Quoted from 1226

I disagree with those who think that it's not a good move for Pioneer. I for one am not a Pioneer member, but I will seriously consider becoming one now that I would not have to deal with the icky Hannaford plaza and now that Pioneer will be within walking distance from my house. The other free-standing banks in the area, like Citizens, are very well kept and I would think Pioneer would have the same qualities.

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09. What is "vig"?

Vig, which is short for vigorish, is a term used to describe the book's theoretical edge, or commission, on each betting online wager. It is also sometimes referred to as the book's hold, particularly when looking at futures markets. For spread betting, balanced action would result in 11 dollars bet on each side (as an example) for a total of 22. As long as there isn't a push, the winner would be paid 21 and the book would keep 1. This 1/22 that is the book's commission is called the vig.

Most express it as a percentage. In this case, for spread betting, it is 4.545%. To compare to some popular casino gambling games, the vig in craps is approx. 1/72 (1.389%) and in roulette gambling it is 2/38 (5.26%) on a double zero wheel. It is a representation of the house's long term betting edge over time based on the mathematics of the game. Each and every gambling strategy has this "vig" inherent in it, barring a push.

In order for a bettor to win, he must win an adjusted percentage high enough to overcome or counteract this vig. For spread betting, at typical "lay prices" of -110 each way, that magic number is 52.38%. This break even percentage is what you need to surpass long term to win.

One interesting side note is that the farther away from even a money sports betting line goes, if the differential is held constant, the less vig is inherent. That is, the sports book is skimming a higher percentage of the players' money (assuming balanced action) on sports betting lines of -110/-110 than -130/+110, -160/+140, etc. This is why books have "break points" along the way where the differential is increased. So it might be a 20 cent differential up to -149/+129, then a 30 cent differential up to -199/+169, then 40 cents, etc.

A place like Canbet is a little unusual in that it keeps the vig percentage constant, so the differential expands gradually, making all the sport bedding odds along the way identically favorable (except for slight rounding) to the -110/-110 starting point (-107/-107 for some sports). I can see the fairness in this, but obviously a bettor would prefer keeping the differential constant, as something like -200/+180 odds carries with it very little vig.

Quoted from joebxr

Well guess you have facts that no one else seems to have, including the family that owned the business. Edgewood opened in 1950 and closed in 2002. And as for the quality, coming from a Recovery Room supporter, well, that speaks for itself.  A business does not stay open that long if quality is not there...FACT!  The closing was because family wanted to retire and enjoy life and there were no family successors that were interested in taking over the business.....FACT!

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

Quality is more a matter of opinion than fact--  Having patronized the Edgewood on numerous occasions -- I can tell you that my family was disappointed many times with the service and the food.  I remember a particularly bad meal there in the late 1970's.

As for the Recovery Room/Berkshire Bank complex -- I think it is a great project .. replacing the run down Capitol Plaza ..  and I have not yet been to the Recovery Room in Rotterdam to check out its service and food -- have been to the one in Amsterdam and was pleased  --- but I never said it was my favorite restaurant or even in my Top 10 favorites.

You would have to drive a bit to get to most of my Top 10 restaurants -- and the moderator doesn't like it when I post there names and locations.

Quoted from CICERO

Congratulation Mr. Delgallo for bringing us the Recovery Room and for the demolition of the old Edgewood Restaurant.  Without his great leadership, none of this could have been possible./tic  

Isn't that right DVR?

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

Quality is more a matter of opinion than fact--  Having patronized the Edgewood on numerous occasions -- I can tell you that my family was disappointed many times with the service and the food.  I remember a particularly bad meal there in the late 1970's.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

I give credit where credit is due ... and blame where blame is due.    The Berkshire Bank/Recovery Room complex was a result of   Metroplex and the Town working together.     Pioneer Savings Bank is also an example of Metroplex and the Town working together.    To the extent that Mr. DelGallo was involved, I have given him credit for it publicly ....    but those 2 successes do NOT undue the damage done to the town by his and the Deputy Supervisor's failures on a number of other issues.     And their biggest failure is their insistence on trying to run the town like a 2 man Oligarchy ... bullying fellow Town Board members around  AND their outright attack on the good, decent hard-working town employees that they tried to shove around.  

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What Are CAFRs?
By Walter J. Burien, Jr.
CAFR1.com
10-23-6


It has been reported that trillions of collective dollars not shown in government Budget reports are shown through Government CAFR reports and they are virtually never openly-discussed by the syndicated NEWS media, both the Democratic and Republican Party members, the House, Senate, and organized public education. With, and being that the CAFR is "the" accounting document for every local government, and with it being effectively "BLACKED OUT" for open mention over the last 60 years, that this fact of intentional omission of coverage is the biggest conspiracy that has ever taken effect in the United States.  
  
First, what is a CAFR? A CAFR (Comprehensive Annual Financial Report) is government's complete accounting of "Net Worth". The CAFR was established as local government's complete accounting record starting in 1946 through the efforts of a private group located out of Chicago, IL by the name of Government Financial Officers Association (GFOA) http://gfoa.org and became mandatory by Federal requirement on all local governments in 1978 to complete if they did not all ready do so.  
  
What has been presented to the public over that 60 year time period were Budget Reports. A Budget report is strictly planned expenditures for the year from a grouping of specific government service agencies. A budget may also note some statistical, statutory, and demographic data for reference. Most Government budget reports show where "tax" revenue will be used. The CAFR on the other hand is not a projection of one year's expenditures from a select grouping of agencies, but a complete cumulative record of assets, investments, and gross income from all agencies and all sources benefiting that local government body.
  
A CAFR is similar to the Annual Financial Report (AFR) that publicly traded corporations are required to produce each year and give to every share-holder as a requirement of Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) law. In many cases, a CAFR may show two to three times more income over what is shown in the corresponding Budget Report.  
  
Relevant to taxpayer interests, the CAFR "is" the report that would be the report for review over a limit showing as seen in the corresponding Budget report. The CAFR could be considered the Bible of asset accounting for any local government body.  
  
So, is the CAFR being "BLACKED OUT" from mention by the syndicated news media and both the Democratic and Republican Party members, and the House or the Senate, and even organized education?  
  
A Google search for CAFR produces over 750,000 hits but a Google "NEWS" search for CAFR as of 10/21/06 only produces seven (7) obscure hits of simple mention.
  
A corresponding  "NEWS" search in the archives of the New York Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, and Wall Street Journal, which go back in their data banks, several decades showed in combination less than seven hits for CAFR. Here with this disparity the answer for "is there a Black-Out from the Syndicated NEWS" agencies? The answer would have to be a clear yes.  
  
Have the school districts from across the USA that educate their students on Budgets, who also produce a CAFR each year made simple and basic mention of the CAFR at any point for education of their students on this basic subject?  No, they have not. Here does a Blackout exist? Apparently, yes is the answer.  
  
Have elected officials or politicians in or running for office who talk continuously about Budgets openly made mention of the greater report of their local city, county, or State the CAFR, linked them at their web sites, or linked for mention in their news letters over the last 60 years?  Virtually not a peep if at all any mention. Here does a Blackout exist? Apparently, yes is the answer.  
  
Are local Government CAFRs sent to all members of the House, Senate, Editors of Local News Papers, News Networks, and Educational department heads? Yes, they have been. The printing of the CAFR is a budgetary item requiring records to be kept as to each sending. The before mentioned representatives have been sent the primary local government CAFR reports relevant to their locale now for over 30 years. Here does a Blackout exist? Apparently, yes is the answer.  
  
Upon overall review of the question: Does a Blackout, and in fact a conspiracy exist towards bringing the CAFR into the light for public scrutiny. Based on the clear record over the last 30 years of abstention from use or mention to the public, the answer here also appears to be a clear yes.  
  
From the over 84,000 CAFR reports produced by local Government each year in combination with Federal Government's own investment holdings, shows a conservative value of sixty trillion dollars held by Local and Federal Government as of 1999. An example of the holdings shown from just one Government CAFR (NY STATE 2005 RETIREMENT FUND CAFR)  [http://www.osc.state.ny.us/retire/aboutus/annrep05/assetlist091405.pdf ] shows 133 billion dollars of investments held (Microsoft 44 million shares thereof).  
  
Motive for conspiracy to Blackout the CAFR from the public's realm of comprehension? The substantial money, Investments, and Power obtained there from of those on the inside track could be the most probable answer.  
  
To Review some CAFRs go to:  http://cafr1.com/STATES/    

Quoted from William Pen

I predict that the Recovery Room will be closed by January 2013 unless the owners continue to receive financial
subsidies from the Metroplex and Rotterdam IDA.  The location is sub-optimal with too MUCH traffic at the corner.  
The food is marginal in quality.  Like many "theme" restaurants, the business will be good for a while after the
grand opening, but the allure and receipts will diminish with time.

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OTC and exchange-tradedIn broad terms, there are two groups of derivative contracts, which are distinguished by the way they are traded in the market:

Over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives are contracts that are traded (and privately negotiated) directly between two parties, without going through an exchange or other intermediary. Products such as swaps, forward rate agreements, and exotic options are almost always traded in this way. The OTC derivative market is the largest market for derivatives, and is largely unregulated with respect to disclosure of information between the parties, since the OTC market is made up of banks and other highly sophisticated parties, such as hedge funds. Reporting of OTC amounts are difficult because trades can occur in private, without activity being visible on any exchange. According to the Bank for International Settlements, the total outstanding notional amount is US$684 trillion (as of June 200.[7] Of this total notional amount, 67% are interest rate contracts, 8% are credit default swaps (CDS), 9% are foreign exchange contracts, 2% are commodity contracts, 1% are equity contracts, and 12% are other. Because OTC derivatives are not traded on an exchange, there is no central counter-party. Therefore, they are subject to counter-party risk, like an ordinary contract, since each counter-party relies on the other to perform.
Exchange-traded derivative contracts (ETD) are those derivatives instruments that are traded via specialized derivatives exchanges or other exchanges. A derivatives exchange is a market where individuals trade standardized contracts that have been defined by the exchange.[8] A derivatives exchange acts as an intermediary to all related transactions, and takes Initial margin from both sides of the trade to act as a guarantee. The world's largest[9] derivatives exchanges (by number of transactions) are the Korea Exchange (which lists KOSPI Index Futures & Options), Eurex (which lists a wide range of European products such as interest rate & index products), and CME Group (made up of the 2007 merger of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade and the 2008 acquisition of the New York Mercantile Exchange). According to BIS, the combined turnover in the world's derivatives exchanges totaled USD 344 trillion during Q4 2005. Some types of derivative instruments also may trade on traditional exchanges. For instance, hybrid instruments such as convertible bonds and/or convertible preferred may be listed on stock or bond exchanges. Also, warrants (or "rights") may be listed on equity exchanges. Performance Rights, Cash xPRTs and various other instruments that essentially consist of a complex set of options bundled into a simple package are routinely listed on equity exchanges. Like other derivatives, these publicly traded derivatives provide investors access to risk/reward and volatility characteristics that, while related to an underlying commodity, nonetheless are distinctive.

Quoted from William Pen

I predict that the Recovery Room will be closed by January 2013 unless the owners continue to receive financial
subsidies from the Metroplex and Rotterdam IDA.