Help a Family for Christmas

Please come out to Shorehouse Furniture Saturday to meet Burnie Thompson, Jason Lent and myself and donate $5, $50, $1,000, or whatever you can to help get Marissa Amora’s 4 brothers new beds. Every penny donated will be matched dollar for dollar by Shorehouse Furniture.

Update 8:50am – I just received word that Marissa will be there as well, come out and meet her!

The beds they are in are barely sleepable. Help a family this Christmas.

Anything over and above the amount that is needed to purchase the beds will go to other things the family needs.

pcbdaily.com has committed $200 and I’ll drop the check off today or tomorrow.

Again, come out to Shorehouse Furniture anytime today or between 10 and noon Saturday to meet any of us and donate anything you can to help these great kids get into new beds.

Taco Casa and Gyro Cafe Open on the Beach

Locally owned restaurants Gyro Cafe & Taco Casa have opened two new locations on Panama City Beach. Located at the Coastal Palms Village across from the Navy Base entrance, these two new locations bring the English Enterprise family of restaurants up to six.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said owner Geoff English. “After successful opening of the 2nd Taco Casa location on 23rd Street in late 2007, we knew that Panama City Beach was the next logical step.”

The new beach locations are situated side-by-side just as the locations in the 23rd Street Wal-Mart Plaza.

“We’re keeping the same popular menus and prices at each store,” said English. “Taco Casa’s mexican menu is best known for its sanchiladas and chili con queso, while Gyro Cafe’s greek-inspired cuisine has stand-outs with its gyro sandwiches and hummus.”

Locations: 944, 948 Thomas Drive (Coastal Palms Village), Panama City Beach:
Phone numbers: Taco Casa-249-0112; Gyro Café-249-0448

We ate at Gyro Cafe a couple weeks ago and loved it.

Bay County TDC Approves Bed Tax Increase

In a meeting that ended in great applause, the Bay County Tourist Development Council unanimously voted to approve the increase in bed tax collections from 3% to 5%. With public comment from pillars of the Panama City Beach community, such as Charlie Hilton, Julian Bennett, Julie Hilton and Joe Tannehill, good arguments were made for and against the increase with a unified concern for our area.

The motion to approve suggested that one penny go towards marketing, including helping attract a low-cost carrier. Half of the second new cent would go to beach cleaning, safety awareness and signage throughout the beach. The second half of the second new cent will go to capital projects such as new ball fields at Frank Brown Park or the proposed improvements to Aaron Bessant Park in Pier Park.

“I think we should delay, not defeat the 5th cent increase,” Bennett Sr. said discussing that we need to put together a comprehensive plan as to how the 5th sent will be spent.

“We need to work on collecting what we have,” said Julie Hilton, “before we try and get more.”

Joe Tannehill, chairman of the Airport Authority board was the first to comment during the public comment portion of the meeting. He voiced his support of the bed tax increase and assured the board and confirmed to the board and the audience that the airport was ahead of schedule and under budget. He stressed that essential to the area’s success was the success of the airport and essential to the airport’s success was getting the word out to the rest of the country that we are open for business.

He emphasized that a growing number of travelers to our area will be from out of the country, but we need marketing dollars to underscore that effort. He also confirmed discussions with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

Peter Yesawich from YPartnership presented on why we need to increase our bed tax stressing that any increase had no direct impact on his firm or his firm’s relationship with the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau.

His presentation explained that we had advertising budgets that were 1/2 and 1/3 of that of our direct competitors. He also stressed that we needed to have a vehicle in place to support the new airport and any low-cost airline that may come into our area. He mentioned that these are perilous times for the airline industry and that any airline would find great comfort knowing they had some financial support here in Panama City Beach. His presentation explicated the importance of having a harmonious allocation of marketing dollars and capital improvement dollars.

Yesawich said that our future visitors are not “legacy visitors” or those returning to our area, but new visitors. He explained that we need to expand our marketing reach to outside our traditional market and that we need a broader visitor base.

Buddy Wilkes, owner of Shipwreck Island Waterpark underscored this point in saying that we’ve lost our legacy visitors already and that we must focus on new customers.

There has been much discussion elsewhere and here on pcbdaily that we need to work harder to collect the rent collectors that aren’t paying instead of trying to raise the tax. I agree and disagree with this.

We need to change our collection process and the way it is enforced. Actually, that is a false statement. We need to enforce the bed tax collection as right now, it is not being enforced at all. What happens to those that do not collect? Nothing. Period. So, how do they figure out who is collecting rent, but not paying the bed tax? I don’t know, but there are smart people than me that can figure this all out, and it needs to happen, NOW.

Bill Kinsall, Bay County Clerk-elect reassured the board and audience during the public comment section that he would do everything in his power to make their collection process and research to who isn’t paying more efficient. He said the whole process will be under scrutiny and they will figure out how to fix the system.

Julie Hilton mentioned that she thought that we may be seeing 50% of the total possible bed tax revenue due to people not paying and that an increase may push more to not pay. I cannot speculate on the number, but I totally agree with her in that the number is probably larger than we think. We need to figure out a way to determine this. I also think we need to enable some sort of enforced consequence to be imposed on those that do not pay.

Yes, we need a very comprehensive plan to exactly how we’ll spend each penny of the increase, yes we need to figure out how to collect from who isn’t paying right now, but we also need more money to be sure we are ready to spread the word about Panama City Beach to the world when the new airport comes online. We also need to be sure we continue to improve our area at the same rate our competition is improving their areas, or we will become a has-been.

The argument that if we increase our rates that we’ll lose tourists just isn’t valid. An increase of 2% will yeild an increase in room rates of $20 for a week’s stay at $1000. Is someone going to be deterred by this? No. Will they even know about the change? No. Tourists don’t ask what tax rate they are paying and they aren’t going to change their mind for a measly 2%.

Good job TDC, Bay County Commissioners, please take heed, we need this for our area.

Related: Bed Tax Increase Set in Motion

No Real Mortgage Relief Despite Government Efforts

To say 2008 has been a bad year for real estate is just a wee bit of an understatement. Property values have plunged by some 35% nationwide and foreclosures are expected to exceed 2.2 million for the year. Nearly 4% of all outstanding mortgages are currently delinquent and in Florida the rate of delinquent mortgages leads the nation at 7.82%.

The impacts of the sub-prime fallout, resulting credit crunch and global recession are all taking a serious toll on homeowners who often find themselves unable to sell or refinance as they owe more than their homes are currently worth. The Federal Government has made several impotent attempts to bring relief to homeowners and stem the tide of foreclosure and it seems more plans are bandied about almost daily.

So what options are available to struggling homeowners?

Early this year, the President announced an informal plan that brought together a coalition of banks, mortgage-servicers, credit counselors and investors to provide loan work-out solutions to borrowers facing foreclosure. The Hope Now Alliance, as it was called, was a non-governmental effort and since its inception has helped some 1.7 million homeowners through loan restructuring and modification. Unfortunately, the Comptroller of the Currency reported this week that, of all those helped in the first six months of the year, more than half were already back in default.

In July, The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 became law creating, among other things, the Hope for Homeowners program to be administered through HUD and offer a vehicle for borrowers who were upside down in the homes to refinance to a lower, more affordable interest rate. The plan, intended to help hundreds of thousands of homeowners relied on the current lien-holders of the properties willingness to write down the principal balance of the mortgage to 90% of the current market value. Second lien holders would have to also agree to re-subordinating their liens to the new first making them basically worthless.

As one might imagine, most lenders were reluctant and chose to pursue their own work-outs with borrowers on a case by case basis. As a result, only a handful of borrowers were helped by the plan. HUD has since revised the principal write down requirement to 96.5% of market value but still requires the borrower’s new payment be no more than 31% of their gross monthly income.

So what is on the horizon? Is there any real relief in sight for homeowners facing foreclosure? Several plans have been presented from a variety of governmental agencies but none yet have the full support of Congress and the White House. One plan offered by Sheila Bair, Chairwoman of the FDIC, would lower borrower’s rates to as low as 3%, extend the amortization period to as much as 40 years and defer a portion of principal to some future time.

Another plan proposed would have Fannie and Freddie offer a low fixed rate to both homeowners and buyers to not only help those with unaffordable payments but also generate demand for housing as buyers would presumably be drawn into the market – attracted by the lower rates. This would help stabilize home prices that ultimately are at the heart of the problem. The Obama transition team also is said to be working on a plan though no details have yet emerged.

So what help is there for struggling homeowners right now? Sadly, very little. The silver lining is that several robust plans that could have a real impact on the problem are being discussed seriously and the new administration will have the political capital to insure that whatever plan emerges victorious passes quickly. That is why Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with Governor Charlie Crist, have placed a temporary moratorium on foreclosures until January. The hope is that by that time, after a new president is sworn into office and details of the plan are ironed out, there will finally be a real and workable alternative to foreclosure for millions of Americans.

To have any teeth, the final plan will have to contain several aspects of the plans already discussed. It will have to provide for a low fixed rate, a forty year amortization and some postponement and/or forgiveness of some portion of principal. It must also, and this is critical, offer the same terms to homebuyers with a minimum down payment requirement of 5% and a HUD backed mortgage insurance plan to safeguard banks so they will indeed lend. Without renewed demand for housing to stop home price decline, any new mortgage rescue plan will simply be buying time.

For this and more, visit my blog at www.activerain.com/blogs/hpalmer

Hunter Palmer

Seahaven Condos Sold for 60% Off and More

Suffering through a shadowy frigid 50 degree temperature, bidders and spectators alike gathered in anticipation in the hottest condominium auction to hit Panama City Beach. The party was held under the covered portacache at Origin in the Towne of Seahaven just 1/2 mile east of Pier Park on Panama City Beach.

Even as late as 12:40 pm, the crowd looked sparse, of course, maybe it appeared to be spread thin as the area was large and people were scattered all over. A childhood technique comes to mind to give the appearance of a eaten dinner – spread the food around a little to make a lot look like a little, and break for an early desert.

Bidder registrations were at a scant 30 something when I arrived on the scene at 12 noon, although I was unable to get a definitive number. I was able to confirm after the auction had begun that a total 54 had registered to bid.

“I’m looking to buy 40 cents on the dollar,” said one registered bidder, indicating the smell of blood in the air. “I’ll probably offer $200,000 for a 2 bedroom,” said another bidder, “not sure if I’ll get it, but I’ll try.” He later signed the paperwork for a 3 bedroom for his original budget of $200k. At the end of the day, his purchase was the least per square foot purchase of all the condos offered for sale at the auction. He bought a 1963 square foot condo for $112.07 per square foot, after the buyer’s premium. “It’s always a little risky bidding first,” he said, “but nobody was bidding, so I just through out a number and I actually got it.”

It took a while for the crowd to wake up, but once they did, a feeding frenzy much like what was seen at Palazzo ensued. The market price seemed to be set by a few winning bidders, then the National Auction Group began working with interested parties to negotiate and sell a total of 37 condos.

What I found interesting was that at some point, the actual auction stopped but real estate continued to sell. The National Auction agents seemed to change modes from auctioneers to negotiators bringing offers and deals back and forth between attendees and the developer. In fact, only 9 condos actually sold auction style – all the others happened after the fact.

As the cold wore on and the crowd again grew scarce, condo sales were still being picked off one by one. The average price per square foot sold after the buyer’s premium was $166 with a range from $112/sf to $196/sf.

I should note that if you were following the live updates that I was posting as the auction was happening, all the sold prices stated were BEFORE the 10% buyers premium. The action was just happening too fast for me to take notes, send in updates AND do another calculation.

Out of the condos that were sold when I left only 3 were pool/center view, indicating that with the lower than expected prices, the developer is reserving the ‘premium’ units for a higher price.

Talking with Neel and Mike Bennett several times throughout the auction, they both expressed their concern for the market and the desire of a higher price being commanded from their product offering. Many owners are upset because of the auction as it certainly makes clear the value of these beautiful condominiums at Origin in the Towne of Seahaven.

Being an owner, it certainly hurts to know how upside down we are right now, but at least we know – and “knowing is half the battle,” as a wise G.I. Joe commercial once said.

I’ve been criticized in the past for sticking up for the developer, but in this case I stick up for them not because they are friends, but from a business stand point. The reality is that even though we are significantly upside down, our hurt doesn’t hold a candle to that of the developer. We’d all like the market to be a lot better than what it is now. Everyday we have to fight for an appetite because of all the money we’ve lost. The fact is that there is nothing we can do about it, we are were we are. For the developer, the best thing to do is get rid of as much inventory as he can – that is the only way he can move forward. If he doesn’t do it, the bank will, he can’t hold onto unsold condos forever.

This auction is another testement to what I’ve been telling everyone for months – Now is the time to be buying real estate. Prices are better now then they’ve been in several years.

Below is the unit number/price breakdown for all the condos sold when I left Saturday. I’m hoping to have some final numbers soon, and will post them when I do.

It is my understanding that the Bennetts (developer) are still taking deals. If you need more information on this, or help purchasing a condo, feel free to contact me at jason@pcbdaily.com or 850-319-1172.

Sold condos – all numbers are after 10% buyer’s premium with the bold units being the ones that are on the inside of the horseshoe.

Unit #	Type	SF	Price	Price/SF
1033/1035	3 Bedroom Lock B	1781	$297,000	$166.76
1133/1135	3 Bedroom Lock B	1781	$297,000	$166.76
1433/1435	3 Bedroom Lock B	1781	$297,000	$166.76
1701	3 Bedroom D	1963	$220,000	$112.07
429	2 Bedroom B	1427	$221,100	$154.94
1432	2 Bedroom E	1293	$210,000	$178.65
501/503	2 Bedroom Lock A	1306	$220,000	$168.45
535/537	2 Bedroom Lock A	1306	$220,000	$168.45
1425/1427	2 Bedroom Lock C	1303	$176,000	$135.07
1232	1 Bedroom A	815	$137,500	$168.71
1031	1 Bedroom B	881	$143,000	$162.32
1331	1 Bedroom B	881	$143,000	$162.32
1407	1 Bedroom B	881	$137,500	$156.07
729	Studio B	541	$93,500	$172.83
809	Studio B	541	$93,500	$172.83
733	Studio A	475	$93,500	$196.84
805	Studio A	475	$93,500	$196.84
933	Studio A	475	$93,500	$196.84
1234	Studio A	475	$93,500	$196.84
423	Studio C	465	$60,500	$130.11
525	Studio C	465	$75,900	$163.23
1023	Studio C	465	$75,900	$163.23
1125	Studio C	465	$75,900	$163.23
719	Studio D	562	$75,900	$163.23
819	Studio D	562	$75,900	$163.23

Bay Point Billfish Pledges Tournament Proceeds to Charity

Heading into its 26th year, the Bay Point Invitational Billfish Tournament continues to raise the billfish tournament bar by announcing its commitment to donate proceeds from the 2009 tournament to the St. Joe Community Foundation.

Along with proceeds from the event set for July 15-19 at Bay Point Marina, the entire entry fee from the 71st and final boat will go directly to the Foundation. The Invitational’s commitment to the Foundation is a natural evolution for the tournament, which from its inception has been deeply rooted in the Florida Gulf Coast community and has consistently supported local charities.

In 2008, the Invitational added two successful community-focused programs – the Soldier Salute and Al Hubbard Kids Fishing Experience. Event-goers and participants welcomed the events with open arms, and both events will be expanded for the 2009 tournament. The wonderful reception of these events helped affirm the decision by event organizers to take the tournament’s long-standing commitment to the community a step further by pledging its proceeds to the St. Joe Community Foundation.

“We are absolutely thrilled about the Invitational’s partnership with the St. Joe Foundation,” says Tournament Director Scott Burt. “We have the opportunity to take the success of our tournament and use it to support an organization that has a proven record in helping so many people and organizations in Northwest Florida.”

The St. Joe Community Foundation serves Florida’s Bay, Franklin, Gulf and Walton counties. Since its start in 1999, the non-profit Foundation has given more than $14 million in grants and pledges back to these Northwest Florida communities with a focus on improving quality of life by supporting education, healthcare, conservation and cultural projects. In Bay County alone, the Foundation has sponsored the Aquatics Center, teaching and learning grants, literacy programs, scholarship funds, transportation for disabled adults, Special Olympics athletes, children’s home renovations, arts and nature programs, and most recently the Audubon of Florida’s conservation efforts near St. Andrews Bay. For more information on the St. Joe Community Foundation, visit www.stjcf.com.

Along with its ongoing community efforts, the Bay Point Invitational reigns as the premier social event of the Panama City Beach area with more than 13,000 spectators over the tournament weekend enjoying live entertainment, the Sponsor Village, the Invitational’s World Famous Dock Walk and, of course, the Friday and Saturday night weigh-ins.

New to the 2009 event is the 40/40 Shootout – a separate division within the Invitational geared specifically to smaller competitive fishing boats. The “tournament within the Tournament” will feature 40 boats of 40 feet or less in length fishing for tuna, wahoo and dolphin.

With more than two decades of success under its belt, the Invitational is recognized as one of the most prestigious billfish tournaments along the billfish circuit and continues to make waves. The tournament made history during its 25th anniversary by going full release for all billfish – a significant change that was embraced by participants and spectators alike. In fact, 47 boats vied for nearly $1 million in prize money.
The Bay Point Invitational Billfish Tournament is hosted by the St. Joe Company and Bay Point Marina.

For more information, visit www.baypointbillfish.com.

Seahaven Auction – LIVE Action on PCBDaily.com!

That’s right, you heard it. Live on pcbdaily.com will be the auction details as they unfold on Saturday at Origin in the Towne of Seahaven.

Right now, many anxiously await the time when the auctioneer starts rambling off barely discernable numbers to bring who knows what kind of prices. Many have criticized the auction process.

I personally have a number in my head that the condos will bring, but I’ll respectfully decline to comment on that at this time. BUT, feel free to post in the comments what you predict they’ll sell for.

On Saturday, if you can’t make it to the auction, just hang on pcbdaily.com and hit refresh every few minutes for updates.

See you at the auction!

Bed Tax Increase Set In Motion

Wednesday’s Revenue Enhancement Committee decided to recommend an increase in the bed tax collection from 3% to 5%. The committee decided based on a fairly detailed analysis on how to spend the money based on the needs of our area as a tourist destination.

The recommendation now will go before the Tourist Development Council (TDC) next Tuesday. If they approve the recommendation, it will have to be approved by the Bay County Commission before the tax can be collected.

Now, I can already see where the comments will go on this one. Many argue we don’t need the increase or wonder why we should increase taxes during dire economic times. Some may argue that increases such as these are partial to the larger resorts/attractions or that the TDC doesn’t know how to spend the money they have, why should we give them more.

But, the reality is that we are behind the times here and our competition passed us a long time ago. We’ve been behind for a while, and it is time to start catching up. The TDC and local authorities may not want to consider some things our competition is doing successfully **cough- lifeguards -cough**, but at least they are onto something here.

We are the lowest percentage wise bed tax collector in Northwest Florida, and other areas in South Florida that are competing for our sports marketing contracts are at 3 and 4 cents more than we are. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, if we want to compete, we need more money.

One of the largest tourism segments at risk here are the sports teams and their families that come here in droves each and every year. At immediate risk are 2 sporting events currently being wooed by our competition. They account for nearly one third of all our sports tourism traffic which equals an estimated $10 million in revenue; roughly 60% of that number goes to room rates.

Right now, sports teams that come here for competitions have to travel all over Bay County to play and have expressed their desire on many occasions to play in one location. The beach is nice, but our facilities are in need of improvement. If we don’t improve, we’ll lose the business.

Capital improvements discussed yesterday as they pertain to sports marketing included:

Enhancements to Frank Brown Park – Add two additional softball/youth baseball pinwheels which would total 5 large fields and 4 small fields; renovate existing south pinwheel; develop one of the new fields as a marquee field with expanded seating and dugouts; add additional parking; add additional restroom facilities. This would total an estimated $4.9 million
Create a Sports Village for Baseball – Develop additional baseball pinwheels, nine fields total; develop one of the new fields as a marquee field; and new parking facilities and interior roads. It wasn’t clear whether additional land will be required for this. The total estimated cost (not including any land acquisition) is $6.6 million.
Create a Sports Village for Soccer -Develop 10 rectangular fields; upgrade four existing fields to artificial turf; develop one field as marquee field; and new concession and restroom facilities. Total estimated cost of $4.4 million
Create a Sports Village for Equestrian Grounds -Develop a horse ring; build 200×300 foot open air pavilion with dirt floor; grade sod and irrigate area for paddocks and horse barns. Estimated total is $2.4 million.
Indoor Field House – Develop 100,000 foot indoor field house that could be used to expand its sports product offerings to include mat and court sports. It was recommended that $32,000 be used for a feasibility study to guide the decision making process as to the specific scope of this project and which direction we should go. Estimated cost of $16 million.

The total costs of all sports-related improvements add up to $34.3 million.

Other improvements suggested include enhancing Aaron Bessant Park to have a permanant facility for concerts and theatrical performances. The improvements would include the development of a 5,000 seat amphitheatre/concert bowl by building an extended grass-covered berm and developing flat open fields out of the raw acreage that is currently not being utilized at the park. The total cost of improvement would be around $4 million.

As part of the marketing/awareness section, it was suggested:

Revise the schedule and increase the frequency of beach grooming from 26 times a year to 38 times per year, ramping up the frequency during the peak seasons.
Add 100 extra trash refuse containers along the beach during spring break at public beaches
Add 50 refuse containers specific to recycling of plastic bottles and aluminum cans during spring break at public beaches.
Develop :30 and :60 PSA’s to run on local networks on beach safety.
Purchase additional billboards to promote flag warning system.
Partner with Boomer Aviation to fly red flags behind the plane on red flag days during peak seasons.

Currently each penny garners an estimated $2.2 million each year with a total $6.6 million being collected per year right now. An increase of 2 pennies will result in an annual increase of around $4.4 million, which would result in an estimated total collected of $11 million per year. Of course, this number goes up if occupancy rates go up.

The current bed tax usage is as follows:

0.5% – TDC Marketing/Awareness/Operations
- Beautification Program
- Keep the Beach Clean Campaign
1.5% – CVB Destination Marketing
1.0% – TDC Beach Nourishment

The recommended usage if raised to 5%:

0.75% – TDC Marketing/Awareness/Operations
- Enhanced Beautification Program
- Enhanced Keep the Beach Clean
- Beach Safety Campaign
1.25% – Capital Projects to enhance Sports and Special Event Marketing
- Development of amphitheater and special event ground at Aaron Bessant Park
- Expansion of softball/baseball fields at Frank Brown Park
- Development of Sports Village Complex
- Assist in funding on-going maintenance of new athletic fieldd
1.0% – TDC Beach Nourishment
2.0% – CVB Destination Marketing

Click here for a copy of Dan Rowe’s presentation

Can we start buying again yet?

“The answer is a qualified yes,” stated a November issue of Fortune Magazine in an Investing column titled Time to Jump In?

The author then goes on to explain that now is a great time to get into, or get back in, the stock market. “Stocks aren’t exactly cheap, but for the first time in years investors can expect annual gains that should eventually approach double digits.”

Well, cheap is always a relative term. Stocks ARE cheap right now compared to where they were 12 months ago. With the 12 month high at just under 14,000, the DOW has dropped 41% since this time last year. I just bought a new pair of Sperry’s this weekend at a 40% off sale. I saved 35 bucks! That’s dinner and a matinee.

This is not to say that in the next 6 to 12 to 18 months that those purchasing stocks now will not lose money, because there is actually a good likelyhood that they will. However, the longer the term, the smaller the risk. The advantage to buying now is the tremendous long term gain potential. The disadvantage to NOT buying now is the risk of missing the bottom and losing an opportunity at potential long term gain. We may be in a recession, but historically, the market comes flying out of downturns. A study performed this year by Ned Davis Research found after studying 10 recessions after WWII, the average market return one year after the market low point was around 32%.

If the last 10 years have been on average bad, does that mean that the next 10 years will be bad also? Most likely no. In fact, odds are overwhelmingly good they will yield much better than average returns.

The interesting observation to be made right now is that the quite opportune time to purchase stocks now is actually parallel with the real estate market. Now is the time to be buying real estate. Like stocks, real estate is likely to continue to fall, but the bottom is near. Real estate, historically, has always been a good long term hold. Ownership is not without heartburn, but if you can’t stomach seeing your property values come down a little over the course of 10 years, maybe investing in real estate isn’t for you.

In many cases, prices have come down to 2003 levels. The average sold price on Panama City Beach during the third quarter 2008 was 10% less than what it was during the same period in 2006. On an individual basis, some prices have come down as much as 20 to 40%. Right now there are deals everywhere with motivated sellers willing to do just about anything to sell their property. In many cases, velocity sales has actually increased from last year, indicating the entrance of buyers into the market.

The best way to acheive healty returns in any investment is buying low. You know the saying – you make money when you buy, not when you sell. Now is the time to be making money.

We Say Merry Christmas, Tree Lighting

The Christmas Spirit filled the air with smells of pine and cookies arousing our senses. Hundreds of people came to watch as their children and their neighbor’s children sang carols on platform risers with smiles on their faces and sugar rushing through their veins.

Churches and schools from all over Panama City Beach served sweets of all kinds on decorated tables. The choice of beverage was consitently a clear soda mixed with a sherbert and fruit concentrate. A few had cake, but most had cookies.

Young boys and girls walked around with overflowing plates of treats, surely spoiling their dinner, but nobody cared, it’s Christmas. I had my fair share of sweets, and definately spoiled my dinner.

This time of year always seems to bring such joy. Smiles were everywhere and so were friends.

Santa arrived in his lighted chariot with a huge motorized ladder attached to the top, ideal for boarding his sleigh should Rudolf be reluctant to drop below an altitude of 100 feet. As he walked in, kids of all ages gleamed with dreams of presents under the tree.

The tree was lit with much fanfair and excitement. As the lights came to life, the eyes of lookers-on sparkeled. Christmas is officially here, the tree at Frank Brown Park had been lit.

Merry Christmas everyone.