There are only a few days left to purchase tickets for the Englewood Hospital and Medical Center Foundation’s Black Tie Gala on Saturday, April 30 at Pier Sixty, New York City.

This year, the medical center is honoring Jay C. Nadel, Chairman of the Hospital Board.  Guests will also enjoy entertainment by comedian Howie Mandel.

So far, $1 million has been raised, making this the most successful Gala yet!

For further information or to purchase tickets, please call the Foundation at 201-894-3725.

By Jacqui Atchison

Initial claims for unemployment benefits fell by 42,000 to 415,000 for the week ending January 29. Continuing claims for the week ending January 22 fell by 84,000 to 3.9 million. The unemployment rate fell to 9 percent in January from 9.4 percent in December.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted composite index of mortgage applications for the week ending January 28 rose 11.3 percent. Refinancing applications increased 11.7 percent. Purchase volume rose 9.5 percent.

The Institute for Supply Management reported that the monthly composite index of manufacturing activity rose to 60.8 in January after reaching a revised 58.5 in December. A reading above 50 signals expansion. It was the 18th straight month of expansion and the highest reading since May 2004.

Factory orders rose 0.2 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted $426.8 billion, following a revised 1.3 percent increase in November. Excluding the volatile transportation sector, orders rose 1.7 percent.

The Institute for Supply Management reported that the monthly composite index of non-manufacturing activity rose to 59.4 in January from 57.1 in December. A reading above 50 signals expansion. It was the 13th straight month of expansion in the services sector and the fastest pace since August 2005.

Total construction spending fell 2.5% to $787.9 billion in December, following a 0.4% increase in November. Economists had anticipated an increase of 0.2 percent in Decem`ber.

Retail sales fell 1 percent for the week ending January 29, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs index. On a year-over-year basis, retailers saw sales increase 1.6 percent.

Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on consumer credit on February 7, wholesale trade on February 10 and consumer sentiment on February 11.

Jacqui Atcheson has been a Loan Officer for more than 20 years. Visit her website and apply on line:

http://www.myprospectmortgage.com/JAtcheson

By Jacqui Atcheson

The Commerce Department announced that gross domestic product — the total output of goods and services produced in the U.S. — increased at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the final quarter of 2010. This follows a 2.6 percent pace of growth in the third quarter of 2010.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city housing price index — on a non-seasonally adjusted basis — fell one percent in November after a 1.3 percent decrease in October. On a year-over-year basis, prices fell 1.6 percent compared with November 2009.

The consumer confidence index rose to 60.6 in January from an upwardly revised 53.3 in December. It was the highest level since May. The index was benchmarked at 100 in 1985, a year chosen because it was neither a peak nor a trough in consumer confidence.

New home sales rose 17.5 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 329,000 units from a revised rate of 280,000 units in November. Economists had expected a pace of 300,000 units.

Orders for durable goods — items expected to last three or more years — fell 2.5 percent in December after a revised 0.1 percent decrease in November. Excluding volatile transportation-related goods, orders posted a monthly increase of 0.5 percent.

The National Association of Realtors reported that its pending home sales index, a forward-looking indicator based on signed contracts, rose 2 percent in December after a revised 3.1 percent increase in November On a year-over-year basis, pending sales are down 4.2 percent.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 51,000 to 454,000 for the week ending Jan. 22. Continuing claims for the week ending Jan. 15 rose by 94,000 to 3.9 million.

Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on construction spending on Feb. 1 and factory orders on Feb. 3.

Jacqui Atcheson has been a Loasn Officer for more than 20 years. V isit her website and apply on line:

http://www.myprospectmortgage.com/JAtcheson

Jim Weichert, founder and president of Weichert, Realtors, has been selected for the Inman News list of the ‘100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders’ for 2010.

This year’s selection is the fourth consecutive year that Weichert was honored with this celebrated distinction.

Jim Weichert was recognized in the ‘Brokerage’ category, which is reserved for company leaders who command the attention of real estate professionals through their words and actions.

During his more than 40 years of sales experience, Weichert has led the development of Weichert Realtors from a single office in 1969 to one of the largest privately held real estate companies in the nation.

The Inman 100, an annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in Real Estate, recognizes those power brokers, thought leaders, experts, insiders, and visionaries who influence the real estate industry with their words, actions, insight and innovations.

Weichert helps customers buy and sell both residential and commercial real estate and streamlines the delivery of mortgages and home and title insurance.  For information, Weichert’s customer service center can be reached at 1-800-872-7653 or at Weichert’s Web site, www.weichert.com.

By Jacqui Atcheson

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal established the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) in 1938 as a federal agency in the wake of the Great Depression. Its purpose was to bring liquidity, stability and affordability to the U.S. housing and mortgage markets. Congress converted Fannie in 1968 to a publicly held corporation to help balance the federal budget.

To compete against Fannie Mae’s domination of the secondary market and further lower housing costs, Congress chartered the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) as a public corporation in 1970.

Freddie and Fannie have similar Congressional mandates, charters and regulatory structures. Both entities buy mortgages from lenders and package them into mortgage-backed securities that are sold to investors with a guarantee against default. This creates a secondary market, allowing mortgage lenders to use the freed-up funds to make more home loans.

The Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) was established by Congress in 1968. Unlike its GSE siblings, Ginnie does not purchase loans, but guarantees investors the timely payment of principal and interest on mortgage-backed securities containing federally insured loans — mainly FHA and VA loans.

In September 2008, the U.S. government rescued Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the brink of economic failure and placed them into conservatorship with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Some members of Congress have called for the gradual elimination of Fannie and Freddie to leave mortgage finance completely in the private sector. A Treasury Department report on the future of Fannie and Freddie will be delivered to Congress in the first half of February 2011.

Jacqui Atcheson has been a Loan Officer for more than 20 years.  Email her at Jacqui.atcheson@prospecting.com or call 917-353-1655

Nearly half (48 percent) the respondents in  this year’s state-wide annual consumer survey by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Silberman College of Business, say they are worse off financially, which is a 6-point decline from a year ago.

At the same time 25 percent of adults participating in this poll say they are  better off financially than they were a year ago, a figure up 7 percentage points from a year ago.

While there is improvement over last year in every income bracket, only in the highest bracket do those who say they are better off outweigh those who say they’re worse off. Two in five (40 percent) of those with household incomes over $150,000 say they’re better off, while just one in four (26 percent) in that income bracket say they’re worse off. In the lowest bracket, earning under $50,000 a year, 23 percent say they’re better off financially than a year ago, a gain of 8 percentage points over last year, while more than half, 55 percent, say they’re worse off, a decline of 7 points from a year ago.

“It’s the norm that those with the most income emerge from a recession first and most everyone trails them,” said Sorin Tuluca, professor of finance at the Silberman College of Business.

While fewer Garden Staters say they’re worse off and more say they are better off, their optimism is consistent: 46 percent  say their financial well-being in the next 12 months will improve, compared to just 27 percent who think they will be worse off by year’s end. In the survey a year ago, 48 percent thought that they would be better off by the start of 2011 and 23 percent thought that they would be worse off. The reality, though, was that at the end of 2010 only 25 percent claimed to be better off while 48 percent were worse off.

“A year ago New Jerseyans were quite optimistic as they had the feeling that the worst was over,” said Tuluca. “The reality is that the worst is over but the road ahead will continue to be a steep climb.”

Similarly, while only one in four (25 percent) say business conditions in the state have improved since a year ago, that is an increase of 12 points over a year ago. And while a majority (56 percent) say business conditions are worse, that is an improvement from 71 percent a year ago.

Looking to the future, New Jerseyans are bullish about prospects for business in the state: 54 percent say that business conditions will improve in the next 12 months while half that, 26 percent, say business will be worse off. But  reflecting a stubborn unemployment percentage at the national and state level, 65 percent of New Jerseyans still report that either they or someone in their family or a friend has lost their job, essentially unchanged from 67 percent one year ago.

“Unemployment certainly leaves a scar when it’s you or a friend,” said Tuluca, “yet as a statistic it lags behind other indicators. Even a little improvement in unemployment is good news. The upward trend is just not as quick as we would like, and many jobs will never come back.”

• 30 percent continue to be “somewhat worried” or “very worried” that they might lose their job this coming year.
• 35 percent say it is “somewhat” or “very difficult” to make payments on their credit cards, up from  33 percent a year ago, 31 percent two years ago, and 25 percent three years ago.
• Given a windfall of $1,000, 36% would save it, 12% would spend it, 45 percent would pay their bills and 4 percentwould give it to charity.  A majority (56 percent) of those making less than $50,000 would use it to pay bills. A majority (51 percent) of those making over $150,000 would save it.
• 49 percent think housing prices will rise in 2011, a decline from 56 percent a year ago, while 30 percent say prices will decline further, up from 26 percent last year.

What folks say they will purchase in the coming year has not increased over last year, and in many cases suggests a decrease.  However, over the past year consumers tended to over-perform, that is, they spent more than they said they would.  “All things considered, people are uncertain, and uncertainty leads to caution,” said Tuluca. “Consumers were cautious last year, but found themselves in some cases a little more secure, a little less worried about losing their jobs, and purchasing more.”

The composite Index of New Jersey Consumer Intentions— what New Jersey consumers think they will do on a theoretical scale of 0 to 100 – is 39, down from 42 a year ago and unchanged from 2009.  The composite Index of New Jersey Consumer Performance — what consumers actually did in the past year — is 31, up from 28 a year ago and 24 the previous year, but well below its high of 43 in 2005.

“Consumers hope that all this is going to be over quickly,” said Tuluca. “Unfortunately that won’t be the case. The economy will take a while to heal.”

The telephone survey of 809 randomly selected adults throughout New Jersey who participate in their household’s financial decisions is sponsored by the Silberman College of Business at Fairleigh Dickinson University. It was conducted by PublicMind from Jan. 3 through Jan. 9 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percent percentage points.

By Jacqui Atcheson

Wholesalers decreased their inventories 0.2 percent in November, following a revised 1.7 percent rise in October. Sales at the wholesale level rose 1.9 percent in November after a revised 2.6 percent increase in October.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted composite index of mortgage applications for the week ending January 7 rose 2.2 percent. Refinancing applications increased 4.9 percent. Purchase volume fell 3.7 percent.

The trade deficit decreased 0.3 percent to $38.3 billion in November from $38.4 billion in October. Economists had expected a trade deficit of $41 billion. Exports rose 0.8 percent to $159.6 billion. Imports increased 0.6 percent to $197.9 billion.

The producer price index, which tracks wholesale price inflation, rose 1.1 percent in December after a 0.8 percent increase in November. Core prices — excluding food and fuel — rose 0.2 percent in December. For the year, seasonally adjusted wholesale prices are up 4.1 percent.

Jacqui Atcheson

Retail sales rose 0.6 percent in December after a 0.8 percent increase in November. It was the sixth straight monthly gain. For the year, retail sales rose 6.6 percent in 2010, the largest annual increase since 1999.

Industrial production at the nation’s factories, mines and utilities rose 0.8 percent in December, following a revised 0.3 percent increase in November. Compared to a year ago, industrial production is up 5.9 percent by utilization rose to 76 percent in December.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 35,000 to 445,000 for the week ending Jan. 8. Continuing claims for the week ending Jan. 1 fell by 248,000 to 3.8 million, the lowest level since October 25, 2008.

Upcoming on the economic calendar are reports on the housing price index on Jan. 18, housing starts on Jan. 19 and existing home sales on Jan. 20.

Jacqui Atcheson has been a Loan Officer for more than 20 years.  Email her at Jacqui.atcheson@prospecting.com or call 917-353-1655.

By Nancy Morehouse

CLOSTER- In an attempt to recover the back taxes from the owners of Closter Plaza, located on Vervalen Street, the borough has hired a bankruptcy attorney.

Attorney Gary Norgaard of the Englewood firm Stern, Lavinthal, Frankenberg & Norgaard LLC will file a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark in order to allow the borough to hold a tax lien sale on the property.  The property owes nearly $700,000.00 in 2010 municipal taxes.

Aspi and Bakhtaver Irani, owners of Closter Plaza, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Dec. 8 of last year; a day before Closter was schedule to have a tax sale of the property.

In a Dec. 16 article in The Press Journal, the Iranis’ lawyer, Daniel M. Stolz of Hekemian & Co., is quoted saying that the filing took place because of, “First, a dispute with Joseph Lipari, the mall manager; and second, an impending tax sale by the town.”

The borough not only wants to retrieve the taxes owed, but also ensure the revitalization of the property.  “The Plaza had not been maintained, despite having been cited in the past, several times,” said Councilman David Barad in a phone interview Tuesday, Jan. 18.

The shopping center, currently containing approximately 40 shops, has been cited by the town for its poor appearance, including broken light fixtures and potholes in the parking lot.  In addition, the Iranis’ plan to improve the plaza by including a Whole Foods Market has been extensively delayed.

“Our goal is to collect our taxes and keep the pressure up so this project doesn’t lie fallow,” said Mr. Barad.

N.Y. Waterway has recently begun offering visual access to its GPS Bus Locator system on all smartphones, iPads, Microsoft OS, Motorola OS and computers. The service, also available by calling 1-877-53-BUSES, provides real-time access on the location and status of free shuttle buses serving N.Y. Waterway’s West 39th Street Ferry Terminal and will be available at www.nywaterway.com.

As part of the ongoing efforts to offer the most convenient commute possible, the Bus Locator allows N.Y. Waterway riders to track how close a bus is to their current location. Five continuously updated maps of New York City, with highlighted streets signifying a specific bus route, use large arrows to indicate the location of a bus and in which direction it is heading.

The free buses depart from N.Y. Waterway’s terminal at 39th Street and the Hudson River on popular routes throughout Manhattan; including 57th Street, 49th/50 Streets, 42nd Street, and 34th Street and a Downtown loop. The buses can be caught at any NYC bus stop on their route. The Bus Locator system soon will be available for tracking N.Y. Waterway bus service in New Jersey as well.

N.Y. Waterway offers free land transportation on both sides of the Hudson River. Ferries operate Monday through Friday from all terminals, with select locations providing additional weekend service.

Information on ferry service and how to access the Bus Locator can be found by visiting www.nywaterway.com or by calling 1-877-53-BUSES or 1-877-53-FERRY.

TENAFLY – The revaluation of all real estate property in the borough is now complete and notices of new valuations are being distributed to taxpayers, according to Borough Assessor Carol C. Byrne.

Assessments have not been finalized and property owners are offered the opportunity to have an informal review of the new valuations with representatives of Realty Appraisal, the firm that conducted the revaluation.

The hearings are scheduled for weekdays from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 14, Monday, Jan. 17, Tues., Jan. 18, Thursday, Jan. 20, Friday, Jan. 21, Monday, Jan. 24, Tuesday, Jan. 25, Wednesday, Jan. 26 and Friday, Jan. 28 and 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturdays, Jan. 15, 22 and 29.  The reviews will be held in the Council Chambers at the Tenafly Borough Hall.  Appointments may be made by calling Realty Appraisal at 201-867-3870.

“It is important that taxpayers understand how we have arrived at the valuations of their properties and that they have the opportunity to discuss those valuations in an informal setting,” said Byrne.  “We want to be as accessible as possible to our taxpayers and have set aside more than 100 hours to assure that we reach that objective.”

The revaluation was ordered by the Bergen County Board of Taxation and has been ongoing since May 2010.  Its purpose is to meet the requirement under New Jersey law that all real estate be assessed at its current value, that is at the price at which a property would sell on the open market between a willing buyer and willing seller.  The new valuations will be in effect for the 2011 tax year.