My Personal Passion: The Pan Mass Challenge

Bill Nickerson

In 11 days I will be riding in my 9th PMC, raising funds for The Dana Farber/Jimmy fund.  I’m very excited to have the opportunity to once again ride for a great cause!  Please help me, help them by donating to my ride this year.  Click the link to Donate to Bill’s ride.  Thank you for helping to make a difference!  Ride On Baby!!

To learn more about this great cause, I have enclosed some basic information about the Pan Mass Challenge.  Please see below.

About the PMC:
The Pan-Massachusetts Challenge is an annual bike-a-thon and a pioneer of the athletic fundraising industry that today raises more money for charity than any other single event in the country. The organization was founded in 1980 and has since raised $338 million for cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through its Jimmy Fund. The PMC is a model of fundraising efficiency. The PMC donates 100 percent of every rider-raised dollar directly to the cause. In 2011, the PMC generated 60 percent of the Jimmy Fund’s annual revenue and it was Dana-Farber’s single largest contributor. Over 230,000 individual contributions were made to last year’s fundraising campaign. In 2012, PMC cyclists will ride with the goal of raising $36 million for Dana-Farber.

Click to Donate

The Ride:
The Pan-Massachusetts Challenge is a fully supported bike-a-thon — with food and water stops, mechanical and medical assistance, luggage transportation, and lodging — that runs through 46 towns across Massachusetts. Approximately 5,500 cyclists ride in the event. Cyclists choose from 11 routes of varying mileage designed to cater to all levels of cycling strength and fundraising ability. There are six two-day routes that range from 153 to 190 miles and five one-day rides that range from 25 to 110 miles. In 2012, cyclists are required to raise between $500 and $4,300 to ride in the PMC, depending on the chosen route.

When:
The 33nd annual PMC is Aug. 4 and 5, 2012. The ride has two starting lines on Saturday, Aug. 4, in Sturbridge and in Wellesley, and five finish lines in Provincetown (2), Bourne, Wellesley or Sharon on Saturday, Aug. 4 or Sunday, Aug. 5.

Bill Nickerson

Who:
Cyclists travel from 36 states and eight countries to ride in the PMC. Nearly 300 riders are cancer survivors or current patients. Some PMC cyclists are weekend warriors, others are trained triathletes. Most PMC participants ride in honor of a family member or friend fighting the disease. Cyclists range in age from 13 to 88. The average PMC cyclist is 45 years old, trains for three months, solicits 40 sponsors, and raises more than $6,000. During PMC weekend and throughout the year, more than 3,000 volunteers donate their time and 200 corporations provide over $4 million in products and services. The PMC was founded in 1980 by Billy Starr, who remains the event’s executive director, an annual cyclist and a fundraiser. It is presented by the Red Sox Foundation and New Balance.

YEARS RIDERS VOLUNTEERS DONATION
1980 – 1989 4,968 1,778 $3,665,800
1990 – 1999 16,668 11,921 $38,750,000
2000 – 2009 39,972 22,575 $227,200,000
32 Year Total 71,955 42,244 $338,000,000
2012 GOAL $36,000,000

Is the Economy Stalling again?

Bill’s Bottom Line:  Now is a great time to consider refinancing your current mortgage to avail yourself with extra cash.  By having extra cash, the consumer will continue to spend money on other items thus helping the economy to recover.

U.S. economy moving sideways again. 

Momentum unlikely to pick up much in third quarter

By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — All evidence points to another slowdown in the U.S. economy and the government is expected to make it official on Friday.

The key economic report of the week, gross domestic product, is likely to show growth fizzled in the second quarter. The U.S. probably grew at a tepid 1.3%, down from 1.9% in the first quarter and 3.0% in the last three months of 2011, Economists surveyed by MarketWatch estimate.

That’s bad news for millions of Americans who still cannot find work several years after the last recession officially ended. Such a slow growth rate reflects an economy incapable of adding jobs fast enough to dramatically lower the nation’s 8.2% unemployment rate.

Yet with the second-quarter now in the rear-view mirror, the more critical question is whether sluggish growth will persist in the third quarter — July through September. The short answer: probably.  Click to continue reading article.

Please contact me for information about financing.  I can be reached at Bill@billnickerson.com and 978-399-1313

U.S. Mortgage Rates Decline, With 30-Year at a Record-Low 3.56%

Check out this Bloomberg article! 

NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY OR REFINANCE!!

U.S. mortgage rates dropped, with 30-year loans reaching a record low for a fourth straight week, amid signs of improvement in the housing market.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.56 percent in the week ended today, the lowest in Freddie Mac records dating to 1971, from 3.62 percent. The average 15-year rate dropped to 2.86 percent, also a record, from 2.89 percent, the McLean, Virginia-based mortgage-finance company said today in a statement.

Rising home sales and a slowing decline in prices has relieved some strains on the U.S. housing market. The number of homes with loans for more than the properties are worth fell in the first quarter to 11.4 million, or almost 24 percent of all homes with a mortgage, from 12.1 million, or more than 25 percent, in the fourth quarter of last year, according to a report today by data provider CoreLogic Inc. (CLGX)

“We do have a little bit of a firmer housing market,” Keith Gumbinger, a vice president of HSH.com, a mortgage- information website based in Pompton Plains, New Jersey, said yesterday in a telephone interview. “I don’t think anyone would call it wonderful, but it has improved, or stabilized, over the last few months.”

Contracts to buy previously owned homes rose 5.9 percent last month, matching a two-year high reached in March, the National Association of Realtors reported June 27. Purchases of new U.S. houses rose in May to a two-year high, the Commerce Department said June 25.

Home-loan applications declined in the period ended July 6 for a fourth straight week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. A measure of refinancing dropped 3.4 percent from the prior week, while the purchase gauge climbed 3.3 percent, the Washington-based group said yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Noah Rayman in New York at nrayman@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kara Wetzel at kwetzel@bloomberg.net

For more information about refinancing or the economy,

please email or call me!!

Bill Nickerson NMLS #4194

978-399-1313   Bill@billnickerson.com