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Realtor
charged with throwing carcasses is fired - (www.philly.com) The Main Line couple accused of trying to
sabotage a neighbor's home sale by throwing dead mice and snakes into their
yard were falsely accused, and the controversy has cost the wife her job, the
couple's attorney said. Prudential Fox & Roach, which employed the couple
as real estate agents, fired Andrea Straub, "presumably for the negative
publicity the alleged incident caused and the sensational reporting of
it," said George Bochetto, the attorney for Andrea, 34, and Jonathan Straub,
40, in a statement Wednesday. Bochetto said he would hold a news conference
Tuesday morning to "divulge previously unreported facts in the case."
Neither he nor the Straubs would comment further on Friday. A spokesperson for
Prudential Fox & Roach said the company's policy "is not to comment on
matters related to its independent contractor sales associates." So far,
the story has sounded like a tale of affluent real estate agents gone wild over
competing self-interests - the Straubs also have their home on the market. Both
houses sit on roughly half-acre lots, each with about 2,200 square feet of
living space. Lower Merion Township police said the Straubs were charged last
month with disorderly conduct and harassment after security-camera footage
showed them cutting tree branches, knocking over "For Sale" signs,
and allegedly committing other acts of vandalism in Mary Martell's yard on
Booth Lane.
Realtor
Molester Jailed for Sex Crime Parole Violation - (www.tampabay.com) A prominent Realtor who was convicted of
fondling a teenage girl in his real estate office was sentenced Monday to six months in jail for violating probation. Gary
Lee Budek, 50, of Brooksville appeared Monday morning in Hernando County
Circuit Court and admitted that he had left his home without wearing a
mandatory GPS monitor. Budek ran from his house to fix his girlfriend's
overheating car, forgetting to clip the monitor to his clothes, said his public
defender, Michael Lamberti. Circuit Judge Anthony Tatti handed Budek six months
at the Hernando County Detention Center, with probation to be reinstated after
he completes his sentence. Budek's conviction of lewd and lascivious
molestation of a minor carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years. "I
can fairly well guarantee you that if you violate again, you will go to prison
next time," Tatti told Budek. In December, Budek was arrested for touching
a then-14-year-old girl's breasts, licking sugar from her face and trying to
kiss her on three occasions when she visited the Spring Hill real estate office
where he worked, according to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office.
6% Treasury yields sooner than you think? - (finance.yahoo.com) The
Federal Reserve will lose control of interest rates as the "great
rotation" out of bonds into equities takes off in full force, according to
one market watcher, who sees U.S. 10-year Treasury yields hitting 5-6 percent
in the next 18-24 months. "It is our opinion that interest rates have
begun their assent, that the Fed will eventually lose control of interest
rates. The yield curve will first steepen and then will shift, moving rates
significantly higher," said Mike Crofton, President and CEO, Philadelphia
Trust Company told CNBC on Wednesday. "If the great rotation that
everybody talks about out of bonds into stocks does happen, and that gains its
own momentum, you will see rates begin to back up very quickly; the Fed will
not be able to control it," added Crofton, who argues that for now,
"the great rotation" has been more out of bonds into cash, rather
than stocks. Under this scenario, he sees the yield on the 10-year rising to
3.5-4 percent in a "very short period of time." Thereafter, he
expects yields to move to 5-6 percent over the next 18-24 months. Yields were
last seen at 6 percent level over a decade ago, in mid-2000.
‘Bubbles Forever’ and stock crashes forever too - (www.marketwatch.com) “Bubbles Forever” screams Yale economist Robert
Shiller’s headline in Project Syndicate. “Bubbles Forever” is a brain scan of
today’s collective insanity sweeping through millions of investors searching
for a “new, new normal,” something better than today’s uncertainties. Shiller
captured the insanity of the dot-com 1990s in his best-seller, “Irrational
Exuberance.” Now, his “Bubbles Forever” warns that “irrational exuberance” is
back, as we dump bonds, chase yields, searching. Yes, bubbles are forever ...
in our minds. And when the virus takes over our collective brain, there’s no
talking us out of it. We’re like “Mad Money’s” Jim Cramer, we know “there’s
always a bull market somewhere,” a contrast to Shiller’s warnings of America’s
“Bubbles Forever” brain, a bizarre new “irrational exuberance.” Listen:
2.4
Millions Missing Households - (www.forbes.com)
During the recession, fewer
households – one or more people living under the same roof – were created than
normal. Typically, 1.1 million new households are added each year in the U.S.,
mostly due to population growth. However, from the first quarter of 2008 to the
first quarter of 2011, only 450,000 new households were created annually.
Slower household growth means less demand for homes,
so annual construction starts dropped during this period from a norm of 1.4
million to below 600,000. Most recently, only 521,000 households were created
between the first quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013. A big part of
the slowdown in household formation was due to young people living with parents
or doubling up with roommates rather than setting up house on their own. Since
most kids won’t live with their parents forever, these young adults represent
“pent-up demand” for housing that the recovery should unleash. Problem is: the
kids aren’t moving out yet.
Two
Of America's Biggest Homebuilders Are Tanking After Reporting Earnings - (www.businessinsider.com)
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