New Yorkers lost on Cape Cod. They go like this:
Take this road until you get to Route 6. Turn west on Route 6.
Keep following Route 6 until you see a bridge. Cross over the bridge.
After the bridge, stay on Route 6 until you get to Route 25; turn right on Route 25.
Follow Route 25 until you see the sign that says “495N-New York”
Keep going.
lmao—the pension system is too expensive for the govt, right? Meanwhile they can’t switch over to a 401k because it will cost the state more money. Now do you realize that the workers were robbed? The writing is on the wall on how they robbed the workers retirement. These dudes should be shot.
“The problem, Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff told the Senate and Assembly budget committees last week, is that a “hard cutover” from the current defined benefit plan to a 401K-style defined contribution for current employees would actually increase the state’s annual pension bill because employee contributions are needed to help amortize the system’s $54 billion unfunded liability.”
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/05/christie_administation_eyes_shift_to_hybrid_pension_system_similar_to_rhode_island.html#incart_river_default
“Many people are talking about the Ta-Nehisi Coates essay on reparations. Ezra Klein has a summary of the argument, which runs as follows:
What Coates shows is that white America has, for hundreds of years, used deadly force, racist laws, biased courts and housing segregation to wrest the power of compound interest for itself. The word he keeps coming back to is “plunder.” White America built its wealth by stealing the work of African-Americans and then, when that became illegal, it added to its wealth by plundering from the work and young assets of African-Americans.
And then, crucially, it let compound interest work its magic.”
The End is Nigh (Deal Divorce Edition)
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/four-rabbis-indicted-brutal-jewish-divorce-scheme-n112411
@NewsBreaker: Joe the Plumber to Shooting Victim’s Dad:
‘Your Dead Kids Don’t Trump My Rights’
[40] anon,
Summer’s coming. Time to update your wardrobe.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Aluminum-Foil-Hat/
[42] anon
Aaaannnd, the reposted tweet is in.
Okay, time to look at your predictions. Who had 1:06 p.m. in the office pool? I had 11:15 am so I am not even close.
@Harpers:
A Russian circus crocodile vomited for 3 hours after a 265-pound accountant fell on top of him.
http://t.co/cdNeWXhNWt #WeeklyReview
[39] michael
“These dudes should be shot.”
Finally, something you and Clot can agree upon.
White America? My parents came to the states in the 1960s, after having been oppressed in communist Poland.
So please excuse me from your racist stereotype. Thanks.
When the collection cup comes by, please don’t be upset if I just pass it along, because nobody put any in ours.
Michael [39];
A) Its called “counterparty risk”;
B) I’m having a hard time ginning up alot of sympathy for some “public servant” making six figures for menial non-labor, platinum, benefits and gobs of time off, who built his side (all cash, nach) lansdcaping buinsess on ‘company’ time, just because he isn’t going to cash all the pension checks that the politicans who their union bought and paid for promised them. As I see it, when the cards come tumbling down, most made out allright to date, so they should just call it a day and go home.
From day 1 in human history, there has been racism. In 2014, in the USA, this is probably the least racist era in human history. It’s time to move on. It has gotten to the point where it has been reversed, if you are openly racist in our society, you will pay a major price for it. Ask the clippers owner about that, and that was a private conversation.
anon (the good one) says:
May 27, 2014 at 1:03 pm
“Many people are talking about the Ta-Nehisi Coates essay on reparations. Ezra Klein has a summary of the argument, which runs as follows:
What Coates shows is that white America has, for hundreds of years, used deadly force, racist laws, biased courts and housing segregation to wrest the power of compound interest for itself. The word he keeps coming back to is “plunder.” White America built its wealth by stealing the work of African-Americans and then, when that became illegal, it added to its wealth by plundering from the work and young assets of African-Americans.
And then, crucially, it let compound interest work its magic.”
[47] grim,
For awhile I was an FB friend with a black intellectual radical who went to Amherst around the same time I was across town (ironic considering all that white privilege there). He and his friends really thought the way that anon does (if the tweets are indicative of his thinking). We debated intensely and often but always civilly. We agreed on almost nothing–he once remarked that we couldn’t agree on the time if we were looking at the same clock. Great line.
But I finally had enough of his friends and their off the wall conspiracy theory views (think the white radical right has a monopoly on these? Not so) so I defriended him. He begged me to reconsider, if only to have the voice of conservative reason heard in response to his positions, but I said that it wasn’t him, it was just that I was tired of trying to change minds that cannot be changed. If I wasn’t able to contribute meaningfully, meaning that it would be heard and considered, then there was no point in even trying. And for once, he agreed with me.
[45] anon,
“A Russian circus crocodile vomited for 3 hours after a 265-pound accountant fell on top of him”
Believe me, there are days when I know how that alligator feels. Usually after I read some of your retweeted stuff.
And on that note, off to another project.
Moose, I agree, but you have to realize that only a few govt employees get that. Look up the avg salaries for govt employees, and it’s pretty pathetic. Those fat cats at the top give the avg govt employee a bad name. It’s pretty sad, these fat cat’s pensions will be double or triple what the avg govt worker makes. So sad, they should be shot. All the double dipping, patronage job holding, piece of crap politicans and their buddies should be shot. Worst part, they blame the workers when the public comes asking what happen to the money?
B) I’m having a hard time ginning up alot of sympathy for some “public servant” making six figures for menial non-labor, platinum, benefits and gobs of time off, who built his side (all cash, nach) lansdcaping buinsess on ‘company’ time, just because he isn’t going to cash all the pension checks that the politicans who their union bought and paid for promised them. As I see it, when the cards come tumbling down, most made out allright to date, so they should just call it a day and go home.
47. Grim exactly, no one goes into the fact that many so called white people were every bit as oppressed when they came here as the average black person was at the time, there was no justice for the immigrants who were fleeing all kinds of problems. Now to take race out of the picture why is it that people can come from Jamaica, a place with worse history of slavery than the US and fare better than African-Americans? I’d be willing to bet a Jamaican immigrant has economic prospects similar to other immigrant groups and poor whites. Many problems stem from a victim mentality which is the root of the problem, reparations are not going to fix it.
Anon is a mindless troll folks, ignore him please. Debating him is akin to arguing with a crackhead panhandler about politics.
A friend from Hoboken owns this brand of Vodka.
Here is a map of where you can find it.
http://www.prohibitiondistillery.com/find-it/
He is doing well with his brand made up in Roscoe NY.
had to come back with this, guaranteed to twist Joyce’s panties . . .
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101706908
White America? My great grandparents came to the states in the 1880s, after having been oppressed in
communistregular Poland.It is estimated that about 4 million people emigrated to the U.S. from Polish lands in the period 1885-1914; these were ethnic Poles, Jews, Ukrainians, and Belorussians. Ethnic Poles settled mainly in Chicago, Buffalo, and Detroit, also in New York,while the Jews also settled in big cities. This period saw the growth of Polish-American communities known in Polish collectively as “Polonia. They had their own churches, elementary schools and newspapers. In these respects they were similar to other emigre communities such as the Irish, Italians, Greeks, Ukrainians, and others.
http://acienciala.faculty.ku.edu/hist557/lect6.htm
I think my great grandparents were on their way to Chicago but got tired on the trip, so they stopped to mine coal in Central PA for a couple generations.
[56] joyce buys her knickers pre-knotted.
anon orders his from the Obamawear catalog.
Michael is still wearing his granny’s. Loose, comfortable fit.
Age discrimination sucks. Hope that doesn’t happen to me.
“15 years… top of scale (actually through it) 40 years in the tech field, and when I came back from leave… position eliminated and kid sitting in my chair.
Less than half the pay and benefits… Gee… I wonder…. “
Gotta play through the pain.
Good luck with that.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/27/us-ibm-china-idUSKBN0E70S620140527
Looks like the Willy Wonka of the Ukraine isn’t wasting any time.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27584718
The CDO’s are coming! The CDOs are coming! I watch the MC sheriff sales and have been for years. This is the first I’ve noticed properties actually making it to sheriff sale that are explicitly represent loans bundled into CDOs. This is the original toxic asset crap. No HARP/HAMP/Mods for these home occupiers. Three plaintiffs last week(all taken back by plaintiff too):
PLTF: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, FKA THE BANK OF NEW YORK AS SUCCESSOR IN INTEREST TO JP MORGAN CHASE BANK NA AS TRUSTEE FOR STRUCTURED ASSET MORTGAGE INVESTMENTS II INC. BEAR STERNS ALT-A TRUST 2005 9, MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2005-9
PLTF: US BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR ADJUSTABLE RATE MORTGAGE TRUST 2005-8, ADJUSTABLE RATE MORTGAGE BACKED PASS THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SERIES 2005-8
PLTF: Deutsche Bank National Trust Company as Trustee for the Holders of GSAMP Trust 2004-HE2, Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2004-HE2
I’m not wearing any underpants.
re: # 67 – Some looks to be decade old junk, 5,437 sub-prime mortgage loans from 2003-2004.
https://www.moodys.com/research/MOODYS-RATES-GS-MORTGAGE-SECURITIES-CORP-GSAMP-TRUST-2004-HE2–PR_86857
Two takeaways that this NYT article tries to downplay or misrepresents:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/15/business/retirementspecial/the-trade-offs-of-relocating-north-to-canada.html?WT.mc_id=AD-D-E-OTB-RSS-OS-1213-BUS&WT.mc_ev=click&_r=0
First, it implies that american expats in Canada pay more tax in order to get healthcare. Not so. The taxpayer gets a credit versus US taxes for Canadian taxes paid, up to a certain amount (well below what is mentioned here).
Second, it downplays the benefit to Canada of the investor program, now discontinued. Why would the Canadian government see no benefit to a program that would get it over $40 BILLION in tax free loans for 5 years, and bring in probably an equal amount of investment? Could it be that the countries from which the investors are expatriating from don’t want to see $80+ billion in net worth flee their countries and have brought pressure on Ottawa to end the program?
[70] errata
“tax free” should be “interest free”
Whoops!!!!
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0527/Valerie-Plame-deja-vu-Kabul-CIA-chief-revealed-by-mistake
Wonder how the MSNBC and Daily Kos bloggers will react? Fulmination? Indignation? Crickets?
I’m going with crickets. Or blaming George Bush
[72] redux,
Yep. Kos had a link to WaPo buried in their feed. MSNBC? Crickets.
Doomsday predictions that Clot can enjoy. The essay argues that while incomes have stagnated, the square footage of retail space has surged. National self-medication via debt-funded shopping excursions sounds like a prelude to disaster.
“It does not take much analysis to see that these bell ringers do not represent sustainable prosperity unfolding across the land. For example, around 1990 real median income was $56k per household and now, 25 years later, its just $51k—-meaning that main street living standards have plunged by about 9% during the last quarter century. But what has not dropped is the opportunity for Americans to drop shopping: square footage per capita during the same period more than doubled, rising from 19 square feet per capita at the earlier date to 47 at present.
This complete contradiction—declining real living standards and soaring investment in retail space—did not occur due to some embedded irrational impulse in America to speculate in real estate, or because capitalism has an inherent tendency to go off the deep-end. The fact that in equally “prosperous” Germany today there is only 12 square feet of retail space per capita is an obvious tip-off, and this is not a teutonic aberration. America’s prize-winning number of 47 square feet of retail space per capita is 3-8X higher than anywhere else in the developed world!”
link here:
http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/bad-trend-breaking-retail-results-not-better-than-expected-but-worse-than-ever/?utm_source=wysija&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Mailing+List+AM+Tuesday
[74] ragnar,
I noticed the square footage discussion previously and I agree that it isn’t a good portend.
Well, I am out. Night, all.
I heard today that a women peaks at 23. That is the year she is best looking and in the best shape of her life. From 23 on it is a slow side towards looking like a bag lady living in a dumpster.
Luckily, Men peak at 62. We are trim and fit with a touch of silver in our hair running major companies and flying jets and wrestling tigers in our spare time.
74- Thanks for the share. Off shoring looked like the goose that would lay the golden eggs in the 90’s. These idiots who thought America could live like kings on other country’s slave labor, have totally screwed our country. Did it ever occur to them that locals would eventually demand raises from the foreign corporations taking advantage of them. Now how do you make up for the relocation costs when moving your company back to a market that doesn’t have lower labor costs? What a bunch of idiots.
“The secret to retail success before 2007 was: create or copy a successful concept; get Wall Street financing and go public ASAP; source all your inventory from Far East slave labor factories; hire thousands of minimum wage level workers to process transactions; build hundreds of new stores every year to cover up the fact the existing stores had deteriorating performance; convince millions of gullible dupes to buy cheap Chinese shit they didn’t need with money they didn’t have; and pretend this didn’t solely rely upon cheap easy debt pumped into the veins of American consumers by the Federal Reserve and their Wall Street bank owners. The financial crisis in 2008 revealed everyone was swimming naked, when the tide of easy credit subsided.”
@killersites: @MMFlint I believe Canada has much less gun violence because of our social safety net – less desperate people means less desperate actions.
@MotherJones: This mother’s response to some idiot who brought a loaded assault rifle to Chili’s is perfect.
“And now Chili’s and Sonic have effectively joined the list: Two videos posted on YouTube on May 19 by the San Antonio chapter of Open Carry Texas—since removed from public view but obtained by Mother Jones—show its armed members being refused service at both restaurants. The two companies have not made official statements on open carry but have since indicated that they are reviewing their policies. From the nervous and angry reactions of some patrons to comments from some of the gun activists themselves, it’s not difficult to see why these spectacles haven’t been winning many people over.”
Unsold car parks. Where new cars become trash. Sign of the times?
http://aplus.com/a/unsold-cars-parked-as-trash
Wasn’t that debunked as false?
Thought these comments from an article on nj.com about the pensions were worth sharing. The man has a point.
gyre
After the Proposition 13 tax revolt in California took hold, public school K-12 education in California took a nosedive. Anybody who can afford it has pulled their kids out of public schools. NJ is on track to repeat the California debacle. Taxpayers revolt, corporations and 1%’s stand to the side or formulate educational corporations that pick up the loose money from the public coffers. Lots of people enhance their bottom line except the kids. I believe our society has lost it’s way. Public education is the cornerstone to a healthy democracy. It’s sad what’s going on. This is what an oligarchy looks like.
non sequitur
@gyre Oh please. Then you have to say that public university education in NJ has taken a nose dive, because most of the classes are taught by either adjuncts with NO pension or full-time non-tenure track instructors who have a 401K only.
The S-L wants everyone to believe that every single state worker has the benefits of the NJEA members. They don’t.
gyre
@non sequitur @gyre Exactly… adjunct professors are proof positive of oligarchy. Don’t you get it non-sequitor? The professors are poorer than the students they are teaching and the parents and kids are paying through the nose for higher education. I’m a firm believer in Rick Perry’s notion of the $10,000 degree. Show me and that yahoo from Texas why I’m wrong. the cost of higher education is a national disgrace that enriches the upper class.
CHifi and anyone who buys MUNI bonds I call this a sell signal
High-Yield Issuers Should Seize the Moment
by Hillary Flynn
MAY 27, 2014 5:24pm ET
. BlackRock’s Hayes Touts Munis’ Attractiveness
Muni Mutual Funds Report $663.6 Million in Inflows.Investors’ ravenous demand for high-yield municipal bonds has created an optimal environment for lower-rated issuers, analysts say.
High-yield fund flows totaled $408.1 million for the week ending May 22, and have remained positive for all but one week this year, according to Lipper FMI data. High-yield funds reported outflows 69.2% of the time in 2013.
“It’s a good time for high-yield issuers, BBB category all the way down to nonrated,” Adam Buchanan, vice president of institutional sales and trading at Ziegler Capital Markets, said in an interview. “Due to this market environment, we’re telling issuers bring transactions to market.”
Investor’s desire for high-yield bonds increased this year because of the limited amount of deals coming to market. Volume as of April 30 totaled $89.34 billion, compared to $122.72 billion for the same period in 2013, according to The Bond Buyer’s and Ipreo’s data.
The lack of supply has allowed underwriters to price the few bonds that do come to market at relatively low yields.
“Issuers should look at this market and say yields are being driven lower by demand,” Jim Colby, chief municipal strategist at Van Eck Global, said in an interview. “There is an appetite for high-yield it’s a good time to bring deals to market.”
He said that Van Eck is proof of investors’ appetite for high-yield to a certain extent, since it’s attracted flows into its high-yield fund.
Buchanan also pointed to this year’s tightening credit spreads as another example for why it’s an ideal time to bring high-yield issuances to market.
“There has been a lot of chatter about recent yield transactions and how much their spreads have tighten[ed],” Buchanan said. “Higher-rated yield sector borrowers’ spreads have also come in, for example spreads on AA rated healthcare bonds have tightened 20-30 basis points since December of last year.”
Credit spreads between the Municipal Market Data’s benchmark AAA 10-year GO and its 10-year Baa GO has tightened by 29 basis points to 122 basis points from Jan. 2, 2013, to market close on Friday.
“The spread tightening in yield is from a supply and demand imbalance,” Buchanan said. “High-yield supply is down 50%-plus year-over-year, while the overall market supply is down 30%. Additionally, tax-exempt fund inflows are being driven by high yield funds. The supply/demand imbalance is geared towards the high yield sector and it’s creating an excellent environment for yield sector borrowers.”
Despite these favorable market conditions, analysts are not seeing a large or varied amount of high-yield issuers come to market.
“High-yield is now the domain of many Puerto Rico, many securitized tobacco, and many airports,” Colby said. “It’s a real opportunity for other types of issuers.”
Colby said investors want to see as many different types of investors as are able to come to market.
“I think if you’re building a portfolio and the mantra is diversification,” Colby said. “If you’re not forgetting you need to hedge your bet in some intelligent manner, you want [different high-yield] in your portfolio. What you want is broad diversification and in this kind of an asset class where you really need to pay attention to credit, a broad diversification of issuers is something to be desired.”
Michael Schroeder, president and chief investment officer at Wasmer, Schroeder & Co., said in an interview that this is an environment more high-yield issuers should take advantage of.
“A lot of BBB hospitals have not been issuing much in the high-yield department, and we are not seeing that they will be anytime soon,” he said. “Maybe that will change. It is a good time for issuers to be borrowing, people want high-yield.”
Colby said that in addition to hospitals, charter schools and transportation issuers should be borrowing more.
For the buyside there are credit dangers associated with high-yield bonds, analysts warn. High-yield issuers often have low ratings and therefore a greater chance of defaulting than issuers with investment-grade ratings.
Buchanan acknowledged that while high-yield credit conditions have improved, it is still the risk sector of the marketplace.
“Its credit by credit when you get to the high-yield sector, there are certainly well positioned good nonrated credits out there though, there’s no doubt about that,” he said.
Both Buchanan and Colby said that much of the risk associated with high-yield bonds can be avoided if investors do a credit analysis.
“The dangers are always there if you don’t do your credit work, you don’t do your homework,” Colby said. “[Many investors] just react to the apparent opportunity, which is a yield comparison. But investors, whether they are individual or ETF investors have to make sure your deals are properly protective of bondholder rights, and assert the responsibility of issuer to follow through on their commitments.”
Schroeder noted the inherent risks in high-yield sector, and said investors should be careful, especially in the current rich market.
Buchanan does not see anything that will change market conditions to make them less appealing for high-yield issuers in the immediate future.
“There continue to be dovish comments from [Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen] and uneven economic data, which has given a bid to treasuries,” he said. “Couple that with low supply and fund flows, this is a unique combination.”
The Federal Open Markets Committee Meeting minutes released on Wednesday re-affirmed the Federal Reserve’s stance that it will not look to raise interest rates until housing data and the inflation rate are stronger.
He does acknowledge though that headline risk could disrupt the high-yield rally, and described it as the “one thing” market participants have to watch.
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[81] grim
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