NJ storm victims scrambling to find rental homes

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) ? Irene Cramer threaded her Mercury Mountaineer around fallen branches, slowing down in front of a squat white ranch to see if, maybe, it could be the temporary home she is desperate to find.

Cramer and her husband, Tommy, left their home in Lavallette, N.J., on a barrier island, ahead of Superstorm Sandy. The Cramers do not know how much damage their home sustained. Because the island and its infrastructure were devastated, they are looking for a long-term rental.

"We have no other choice," Irene Cramer said.

Thousands of New Jersey residents displaced by Superstorm Sandy are frantically calling real estate offices, looking to rent a home or apartment while they figure out what to do about their storm-ravaged homes. Others are joining waiting lists at hotels filled with evacuees and out-of-state utility workers.

Demand, real estate agents said, far outstripped supply. Much of the region's copious summer rental stock is not listed this time of year, and properties on the beach may be damaged or inaccessible. The winter housing stock is much smaller, and months-long rentals of vacation homes are virtually unheard of. And the prices of rentals changes with each season.

"The number of people who need homes now is much greater than what all of the companies have combined is available," said John Meechan, a broker with Diane Turton Realtors in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J. The company has 16 offices in Monmouth and Ocean counties.

There are 961 rentals currently available in Monmouth and Ocean counties, said Al Veltri of Veltri Realtors and president of the Monmouth County Association of Realtors. The number is active, Veltri said, and because agents don't automatically removed a filled listing the number could be significantly less than listed.

Renters were being urged to take what they could get. Agents were contacting owners of vacant homes for sale, asking whether they would be willing to rent them out for a few months.

"We've been going crazy," said Ken Parker, an agent with Century 21 Nifoussi Realty in Toms River, N.J. "Any time a rental comes on the market, within hours it has multiple offers on it, for the obvious reasons. We're doing everything we can to help these people. We're all in the same boat down here."

Others plunked down cash, choosing to buy a house, live in it temporarily, and rent or sell it later.

"We've had people that have said, 'for the price of renting, I'll buy it and sell it next year,'" said Perry Beneduce of Diane Turton Realtors. He said one client displaced by the storm purchased a $400,000 house last week to stay in temporarily.

Beneduce and Margot MacPherson, director of sales for Hotels Unlimited, which operates six hotels in the area, said people have streamed in all week looking for rooms or rentals, saying they have no place to sleep other than their cars.

"It's very emotional," MacPherson said. "Families pulling up in minivans, infants in their arms."

MacPherson said the first vacancy at the Holiday Inn Express in Neptune is Nov. 18. She has called business travelers, brides and organizers of traveling soccer tournaments, asking if they might postpone their stays at the hotel so displaced people and utility workers can keep the rooms. Some have obliged. MacPherson said utility workers are sharing rooms and some are sleeping on the floor.

"They look cold, they look tired and we're doing everything to accommodate them," she said. "But at a certain point there's no room at the inn."

The hotel didn't have power until Thursday because of Sandy and a subsequent snowstorm. MacPherson asked friends on Facebook to send homemade cookies and snacks.

"As the utility guys start to go home my waiting list is three pages long with Army Corps guys, FEMA guys, displaced residents, Verizon guys looking to rework poles," MacPherson said. "It's unbelievable."

The state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are still determining how many residents will be displaced long-term, said Lisa Ryan, director of communications for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. The state and FEMA are working with rental property owners, hotels and housing authorities to find shelter for people, she said.

The Cramers have been staying with Tommy's brother.

Clothes hung from a bar in the back of the Mountaineer; they're all Irene took from the house. Neither of them brought a coat, thinking they would be able to retrieve items from their home shortly after the storm.

Tommy, 63, and Irene, 57, drove around Holiday City, a planned senior community of small ranch homes with garages, looking for rent or for sale signs. Holiday City was appealing because the homes don't have stairs, important because Tommy has bad knees.

The homes, along with others in the many adult housing developments on the Jersey Shore, are also cheap. At least one house in Holiday City is on the market for $69,000, a price that led the Cramers to think about buying.

The couple's home was damaged in Hurricane Irene last year, and they stayed for nine weeks with relatives down the street. Tommy is determined to go back.

"I spent my whole life planning to be here," he said. "I don't want to leave so quick."

Tina Simon, 39, does want to leave. She, her husband and 5-year-old son lived in Seaside Heights and don't think they will be able to go back permanently for months because there is no gas service. The family is staying with friends in Jackson and trying to find a long-term rental so their son can start school again.

"It's been really difficult," she said. The family is working with two real estate agents and scouring listings online and in the newspaper. "The rents, they were high before, but it seems like they got exponentially higher."

Real estate agents said they are working to make sure landlords aren't raising prices in the wake of the storm.

Simon said she has received FEMA money and wants a place in Ocean County, close to where she and her husband work. The process, she said, has been frustrating.

"I'm not finding anything. They're like, 'You have to go through a whole process,'" Simon said. "I'm like, 'I need a home now. I have a 5-year-old I have to get into school.'"

___

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nj-storm-victims-scrambling-rental-homes-170252222.html

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Symposium examines Pope Benedict's teaching on ecology : News ...

CWN - November 09, 2012

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic University of America?s Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies, and the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change are cosponsoring a symposium at Catholic University entitled ?A Catholic Consultation on Environmental Justice and Climate Change: Assessing Pope Benedict XVI's Ecological Vision for the Catholic Church in the United States.?

?Pope Benedict has consistently drawn attention to these issues and urges all to take moral responsibility to reduce our environmental impact and our carbon footprint,? said Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton. ?This symposium is an important step in guiding our Catholic response to these challenges.?

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Source: http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=16197

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Goldman's advice for Citi's new CEO: Sell, sell, sell - The Term ...

FORTUNE -- Citigroup should dump its junk.

That's the advice of Goldman Sachs analyst Richard Ramsden for Citi CEO Michael Corbat, who took over the job two weeks ago. Ramsden says that delinquent home loans and other bad assets left over from the financial crisis have proven to be 10 times more toxic to Citi than to its rivals. His advice: Sell now.

The Goldman analyst suggests Citi (C) dump $80 billion in assets by the end of next year. That's about double the pace Citi's ex-CEO Vikram Pandit was on. Most of it is the junk left over from the financial crisis, bad loans and businesses like subprime lending and collecting mortgage payments that Citi wants out of.

MORE: America's best job creators are slowing down

But Ramsden also suggests that Citi might want to think about ditching bank branches as well. "[Citi's] U.S. consumer bank is less efficient than peers despite a superior branch footprint," wrote Ramsden in a recent report.

The question for Corbat is how to get rid of the bank's junk. He could spin it if off in one big pile. But Ramsden says that probably would require Citi to extend a big loan to the newly separate company, or for the bank to guarantee some of the assets, in order to make the new company solvent and attractive to investors. So that might not really get Citi off the hook. A better solution might be for Corbat to sell Citi's unwanted assets individually for whatever price he can get.

That was a strategy Pandit was reluctant to pursue, not wanting to cut prices and take losses. Indeed, part of the reason Pandit finally got booted was because its brokerage division ended up fetching much less than the bank thought. So Corbat might want to watch himself.

MORE: Meet Citi's new boss

But the earnings drag of holding onto the unwanted stuff might be outweighing the cost of dumping it. In the most recent quarter, Citi's return on equity, a key measure of bank profitability, was just over 8%. That compares to 13% for rival JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and 17% for Wells Fargo (WFC). Without the junky assets, Ramsden figures Citi's ROE would nearly double to 14%.

And Corbat might have an easier time selling now. A number of hedge funds have booked double-digit gains this year buying up subprime mortgage loans. The recent sale of the former subprime mortgage loan division of General Motors sparked a bidding war.

What's more, Citi's stock fell 90% under Pandit's watch. So Corbat should probably think about taking a different approach than his predecessor.

Still, in resurrecting Citi and its stock, Corbat got thrown another obstacle this week. Three of Citi's buildings, including two in its major complex in Tribeca, were damaged in Hurricane Sandy and the resultant flood in downtown Manhattan. One of the buildings, 111 Wall Street, might be inaccessible for months.

So much for Corbat's CEO honeymoon.

Source: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/10/31/goldman-citigroup-ceo-sell/

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NAICOM appoints interim management for Goldlink Insurance

The National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, has constituted a seven-man interim Board of Directors to oversee the affairs of Goldlink Insurance Plc with effect from November 1, 2012.

In a statement signed by the Head of Corporate Communications of NAICOM, Mr. Lucky Fiakpa, the constitution of the interim board is sequel to the recent resignation of members of the board of directors of the company following anomalies/misstatements discovered in the audited financial statements of the company for the year ended December 31, 2011.

The interim board has been, among others, charged with the responsibility of carrying out full investigation of the financial reports and corporate governance failures observed in the course of reviewing the company?s financial statement for the year ending December 31, 2011.

The interim board, which shall be for six months in the first instance, has Mr. James O. Ayo, as Chairman, Mr. Gbolahan Olutayo, as Managing Director and Mr. Adeyinka Olutungase, as Chief Finance Officer.

Other members of the interim board include Ambassador Umar Damagun, Alhaji Sashe Dabana, Prof. Chioma Kanu Agomo and Mallam Abubakar Sadiq Mijinyawa (independent director).

It is important to note that this development does not any way affect the capacity of the company to provide dependable insurance services.

?

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Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/11/naicom-appoints-interim-management-for-goldlink-insurance/

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'Skyfall' given thumbs up by Vatican newspaper

Indigo / Getty Images Contributor

Daniel Craig at the world premiere of "Skyfall" in London.

By Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter

In a marketing bonanza for the new James Bond film "Skyfall," the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano has endorsed the movie for the world's one billion Catholics to see, despite the devilish ways of cinema's most notorious spy.

The daily newspaper devoted a?full spread to the Sony and MGM movie?in its Wednesday edition, timed to "Skyfall's" opening in Italy.

Reviewer Gaetano Vallini wrote that this Bond -- played by Daniel Craig -- is "less of a cliche, less attracted by the pleasures of life." Continuing, Vallini said the character is "darker and more introspective" and that because of this, "he is more human, even able to be moved and cry."

PHOTOS: "Skyfall" London premiere: Daniel Craig is back as Bond

The newspaper had four other stories about "Skyfall," including a Q&A with Craig and an article explaining why author Ian Fleming came to select the name James Bond.

Sony wasn't immediately available to comment on the Bond package, which generated headlines around the globe because of its breadth. The edition's only other full page spread was about the 500th anniversary of the inauguration of the Sistine Chapel.

L'Osservatore Romano editor-in-chief Gian Maria Vian?is under orders from Pope Benedict to make sure the paper is attuned to pop culture, whatever the form.

Directed by Sam Mendes, "Skyfall" began opening at the international box office last weekend, breaking records in the U.K. and grossing nearly $100 million to date.

STORY: Adele's "Skyfall" is every inch a classic Bond theme

"Skyfall" opens in North America on Nov. 9 (it opens in IMAX and other large-format theaters Nov. 8). There are nearly 78 million Catholics in the U.S., representing 25 percent of the population.

In the movie, 007's loyalty to M -- played again by Judi Dench -- is tested when her past comes back to haunt her. It's up to 007 to track down and destory the threat if MI6 is to be saved. Javier Bardem also stars.

Related content:

Source: http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/01/14852576-skyfall-given-thumbs-up-major-spread-by-vaticans-newspaper?lite

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Utility GDF Suez revenues up 8.4 percent this year

PARIS (AP) ? Franco-Belgian utility GDF Suez reported Wednesday that its revenues were up 8.4 percent this year so far, driven in part by weather conditions in France and a state decision that will allow the company to recoup money lost in a government-mandated freeze on natural gas prices.

The company has brought in ?70.9 billion ($91.9 billion) in the first nine months of 2012. It didn't break out figures for the third quarter, but that's ?20.4 billion more in revenue than GDF Suez reported at the half-year mark, slightly above the average expectation of analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Some of the strongest growth came from France, which accounts for just over 35 percent of GDF's revenues. The company credited, in part, a favorable decision on gas prices this summer, when a state body overturned a freeze implemented by the government at the end of 2011. That is allowing GDF Suez to recoup millions of euros from customers.

GDF is also benefiting from a return to normal weather in France after an unusually warm early winter last year. In fact, weather has been on GDF's side all 2012, with a late-winter cold snap and a chilly summer. Revenues were up 15.2 percent in the country.

The company is also doing well in Asia, where revenue to Sept. 30 is up 18.8 percent, and Australia, where sales skyrocketed 40.3 percent, in part due to price increases.

GDF Suez, however, is struggling in its other home market of Belgium, where sales have slipped 5.9 percent over last year. The company said it is losing business customers there.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/utility-gdf-suez-revenues-8-4-percent-065618512--finance.html

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Will my Social Security benefit increase next year? - The Help Desk ...

Will Social Security get a raise in 2013? ? Gary B.

The Social Security Administration just announced a cost of living adjustment (COLA) of 1.7% for 2013. The increases will take effect on Dec. 1, 2012 and will appear in benefit payments starting Jan 1, 2013.

The COLA allows Social Security benefits (as well as federal and military pensions) to keep pace with inflation so the buying power of those payments holds steady. "It's a way of ensuring that retirees can maintain a reasonable standard of living," says Cristina Martin Firvida, AARP's director of financial security and consumer affairs. These adjustments are calculated every year based on increases in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), a monthly index that tracks the rise in cost of consumer goods and services in selected urban areas. It's often argued that the CPI-W does not fairly track cost-of-living increases specific to seniors, but that's the index that the government uses.

In 2010 and 2011, the Social Security Administration determined that there was no effective uptick in the CPI-W, and, accordingly, declined to implement a COLA. This year, by comparison, saw a COLA of 3.6%.

? Marc Mewshaw

Got a question for the Help Desk? Send it to?helpdesk@cnnmoney.com.

Source: http://helpdesk.blogs.money.cnn.com/2012/10/30/will-my-social-security-benefit-increase-next-year/

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