Rule 4:6-2 states:

Every defense, legal or equitable, in law or fact, to a claim for relief in any complaint, counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party complaint shall be asserted in the answer thereto, except that the following defenses may at the option of the pleader by made by motion, with briefs: ... (e) failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted… If, on a motion to dismiss based on the defense numbered (3), matters outside the pleading are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided by R. 4:46…

On a Motion to Dismiss for failure to state a claim pursuant to R. 4:6-2(e), all well-pled allegations of the Complaint are accepted as true and the matter is to be resolved based upon the pleadings themselves. Holmin v. TRW, Inc., 330 N.J. Super. 30, 32 (App. Div. 2000), aff’d, 167 N.J. 205 (2001); Rieder v. State Dep’t. of Transp., 221 N.J. Super. 547, 552 (App. Div. 1987). Well-pled allegations are factual allegations and the Court may and should ignore speculation, conclusions and argument. Ibid; In Re: Burlington Coat Factory Sec. Litig., 114 F.3d 1410, 1420, 1426 (3d Cir. 1997); Craig v. Suburban Cablevision, Inc., 274 N.J. Super. 303, 307 (App. Div. 1994), aff’d, 140 N.J. 623 (1995). Accepting all plaintiff’s allegations as true, the Second through Fifth Counts of plaintiff’s Complaint must be dismissed because “even a generous reading of the allegation does not reveal a legal basis for recovery.” Camden County Energy Recovery Assocs. v. NJ Dep’t. of Envtl. Prot., 320 N.J. Super. 59, 64-65 (App. Div. 1999), aff’d, 170 N.J. 246 (2001).