fareastwarriors

Natural-Gas Bulls: Better Luck Next Year Cold Winter Isn’t Good Enough Reason to Bet on Higher Gas Prices http://online.wsj.com/articles/natural-gas-bulls-better-luck-next-year-heard-on-the-street-1414086555

Natural Gas Is Taking Over http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-10-23/natural-gas-is-taking-over-ritholtz-chart

Buffett Puts Wind in Berkshire’s Sails Billionaire Investor Doubles Down on Renewables in Energy Strategy http://online.wsj.com/articles/buffett-puts-wind-in-berkshires-sails-1414084146?mod=WSJ_hp_RightTopStories

Legal Undertow Tugs at Fannie, Freddie Courts Deal Another Setback to Investors http://online.wsj.com/articles/legal-undertow-tugs-at-fannie-freddie-heard-on-the-street-1413993808

Solar Energy Discounts Become Employee Perk in New Program http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/business/solar-energy-discounts-become-employee-perk-in-new-program.html?ref=business

That hasn't been my experience. The last few times I purchased a house and the last time I refinanced my mortgage, the appraisers were there for well over an hour taking measurements in every room, tons of notes/drawings and looking at pretty much everything including basement and outbuildings. I'm pretty sure what I've experienced is standard at least in New England. How can you appraise a house from the driveway? I think (hope) drive by appraisals are over with. I think they were common during the housing bubble. For my last refi (maybe 2 years ago now), the guy came in and looked around every room. Nothing too crazy. No measuring. He wrote some notes. And he was out of here within 30 minutes. I live in the SF Bay Area. "Drive by appraisals"? One check box on the form: [] House exists. hahah pretty much. ;D http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2012/08/15/no-more-drive-by-appraisals-%E2%80%93-on-some-loans/ During the housing market’s go-go years, the practice of “drive-by” appraisals, in which property appraisers didn’t physically inspect the interior of a home, was commonplace. It’s since become far less so, as mortgage lenders remain extremely cautious about the loans they are making. They want to make sure that they have an independent estimate of the market value of a home, so it stands to reason that an appraiser should actually take a look at the home’s interior. Most of the complaints about the appraisal industry these days are of a different nature – that appraisers are too conservative about how they value homes. Rules proposed by federal regulators on Wednesday would ban the practice of “drive-by” appraisals and require a physical inspection of the home. But the rules, required by the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul of 2010, would only apply to a small slice of the mortgage market – loans defined by regulators as “higher risk.” Regulators define high risk ones in which the rate is at least 1.5 percentage points above a market average. However, lenders don’t make many loans above this threshold: In 2010, the most recent year for which data are available, such high-risk loans made up only 3.2% of the overall lending market, according to the Federal Reserve. The regulators, including the Fed and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, also said they aim to combat fraudulent property flipping schemes in which a developer buys a property, makes minimal repairs and tries to sell it at an inflated price. In an effort to combat this property flipping, the regulators propose to require lenders making higher-rate mortgages to obtain an additional appraisal at no cost to the borrower. An appraisal exists to protect a lender; it is different from a home inspection done on the borrower’s behalf to see if there are any needed repairs before closing. Separately, the consumer bureau proposed that lenders should be required to provide consumers a free copy of their appraisal no later than three days before the property sale closes. That proposal, another Dodd-Frank requirement, has become standard practice around the appraisal industry in recent years, said Bill Garber, director of government and external relations for the Appraisal Institute, an industry trade group. Until around 2008, lenders didn’t provide a copy of an appraisal to borrowers unless they received a written request, but new standards for the industry changed that practice.

That hasn't been my experience. The last few times I purchased a house and the last time I refinanced my mortgage, the appraisers were there for well over an hour taking measurements in every room, tons of notes/drawings and looking at pretty much everything including basement and outbuildings. I'm pretty sure what I've experienced is standard at least in New England. How can you appraise a house from the driveway? I think (hope) drive by appraisals are over with. I think they were common during the housing bubble. For my last refi (maybe 2 years ago now), the guy came in and looked around every room. Nothing too crazy. No measuring. He wrote some notes. And he was out of here within 30 minutes. I live in the SF Bay Area.

Natural-Gas Prices Fall Even With Chill Nearing When Cold Weather Looms, Natural-Gas Prices Usually Rise—This Year They Are Falling http://online.wsj.com/articles/natural-gas-prices-fall-even-with-chill-nearing-1413762964?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

The Warren Buffett of Everything http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-17/the-warren-buffett-of-everything.html

Shale Boom Helping American Consumers as Never Before http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-16/shale-boom-helping-american-consumers-like-never-before.html

The Risks of Cheap Water http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/15/business/economy/the-price-of-water-is-too-low.html?src=me&_r=0

I added a bit to BAC WT-A

SolarCity Offers Bonds Online to Ordinary Investors http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/10/15/solarcity-offers-bonds-online-to-ordinary-investors/?module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog Main&contentCollection=Energy&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs&region=Body

New York Gets Frigid Winter Warning From Siberia Snowfall http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-14/new-york-gets-frigid-winter-warning-from-siberia-snowfall.html OPEC Finding U.S. Shale Harder to Crack as Rout Deepens http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-15/opec-finding-u-s-shale-harder-to-crack-as-rout-deepens.html

Reminds me a movie I saw recently. rise of the planet of the apes. there was one scene where the pilot was sick with a nosebleed but he flew anyways and it spread everywhere.

In many parts of the SF Bay Area, the house prices are already past previous peak prices. Still rising, though slower lately.

Ackman, Buffett, Gates Ride the Rail Boom to Profits http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/10/13/ackman-others-ride-the-rail-boom-to-profits/

Lance, it seems like you;re always buying. Are you selling other positions too?

What are the differences ?

Encana to Sell Alberta Natural-Gas Assets Energy Company Continues Shift Toward Production of Oil, Gas Liquids http://online.wsj.com/articles/encana-to-sell-alberta-natural-gas-assets-1412778597?mod=WSJ_LatestHeadlines

Buffett is always a ladies' man.

Did people add more today? PWT ? LTS? Awilco ?

I think it is spoof email but fun nonetheless. You have to be a little crazy/different to make it to the top...

Aboard a Cargo Colossus: Maersk’s New Container Ships http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/business/international/aboard-a-cargo-colossus-maersks-new-container-ships.html?_r=0

Fannie-Freddie Case Shows Messy Nature of Deal-Making in a Panic http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/fannie-freddie-case-shows-messy-nature-of-deal-making-in-a-panic/?_php=true&_type=blogs&ref=business&_r=0