Not such a deep dive

From News 12:

Deep Dive: Where things stand now for real estate in New Jersey heading into 2022

Where did 2021 stand when it came to real estate in New Jersey?

“Home sales were really hot, especially in the beginning of the year,” says Caleb Silver with Investopedia. “If we look at the national average it is up 20% year over year in terms of home prices, but Jersey slowed a lot since the beginning of the year. Monmouth County, the biggest increase, up 19%, Morris County up 12.4%, Bergen County up 11.5%, and Hudson only up 6.1%.

“Does Silver have any projections for the new year?”

Well you could probably bet on the fact that interest rates are going to rise which means mortgage rates are going to rise too. We know inventory has been tight so we probably will see a slowdown in sales and more of a drop in home prices as we get into the new year,” says Silver.

This entry was posted in Economics, Mortgages, New Jersey Real Estate. Bookmark the permalink.

271 Responses to Not such a deep dive

  1. grim says:

    From the NYT:

    A Frenetic Housing Market in the Suburbs, and Then a Cooling Off

    For much of 2021, the suburban New York real estate markets continued to be dominated by bidding wars, long lines at open houses and rising prices, as the housing inventory in many communities fell short of demand.

    Fueling the frenetic activity, which started in mid-2020, was the allure of still-low mortgage rates, along with an influx of pandemic-weary city dwellers and new millennial buyers. At the same time, homeowners were holding onto their properties longer, many unable to afford to upgrade.

    “It was the same story across all the suburbs,” said Jonathan J. Miller, a Manhattan-based real estate appraiser who also monitors suburban markets.

    But as the year came to a close, real estate agents across the region reported a cooling off in sales activity, a shift many began to notice by late summer. “The panic buying has subsided, and the crazy bidding wars are less common,” said Andy Sachs, an agent with Keller Williams who works primarily in Fairfield and Litchfield Counties, in Connecticut.

  2. Juice Box says:

    School called a snow day, there is not even a dusting yet. I expect the board may have an emergency meeting today over going remote.

  3. grim says:

    Was getting sick of the rain (though loved the warm December). Here comes the cold and snow.

    We broke out the snow tubes and are getting ready for the season! If you didn’t know, Tube Pro in Canada is the best. Yes, a bit expensive, but they’ll last for a decade. We got a large hard bottom tube last year and it was by far the most fun we’ve had in the snow in years. None of those shitty snow tubes or sleds you get at Walmart or Target for $30. We hunted the best sledding hills in NJ last year, planning to do it again.

  4. Fast Eddie says:

    Interest rates have been zero forever, who wants to bet they go nowhere this year and beyond? The only thing rising is tolls and taxes. I’ve said it in the past, they’ll come a day when the houses will cost nothing in NJ; you’ll be responsible for the monthly property tax payment.

  5. Hold my beer says:

    Do you think the family will sue nyc and the mta for having non bending concrete and turnstiles that are too low?

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10362995/NYC-man-28-killed-jumping-turnstile-Queens-station-cracking-head-floor.html#article-10362995

  6. Hold my beer says:

    Fast
    I wonder if we get negative rates and people will do things like buy cars they don’t need and store them on blocks as a hedge for inflation. I remember reading about people in a South America country doing that years ago when they were having inflation or currency devaluations.

  7. Bystander says:

    Two more ex-co-workers with new jobs today – one at NYDIG and another at Apple Pay. Nearly everyone is leaving banking for Bitcoin and “pay later” tech. This is all 2000-esque.

  8. BRT says:

    We are open and it looks like we have at least 90% of our students. 2 weeks prior to the break, every single kid got covid. It already appears to be over for us. My kids’ school shut down. I think you’ll see the same crap play out, well to do towns stay open, and the less money you have, the more likely they will shut you down.

  9. Fast Eddie says:

    Beer,

    We have inflation uncoupled from the mooring and interest rates are zero. It’s surreal. I was in Wegmans a week ago… a loaf of bread was $8 dollars. The express line of any food store, including Shop Rite is an easy $100.

  10. Fast Eddie says:

    And all this talk about health insurance the other day is something I can relate to. I had the knee operation a year ago. I had some post op testing a few weeks later at the “in network” hospital. The scans were read by out of network doctors. How am I supposed to know that? I received one bill for $640 and like an 1diot, I pay it. I get the same bill again for a follow-up test done two weeks later and this time, I make some calls and tell the doctor’s billing department that it’s not right for me to get billed for out of network procedures. They reduce it to $200 which I pay. I never brought up the first bill I paid, maybe I should have. Or maybe I shouldn’t have paid the $200 as well.

  11. Juice Box says:

    4,715 in the hospital now in NJ for Covid +441 since yesterday and + 1,111 in 5 days..
    4,274 Sunday +232
    4,042 Saturday +178
    3,864 Friday+260
    3,604 Thursday

  12. Bystander says:

    The first rule of med bill payments is don’t f-in pay them until the first threat of collection. I got my gall bladder out right before Christmas. I would not wish an attack on my worst enemy. Waiting on bills now.

  13. No One says:

    Cold front hitting the Sarasota, FL area today, with temps down to 64. Highs back to the 70s the rest of the week. Get rain about once every couple of weeks. When family came to visit last month it was nice to be able to dine outside in the fresh air.
    Lots of nice restaurants generally around here but there’s a severe shortage of authentic Chinese restaurants down here. Surprised some good chef-proprietors haven’t moved down to set up a more serious restaurant – maybe it’s lack of cheap Chinese labor and lack of Chinese produce. There are many NJ Chinese restaurants bussing their grey market labor from and to the Flushing area every day.

  14. BRT says:

    I used to do med billing for my dad. Tried and true strategy. Collection settles for 1/5th and splits it 50/50 with the doctors so the doctors get 1/10th. Offer them 1/10th cash, but ask to be on a payment plan. You can settle for 1/20th cash up front.

    When my dad was doing prenatal care, we had $5 million in bills that didn’t even pay a dime. That means 50% of people never paid a damn thing.

  15. BRT says:

    No One,

    an issue that I supposedly heard was that people who would come down and serve the authentic stuff weren’t successful there because everyone wanted the fake crap. This applied to pizza and other foods as well. I can see that turning with more and more transplants.

  16. Boomer Remover says:

    My wife went over her out of pocket plan max last year. She had several iron infusions which were billed at $1,300 each. Something like $200 for the iron and $1100 for the “facility fee”. Secondary picked up all those copays. After she hit her max in October it’s been a rush to do every possible thing before year end.

    The single best feature of our plan (Oscar) is telehealth. 24/7 $0 cost telehealth visits for the fam and $0 generic meds do a lot to lessen the envelope storm in the mailbox.

  17. Libturd says:

    I have binders and binders full of XOBs, checks and bills. I can easily deduct medical costs from my taxes since they add up to between 10 and 20% of Gator and my AGI every year. Remember, my taxable investment gains and rental income from the multi is in there too. NJ is a horrible, horrible place for your kid to get sick. Unless you live below the poverty line.

    If I lived in about 43 other states, I would pay nothing.

  18. Juice Box says:

    Bystander – Must be a few hundred startups in NYC for Crypto and Defi these days. This year it may all or nothing for the crypto folks they are hiring like mad from all corners of finance and technology to put on a professional appearance. They make no bones about going after centralized regulated finance in the WEST as it has failed mostly in the EAST. As mentioned previously China has released it’s own central bank managed digital yuan e-CNY their only legal digital currency (in beta) and have made all other private coins illegal as in they cannot be circulated as currency in Chinese markets and has declared BITCOIN and other coins have no value as well as banned mining. India has also followed suit with their Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) but has stopped short on banning other private crypto yet, there is some legal wrangling but we could see action there as well.

    Our Fed will make some kind of waves this year I predict, not sure about any new laws however as congress will be gridlocked for the mid-terms. However many of these platforms are attempting to offer interest and loans, these crypto exchanges will be slapped down. The SEC stopped Coinbase already from their loan program in the USA. These other startups talk an incessant game about Ethereum vs Bitcoin and other “stable coins”. So much so it just becomes noise as they all compete with each other as the better platform to park your real money, as they fight with each other clashes and several hard forks within their communities like the current battle in Ethereum to switch from proof of work to proof of stake etc.

    Make no mistake it’s the real money they want as they already mined and own the coins on the cheap already now they are just trying to squeeze each other out…

    We shall see…

  19. Juice Box says:

    Remote day for federal employees and the white house press briefing was cancelled by Psaki. They aren’t even attempting to zoom it in Washington DC, must still be nursing hang overs.

  20. Bystander says:

    Thanks for explanation, Juice. I am no expert on digital currency but it is everywhere, not just NYC. An old boss (little british pr*ck who cheated on wife with subordinate) took a job at Silvergate in San Diego. The Fed is clearly jobs-driven and they are fearful taking down huge industry which has risen up due to their bubble making failure. 2022 will be interesting.

  21. Chicago says:

    PF (fka NaCl) Chang’s is puerile garbage.

    BRT says:
    January 3, 2022 at 10:43 am
    No One,

    an issue that I supposedly heard was that people who would come down and serve the authentic stuff weren’t successful there because everyone wanted the fake crap. This applied to pizza and other foods as well. I can see that turning with more and more transplants.

  22. Libturd says:

    PF Chang’s is to Chinese as Dominoes is to Pizza or Lender’s is to bagels.

  23. Juice Box says:

    re: ” it is everywhere”

    Not everywhere China is forcing de-platforming of all of it citizens from the crypto exchanges or else as of Dec 31st..They will block these sites eventually from being accessed on their internet.

    The coin pumpers are all predicting 2022 to be the “flippening” of Bitcoin ownership in favor of large-volume institutional traders and away from retail customers.

    We shall see. I don’t think that SEC or the Fed will allow it, you know add in a few trillion of 401k dollars etc..After all it’s the dollars they want for the coin not the other way around.

  24. Juice Box says:

    If given a choice and you are stuck in say a Denver suburb hotel because the flight was cancelled, and you need to take your family out for not so nice sit down meal…..

    PF Chang > Carrabba’s Italian Grill > Olive Garden > Perkins > Denny’s

  25. Chicago says:

    The Ten returns to levels last seen before Omicron appeared. Interesting

  26. Juice Box says:

    Chi – did you see my note yesterday on Pazzo?

  27. No One says:

    BRT & Chi,

    BRT I bet you are right, but there have been more younger and more worldly people moving into the area in recent years. Any new restaurant would still need to offer decent fried rice and kung pao chicken to satisfy the lovers of americanized chinese food. But there are also people who would come for the “chef’s specials” side of the menu. Much like they do at my NJ mainstay, China Chalet in Florham Park.

    Last year I broke down and got takeout from P.F. Chang’s for the first time in 20 years. It was vile. Not even decent by american-chinese slop standards. I ended up throwing it away.

    A Chinese chef-entrepreneur going into Sarasota and perhaps setting up his own small farm to make herbs/vegetables could crush the minimal competition.

    The funny thing is that there are several nice French restaurants, German, a Hungarian, decent Vietnamese, Thai places. People are willing to eat ethnic food.
    My island has a couple of places claiming to offer authentic NJ Pizza. They even offer a “FJB” pepperoni pie.
    https://patch.com/florida/sarasota/profane-pizzas-slamming-biden-devoured-sarasota-co-residents

  28. Chicago says:

    On that list, only Perkins is edible. A couple of years ago, my son (13 at time)and I went to an IHOP in Landover MD for Packers-Washington. He actually refused the food. He was shocked. He said this stuff is nothing. Empty calories. I give him credit.

  29. Phoenix says:

    PF Chang.

    I thought that was the pilot flying Asiana Air 214.

  30. Chicago says:

    Juice. Re Pazzo. Yeah. Must have something else. Although all non-elderly non-POC people I know who have died have been Italian FWIW

    Totally nuts for sure.

  31. Phoenix says:

    Hunan Taste in Denville NJ is good.

  32. Juice Box says:

    No One – Solorzano Pizza? That is a Spanish name lol..

    Guy hails from Hoboken ( Filippo’s pizzeria ) and is killing it however 6 locations and more to open in Tennessee.

    http://www.nobodymakespizzalikewedo.com/menu.html

  33. Chicago says:

    No One: if you poll most of America and ask what is their favorite Italian dish, they will say spaghetti and meatballs. Empty out Chef Boyardee on a plate. No fcuking clue.

  34. Juice Box says:

    Done here we have House of Chong….

    Danny Chong the owner is the real deal family run for 3 generations….

  35. Phoenix says:

    IHOP is where young people go after a night of booze, drug, and sex filled fun.

    It’s not to actually go and enjoy your meal.

  36. Phoenix says:

    Chi,
    My vote for favorite Italian dish:

    https://bit.ly/3r2uOTx

  37. Libturd says:

    I was going to say Perkin’s as well. It’s pretty hard to fukc up breakfast. But IHOP still manages to. Used to love that place in the 70s. Now inedible and incredibly pricey.

    A close second in the chains is the Olive Garden. But try to get the cheapest most simple entre. Stick with Chicken parm or a simple pasta with sausage or meatballs, since any attempt at real Italian there is worse than terrible. It’s really about the unlimited salad and breadsticks.

    Hunan Taste is very good, but it’s your typical Americanized cantonese/hunan fried noodle with duck sauce joint. Very cool place with great Chinese décor. Just don’t expect authentic. Though probably the best Americanized Chinese in the state. They opened a sister restaurant in Montclair. Not as good, but somehow, even more pricey. Think Grand Marnier Chicken.

    We’ve recently found New Bill & Harry’s in West Orange. Best of the Americanized take out joints in the area. They use the numbing spice, which is rare for take out.

    For real Chinese in NJ, it’s Parsippany area or bust. Chengdu 23 in Willowbrook (dare I say Wayne) is very Chinatown comparable.

  38. Libturd says:

    Phoenix,

    Denny’s serves the same purpose as IHOP. Just terrible.

  39. Juice Box says:

    re: unlimited salad and breadsticks

    Don’t forget the soup.

    20 years ago went to lunch once with a bunch of coworkers to Olive Garden. The cheap guy in our group ordered the soup, salad and breadsticks combo and kept asking for more soup refills. He did not order anything else and drank water. I think the deal for all three was $3.99 at the time. He made the poor waiter refill his soup five times and also add the fresh pepper each and every time. I wanted to kill him myself, the waiter who knows what he did to that fifth bowl our soup.

  40. Bystander says:

    Where does Cracker Barrell fit into the list? I last went there 10 years ago in VA beach and my friend ordered biscuit and gravy. The gravy still had can indent or something weird. Like the slop came out and they underheated in microwave. Eggs were not even edible. Never again.

  41. Juice Box says:

    Bojangles >Cracker Barrell

  42. Chicago says:

    Finally the first flakes are falling.

    I think I am furthest south.

  43. Chicago says:

    In Midwest (I think most of south too) we tried Raising Cane’s fast food. Had lines on it like Chick-Fil-A. It was just deep fried chicken strips with no taste. Not disgusting, but just soggy oily with no taste chicken and fries. My son is like WTF?

    https://www.raisingcanes.com/

  44. 3b says:

    According to our Chinese friends the only authentic Chinese food is in Chinatown. The rest is Americanized, they don’t eat it. They hit Chinatown once a month for authentic Chinese food.

  45. Fast Eddie says:

    That Chinese place in Denville used to be good. Now it’s standard fare like everyone else. Same for E&V in Paterson. Once word of mouth spreads, it’s over.

  46. BRT says:

    Edison used to have an authentic place on Rt. 1. My family used to do Chinatown once a month in the 80s. If you want the best thing in Chinatown, go to Jung’s Dried Beef. Same family has run it since the 50s. They make a limited quantity, it’s probably $25 a pound at this point. They’ll sell out by lunch and shut up shop. It’s an amazing product.

    It would always be an odd experience because they would run into people they knew from China/Hong Kong all the time. A lot of them fled in unison.

  47. BRT says:

    There’s a good authentic sit down place in Hackensack in the same plaza as that Brazillian BBQ place. Very similar experience to Chinatown.

  48. BRT says:

    No One: if you poll most of America and ask what is their favorite Italian dish, they will say spaghetti and meatballs. Empty out Chef Boyardee on a plate. No fcuking clue.

    Egg noodles and ketchup

  49. No One says:

    There are plenty of authentic Chinese places in Edison. Elsewhere, places I can vouch for as authentic are Canton Palace in downtown Somerville (Cantonese), Fortune Cookies in Bridgewater (Hunan), and China Chalet in Florham Park (Sichuan).
    Virtually every Chinese person I know has been saying for the last 10 years that the most authentic Chinese regional restaurants are now in Flushing rather than Chinatown NYC. I’ve gone there a couple of times but it’s such a PITA to drive and park there that it’s not worth it for my family.
    Canton Palace in Somerville is all about seafood for its best dishes. Dim sum is good too. Fortune Cookies is authentic Hunan, and I don’t really like that cuisine – too hot and coarse. But if you want cubes of pigs blood with intestines packed with chiles, they have it, and you will still feel it burn on the toilet the next day. Just like in Hunan province. China Chalet is my favorite, because I like Sichuan food better. I like their hot and numbing tongue/tripe appetizer with chili oil, their pickles, sichuan dumplings and buns, three pepper chicken, twice cooked pork, some of their fish dishes. Though I also sometimes have to pay the price on the toilet, just like in Sichuan.

    I hear Orlando has a good Sichuan restaurant, but that’s at least 2 hours away from my FL home. Even Tampa/St. Pete lacks authentic Chinese restaurants, surprisingly, as the Asian groceries there are run by Vietnamese.

  50. Chicago says:

    Culver’s. It is what Sonic (actually disgusting) should be, although I am too old to deal with that much salt.
    https://www.culvers.com/

  51. Juice Box says:

    When I worked in the financial district two coworkers of mine were from mainland China We used to hit up all the different dim sum places around chinatown there are plenty of good and bad places really…In NYC all depends on what you want, hot pot, dim sum, szechuan they all can be good or bad.

    Same true for really any imported cuisine. You think you had really good French food in France until you try some of the places in California that do it that much better. Too bad Bourdain ain’t around anymore in his very last episode he said Hop Kee was the best Cantonese in NYC….

  52. 3b says:

    BRT I will have to ask them about that one. They are big foodies in general, and very particular about their Chinese food.

  53. 3b says:

    Juice: We had better French food in Barcelona then we had in Paris!

  54. Juice Box says:

    All this food talk and now I am hungry too. My son loves ramen. We made a big batch of broth. I am going to defrost some and heat it up with some fresh noodles. I picked up these imported Hakubaku ramen made in Australia lol at whole foods…Cheap and really really good. Perfect for a cold day in New Jersey…no snow here yet however…

  55. Chicago says:

    My brother’s friends used to take him there. I don’t know about now, but in the 80’s there were two menus and two sets of prices. “Round eyes” got menus with Chinese and English. The regular menu was Chinese only and prices were 30% less.

    Juice Box says:
    January 3, 2022 at 12:58 pm
    Too bad Bourdain ain’t around anymore in his very last episode he said Hop Kee was the best Cantonese in NYC

  56. Libturd says:

    Cracker Barrel is terribly unhealthy too. Probably the worst of them all healthwise.

  57. Mike S says:

    Now that it is a new year – you can pick up series i bonds from treasurydirect.gov with a current 7.12% yield – of course that yield gets reset every 6 months – but better than an online savings account or cd

  58. Grim says:

    The regular menu was Chinese only and prices were 30% less.

    That was like the old Mr Chu on Rt 10, went downhill.

    In North Jersey I far prefer Cheng Du 23 over Hunan Taste.

  59. Libturd says:

    Mr. Chu! I loved that place once. Then it closed down.

  60. Ex says:

    I used to love that little place in WO….Bill & Harry’s
    Also liked the one in Denville. First time I ever rode a train with the “masses” was in Chicago when I moved there in the nineties…..heading to the south side ChinaTown. Still remember that meal. AMAZING

  61. Libturd says:

    Flushing IS the place to get all of the different Asian foods these days. Get off at a stop or two before Citi Field and they are all there for you. Always go before or after a Met game. Never disappointed. My friend is sort of common-law married to a first generation Chinese girl. Her name is like Ling Hsing Ming. Love that name. Well she always chooses them, but claims she can always make it better than them. Very Joy Luck Clubbish.

  62. Libturd says:

    Ex,

    I always feel bad for the girl who works the front there. It’s the daughter of the family, now high school age. You can tell she’s sick of doing it, but has no choice. She answers the phones, packs the orders and takes payment and doles out takeout. She works every evening. All evening. Must suck to be in high school and have to work that much. Probably doesn’t get paid for it either.

  63. Juice Box says:

    Governor just posted some interesting updates.

    846 COVID-positive patients admitted yesterday while 461 patients discharged. That would be a daily intake record I would think.

    Anyway we are still trending high positive tests. 22,625 PCR and Antigen… 32.2.% of all tests given were positive.

  64. Juice Box says:

    Also governor says 91,896 breakthrough cases (1.51%) January 19th – December 20th last year.

    However For the week 12/13 – 12/19

    27% of the positive cases are breakthrough

    12,453 positive tests are breakthrough cases out of 44,481 positive tests that week.

    That seems more inline what NY is reporting as 1.5% for the year seemed very low.

  65. grim says:

    Seems disingenuous to include the pre-vax months in the calculation of breakthrough (as a percentage of total cases).

  66. JCer says:

    Bill & Harry is just ok, WO location is better than Maplewood but still not great I think Hunan Taste in denville is better for American Chinese food. Grand Sichuan in Jersey City is the bomb soup dumplings and (very)spicy sichuan food. Funny that someone mentioned Kung Pao and fried rice as being “Americanized”, those are actual Chinese dishes as opposed to so much that we order from Chinese restaurants(General Tso, orange chicken, sweet and sour chicken, etc). When I worked in midtown there was a place on 48th street Wu Liang Ye where we’d go with a chinese coworker who would order all kinds of very chinese dishes(jellyfish, tripe, intestines, who knows what else) it was very good. Frankly Chinese food in NJ is pretty subpar considering the number of Chinese people living in NJ, more often than not Chinese restaurants are disappointing around here either it’s too greasy or not greasy enough(lacking flavor…).

  67. grim says:

    I mean, something like that should only ever be expressed in the broader context of a trend, or the most recent n months in comparison.

    The fact is, breakthroughs are excruciatingly high, far higher than anyone had expected, given the positive vax trials data. In fact, breakthrough hospitalizations are even more disappointing, in light of the positive trials data.

  68. grim says:

    Uncle Roger would be proud.

  69. grim says:

    Probably heresy, but Veggie Heaven used to be one of my favorites. That kitchen used some kind of crazy witchcraft to make that stuff. It wasn’t that it was good vegetarian food, I’ve been to plenty of great veg restaurants, it’s that they would mimic meat in a way that you just couldn’t believe wasn’t actually meat. All way before the era of bioengineered meats like Beyond Burger, and far, far better than that awful, awful crappy soy-based fake meat you would have usually found in the back of Whole Foods. The fact that they would make a fake fatty pork with convincingly real “fat”, blew my mind at the time.

  70. No One says:

    Anyone notice that the left wing opinion sites and and his Dem opponents have been blasting DeSantis for not doing enough media appearances lately while covid cases rose, yet I don’t see any of those sites blasting Phil Murphy for taking his family on a Costa Rican vacation during an even worse spike. His Italian villa not good enough for him? Turns out DeSantis’ has been accompanying his wife to cancer treatments, and perhaps he’s listening to the science about not getting unnecessary exposure to people.

    Maybe Phil Murphy took his wife to CR to spike the covid cases there so that Libturd won’t be able to flee from the NJ tax plantation anytime soon.

  71. Juice Box says:

    There is no vax trial data on Omicron.

    They only thing they did with it was mix a faux omicron spike protein they bioengineered in a petri dish with some blood of a vaccinated person and looked under a microscope to see what happened. Fauci was on TV today saying he is relying on data and reports from South Africa, which has a completely different demographic as the population is much younger and mostly unvaccinated but many are recovered and have some immunity.

  72. Juice Box says:

    DeSantis will be running in 2024. He will be attacked every which way they can.
    BTW he is a real a-hole if this is true the Department of Health in Florida won’t be opening mass testing sites?

    https://www.orlandosentinel.com/coronavirus/os-ne-coronavirus-fdoh-demings-omicron-20211230-zh4mpc74xzacbljz5khyqchqzy-story.html

  73. BRT says:

    when asked about repurposing antivirals last year, Fauci replied, you can only trust double blind in vivo clinical trials. With the vaccine, petri dish is fine to assume…even though, literally everyone with 3 shots seems to be testing positive.

    The virus code in that booster is literally for a virus that is now extinct. This is silly. I said it before, the only way this ends is with the virus entering everyone’s system. Then it is no longer novel. It’s already proven to mutate faster than we respond.

  74. grim says:

    Let’s get real, his wife got covid traveling, not at home. The timing doesn’t work.

  75. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    I mean only if you expected the vaccine to stop you from getting infected, spreading covid to others, and or getting sick. Or now it’s dead. As long as you get 2-3 shot and aren’t dead yet, even if you had a non existent chance of dying, the shot is working great according to the fauci followers.

  76. BRT says:

    The fact is, breakthroughs are excruciatingly high, far higher than anyone had expected, given the positive vax trials data. In fact, breakthrough hospitalizations are even more disappointing, in light of the positive trials data.

    Given that it’s estimate that over 50 to 60% of the population has now actually contracted the disease, any efficacy data they give you on the vaccine should likely be divided by 2 at best. This is one of the reasons they likely refused to admit natural immunity exists. They get to use that cohort to beef up the “effective” number.

  77. JCer says:

    The trials were fudged and the timing creates an issue as they were tested principally against the alpha variant, the number of suspected but unconfirmed cases far exceeded(over 3000 in the pfizer trial) the confirmed positives in both the placebo and vaccine arms of the trial. I think everyone knows that the delta variant and omicron have near total escape from vaccine derived immunity so the breakthrough cases are no surprise.

  78. JCer says:

    No one, Italy probably wouldn’t let Murphy in, besides he doesn’t want top go to a place subject to harsh covid restrictions and heck it’s cold there now. Hence why AOC is vacationing in FL.

  79. Juice Box says:

    re: “I said it before”

    Mask and quarantine the children that will do it…

    I just got off the phone with dear old mom and told he not to go to yoga tomorrow even though she insists, and have spread the word to cousins etc to inform their elderly parents that the vaccine will not prevent you from getting it. The science is in now around here about a 1 in 4 chance a vaccinated person will get the virus, to what degree we do not know but it is going to create and army of long haul for sure.

  80. No One says:

    JCer,
    Wu Liang Ye is good Sichuan food. It’s been around for over 25 years. It’s owned by a huge liquor company from Sichuan province in China with the same name (basically means 5 grains alcohol or something like that), I’m convinced they originally set it up so the higher ups could get travel visas and probably get their kids green cards to go visit it. They don’t have other restaurants anywhere else including in China, by my knowledge. I had my last lunch in NYC there after a business meeting in Feb or March 2020 after Covid touched down in NYC and the Mayor was urging white people to go to Chinese restaurants to fight racism. In hindsight it was risky but the food was good.

    Most people expect an Americanized version of Kung Pao. At least half the time in American Chinese places Kung Pao just means sweet and sour with peanuts and a couple of peppers. China Chalet has it on the menu twice, I think they call the second, more authentic version “Kung Pao chicken -Chinese style” and charge a dollar more. I can cook it at home pretty well, using my own stash of sichuan peppercorns and red peppers and black vinegar, as the real thing is more sour than sweet, along with being hot and numbing. But it’s a bit tricky to cook because you have to cook the dish in at least 3 separate steps and its easy to burn the peanuts and the peppers.

  81. Juice Box says:

    BTW – my unvaccinated obese 60- year old former coworker who had Covid up by Albany was discharged after 11 days, his respiratory evaluation went well. He is claiming it was the ivermectin that saved him.

    We may never talk again…this guy is a dyed blue NY democrat, not a member of the KKK. just don’t get people some times…

  82. grim says:

    Like it or not, it’s the surge to end all surges.

    Even in the Northeast, people have essentially given up. Masks, distancing, it doesn’t matter. Vax or not, it’s irrelevant. Just the mere thought of Wayne schools going virtual caused a massive uproar in town. The EXACT same parents that wanted to excommunicate me for suggesting that closing the playgrounds and parks wasn’t necessary, are now screaming about keeping schools open.

    You have major newspapers running stories of allowing the virus to run rampant now to build herd immunity, and those opinions hardly cause a stir anymore.

    The lack of shutdowns during Omicron have made it clear, we no longer care about unvaccinated people dying, it’s not a concern anymore. Hearing it from my few friends in the medical community. Non-vaxxed with Covid? Don’t expect someone to go out of their way for you anymore, and it’s not because of lack of resources.

  83. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    Fauci has never treated a covid patient. He spent his days performing depraved expiirements in labs and manipulating public opinion. Lately he’s taken on running political irreverence for his new masters.

  84. Juice Box says:

    re: excommunicate me

    Does that mean they strip you naked and beat you with sticks until you leave the village??

  85. grim says:

    Worse, ban me from the Wayne Moms facebook group

  86. grim says:

    Is Murphy still doing his daily vignettes of the deceased? Or do the unvaccinated no longer qualify for that kind of recognition?

  87. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    The shot mandates themselves crossed medical lines. From an ethical standpoint it’s abhorrent and a human rights violation. But the medical community has fallen in line with a lot of the group think. Abandoning ideals is a part of that.

    How preposterous it’s it that a guy who has a hand in the development of covid and the pandemic itself is trusted to lead us out? It took a lot of fear mongering and conditioning.

  88. Juice Box says:

    Yes his PR team is still doing all that…tweeting out the stories of the deceased (only covid, not gunfire) and pumping his accomplishments.

  89. grim says:

    To be clear, I have zero ethical issues with vaccine mandates. Hell, I wish they came up with a multivalent booster and mandated that. I think religious exemptions are complete bullshit and should be eliminated, and I think people that used them should be labeled frauds.

  90. Juice Box says:

    Just perused our local mom’s FB group..seems to be quite a few sick people around the surrounding streets looking for advise as they are sick as a dog, saying they are having “minor” breathing issues, asking for nebulizers etc.

  91. crushednjmillenial says:

    Omicron covid and govt response . . .

    There has not been a public reckoning yet with the fact that the Dems and the mainstream left media has done a full 180 on covid policy.

    The party of covid mandates basically shrugged about covid starting on Dec. 15. I was surprised that the official party line from Fauci, Wolensky, Psaki, Biden etc was “try to limit how many people are at your holiday gatherings” rather than “limit holiday gatherings to the people you live with only.”

    I’ve been on the left of covid policy from March 10, 2020 – March 20, 2020 and now again from December 15, 2021 – present.

    I’ve been on the right of covid policy from March 21, 2020 – December 14, 2021.

  92. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    Not this virus and not these shots. It never made sense in any way except for Joe Biden politically.

  93. Libturd says:

    Here comes the misinformation crew again.

    For the facts, Fauci AND Trump financed the Wuhan Lab. As well as other facilities all around the world.

    Another fact. These failed shots make it 14 times less likely to die if you get ANY of the strains.

    Another fact. These mandates are perfectly reasonable. Just like the ones that required you to get shots to attend public elementary school (or wear clothing in public). The only difference between now and then is that now we have a party of selfish lunatics downplaying the value of these failed vaccines (while ALL secretly taking them well be fore you and I had access to them) in an effort to continue down the path of populist politics. This has resulted in vaccine hesitancy which allows much more time for mutations and extending the length of this pandemic.

    Grim, you are correct about caring for the unvaccinated. I spoke with the nurse manager I know this morning. He said they are trying to reserve the beds for the vaccinated whenever possible and shipping the unvaccinated out to other hospitals or back home when possible since most that get severely ill will die. Those vaccinated who get severely ill often make it. Damn those failed vaccines for saving so many lives.

  94. Libturd says:

    “Not this virus and not these shots. It never made sense in any way except for Joe Biden politically.”

    Also unequivocally wrong. The booster does help for at least two months and most likely up to six months depending on which booster you receive.

    But if you choose to follow the party that embraces the man in a fur coat wearing horns or the guy who rips off Fox viewers selling low quality pillows and sheets, that choice is yours. I will not fault you for it. Though I will continue to point out how stupid you are.

  95. Chicago says:

    I’m sure you checked out all the place on 40th Road between Main & Prince Streets. Downstairs from the LIRR platform.

    All the good ones that Robert Kraft used in Jupiter FL were trained there.

    Libturd says:
    January 3, 2022 at 1:37 pm
    Flushing IS the place to get all of the different Asian foods these days. Get off at a stop or two before Citi Field and they are all there for you. Always go before or after a Met game. Never disappointed. My friend is sort of common-law married to a first generation Chinese girl. Her name is like Ling Hsing Ming. Love that name. Well she always chooses them, but claims she can always make it better than them. Very Joy Luck Clubbish.

  96. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    14 x 0 is zero. For the 100 million plus with covid recovered and for kids with no risk of death the shots are pointless at best. Tony “I am science” Fauci failed to mention that.

  97. Juice Box says:

    Zing…Math…..lol

    I would prefer they put Fauci out the pasture already. Fauci runs only one of the 27 federal agencies that works for the National Institutes of Health. There should be other people there that can weigh in besides him…For example the NIH has now stepped in finally to help get more home tests to market. Fauci knew over a year ago that there were issues with testing approvals, manufacturing etc but he was not empowered to do anything about it. He should have not been leading any testing charge and talking about it in public, and he did not do a good enough job of convincing the executive branch whether it’s was the Orange Clown or Sleepy Joe that we needed to fix the testing issue ASAP. It’s not like they did not get enough money for it. From what I have read it was all internal politics…

  98. Libturd says:

    I will be the first to admit both Trump and the entire Biden administration are handling this pandemic terribly.

    But it’s really trite to point out mistakes that are made so you can say, “look, he lied.”

    The real error guys like Fauci make are not to give out enough information. For example, when he initially claimed masks should not be worn by non-frontline individuals but failed to say to save them for those with greater chance of exposure. But honestly, no one listens anyway. They only hear what they want to hear. Even worse, are those who want to hear only what fits their political narrative. And it’s not just Fauci. It’s every single one of them that do this. But can you blame them? We have a populace hooked on singing shows and Chick-Fil-A? Our politicians have 1oo% impunity. Why bother?

  99. SmallGovConservative says:

    grim says:
    January 3, 2022 at 3:08 pm
    “To be clear, I have zero ethical issues with vaccine mandates…”

    Until recently, I think most people — myself included — would overwhelmingly agree. Unfortunately, covid highlighted the politicization and general failing of what have historically been impeccable and apolitical institutions like the CDC and NIH — as well as the medical community more generally. No sane person ever chose to not vaccinate their children for polio, mumps, measles, etc, because we knew they were safe and effective when they were rolled out — we trusted the people that developed them and we trusted the authorities that approved them to be impeccably honest and accurate. That’s no longer the case. It’s bad enough that we have an imbecilic president that repeatedly makes false statements about the vax (Joe in October – people who are vaccinated for the coronavirus “cannot spread it to you”; Joe in December – “How about making sure that you’re vaccinated, so you do not spread the disease to anyone else.”). While you may never have wanted to rely on politicians, you could always rely on the CDC/NIH — until recently. It’s things like this: “In a highly unusual decision, the C.D.C. director, Rochelle Walensky, reversed a move by agency advisers and endorsed additional doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine…”, and this: “Fauci has previously been criticized for changing his position on masks. Early on in the pandemic, he advised against wearing face coverings, but that advice evolved over time..”, that cause people to lose confidence in once unimpeachable institutions. So given all of this babble from our ‘leaders’, how can you not understand that some people are hesitant about the covid kinda/sorta-vax?

  100. Juice Box says:

    re: impunity

    Yup just look at Cuomo over the last week first no charges for his sexual assaults including one of his own female state troopers and now this..

    Alvin Bragg the Newley elected Manhattan DA first order of business was to drop the investigation into the nursing home deaths.

    https://nypost.com/2022/01/03/new-manhattan-da-dropped-covid-nursing-home-probe-of-cuomo-lawyer/

  101. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    Add hominem is an indication of a pretty weak argument. You can’t grasp the difference between the shot as a tool and the shot as a universal solution to end covid which it was sold as. And toward that goal it most certainly failed. Had it stopped the spread at least covid would have been reduced to a minor nuisance by now.

  102. Libturd says:

    The vaccine might have worked if morons like yourself and the moron in chief you still choose to worship did not create such large amounts of vaccine hesitancy that never existed in the path. Wonder why not?

  103. JCer says:

    Lib we have plenty of data, the initial vaccination is efficacious at reducing the risk associated with severe covid. The data is out and the science frankly makes sense. For the boosters we do not have data of any quantity or quality that indicates they are efficacious and most importantly don’t come with any deleterious effects or safety concerns.

    The only thing we are talking about is igG concentration which isn’t really all that important given what we know about omicron and it’s likely weak affinity for antibodies from the alpha variant spike.

    The mandates are unnecessary and an overreach at this point. What makes declining a COVID vaccination any different than any other type of risky behavior? At this point we know it confers protection to the recipient but does not prevent the spread nor meaningfully prevent infection. The benefit is solely to the person taking it NOT OVERALL PUBLIC HEALTH. Obviously when it comes time to deal with severe covid patients they will need to triage, those who are unvaccinated are likely to fair worse so they will lose their bed to a vaccinated individual, no dispute there.

  104. JCer says:

    Again, if you want to advise to use boosters on those deemed “Most At Risk”, it is one thing and might be helpful in providing data regarding the efficacy of said boosters. Promoting universal boosters does not make sense, it is the very definition of throwing sh*t to see what sticks.

  105. The Great Pumpkin says:

    The general theme of COVID right now is that 2+ years into it we failed to get the operational aspects right. Vaccines are a miracle of science, but we just failed at the logistics of testing, manufacturing masks, supporting healthcare, providing isolation, etc.

  106. BRT says:

    Vaccines aren’t a miracle, they were pretty standard blueprints and the design for them took a few days.

  107. Libturd says:

    “The benefit is solely to the person taking it NOT OVERALL PUBLIC HEALTH.”

    I am glad you pointed out the triage issue which is a big one. As well as having to pay for it out of the public debt (should be the unvaccinated individual’s personal responsibility as well, though soc1alism is only the enemy when one doesn’t personally benefit).

    But I would still argue that we may have been able to reduce the damage to all if we gained enough herd immunity before mutations occurred.

  108. BRT says:

    The vaccine might have worked if morons like yourself and the moron in chief you still choose to worship did not create such large amounts of vaccine hesitancy that never existed in the path. Wonder why not?

    Delta came from India. Omicron came from South Africa. They now are saying it appears that Omicron came from mice. With animal reservoirs, the idea of preventing the wave through vaccination was literally impossible. The waves can only stop coming once the entire virus has entered into some critical threshold of the population to gain real robust immunity. That’s happening now. Again, it’s best to be vaccinated when that happens if you haven’t already recovered from a previous infection.

  109. Libturd says:

    None of these are absolutes.

    Of course, if it came from Fauci, only absolutes are acceptable.

  110. Bystander says:

    Liz Holmes better start those tongue exercises. Guilty on wire fraud and conspiracy Orange is the new Black, b^tch.

  111. BRT says:

    If you are truly pro-vax, you should be screaming in support of the development of new vaccines or the approval of other existing vaccines. We right now have a monolithic dedication to Pfizer and Moderna.

  112. 3b says:

    Bystander: She will probably go to a nice Club Fed prison, and be out in a couple of years. It’s the American way.

  113. Juice Box says:

    There are ton of Covid vaccines in clinical development right now. WHO is tracking 137 different ones across the globe using various different old and new technologies.
    Ofcoure big pharma here is involved as well as many research universities, Institutes as well and militaries/government labs.

    Different types of vaccine platforms.

    Protein subunit
    Viral Vector (non-replicating)
    DNA
    Inactivated Virus
    RNA
    Viral Vector (replicating)
    Virus Like Particle
    VVr + Antigen Presenting Cell
    Live Attenuated Virus
    VVnr + Antigen Presenting Cell
    Bacterial antigen-spore expression vector

    There are also a few hundred more in pre-clinical development..

    Spreadsheet is here if you want to take a look.

    Maybe something better will come along…

    https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines

  114. Juice Box says:

    re: Holmes….. except it’s four convictions of a C level federal offence. The Judge may want to set an example here there are not too many people going to jail for stuff like this and well the judge knows she lied in court too. Something like 8-10 years concurrent perhaps. If Holmes sings against Sunny Balwani now she could get less, if the prosecutors need her testimony, then again Balwani may take a deal now. In all fairness Balwani could have done the same and testified against her.

    Anecdotal I know someone convicted of mail fraud, judge gave a sentence of 4 years, they would not implicate and rat out anyone else involved prosecutors asked for and got a long sentence.

  115. grim says:

    She should hook up with Wu-Tang Pharma Bro when she gets out, they can really get things going.

  116. grim says:

    Surge to end all surges narrative starting to run strong in the press, concurrent with the “Omicron? Eh, it’s not so bad” messaging. Seems certain that we’re going to let this fire burn and see what comes of it. Lots of folks pointing to the quick fall-off in South Africa as evidence we should just hold tight, though I’m completely unconvinced it will play out like that in the US, far more likely we’ll see many months of rolling surges across the country.

  117. Juice Box says:

    Do people not heed any weather warnings anymore?

    I-95 south of Washington DC seems to be some kind of humanitarian crisis..

  118. Juice Box says:

    Lots of sick people complaining about the severity of the so called mild symptoms

    https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/rvhalo/dont_get_covid_fellas_im_glad_to_be_leaving_this/

  119. Juice Box says:

    We are # 1 again..

    The U.S. tops 1 million #Covid infections in 24 hours, doubling the figure from just four days ago and setting a global record

  120. Juice Box says:

    Big jump again folks..

    Covid Hospitalizations in NJ

    1/3 5,155
    1/2 4,717
    1/1 4,274
    12/31 4,042
    12/30 3,864

  121. grim says:

    Those are crazy numbers, and we haven’t even seen the impact of NYE yet.

  122. SmallGovConservative says:

    Juice Box says:
    January 4, 2022 at 8:06 am
    “Covid Hospitalizations in NJ 1/3 5,155”

    Can someone clarify these stats; does this mean: a) that 5155 people were admitted to hospitals in NJ with covid symptoms, and that covid was confirmed to be the cause of their hospitalization, or b) that 5155 people were admitted to hospitals in NJ for various and unrelated reasons (heart attack, broken leg, gunshot wound) and tested positive for covid upon admittance?

  123. Juice Box says:

    It’s been only 39 days since Omicron was discovered in South Africa and the classified as a variant of concern by the WHO. It’s now crossed the globe and infected many more people than the original Wuhan strain in record time.

    I would hate to say it but the MSM is being awfully nice to Biden here. They were screaming from the rafters that Trump should have done more in the period leading up to the original outbreak after all Trump “knew” about it classified briefings and all as early as late November or early December of 2019, four month lead up time and all.

    I am not attempting to lay blame here but reality is we watched our government do little this time. Same testing issues as last time around, hospitals are filling up again, there is no Warp Speed on a reformulated vaccine for omicron…and more deaths than the previous year’s spread of Wuhan variant..

  124. Fast Eddie says:

    No testing kits available, numbers doubling by the day, hospitals overwhelmed and ever-changing responses by the day compared to Trump who held hours long question/answer sessions every day, ordered manufacturers to retool to create respirators and protective gear, created temporary hospital locations that housed potential thousands and spear-headed an initiative that gave us a vaccine in a matter months. Compare that to an old, demented f.uck who sh1ts his pants, wandering a beach in the winter with a mask on and a puppy that has no interest in it’s owner.

  125. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Doing exactly what the public wants. They wanted govt to stop mandating and get out of their lives. The vaccine is useless they claim, so let it just run through the population and create immunity. Biden doing exactly what republicans want. Better not complain.

    “I am not attempting to lay blame here but reality is we watched our government do little this time. Same testing issues as last time around, hospitals are filling up again, there is no Warp Speed on a reformulated vaccine for omicron…and more deaths than the previous year’s spread of Wuhan variant..”

  126. Juice Box says:

    Pumps I was specifically talking about the MSM’s treatment of the President. It’s not even a front page story on MSNBC. All they have are some baloney political lead stories about a blocked twitter account, a Georgia senate candidate when the election is 11 months away, and the NY Attorney General issuing more subpoenas to Trumps kids.

    There is literally nothing about the current massive virus outbreak, no warnings, no official government information. It’s 100% politics on the front page..

    Screen shot…

    https://tinyurl.com/yckv8f3k

  127. Juice Box says:

    Here is another one this morning. CNN Not much better.

    Omicron may be less dangerous? Really? Projections are it is more infectious and will kill more people this year than Delta.

    Trump stories again….

    Virginia storm..

    https://tinyurl.com/yj92srdy

  128. Libturd says:

    I don’t usually agree with Pumps. But he’s right.

    First, there are 100s of different potential cures (for lack of a better word) that are currently in testing. As to the Omnicron based vaccine, “Pfizer and BioNTech continue to advance the development of a variant-specific vaccine for Omicron and expect to have it available by March in the event that an adaption is needed to further increase the level and duration of protection – with no change expected to the companies’ four billion dose capacity for 2022.”

    I’ve already made it very clear how disappointed I am in the current administration, but it was not wholly unexpected as I can’t stand any establishment candidates from either party. I am sorry if you all got used to the daily lies and false promises of Trump. You know, it will be over by Easter, the vaccine may be here by tomorrow, this is the greatest economy ever (until it wasn’t) and the daily rollout of hopeful drugs that proved not to be useful. Biden has done a pretty good job of not overpromising and underdelivering, like his predecessor. And yes, he claimed you weren’t likely to get Covid if you were vaccinated, which was the case at the time he said it. But you all know this already. If you have to look into the finest nuance to find a Biden lie, then you are not being honest with yourself. Then again, this behavior is not surprising when the goal is always to spread misinformation.

    I choose to get my Covid information from unbiased scientists who have no horse in this race, instead of conservative news pundits who lie and deceive to sell advertisements. Just turn that sh1t off already.

    Everything you need to know is here.

    https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/

    Turn off the news and read her blog/daily newsletter. She’ll even answer your questions. Something those conservative talk show hosts would never do, unless you are in complete agreement with them first.

  129. Libturd says:

    And Juice,

    Yes. There is absolutely a pro left wing bias in the mainstream media. I would say that Trump exacerbated that situation when he threw everyone out who wouldn’t kiss his ass.

  130. Juice Box says:

    re: Can someone clarify these stats

    Yes the state tracks hospital beds occupied by Covid patients specifically in their Hospital Capacity Census TAB to make sure that they are not overrun with Covid patients.

    To figure out how much it is increasing you can look at the chart and do a little math. See below.

    Bed count – previous day bed count + discharges = daily admission for Covid.

    5,155 -4717 + 425 = 863 Covid admissions yesterday.

    The bed count is updated in the morning, the PCR and Antigen test data is updated usually around the time of the Govenor’s afternoon 1PM briefing. He sometimes tweets it out early.

    https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/covid2019_dashboard.shtml

  131. Libturd says:

    Omnicron is less dangerous than Delta in that it does not kill as many people as a percentage of those infected. So if you get it, you are much less likely to die from it than if you got Delta.

    Of course, you are 14 times less likely to die from any strain of Covid if you are vaccinated. Yet many on the right are still creating vaccine hesitancy at every opportunity they can like the morons here who try to do the same. What party wants to see their constituents die? It’s absolutely crazy town in the Republican Party. Biden and Pelosi could fart out Jingle Bells in unison and it would look like an act of sanity compared to what passes for logic on the right.

  132. Libturd says:

    Juice,

    I’m not sure how they do the bed count, but in a week or two, it won’t matter.

  133. Libturd says:

    And the ten year is really moving again.

  134. 3b says:

    Still waiting on the results of my PCR test from Dec 29!!

  135. Juice Box says:

    Lib – It is crazy how a massive outbreak it’s not the TOP story here in the USA, and Herschel Walker is somehow front page news. It’s more than bias at this point. They simply cannot make any money without liberal angst filled eyeballs looking hungrily through their pages for any kind of crumbs related to Trump. I thought last year when Trump was gone from office it would die down and normalize and they the “MSM” would move on. Now it seems to be about survival.

    Same holds true for Fox news they haven’t shifted gears much either…

  136. Juice Box says:

    3b – You are either dead or cured by now. Hope there are no long haul effects like sudden erections in public places….

  137. Clown World says:

    “It will be over by Easter.” – Trump

    “I take no responsibility for it.” – Trump

    “You’re not going to get Covid if you are vaccinated” – Biden, July 2021

    “There’s no reason to be walking around with a mask. When you’re in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better and it might even block a droplet, but it’s not providing the perfect protection that people think that it is – Fauci, April, 2020.

    RE: the vaccine – But if Donald Trump tells us that we should take it. I’m not taking it. – K. Harris (VP Debate vs Pence)

    The point here is this: If you depend on any politician to provide your personal health opinions for you, then you are a lost soul.

    Politicians are human and many (most?) are dumber than the average American. Follow their political ramblings at your own peril.

    Or better yet, ignore all of them. Find a data source you trust, draw your own conclusions, and live your life. You may be dead sooner than you think, don’t waste your life turning your favorite political party into your religion.

  138. BRT says:

    I know of 3 people who were refused antibody treatment from Jersey Shore. All 3 were vaccinated. At this point, I think the hospital has too many financial incentives for you to be sick and require more care.

  139. Libturd says:

    Why am I even arguing with people with absolutely no common sense.

    As our Capitol Building was being desecrated in some absolutely moronic plan to keep the election results from being validated. With cops being attacked by so called patriots, the leader of the populists made absolutely NO ATTEMPT WHATSOVER to get his looniest of followers to step down. It wasn’t until some poor misguided moron was shot dead before any of the traitors even considered the seriousness of their actions. Yet still, the standing president would not call off his army of idiots. Worst of all, it was not until President to be Biden demanded Trump make a statement that his army of idiots would finally back down.

    Honestly, after January 6th, there is absolutely nothing that any administration in the past and probably in the future will ever do to match the complete lack of responsibility shown by Trump. A lot of Dem supporters claimed, “He’s not MY President.” His lack of action on January 6th proved that he truly was not ANYONES President. What leader of the US sits idle while the Capitol is being attacked. He should be hung from his scrotum. Forget revered.

  140. BRT says:

    Closed out my Cathie Wood based put options today on Sea Limited. 700% gain. Thank you Pumpkin.

  141. Juice Box says:

    Lib – r: “Omnicron is less dangerous than Delta”

    Hahah don’t be afraid of Covid……. That is what Trump was saying back in early 2020. It’s like a cold, like the Flu it will be gone by Easter!!!

    We have no long term studies, and guess what the hospitals are still filling up folks..

  142. BRT says:

    The symptoms are mild. But even though we have much less chance of hospitalization, we are looking at 5x the number of cases. When this happened in Singapore, they advised the at risk cohort to shelter in place while they kept society running. Oh what it must be like to have smart leaders.

  143. Libturd says:

    Juice the disparity in the press is truly a worsening problem and only worsens the divide. I choose to get my news from a source that at least shares the views from both sides and explains where they derive from. Even if he still tends to fall left of center. If you don’t understand both sides, then you can’t tell where the truth is. The ideal solution is almost always closer to the center than to the extremes. Yet our news is all disbursed to cater to the extremes, often making things appear much worse than they are. It sells. It’s a problem.

  144. 3b says:

    Juice: Still have fatigue and muscle aches, and appetite a little off. It’s frustrating though, not to know the results 24 to 48 hours? Not even close. Their website yesterday said 4 to 5 days is the average wait time for results. It’s almost a week for me .

  145. Libturd says:

    BRT,

    Sick return. Really nice job on that one. I saw it, but I’m too risk adverse. I miss so many multi-baggers, that it’s insane. But I sleep well at night, so it’s fine. Again, that one was a super smart play.

  146. Libturd says:

    Juice,

    There will definitely be long-term health consequences. How could there not be for those who experience the Cytokine Storm? The damage to the organs must be tremendous. Especially the heart.

  147. Bystander says:

    Biden busy making us all rich with the greatest economy in history of mankind. Dow 37K in sights, GDP growing healthy, jobless claims reaching new lows, wages rising and job offers for everyone. Thanks Joe.

  148. Juice Box says:

    Lib – re: “He should be hung”

    DOJ has all the power in the world to put what Trump did and did not do on Jan 6th in front of a federal grand jury. Heck that grand jury would be from Washington DC too, so a slam dunk indictment.

    There is nothing stopping them from doing so other than perhaps our current POTUS. Perhaps sleepy joe has told Garland not to prosecute. Is that a crime too or are they just going to wait for an October surprise…

  149. Bystander says:

    Feel better 3b. My nephew got it last week and now my brother and sis in law recovering with same symptoms – Body aches, headaches, flu symptoms.

  150. No One says:

    Then Pumpkin will say that Sea Ltd. is still up 20 x over the last 2 years, (thanks entirely to it going up before he owned it). So he thinks he still “nailed it”, retroactively.

    I played tennis with a guy this morning who recently had covid after 2 shots, and right before he was due for his booster. Said it was like a flu, coughing and weak. Lost his smell and taste. Didn’t go to hospital though.

  151. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Nice job.

    Just remember, most people shorting high growth will lose it all as the tide changes and they can’t take off their bear goggles.

    No, making money is not as easy as just shorting high growth or cathie stocks. It’s not. Some will keep their profits from the past year, but most will be in the red on one bad short play where they get destroyed. Then they get nervous and want their easy money back, so they take on even more risk to get that money back. Aka these people are no different than a sports gambler. It’s all good when it’s flying high, but when the tide changes, it gets ugly fast. Again this is not for all, but for most.

    The market has produced such magical gains with crypto and stocks, that most people laugh at anything they can’t double their money on in a short period. That’s the mindset of the current market. So it will prob magnify the gains on the upside as they buy on margin. It will also magnify the downside (as we see with high growth cathie stocks over the past year) as they again buy margin and short the sh!t out of it on the downside. Sooner or later, these people will lose it all. Don’t know when, but I’m old enough to know how this plays out.

    BRT says:
    January 4, 2022 at 10:15 am
    Closed out my Cathie Wood based put options today on Sea Limited. 700% gain. Thank you Pumpkin.

  152. BRT says:

    I only took a look at it because I have held a Singapore ETF for years and it’s a 5% holding in it. I wouldn’t have even thought about it but it’s a major holding of ARKF. So I wanted to protect myself from downside risk once ARK outflows occur. A few technical analysts pointed out it was breaking down at 300. I keep seeing every stock revert to the 2019 end of the year mean. So, this thing probably still can potentially fall to like 50. At the end of the day, it was very lucky and timing just worked out in my favor. Another week and I might have only broken even on the position I kept. But if Pumps hadn’t talked so much crap, I wouldn’t have even had it on my radar.

    I sold short a bunch of things that are in a similar position. SQ, FTNT, ZS, TWLO, VEEV, OKTA, NVDA, ETSY, CROX. Outside of NVDA, all the shorts are currently in the green. The options market is crazy though. A day ago, this thing was selling for 1/5th of what it was on the options market.

  153. BRT says:

    Some will keep their profits from the past year, but most will be in the red on one bad short play where they get destroyed.

    You are assuming massive leverage on these positions. 10% of my portfolio is short right now. Even if I lost 100% of that, I would only give back a fraction of the gains I made this year. And I’d still be double what I would have had I averaged into ARK all year.

  154. Juice Box says:

    Walmart just increased the price of their Binax test kits… from $14 to $19.88… by 42%

    https://www.walmart.com/ip/BinaxNOW-COVID-19-Antigen-Self-Test-2-Count/142089281

  155. grim says:

    Somebody has to pay for all those closed Walmart stores.

  156. 3b says:

    Bystander: Thank you. I would just like to know the results. My wife tested positive and had many of the symptoms I have, she is still getting over it. I understand they are overwhelmed with testing, but it’s almost a week now, and still nothing.

  157. The Great Pumpkin says:

    The problem is human nature. When people lose, they chase to get it back.

    Seems like you are in control, and this won’t happen to you. So not talking about you. Others, they will eventually be saying to themselves why did I get so greedy. I was up big and lost it all.

    And I agree the options market is crazy. These people think they have it mastered on the way up and the way down. They think they can read the charts and can win with the market going in any direction. They tell you they have every angle figured out. Maybe they do, but many before them have learned that the market is completely unpredictable in the short term. That’s why Buffet consistently preaches to put your money in an index fund and make the only bet that is highly likely…the economy grows bigger over time.

    That’s my longterm bet on Ark funds, specifically arkg. I see it almost as a guarantee that disruptive innovation is going to be huge this decade. That these companies will grow to become a much larger part of the economy. See what happens. I’m not betting on one stock, just betting on an ETF that is risky, but diversified enough to make a play on a tough field.

    BRT says:
    January 4, 2022 at 10:42 am
    Some will keep their profits from the past year, but most will be in the red on one bad short play where they get destroyed.

    You are assuming massive leverage on these positions. 10% of my portfolio is short right now. Even if I lost 100% of that, I would only give back a fraction of the gains I made this year. And I’d still be double what I would have had I averaged into ARK all year.

  158. Juice Box says:

    Take about a get out of jail free card.

    “Albany County District Attorney David Soares is expected to drop criminal charges of forcible touching against disgraced ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo days before he was to be arraigned, according to reports.

    Cuomo is scheduled to be arraigned in Albany City Court at 1:30 PM on Friday, Jan. 7 for allegedly groping former staffer and current state worker Brittany Commisso in 2020.”

  159. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    The Easter comment was of course in regard to the lockdowns and not covid. But just like the Jan 6 stuff has become fodder for fake news circle jerks.

  160. Phoenix says:

    Juice,
    I’m fine with it. District Attorneys don’t file against women for false accusations either.

    Good for him.

    Same with all of that nursing home crap.

    Now you know what it feels like when those who commit a crime get away with it.

    Suck it up. I had to.

  161. Fast Eddie says:

    The Easter comment was of course in regard to the lockdowns and not covid. But just like the Jan 6 stuff has become fodder for fake news circle jerks.

    Just like the bleach comment which was made more than once to bait the masturb.ating left. It’s not that they didn’t get the intentional crack, it’s because they wanted anything to discredit Trump and he offered up a fastball. The left shakes with h.atred because of his success. Take a look at MSNBC and CNN to this day and witness the self-flagellation.

  162. Old realtor says:

    3b,
    My daughter is still waiting for results from multiple PCR tests. Longest wait is since 12/24. Don’t hold your breath.

  163. Old realtor says:

    Why are you arguing over which administration did a better job with covid? Both are failures. Just admit it.

  164. Phoenix says:

    Why are you arguing over which administration did a better job with covid? Both are failures. Just admit it.

    Bingo

  165. Libturd says:

    January 6th didn’t happen either.

    Geez.

  166. No One says:

    Be thankful you haven’t invested in real estate in Hainan’s “Ocean Flower Island” where the government has given Evergrande 10 days to demolish 39 buildings.
    It’s been going on for years, you can already see the built-up island from space, then it’s suddenly, “raze it now” because they claim to have just realized it hurts the coral or something. When Xi Jinping gets angry at a company everything gets worse for it.
    Property developers in China live off of pre-sale cash deposits from buyers for to-be-built properties, plus government-run-bank loans, neither of which is likely to be available. So they are dead meat.

  167. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    Eddie I’m sure the Jan 6 committee is hard at work to obtain a full and detailed accounting of what took place. They have such credible people as Adam Schiff taking part. He’s never been known to say anything misleading . I’m sure any day he’s going to release the proof of trump Russia collusion that he’s been claiming to have for several years.

  168. Libturd says:

    The sh1t that came out of his mouth was unbelievable. I get why the double-standard (as unfair as it is) occurs. That dude just made sh1t up nonstop. No wonder why noone is willing to let it go.

    And on Cuomo. Like every public worker, he has immunity from just about everything.

  169. JCer says:

    My wife had a breakthrough infection in November, likely delta it was like a very MILD flu for 2-3 days and she totally lost her sense of smell, it only recently has started to come back. According to her the vaccine was actually worse than COVID both in severity and duration. They need to get a better understanding as to why for some it is like the flu but for others they are at death’s door.

    Biden I think has crossed into Herbert Hoover territory here, he has lower approval ratings than any president in our lifetime. If they put him or Kamala up for re-election in 24 the Republicans could run Mussolini and win. The issue with Biden is not only the lack of action it’s the fact that he doesn’t even give the appearance that thing are under control, many Biden voters have buyers remorse.

  170. Fast Eddie says:

    Phoenix,

    I saw it a million times. He talked about ultraviolet light and a type of internal disinfection or cleansing that was discussed as a possibility. When asked again by a reporter a few days later, he said something along the lines like yeah, we want to inject people with disinfectant. It was a “f.uck you” to the lefty reporters. The fact that this comes up STILL and with so much fervor illustrates the failures of the left.

  171. Bystander says:

    “The left shakes with h.atred because of his success. ”

    I think the country hated him, saw lack of success, COVID denial, financial destruction and threw his a$$ out..see 2020 election. Too bad, so sad..

  172. Fast Eddie says:

    The sh1t that came out of his mouth was unbelievable.

    You elected O’Biden so live with him now. And it obviously flows from his a.ss and his mouth. Maybe he’ll have an er3ction on January 6th.

  173. No One says:

    Trump is an undereducated narcissist with a lot of bad ideas and a mean streak who briefly bullied his way into the presidency, then mostly failed to govern, alienating more allies rather than doing much to weaken enemies.

    Biden is a doddering old fool who used to be a corrupt grifter, and his last grift was to negotiate the job as “electable” frontman for the dem party’s unelectable leftist factions, capable of little more than signing or reading what his handlers give him.

    Both are in the bottom 10% of presidents historically.

  174. Phoenix says:

    It was a “f.uck you” to the lefty reporters.

    If so, then this.

    Grow up Trump. You don’t work for reporters, you work for the people. Don’t like it, don’t take the job.

    When did Presidents become actors?

  175. Phoenix says:

    No One.

    America needs to reign in some of it’s corporations, and hard.

    Maybe they should take some of the pages from a Chinese playbook.

    My bet is Liz Holmes and her deep voice are getting a sweet deal.

  176. Libturd says:

    “Both are in the bottom 10% of presidents historically”

    Couldn’t agree more.

    Both are criminals.

  177. Libturd says:

    Phoenix,

    How can they reign in the corporations with the Supreme Court saying corporations are the same as individuals and can donate unlimited amounts to political campaigns unanimously?

    This country dies when the Supreme Court plays politics overs what is best for country.

    This disgusting decision truly marked the beginning of our end.

  178. Juice Box says:

    getting a sweet deal.

    The three wire fraud convictions were for more than $140 million dollars. Conspiracy to boot. Lying in court etc, judge knows exactly when she lied. They will not be giving anyone a sweet deal, she screwed the rich here….it’s jail time 10 years…

  179. Phoenix says:

    Sure did Lib.

    We have people on here who think corporations should decide what can be injected into our bodies.

    Wanna go down that rabbit hole?

    Not surprised this country is going off the rails. Expect more. There is no fix in sight.

    Hasta la Costa, baby.

  180. 3b says:

    Old: Sorry to hear that with your Daughter. I don’t know if I should schedule another one or just continue to wait, or just assume I had it.

  181. Phoenix says:

    Juice,

    She is blond, attractive. The rich she “swindled” fell for it as well.

    This ain’t no Bernie Madoff.

    I hope you are right, but my guess is she is going to do country club time.

  182. Juice Box says:

    It’s mild mild I tell ya..like the flu, like a cold….. This peak will be much much higher than last year when nearly everyone was unvaccinated!

    Thank the African mice for the mild mutation…..to make it more infectious….

    https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/weekly-hospital-admissions-covid

  183. crushednjmillenial says:

    Looks like the NJ eviction moratorium is really finished, as of 1/1. No news about the legislature extending it due to Omicron.

  184. Phoenix says:

    Old, 3b, anyone else sick,

    Get well soon.

    Time to hit the bricks.

    Nothing like the smell of Omicron in the afternoon.

  185. Fast Eddie says:

    When did Presidents become actors?

    Oblammy is a celebrity. He writes memoirs every six months and hob nobs with his Hollywood friends at the Hamptons. Then again, do we really classify him as a president?

  186. 3b says:

    Phoenix: I agree Club Fed for Holmes.

  187. 3b says:

    Phoenix: Thanks. Feeling better, still not 100 percent, symptoms seem to come and go.

  188. crushednjmillenial says:

    I would throw the book at Elizabeth Holmes if I was the judge. I’d be thinking “what is the maximum I can give her without the appeals court being immediately predisposed to looking for ways to set aside my sentence.” I’d work hard to bury her as deep as I could and give her as low a chance of success on appeal or reconisderation or whatever later on.

    Her fraud is especially egregious, in my opinion. She didn’t defraud her investors by exaggerating effectiveness (i.e., our blood testing is 93% accurate at diagonsing X disease, when it is really 85% accurrate) or booking something as “sales” when it is a gray area about whether the sale really should be booked. This wasn’t at the margins – everything about it was lies. Plus, egregious pushing of the lab techs and such to paper over this, from what I’ve heard about the case. I don’t know the details of this, but from what I heard, I would hammer her at sentencing.

  189. Bystander says:

    Like I said, only a candidate as horrible as Trump could have lost to a old charlatan like Biden.

  190. Juice Box says:

    Phoenix – Her scheme was too close to Wall St and their golden goose out in Silicon Valley. That goose lays lots of eggs but only some are solid gold. She scored 1.4 Billion in 10 rounds of P/E funding from some big names and powerful people and almost got away with it.

  191. No One says:

    Phoenix,
    I disagree on a couple of fronts.
    First, I never thought Holmes was attractive. Freaky eyes. Masculine fake voice. Dressed like Steve Jobs. Forever giving her elevator pitch. Assburgers zone.

    Like Madoff, she would have lied and lied to rip people off as much as anyone would give her, without regrets. Madoff was I guess a bit more skilled at covering up his lies for longer, so he ripped off bigger. I guess I let him off easy since he helped rip off the dumb Mets. But Holmes in some sense was worse than Madoff because she wasn’t just ripping off investors, she was knowingly trying to fool people into taking faulty tests that could mislead them about their health.

    I think the attitude of “fake it till you make it” is dishonest and immoral. Maybe that’s her excuse. Maybe it’s good that her obsession was ripping people off with some fake innovation rather than stalking and killing guys, which I could have also picture her doing, because she seemed like a sociopath.

  192. chicagofinance says:

    Right out the door ARKK needs to flush the toilet? Already in the hole……

    The Ten…… cripes….

  193. chicagofinance says:

    Did you hear him telling his wife’s friend that ground meat is expensive “because of the middleman”? …… whatever the fcuk that means…..

    Fast Eddie says:
    January 4, 2022 at 9:09 am
    No testing kits available, numbers doubling by the day, hospitals overwhelmed and ever-changing responses by the day compared to Trump who held hours long question/answer sessions every day, ordered manufacturers to retool to create respirators and protective gear, created temporary hospital locations that housed potential thousands and spear-headed an initiative that gave us a vaccine in a matter months. Compare that to an old, demented f.uck who sh1ts his pants, wandering a beach in the winter with a mask on and a puppy that has no interest in it’s owner.

  194. Juice Box says:

    The 2022 resolution should be to NOT mention that symbol. A*K** you know the one out of it’s new 45,000 square offices in the Silicon Valley of Florida St. Petersburg……

    Please stick too it…..

  195. No One says:

    The HBO documentary “The Inventor” about Holmes is interesting.
    I heard about Theranos several years before they got exposed as frauds, because they were claiming to be the “disruptive innovators” that were going to take away business from some companies my company was invested in. Our analyst did some investigating because of this risk, and it seemed like people within the industry weren’t sure what to make of it. Lots of promises but nobody had ever seen any substance behind it. Every time Theranos got new funding or announced a partnership, competitor stocks would drop. I think we ultimately held on to our investments and were ultimately vindicated for being skeptical about Theranos’ claims.

  196. The Great Pumpkin says:

    If we are going to raise rates, let’s do it and get it over with already.

    chicagofinance says:
    January 4, 2022 at 12:14 pm
    Right out the door ARKK needs to flush the toilet? Already in the hole……

    The Ten…… cripes….

  197. chicagofinance says:

    Dude …. check this out…. really excellent..

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xuvdU2flSE

    Libturd says:
    January 4, 2022 at 10:14 am
    Why am I even arguing with people with absolutely no common sense.

    As our Capitol Building was being desecrated in some absolutely moronic plan to keep the election results from being validated. With cops being attacked by so called patriots, the leader of the populists made absolutely NO ATTEMPT WHATSOVER to get his looniest of followers to step down. It wasn’t until some poor misguided moron was shot dead before any of the traitors even considered the seriousness of their actions. Yet still, the standing president would not call off his army of idiots. Worst of all, it was not until President to be Biden demanded Trump make a statement that his army of idiots would finally back down.

    Honestly, after January 6th, there is absolutely nothing that any administration in the past and probably in the future will ever do to match the complete lack of responsibility shown by Trump. A lot of Dem supporters claimed, “He’s not MY President.” His lack of action on January 6th proved that he truly was not ANYONES President. What leader of the US sits idle while the Capitol is being attacked. He should be hung from his scrotum. Forget revered.

  198. JCer says:

    Whatever we may think about Biden or Trump, the Trump COVID response looked like the Swiss fcuking army compared to Joe “I will beat COVID” Biden’s COVID response. The entire premise of his campaign up in flames, quite literally a bunch of mandates and zero preparation for this surge.

    3b COVID is a weird disease, you’ll feel symptoms or just plain old weird for like 6 months, you’ll be tired and more easily winded, etc even if the virus wasn’t so severe. You do recover fully but it is very strange. The good news is you got it over with you won’t likely get it again this year. I had it in 2020, was fully vaxed in April of 21, wife and kids got it in November this year and I was not infected despite children sneezing on me and sleeping in the same bed as infected wife.

  199. Juice Box says:

    re: “whatever the fcuk that means”

    Biden should ask the head of the USDA that works for him about the Meatrix…..

    Average herd in the USA is like 45 cattle.

    Cows —->Rancher —–> Sale Barn —> Feed Lot—> Processor —>Stores—> Fridge at home

    The “sale barn” is where price is discovered….there is one in every small town of cowboys, ranchers, and farmers.

    Short watch….

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0iiTk3MQ3k

  200. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Mid caps becoming small caps today. Here’s to hoping market gets slammed again this year, creating good opportunities for those of us with enough time to play the game long.

  201. Juice Box says:

    Just remember the same machine that pumps other Silicon Valley startups was behind her too. She was given an award from Harvard in 2015 and well there was this guy too who was “setup” as part of their PR stunts back in 2015.

    https://tinyurl.com/3vhb358h

  202. Juice Box says:

    They blasted Trump for dismantling the white house pandemic response team. I must have seen stories about that a 1000 times in the MSM and social media.

    However first thing Biden did was cancel Operation Warp Speed, this is before he was even president it was announced during the transition before the vaccines were even rolled out fully.

    How many other vaccines or treatments were shelved because research and funding were cut?

  203. joyce says:

    When did Presidents become actors?

    When actors became Presidents.

  204. Libturd says:

    Chi, check this.

    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/02/the-capitol-rioters-arent-like-other-extremists/617895/

    Our team reviewed all court documents related to each arrest—which include criminal complaints, statement of facts, and affidavits—and conducted searches of media coverage of each arrestee. Four findings stand out.

    First, the attack on the Capitol was unmistakably an act of political violence, not merely an exercise in vandalism or trespassing amid a disorderly protest that had spiraled out of control. The overwhelming reason for action, cited again and again in court documents, was that arrestees were following Trump’s orders to keep Congress from certifying Joe Biden as the presidential-election winner. Dozens of arrestees, court records indicate, made statements explaining their intentions in detail on social media or in interviews with the FBI. “I am incredibly proud to be a patriot today,” wrote a 37-year-old man from Beverly Hills, California, “to stand up tall in defense of liberty & the Constitution, to support Trump & #MAGAforever, & to send the message: WE ARE NEVER CONCEDING A STOLEN ELECTION.”

    I think Face The Nation might have taken some liberties in their editing.

  205. Juice Box says:

    In a parallel universe where the Theranos fraud was never discovered and they quickly became the main domestic producer of 100 Billion Covid test kits through 2024.

    President Joe Biden then announces his new COVID czar…..

    https://tinyurl.com/2j58595e

  206. Fast Eddie says:

    Like I said, only a candidate as horrible as Trump could have lost to a old charlatan like Biden.

    The toss-up states made sure of it. They were he11 bent on dragging the cadaver across the finish line late into the night. You know, newspapers covering windows as votes were being counted, access denied to ensure vote count integrity… stuff like that.

  207. Juice Box says:

    Lib – FBI estimated 2000 protestors at the capital. They have charged 727 so far with federal crimes about 1/3 of all people there. There will be more to follow for sure. If they have evidence that Trump is guilty of an actual crime they should put it in front of a Grand Jury. He is no longer president he cannot hide now. I prefer the game of politics be set aside for Justice instead, but Noooooo instead will we get nothing but congressmen on talk shows for months on end to saying we lost democracy that day to some modern day fascist.

  208. JCer says:

    Juice, the margins are razor thin for the ranchers, prices have been low for a while realistically there has been 0 inflation for the last decade despite rising costs for ranchers. What has happened during the pandemic is that the price of cattle fell and now has recovered to about 7-8% above the 2019 price. The cause of meat inflation has been at the processors as they have been unable to maintain supply. The biggest culprit in meat prices has been the rising wages, meat cutters got hit hard by covid, the wages aren’t good and given the new realities of the labor market they cannot get these people back to work.

    It is basically the identical pattern to lumber where the raw material price fell as the saw mills were unable to process the required quantities of lumber. Biden is a flipping moron because the issue at the processors has been driven by his policies which have distorted the labor market and made it exceedingly difficult to maintain staffing to maintain maximal levels of output.

  209. Libturd says:

    I guess what I am trying to say is that I never felt the insurrection was a well organized effort by established right wing extremists.

    Though the wacky Qanon fringe was clearly there and lord knows those kooks would do anything probably anyone put them up to, I always felt that the events on January 6th broke out more organically than planned. There’s no doubt some paintball addicts, living out their militia fantasies, planned to break in. But I don’t think even any of them really thought they would successfully keep the election from being certified. I also doubt they thought too deeply about the consequences. From a few interviews I saw, the common thread was that they thought Trump would have their backs and be pardoned. Of course intelligent people with any amount of common sense knows Trump wouldn’t even bother to learn their names in real life, let alone consider a pardon. I doubt he’d let a single one of them step into Mar-A-Lago, unless of course they paid.

    So what you had was a few stooges staging a break into the Capitol and then a whole bunch of your run of the mill political rally attendees jumping on the bandwagon. Did Trump plan this? Nah. Did he help incite it. Probably. Did he do anything to stop it once things started getting out of control. Nah. But two important things were learned.

    First, you could probably overthrow our government with very little planning and very few resources. Second, it is mind blowing how a country that spends nearly three quarters of a trillion dollars on its military is both so vulnerable and always so slow to react. Like on 9-11.

  210. BRT says:

    All the governmental people, including those in the pandemic response team were well behind the curve. Fauci was on record on TV saying in late Feb that this was not a threat to Americans, along with all the other top level guys. Maybe they were ignorant or maybe they relied too much on disinformation from China/WHO.

  211. JCer says:

    Lib the capitol riot was a bad incident BUT the far bigger threat to America is the treatment of the accused. There has been flagrant constitutional violations int he arrests, detainment, and trial of these people. Those who violated the law should be punished but they are entitled to a fair trial and all the protections they are entitled to under the constitution. They literally have zero on Trump, this is an abuse of the Judicial system for political gain. That is the biggest crime of Jan 6th, we are not Putin’s Russia, we should not have political prisoners.

  212. Juice Box says:

    Bad timing Kamala.

    Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said Tuesday morning that had been stuck in traffic on I-95 for more than 19 hours and this is what she tweets?

    Vice President Kamala Harris
    @VP

    United States government official
    · 1h
    Because of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, America is moving again. That’s what infrastructure is all about: getting people moving.

  213. Libturd says:

    JCer,

    That’s legit. But it’s nice to see those so against immigrants be treated like one. :P

  214. chicagofinance says:

    John Jay Professor writes a ballsy Op-Ed in yesterday’s WSJ. In 2022, I don’t know how this guy doesn’t get publicly strung up and quartered. No holds barred…. puts it right out there… I am having problems with getting it through the censor….

    OPINION
    COMMENTARY
    Will the Crime Wave Soon Crest?
    There’s already a backlash against antipolice policies, and demographic trends are encouraging.
    By Barry Latzer

    Across the U.S., 2021 was a bad year for crime. The New York City Police Department reported a 4.1% increase in homicides over 2020. Chicago’s increase was 5% and Los Angeles suffered a 13% rise in killings. The 2021 figures follow a scary 2020, when the nationwide homicide rate (6.5 per 100,000) was the highest in 23 years.

    The pandemic, along with dubious criminal-justice system reforms, undoubtedly made things worse. Covid made police reluctant to interact with suspects except when making arrests for serious crimes. Wh0lesale releases from jails like New York’s Rikers Island put offenders back on the streets. Some states adopted bail reforms that kept offenders from jail entirely. It didn’t help that a new crop of progressive prosecutors, in misguided efforts to reduce so-called mass incarceration, declined to prosecute numerous misdemeanors and agreed to light sentences even for some violent felons.

    But the pandemic won’t last forever, and a backlash already is stirring against reforms that fostered crime. The question is whether the factors cited above are the real reasons for the crime surge, or whether they mask longer-term trends pushing the country toward another 25-year crime wave such as the one that horrified the nation from the late 1960s to the early 1990s.

    Thankfully the key factors that caused that wave—which I call a crime tsunami—aren’t present today.

    The crime tsunami that began in the late ’60s was driven largely by three factors: large-scale rural-to-urban migration of African-Americans and immigration to big cities of Hispanic populations with high violent-crime rates, massive growth in the youth population, and a weak criminal-justice system. One might throw in a fourth: The crack-cocaine epidemic, which sent crime soaring after it began to ease in the early ’80s. These elements aren’t present today, though attempts to weaken the criminal-justice system are worrisome.

    Take immigration. The current immigrant population is characterized by low violent-crime rates. In Los Angeles, for instance, Asians are nearly 12% of the population, but they were only around 2% of the homicide victims in 2021. Racial data for perpetrators in Los Angeles aren’t available, but given the strong tendency of violent criminals to assault members of their own social groups, it is safe to conclude that Asian murderers are also a tiny proportion of the population.

    Hispanic immigrants have much higher crime rates than Asians, but their rates aren’t out of proportion to their population numbers. In 2020 native and immigrant Hispanics were 11% of murder suspects and 12% of the victims nationwide, but they made up more than 18% of the U.S. population. By contrast, blacks, who were 13% of the American population, were half of the homicide offenders and 56% of the victims.

    Yet a little-noticed migration trend may reduce crime in the next decade: a significant movement of African-Americans out of big cities. If this trend continues, it could portend reductions in crime. Low-income blacks, especially young males, commit a disproportionate amount of the violent crime in this country. That’s why their migration in the ’60s raised crime rates in cities. A recent analysis of census data by Politico found that from 2010 to 2020 nine of the 10 cities with the highest proportions of blacks (Houston was the exception) were losing minority population. Some declines were dramatic: Detroit lost more than 277,000 of its African-American residents, Chicago more than 261,000 and New York in excess of 176,000. Unless immigration and migration patterns change in coming decades, this factor is unlikely to support a new crime tsunami.

    A second consideration is age distribution. The American population is aging, and the once-violent baby boomers have mellowed considerably. In 2021 more than 21% of Americans were baby boomers and the 65-plus age group is projected to constitute more than a fifth of the population through 2060. Meanwhile, men 18 to 24 are a declining proportion of Americans. In 2020 they were an estimated 4.7% of the U.S. Their proportion is projected to decline to 4.5% in 2025 and 4.4% in 2030. Though these declines aren’t dramatic, the downward trajectory augurs well for violent crime forecasts.

    The final consideration is the strength of the criminal-justice system. In response to rising crime in the 1970s and ’80s, the system was built up with more police, more prisons and longer sentences. In recent decades imprisonment rates have been falling, mainly because of successful crime reduction, though the decarceration movement has played a role. The imprisoned percentage of the population is at a 25-year low and the black imprisonment rate tumbled 29% from 2009 through 2019. But the pressure to make further reductions is strong and the recent election of district attorneys with qualms about incarcerating criminals suggests that the public in many big cities supports shrinking the system more.

    If policy makers keep the justice system strong enough to cope with the latest crime surge, then the U.S. stands a good chance of avoiding the sustained mayhem that tore the country apart for decades.

    Mr. Latzer is a professor emeritus at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice and author of “The Myth of Overpunishment: A Defense of the American Justice System and a Proposal to Reduce Incarceration While Protecting the Public,” forthcoming in January.

  215. Libturd says:

    I saw the new mayor of New York is bringing back stop and frisk. Who would have thought?

    I bet he turns out to be a disaster, but I like his initial signs of toughness.

    NYC is a giant sh1thole right now. Especially the subway.

  216. BRT says:

    I can’t think of a mayor that was handed a better situation that screwed it up as much as DiBlasio did. It’s almost as if he and the other mayors were in a contest to see who could destroy their city more.

  217. JCer says:

    lib, he has to do something. Lawlessness pervades the city after DeDouchebags reign of terror. It’s out of control, thankfully the new mayor at least appears to marching away from failed “progressive” policies on policing. I don’t know if Stop and Frisk will help or hurt but it shows the mayor isn’t afraid to buck liberal democratic dogma.

  218. Juice Box says:

    Lib – Too bad for Mayor Eric Adams, he is going to be at odds with the new DA Alvin Bragg. The cops can arrest the perps but the new DA won’t send them to jail. The new DA feels incarceration is not needed for most crimes, except murder and “some” sex crimes.

  219. No One says:

    Chi,
    It was interesting last year watching the woke Asian “racial allies” intellectuals pretending that all the increases in black attacks on Asians wasn’t about black criminals, but about white racists.
    It takes years and years of university training to become that stupid.

    Crime numbers would be much higher if so many cities hadn’t told their police to stop enforcing laws. Then all those dumb white male insurrectionists in DC belatedly found out that non-enforcement didn’t apply to them. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the Antifa and other left wing types had tried the same thing if Trump had won. Madness on the streets had become normalized in 2020.

  220. 3b says:

    De Blasio thinking about a run for Governor: he wants to keep on giving of his time and talent to the people of New York.

  221. Phoenix says:

    Sounds like the”producers” are having a hard time finding actual producers to do their job for them.

  222. Bystander says:

    Hah, the “accused” insurrectionists are the last f-in people to cry for when there are probably tens of thousands of innocent people who sat in jail for years because of their color and systemic racism.

  223. Fast Eddie says:

    I wouldn’t have been surprised if the Antifa and other left wing types had tried the same thing if Trump had won.

    They did. A celebrity was calling for the White House to be blown up during an organized rally, streets were manned and bordered and declared mini “no police” zones, celebrities were calling for the beheading of Trump, police precincts and government buildings were seized and burned to the ground and whole blocks of cities were looted. And it didn’t go on for one day, it went on for years.

  224. Fast Eddie says:

    Systemic rac1sm… gotta love liberals… they invent symbolic twaddle to force down the throats of the meagerly informed muppets knowing the fourth estate will smear it all over like shit in a dog pound.

  225. Libturd says:

    You know what’s funny Fast Eddie?

    Trump was willing to gas protesters so he could have his photo op at a church that both didn’t invite him, nor was Trump ever much of a man of the book. But when the Capitol building was being ransacked, he wouldn’t even call for backup.

  226. Bystander says:

    Sure, Ed go join your symbolic confederate flag waving dolts and Let’s Go Brandon circle jerks in Bammy.

  227. SmallGovConservative says:

    Libturd says:
    January 4, 2022 at 3:15 pm
    “Trump was willing to gas protesters so he could have his photo op at a church…”

    Take a break Lib…You’re sounding more and more like the vapid, raging dingbats on The View than the reasonable guy that you are when discussing anything other than Trump or Republicans. I suspect you know that your statement isn’t true — untreated TDS is a terrible thing.

    https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-photo-op-church-wasn-t-why-lafayette-square-was-ncna1270502

  228. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I’m just going to save and wait for the correction at this point. I just want them to get this over with already.

    Problem is; is this just another head fake like every other year? Can they really raise rates 3 times? That’s what they are telling us, but what is really going to happen? Guess smartest move is to listen and save for the coming correction. Only way they don’t raise rates is if the economy doesn’t perform which means no matter what…coming correction.

    Libturd says:
    January 4, 2022 at 3:11 pm
    Why the ten year concerns us.

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bond-king-jeffrey-gundlach-the-yield-curve-may-be-sending-a-recessionary-signal-160935243.html

  229. Fast Eddie says:

    But when the Capitol building was being ransacked, he wouldn’t even call for backup.

    Ted Wheeler went one better, he removed the fencing so that Antifa can burn down the Federal Courthouse in Portland.

  230. Bystander says:

    Does Small even read his own articles? Our perhaps has trouble in reading comprehension. I guess when you use nice words like “inconsistent with the guidance” it wipes away what really happened.

    Greenblatt did find fault with Bureau of Prisons officers for firing pepper balls to subdue the protesters, saying it was “inconsistent with the guidance” of those overseeing the operation.

  231. The Great Pumpkin says:

    The market is a collection of opinions not a measure of valuations. At the moment there’s a lack of consensus of opinions which leads to volatility.

  232. Ex says:

    https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/depeche-mode-dave-gahan-sleeping-in-a-coffin/

    They were wild, young and formidably different, and it would seem that many thought they were fated for a blaze of glory. “We were a boy band, basically,” keyboard player Andy Fletch told The National. “We were kids. When we first started our accountant did a tax plan for us to last three years,” that is as long as he thought would be needed.

  233. Libturd says:

    I appreciate the correction Small and backhanded compliment. Occasionally, I miss something. Still, that photo op was something else. Man never belonged to a church in his life!!!

  234. Hold my beer says:

    Drove past local drive up Covid testing center. Saw about 20 cars in line. Usually 0-3 cars. I bet my area gets lit up again with covid over the next 2 weeks.

  235. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Good luck, hold, it’s coming. It’s not a joke either from experience. My daughter is unvaccinated and she had a dangerous fever as high as 103.5. I still don’t feel like myself and I was boosted.

  236. The Great Pumpkin says:

    AMD stock.

    Shows you how valuable dollar cost avg strategy really is. If you bought high in 1998, it took 22 years to get your money back, but had you been DCA every month into over that 22 year span, you hit a home run.

    Maybe I have to just keep my strategy going and try not to get too cute by timing individual buys. If you believe in the product (innovation), then that’s the long-term investment.

  237. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Reading some articles on the topic of nuclear energy. I didn’t realize the waste still contains energy (supposedly 96%) and they are trying to come up with ways to use it. This is the way. Solves our energy issues.

  238. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Harvard Scientist Suggests That Our Universe Was Created in a Laboratory

    https://futurism.com/the-byte/harvard-scientist-laboratory-universe

  239. BRT says:

    Shows you how valuable dollar cost avg strategy really is. If you bought high in 1998, it took 22 years to get your money back, but had you been DCA every month into over that 22 year span, you hit a home run.

    Maybe I have to just keep my strategy going and try not to get too cute by timing individual buys. If you believe in the product (innovation), then that’s the long-term investment.

    I told you this all year. Better way to play tech was semis. But thank you for confirming my decision to sell SMH. The primary reason was, Nvidia and AMD were just too high

  240. BRT says:

    Exposure update. My son went over a friends house. Their parents were triple boosted, son, 2 shots. Daughter, 2 shots. All 4 of them are covid positive now. Presumably Omicron given the breakthrough. We waited 3 days and tested my son. He’s negative.

    He had infection in March. No shots. More confirmation my August Disney superspreader booster strategy worked.

  241. grim says:

    6 people at my wife’s job were positive yesterday.

    She’s 1 of 2 left standing.

  242. Juice Box says:

    Pumps – nuclear fuel can be reused, we just don’t do it here, it was deemed uneconomic.Worse is the only plan in 40 years to deal with all the nuke waste sitting around everywhere was cancelled by Obama as a favor to Harry Reid.

    It’s a scary rabbit hole to go down..

    https://publicintegrity.org/environment/yucca-mountain-cancellation-creates-expensive-headaches-for-doe-and-navy/

  243. grim says:

    My bestie and your bestie
    Sit-in by the fire
    Your bestie say she wanna party
    So can we make these flames go higher?
    Talking bout hey now, hey now
    Ihu Ihu a nae.

  244. Libturd says:

    Anyone want to bet tomorrow we see 40K in NJ? Definitely by Friday.

    Hearing HUMC is a nightmare. Thank you unvaccinated assholes.

  245. grim says:

    CDC is a mess

  246. Libturd says:

    I think we peak in the 50s. Was my back of the envelope prediction before Om got here.

  247. Libturd says:

    Gator just told me the FEMA testing center in West Orange might have royally fukced up and that all of their tests on Sunday might have been contaminated.

    Hearing lots of stories of 5 day waits for results too. What good is that?

    Way to go Brandon! :P

  248. Juice Box says:

    PUMPS – origin of everything is a fun one. This line of thought the Harvard scientist is talking about even assumes that space, time, and the laws of physics themselves aren’t eternal, when in fact they may be.

    On that note the Webb telescope spread it’s heat shields today. Super nerdy but it may be giving us pictures in a few weeks. I hope it finds some long dead aliens.

    https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/webbLaunch/whereIsWebb.html

  249. grim says:

    We may not have sufficient testing capacity to hit those numbers, fyi. Labs are getting backlogged already.

  250. Juice Box says:

    Re: Thank you unvaccinated assholes.

    You forgot the unboosted…Pretty soon the people with 4 shots will be looking down at people with only three shots and blaming them, especially those J&J vaccinated aholes.

  251. Juice Box says:

    Better “numbers” might be empty hospital beds and how many nurses quit weekly.

    Speaking of quits, new repot is out, another record.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/04/jolts-november-2021-record-4point5-million-workers-quit-their-jobs.html

  252. BRT says:

    I hung out with my friend who’s in the national guard. Apparently, to combat the worker shortage, Murph is using the national guard as his labor force. He’s deployed them all into the nursing homes. He says they are all very disgruntled. He said they never signed up to wipe diapers 24/7. This is after he sent them to DC to sit around a fence for a month last year.

  253. Phoenix says:

    Thanks Greedy Boomers.

    You have successfully turned off a generation of youth that you needed in hospitals to take care of you.

    They learn quickly, adapt quickly, and have superheterodyne radar to your bill feces.

  254. Phoenix says:

    Murphy isn’t using them, nursing home owners are.

    Radical capitalism.

  255. Fabius Maximus says:

    Sounds like the ”producers” are having a hard time finding actual producers

    I call that “The Inverse Ayn Rand – What does it cost to get people to shovel Sh1t in the Gulch?”

  256. Fabius Maximus says:

    “They did. A celebrity was calling”

    But they didn’t act. That’s the big difference between a First Amendment defense for these people and what they are actually being charged with.

    “There has been flagrant constitutional violations int he arrests, detainment, and trial of these people.” WHERE?

    If there was they would walk. Some nice sentences being handed down.

  257. Fabius Maximus says:

    “This is after he sent them to DC to sit around a fence for a month last year.”

    Remember when Donnie sent all the guard units to the border in place of his wall and then pulled them all after I think 98 days to avoid the extra bennies he would have to pay the troops.

  258. Fabius Maximus says:

    Small Gov,

    Yea Lafayette Square!

    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/11/us/politics/trump-milley-military-protests-lafayette-square.html

    Your team is trying to spin after the fact, but we saw what we saw!

  259. Fabius Maximus says:

    I hung out with my friend who’s in the national guard. Apparently, to combat the worker shortage, Murph is using the national guard as his labor force.

    Can you ask them about Donnie, who deployed them to the border in place of his wall and stiffed them on pay, pulling them out 2 days short of eligibility’s for deployment bonuses.

  260. No One says:

    Talking about the benefits about dollar cost averaging into something that went up is hindsight and survivorship bias. How did dollar cost averaging BlackBerry (RIM) or Lucent or Nokia work out? All highly regarded tech at one time.
    Dunning-Kreuger Pumpkin.

  261. Fabius Maximus says:

    “You forgot the unboosted…Pretty soon the people with 4 shots will be looking down at people with only three shots and blaming them, especially those J&J vaccinated aholes.”

    Can we deal with the 0-1 level first! Lets clear those folks from the discussion before we reach the more nuanced discussion!

  262. joyce says:

    Did you forget you made the same comment minutes earlier?

    Fabius Maximus says:
    January 4, 2022 at 11:05 pm

  263. Fabius Maximus says:

    “Did you forget you made the same comment minutes earlier?”

    Do I care? No, in the same manner you will be pedantic about it.

    The same point meets both arguments. Donnie screwed the Guard over and over.

  264. Fabius Maximus says:

    Is this the Donnie “How we tried it!. Not the biggest Ari fan, but he nailed this.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPDSWK8d_tI
    God damm Soros, it was all him.

  265. Phoenix says:

    bill feces.

    Bull feces.

  266. Phoenix says:

    He says they are all very disgruntled. He said they never signed up to wipe diapers 24/7

    Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Diaper Wipers.

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