Paulson and Pals - We haven't heard much from Paulson lately, but you can bet your last penny he's been very busy. Fannie and Freddie are on the brink of failure, but we keep hearing how they are "too big to fail." And they are. If Fannie and Freddie are allowed to fail, regional banks fail. These banks own the majority of Fannie and Freddie preferred stock. What is interesting here, is most of these banks have not written down the value of their Fannie and Freddie stock. If they finally fail, the banks will be forced to write down the value of their holdings . . . and in many cases, shut the doors. As for China, they have a stake here as well. One of their former advisor's recently said a failure would be "catastrophic."
Paulson set a horrible example when he structured the bail out of Bear Stearns, and in effect JP Morgan. You see, by stepping up to the plate to swallow Bear Stearns, JP Morgan bought themselves a bucket of extra insurance from the Fed. There is no one entity big enough to step in to save Fannie and Freddie. But you can bet your last dollar, Paulson is up to something that will reward his Pals and put the burden on the taxpayers.
Bailout or Handout - Here's what I'm hearing. Paulson is putting together a consortium of financial institutions (Paulson Pals) to take over the operations and functions of Fannie and Freddie. I'm not sure whether he is going to carve it up or create a 10-20 new entities to provide the same services. If he chooses the latter, rest assured he has a long list of Paulson Pals to run these entities and steal gazillions of dollars in salary, bonuses and perks from the American taxpayer. Whatever Paulson cooks up, he is going to make sure his Pals don't lose a penny. The really sick part about this is, these are the same Pals that created the subprime slime, SIVs, ARSs, CMOs, CDOs and all the other lovely products that are driving us into a global Depression.
Follow The Money - The right thing to do would be to go after the money Paulson and his Pals have sucked up. Why isn't anyone talking about going after the obscene profits these same financial institutions have made at the expense of the public and the taxpayers. Little by little it adds up. You take $100M from 100 guys that raped the system, and you have a trillion dollars. Or you get serious and take back $50-100M from 1000 guys that raped the system and you have more than enough to recapitalize Fannie, Freddie and a few buck left over to get us back on our feet. But that's not going to happen. Even Attorney General Cuomo showed his true colors when he let all of Paulson's Pals off the hook with a slap on the wrist. In fact, even though the ARS issues involved fraud, no one is going to jail! Moreover, no one admitted wrongdoing. Cuomo got his splash of media attention to kick off his run for the Governor's spot. Obviously, that's all Cuomo cared about. Who's a bigger scumbag, Cuomo for letting these thieves go or Spitzer for hiring a hooker?
What Do We Do? - But back to Paulson, Fannie and Freddie. We have stayed away from shorting Fannie and Freddie in here, because of something like this. We still don't know what is going to happen. Does he let the common stock fail and save the preferred? Does he save it all? I still believe the common stock is a zero, but with this guy, you never know, so buying the PUTS in here is risky but could be rewarding. The preferred stock is another story. If you are a client, I will be discussing these issues conference call.
Mike's Blog - www.888Mike.com
Mike's Website - www.Morgan-Florida.org
PGA Village - Port St. Lucie
Celebrating their 10th Anniversary, PGA Village is the only golf complex open to the public that is owned and operated by The PGA of America. Located in Port St. Lucie, Fla., PGA Village offers a trio of world-class facilities.
PGA Golf Club - Fifty-four (54) holes of championship golf, designed by legendary architects Tom Fazio and Pete Dye.
PGA Learning Center - A state-of-the-art, 35-acre golf park featuring one of the world's largest and most advanced practice facilities. The PGA Learning Center also features breakthrough technology, including the new PGA Kinematics Lag and the revolutionary MAT-T System by TaylorMade.
PGA Historical Center - Trophies from all of golf's major championships and a link to the rich history of the sport of golf. The PGA Historical Center is also home to the new PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame. You can Play, Stay, Live and Learn at this ecologically sensitive, 430-acre world-class facility that is "Home to the Pros, Open to the Public."
Live at PGA Village - PGA Village offers a tremendous variety of resale homes, from townhomes to estate homes, and we're sure there is one (or more!) that you will fall in love with. Each of the homes is part of the most exciting location on the Treasure Coast, featuring The PGA of America's three beautiful golf courses and The PGA Learning Center.
NEW Section - Reseve NOW - PGA Village is taking reservation for residences in the newest section, Verona. If you are interest in registration, and a 50% Commission Rebate, please email me - Mike@MorganFlorida.com or call me 888-227-5217
For Additional Information please visit our website at www.Treasure-Coast.us
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Local Congregations for Martin and St. Lucie Counties BAPTIST Covenant Fellowship Baptist Church - (772) 283-8306 CALVARY CHAPEL Calvary Chapel of Palm City - (772) 283-9426 CATHOLIC Please CLICK HERE for detailed list of all Catholic churches in Martin County, Palm Beach County, St. Lucie County and a link to all Catholic churches in Florida. Palm City Christian Church - (772) 223-4400 CHURCH OF CHRIST Stuart Church of Christ - (772) 287-5134 COMMUNITY CHURCH Treasure Coast Community Church - (772) 334-3999 CONGREGATIONAL Stuart Congregational Church - (772) 287-5951 EVANGELICAL Grace Place Community Church - (772) 287-6388 JEWISH Temple Beit Hayam - (772) 286-1531 - www.tbhfl.org LUTHERAN Immanuel Lutheran Church - (772) 287-8188 Redeemer Lutheran Church - (772) 286-0911 METHODIST First United Methodist Church - (772) 287-6262 NAZARENE First Church of the Nazarene - (772) 465-1622 NONDENOMINATIONAL Christ Church - (772) 223-2109 PRESBYTERIAN Grace Presbyterian Church - (772) 692-1995 |
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Martin County School District - Home Page of the Martin County School District
Martin County School GRADES - View school grades for Martin County
Martin County Schools - Straight A's - Read Scripps Newspaper Article
Martin County Private Schools - Website featuring Martin County Private Schools
St. Lucie County School District - Home Page of the St. Lucie County School District
St. Lucie County School GRADES - View school grades for St. Lucie County
St. Lucie County Private Schools - Website featuring St. Lucie County Private Schools
Florida Department of Education - Official State of Florida website.
Parent Reviews of Schools - For parent reviews of schools in Martin or St. Lucie County, please e-mail me Mike@MorganFlorida.com or call me 888-227-5217
Additional Information - If you would like additional information about the school systems featured on this page, or any other school system in the State of Florida, please e-mail me Mike@MorganFlorida.com or call me 888-227-5217
Prices on homes across the nation fell by an average of 3.1 percent as compaged to the Q1 of 2007. In all, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight claims prices fell in 43 states. I find it hard to believe the number was not higher. In any event, it is the sharpest decline in 17 years, and I find that also hard to believe. I submit, the numbers are worse than reported, and we have not seen declines like this since the Great Depression, but anyone can twist numbers.
Treasure Coast home prices fell by 15.68%. Palm Beach County home prices fell by 11.85%. This is not what we are seeing, but then again, numbers are only as good as the data that goes in and the way the data is interpreted.
I have written extensively on the housing crisis, and I have been published in Barron's twice over the past two years. Both articles appear on my Institutional website www.Morgan-Florida.org
The 10-20% price declines reported for Florida markets for Q1 YOY are driven more by product than reality. More homes were built in the higher range over the last few years, and as these home are completed and clear the market in sales, the numbers remain inflated. Only when we see the markets absorbl the abnormalities will we be able to look at broad numbers.
I advise my clients to look at purchasing real estate on a local level and considering a 15 different factors when making their decision. There definitely are opporunities, even when we see number reported like we did today.
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Mike Morgan is a SEC Registered Investment Advisor and the CEO of Morgan Florida Real Estate, offering a comprehensive package of investment and real estate services to consumers and institutions.
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