About Me 0089

Thursday, January 6, 2011

foreclosure sales

Amherst Securities, whose mortgage research is well respected, published a new article on Monday which gives a sobering reading of the prospects for the housing market. It gives a detailed analysis of default rates among performing and non-performing mortgages, and concludes that the outlook is far worse than most investors assume.

The big source of risk is what they call the “non-agency” market, which is often called the “private label” market. They’ve argued in the past that 11.5 million homeowners are at risk of losing their residences. They contend that where other analysts and investors are missing the boat is by focusing primarily on loans that are already in trouble. Loans that have always been current but where the borrower has significant negative equity also have a reasonable risk of default.

Amherst Mortgage Insight January 3, 2011

One caveat about this report: it notes that once a borrower gets in arrears, the odds of the loan getting back on track, even with a mod, are low. Note that this is an indictment of the current way mods are done rather than mods in general. As Adam Levitin and Tara Twomey point out in a recent paper:

…servicers‘ compensation structures encourage them to stretch out defaults, but not too long. In other words, servicers want to keep borrowers in a default ―sweatbox to collect late fees and other junk fees, but only until the profit maximizing point. This may explain why servicers often do not vigorously pursue foreclosure at first, but instead allow foreclosure filings to lapse or defaults to linger for a year or more.

After hitting the profit-maximizing point on the cumulative net income curve (or more precisely, just before hitting it), the profit-maximizing servicer should want to foreclose and sell the property as quickly as possible before its cumulative income is eaten away by the rising cost of making servicing advances. Servicers are therefore incentivized to engage in quick foreclosure sales and REO sales, even at low prices, because they are indifferent to the amount of the sale proceeds due to the seniority of their claim while they are sensitive to the speed of the sale.

In addition, many so-called mods are mere payment catch up plans (and some require the borrower to make higher-than-normal payments). Servicers very rarely offer deep principal mods, even though that would be a win-win for the borrower and virtually all bond investors. The so-called “permanent mods” under HAMP were a mere kick-the-can-down-the-road strategy of five year payment reductions, with the shortfall typically added to principal. Why should a borrower try hard to save his house if even after his effort, he still faces a big loss upon resale?

Until investors and policymakers get out of denial and start to consider ways to cut the Gordian knot of the housing crisis, mounting foreclosures will exact a large toll on families and communities.

Nov Existing Home Sales totaled 4.68mm annualized, below expectations of 4.75mm. With the foreclosure disruption hitting in late Sept, Nov closings were likely influenced by this but it’s still the best level of sales since June and up from 4.43mm in Oct. All regions saw a rise and the gain was led solely by the single family sector. Distressed sales made up 33% of sales, in line with prior months but that may be impacted in the months ahead because of the foreclosure delays. Months supply fell to 9.5 from 10.5, the lowest since June but still remains well above a healthy level of 6 mo’s and some speculate that including shadow inventory, the level is more like 2 yrs. The listed # of homes for sale was 3.71mm, an 8 month low. The median price rose .4% y/o/y. Bottom line, while encouraging that sales are bouncing, they are still near levels last seen in 1997 with a lot more inventory ahead to plough through.

surface encounters surface encounters rock tops

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

In talking about the Dallas Morning News' plans to begin charging for digital content next month, Jim Moroney is surprisingly candid about the decision and the economics of the industry. When the publisher of the News told his staff ...

surface encounters macomb surface encounters noblesville

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters michigan surface encounters noblesville

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters rock tops surface encounters michigan

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters rock tops
surface encounters rock tops

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters rock tops
surface encounters rock tops

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters macomb mi
surface encounters macomb mi

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters
surface encounters macomb

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters
surface encounters macomb mi

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters
surface encounters rock tops
surface encounters macomb mi

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters macomb
surface encounters macomb

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters macomb
surface encounters noblesville

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters noblesville
surface encounters

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters michigan
surface encounters michigan

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters rock tops
surface encounters macomb

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters rock tops
surface encounters rock tops

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters noblesville
surface encounters rock tops

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters rock tops
surface encounters

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters macomb
surface encounters michigan

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters macomb mi
surface encounters rock tops

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/6 - Arrowhead Pride

Good morning Chiefs fans! Here's today's Kansas City Chiefs news. Enjoy!

Dallas Morning News publisher on paywall plans: “This is a big ...

surface encounters noblesville

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Making Money Secrets

"The best part of blogging is the people you will meet"- Hugh MacLeod repeating wisdom from Loic Lemeur to me at the Big Pink at 2 am in South Beach after the Future of Web Apps 2008.

If you asked me to tell you a list of three of the best decisions in my life, I can certainly tell you that regularly writing is one of them. It's the reason I'm an author here at OnStartups, made many new friends, had interesting opportunities cross my radar, and most importantly had the chance to share knowledge that has helped other entrepreneurs.

Why You Should Write

You Will Meet Other Smart People

Writing has allowed me to meet a slew of smart people. Some of these people are now virtual acquaintances and some are very close friends on a personal and professional level. Each article that you publish is a synthesized thought process that may click with other entrepreneurs instantly. Have you ever had a feeling when reading an article that "Wow, they are thinking exactly what I'm thinking"?

By writing, you are likely to encounter a handful of people that experience the same thing. Occasionally one of those people will reach out to you via email or bump into you at an event. You might make a new acquaintance, a new co-founder for the future, potential investor, hire,etc. At the end of the day, being an entrepreneur is about finding other smart (hopefully smarter) people to collaborate with and writing frequently helps make this happen.

Example: I ended up becoming a writer here at OnStartups due to my own writing. A year ago, I put out an article called "Disruption and My Next Startup". This is how I first met David Skok from Matrix Partners. David later introduced me to Dharmesh, who has become a good friend since moving to Boston. After talking about all things entrepreneurial, we realized we both had the same altruistic goals with writing: to meet other smart people and help share the lessons we've learned. Small piece of trivia: OnStartups was started in 2005 on Dharmesh's birthday. I joined OnStartups on my birthday this year (September 8th).

Your Experiences Will Provide Insightful Knowledge To Other Entrepreneurs

Every entrepreneur has been through many of the same yet different experiences. We find co-founders, we all work at building a product/service, we all try to get customers, etc. Even though we're doing the same thing at a high-level, we all have different experiences. We may have found great co-founders, built a great product, but fail to acquire customers. Each entrepreneur+startup mix is a unique permutation that varies from the rest of the world, hence providing a snowflake of experience. Through writing you can not only help share your successes, but also the pitfalls that lead to your failures. There's no magic bullet to entrepreneurship, but the wealth of writing from experienced entrepreneurs out there such as Paul Graham, Dharmesh here at OnStartups, Jason Fried and Joel Spolsky have prevented young entrepreneurs from making mistakes that they might have made otherwise. Open source technology has helped entrepreneurs get started immediately with no capital while significantly reducing risk (you would have to raise a large amount of capital to launch anything with lines of code behind it a decade ago). I believe open source knowledge on entrepreneurship can help do the same when it comes to the business side of things. Getting as many entrepreneurs writing + sharing their insight is the very first start of this.

You Will Establish Domain Expertise

Every person is an expert in their own right at something. It might be user interface design, coding, leadership, raising money, investing, etc. By writing you get a chance to establish that domain expertise by sharing it with the world. Don't worry about people stealing your secret sauce either. Famous chefs share their secrets and hints all the time without fear that it will cause their demise.

It Helps Build Dedication

Writing on a regular schedule takes a lot of discipline, just like going to the gym or practicing a new martial art. Nothing happens overnight, including building an audience and becoming a good writer. Like most things in life, writing takes time and strong dedication. Unwavering dedication is a valuable skill in startups that many seem to forget. If you keep yourself dedicated to writing on a consistent schedule, those important values will carry over to other facets of life including startups.

Your Communication Skills Will Get Exponentially Better

It takes a lot of work to become a great communicator as an entrepreneur. You have to break down complex problems, very technical solutions, and intricate details into soundbites that flow logically. By writing, you develop the ability to communicate more clearly to an audience of many, by providing a logical argument with a unique angle to your position. In some ways, you've been learning this skill your entire life through schooling, but writing as an entrepreneur in a public medium is something completely different. Through schooling you write for an audience of 1-2 people. Those people will usually judge you based not upon the content, but whether you agreed with their point of view. Writing as an entrepreneur in a public medium puts you in the spotlight of tens of thousands to millions of unique readers. If your writing isn't cohesive, there are many that can call you out. I had some rough professors throughout my undergrad years, but no one will call you out like internet commenters, many of which may be trolls. By the third article, you start to subconsciously think "Is this cohesive/does it make sense?" as a gut reaction when writing in order to avoid negative feedback.

You Will Build An Audience That Will Give You Candid Feedback

If you're really lucky, you will start to build an audience that isn't full of trolls, but that consists of those that are genuine and honest. They may give you negative feedback, but it will be candid+honest. Don't just look at the number of re-tweets on an article, look at the articles that get the audience to participate. You will eventually find a groove of what your audience enjoys and what they consider good writing. Try to reply to every comment as well, even if it is a simple "Thank you."

It Is A Rapid Accelerator Of Serendipity

Startups are certainly impacted by luck, but I believe they are impacted just as much by serendipity. You never know who knows who or who you may run into at an event. By putting yourself out there and making yourself open to meeting as many people as possible, serendipity is much more likely to happen. Once you have even a minor audience, you are now likely to experience the effects of serendipity. One article might reach 500 or 50,000 people in a short span of time. Remember that we live in a world where content/information travels faster than ever before. Out of those 50,000 people, you never know who might be reading, who might reach out to you, or who might leave a comment. I can tell you this: The majority of good things that have happened to me in business can be traced back to my writing.

9 Tips How To Get Started

Many think that writing is as simple as registering for a Wordpress/Tumblr/Posterous account and all of a sudden they're the next Seth Godin. Just like anything in life, it takes time, practice, and finding the formula that works well for you. I started writing almost 2 years ago, but didn't get into it seriously until approximately 3-4 months ago. Here's a list of some of the things that I've learned along the way that will hopefully be useful food for thought.

1. Keep It Simple And Worry About The Aesthetics Later On

Sign-up for Posterous, Tumblr, or Wordpress. If you really want to customize things later on, host your own Wordpress install. Find a good, simple/basic theme, set up some basic settings + SEO, and get to the races with writing. Try to use your own name as the domain name. If you have a popular first+last name combo and can't own your exact name, try to get something similar. Last, but not least, try to have a picture of yourself somewhere on the site. It's good to put a face to your writing and this will help people identify with you when meeting up in person. Besides the simple stuff above, just start writing. Insightful content is king and that's where you should be focusing your efforts.

2. Define A Specific Audience To Write To

As you'll see in this link, which is also listed below, John Gruber writes for a specific audience- himself. You can further narrow down John Gruber as an apple fanboy who is geeky and educated. When writing I try to do the same thing. I write every article as if I owned a time machine and could mail myself letters five years ago when I was first getting started. To be honest, I still don't really know anything, but back then I knew absolutely nothing at all. Everytime I'm in the midst of an article, before completing it, I ask myself: "Would this have been useful to me five years ago?" If I say "No", then I stop writing, and possibly come back to it later to re-evaluate things if a new approach to the article comes up. Find your audience, that one exact ideal person, and write to them every time.

3. Set a regular routine

I get one article out every week and try to stay to that schedule regardless of what else is going on. I put it in line with working out everyday. It either gets done or not done. Sure the world won't end, if you miss a week, but that's not the point. It's about building dedication and putting something fresh out. I do all my writing on Sundays, edit throughout the week, and then release the articles when I have time to deal with comments/promote the article. The downside to this is writer's block or feeling like you have to write for the sake of just writing. I stray away from this by breaking things up into chunks and sections.

4. Don't Force It

Whatever you do: Do Not Force An Article. Set your schedule loose enough that you can get something out the door on time, but don't wait until the last second. Spend a lot of time thinking about your articles before hand. Most of my articles are formed before I write a single word in textmate. While I run, spend time on the T, and shower I usually think through the logic of articles. By doing this, you're not looking at writing an article like it's a high-school essay. It will flow naturally and won't be forced.

5. Initially Share With Close Entrepreneurial Friends

In the beginning there is a good chance you won't have a large readership, but that's okay. Send the article to close friends in the entrepreneurial community and just ask for some basic feedback. If they like it, ask them if they can share it with others. Also start sharing with other communities that you may be a part of, such as the one here at OnStartups or Hacker News.

6. Watch Your Analytics

Check to see where most of your traffic is coming from and double down on those avenues. Also pay attention to direct traffic sources. This means that people are either emailing your article around, sharing via instant messenger, or actually going to the URL directly. Also look at which articles ultimately become most popular with readers. Over time you will start to understand what your audience likes (ie- entrepreneurial advice, tech insights, interviews with other entrepreneurs, current event analysis, etc.)

7. Have a main topic + supporting points to avoid rambling

Each and every one of my articles has the same general format. Position/Argument usually found in the title, opening paragraph, supporting H2 tags, and then a closing paragraph. It might get repetitive over time, but it allows me to form arguments clearly + segment things out well enough into chunks.

8. No linkbait, just "thoughtbait"

I don't get into flamewars or write linkbait. It may work very well for some entrepreneurs to get recognition and increase pageviews, but it shouldn't be about that. It should be about sharing your knowledge and hopefully educating your reader. I like to write what I call "thoughtbait". A reader should come away with actionable knowledge that makes them think "I need to try this" or "I'm pumped up to get something done". Readers should also be sharing the link to help others gain the same knowledge as well.

9. Make Yourself Easy To Reach

Last , but not least, make yourself approachable and very easy to reach. Put your email addresss up, Twitter account up, and possibly your phone number. Robert Scoble still has the same phone number from when he first got started, and will still pick up/respond to texts. It may seem like a burden, but it's not. If you want to meet as many smart people as possible, you need to make yourself approachable and easy to be contacted. I get multiple emails a week from readers or people saying "thank you" re: my articles. This is one of the most rewarding things I've ever experienced. Great part is this: You can start experiencing it too. The goal of this article isn't just to inform and educate, but to hopefully start a movement to get as many entrepreneurs as possible to start writing. Whether you are a novice or a seasoned startup veteran, writing will not only benefit you, but it will benefit those who need your knowledge. If you start writing or already write insightful pieces about your experiences, please drop me an email: j@jasonlbaptiste.com . I'm certainly going to start compiling the list as it grows and will share it. One of my first additions was my buddy Wayne , who founded i2hub.

Here are some other useful resources on the topic:

Spencer Fry- http://spencerfry.com/on-writing

Marco Arment- http://www.marco.org/691438863

Interview With John Gruber On Writing- http://shawnblanc.net/2008/02/interview-john-gruber/

So, are you convinced you should be writing -- or writing more? If you're convinced, what will it take to get you to do it? If you've already been writing, have you found it to be useful? Would love to hear your stories and experiences.

This post originally appeared on OnStartups.com.

Is there anything these Jersey Shore kids can’t do? I watched Barbara Walters’ “10 Most Fascinating People” show hoping to get some decent quotes from Sandra Bullock, who wasn’t even interviewed. Instead, I was treated to an interview with the Jersey Shore gang in which they defended themselves to Barbara and then defined their stupid insider words, like “Smush,” “Grenade” and “GTL.”

That segment also revealed the many ways that these kids are raking in the big bucks. Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino earned $10 million this year, not just 5 as previously reported, from his endorsement deals and iPod app. J-Woww has a tanning line out and a clothing line, and now there’s news that she has her own book coming out on “dating.” This is from the girl who slept with Pauly, but I guess of all the Jersey Shore women she’s had the least hookups in the house. (See diagram below, although I don’t watch this show to properly judge.) Anyway I fail to see how she’s qualified to put out a dating book, but I guess that doesn’t matter when it comes to making money.

Jenni “JWoww” Farley announced on her Facebook page this weekend that she, too, is throwing her hat into the writing ring to become a woman of letters. According to Farley, The Rules According to JWoww will offer “a new spin on the dos and don’ts of dating, from ’smushing’ guys to avoiding booty calls to finding the guy of your dreams.” Rife with “empowering advice for a new generation of self-assured young women,” the book will offer “shore-tested secrets on landing a mint guy, staying fresh to death, and kicking the competition to the curb.”

The dating guide, which will be published by HarperCollins imprint William Morrow, goes on sale February 8, 2011.

[From Celebuzz]

The book is being released just in time for Valentine’s day, when all the single girls with aspirations of being like J-Woww can get wasted and get their fake tits out to land the “guy of their dreams.” I’m sure he’s heavily bronzed, roided up, and has his own special language with his buddies through which he puts down all the women stupid enough to put out for him.

Update: here are more photos of Jenni on Halloween. Credit: PRPhotos

free rental agreement forms

Dallas Morning News Trying To Get Freeloading Readers To Pay Up ...

Pay walls haven't seen much success in the world of traditional media, but the Dallas Morning News is trying its hand at the brick and mortar. The newspaper will allow its print subscribers to view all content online, and will partition ...

Fujifilm unveils Finepix HS20 EXR advanced superzoom: Digital ...

Fujifilm unveils Finepix HS20 EXR advanced superzoom: Pre-CES 2011: Fujifilm has unveiled the Finepix HS20EXR advanced superzoom. Replacing the company's HS10, its comes with a 16Mp EXR CMOS sensor and 460K dot 3.0" LCD rather than its ...

Victoria Kolakowski: 5 Facts About America's First Transgender ...

Sworn in on Tuesday, Victoria Kolakowski became the country's first transgender trial judge. Surge Desk takes a look at her career and life accomplishments.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

personal finance budgets

Intuit-owned Mint.com is heading to schools today with the launch of a free, online program designed to educate middle-school students about personal finance and financial management.

Mint has partnered with educational publisher Scholastic to develop materials that parents and teachers can use to teach children the ins and outs of personal finance management. The materials includes lesson plans as well as an interactive game, to teach children money management, budgeting and goals.

For example, the program teaches children the concept of compound interest with real-life math problems, and encourages children to set goals and budgets with their own current work opportunities (i.e. babysitting).

Mint says the curriculum will be expanded to 30,000 classrooms nationwide early next year. Considering the state of the economy and credit, teaching children financial literacy and sounds personal finance practices at an early edge is an incredibly important initiative. In terms of branding, this is a big win for Mint, which can start building awareness of its tools among students at an early age.

So thinking about starting 2011 with a new and fresh finance app for your new and fresh WP7 device?

You have the chance now! moBudget has just been released for Windows Phone 7.

moBudget is a user friendly budgeting and expense tracking application. It will help you drive and organize both your personal income and outcome budgeting. By doing so, moBudget will also hint you about possible budgeting and money saving opportunities. Its main screen features a summarized dashboard with a set of intelligent indicators which will tell you how you are doing depending on your budgets and on the current date.

Forget about grabbing a calculator each time you need to get any numbers or if worried about making it to the end of the month or not; moBudget will tell you all: what you have, what you will have, what you owe and more. It will either inform, alert or advice you when needed so you don’t need to worry.

By allowing stepping through months, allows you to whether look back to see how you did on previous months or how you will be doing in the upcoming months, so you can fine tune your budgets to the optimal.

Take it with you, record your data and you will see how money won’t cause you a headache anymore!

More after the break.

Key features

Today Hub featuring a main dashboard with intelligent indicators

Upcoming and overdue payments, incomes, bills

Color-based and snapshot styled budget bar graphs for easy reading

Easy and fast input for tracking either expenses, incomes or transfer between accounts

Budget adjustment helper

Actual balance and budget balance adhoc *

Accounts and credit cards usage recording *

Cash flow bar graphs and out of funds predictions *

Credit card payment estimations and warnings

Can create future operations and recurrent operations

Multi currency support

Easy month back and forth navigation

Account balances reconcilation

Password protection in two ways (partial and complete)

Encrypted backups

More…!

* Estimated. Does not pull your bank information, however you can sync balances up to a specific date and moBudget will estimate the current and future balance and cash flow according to the data you register day to day.

Screenshots

So give it a try! App has a 15 day free trial period and currently is at 50% sale for Christmas.

– or- direct download link for Zune.

robert shumake detroit

Apple's iOS market share tops Android, RIM | Apple - CNET News

iOS is leading Google's Android and RIM's BlackBerry operating system in U.S. market share, but Nielsen says the race may be to close to call. Read this blog post by Jim Dalrymple on Apple.

CNN's John Roberts Joining Fox News | John Roberts | Mediaite

CNN's John Roberts is expected to join FOX News Channel as a senior national correspondent based in Atlanta and will be reporting on major domestic and international stories for the network. Roberts came up the ranks of CBS News, ...

Nike Air Max LeBron Soldier V – Upcoming Colorways | SneakerNews.com

Continue reading for a complete look at the upcoming colorways of the Air Max LeBron Soldier V and stick with Sneaker News for more updated information on all Nike LeBron shoes. via CK. Nike Air Max LeBron Soldier V – Upcoming Colorways ...

robert shumake

Apple's iOS market share tops Android, RIM | Apple - CNET News

iOS is leading Google's Android and RIM's BlackBerry operating system in U.S. market share, but Nielsen says the race may be to close to call. Read this blog post by Jim Dalrymple on Apple.

CNN's John Roberts Joining Fox News | John Roberts | Mediaite

Nike Air Max LeBron Soldier V – Upcoming Colorways | SneakerNews.com

robert shumake detroit

Intuit-owned Mint.com is heading to schools today with the launch of a free, online program designed to educate middle-school students about personal finance and financial management.

So thinking about starting 2011 with a new and fresh finance app for your new and fresh WP7 device?

You have the chance now! moBudget has just been released for Windows Phone 7.

Take it with you, record your data and you will see how money won’t cause you a headache anymore!

More after the break.

Key features

Today Hub featuring a main dashboard with intelligent indicators

Upcoming and overdue payments, incomes, bills

Color-based and snapshot styled budget bar graphs for easy reading

Easy and fast input for tracking either expenses, incomes or transfer between accounts

Budget adjustment helper

Actual balance and budget balance adhoc *

Accounts and credit cards usage recording *

Cash flow bar graphs and out of funds predictions *

Credit card payment estimations and warnings

Can create future operations and recurrent operations

Multi currency support

Easy month back and forth navigation

Account balances reconcilation

Password protection in two ways (partial and complete)

Encrypted backups

More…!

Screenshots

So give it a try! App has a 15 day free trial period and currently is at 50% sale for Christmas.

– or- direct download link for Zune.

robert shumake

Apple's iOS market share tops Android, RIM | Apple - CNET News

iOS is leading Google's Android and RIM's BlackBerry operating system in U.S. market share, but Nielsen says the race may be to close to call. Read this blog post by Jim Dalrymple on Apple.

CNN's John Roberts Joining Fox News | John Roberts | Mediaite

Nike Air Max LeBron Soldier V – Upcoming Colorways | SneakerNews.com

robert shumake

Apple's iOS market share tops Android, RIM | Apple - CNET News

iOS is leading Google's Android and RIM's BlackBerry operating system in U.S. market share, but Nielsen says the race may be to close to call. Read this blog post by Jim Dalrymple on Apple.

CNN's John Roberts Joining Fox News | John Roberts | Mediaite

Nike Air Max LeBron Soldier V – Upcoming Colorways | SneakerNews.com

robert shumake detroit

Several million Americans including my self frequently listen to a radio show from 1 to 4 PM Eastern in the afternoon. Unlike most political and sports talk shows, this is actually a show about you, me and everyone else. The Dave Ramsey show discusses topics of personal finance largely, but also extends to other areas of life. Every now and then the show has "theme hours" in which they accept calls on a particular topic, such as college, automobiles, the minimum wage, giving, and tipping.

One of the more popular theme hours is that of marriage and money. It's no surprise that married couples are arguing about money, usually one person is a saver, and the other is a spender. Usually one is a nerd who budgets down to every last penny, and the other is a free spirit who just pays for things as they come in. One interesting thing that most callers in this theme hour have in common is that when they refer to their financial situation, they refer to their assets and debts as "his" and "hers". For example, a woman recently called in and the husband wanted to use some of "her" income to pay off "his" student loan. These people have some issues.

When you get married, the pastor or priest will declare "and now you are one." He doesn't say, "And now you are a joint venture" or "and now you are one, except when it comes to money." You and your spouse are two halves of one whole. The second you get married, everything that is yours is your spouses. Yes, this includes savings, debt, income, and the like.

Too many couples attempt to operate separately with money. Some couples just have separate checking accounts, others even have completely separate financial lives and just split the bills fifty-fifty. This is not how marriage works. Marriage is a holy institution designed by God for us, we don't get to change the rules in the middle of the game. There are several references in the bible which state that when a couple is married, they are one, not two.

Couples who separate their financial lives often have much deeper issues of trust in their life. If they cannot trust their spouse with their money, who can they trust?

We need to quit referring to our stuff as "mine" and "hers", it's ours. "We" have an income, "we" have debt, and "we" have a retirement program.

robert shumake detroit

Apple's iOS market share tops Android, RIM | Apple - CNET News

iOS is leading Google's Android and RIM's BlackBerry operating system in U.S. market share, but Nielsen says the race may be to close to call. Read this blog post by Jim Dalrymple on Apple.

CNN's John Roberts Joining Fox News | John Roberts | Mediaite

Nike Air Max LeBron Soldier V – Upcoming Colorways | SneakerNews.com

robert shumake

robert shumake detroit

Intuit-owned Mint.com is heading to schools today with the launch of a free, online program designed to educate middle-school students about personal finance and financial management.

So thinking about starting 2011 with a new and fresh finance app for your new and fresh WP7 device?

You have the chance now! moBudget has just been released for Windows Phone 7.

Take it with you, record your data and you will see how money won’t cause you a headache anymore!

More after the break.

Key features

Today Hub featuring a main dashboard with intelligent indicators

Upcoming and overdue payments, incomes, bills

Color-based and snapshot styled budget bar graphs for easy reading

Easy and fast input for tracking either expenses, incomes or transfer between accounts

Budget adjustment helper

Actual balance and budget balance adhoc *

Accounts and credit cards usage recording *

Cash flow bar graphs and out of funds predictions *

Credit card payment estimations and warnings

Can create future operations and recurrent operations

Multi currency support

Easy month back and forth navigation

Account balances reconcilation

Password protection in two ways (partial and complete)

Encrypted backups

More…!

Screenshots

So give it a try! App has a 15 day free trial period and currently is at 50% sale for Christmas.

– or- direct download link for Zune.

robert shumake detroit

Apple's iOS market share tops Android, RIM | Apple - CNET News

iOS is leading Google's Android and RIM's BlackBerry operating system in U.S. market share, but Nielsen says the race may be to close to call. Read this blog post by Jim Dalrymple on Apple.

CNN's John Roberts Joining Fox News | John Roberts | Mediaite

Nike Air Max LeBron Soldier V – Upcoming Colorways | SneakerNews.com

robert shumake detroit

robert shumake

Thursday, December 30, 2010

personal finance

9 fast fixes for your credit scores [MSN Money] "If your credit scores are below 760, you may not be getting the best rates for loans or insurance — so burnishing your scores can save you money."

3 New Ways to Save on Gas [Smart Money] "SmartMoney looked at three popular ways to get fuel on the cheap — and their potential savings and pitfalls."

New Year's Resolutions: 7 for Your Money [Money Watch] "Here are seven money resolutions that can improve your mind, spirit and bank account."

Side Income: Is It a Hobby or a Business? [Money Under 30] "Almost everyone partakes in some sort of hobby without worrying about whether it will generate income. However, as soon as you take steps to attempt to generate a profit you've got a business on your hands."

6 Simple Ways to Safeguard Against Bank Bullying [Wise Bread] "The joy of using the system against the banks? Priceless."

— FREE MONEY FINANCE

J.D. Roth, over at Get Rich Slowly, suggests that many of us have spending habits that aren't really in line with our goals. To find out if that's the case for you, Roth suggests the following steps:

Quickly—without thinking too much—write down all the things that are important to you and that you want in life.

Analyze your spending records over the past year by category. (You can do this easily in Mint, QuickBooks, or pretty much any financial software you may be using. You can also just take a look at what you own if you're not tracking your finances.)

Compare the two lists.

If the two lists line up, you're probably spending the way you ought to. If they don't, you may want to consider ways to spend your money in other categories that will help you meet your goals. Every time you consider buying something, just ask yourself if it's in line with what really matters to you. That can make the decision much easier.

Does Your Spending Match Your Values? | Get Rich Slowly

Kidney Donation Set as Condition of Miss. Sisters - AOL News

Gov. Haley Barbour has pardoned Gladys and Jamie Scott, who were each serving life sentences for an $11 armed robbery. But to be released, Gladys, 36, must donate a kidney to her 38-year-old sister, Jamie, who requires dialysis and ...

Geraldine Hoff Doyle, Inspiration Behind 'We Can Do It!' Poster ...

Geraldine Hoff Doyle, the woman whose face inspired the famous.

Small Business News: Small Biz Tech Primer

Technology is vastly changing the scope and reach of small business not only in the world of marketing but in all aspects of operating your venture. From tech.

surface encounters review surface encounters complaints surface encounters surface encounters surface encounters surface encounters surface encounters surface encounters review surface encounters complaints surface encounters review surface encounters complaints surface encounters complaints surface encounters review surface encounters complaints surface encounters surface encounters rock tops surface encounters

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

foreclosure list

@rebdav

You're against fractional reserve banking? Really? And you have your Master's in Finance?

Here are the broad steps of how a deposit taking bank works.

1) A depositer places money in the bank, earning an interest rate for doing so.

2) The bank lends the money to a borrower, earning a higher interest rate for doing so.

At this point, the bank has both an asset (the loan) and a liability (the deposit) on its books. They cancel each other out and the bank's true income comes from the difference in interest rates.

When you speak to 'free money creation' I presume you refer to the money-multiplier effect:(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_multiplier).

I think it is important to note that no new wealth is being created - the money supply is simply being expanded beyond the constraints of currency, allowing for more economic activity. This is a good thing. The money-multiplier does not effect the banks balance sheets since the banks stock of assets (cash reserves and loans) and liabilities (deposits) remain in equilibrium.

On a more substantive note, the abolition of fractional reserve banking would be terrible. It would lead to the following conditions:

-> Banks would be able to lend only out of their profits, since they would have to maintain enough cash on hand to cover all their liabilities. This would dramatically reduce the financial sectors ability to lend money.

-> Ignoring the catastrophic effects on industry (especially for small businesses which can't issue bonds) this would dramatically raise the cost of borrowing money for consumers. Starting a business or buying a house becomes much more expensive, in the unlikely event that you can find someone to lend you money.

[marxist analysis] This entrenches class divides [/marxist analysis]

-> Banks would not be able to pay interest rates on deposits, since deposits are no longer income generating. This reduces any incentive towards saving.

These are just a few of the consequences of the abolition of fractional reserve banking. I'm positive that a wiser man could come up with many more.

The only theoretical downside of fractional banking is the possibility that the bank will not be able to repay you the money you've deposited. Fortunately a balanced regulatory approach, which balances reserve levels with the risk of investments minimizes that chance. Federal Deposit Insurance means that even in the event of a bank bust, depositors will still recieve their savings.

For what it is worth, I agree that what happened in this specific case is outrageous. I would hesitate to suggest criminal prosecutions, since arresting a filing clerk is probably not going to fix anything.

While oil washed onto the shores of Florida, Democrats got wiped out of the House and Glenn Beck brought the Tea Party to Washington, Black Planet members were equally busy debating how these stories were not only affecting them but impacting the future of African Americans. However, none of that really matters because what bubbled up to the top of our most active list was far from discussion on Capitol Hill. Take a look below to see who and what moved the meter on Black Planet. Recognize yourself or any of your friends on our list?

Most Popular Profile

Member MZHONEEBROWN squashed the competition with her little high heel and climbed to the very top of our most popular profile list. A quick visit to her page and you’ll understand why. She’s a single mother, author, dental professional and still finds time to stay connected to thousands of her friends on Black Planet. If Black Planet had a list of 30 people doing big things under 30, she’d get our nomination.

Most Popular Political Figure

President Barack Obama has taken a lot of heat lately from Republicans, members of his own party and the BP community if you ever visit the Current Events boards. However, you still couldn’t stop yourself from clicking on his profile page and that makes him the most popular political figure in our community.

Most Helpful Member

Member Nuage was recognized as a BlackPlanet Rising Member of the Month for a reason. While you were sleeping she was busy sending aid to Haiti. Yeah, we think she’s a saint, too.

Sexiest Destination

We think we have some of the most attractive members and now you can confirm what makes them so sexy in our quiz. What’s Your Sexiest Quality answers the big question: what about you drives the opposite sex (or same sex) wild. This is where we make that annoying cat purring sound.

Want to see what else topped the list? Check out the photo gallery below.

bench craft company scam