No doubt we will see what happened in previous recessions too; people moving back with their parents, taking roommates, etc., which further pressures both rental and housing prices.
"Although there are several factors increasing the supply, I believe the surge in REO sales to cash flow investors is having a significant impact on rents. Many of those vacant homeowner units are being converted to rental properties - although this isn't showing up in the Census Bureau data yet (something to watch for)."
In areas where REOs were rarer, and home sales were largely to "prime" or "alt-A" borrowers, rents have not fallen much. At least, I speak anecdotally, on the Central California coast. But these are areas where homeowners can comfortably afford their payments, at least initially.
When that changes, I expect rent to fall. I do know that a fair number of income properties are coming on the market right now locally, and few are in a hurry to snap them up. The smart money knows.
I sure wish I could find equivalent rental data on a metro area/city basis. Anybody know some sources?
[my apartment lease renewal comes at the end of march, and I'm not sure how hard to bargain, or just to capitulate. I feel outgunned, because surely the major property managers know how things are going, but data is classified as top secret/need to know/presidential authorization only.
Some news that hasn't hit the streets here yet. Honda is laying off. A neighbour's grandkid was told to 'call in' first next week, before coming to work - they might be stopping production for awhile... they have 5,000 employees at this plant.
In the Flatland UP laid off 230 today. They over hired due to boomer retirement now shipping dropped. Rents are weak and dropping here. I recently had to drop one 20% We will not be as bad as the hot spots but hurt is still coming.
"Okay, I want to see a clean break and transition to the next thread. I want swords or at a minimum broken bottles and chains, none of this eye gouging crap.
People are here to see some swordsmanship, it doesn't look good if it's just two guys rolling around on the sand."
I'm betting 20 quatloo's...I don't know why...but I want Star Trek OS fight music....and gladiator costumes...and hot blonde 60's broads in mini skirts and bikini tops...
'UC Office of the President outlines proposals to curtail freshman enrollment in the fall, freeze the salaries of top administrators and significantly restrict compensation for a large group of senior leadership.'
Declinging enrollment is like screaming fire in a crowded theatre. let the stampede begin. In areas like ours, the smart money knew the above quote was coming and won't pony up until they have a very firm hand.
JiminPortland, that the same way it is Boise, Idaho. By law here, you don't even need to disclose how much you paid for your house, so information about the housing market here is whatever the realtors and/or politicans want you to hear.
i guess deflation, and the race to the bottom led by treasuries is one answer - but fresh cash after that while I can still buy commodities or corporate bonds at 20%? hellz no, homie.
Now that the equity buyouts of big firms using leverage has proved to be disaster and bubble inflator, do the private equity playas and invest. bankers get to make a killing again by breaking up the combos? Is JPM doing the sale of Smith Barney for C?
Family owns old post office building next door to my office building so we are gonna turn it in to downtown living apartments. Renting is just not a good gig for me to do, but does have cash flow.
Hoping we can rent it to older couples who want to be in walking distant of docs,church and grocery.
I've been renting in the same building in Manhattan since 2000. It's not a luxury building, but it would be considered desirable. On average, there have been maybe 3 or 4 vacant units at any one time, right now there are over 20, plus a handful of eviction notices taped on doors. New York real estate is going to get crushed.
'UC Office of the President outlines proposals to curtail freshman enrollment in the fall, freeze the salaries of top administrators and significantly restrict compensation for a large group of senior leadership.'
Declinging enrollment is like screaming fire in a crowded theatre. let the stampede begin. In areas like ours, the smart money knew the above quote was coming and won't pony up until they have a very firm hand. deflationary jane | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 3:52 pm | #
I headrd that this was coming. My campus already restricted enrollment informally this year by insisting on the letter of the law for meeting certain registration deadlines -- where before they'd given slack.
Declining enrollment doesn't mean declining applications, though. From what I hear from the registrar's, they're pounding at the door to get in. Lots of people who wanted Ivy League, but can't afford it now.
yep, here's the "data sheet" for a typical westside LA "income" property. (Warning: 3.8MB PDF) Current 4.22 CAP (based on list price) - Pro Forma CAP 5.59, which is based on raising all the rents at least $500. Which would make them the highest rents in the area for similar buildings. Good luck with that. "Smart" money won't touch this, but some fool will...
I find it really funny that the new administration is trying to create millions of jobs when I am constantly seeing useless and nonproductive jobs everywhere. I am certain everyone with a job right now can honestly say that there are a least one or two jobs which are costing their company revenue. This is just waste and excess in so many levels, but I guess this is what the new eCONomy is all about.
YAHOO FINANCE: "3:00 pm : Investors are looking at sizeable losses as participants head into the final hour of trading. However, the current drop of just over 1% isn't as severe as the 3% drop experienced Wednesday."
Comrade Misean is Dope(Excellent) I'm betting 20 quatloo's...I don't know why...but I want Star Trek OS fight music....and gladiator costumes...and hot blonde 60's broads in mini skirts and bikini tops...
LOL!
It's a weird pseudo-live medium. Some days everyone just wants to turn up drunk and have a go at a Crimson Permanent Assurance remake. The most you can do is go with it.
The ages will be very critical of us, I'm sure, but they work without the time constraints.
True, we knew it but I think seeing it in print scared the natives.
So many people here literally prey on the student body that any reduction in the size of the animal (less meat to be divided up) has them in a tizzy. Who can blame them, they are leveraged up to their eyeball and any loss has a multiplier affect.
'UC Office of the President outlines proposals to curtail freshman enrollment in the fall, freeze the salaries of top administrators and significantly restrict compensation for a large group of senior leadership.'
Declinging enrollment is like screaming fire in a crowded theatre. let the stampede begin. In areas like ours, the smart money knew the above quote was coming and won't pony up until they have a very firm hand.
This action is 2 years too late, university staff are getting paid extreme sums of money because of the overcrowded and mediocre educational system. And for what? Just so new graduates can fill "the jobs of the future" It is time to get rid off the excess and let our economy experience real growth.
I currently rent in coastal SoCal. Yesterday, I went into the leasing office of the place where I live to ask why the place right next to mine is available for substantially less than I had been offered on my lease renewal notification.
It turns out that occupancy at all their properties (higher end) was budgeted at 95% but they have been at less than 87% in the past several months. This place had a waiting list 2 years ago. Now they're nearly begging.
5 star hotels are normally at 70% of capacity at this time of the year. This year they are at 7%
below 5 star is at 28%. Not sure how this compares YOY though. \t Pissed Off In California | \t \t \t \t01.09.09 - 4:11 pm | # Pissed Off In California | 01.09.09 - 4:11 pm | #
They just had a big brouhaha that probably scared away a lot of tourists. Both airports shut, etc. THIS particular is unique to them.
Ah yes, the protests closed down both airports, and tourists were stranded for days. So those datapoints are definitely outliers for those reasons and not representative of 5 star overseas demand in general
$1 Million Rent Kills the Librairie Francaise
the Librairie Francaise is closing. Rockefeller Center has raised the French booksellers' rent from $360,000 a year to -- get this -- $1 millio
I'd like to offer a seemingly novel idea. To wit: 90% {or so} of the folks who buy or sell on any given day - have read everything you and I have read. In that thought, I suggest nothing more than that the indexes fairly reflect the available information.
It's not my job to influence your vote, but I am interested in your money.
Dilligent Derringer. Wish this guy were the nation's Attorney General and were to remain incorruptible.
Ponzi nation with conspiratorial collusion of the elected and bureaucratic servants.
In the end though, its like stealing silverware and linens from the titanic. It just weighs you down in the final plunge.
But goodbye, yellow brick road and goodbye, rule of law. How quick was the subversion, we are all coopted and complicit in a mighty nation's downfall through mad avarice. The Market Ticker - Entries from Friday, January 9. 2009
"I find it really funny that the new administration is trying to create millions of jobs when I am constantly seeing useless and nonproductive jobs everywhere."
Take me, for instance, posting on blogs like this from time to time.
With a lot of tourists scared away now might be a good time to visit.
My wife is Chinese so all the tourists, especially the White women, give me the "you pervert" look when we visit my brother there.
On the other hand we don't get hassled to buy anything by the locals though (:
Boy though, when we visited the South of Thailand where the Europeans tend to vacation the dirty looks we got was amazing. Some of them wouldn't back down even after I started staring back.
I should have just walked by with a pack of condoms in my hand yelling for my wife to keep 5 steps behind me.
"amazing that hlinka still graces the currency - but then andrew jackson wasn't the nicest guy to indigenous communities..."
don't even get me started on the Romes/Gypsies/whatever the term is...
Hitler exterminated them by the millions (no one really knows how many) and to this day no one cares.
also...holy crap...someone knows who Hlinka was??????????
"The recent surge in homeowner vacancy rates is probably due to foreclosures and other distressed properties." In my neighborhood in MD people have moved out due to various factors. E.g. Divorce, changes in jobs, bought new bigger homes. Their old houses sit empty. I assume they are waiting for prices to rise again (hahah). This is in a neighborhood where houses were 600-700k at peak but around 200k 15 years ago.
One house was on the market for 6 months, came off the market and just went back on this week for 50K less.
So, in short, the surge in vacancy rates in my neighborhood is not foreclosures but an unwillingness to sell at perceived depressed prices.
my chinese g/f is not much of water person, yours? My lady would have enjoyed the attention, it would have been fun to play along and really make them squeal...
One year we stayed in an island for a week near Phuket. Last time we visited we went down to an area on the opposite side of Phuket maybe a couple hours East.
Very cool region, very close to the Muslim region. We rented a moped and rode around out into the little villages. Very nice people. Weird experience though passing another moped on the road with three woman wearing Burqas.
Very curious what you're keying on for your trade. Thx!
I've spoken before of trading on one's sense of the market. Let's be clear. This is a last line of defense.... and sometimes offense. My sense it that we are at or very near a short term bottom.
Gav - I can be very wrong; however, this is my bet.
cd, my wife loves the water. But I have to tell you Thailand is not good if you have a roving eye or a jealous girl-friend/wife. Spend a week there and you understand why all the American/European women look perpetually pissed off.
My wife is very petite and fits into size 2 clothing. But when she goes there she has to buy large. Needless to say non-Asian women look positively ginormous.
personally, i sense a huge gap between the recent rally and anecodtal signs of a freefalling economy - i know the spx is supposed to see a few months ahead, but still...
but this sense isn't enough to make me go short in any real way.
[Mutual respect..... well, my friend.....is it ego or just money ?
Popeye ]
It's you. With all the confidence to brag about how clever you were to spot the next break and how you went BIG. And how SRS was linked to TBT, like anyone going long SRS was an idiot. Total bullshit.
Anecdote: Went to Best Buy this a.m. to pick up 2 more Acer $399 computers on sale this week (these are not netbooks - full sizers). Unfortunately, sold out. No rainchecks.
So I went to Dick's Sporting Goods to get a ski helmut and goggles for progeny ski program. Unfortunately, sold out of both.
So I went to Olympia Sports to get same. Fortunately, one helmut left. Goggles were plentiful.
Stopped by Macy's to get flannel penguin sheets for my penguin fanatic. Sold out.
Nope, no strawman since I don't recall your doing a take on that subject.
Anon was correct on previous thread in that much depends on the scout leader - can be repub/dem/socialist/whatever.
You are correct in that one of the things that is taught is about the country - flag, how the government works, and what some of the ideals are. Some of us still have some.
As to homosexuality, this is pretty much coming from two angles. First, they do acknowledge the role of religion/God. But the scouts do not have to be Christian; there are scouts from lot of different creeds and regardless of what creed, many believers of whatever creed find homosexuality wrong (and no, I'm not one of them). Second, the BSA was damned near crushed by litigation from families whose boys were molested; there were no guidelines/checks on leaders and the organization was "infiltrated" by pedophiles who took advantage of that (my first real job was for a large insurance company that had to deal with the litigation). And no, don't construe that to mean that all homosexuals are pedophiles...but they are sensitive about it and believe me, I have specific rules that I have to follow to do this. Frankly, I've never heard any scout leader make any remarks about homosexuality and there are those of us who have close friends who are gay.
As to the Nazi Youth, I simply don't see it. That group existed to promote a specific individual with an agenda that - well, you know that. I've never seen it.
Period.
Frankly, we disagree.
You need to get out and check it out before making such sweeping judgments.
It is next to impossible to find family-sized apartments (3bd 2ba or large 2bd) for less than $2,000/mo, and even then, there is very little available. Small 1bd and 2bd are abundant, albeit still pretty expensive. Virtually no apartments have been built here in the last 10-15 years.
"Gunworld was outa 10 milli yesterday as well...Coincidence? I think not."
Nostrovia,
Comrade Misean is Dope | 01.09.09 - 4:34 pm | #
I noticed the local funshow was a little less crowded 2 weekends ago. The prices were still a little high though. Wally World has done a decent job of staying stocked.
My 2 skids will probably last me a lifetime. I sold enough over the last 2 months to pay for all of it...I love me a good panic.
the daily SPY and it looks SUPER bearish to me. If Im drawing it correctly, it looks to me as though it broken 20day sma, 50day sma and broken below---
Ko Samui. Ko Phan Gang. Full moon party. Singha. Fine seaside meal 150 baht. Who needs a modern economy? \t Johnny Lee | \t \t \t \t01.09.09 - 4:34 pm | #
The locals. As I recall, they were very interested in extracting every possible dollar they could from the touries -- in that friendly, Thai way. Didn't spoil my enjoyment though, those islands are wonderful.
I wonder how Girl Scout cookie sales are going to do in this economy? Maybe Cr has some fancy graphs.
I think it's cheating when parents bring that crap into work and try to coerce their colleagues into buying the cookies. The child is supposed to do it...not the parents. What kind of example does that set...oh, yeah, cheating...a perfect example for a future Wall Street executive.
Gavshire,
I am long. I am leaning heavily on TA. I am playing the market notion that America offers a new face in office. I am playing the notion that the market now knows we have suffered a loss, and that the downside is now limited. That is my sense of things.
If I'm wrong, I also hold a lotta cash. Trade well.
my lady is 5'5", size 6..afraid of water, unless it's surrounded by a frame and held in by thick plastic...
used to tell petite girls this...
big girls grow up fast, little girls are made to last....
I was going to head to buenos aires and punta del esta, Ur for carnival
in feb., found r.t for 850 on american...now I'm going to have to look into your idea....
I'm looking at flights to BKK right now... or is this the financial equivelent to knife catching.... i.e. I get locked down there for 1 month or what ever it was....
nades(Unrated) writes: \tI'm looking at flights to BKK right now... or is this the financial equivelent to knife catching.... i.e. I get locked down there for 1 month or what ever it was.... nades | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 4:39 pm | #
Don't sweat it. The flight might be expensive; everything else -- not.
So I went to Olympia Sports to get same. Fortunately, one helmut left. Goggles were plentiful.
Stopped by Macy's to get flannel penguin sheets for my penguin fanatic. Sold out.
Recession? What recession? \t Outsider | \t \t \t \t01.09.09 - 4:31 pm | # Or, are they simply slower than usual to restock because they're short of cash -- or credit?
You need to get out and check it out before making such sweeping judgments."
little defensive there...I made no judgements at all
the youth program in slovakia was actually quite nice from what i've heard...at least from kids' perspectives.
But, if you don't think that nationalistic pride isn't at least a tangent goal of these kinds of programs...you're naive (Frankly at that).
But I have no illusions...plenty of non-scout born and bred dopes out there feel that draping themselves in the flag makes them part of the winning team. It's kind of like ego attachment to your local sports team, just on a bigger scale.
But a nation is an imagined, false community containing many obvious and far reaching inequalities.
I am leaning heavily on TA. I am playing the market notion that America offers a new face in office. I am playing the notion that the market now knows we have suffered a loss, and that the downside is now limited Popeye | 01.09.09 - 4:39 pm | #
Wow.... heavily TA, but all on feel. Way to have it both ways!
It's looking like BAC might do a C and visit the low single digits before getting a handout. CFC & MER piled on to an already miserable asset base including HELOCs & CC debt. They just announced a big miss on '08...
cd - are you flighting out of the east or west coast? I'm checking from LAX $886 with China Air... Do you think they haggle? I might just do this... wifey's been wanting to go for a while...
"I am leaning heavily on TA. I am playing the market notion that America offers a new face in office. I am playing the notion that the market now knows we have suffered a loss, and that the downside is now limited
Popeye | 01.09.09 - 4:39 pm | #
Wow.... heavily TA, but all on feel. Way to have it both ways!"
My mind is too far in the gutter now to recover. Anyone else see that, or do I have to spell it out.
For haggling in Bangkok we always bring along my brothers Thai girl-friend. Makes it a lot easier.
Always try to smile and joke around a bit, Thais really appreciate this
(they are children at heart mostly) and they're not so cutthroat as the Chinese when it comes to making a dollar either.
If you stay away from the absolutely touristy locations you don't have to worry that much about getting ripped off.
perhaps a better mind can explain this to me: Retailers announce the worst december sales Macy's down4%, they have to make huge price cuts 65% and now Macy is expected to make $0.90/share rather than $1.10/share. If that is right what is the BFD.
nades(Unrated) writes: \tBob Dobbs ~ "loat noi di mai khrup?" ;) (Do you have a lower price?)
nades | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 4:46 pm | #
As I recall, the main scam was to get you to accept some service and resist off any attempt to find out the price -- then hit you with some inflated price after you'd committed. Learned not to be a nice guy about it. They stop smiling when you keep asking the same question over and over. The other one was "mistakes" in addition on the bill. Always so very sorry about it. Oddly enough, the mistakes were always in their favor.
Some of us born and bred dopes read occassionally.
Comrade Terry | 01.09.09 - 4:50 pm | #
For the record...I don't really buy the born and bred dopes line...at least not yet.
I just feel sometimes that the born and bred dope population here (because there's one everywhere) just isn't adequately ostricised. We all need to do our part.
I think they should give every veteran who has done 1 or more tours incountry, a free house in their community.
A cheap way of getting occupants who would probably take care of it. Plus, if it is a bad neighborhood, they would be a plus for the neighborhood watch.
Let them muster out with the body armor, a AR-15, and 300 rounds of ammo. It worked for the Romans.
Eric writes:
Wow.... heavily TA, but all on feel. Way to have it both ways!
Eric,
Apparently, I failed to express myself clearly. I do not trade on TA alone. It is a factor I always take into consideration, but it's just one thing.
And, by the way Eric, I don't pretend to be the smartest chip on the block. I've survived and raised a family doing this, but that's all.
I lived in a nice upper-midgrade apartment complex from '04-'07 on the westside of the Twin Cities. In '04 they offered two months of free rent on a 1-bedroom priced at $900/month. In '07 there was no free rent and the price was the same. I just saw an ad on craigslist.com indicating that the two months of free rent was back.
I perfered the "a-lie-waa khun go-hook maak lat phom mai choob khun!" (what the hell, you're a lier and i dont like you!)
We went there for college for 3 months. Never had any serious problems and the above statment always cleared them up... Total shock when a tall goofy white guy calls you a lier.... I've never seen such embarased faces...
Service may save the TO BMW dealer if people hold on to their cars longer. The dealers make most of their money on service anyways....but they will have a pretty big nut to cover with that new building....
Have you traveled to Asia much? The flights are so long that it's well worth it to spend a bit more and fly something like Singapore Airlines. If you're flying out of SFO you will probably do a stop-over in Hong Kong. It is a LONG flight.
If you are going for long enough you might want to think about stopping in Hong Kong for a few days either on the way there or back.
We did that for both our trip to Bangkok and our trip to Beijing. We stayed in the Bishop Lei hotel in Hong Kong. Very tiny rooms but amazing location, on the Hong Kong island side at the top and less $100 so very good value for HK.
Also it's very easy to find hotels in Bangkok, if you want to move around to a few different places then try just booking a few days at the beginning and got other hotels while we were there.
If your gf likes massages let me know and I can give you the name of a place recommended by locals that my wife loved.
But, Glod love 'em, our fearless (as in so stoopidly clueless that Upper Class Twits of the Year look smart) rulers are gonna try to dig even deeper. Such single mindedness is admirable...no wait...mind numbing.
ova(Excellent) writes: I think they should give every veteran who has done 1 or more tours incountry, a free house in their community.
A cheap way of getting occupants who would probably take care of it. Plus, if it is a bad neighborhood, they would be a plus for the neighborhood watch.
Let them muster out with the body armor, a AR-15, and 300 rounds of ammo. It worked for the Romans.
Smart man. Are you familiar with the performance of North Vietnamese sapper units along the Sino-Vietnamese border during the war in the 1970s?
As I recall, the main scam was to get you to accept some service and resist off any attempt to find out the price -- then hit you with some inflated price after you'd committed. Learned not to be a nice guy about it. They stop smiling when you keep asking the same question over and over. The other one was "mistakes" in addition on the bill. Always so very sorry about it. Oddly enough, the mistakes were always in their favor. Bob Dobbs | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 4:55 pm | #
Macy's down4%, they have to make huge price cuts 65% and now Macy is expected to make $0.90/share rather than $1.10/share. If that is right what is the BFD.
The problem with Macy's is not its earnings (yet). Its problem is that it's sitting on a sh*t of debt for its purchase of May's department story. To make matters worse, it may have to write down a significant portion of the goodwill (who the hell came up this idea) from that acquisition, which could make it in technical default of some of its debt covenants.
With a U.S. average of 2.2 occupants per household, the average 3/2 home has room to spare. Ergo, rents will continue to fall until average household size increases significantly
Haha ain't that the truth. Sorry but I'll take the pretty stewardesses and tasty meals on Singapore Airlines, even in cattle class, any day of the week.
For the record...I don't really buy the born and bred dopes line...at least not yet. Janosik | 01.09.09 - 4:55 pm | #
Heh. I started to say 'Yanks', but that means different things to different people. Somehow, I thought you'd appreciate the humor in 'Born and Bred Dopes' - and you apparently did.
Definitely an early drinking day, first everyone fighting, now everyone kissing.
I'm making tandoori chicken in the snow, to the bafflement of the neighbors, who have never seen such seasonally inappropriate grilling before. Y'all are keeping me company while the coals mature.
sdtfs writes:
As I recall, the main scam was to get you to accept some service and resist off any attempt to find out the price -- then hit you with some inflated price after you'd committed. Learned not to be a nice guy about it. They stop smiling when you keep asking the same question over and over. The other one was "mistakes" in addition on the bill. Always so very sorry about it. Oddly enough, the mistakes were always in their favor.
Bob Dobbs | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 4:55 pm | #
They took a page from the credit card companies?
Either that - or they failed to honor their stops - if you catch my drift.
The ride was so worth it to us guys on leave from Iwakuni. Pattaya is one of those places like the P.I. that people just don't believe the stories about...
[bearly - you are just using any excuse to post the euphamism "nightstand cowboy," now aren't you? )
Citizen Scotto ]
Well, ya. That and Maria, the on-air orgasm queen, happens to be in vegas at the CES/Porn conferences, and as such I am suggesting there is at least 1 prospective customer present.
Thailand is starting to clear up a lot of the sleaze. The worst of the worst, especially what went on around Pattaya Beach has moved down to Cambodia. Even the red-light district in Bangkok has been cleared up a lot. They're trying to follow the Las Vegas model now.
My brother tells me that they've started running a lot of the backpackers out of Thailand. No more stay for one month, leave and come back immediately for ever.
it may have to write down a significant portion of the goodwill (who the hell came up this idea) from that acquisition, which could make it in technical default of some of its debt covenants
If you mean, who came up with the idea of having to write down the goodwll, it was the Financial Accounting Standards Board with the issuance of FASB 142.
The business unit has to be valued annually to see if the goodwill on the books is "impaired" (due to the value of the business unit going down relative to what you paid for it) and goodwill would be written down if it is.
This has been in effect since the beginning of 2002.
"Chris,
Try traveling in a fleet tug doing 3 knots while towing barges. Lot of time for skin cancer and shark fishing."
nova | 01.09.09 - 5:09 pm | #
nova,
I was attached to an F4 unit out of ElToro. We normally deployed. After an incident,that still makes me laugh,the unit was asked to never come back on board a carrier.
So I never spent any time on board a ship...No complaints from me...
"synergy and innovation, that's good old US exceptionalism for you!"
Next week I get to hear whether anyone in our department has been synergized onto the unemployment rolls. Big cuts coming from what I hear at our company.
In my area, I am just now starting to see a small number of places in good neighborhoods getting to parity or better.
I just did an MLS search for a 2BR in a very good neighborhood. The first 10 or 15 condos are at or below equivalent rents, the next 20 or so could be as well with normal negotiating. The vast majority are still too expensive. Things are getting better; it may actually be worth buying in 2009 or 2010.
[Next week I get to hear whether anyone in our department has been synergized onto the unemployment rolls. Big cuts coming from what I hear at our company.
Pissed Off In California | 01.09.09 - 5:17 pm | # ]
"Pattaya - Where the weed grew like corn in fields as far as you could see. That place?"
nova | 01.09.09 - 5:12 pm | #
No interest in the drug side so I really didn't notice. Alcohol was our drug of choice back then. To many dumbasses getting the Big Chicken Dinner(BCD) for drug use...Just not worth the consequences. I didn't know at that time if I was getting out or making a career of it.
CR
If I can get a little off-topic. Your first graph of %age home ownership is striking in that there was an equilibrium at 64% for 10 years before it took off in 1995 (And what a jump) And it is an eyeballed mean for the years before.So if we treat the post 1995 surge as a bubble, and we believe that bubbles go down to ~ previous means then one could make a case that we have to lose FOUR PERCENT of total home ownership from the high of the bubble.
That is a lot of houses for sale!
fwiw, I'm in LA and I just got a $60 month increase for utilities. But I'm in a live/work rental. Live/work apartments don't have the same rental protections that ordinary apartments have.
And you thought live/work just sounded super cool...
The problem with Macy's is not its earnings (yet). Its problem is that it's sitting on a sh*t of debt for its purchase of May's department story. To make matters worse, it may have to write down a significant portion of the goodwill (who the hell came up this idea) from that acquisition, which could make it in technical default of some of its debt covenants.
Cash is king...
Basel Too | 01.09.09 - 5:06 pm | #
Valid concerns- but if this is such a lousy retail environment how come their earnings are only down 20%.
The short answer is that the dot-com's ruined accounting for everyone.
There were transactions where goodwill represented like 90% of the value of the company because the only other tangible assets were desk, chairs and computers.
In the old days you just amortized your "purchased" goodwill over 15 years. The goodwill amounts got so out of hand and after the dot-com crash and all that "value" got wiped out, the accountants said "no more of this" and required annual valuations.
crazyvermonter writes:
The problem with Macy's is not its earnings (yet). Its problem is that it's sitting on a sh*t of debt for its purchase of May's department story.
Crazyvermonter,
There are only a few broadline retailers. All of them benefit from the demise of the fly-by-night upstarts. { Downtrends hurt, but are cheaper that buyouts ? }
Personally, I've bet a lotta bucks on broadliner's who can't be hurt - if you catch my drift.
"I find it really funny that the new administration is trying to create millions of jobs when I am constantly seeing useless and nonproductive jobs everywhere. I am certain everyone with a job right now can honestly say that there are a least one or two jobs which are costing their company revenue. This is just waste and excess in so many levels, but I guess this is what the new eCONomy is all about.
Is it just me or do others see this as well?"
IMHO a ton of employment since the 60s has been artificial and supported by government stimulus. Most of it is supported directly or indirectly by the public sectorgummint, health care, public schools, academiabut there was spillover into the private sector as well with layers of management and "professionals" employed as accountants, realtors, insurance agentsyou name it.
The employment bubble supporting the too numerous boomers has burst. I do not see how employment can ever reach the levels it attained over the last 40 years through Federal Reserve and Treasury manipulation. We are on the way to a devalued dollar and perhaps a slow revival in manufacturing if U.S. products across the board can be made competitive on both quality and price so exports can increase. But what this promises for the millions of people who will continue to be un- and underemployed, I have no idea. Will deficit financing and government programs provide employment for the remainder? I doubt it.
Derivatives exchange CME Group experienced its eighth consecutive year of record volume in 2008, the company reported Monday.
Overall volume handled by the company, assuming combined CME Group/NYMEX volumes, totaled 3.3 billion contracts and $1.2 quadrillion in notional value.
Daily volume in 2008 averaged 13 million contracts per day, up 4 percent from 2007 on a combined basis. Markets Media Online - Driven by Content
Everybody keeps comparing current circumstances to 1929. I think a more appropriate period is 1919-1921. The the economy went into the tank because the unsustainable war demand evaporated. Decline in GDP and deflation was as great as 1929-1933. To the extent we are witnessing the evaporation of unsustainable demand it would appear that 1919-1921 is a more appropriate comparison.
Zimbabwe: Several banks have frozen accounts that have balances considered 'suspiciously large'. Agribank froze a number of accounts containing in excess of $1 quadrillion while several other banks set the mark at $3 trillion.
People whose accounts have been frozen will be forced to explain to the bank's satisfaction where the money came from. It is thought that some of the big balances come from an irregular means of currency exchange known as 'money burning'.
"We have frozen those accounts because some people with no jobs at all have huge bank balances and they have to explain where they got the money. It is believed that... those who were behind 'burning money' will be exposed," said one bank manager.
crazyvermonter:
FWIW, Macy's same store sales were only down ~4% for December, so a 20% decline in earnings seems about right? The ugly ones were JWN, SKS, and GPS.
I'm not the brightest here, but I offer you this thought. China cannot afford to have it's host shrivel up and disappear at this point in the evolution of Chinese hope. Short answer - long question.
Real Estate lust will screw you over in any country. This loser used the revenues from his successful software company to buy land!!
Satyam blockbuster: Law of land vs Raju's love of land
New Delhi: What caused Satyam's downfall? What lead Ramalinga Raju, once a gentleman, to turn fraud accused of embezzling Rs 7000 crore?
Murky details now emerging point to his love for land that lead to his undoing. His family has brought close to 6,500 acres of land through Maytas Properties ranking them among India's top 10 landlords.
For their real estate empire they needed money and Satyam, many say, was milked for it. Raju was close to ex-CM Chandrababu Naidu, who paraded him to gain global goodwill for Hyderabad.
Sources said Gono told President Robert Mugabe that Fidelity Printers, the central banks subsidiary which handles printing and minting operations, could no longer cope with churning out the astronomical volumes of notes it was being requested to produce.
He told Cabinet that Fidelitys machines were now too old and frequently broke down, with spares being difficult to source. He said the RBZ would soon be forced to stop printing notes altogether because of the decision by its German suppliers to cut paper supplies.
The RBZ Governor said the situation was also being worsened by the fact that all the money the bank availed to financial institutions quickly disappeared into the informal market where thriving foreign currency exchange deals are rampant.
"A-4s here. VMA-214, El Toro."
Comrade Terry | 01.09.09 - 5:36 pm |
Terry,
VMFP-3. Worked I level camera repair for H&MS 11. 6476 MOS. The trailers right next to the back gate going to base housing. Lived in the first barracks to the west of the main chowhall. I was there 86-88. Its all gone now,but the fight over the property has been epic.
Anonymous writes:
I find it really funny that the new administration is trying to create millions of jobs when I am constantly seeing useless and nonproductive jobs everywhere. I am certain everyone with a job right now can honestly say that there are a least one or two jobs which are costing their company revenue. This is just waste and excess in so many levels, but I guess this is what the new eCONomy is all about.
Is it just me or do others see this as well?
Anonymous | 01.09.09 - 4:01 pm | #
Waste, excess and mis-allocation everywhere alright, but not from any new economy. Rather, what we should expect from an economy artificially demand-stimulated by 4 decades or so of fed credit-binge monetary policy. Car companies only able to make money off of oversized, wasteful SUVs, sold to overpaid, over-financed, wasteful buyers, employed by over-leveraged, wasteful companies - as the biggest example. Congressional/corporate/regulatory/newsmedia manipulation welcomed everyone with a pulse to participate in this doomed credit extravaganza, and attempts by that melange to help the many who will suffer the most is a cruel, concocted charade.
"I'm not the brightest here, but I offer you this thought. China cannot afford to have it's host shrivel up and disappear at this point in the evolution of Chinese hope. Short answer - long question."
Popeye, I hope you're not basing your trading thesis on the words "cannot afford to". "Probably won't", "doesn't want to" are more appropriate.
"Cannot afford to" can easily change to something else once a trade war, political fear-mongering on both sides of the globe, protectionist sentiments etc.. raise their ugly heads. And we are already starting to see all of these start all around the globe.
My wife who grew up in China made the following observations last night over just this sort of discussion.
1) China can and will turn it's guns on it's populace if severe social unrest starts.
2) China can and will dump it's Treasuries and turn inwards as it has many times before if the West pushes them so much that they lose face.
China will not bow down to Western demands based on the above premise, no matter how logical it may be to thos in the West, as part of resolving the current mess.
Gary(Unrated) writes: B_R, I left a note for you at the end of the last thread.
Gary,
I love the d20 flail, that's great.
This community is wonderfully geeky, it's true. The funniest part are the occasional spates of "we're so cool" from the non-gamer Excel drivers and economists.
I don't know anything about the 1919-21 period of U.S. economic history. I would suggest that whatever funk we're in, it's going to take way longer than two-three years to see an improvement and when we do it will be because we have redefined "improvement."
By the way, are you Bernie Sanders? Now that's a crazy Vermonter!
why break the habit? Its a never ending source of entertainment for yankees. I had a room mate from NYC suburbs in college and my constant stream of y'all and going to town would send him into convulsions.
popeye
I know you made money at least one day. I remember you called the bottom on october 10th.
Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Morgan Stanley is in advanced talks with Citigroup Inc. to form a joint venture that would combine the brokerage units of both banks and give Morgan Stanley a 51 percent stake, said a person familiar with the matter.
Wow, didn't realize things were that bad on that side of the metro area. I live in the District right now, but we're actually meeting with a Realtor tomorrow to look at homes near Rockville. Prices have definitely come down a lot, and I have no illusions that we won't be vastly overpaying what these homes will cost two years from now, but for family reasons, it's time to settle down and stop renting. We're looking on a 10+ year time horizon, so I hope we won't do too badly...
Rememer one thing, every hedge fund that has died was levereged too far to survive. Each hedge fund held a *#@$$$$ lot of money in principle. Multiply that principal times {the leverage you suspect}.
Got a number in your head for that ?? Ok, subtract it from the market, add residual damage.....
Then be smart. The ruling class only wanted better tee times. Catch my drift ?
Wow, didn't realize things were that bad on that side of the metro area. I live in the District right now, but we're actually meeting with a Realtor tomorrow to look at homes near Rockville. Prices have definitely come down a lot, and I have no illusions that we won't be vastly overpaying what these homes will cost two years from now, but for family reasons, it's time to settle down and stop renting. We're looking on a 10+ year time horizon, so I hope we won't do too badly... \t js, esq. | \t \t \t \t01.09.09 - 5:56 pm | #
I keep hearing, "It is different here. Prices aren't falling in my neighborhood." I cringe every time. I think we end up 40% off peak which means we end up another 20% down from where we are. All of these people holding on to properties hoping to get more and maybe rent in the mean time are going to draw out the time horizon for home price reductions. We actually had a military family buy a house in August at $100k over what is currently being asked. They are looking at massive losses when it comes time to move again in a few years.
I'm tempted to sell at 10% under what the current market asking price is just to cash out. My wife would never go for it though. Shame I didn't do it $150k ago.
Greetings, fellow doomsters, degenerate gamblers and nightstand cowboy aficianados!
Anyone else watching with amusement the triangulation between Barney Frank, Obama and Paulson?
Franks' gambit of introducing legislation restricting the 2nd tranche of the TARP seems to have Hankenstein checkmated.
Meanwhile, Geithner seems to be cooking up a massive overhaul of the program, giving the money to backstop the muni market and CRE, and Paulson is too busy stealing the silverware from White House to care.
~ Your a good man charlie brown { I know you are smart } and more right than my market calls. I didn't open the Beefeaters until after the market closed. For today, I'll settle for an improvement.
Often beats everytime. On average.
Popeye | 01.09.09 - 6:05 pm | #
They say that 50% of the time . . . it works every time.
B_R, I truly enjoy the geek refs that turn up here in comments. It's like panning for gold, every so often there is a brilliant little nugget to be had.
Wow, I am shocked. I have to say though, this story (if true) is a fitting end to the Bush administration.
No regard for Congress, no math skills. Completely inept.
You see, I've actually read the TARP legislation, and it is clear that Congress has 15 calendar days to schedule a vote AFTER the treasury dept writes a report, and the president formally notifies the Speaker of the House with a letter.
Unfortunately for Bush (or perhaps the reporters at the WaPost), there is this little problem called arithmetic. Making the wild assumption that they do this over the weekend, that would be Jan 10. 10 + 15 = 25.
Congress can simply run the clock out on this bastard.
And with next week's Senate calendar already full with confirmation hearings, you can be sure they will.
This is Obama's call.
central_scrutinizer | 01.09.09 - 6:15 pm | #
Yup. The game is over for Bush. All he can do is obstruct until 1/20. that and continue to plant saboteurs in career positions. At this point even his rulemaking authority is severely diminished.
He has no power left but to gum up the works until 1/20.
Popeye(Excellent) writes: Your a good man charlie brown { I know you are smart } and more right than my market calls.
I might be good. Definitely too smart for my own good. Dunno about righter than your market calls -- I'm good at the things I'm good at. Other stuff, not so much. Thank you for the flattery.
I didn't open the Beefeaters until after the market closed. For today, I'll settle for an improvement.
What's good enough for you is good enough for me. I'm not here to judge you. I'm sure you're well aware it is an unhealthy habit. I'm certainly well aware of it.
One other thing ... Congress doesn't even have to schedule a vote. All they need to do is wait for 15 days to pass, then the money will be released, but it'll be after the inauguration and Paulson and Bush will be unemployed. Obama and Geithner will be in control.
Congress is going to really bitch slap Bush on this one.
Puzzling story if true ... if Paulson really wanted to be diabolical he should have requested the money on Jan 2, thus forcing a vote next week.
The initiative, which is being coordinated with the Obama transition team, may be taken within days, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made.
JimPortlandOR(Unrated) writes: \tare those early teen boys and girls in Thailand will be out of work without the sex trade.... \t JimPortlandOR | \t \t \t \t01.09.09 - 4:15 pm | # JimPortlandOR | 01.09.09 - 4:15 pm | #
Doubt it. Why do you think they call it the oldest profession?
Believe it or not, but from the WaPo story, it seems that Bush is trying to take one for the team. There's a compromise somewhere behind the scenes; that's the only way this makes sense.
The initiative, which is being coordinated with the Obama transition team, may be taken within days, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made....
There have been discussions between the administration and the transition about how to proceed should the president-elect determine that he wants to have those funds available on January 20th," said Robert Gibbs, spokesman for the Obama transition team.
my poor savings account writes:
is there anything Bush didn't destroy during his tenure?
my poor savings account | 01.09.09 - 4:29 pm | #
His sense of entitlement -
The initiative, which is being coordinated with the Obama transition team
Meaningless. Congress (not Obama) has the power to deny a vote by simply not scheduling one.
They'd be abject fools to do so, unless they have the 2/3rds to override, because they can easily make certain Obama and Geithner and not Paulson get to decide how the money is spent.
Giving such power to a lame duck administration literally hours before they fly off to Andrews AFB will not happen.
No kidding. I'm a hillbilly, don't see why I should be ashamed of it. It won't escape your notice long when you meet me. \t Comrade Byzantine_Ruins | \t \t \tHomepage | \t01.09.09 - 6:08 pm | # Comrade Byzantine_Ruins | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 6:08 pm | #
Well i'll be.
Two monkey hookers and a racist dwarf, i think i'll be heading home.
2nd
Oh, you mean I have to read the post?
No doubt we will see what happened in previous recessions too; people moving back with their parents, taking roommates, etc., which further pressures both rental and housing prices.
"Although there are several factors increasing the supply, I believe the surge in REO sales to cash flow investors is having a significant impact on rents. Many of those vacant homeowner units are being converted to rental properties - although this isn't showing up in the Census Bureau data yet (something to watch for)."
In areas where REOs were rarer, and home sales were largely to "prime" or "alt-A" borrowers, rents have not fallen much. At least, I speak anecdotally, on the Central California coast. But these are areas where homeowners can comfortably afford their payments, at least initially.
When that changes, I expect rent to fall. I do know that a fair number of income properties are coming on the market right now locally, and few are in a hurry to snap them up. The smart money knows.
2x price/rents in CA was a big flashing red light last year
Rubin Leaving Citigroup; Smith Barney for Sale - NY Times
Rubin Is Stepping Down at Citigroup
(Hopefully Roubini will join Nordstrom's BOD and will get a new shirt and tie that is not blue.)
Rents are over rated.
Besides, they're falling like knives 'round these parts.
Must be all tehm Luxury Condos...Interest Forming...Mid $380k...turning into apartments.
Nostrovia,
"few are in a hurry to snap them up."
why should CAPs be around 6% when corporate bonds are still almost 20% when using etfs like JNK?
why should GRMs still be in the high teens in any market?
I sure wish I could find equivalent rental data on a metro area/city basis. Anybody know some sources?
[my apartment lease renewal comes at the end of march, and I'm not sure how hard to bargain, or just to capitulate. I feel outgunned, because surely the major property managers know how things are going, but data is classified as top secret/need to know/presidential authorization only.
Some news that hasn't hit the streets here yet. Honda is laying off. A neighbour's grandkid was told to 'call in' first next week, before coming to work - they might be stopping production for awhile... they have 5,000 employees at this plant.
What if we tied 2 threads together and suggested that Boeing enter the rental market, using those 4500 pink slipees as landlords?
bgates(Irritating) writes:
\t"few are in a hurry to snap them up."
why should CAPs be around 6% when corporate bonds are still almost 20% when using etfs like JNK?
why should GRMs still be in the high teens in any market?
\t bgates | \t \t \t \t01.09.09 - 3:46 pm | #
Six percent? Try 4.5.
In the Flatland UP laid off 230 today. They over hired due to boomer retirement now shipping dropped. Rents are weak and dropping here. I recently had to drop one 20% We will not be as bad as the hot spots but hurt is still coming.
Comrade Byzantine_Ruins,
"Okay, I want to see a clean break and transition to the next thread. I want swords or at a minimum broken bottles and chains, none of this eye gouging crap.
People are here to see some swordsmanship, it doesn't look good if it's just two guys rolling around on the sand."
I'm betting 20 quatloo's...I don't know why...but I want Star Trek OS fight music....and gladiator costumes...and hot blonde 60's broads in mini skirts and bikini tops...
ARROOOOO!
Nostrovia,
C selling smith barney
Bob,
'UC Office of the President outlines proposals to curtail freshman enrollment in the fall, freeze the salaries of top administrators and significantly restrict compensation for a large group of senior leadership.'
Declinging enrollment is like screaming fire in a crowded theatre. let the stampede begin. In areas like ours, the smart money knew the above quote was coming and won't pony up until they have a very firm hand.
JiminPortland, that the same way it is Boise, Idaho. By law here, you don't even need to disclose how much you paid for your house, so information about the housing market here is whatever the realtors and/or politicans want you to hear.
"Six percent? Try 4.5."
i guess deflation, and the race to the bottom led by treasuries is one answer - but fresh cash after that while I can still buy commodities or corporate bonds at 20%? hellz no, homie.
You don't have the equivalent of doc stamps??? A little basic math and you can find out the value.
Now that the equity buyouts of big firms using leverage has proved to be disaster and bubble inflator, do the private equity playas and invest. bankers get to make a killing again by breaking up the combos? Is JPM doing the sale of Smith Barney for C?
morocco obama (from last thread):
what's the beef with scouts?
truly curious.
Family owns old post office building next door to my office building so we are gonna turn it in to downtown living apartments. Renting is just not a good gig for me to do, but does have cash flow.
Hoping we can rent it to older couples who want to be in walking distant of docs,church and grocery.
5,000 quatloos for the newcomers!
Dallas-Fort Worth to see little if any new office construction this year |
News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News
| Latest News
Dallas-Fort Worth to see little if any new office construction this year
What is really eye-popping to me is just how much depends upon such a small change in homeowner percentages.
each scout troop is different --the scoutmaster in each one can be a dem a rep and/or a self hating gay
I've been renting in the same building in Manhattan since 2000. It's not a luxury building, but it would be considered desirable. On average, there have been maybe 3 or 4 vacant units at any one time, right now there are over 20, plus a handful of eviction notices taped on doors. New York real estate is going to get crushed.
Bob,
'UC Office of the President outlines proposals to curtail freshman enrollment in the fall, freeze the salaries of top administrators and significantly restrict compensation for a large group of senior leadership.'
Declinging enrollment is like screaming fire in a crowded theatre. let the stampede begin. In areas like ours, the smart money knew the above quote was coming and won't pony up until they have a very firm hand.
deflationary jane | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 3:52 pm | #
I headrd that this was coming. My campus already restricted enrollment informally this year by insisting on the letter of the law for meeting certain registration deadlines -- where before they'd given slack.
Declining enrollment doesn't mean declining applications, though. From what I hear from the registrar's, they're pounding at the door to get in. Lots of people who wanted Ivy League, but can't afford it now.
C to sell off ticker symbol. Will now just be " "
Comrade Misean is Dope | 01.09.09 - 3:50 pm | #
Thanks for the Laugh as I head home for the weekend.
jo6pac
The race to the bottom continues
Been living in my chicago neighborhood for twenty years. First time in my life to see sale signs in house windows, "For sale or rent."
this market is breaking trendlines and such
citizen energyecon,
"5,000 quatloos for the newcomers!"
Deal!
M.O. needs to review some of my old tussles with ol' Gary. Now those were some good sh*t throwers.
BTW...Memory mounted, cpu mounted, preparing to install Thermaltake toughpower 1200W power supply.
Nostrovia,
I don't think trendlines mean anything in this mkt.
"New York real estate is going to get crushed."
transparency isn't a good thing for all parties in a market
DQNews - New York City Area Home Prices and Sales
4q08 will be ugly
Just for the record, I removed my stops. I'd hate it if anybody got confused.
Does this mean you are, ummm, well endowed? Misean.
"Six percent? Try 4.5."
yep, here's the "data sheet" for a typical westside LA "income" property. (Warning: 3.8MB PDF) Current 4.22 CAP (based on list price) - Pro Forma CAP 5.59, which is based on raising all the rents at least $500. Which would make them the highest rents in the area for similar buildings. Good luck with that. "Smart" money won't touch this, but some fool will...
I find it really funny that the new administration is trying to create millions of jobs when I am constantly seeing useless and nonproductive jobs everywhere. I am certain everyone with a job right now can honestly say that there are a least one or two jobs which are costing their company revenue. This is just waste and excess in so many levels, but I guess this is what the new eCONomy is all about.
Is it just me or do others see this as well?
YAHOO FINANCE: "3:00 pm : Investors are looking at sizeable losses as participants head into the final hour of trading. However, the current drop of just over 1% isn't as severe as the 3% drop experienced Wednesday."
ROTFLMAO
D'oh!... url for above...
http://tinyurl.com/6smy7g
too close... photo - Rob Rathmann photos at pbase.com
Nothing is safe from this bear market
2x price/rents in CA was a big flashing red light last year
bgates | 01.09.09 - 3:45 pm | #
SF peaked at 5.1. San Diego was 3.4. (this was at peak) I use to bring this up when people said just "buy something, anything..."
"what's the beef with scouts?"
you know all good communist countries had something similar to scouts here in the u.s.s.a.
in slovakia where I was born...they were "Iskri" roughly translates to "sparks"
Great for teaching survivalism and unwavering nationalism.
Comrade Misean is Dope(Excellent)
I'm betting 20 quatloo's...I don't know why...but I want Star Trek OS fight music....and gladiator costumes...and hot blonde 60's broads in mini skirts and bikini tops...
LOL!
It's a weird pseudo-live medium. Some days everyone just wants to turn up drunk and have a go at a Crimson Permanent Assurance remake. The most you can do is go with it.
The ages will be very critical of us, I'm sure, but they work without the time constraints.
I still remember that post by CR that was titled,"Dude, Where's my Recession?"
Yet, some were still talking Goldilocks.
"this market is breaking trendlines and such"
I want hemlines broken, shredded and what not.
Damn...all this stimulus news and talks of blondes in bikinis has got things...stimulated.
Oh wait...that's just me.
Nostrovia,
Mkt finally open.
Dow elevator going DOOOOWn.
Down goes Frazier, down goes Frazier!
Market seems to have a date with S&P 875. Next week gonna be interesting!
For all the cup and handlers - I think your cup is for lefties.
At least the opening/closing lines are parellel. Pizza weekend?
Dow elevator going DOOOOWn.
lawyerliz | 01.09.09 - 4:02 pm
cables on elevator broke, and counterweights in the basement. Brakes on elev. are on fire. Elevator riders think they are at Disney.
"and unwavering nationalism"
amazing that hlinka still graces the currency - but then andrew jackson wasn't the nicest guy to indigenous communities...
Gavshire Hathaway writes:
Market seems to have a date with S&P 875. Next week gonna be interesting!
Please note, I pulled my stops.
wonder which companies are going to use a friday afternoon for some warnings...
BR,
"It's a weird pseudo-live medium. Some days everyone just wants to turn up drunk and have a go at a Crimson Permanent Assurance remake."
Bah! I resemble those remarks.
And I'd rather be pseudo live than pseudo dead...I think.
Come to think of it...
Crimson Permanent Assurance...CPA...Never caught that...after all these years.
Well I'm off...
Nostrovia,
EEV took it in the rear today: down 17%!
How about we buy Brazil with the stimulus package?
Is anyone else surprised that we don't have a solid 9k on the inaugural run-up? I thought we might even hit 10k on the 21st.
Homedad, I answered on the previous thread....pretty much what Janosik has said here.
Bob,
True, we knew it but I think seeing it in print scared the natives.
So many people here literally prey on the student body that any reduction in the size of the animal (less meat to be divided up) has them in a tizzy. Who can blame them, they are leveraged up to their eyeball and any loss has a multiplier affect.
bond guys thinking recovery 2nd half
Treasury yields to head higher in 2009, big bond dealers say
Big bond dealers see yields rising in 2009 as economy rebounds - MarketWatch
"I thought we might even hit 10k on the 21st."
940 was a decent santa rally. plenty of bears got burned.
"2x price/rents in CA was a big flashing red light last year
bgates | 01.09.09 - 3:45 pm | #"
"Please note, I pulled my stops."
clow
"Try 3x"
true, but folks still play $500 for rent in places like salinas. its a big state.
JimPortlandOR,
"How about we buy Brazil with the stimulus package?"
Brazil...Bikinis...Stimulus....
You can't make this stuff up.
Nostrovia,
EEV took it in the rear today: down 17%!
I'm confused, but it happens a lot.
deflationary jane writes:
Bob,
'UC Office of the President outlines proposals to curtail freshman enrollment in the fall, freeze the salaries of top administrators and significantly restrict compensation for a large group of senior leadership.'
Declinging enrollment is like screaming fire in a crowded theatre. let the stampede begin. In areas like ours, the smart money knew the above quote was coming and won't pony up until they have a very firm hand.
This action is 2 years too late, university staff are getting paid extreme sums of money because of the overcrowded and mediocre educational system. And for what? Just so new graduates can fill "the jobs of the future" It is time to get rid off the excess and let our economy experience real growth.
bgates writes:
"New York real estate is going to get crushed."
transparency isn't a good thing for all parties in a market
DQNews - DataQuick Real Estate Headlines and Statistics ZIPNY.aspx
4q08 will be ugly
bgates | 01.09.09 - 3:59 pm | #
My zip code is still at $1,782/sq ft
I'll continue renting
I currently rent in coastal SoCal. Yesterday, I went into the leasing office of the place where I live to ask why the place right next to mine is available for substantially less than I had been offered on my lease renewal notification.
It turns out that occupancy at all their properties (higher end) was budgeted at 95% but they have been at less than 87% in the past several months. This place had a waiting list 2 years ago. Now they're nearly begging.
I negotiated a good reduction in my rent.
Comrade Misean is Dope, I'm just going to play the part of Cool Hand Luke. Where's my eggs?
Totally OT but interesting nonetheless.
My brother lives in Bangkok and I was asking him how the economy is doing the given the slowdown here and the recent political troubles there.
He has a friend who does marketing for the hotel industry over there.
5 star hotels are normally at 70% of capacity at this time of the year. This year they are at 7%
below 5 star is at 28%. Not sure how this compares YOY though.
hotels are the new Sect 8 housing
Well, I guess the nightstand cowboy gets the weekend off, in the charger.
Pissed Off in California writes:
5 star hotels are normally at 70% of capacity at this time of the year. This year they are at 7%
I guess I picked a good year to go on a lavish vacation
"My zip code is still at $1,782/sq ft"
On the other end I bought a 1910 duplex for $14/sqf a few years ago. Cash cow now after a little work.
5 star hotels are normally at 70% of capacity at this time of the year. This year they are at 7%
below 5 star is at 28%. Not sure how this compares YOY though.
\t Pissed Off In California | \t \t \t \t01.09.09 - 4:11 pm | #
Pissed Off In California | 01.09.09 - 4:11 pm | #
They just had a big brouhaha that probably scared away a lot of tourists. Both airports shut, etc. THIS particular is unique to them.
are those early teen boys and girls in Thailand will be out of work without the sex trade....
alybaba,
Great rates for some awesome hotels there now. The Emporium was over $200/night last year and now at $120/night.
I wouldn't mind going myself. No problems for foreigners according to my brother.
5 Star in Asia really does mean 5 Star unlike over here.
Pissed Off In California:
Holy crap, 7% occupancy!!
And at 28% for under 5-star one might conclude the kiddy-sex perverts are staying home too.
xxxxx
Ah yes, the protests closed down both airports, and tourists were stranded for days. So those datapoints are definitely outliers for those reasons and not representative of 5 star overseas demand in general
$1 Million Rent Kills the Librairie Francaise
the Librairie Francaise is closing. Rockefeller Center has raised the French booksellers' rent from $360,000 a year to -- get this -- $1 millio
I'd like to offer a seemingly novel idea. To wit: 90% {or so} of the folks who buy or sell on any given day - have read everything you and I have read. In that thought, I suggest nothing more than that the indexes fairly reflect the available information.
It's not my job to influence your vote, but I am interested in your money.
time for thailand, bikinis, martinis....nahhhhhhh
I'm going surfing...better and more edge hanging 10 in Great white territory...have to like the action...
wall street kids play....
["Please note, I pulled my stops."
clown
Bluto]
That's for sure. It must suck to be all-in on the wrong side when it appeared to many that a top of the range had been formed.
Ouch.
Morocco Bama,
"Comrade Misean is Dope, I'm just going to play the part of Cool Hand Luke. Where's my eggs?"
ROFL
YouTube - cool hand luke
Nostrovia,
Dilligent Derringer. Wish this guy were the nation's Attorney General and were to remain incorruptible.
Ponzi nation with conspiratorial collusion of the elected and bureaucratic servants.
In the end though, its like stealing silverware and linens from the titanic. It just weighs you down in the final plunge.
But goodbye, yellow brick road and goodbye, rule of law. How quick was the subversion, we are all coopted and complicit in a mighty nation's downfall through mad avarice.
The Market Ticker - Entries from Friday, January 9. 2009
Does this mean you are, ummm, well endowed? Misean.
lawyerliz | 01.09.09 - 4:00 pm
It means he is going to be the reason for the country needing new power plants.
pissed,
is that in phuket?
So popeye -- you pulled your downside stops and now you're trading fully long?
Expecting an opex/Obama rally?
Very curious what you're keying on for your trade. Thx!
"a seemingly novel idea"
almost seems you're implying that markets trend towards efficiency
"I find it really funny that the new administration is trying to create millions of jobs when I am constantly seeing useless and nonproductive jobs everywhere."
Take me, for instance, posting on blogs like this from time to time.
With a lot of tourists scared away now might be a good time to visit.
My wife is Chinese so all the tourists, especially the White women, give me the "you pervert" look when we visit my brother there.
On the other hand we don't get hassled to buy anything by the locals though (:
Boy though, when we visited the South of Thailand where the Europeans tend to vacation the dirty looks we got was amazing. Some of them wouldn't back down even after I started staring back.
I should have just walked by with a pack of condoms in my hand yelling for my wife to keep 5 steps behind me.
Uncle Ar,
"Does this mean you are, ummm, well endowed? Misean.
lawyerliz | 01.09.09 - 4:00 pm
It means he is going to be the reason for the country needing new power plants."
SHHHHHHH!
LOL.
Nostrovia,
"amazing that hlinka still graces the currency - but then andrew jackson wasn't the nicest guy to indigenous communities..."
don't even get me started on the Romes/Gypsies/whatever the term is...
Hitler exterminated them by the millions (no one really knows how many) and to this day no one cares.
also...holy crap...someone knows who Hlinka was??????????
Bearly,
It's ok with me that you have bet the other side. It is not necessary that you be insulting.
Differences of opinion are allowed.
Mutual respect..... well, my friend.....is it ego or just money ?
"someone knows who Hlinka was??"
heh. who can resist sub-20% tax rates?
"The recent surge in homeowner vacancy rates is probably due to foreclosures and other distressed properties."
In my neighborhood in MD people have moved out due to various factors. E.g. Divorce, changes in jobs, bought new bigger homes. Their old houses sit empty. I assume they are waiting for prices to rise again (hahah). This is in a neighborhood where houses were 600-700k at peak but around 200k 15 years ago.
One house was on the market for 6 months, came off the market and just went back on this week for 50K less.
So, in short, the surge in vacancy rates in my neighborhood is not foreclosures but an unwillingness to sell at perceived depressed prices.
pissed,
my chinese g/f is not much of water person, yours? My lady would have enjoyed the attention, it would have been fun to play along and really make them squeal...
cd,
One year we stayed in an island for a week near Phuket. Last time we visited we went down to an area on the opposite side of Phuket maybe a couple hours East.
Very cool region, very close to the Muslim region. We rented a moped and rode around out into the little villages. Very nice people. Weird experience though passing another moped on the road with three woman wearing Burqas.
Gavshire Hathaway writes:
Very curious what you're keying on for your trade. Thx!
I've spoken before of trading on one's sense of the market. Let's be clear. This is a last line of defense.... and sometimes offense. My sense it that we are at or very near a short term bottom.
Gav - I can be very wrong; however, this is my bet.
cd,
"it would have been fun to play along and really make them squeal..."
Yeah...something like:
"You want join too? 50 Baht!"
Nostrovia,
is there anything Bush didn't destroy during his tenure?
cd, my wife loves the water. But I have to tell you Thailand is not good if you have a roving eye or a jealous girl-friend/wife. Spend a week there and you understand why all the American/European women look perpetually pissed off.
My wife is very petite and fits into size 2 clothing. But when she goes there she has to buy large. Needless to say non-Asian women look positively ginormous.
"is there anything Bush didn't destroy during his tenure?"
Dick Head's net worth.
Nostrovia,
I'm thankful for the Do Not Call program.
"My sense"
personally, i sense a huge gap between the recent rally and anecodtal signs of a freefalling economy - i know the spx is supposed to see a few months ahead, but still...
but this sense isn't enough to make me go short in any real way.
[Mutual respect..... well, my friend.....is it ego or just money ?
Popeye ]
It's you. With all the confidence to brag about how clever you were to spot the next break and how you went BIG. And how SRS was linked to TBT, like anyone going long SRS was an idiot. Total bullshit.
SRS paid me BIG today.
"Yeah...something like:
"You want join too? 50 Baht!"
Actually that's the kind of crap my brother's girl-friend pulls sometimes when we go out together.
Anecdote: Went to Best Buy this a.m. to pick up 2 more Acer $399 computers on sale this week (these are not netbooks - full sizers). Unfortunately, sold out. No rainchecks.
So I went to Dick's Sporting Goods to get a ski helmut and goggles for progeny ski program. Unfortunately, sold out of both.
So I went to Olympia Sports to get same. Fortunately, one helmut left. Goggles were plentiful.
Stopped by Macy's to get flannel penguin sheets for my penguin fanatic. Sold out.
Recession? What recession?
misean,
no way
100 bhat and a singha!
On the other end I bought a 1910 duplex for $14/sqf a few years ago. Cash cow now after a little work.
joe after the 12 pack
Town/State?
Pissed,
"Actually that's the kind of crap my brother's girl-friend pulls sometimes when we go out together."
My kind of girl...She have a twin sister?
Nostrovia,
"is there anything Bush didn't destroy"
i suppose that gold investors should be eternally grateful - did anything look more dead than gold circa 2001?
bearly,
Ok, then. We understand each other.
Morocco/Janosik:
Nope, no strawman since I don't recall your doing a take on that subject.
Anon was correct on previous thread in that much depends on the scout leader - can be repub/dem/socialist/whatever.
You are correct in that one of the things that is taught is about the country - flag, how the government works, and what some of the ideals are. Some of us still have some.
As to homosexuality, this is pretty much coming from two angles. First, they do acknowledge the role of religion/God. But the scouts do not have to be Christian; there are scouts from lot of different creeds and regardless of what creed, many believers of whatever creed find homosexuality wrong (and no, I'm not one of them). Second, the BSA was damned near crushed by litigation from families whose boys were molested; there were no guidelines/checks on leaders and the organization was "infiltrated" by pedophiles who took advantage of that (my first real job was for a large insurance company that had to deal with the litigation). And no, don't construe that to mean that all homosexuals are pedophiles...but they are sensitive about it and believe me, I have specific rules that I have to follow to do this. Frankly, I've never heard any scout leader make any remarks about homosexuality and there are those of us who have close friends who are gay.
As to the Nazi Youth, I simply don't see it. That group existed to promote a specific individual with an agenda that - well, you know that. I've never seen it.
Period.
Frankly, we disagree.
You need to get out and check it out before making such sweeping judgments.
Outsider,
"Sold out."
Gunworld was outa 10 milli yesterday as well...Coincidence? I think not.
Nostrovia,
Ko Samui. Ko Phan Gang. Full moon party. Singha. Fine seaside meal 150 baht.
Who needs a modern economy? Paradise.
Thousand Oaks, CA (91360) rents holding strong.
It is next to impossible to find family-sized apartments (3bd 2ba or large 2bd) for less than $2,000/mo, and even then, there is very little available. Small 1bd and 2bd are abundant, albeit still pretty expensive. Virtually no apartments have been built here in the last 10-15 years.
Plenty of auto dealer construction though...
Bob
North Platte, Nebraska.
the dirty looks we got was amazing
Pissed Off In California | 01.09.09 - 4:21 pm | #
Just say: "yet meng" They should leave you alone.
"Gunworld was outa 10 milli yesterday as well...Coincidence? I think not."
Nostrovia,
Comrade Misean is Dope | 01.09.09 - 4:34 pm | #
I noticed the local funshow was a little less crowded 2 weekends ago. The prices were still a little high though. Wally World has done a decent job of staying stocked.
My 2 skids will probably last me a lifetime. I sold enough over the last 2 months to pay for all of it...I love me a good panic.
Chris
the daily SPY and it looks SUPER bearish to me. If Im drawing it correctly, it looks to me as though it broken 20day sma, 50day sma and broken below---
Ko Samui. Ko Phan Gang. Full moon party. Singha. Fine seaside meal 150 baht.
Who needs a modern economy?
\t Johnny Lee | \t \t \t \t01.09.09 - 4:34 pm | #
The locals. As I recall, they were very interested in extracting every possible dollar they could from the touries -- in that friendly, Thai way. Didn't spoil my enjoyment though, those islands are wonderful.
I wonder how Girl Scout cookie sales are going to do in this economy? Maybe Cr has some fancy graphs.
I think it's cheating when parents bring that crap into work and try to coerce their colleagues into buying the cookies. The child is supposed to do it...not the parents. What kind of example does that set...oh, yeah, cheating...a perfect example for a future Wall Street executive.
Gavshire,
I am long. I am leaning heavily on TA. I am playing the market notion that America offers a new face in office. I am playing the notion that the market now knows we have suffered a loss, and that the downside is now limited. That is my sense of things.
If I'm wrong, I also hold a lotta cash. Trade well.
pissed,
my lady is 5'5", size 6..afraid of water, unless it's surrounded by a frame and held in by thick plastic...
used to tell petite girls this...
big girls grow up fast, little girls are made to last....
I was going to head to buenos aires and punta del esta, Ur for carnival
in feb., found r.t for 850 on american...now I'm going to have to look into your idea....
I'm looking at flights to BKK right now... or is this the financial equivelent to knife catching.... i.e. I get locked down there for 1 month or what ever it was....
Popeye writes:
Gavshire,
I am long.
I bet you say that to all the guys.
nades(Unrated) writes:
\tI'm looking at flights to BKK right now... or is this the financial equivelent to knife catching.... i.e. I get locked down there for 1 month or what ever it was....
nades | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 4:39 pm | #
Don't sweat it. The flight might be expensive; everything else -- not.
Disclaimer: I have no problem with the boy scouts but this is funny...Boy Scout Humor
can I haz 5 bank failures today ?
Popeye writes:
Gavshire,
I am long.
I bet you say that to all the guys.
Morocco Bama
LOL
--p.s. popeye, obama has surrounded himself with the same bunch of banksters--no change
So I went to Olympia Sports to get same. Fortunately, one helmut left. Goggles were plentiful.
Stopped by Macy's to get flannel penguin sheets for my penguin fanatic. Sold out.
Recession? What recession?
\t Outsider | \t \t \t \t01.09.09 - 4:31 pm | #
Or, are they simply slower than usual to restock because they're short of cash -- or credit?
JohnF,
"Plenty of auto dealer construction though..."
Yeah...Good ol' TO Auto mall...great timing.
Cobra,
2 skids...classic...
ROFL.
Nostrovia,
Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money writes:
C to sell off ticker symbol. Will now just be " "
Send Lawyers, Guns, and Money | 01.09.09 - 3:58 pm | #
I LOL'ed IRL
"Frankly, we disagree.
You need to get out and check it out before making such sweeping judgments."
little defensive there...I made no judgements at all
the youth program in slovakia was actually quite nice from what i've heard...at least from kids' perspectives.
But, if you don't think that nationalistic pride isn't at least a tangent goal of these kinds of programs...you're naive (Frankly at that).
But I have no illusions...plenty of non-scout born and bred dopes out there feel that draping themselves in the flag makes them part of the winning team. It's kind of like ego attachment to your local sports team, just on a bigger scale.
But a nation is an imagined, false community containing many obvious and far reaching inequalities.
Bob Dobbs ~ "loat noi di mai khrup?" ;) (Do you have a lower price?)
Anybody have a link to a good layoff list?
Large West Coast mall retailer filing for bk?:
Bakersfield Bubble
ades,
I see 867 with tax in feb on china airlines...
ua at 1071....
"is there anything Bush didn't destroy"
Hope.
Bush left that for Obama to finish off!
.
I am leaning heavily on TA. I am playing the market notion that America offers a new face in office. I am playing the notion that the market now knows we have suffered a loss, and that the downside is now limited
Popeye | 01.09.09 - 4:39 pm | #
Wow.... heavily TA, but all on feel. Way to have it both ways!
Anybody have a link to a good layoff list?
This has been complete enough for me.
Untitled Document
.
It's looking like BAC might do a C and visit the low single digits before getting a handout. CFC & MER piled on to an already miserable asset base including HELOCs & CC debt. They just announced a big miss on '08...
layoff trackers..
Jobs, careers, employment, education - Vault.com
someone knows who Hlinka was?
Janosik | 01.09.09 - 4:22 pm | #
Some of us born and bred dopes read occassionally.
Joe, thanks for the info. That helps me to put it in perspective.
cd - are you flighting out of the east or west coast? I'm checking from LAX $886 with China Air... Do you think they haggle?
I might just do this... wifey's been wanting to go for a while...
Comrade:
Yes, the BMW and Mercedes in TO AutoMall expanded just in time for their sales to decline 50%....nice....
Some of us born and bred dopes read occassionally.
Comrade Terry | 01.09.09 - 4:50 pm | #
If you read, you're obviously a commie Islamofascist.
Nades,
My ladies mother passed away, I think this will be good for her...
flying out of SFO
Eric,
"I am leaning heavily on TA. I am playing the market notion that America offers a new face in office. I am playing the notion that the market now knows we have suffered a loss, and that the downside is now limited
Popeye | 01.09.09 - 4:39 pm | #
Wow.... heavily TA, but all on feel. Way to have it both ways!"
My mind is too far in the gutter now to recover. Anyone else see that, or do I have to spell it out.
Nostrovia,
Is the Inauguration going to be covered under the TARP. Oh, that's right, it's part of the stimulus package.
Hey, it's nearly5:00 PM Eastern--will tonight be the first bank failure(s) of 2009?
I say not yet...
For haggling in Bangkok we always bring along my brothers Thai girl-friend. Makes it a lot easier.
Always try to smile and joke around a bit, Thais really appreciate this
(they are children at heart mostly) and they're not so cutthroat as the Chinese when it comes to making a dollar either.
If you stay away from the absolutely touristy locations you don't have to worry that much about getting ripped off.
perhaps a better mind can explain this to me: Retailers announce the worst december sales Macy's down4%, they have to make huge price cuts 65% and now Macy is expected to make $0.90/share rather than $1.10/share. If that is right what is the BFD.
nades(Unrated) writes:
\tBob Dobbs ~ "loat noi di mai khrup?" ;) (Do you have a lower price?)
nades | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 4:46 pm | #
As I recall, the main scam was to get you to accept some service and resist off any attempt to find out the price -- then hit you with some inflated price after you'd committed. Learned not to be a nice guy about it. They stop smiling when you keep asking the same question over and over. The other one was "mistakes" in addition on the bill. Always so very sorry about it. Oddly enough, the mistakes were always in their favor.
Oh, mai pen rai.
they are saving the bank failures for after the Obama swear-in.
Some of us born and bred dopes read occassionally.
Comrade Terry | 01.09.09 - 4:50 pm | #
For the record...I don't really buy the born and bred dopes line...at least not yet.
I just feel sometimes that the born and bred dope population here (because there's one everywhere) just isn't adequately ostricised. We all need to do our part.
johnf,
talk to rusnak on that bmw building...
cost a lot because of subterranean garage and ground water issues..
their service dept uses our online appt system and they make duckets of money....
I think they should give every veteran who has done 1 or more tours incountry, a free house in their community.
A cheap way of getting occupants who would probably take care of it. Plus, if it is a bad neighborhood, they would be a plus for the neighborhood watch.
Let them muster out with the body armor, a AR-15, and 300 rounds of ammo. It worked for the Romans.
Eric writes:
Wow.... heavily TA, but all on feel. Way to have it both ways!
Eric,
Apparently, I failed to express myself clearly. I do not trade on TA alone. It is a factor I always take into consideration, but it's just one thing.
And, by the way Eric, I don't pretend to be the smartest chip on the block. I've survived and raised a family doing this, but that's all.
"Is the Inauguration going to be covered under the TARP. Oh, that's right, it's part of the stimulus package."
I hear after they will be serving appetizers made exclusively with government cheese.
"Is there anything Bush didn't destroy?"
Umm.. The National Debt?
I'm getting served on the 20th?
Nooooooo!!!
Thanks, BH and CD.
I lived in a nice upper-midgrade apartment complex from '04-'07 on the westside of the Twin Cities. In '04 they offered two months of free rent on a 1-bedroom priced at $900/month. In '07 there was no free rent and the price was the same. I just saw an ad on craigslist.com indicating that the two months of free rent was back.
BD: Oh, mai pen rai.
LOL ! ! !
I perfered the "a-lie-waa khun go-hook maak lat phom mai choob khun!" (what the hell, you're a lier and i dont like you!)
We went there for college for 3 months. Never had any serious problems and the above statment always cleared them up... Total shock when a tall goofy white guy calls you a lier.... I've never seen such embarased faces...
Boeing To Cut 4,500 Jobs In 2009 - News Story - KIRO Seattle
"a reduction in non-Boeing labor"
Good chance that would have been me anyway if I hadn't quit.
iTulip is predicting a U3 unemployment rate of 20%. If so, the odds of the current gov't surviving would seem somewhat low.
.
Bush left a present of Cheese!
cd:
Service may save the TO BMW dealer if people hold on to their cars longer. The dealers make most of their money on service anyways....but they will have a pretty big nut to cover with that new building....
cd,
Have you traveled to Asia much? The flights are so long that it's well worth it to spend a bit more and fly something like Singapore Airlines. If you're flying out of SFO you will probably do a stop-over in Hong Kong. It is a LONG flight.
If you are going for long enough you might want to think about stopping in Hong Kong for a few days either on the way there or back.
We did that for both our trip to Bangkok and our trip to Beijing. We stayed in the Bishop Lei hotel in Hong Kong. Very tiny rooms but amazing location, on the Hong Kong island side at the top and less $100 so very good value for HK.
Also it's very easy to find hotels in Bangkok, if you want to move around to a few different places then try just booking a few days at the beginning and got other hotels while we were there.
If your gf likes massages let me know and I can give you the name of a place recommended by locals that my wife loved.
I wonder if there are any new fangled energy saving nightstand cowboys on sale at the twin CES/Porn conference
"Umm.. The National Debt?"
Errrrnnnttt!
Nope that's broken now too.
But, Glod love 'em, our fearless (as in so stoopidly clueless that Upper Class Twits of the Year look smart) rulers are gonna try to dig even deeper. Such single mindedness is admirable...no wait...mind numbing.
Nostrovia,
ova(Excellent) writes:
I think they should give every veteran who has done 1 or more tours incountry, a free house in their community.
A cheap way of getting occupants who would probably take care of it. Plus, if it is a bad neighborhood, they would be a plus for the neighborhood watch.
Let them muster out with the body armor, a AR-15, and 300 rounds of ammo. It worked for the Romans.
Smart man. Are you familiar with the performance of North Vietnamese sapper units along the Sino-Vietnamese border during the war in the 1970s?
If you read, you're obviously a commie Islamofascist.
alybaba | 01.09.09 - 4:51 pm | #
And several other bad qualities besides....
And, by the way Eric, I don't pretend to be the smartest chip on the block.
Popeye | 01.09.09 - 4:57 pm | #
Yeah, I know.... just ribbing you for the heavy chartist start and touchy feeling finish.
Yes, trading is hard.
Pissed Off In California | 01.09.09 - 5:01 pm | #
Man,ya'all are a buch o'wimps. Try travelling all over the far east in C141's and C130's...
World-A-Go-Go is my contribution to the thread(20 years ago).
Chris
As I recall, the main scam was to get you to accept some service and resist off any attempt to find out the price -- then hit you with some inflated price after you'd committed. Learned not to be a nice guy about it. They stop smiling when you keep asking the same question over and over. The other one was "mistakes" in addition on the bill. Always so very sorry about it. Oddly enough, the mistakes were always in their favor.
Bob Dobbs | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 4:55 pm | #
They took a page from the credit card companies?
Macy's down4%, they have to make huge price cuts 65% and now Macy is expected to make $0.90/share rather than $1.10/share. If that is right what is the BFD.
The problem with Macy's is not its earnings (yet). Its problem is that it's sitting on a sh*t of debt for its purchase of May's department story. To make matters worse, it may have to write down a significant portion of the goodwill (who the hell came up this idea) from that acquisition, which could make it in technical default of some of its debt covenants.
Cash is king...
bloomberg tv morgan and citi to merge their brokerages
Smart man. Are you familiar with the performance of North Vietnamese sapper units along the Sino-Vietnamese border during the war in the 1970s?
No, I vaguely remember that fiasco, for the Chinese at least.
With a U.S. average of 2.2 occupants per household, the average 3/2 home has room to spare. Ergo, rents will continue to fall until average household size increases significantly
bearly - you are just using any excuse to post the euphamism "nightstand cowboy," now aren't you?
)
Chris,
Haha ain't that the truth. Sorry but I'll take the pretty stewardesses and tasty meals on Singapore Airlines, even in cattle class, any day of the week.
51% of smith barney to ms
For the record...I don't really buy the born and bred dopes line...at least not yet.
Janosik | 01.09.09 - 4:55 pm | #
Heh. I started to say 'Yanks', but that means different things to different people. Somehow, I thought you'd appreciate the humor in 'Born and Bred Dopes' - and you apparently did.
Definitely an early drinking day, first everyone fighting, now everyone kissing.
I'm making tandoori chicken in the snow, to the bafflement of the neighbors, who have never seen such seasonally inappropriate grilling before. Y'all are keeping me company while the coals mature.
"Yeah, I know.... just ribbing you for the heavy chartist start and touchy feeling finish."
Sounds like someone is a metro-sexual stock trader (:
I'm more of an s&m based trader based on some of my returns lately.
sdtfs writes:
As I recall, the main scam was to get you to accept some service and resist off any attempt to find out the price -- then hit you with some inflated price after you'd committed. Learned not to be a nice guy about it. They stop smiling when you keep asking the same question over and over. The other one was "mistakes" in addition on the bill. Always so very sorry about it. Oddly enough, the mistakes were always in their favor.
Bob Dobbs | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 4:55 pm | #
They took a page from the credit card companies?
Either that - or they failed to honor their stops - if you catch my drift.
bloomberg tv morgan and citi to merge their brokerages
Oh, the insanity.
I suppose we'll see a flood of Citi and Morgan resumes on the market next week.
I started getting AIG resumes back around June/July last year.
.
Where does it snow that the locals you "y'all?"
It took me about 2 years to break that habit.
Chris,
Try traveling in a fleet tug doing 3 knots while towing barges. Lot of time for skin cancer and shark fishing.
use
what was the topic of this post again...?
Pissed Off In California | 01.09.09 - 5:07 pm | #
The ride was so worth it to us guys on leave from Iwakuni. Pattaya is one of those places like the P.I. that people just don't believe the stories about...
Chris
Citizen Scotto | 01.09.09 - 5:11 pm
Nightstand Cowboys
[bearly - you are just using any excuse to post the euphamism "nightstand cowboy," now aren't you?
)
Citizen Scotto ]
Well, ya. That and Maria, the on-air orgasm queen, happens to be in vegas at the CES/Porn conferences, and as such I am suggesting there is at least 1 prospective customer present.
Nightstand Cowboys
nova | 01.09.09 - 5:11 pm | #
I lol'ed agai
Pattaya - Where the weed grew like corn in fields as far as you could see. That place?
Hey! Those undelivered Boeings could be used as housing units.
[Nightstand Cowboys
nova]
Didn't Gen Campbell sing a song about those devices ?
BR,
"I'm making tandoori chicken in the snow,"
You can let the coals mature all you want, but that chicken ain't gonna do nothing but freeze sitting in the snow.
Nostrovia,
Chris,
Thailand is starting to clear up a lot of the sleaze. The worst of the worst, especially what went on around Pattaya Beach has moved down to Cambodia. Even the red-light district in Bangkok has been cleared up a lot. They're trying to follow the Las Vegas model now.
My brother tells me that they've started running a lot of the backpackers out of Thailand. No more stay for one month, leave and come back immediately for ever.
[happens to be in vegas at the CES/Porn conferences,]
synergy and innovation, that's good old US exceptionalism for you!
Basel:
it may have to write down a significant portion of the goodwill (who the hell came up this idea) from that acquisition, which could make it in technical default of some of its debt covenants
If you mean, who came up with the idea of having to write down the goodwll, it was the Financial Accounting Standards Board with the issuance of FASB 142.
The business unit has to be valued annually to see if the goodwill on the books is "impaired" (due to the value of the business unit going down relative to what you paid for it) and goodwill would be written down if it is.
This has been in effect since the beginning of 2002.
that layoff daily is addicting --thanks crispy/cole
"Chris,
Try traveling in a fleet tug doing 3 knots while towing barges. Lot of time for skin cancer and shark fishing."
nova | 01.09.09 - 5:09 pm | #
nova,
I was attached to an F4 unit out of ElToro. We normally deployed. After an incident,that still makes me laugh,the unit was asked to never come back on board a carrier.
So I never spent any time on board a ship...No complaints from me...
Chris
"synergy and innovation, that's good old US exceptionalism for you!"
Next week I get to hear whether anyone in our department has been synergized onto the unemployment rolls. Big cuts coming from what I hear at our company.
ova(Excellent) writes:
No, I vaguely remember that fiasco, for the Chinese at least.
They settled full "demilitarized" units of pioniers along the border, grouped by unit. They got farmland and drilled as reservists.
Then one day, some tanks came through, and needless to say, the advance got held up, and the axis of advance identified.
South African kommandos, Byzantine themes and Israeli kibbutzim might interest you if you are inclined to think along those lines.
In my area, I am just now starting to see a small number of places in good neighborhoods getting to parity or better.
I just did an MLS search for a 2BR in a very good neighborhood. The first 10 or 15 condos are at or below equivalent rents, the next 20 or so could be as well with normal negotiating. The vast majority are still too expensive. Things are getting better; it may actually be worth buying in 2009 or 2010.
Let's say we agree that Nov 21 was the bottom. The SPX was at 740. Today we are playing with 900.
As a matter of history, I am not aware of any serious bottom that was not retested.
We are talking height of that blip in the middle of the W we all hope will appear.
Are we clear now ?
[Next week I get to hear whether anyone in our department has been synergized onto the unemployment rolls. Big cuts coming from what I hear at our company.
Pissed Off In California | 01.09.09 - 5:17 pm | # ]
sorry to hear - what industry?
joe after the 12 pack writes:
"Is the Inauguration going to be covered under the TARP. Oh, that's right, it's part of the stimulus package."
they'll need to be covered - I forecast Snow and Frigid temps - for that blessed occasion -
What does this mean??
Using a new measure of house prices, the Fed now says consumers have lost a staggering $7.1 trillion in net worth since the third quarter of 2007.
"sorry to hear - what industry?
Citizen Scotto | 01.09.09 - 5:18 pm | # "
Financial services. Big company that is still in the black profit wise.
ot really popeye.
spell it out.
up, down, then up, then sideways then down then up,?
AO - if you're still out there, where in MD are you?
"Pattaya - Where the weed grew like corn in fields as far as you could see. That place?"
nova | 01.09.09 - 5:12 pm | #
No interest in the drug side so I really didn't notice. Alcohol was our drug of choice back then. To many dumbasses getting the Big Chicken Dinner(BCD) for drug use...Just not worth the consequences. I didn't know at that time if I was getting out or making a career of it.
Chris
[Using a new measure of house prices, the Fed now says consumers have lost a staggering $7.1 trillion in net worth since the third quarter of 2007.]
I wonder how much of that $7.1 x 10^12 was imaginary wealth created by increases in price of personal residences and equity shares.
CR
If I can get a little off-topic. Your first graph of %age home ownership is striking in that there was an equilibrium at 64% for 10 years before it took off in 1995 (And what a jump) And it is an eyeballed mean for the years before.So if we treat the post 1995 surge as a bubble, and we believe that bubbles go down to ~ previous means then one could make a case that we have to lose FOUR PERCENT of total home ownership from the high of the bubble.
That is a lot of houses for sale!
If you mean, who came up with the idea of having to write down the goodwll
I understand why they need "goodwill" for accounting purposes and the need to test for impairment, but as an asset, it makes no sense.
Imagine if how that would work for any other purchase. Say I bought a $1M house for $1.2M. I would have a $1M house and $200K in goodwill?
DOPE,
It's too hard to tell whose asking honest here. Pardon me. I've been as clear as possible.
M.O. needs to review some of my old tussles with ol' Gary. Now those were some good sh*t throwers.
BTW...Memory mounted, cpu mounted, preparing to install Thermaltake toughpower 1200W power supply.
Nostrovia,
Comrade Misean is Dope | 01.09.09 - 3:59 pm | #
I'm getting all misty-eyed with nostalgia
B_R, I left a note for you at the end of the last thread.
Somebody nees work. What a pic ! picture worth a thousand words - shipping - StockTock Social
fwiw, I'm in LA and I just got a $60 month increase for utilities. But I'm in a live/work rental. Live/work apartments don't have the same rental protections that ordinary apartments have.
And you thought live/work just sounded super cool...
"That is a lot of houses for sale!"
plschwartz | 01.09.09 - 5:22 pm | #
I am a believer that we will slightly undershoot. It's why I am looking at renting for another year or two...
Chris
Will a tsunami of cheap and easy credit fix this problem?
up, down, then up, then sideways then down then up,?
Dope Alert | 01.09.09 - 5:21 pm | #
Actually,
up up down down left right left right B A start
The problem with Macy's is not its earnings (yet). Its problem is that it's sitting on a sh*t of debt for its purchase of May's department story. To make matters worse, it may have to write down a significant portion of the goodwill (who the hell came up this idea) from that acquisition, which could make it in technical default of some of its debt covenants.
Cash is king...
Basel Too | 01.09.09 - 5:06 pm | #
Valid concerns- but if this is such a lousy retail environment how come their earnings are only down 20%.
Basel:
The short answer is that the dot-com's ruined accounting for everyone.
There were transactions where goodwill represented like 90% of the value of the company because the only other tangible assets were desk, chairs and computers.
In the old days you just amortized your "purchased" goodwill over 15 years. The goodwill amounts got so out of hand and after the dot-com crash and all that "value" got wiped out, the accountants said "no more of this" and required annual valuations.
"BTW...Memory mounted, cpu mounted, preparing to install Thermaltake toughpower 1200W power supply.
Nostrovia,
Comrade Misean is Dope | 01.09.09 - 3:59 pm | #"
I've recently built a quad core gaming rig if you need any second opinions...
I had not built a system for about 3 years prior and some things changed a bit...especially running power.
I suspect since you've got 6GB ram you'll be running Vista64...good luck.
Though Crysis is beautiful in DX10, as is Bioshock and UT3.
Gary:
Are you mounting a refrigerator on your motherboard? 1200 watt power supply, jeez.....
[preparing to install Thermaltake toughpower 1200W power supply.]
At least you'll be able to turn down your thermostat for the rest of the winter.
JohnF, that's Misean. I am incapable of building such a machine. I'll stick to the xbox.
crazyvermonter writes:
The problem with Macy's is not its earnings (yet). Its problem is that it's sitting on a sh*t of debt for its purchase of May's department story.
Crazyvermonter,
There are only a few broadline retailers. All of them benefit from the demise of the fly-by-night upstarts. { Downtrends hurt, but are cheaper that buyouts ? }
Personally, I've bet a lotta bucks on broadliner's who can't be hurt - if you catch my drift.
I suspect since you've got 6GB ram you'll be running Vista64...good luck.
I heard you need a Cray Supercomputer and 1,000,000 gigs of ram to get Vista running efficiently....
"I find it really funny that the new administration is trying to create millions of jobs when I am constantly seeing useless and nonproductive jobs everywhere. I am certain everyone with a job right now can honestly say that there are a least one or two jobs which are costing their company revenue. This is just waste and excess in so many levels, but I guess this is what the new eCONomy is all about.
Is it just me or do others see this as well?"
IMHO a ton of employment since the 60s has been artificial and supported by government stimulus. Most of it is supported directly or indirectly by the public sectorgummint, health care, public schools, academiabut there was spillover into the private sector as well with layers of management and "professionals" employed as accountants, realtors, insurance agentsyou name it.
The employment bubble supporting the too numerous boomers has burst. I do not see how employment can ever reach the levels it attained over the last 40 years through Federal Reserve and Treasury manipulation. We are on the way to a devalued dollar and perhaps a slow revival in manufacturing if U.S. products across the board can be made competitive on both quality and price so exports can increase. But what this promises for the millions of people who will continue to be un- and underemployed, I have no idea. Will deficit financing and government programs provide employment for the remainder? I doubt it.
Crazyvermonter,
Read balance sheets with care.
Janosik,
"I had not built a system for about 3 years prior and some things changed a bit...especially running power.
I suspect since you've got 6GB ram you'll be running Vista64...good luck."
Yeah Fista 64...GL AND a valium.
Got the Intel i7 965 E, Asus P6T Deluxe, Diamond ATI4870x2 sgb PCIE, 2xVelociraptor hdd, Samsung 25" HD....
I may have to ask lucifer for breeder reactor schematics before I'm done.
Nostrovia,
up up down down left right left right A B A B select start
Gary | 01.09.09 - 5:27 pm | #
Gary how old are you. Too young to know this
I was attached to an F4 unit out of ElToro.
Cobradriver | 01.09.09 - 5:16 pm | #
A-4s here. VMA-214, El Toro.
You can stuff a lot of people into a McMansion.
Derivatives exchange CME Group experienced its eighth consecutive year of record volume in 2008, the company reported Monday.
Overall volume handled by the company, assuming combined CME Group/NYMEX volumes, totaled 3.3 billion contracts and $1.2 quadrillion in notional value.
Daily volume in 2008 averaged 13 million contracts per day, up 4 percent from 2007 on a combined basis.
Markets Media Online - Driven by Content
JohnR(VA) | 01.09.09 - 5:34 pm | #
Everybody keeps comparing current circumstances to 1929. I think a more appropriate period is 1919-1921. The the economy went into the tank because the unsustainable war demand evaporated. Decline in GDP and deflation was as great as 1929-1933. To the extent we are witnessing the evaporation of unsustainable demand it would appear that 1919-1921 is a more appropriate comparison.
Zimbabwe: Several banks have frozen accounts that have balances considered 'suspiciously large'. Agribank froze a number of accounts containing in excess of $1 quadrillion while several other banks set the mark at $3 trillion.
People whose accounts have been frozen will be forced to explain to the bank's satisfaction where the money came from. It is thought that some of the big balances come from an irregular means of currency exchange known as 'money burning'.
"We have frozen those accounts because some people with no jobs at all have huge bank balances and they have to explain where they got the money. It is believed that... those who were behind 'burning money' will be exposed," said one bank manager.
js, esq.(Unrated) writes:
\tAO - if you're still out there, where in MD are you?
\t js, esq. | \t \t \t \t01.09.09 - 5:21 pm |
Somewhere near Crofton
Say I bought a $1M house for $1.2M. I would have a $1M house and $200K in goodwill?
Basel Too | 01.09.09 - 5:22 pm | #
If it were a 'house of ill repute' which was quite popular, maybe so.
crazyvermonter:
FWIW, Macy's same store sales were only down ~4% for December, so a 20% decline in earnings seems about right? The ugly ones were JWN, SKS, and GPS.
Crazyvermonter,
I'm not the brightest here, but I offer you this thought. China cannot afford to have it's host shrivel up and disappear at this point in the evolution of Chinese hope. Short answer - long question.
crazyvermonter writes:
Valid concerns- but if this is such a lousy retail environment how come their earnings are only down 20%.
Creative accounting?
Accounting textbooks should be placed in the fiction section of the library.
Comrade Misean is Dope:
Now the real question...you overclockin'?
I got 3.3 ghz out my 2.4...
1400 FSB out of 1066...
and and extra 100 hz on my memory clock.
Cheers
Real Estate lust will screw you over in any country. This loser used the revenues from his successful software company to buy land!!
Satyam blockbuster: Law of land vs Raju's love of land
New Delhi: What caused Satyam's downfall? What lead Ramalinga Raju, once a gentleman, to turn fraud accused of embezzling Rs 7000 crore?
Murky details now emerging point to his love for land that lead to his undoing. His family has brought close to 6,500 acres of land through Maytas Properties ranking them among India's top 10 landlords.
For their real estate empire they needed money and Satyam, many say, was milked for it. Raju was close to ex-CM Chandrababu Naidu, who paraded him to gain global goodwill for Hyderabad.
Satyam blockbuster: Law of land vs Raju's love of land
Sources said Gono told President Robert Mugabe that Fidelity Printers, the central banks subsidiary which handles printing and minting operations, could no longer cope with churning out the astronomical volumes of notes it was being requested to produce.
He told Cabinet that Fidelitys machines were now too old and frequently broke down, with spares being difficult to source. He said the RBZ would soon be forced to stop printing notes altogether because of the decision by its German suppliers to cut paper supplies.
The RBZ Governor said the situation was also being worsened by the fact that all the money the bank availed to financial institutions quickly disappeared into the informal market where thriving foreign currency exchange deals are rampant.
Some of you guys don't seem to understand that many retail names will disappear. I'm sorry. That's the truth.
"A-4s here. VMA-214, El Toro."
Comrade Terry | 01.09.09 - 5:36 pm |
Terry,
VMFP-3. Worked I level camera repair for H&MS 11. 6476 MOS. The trailers right next to the back gate going to base housing. Lived in the first barracks to the west of the main chowhall. I was there 86-88. Its all gone now,but the fight over the property has been epic.
Chris
Remember one thing, "they" are not making land anymore!
Anonymous writes:
I find it really funny that the new administration is trying to create millions of jobs when I am constantly seeing useless and nonproductive jobs everywhere. I am certain everyone with a job right now can honestly say that there are a least one or two jobs which are costing their company revenue. This is just waste and excess in so many levels, but I guess this is what the new eCONomy is all about.
Is it just me or do others see this as well?
Anonymous | 01.09.09 - 4:01 pm | #
Waste, excess and mis-allocation everywhere alright, but not from any new economy. Rather, what we should expect from an economy artificially demand-stimulated by 4 decades or so of fed credit-binge monetary policy. Car companies only able to make money off of oversized, wasteful SUVs, sold to overpaid, over-financed, wasteful buyers, employed by over-leveraged, wasteful companies - as the biggest example. Congressional/corporate/regulatory/newsmedia manipulation welcomed everyone with a pulse to participate in this doomed credit extravaganza, and attempts by that melange to help the many who will suffer the most is a cruel, concocted charade.
"I'm not the brightest here, but I offer you this thought. China cannot afford to have it's host shrivel up and disappear at this point in the evolution of Chinese hope. Short answer - long question."
Popeye, I hope you're not basing your trading thesis on the words "cannot afford to". "Probably won't", "doesn't want to" are more appropriate.
"Cannot afford to" can easily change to something else once a trade war, political fear-mongering on both sides of the globe, protectionist sentiments etc.. raise their ugly heads. And we are already starting to see all of these start all around the globe.
My wife who grew up in China made the following observations last night over just this sort of discussion.
1) China can and will turn it's guns on it's populace if severe social unrest starts.
2) China can and will dump it's Treasuries and turn inwards as it has many times before if the West pushes them so much that they lose face.
China will not bow down to Western demands based on the above premise, no matter how logical it may be to thos in the West, as part of resolving the current mess.
Gary(Unrated) writes:
B_R, I left a note for you at the end of the last thread.
Gary,
I love the d20 flail, that's great.
This community is wonderfully geeky, it's true. The funniest part are the occasional spates of "we're so cool" from the non-gamer Excel drivers and economists.
Yeah, you golf instead. Woo! I'm not worthy. =)
Crazyvermonter:
I don't know anything about the 1919-21 period of U.S. economic history. I would suggest that whatever funk we're in, it's going to take way longer than two-three years to see an improvement and when we do it will be because we have redefined "improvement."
By the way, are you Bernie Sanders? Now that's a crazy Vermonter!
wheres olive
why break the habit? Its a never ending source of entertainment for yankees. I had a room mate from NYC suburbs in college and my constant stream of y'all and going to town would send him into convulsions.
popeye
I know you made money at least one day. I remember you called the bottom on october 10th.
Citibank Selling to Morgan Stanley...
Jan. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Morgan Stanley is in advanced talks with Citigroup Inc. to form a joint venture that would combine the brokerage units of both banks and give Morgan Stanley a 51 percent stake, said a person familiar with the matter.
An agreement may be announced as soon as Jan. 11.
AO -
Wow, didn't realize things were that bad on that side of the metro area. I live in the District right now, but we're actually meeting with a Realtor tomorrow to look at homes near Rockville. Prices have definitely come down a lot, and I have no illusions that we won't be vastly overpaying what these homes will cost two years from now, but for family reasons, it's time to settle down and stop renting. We're looking on a 10+ year time horizon, so I hope we won't do too badly...
Rememer one thing, every hedge fund that has died was levereged too far to survive. Each hedge fund held a *#@$$$$ lot of money in principle. Multiply that principal times {the leverage you suspect}.
Got a number in your head for that ?? Ok, subtract it from the market, add residual damage.....
Then be smart. The ruling class only wanted better tee times. Catch my drift ?
The ruling class only wanted better tee times. Bet on it.
OK.... 3 martinities.
AO -
Wow, didn't realize things were that bad on that side of the metro area. I live in the District right now, but we're actually meeting with a Realtor tomorrow to look at homes near Rockville. Prices have definitely come down a lot, and I have no illusions that we won't be vastly overpaying what these homes will cost two years from now, but for family reasons, it's time to settle down and stop renting. We're looking on a 10+ year time horizon, so I hope we won't do too badly...
\t js, esq. | \t \t \t \t01.09.09 - 5:56 pm | #
I keep hearing, "It is different here. Prices aren't falling in my neighborhood." I cringe every time. I think we end up 40% off peak which means we end up another 20% down from where we are. All of these people holding on to properties hoping to get more and maybe rent in the mean time are going to draw out the time horizon for home price reductions. We actually had a military family buy a house in August at $100k over what is currently being asked. They are looking at massive losses when it comes time to move again in a few years.
I'm tempted to sell at 10% under what the current market asking price is just to cash out. My wife would never go for it though. Shame I didn't do it $150k ago.
Popeye(Excellent) writes:
OK.... 3 martinities.
Off the wagon already? Damn, son.
Gotta quit to quit. Good luck with it.
Not surprised at Citi/Morgan, they bid together on a lot of stuff
Greetings, fellow doomsters, degenerate gamblers and nightstand cowboy aficianados!
Anyone else watching with amusement the triangulation between Barney Frank, Obama and Paulson?
Franks' gambit of introducing legislation restricting the 2nd tranche of the TARP seems to have Hankenstein checkmated.
Meanwhile, Geithner seems to be cooking up a massive overhaul of the program, giving the money to backstop the muni market and CRE, and Paulson is too busy stealing the silverware from White House to care.
I know you made money at least one day. I remember you called the bottom on october 10th.
black dog
Often beats everytime. On average.
Check out Drudge's headline.
black dog(Unrated) writes:
why break the habit?
No kidding. I'm a hillbilly, don't see why I should be ashamed of it. It won't escape your notice long when you meet me.
Comrade Byzantine_Ruins writes:
Popeye(Excellent) writes:
OK.... 3 martinities.
Off the wagon already? Damn, son.
Gotta quit to quit. Good luck with it
~ Your a good man charlie brown { I know you are smart } and more right than my market calls. I didn't open the Beefeaters until after the market closed. For today, I'll settle for an improvement.
Some of you guys don't seem to understand that many retail names will disappear. I'm sorry. That's the truth.
Popeye:
This is CR I'm on, right?
Ruling class kept a nice handle on '29 too. Sometimes Frankenstein eludes his makers' clutches.
sporkfed(Unrated) writes:
Check out Drudge's headline.
My oh my. This should be charming.
Bush to Ask for Second Tranche of Financial Bailout Funds
If Congress Fails to Approve Request, Administration Will Use Veto Power
Let the last days of looting commence!
Often beats everytime. On average.
Popeye | 01.09.09 - 6:05 pm | #
They say that 50% of the time . . . it works every time.
B_R, I truly enjoy the geek refs that turn up here in comments. It's like panning for gold, every so often there is a brilliant little nugget to be had.
Basel Too writes:
This is CR I'm on, right?
Point taken. Depth perception challenged, but point taken.
The funniest part are the occasional spates of "we're so cool" from the non-gamer Excel drivers and economists.
Comrade Byzantine_Ruins | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 5:54 pm | #
What about the Excel drivin' gaming economists?!
Wow, I am shocked. I have to say though, this story (if true) is a fitting end to the Bush administration.
No regard for Congress, no math skills. Completely inept.
You see, I've actually read the TARP legislation, and it is clear that Congress has 15 calendar days to schedule a vote AFTER the treasury dept writes a report, and the president formally notifies the Speaker of the House with a letter.
Unfortunately for Bush (or perhaps the reporters at the WaPost), there is this little problem called arithmetic. Making the wild assumption that they do this over the weekend, that would be Jan 10. 10 + 15 = 25.
Congress can simply run the clock out on this bastard.
And with next week's Senate calendar already full with confirmation hearings, you can be sure they will.
This is Obama's call.
i was kidding about the martini's... I'm not stupid.
This is Obama's call.
central_scrutinizer | 01.09.09 - 6:15 pm | #
Yup. The game is over for Bush. All he can do is obstruct until 1/20. that and continue to plant saboteurs in career positions. At this point even his rulemaking authority is severely diminished.
He has no power left but to gum up the works until 1/20.
Popeye(Excellent) writes:
Your a good man charlie brown { I know you are smart } and more right than my market calls.
I might be good. Definitely too smart for my own good. Dunno about righter than your market calls -- I'm good at the things I'm good at. Other stuff, not so much. Thank you for the flattery.
I didn't open the Beefeaters until after the market closed. For today, I'll settle for an improvement.
What's good enough for you is good enough for me. I'm not here to judge you. I'm sure you're well aware it is an unhealthy habit. I'm certainly well aware of it.
One other thing ... Congress doesn't even have to schedule a vote. All they need to do is wait for 15 days to pass, then the money will be released, but it'll be after the inauguration and Paulson and Bush will be unemployed. Obama and Geithner will be in control.
Congress is going to really bitch slap Bush on this one.
Puzzling story if true ... if Paulson really wanted to be diabolical he should have requested the money on Jan 2, thus forcing a vote next week.
"Bush to Ask for Second Tranche of Financial Bailout Funds"
Oh NO! The markets were red a coupla days this week. Need to act - FAST. More looting needed ASAP!
From the WPost on Bailout Tranche 2:
Bush Prepares Request for Rest Of Bailout Funds - washingtonpost.com
The initiative, which is being coordinated with the Obama transition team, may be taken within days, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made.
JimPortlandOR(Unrated) writes:
\tare those early teen boys and girls in Thailand will be out of work without the sex trade....
\t JimPortlandOR | \t \t \t \t01.09.09 - 4:15 pm | #
JimPortlandOR | 01.09.09 - 4:15 pm | #
Doubt it. Why do you think they call it the oldest profession?
I guess Paulson read Whitney's report
Central_scrutinizer:
I think Bush can add 15 days...
Believe it or not, but from the WaPo story, it seems that Bush is trying to take one for the team. There's a compromise somewhere behind the scenes; that's the only way this makes sense.
The initiative, which is being coordinated with the Obama transition team, may be taken within days, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made....
There have been discussions between the administration and the transition about how to proceed should the president-elect determine that he wants to have those funds available on January 20th," said Robert Gibbs, spokesman for the Obama transition team.
Comrade Byzantine_Ruins,
Well and courtiously said. If I can be of service, you need merely ask.
my poor savings account writes:
is there anything Bush didn't destroy during his tenure?
my poor savings account | 01.09.09 - 4:29 pm | #
His sense of entitlement -
The initiative, which is being coordinated with the Obama transition team
Meaningless. Congress (not Obama) has the power to deny a vote by simply not scheduling one.
They'd be abject fools to do so, unless they have the 2/3rds to override, because they can easily make certain Obama and Geithner and not Paulson get to decide how the money is spent.
Giving such power to a lame duck administration literally hours before they fly off to Andrews AFB will not happen.
Comrade Byzantine_Ruins(Very Good) writes:
\tblack dog(Unrated) writes:
why break the habit?
No kidding. I'm a hillbilly, don't see why I should be ashamed of it. It won't escape your notice long when you meet me.
| \t01.09.09 - 6:08 pm | #
\t Comrade Byzantine_Ruins | \t \t \tHomepage
Comrade Byzantine_Ruins | Homepage | 01.09.09 - 6:08 pm | #
Where ya' from, boy?