Intravenous Finance

Governments around the globe launched aggressive schemes with speed induced by shear panic over the weekend in order to stop the global financial meltdown. Central banks in Europe and America will now guarantee a veritable stew of rotten bank loans and governments will purchase equity stakes in many of these retched and limping debt-peddling institutions.
The [...]

Odious Solicitations

I received a large beige envelope that was sent from a P.O.
box located somewhere in Richmond, Virginia- how mysterious!
The bland-looking package didn’t have the screaming signals
that it was junk/solicitation mail, so it made the cut and landed
on the kitchen table.

Get out the Bubbly?- by Greg Strid

Sales of existing homes and condos increased 2.9 percent
to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.03 million,
crawling past the 4.85 million low-ball concensus estimate
from America’s practitioners of the dismal science- sometimes
known as economists. So, is it time to bring out the bubbly?
This marks the strongest showing for existing home sales
since last October. But, sales are [...]

The credit bubble blew up in ‘05

Sales of new homes fell 2.8 percent from December’s levels, and the median price of an American castle dipped to $215,000, which amounts to a 15 percent decline from year ago levels. I am actually tired of writing about the continuing dismal saga that is this nation’s housing market.
I wrote a rather long-winded essay in [...]

2007: Naughty Banks Spanked- by Greg Strid

The meltdown in the market for subprime mortgage
securities is fast unraveling into a banking crisis that
threatens to drag the American economy into recession.
During the final stretch of the greatest housing bubble
in American history, financial institutions were tripping
over themselves to extend excessive amounts of credit
to prospective buyers that were lacking in both
qualification and responsibility.
No document loans, [...]

Banana Nation- by Greg Strid

Apparently, the United States is bent on achieving
third world investment grade status. This nation
already sports a trade deficit that would normally
cause the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to
handcuff the government’s fiscal policy. If we were
not a founding member of this institution, it would
probably force our inept leaders to increase taxes
and reduce spending (we might even have [...]

Deal of the Century- By Greg Strid

I read a distressing tale in the Star Ledger yesterday.
The article discussed the price-slashing that Red Bank,
New Jersey-based homebuilder Hovnanian engaged in
during its “Deal of the Century” blow-out sale in October.
It is common knowledge that the real estate market is
in a slump, and Hovnanian slashed prices on its cavernous
homes by as much as $100,000 to [...]

Uncle Sam’s Credit Brothel- by Greg Strid

The State of Housing- by Greg Strid

Housing starts clocked in at an annual rate of
1.474 million in May, down from 1.506 million
in April. And, this compares to a rate of 2.292
million at the peak of the construction boom in
January of 2006. That equates to a drop of 36%.
But, many in the investment community still
cling to the belief that the worst news [...]

A trip to Financial Wonderland- by Greg Strid

A trip to Financial Wonderland
On a recent, sunny Monday morning, I rose early to
hear the familiar rumblings that have come to
define the AM hours on Jersey City’s Coles St;
the steady drone of vehicular traffic, and random,
booming car stereos- followed by the car alarms that
they inevitably trigger.
I was determined to set up a business bank account.
I [...]