Matt from Queens's Comments RSS Syndication from SeekingAlpha.com http://seekingalpha.comuser/150593/comments http://seekingalpha.com/article/123194-the-end-of-the-credit-crisis?source=feed#comment-407639 407639
IR-2008-17, Feb. 12, 2008

WASHINGTON — Homeowners whose mortgage debt was partly or entirely forgiven during 2007 may be able to claim special tax relief by filling out newly-revised Form 982 and attaching it to their 2007 federal income tax return, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

Normally, debt forgiveness results in taxable income. But under the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, enacted Dec. 20, taxpayers may exclude debt forgiven on their principal residence if the balance of their loan was $2 million or less. The limit is $1 million for a married person filing a separate return. Details are on Form 982 and its instructions, available now on this Web site.

“The new law contains important provisions for struggling homeowners,” said Acting IRS Commissioner Linda Stiff. “We urge people with mortgage problems to take full advantage of the valuable tax relief available.”]]> Sun, 01 Mar 2009 08:49:20 -0500
IR-2008-17, Feb. 12, 2008

WASHINGTON — Homeowners whose mortgage debt was partly or entirely forgiven during 2007 may be able to claim special tax relief by filling out newly-revised Form 982 and attaching it to their 2007 federal income tax return, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

Normally, debt forgiveness results in taxable income. But under the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, enacted Dec. 20, taxpayers may exclude debt forgiven on their principal residence if the balance of their loan was $2 million or less. The limit is $1 million for a married person filing a separate return. Details are on Form 982 and its instructions, available now on this Web site.

“The new law contains important provisions for struggling homeowners,” said Acting IRS Commissioner Linda Stiff. “We urge people with mortgage problems to take full advantage of the valuable tax relief available.”]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/93550-how-much-further-will-housing-fall?source=feed#comment-245018 245018
I'm a currency trader, and I used what i call the "Grandma" indicator to get a pretty good idea of where the dollar would bottom. Grandma's birthday is in March, and while we were celebrating Grandma said to me that the dollar would probably weaken further. I love my Grandma to death, but I pretty much knew right then and there that the Euro was close to finished at that point. The euro stopped appreciating in April.

This is also known as the "Supermodel" indicator. Once Giselle said she only wanted to be paid in euro's that was pretty much it.

The next time you're in a cab, ask the driver if he thinks now is a good time to buy a house. If he starts going off like an expert about how and why prices are going down further, run out and buy.

]]> Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:00:41 -0400
I'm a currency trader, and I used what i call the "Grandma" indicator to get a pretty good idea of where the dollar would bottom. Grandma's birthday is in March, and while we were celebrating Grandma said to me that the dollar would probably weaken further. I love my Grandma to death, but I pretty much knew right then and there that the Euro was close to finished at that point. The euro stopped appreciating in April.

This is also known as the "Supermodel" indicator. Once Giselle said she only wanted to be paid in euro's that was pretty much it.

The next time you're in a cab, ask the driver if he thinks now is a good time to buy a house. If he starts going off like an expert about how and why prices are going down further, run out and buy.

]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/93550-how-much-further-will-housing-fall?source=feed#comment-245007 245007
Common sense: When people can afford to purchase a home, they will. A home is going to follow the same demand and supply law that everything else does-prices and/or mortgage rates will fall until demand increases.

Historical perspective-this is obviously not the first time that housing prices have fallen. People bought before even though prices were decreasing. They will again.

Trade-you cannot "lose" money buying a house if you are paying rent. If you are living rent free somewhere-then yes, you can lose. It is always better to purchase a home then it is to rent. You are 100% assured of losing money if you rent. ]]> Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:52:21 -0400
Common sense: When people can afford to purchase a home, they will. A home is going to follow the same demand and supply law that everything else does-prices and/or mortgage rates will fall until demand increases.

Historical perspective-this is obviously not the first time that housing prices have fallen. People bought before even though prices were decreasing. They will again.

Trade-you cannot "lose" money buying a house if you are paying rent. If you are living rent free somewhere-then yes, you can lose. It is always better to purchase a home then it is to rent. You are 100% assured of losing money if you rent. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/93550-how-much-further-will-housing-fall?source=feed#comment-244745 244745
In the meantime, let's come back next month and have a look at the numbers.]]> Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:32:43 -0400
In the meantime, let's come back next month and have a look at the numbers.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/93550-how-much-further-will-housing-fall?source=feed#comment-244739 244739
For those of you who brought employment, there's no question ti plays a factor, but the facts are that employment has declined far less than during previous slow downs. That's not to say that job losses cannot accelerate, just that to this point the decline has been less than previously seen.

All we are saying is that when 28% of the median monthly household income matches the monthly cost to pay for a home priced on the median, housing will hit a bottom area because demand will increase.

Again. we aren't predicting this will happen right now and if the economy slows as expected in the second half of the year, housing will also take a turn for the worse. ]]> Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:26:39 -0400
For those of you who brought employment, there's no question ti plays a factor, but the facts are that employment has declined far less than during previous slow downs. That's not to say that job losses cannot accelerate, just that to this point the decline has been less than previously seen.

All we are saying is that when 28% of the median monthly household income matches the monthly cost to pay for a home priced on the median, housing will hit a bottom area because demand will increase.

Again. we aren't predicting this will happen right now and if the economy slows as expected in the second half of the year, housing will also take a turn for the worse. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/93608-tuesday-s-currencies-wrap-dollar-strengthens?source=feed#comment-244357 244357
Now, if the BoE and ECB are using an economic slowdown to lower inflation, then they will hold rates and let a slowing economy bring inflation down. The corollary here is that we should expect to see European economies slow further.]]> Wed, 03 Sep 2008 08:58:08 -0400
Now, if the BoE and ECB are using an economic slowdown to lower inflation, then they will hold rates and let a slowing economy bring inflation down. The corollary here is that we should expect to see European economies slow further.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/93550-how-much-further-will-housing-fall?source=feed#comment-244332 244332
The point about the down payment is valid-we left that out of our consideration here because we are only looking at affordability.

We do however stand by the argument in the article-when 28% of median household income is equal to the monthly mortgage payment, that household will have a strong motivation to buy and housing will be in a bottom area. ]]> Wed, 03 Sep 2008 08:35:12 -0400
The point about the down payment is valid-we left that out of our consideration here because we are only looking at affordability.

We do however stand by the argument in the article-when 28% of median household income is equal to the monthly mortgage payment, that household will have a strong motivation to buy and housing will be in a bottom area. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/93550-how-much-further-will-housing-fall?source=feed#comment-244070 244070 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:06:40 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/93506-the-dollar-can-continue-to-rally-despite-the-weak-economy?source=feed#comment-243884 243884 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:02:06 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/93506-the-dollar-can-continue-to-rally-despite-the-weak-economy?source=feed#comment-243781 243781 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:36:56 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/93506-the-dollar-can-continue-to-rally-despite-the-weak-economy?source=feed#comment-243727 243727
You call yourself an "expert" (it says so right on your site) so what your headline should really be is "Why i was so wrong about currencies!"

And if you don't publish an article on here about why you were so wrong, I'm going to write about that on every forex forum I can find. ]]> Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:17:51 -0400
You call yourself an "expert" (it says so right on your site) so what your headline should really be is "Why i was so wrong about currencies!"

And if you don't publish an article on here about why you were so wrong, I'm going to write about that on every forex forum I can find. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/93172-start-planning-for-a-hard-economic-landing?source=feed#comment-241438 241438 Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:06:13 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/92967-the-dollar-index-and-the-financial-sector?source=feed#comment-240905 240905
To paraphrase a wonderfully clear explanation by Paul McCulley from PIMCO, the paradox of de-leveraging is resulting in further asset-price declines, reinforcing the negative feedback loop. The root of all this is the decline in home prices, the asset upon which all this leveraging was built, so without a stabilization in home prices the de-leveraging process will continue.

Lowering borrowing costs further is not likely to mitigate this problem and therefore, it isn't likely to see another rate cut from the Fed.]]> Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:37:52 -0400
To paraphrase a wonderfully clear explanation by Paul McCulley from PIMCO, the paradox of de-leveraging is resulting in further asset-price declines, reinforcing the negative feedback loop. The root of all this is the decline in home prices, the asset upon which all this leveraging was built, so without a stabilization in home prices the de-leveraging process will continue.

Lowering borrowing costs further is not likely to mitigate this problem and therefore, it isn't likely to see another rate cut from the Fed.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/91264-weak-dollar-bodes-well-for-u-s-economy?source=feed#comment-232384 232384
I understand that a weaker dollar is good for exports and that it's good for foreigners who wish to buy U.S. assets, but Americans absolutely hate to see U.S. assets sold to foreigners. ]]> Sun, 17 Aug 2008 12:03:52 -0400
I understand that a weaker dollar is good for exports and that it's good for foreigners who wish to buy U.S. assets, but Americans absolutely hate to see U.S. assets sold to foreigners. ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/91215-goldman-calls-a-bottom-in-the-dollar?source=feed#comment-231808 231808 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 09:32:29 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/91149-the-euro-s-long-run-is-finally-over?source=feed#comment-231400 231400 Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:43:35 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/91149-the-euro-s-long-run-is-finally-over?source=feed#comment-231397 231397 Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:37:21 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/91149-the-euro-s-long-run-is-finally-over?source=feed#comment-231133 231133 Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:41:27 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/90703-u-s-session-wrap-meredith-whitney-does-it-again?source=feed#comment-229411 229411
Everyone is consumed with the dollar's connection to oil, but they;ve pointed out that the dollar was able to decline even after oil fell because the financial sector weighed on the overall indexes.

Much of there info seems to be taken right from the source, and they break it down in a way that paints a total picture of the market. I think it's a very handy resource.]]> Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:04:08 -0400
Everyone is consumed with the dollar's connection to oil, but they;ve pointed out that the dollar was able to decline even after oil fell because the financial sector weighed on the overall indexes.

Much of there info seems to be taken right from the source, and they break it down in a way that paints a total picture of the market. I think it's a very handy resource.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/90427-s-p-poised-to-the-upside-dollar-should-maintain-strengthening-trend?source=feed#comment-228459 228459 Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:04:48 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/85117-calling-today-a-short-term-bottom-for-financials?source=feed#comment-206485 206485 Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:34:10 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/72600-a-new-bullish-divergence?source=feed#comment-152494 152494
Price closed at stoch oversold on March 31 and it closed stoch oversold on April 15. Price on April 15 was a higher price then on March 31. That means even though price has gone up at teh second point relative to the first the market still considers the price to be cheap, which is a bullish sign.

Another way of saying this is that the stochastic has made a double bottom.]]> Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:43:50 -0400
Price closed at stoch oversold on March 31 and it closed stoch oversold on April 15. Price on April 15 was a higher price then on March 31. That means even though price has gone up at teh second point relative to the first the market still considers the price to be cheap, which is a bullish sign.

Another way of saying this is that the stochastic has made a double bottom.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/70380-s-p-500-a-d-line-in-neutral-territory?source=feed#comment-133391 133391 Sat, 29 Mar 2008 11:17:02 -0400 http://seekingalpha.com/article/67686-why-the-fed-s-interventions-aren-t-working?source=feed#comment-124226 124226
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]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/67638-financials-and-retail-not-as-dire-as-they-seem?source=feed#comment-124023 124023 Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:24:42 -0500 http://seekingalpha.com/article/67642-payrolls-report-indicates-recession?source=feed#comment-124019 124019
1. The economy has now lost jobs for 2 months in a row and the 3 month moving average of job creation is -14,667/mth, so on a moving average basis we have contraction in job creation over a 1 quarter period (gov't and private sector).

2. When you factor out gov't job creation, the 3 month moving average of job creation in the private sector is -21,667/mth.

3. The labor participation rate in the Household survey fell 450,000 and if these job seekers were counted the unemployment rate would have risen to 5.1%.

4. The number of part time workers swelled by 637,000 from Jan. 07 to Jan. 08. This category includes those who either can't find (but want) full time jobs or who have had their full time hours reduced to part time.

5. Factoring out government job creation (38,000) in February reveals the private sector lost 101,000 jobs overall in the month. ]]> Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:13:03 -0500
1. The economy has now lost jobs for 2 months in a row and the 3 month moving average of job creation is -14,667/mth, so on a moving average basis we have contraction in job creation over a 1 quarter period (gov't and private sector).

2. When you factor out gov't job creation, the 3 month moving average of job creation in the private sector is -21,667/mth.

3. The labor participation rate in the Household survey fell 450,000 and if these job seekers were counted the unemployment rate would have risen to 5.1%.

4. The number of part time workers swelled by 637,000 from Jan. 07 to Jan. 08. This category includes those who either can't find (but want) full time jobs or who have had their full time hours reduced to part time.

5. Factoring out government job creation (38,000) in February reveals the private sector lost 101,000 jobs overall in the month. ]]>