Something That Sellers Aren’t Used To
A report from Kamloops This Week in Canada. “Federal authorities have loosened incoming rules for new homebuyers who sign deals this year, allowing them to qualify under current mortgage rules. The issue was highlighted by the Canadian Home Builders Association, which said as many as 20,000 Canadians who purchased homes this year could be caught in the new mortgage stress test. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is imposing the new stress test on buyers of uninsured mortgages — those with more than 20 per cent down — to ensure they can handle the shock of higher rates. Those rules will be in place as of Jan. 1.”
“But the industry argued buyers who ink deals before that date should not come under the rules. If so, they may not be able to get mortgages for contracts they entered. The Kamloops-based Central Interior branch of the association was one of those calling for an exception. The CHBA forecast up to 11 per cent of buyers who purchase a new home would fail the test — thus imperilling deals already made. ‘The CHBA was concerned that this issue could also trigger significant oversupply in certain markets, as unsold homes re-entered the market, potentially at distressed prices,’ the organization said in a statement.”
From Chiswick W-4 on the UK. “Chiswick’s estate agents appear divided as to whether the first rise in interest rates in the UK is a good or bad thing for the moribund local property market. Christian Harper of Harper Finn said, ‘It’s so easy to be doom and gloom however let’s try to focus on the positive rather than the current obvious. It will remain buyers’ market so please consider that you will have competition when you try to sell, something that none of us as sellers are used to in Chiswick.’”
From Reuters. “Sweden’s financial watchdog has proposed a further tightening of mortgage repayment rules to keep a lid on spiralling debt that could spell danger for the cooling property market and the wider economy. A surge in building and tougher mortgage rules have put the brakes on a 20-year bull run in the Swedish property market, but authorities remain concerned that debt levels among the highest in Europe are still rising.”
“Monday’s Housing Price Indicator from banking group SEB registered its second-biggest drop ever, falling by 39 points. The only steeper fall was at the start of the global financial crisis 10 years ago. Some worry there is a risk authorities will go too far. ‘Poorly thought out political decisions could hurt the property market and in a worst-case scenario spark a housing crisis,’ Norwegian builder Veidekke said in a report on the Swedish housing market.”
From Bloomberg. “To address imbalances, regulators passed a number of measures in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Nordea characterises Sweden’s housing market as ‘wobbly’ and asks the question whether we’re seeing ‘the beginning of the end of the 20-year bull market?’ The bank notes that housing starts for apartment buildings are at the highest level since the beginning of the 1970s, but there are signs demand is cooling down.”
“Economist Andreas Wallstrom also says it’s ‘questionable’ whether a general housing shortage exists. ‘Looking at the trend in the number of homes and comparing this with population growth over an extended period, we find a housing surplus,’ with the exception of Stockholm, he said. In Norway, Nordea sees signs of a ‘cool down, no meltdown.’ House prices have risen more than 200pc since the beginning of the 2000s, but the average median household income after tax is up just 90pc over the same period, while home-loan rates are considerably lower than they were back then.”
“Since April, home prices in Norway have dropped about 3pc. ‘We believe home prices will fall somewhat further before they bottom,’ Joachim Bernhardsen wrote in the report. ‘But even if we take an aggressive view and assume that prices fall 5pc beyond our forecast, they are still at the spring-2016 level and still 20pc above the bottom.’”
From News.com.au on Australia. “Sydney real estate has finally emerged from what economists are calling the ‘perfect storm’ — a five-year boom period when wave after wave of home price rises turned the city into the least affordable housing market in the world behind only land starved Hong Kong. Real estate mogul John McGrath says the shift away from the ‘crazy’ price rises of the past is a positive for buyers and sellers because it is providing a soft landing from the boom. ‘It would have been more concerning if the prices were still going up by 15 per cent or more,’ McGrath says. ‘Instead, the market is finally taking a breather.’”
“Upsizers Elissa Edwards and Janis Auzins recently discovered this first hand when they bagged a new home on the northern beaches after having struggled to get into the market for months. The purchase has allowed the couple to finally sell their apartment on the north shore, something they hadn’t wanted to do until they had found a new property.”
“‘It felt like it’s got easier as we went,’ Edwards says. ‘We had been priced out of a lot of auctions but we started to feel like we could walk away from more sales knowing there was something else. Knowing all this, now we kind of wish we had sold six months ago.’”
From Newshub on New Zealand. “Auckland house prices have tumbled in the biggest fall since 2010. A new Real Estate Institute (REINZ) report shows median prices in Auckland fell by 3.2 percent year-on-year to $850,000 - the largest decline since December 2010. The only other New Zealand regions to experience a fall in the median price was Nelson, which saw a decrease of 6.8 percent to $447,500 - its biggest drop since April 2012.”
“‘The Auckland Region’s decrease of 3.2 percent year-on-year is predominantly the result of a large number of apartments being sold in the old Auckland City boundary, which has therefore brought the median price down for the entire region,’ says REINZ CEO Bindi Norwell. ‘Auckland City’s median fell by 17 percent to $850,000, the lowest price it’s been for 16 months.’”
“The largest decreases in median prices were in the Maungakiekie-Tamaki and Albany wards, which experienced a decrease of 14 percent and 4 percent respectively. Ms Norwell says part of the fall in prices is due to the effects of the Reserve Bank’s loan-to-value lending restrictions (LVRs) and the REINZ is looking forward to the bank’s review of possibly removing these. ‘Uncertainty post-election remains as it did pre-election, with concern as to how the policies of the new Government will play out,’ she continues. ‘There is much discussion about the effects new immigration policies and potential Overseas Investment Act changes may have on the market going forward.’”
‘a five-year boom period when wave after wave of home price rises turned the city into the least affordable housing market in the world’
And out come the soft-landers. Good luck with that.
The media is rotten to the core. While they gleefully report skyrocketing housing prices, they never even breathe the word “bubble” even though prices are much higher than the last peak around here.
I hardly ever turn on the tv, don’t have cable, but I turned on the local news recently and they have a recurring segment called “can I afford to live here?” It shows couples who wanted to live in Seattle but have to “drive until you qualify.” They actually use that term as they talk with a local mortgage broker on camera.
It is so painfully obvious that this is a bubble of epic proportions yet it’s treated like it’s normal, and they have said that it’s demand from all the high-paying tech jobs, like the salaries support it. Yet, the dual income types can’t even buy anymore. And some are in tech! If that’s not bad enough, people constantly forget that a city constitutes people who work at jobs across the entire economic spectrum, and prices should reflect that.
I don’t know how this ends, but it’s absolutely pathetic. Nothing was learned from the past.
I really don’t know what to make of the situation. Several cities bubbles have popped and it’s waived off. I’m not trying to say anything negative about some posters here, but we have many who don’t see a problem with shacks costing more than 2006. It’s all in the rationalizing. If the US market had been allowed to climb down in 2014, like it was trying to do, maybe a bunch of pain could have been avoided. As I said elsewhere in these comments, now a dozen governments/central banks are acting, too late, to let the air out. Even Yellen has taken some lame baby steps. At this point I don’t see how this ends without a global-recession inducing crash.
We have some people who defend QE and ZIRP. OK, that’s one thing but targeting shack and stock prices? The biggest mistake: not plotting some sustainable changes in the economy with the breathing room QE bought. I think that’s where this circles back to the neo-liberal globalist order. Back a few years ago they could blame the banks, the subprime. Now it’s all on them.
“. . . . A surge in building and tougher mortgage rules have put the brakes on a 20-year bull run in the Swedish property market, but authorities remain concerned that debt levels among the highest in Europe are still rising.”
Twenty years? This is why waiting for a bubble to pop is so exasperating. If you bought your Swedish home in 1997, you almost own it free and clear. Timing is everything. How did Sweden miss the global recession? I remember a poster familiar with Sweden posting a few years ago about all the housing subsidies from the government. Evidently that 20-year trend is ending.
“How did Sweden miss the global recession”
2009 was a bad year for Sweden, GDP contracted 5%. But then it bounced right back in 2010 with 6% GDP growth. So long term the so-called great recession was just a blip.
In the US however, thanks for Hope and Change it took 4-5 years to get back.
“Timing is everything.”
Indeed. If you know the future it is. If you are crossing the railroad tracks it is. If you are betting on things unseen it is blind luck. If you get lucky and then say it was “timing”…
“The biggest mistake: not plotting some sustainable changes in the economy with the breathing room QE bought. ”
I disagree with the premise that QE/ZIRP could ever be a breathing room opportunity for structural reform. The crash IS the reform. The entire purpose of QE/ZIRP was to AVOID this reform and the consequences of 30 years of creeping crony socialism for the elite funded by debt for the rest.
Gradual deleveraging from debt incurred to pay bubble prices is impossible, as it only leads to “I’m not giving it away” syndrome from the ungrateful and greedy malinvestors who were saved from well-deserved financial disaster and (reasonably) expect to be saved again and again by an increasingly desperate government and central bank doubling and tripling down on a totally corrupted system. Look at Japan - they have had 30 years of artificially-engineered “breathing room” and the imbalances have only gotten worse. 30% vacancy rate in Tokyo apartments and people with jobs who are homeless because the asking rent is too high. Not giving it away!
“we have many who don’t see a problem with shacks costing more than 2006.”
Not just posters - our central planners too. I think that most of the central banking community really, really believe that the Financial Crisis was more a crisis of confidence than a underlying fault in the globalist system. If only people hadn’t panicked in 2008, the party could have continued! This is the very foundation of QE/ZIRP - push past the panic, and manufacture false confidence through a phony wealth effect so people keep borrowing and spending and banks keep lending. They may be trying now to take some air out of the bubbles they created, but that’s only to stop a temporary panic resulting from a little too much - and a little too obvious - irrational exuberance.
So when it seems puzzling that some people have no issue with housing prices higher than the last peak, their lack of worry is based on the idea that the ONLY problem with 2006 prices was that credit creation ground to a halt due to media-created panic. In their minds, as long as credit doesn’t seize up, everything is fine. That the bubble has successfully reinflated only confirms this bias. It’s a totally different way of thinking from those of us who see the gradual impoverishment caused by too much debt and asset prices the market cannot bear cannibalizing other areas of the economy.
‘I disagree with the premise that QE/ZIRP could ever be a breathing room opportunity for structural reform’
I agree, I was just playing along with those that say we’d be eating gruel if Bernanke the Courageous hadn’t opened the floodgates. If one is going to say he was right, at least try to do something or encourage something sustainable in place of the bubble. From last Friday:
“This Government seems intent on cementing the slowdown in house price inflation. Policies such as bans on foreign buyers, Kiwibuild and reduced immigration are just some of the factors that will adversely affect the housing market. It is worth considering the likely implications of a stagnant or declining housing market. It is becoming obvious that the heady days are over. The end of the housing boom is likely to expose an unpleasant truth. We are a relatively low-income developed economy with a high cost of living. Housing inflation has helped disguise this truth in recent years.”
“People have been willing to overlook the lack of growth in their pay packets as their houses have increased in value. This is the likely reason why the previous government was unwilling to collect meaningful data on the effects of overseas buyers on the market. An early sign of a slackening in the property market is a dramatic fall in sales volume. This is already occurring. A further sign is a fall in the number of real estate agents. Another sign is a proliferation of ‘for sale’ signs on properties and a decline in auction clearance rates. This is also starting to occur. The final sign is the welcome end of ‘renovation and resell’ programmes being screened on television.”
“There is an interesting irony in all of this. These ultra-low interest rates are due to expansionary monetary policy which is a legacy of the global financial crisis. The GFC was largely the result of unwise lending practices. So people have been encouraged to borrow more to get us out of the mess created by unwise borrowing. That makes sense?”
“A moribund or stagnating housing market is likely to weigh heavily on the wider economy in terms of output and employment. It exposes the reality that no country in history has become wealthy off housing inflation. As this reality sinks in this Government is likely to cop the blame. But we have been living in fantasy land for a long time and many of us knew it. We just choose to ignore it.”
http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/?p=10253
I think the root of the problem lies in the fact that we don’t have a “free market,” we have a rigged market that’s controlled by special interest billionaires, the “elites” with “let them eat cake” attitudes, who have bought off political favor and benefit from a “heads I win, tails you lose” system.
Essentially it’s like a football game where the end comes down to a field goal, and after it’s kicked and obviously short by 20 yards, the goal post magically move towards the ball and “it’s good!” Not only were the moneyed special interests saved from all of their losses, they’ve just seen the greatest increase in wealth in the history of the world.
Meanwhile, Joe 6 pack just got approved for a $75,000 truck loan with zero down, 8 years in duration. He’s “rich,” nevermind the fact his yearly salary is barely half the purchase price, which doesn’t include interest.
Gradual deleveraging from debt incurred to pay bubble prices is impossible, as it only leads to “I’m not giving it away” syndrome from the ungrateful and greedy malinvestors who were saved from well-deserved financial disaster and (reasonably) expect to be saved again and again by an increasingly desperate government and central bank doubling and tripling down on a totally corrupted system.
Agreed on everything except the word “impossible”. I don’t like the lessons that have been taught, but isn’t it possible to gradually deleverage using inflation? Even though it’s quite an unfair way to do it, it seems possible to me.
Unless you can write off a big chunk of that $75K truck as a business expense its nuts but then he must really hate his kids or maybe they are total losers and they wont mind getting a zero inheritance and too dumb to go to college and acquire any student loans.
Really careful and wise drivers are those who have already been in a bone crunching and metal wrenching wreck, or those who can be schooled in such things.
Experience runs a dear school, but fools will learn in no other. — Ben Franklin
The communal donkey gets the heaviest burden. — Norman Proverb
The communal donkey gets the heaviest burden. — Norman Proverb
LOL… OMG, exe—priceless!
“The end of the housing boom is likely to expose an unpleasant truth. We are a relatively low-income developed economy with a high cost of living. Housing inflation has helped disguise this truth in recent years.”
Sounds much like the Hotel California. Take away real estate capital gains, and California homeowners suddenly become much poorer.
The denial phase of the Housing Bubble stages of grief is back.
‘But the industry argued buyers who ink deals before that date should not come under the rules. If so, they may not be able to get mortgages for contracts they entered. ‘The CHBA was concerned that this issue could also trigger significant oversupply in certain markets, as unsold homes re-entered the market, potentially at distressed prices’
Why not just build some platforms and have a human sacrifice?
Oakton, VA Housing Prices Crater 14% YOY
https://www.movoto.com/oakton-va/market-trends/
is it time to force the weak handed short sellers to cover again?
Local NPR reported average price for new construction single family houses in metro Denver is now $536,000.
So leftists in Denver will suffer from the GOP tax plan as well.
LOVE LOVE LOVE it.
No they won’t. $500,000 still gets the MID.
No they won’t. $500,000 still gets the MID ??
And existing loans are grandfathered in…
Well if the average is $536K for **NEW** construction. there is nothing to grandfather in. And the new limit is $500K. Now granted I wasn’t a math major in college, but I think $536 is more than $500, right?
And since it’s the average, it means about 1/2 are more than $536K. Which means about 1/2 the leftists in Denver will be hurt by the GOP tax plan.
And that is a very, very good thing.
Even if they buy a $536K house, they can still deduct the interest on the first $500K of it. Per some back-of the envelope math (and the bankrate amortization calculator), the extra $36,000 will make about a $400 difference in the yearly tax refund, at most. For the buyers, it’s a toughie but not a dealbreaker.
And how many of these starry-eyed buyers are going to make that calculation anyway?
” how many of these starry-eyed buyers are going to make that calculation…”
Exactly. If they’re paying half a million for a shack with borrowed money they have already lost their senses.
Hilarious.
On the one hand everyone here is saying the MID reduction will crash home prices. But then in the next breath it’s only $400 so whatevehs.
LOL. Come on it can’t be both scenarios.
And yeah for $536K its “only” $400. How much is it for $600K? $700K? $800K? A bit more than $400. Well into the thousands.
Remember 536 is the average. Which means there are a lot of $600, 700, 800, 900 and 1M. And these libs will be f-00-ked but good.
The average is $50/sq ft.
On the one hand everyone here is saying the MID reduction will crash home prices. But then in the next breath it’s only $400 so whatevehs.
I think the crash discussion is mostly about the scenario where the MID is completely gone. The 500k cap is a different discussion. Mostly a non-event except in a few coastal locations. Which scenario do you want to talk about?
My guess is that a $500K MID limit will place soft $500K ceiling on house prices. You’ll get enough stupid people who think that over $500K means no MID at all that there will be a psychological barrier to going over $500K.
And second homes will crash either way. For almost anyone in CA or Denver or nicer parts of DC, the primary home will exhaust the $500K; thus the MID will effectively be completely gone for second homes.
Yeah, we already see that a little at the 4xxk level due to the loan limits. I assume that psychological limit will just get a little stronger for the reasons you mention.
Originally I thought that they were really going to take the whole thing away, which would have been an earthquake for the industry (IMO). But this is no big deal to most people I think. The good part about it is that the good stuff will come down in price a little more, especially in places like San Jose.
The impact will be most seen in the $500k-$1MM range.
Over that, you are either putting more money down, or content to borrow more without getting a MID on the additional loan money.
You all are missing the fact that MID ceiling is for mortgages of 500k not home prices of 500k. Buying a 625k home with 20% down nets a 500k mortgage.
So, that makes the range a bit higher, but still approximately $500k to $1MM.
People also seem to be ignoring another important point.
If someone has the choice to borrow a bit more, or a bit less, based on other financial resources, the $500k cap makes it less advantageous to borrow more, and so I suspect the change will, overall, encourage more people to carry less debt overall.
And that’s good.
You all are missing the fact that MID ceiling is for mortgages of 500k not home prices of 500k. Buying a 625k home with 20% down nets a 500k mortgage.
Yeah I know. But among the buyers where every penny counts, they usually aren’t putting nearly 20% down. Which means that it will help those who DO have 20% down to buy a much nicer house than those who don’t due to the price compression that will happen right around 500k. I’m expecting there to be an even bigger difference between a 500k house and a 625k house in the future than there already is (and if you look at the Folsom area houses it’s already a big difference with their 488k FHA limit).
So leftists in Denver will suffer from the GOP tax plan as well.
FWIW, so will any “conservative” who buys a house with a 500K+ mortgage,
Conservatives in Denver are practically non-existent. You should know that living there.
The Hag won Denver with 74% of the vote. Trump got 17%.
So….
In the city, sure; but not in the burbs.
In the city, sure; but not in the burbs.
__
Are you sure you live there?
Adams Co: Hag +8%
Arapahoe Co: Hag +14%
Boulder Co: Hag +48%
Denver Co: Hag +55%
Jefferson Co: Hag +7%
The entire Metro Denver area is a cesspool of liberalism.
The entire Metro Denver area is a cesspool of liberalism.
Really? You just showed it was a fairly even race outside of Denver and Boulder. Plenty of conservatives to suffer too. Even though they didn’t quite win those other counties you showed. Much different than “practically non-existent”.
SFMF also conveniently omitted Douglas Co.
Also, US Senators are one Dem, one GOP. Congress: 4 GOP, 3 Dems. Pretty evenly split.
If Colorado was as liberal as SFMF says, TABOR would have been repealed a looong time ago. And over 2/3 of Colorado lives in Metro Denver.
Who says liberals don’t want a tax dodge?
Plenty of conservatives to suffer too.
Yup. And even if they were only 10% of the population (which they are not), they will also suffer. Unless the leftists are right, and “conservatives” just a bunch of broke, uneducated hicks.
A DaVinci painting sold for $450M yesterday. No, that’s not a typo, $450M for a single painting.
Stuff like this is more of an indication of peak bubble than medina price to median income stats. When someone pays almost 1/2 a billion dollars for a painting….THERE’S YER SIGN!
When someone pays almost 1/2 a billion dollars for a painting….THERE’S YER SIGN! ??
Its a sign that the world is awash in Liquidity…
“Its a sign that the world is awash in Liquidity”
I KNEW it, I’m not part of the world.
LOL. Like many of us, you are part of the sea of deflation below the bubbles of liquidity.
I bid w bit coin
‘Since April, home prices in Norway have dropped about 3pc. ‘We believe home prices will fall somewhat further before they bottom,’ Joachim Bernhardsen wrote in the report. ‘But even if we take an aggressive view and assume that prices fall 5pc beyond our forecast, they are still at the spring-2016 level and still 20pc above the bottom.’
First of all, prices in world-beater Oslo are down a lot more than that. Second, here again we see the “up for a decade, down to last year and to the moon Alice!”
Another former world-beater:
‘Auckland City’s median fell by 17 percent to $850,000, the lowest price it’s been for 16 months.’
It was over 1 million NZ pesos last year. Again we can see the common theme across many countries is governments and regulators crushing speculators and beefing up loan standards. The MSM isn’t connecting the dots, but it’s there along with coordinated interest rate increases from the central banks.
“and still 20pc above the bottom”
There’s a minimum house price in Norway?
+$1,000,000
The average price of dwellings sold was NOK 3.5 million (US$ 410,179) in the last quarter of 2016, while the average price of holiday homes on an owned site was NOK 1.7 million (US$ 192,616), according to Statistics Norway.
From Yesterday;
Comment by Rental Watch
2017-11-15 13:43:24
Not outside the state, with some limitations within the state, I believe ??
Regarding transfer of your Prop#13 tax base to another house…I believe there are 6 counties that still allow the transfer in California…Santa Clara County is one of them…
You are allowed a “1 time Transfer” if you are 55 or older;
Within Santa Clara County (Proposition 60) Proposition 60 allows homeowners 55 years of age or older to transfer the base year value of their principal residence to a newly purchased or constructed replacement residence within Santa Clara County.
Comment by redmondjp
2017-11-15 23:10:12
SCDave,
Have you heard of these new medical co-ops that a few progressive doctors are starting ??
In fact yes I have….Its been sometime ago but a bunch of churches got there congregations to form a co-op…I had a friend in it…It seemed real risky to me…The co-op finally blew up because a number of the members needed catastrophic care..Cost went through the roof and the cost burden for that fell on the remainder of the group…Did not work…
‘medical co-ops’
There’s another thing called health sharing plans, sounds similar. Not sure how much in benefits they provide, but they qualify as insurance so participants don’t have to pay the ACA penalty. I have some clients that were so dead set against getting insurance they got themselves ordained as ministers to be able to participate.
These things are basically insurance by another name, although they are usually organized around religious belief and have certain stipulations that restrict payment based on belief systems:
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/10/opinion/sunday/should-i-lie-about-my-beliefs-to-get-health-insurance.html
‘Al Franken Kissed and Groped Me Without My Consent’
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/11/franken-allegations/546092/
With photographic proof.
IMPEACH
What’s up with the goofy looking Jewish men?
Anthony Weiner
Harvey Weinstein
Charlie Sheen
Dustin Hoffman
Richard Dreyfuss
Al Franken(stein)
Jeffrey Epstein
Who’s next, maybe a Speilberg or Katzenberg? Might as well send the cops to the synagogues in Hellaweird and DC.
Of course none of this comes as a surprise to anyone who looked into the pizzagate details and the backgrounds of the people involved with the Clinton Foundation and Clinton Global Initiative. And the truth is likely much worse than we can imagine.
this comes as a surprise to anyone who looked into the pizzagate details ??
Now Take another hit and head back to your Breitbart links…
Should be mandatory reading:
How America Lost Its Mind
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/how-america-lost-its-mind/534231/
I recall hearing a story of Katzenberg flying home from Europe for “date night” with his long-time wife, rather than hanging out with “A-listers”. Perhaps he’s next on the list, but it seems unlikely based on this kind of activity.
I thought Sheen was Hispanic Christian in background (Estevez). But maybe he’s Sephardic?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estevez_family
The Estevez family (also known by the stage surname Sheen) is an American acting family of Galician and Irish descent. Members include:
Joe Estevez (b. 1946)
Martin Sheen (b. Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez, 1940), who married Janet Templeton (b. 1944)
Emilio Estevez (b. 1962; son of Martin)
Ramon Estevez (b. 1963; son of Martin)
Charlie Sheen (b. Carlos Irwin Estévez, 1965; son of Martin)
Renée Estevez (b. 1967; daughter of Martin)
Not Jewish.
“Galician is a Romance language spoken by about 2.4 million people in Galicia, in the north-west corner of Spain. Galician is more or less mutually intelligible with Portuguese but uses Spanish spelling conventions.”
Not Jewish.
Curious how you are sure? I know Hispanic Jews who originally came from Spain and settled in New Mexico for hundreds of years. They said the crusades had something to do with it and they had to pretend to be Catholic for a while.
Definitely possible. Alfonso el sabio employed Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars in his court. This was one of the few shining examples of cosmopolitanism and tolerance.
There goes Franken’s moral superiority.
Can’t help but to smile.
Dirtbags, all.
No wonder he wants to ban the ‘internet.’
LOL
There goes Franken’s moral superiority.
I kinda like Franken…but there was never any moral superiority. Except maybe in the imagination of his supporters.
Oh come on, no moral superiority???? What are you smoking?
Remember the title of his book?
“Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot”
And yeah sure, he weasels out of it by saying “it’s just a joke, ha ha.” But he really meant it.
A truly humble person would never write a book title that says that about another personality, even in jest.
Hahah…I don’t mean in his mind. I mean he literally was not superior in any moral way :-).
OK, my bad!
And in his own imagination too. Franken was constantly harping on how much he loved his wife Franni. Even if you followed the lib news only casually it was Franni Franni Franni.
I wonder what Franni thinks.
I don’t think I could ever grab a guy’s junk when he was asleep (unless we were dating and I already knew he was ok with it.
)
“I wonder what Franni thinks.”
Franni is pretty far from trophy material, so she’ll pretend.
Smoke for votes on the res
That’s how he won by 255 votes
Just saw that Leeann Tweeden, his unwilling squeeze, was a Playboy model. Franken’s minions will try to subtly play up this angle, implying she’s a, uh, “woman of easy virtue”, thus attempting to mitigate his aggressive perversity. This should lead to an interesting backlash. The sources of these rumors and whisperings will then point to conservatives suggesting this. Which itself will lead to a backlash. Should get interesting.
He’s a Democrat. Nothing will happen to him.
The swine in the GOPe called for Moore’s head the second the allegations against him came out. With zero proof.
But with actual photo evidence against Al, the same traitorous “Republican” senators are calling for an ethics investigation. My goodness, an investigation? Why if they find Al guilt they may send him a harshly worded letter. That’ll teach him.
And Schumer had no comment.
I’m actually fine with how they’re dealing with it at the moment. No one can claim that they are only going after the politicians from the other party. Slam their own guy, go through a process with the opponent. Fine. No one can claim that the GOP is being partisan.
The cynic in me says that they slammed Moore to get him out of the race quickly (and hopefully out of the press quickly). An ethics investigation into Franken has the potential of remaining in the media for a long time.
It’s not individual immorality that is under attack. It is the whole elite thing where rules only apply to little people. What is amazing, like Karen said, is that they have turned upon themselves.
“Republican” senators are calling for an ethics investigation. My goodness, an investigation ??
a 14 year old girl vs. a adult woman…There is your difference…
I am sure you were outraged when Trump bragged about groping ‘adult’ women.
Trump said stuff.
Al did stuff.
Do you really not see the difference? Well of course you do. But you are a leftist so you pretend.
Trump said stuff.
Al did stuff.
Do you really not see the difference ??
And Moore is a Pediphile…
Do you not really see the difference ??
‘And Moore is a Pediphile…’
I posted this last night in the comments:
Saudi Princess’ tell-all includes Bangladeshi children traded as sex slaves
Published November 11, 2017
‘Saudi Princess Amira Bint Aidan Bin Nayef went on a rampage against the ruling Saudi regime in her exclusive statements to the French newspaper Le Monde, saying slavery in Saudi Arabia has different forms, but it is done in secrecy and permitted only among the primary beneficiaries of the princes of the House of Saud.’
‘She mentioned one of the most repulsive things: buying and renting the children, especially the orphans, from countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Djibouti, Somalia, Nigeria, Romania and Bulgaria.’
‘According to Aidan, the ex-wife of the Saudi Prince Al Waleed bin Talal, who was recently arrested in scope of the anti-corruption purges in the country, those who accuse others of corruption and money laundering, are in fact highly corrupted themselves.’
http://www.dhakatribune.com/world/middle-east/2017/11/11/saudi-princess-unveils-kingdoms-dark-side/
Right now some of these billionaires are sleeping on cheap mattresses under lights in the Ritz Carlton-Riyadh. Possibly including this Al Waleed bin Talal guy. He ran in some important US political circles you may know.
“Possibly including this Al Waleed bin Talal guy. He ran in some important US political circles you may know.”
And Prince Bandar as well, aka Bandar Bush (for his closeness to the Bush family).
The Saudi thing is huge, actually. In certain online discussions of the pedophile rings and other ratlines, it is said that Saudi is the key to the whole structure of international crime, including human trafficking. It’s also said that Saudi has a lot to do with the CIA and activities of mutual benefit.
“The Saudi thing is huge, actually.”
+1 The House of Saud and the Carlyle Group.
So some sexual assault is OK, as long as the woman is over 18. Duly noted.
And I guess from now on, any time anyone is accused of anything - with absolutely no proof or evidence - we believe the accuser. But when there is photo evidence, we don’t believe the accuser and say we have to wait for an investigation that will happen sometime in the future.
Also duly noted.
As for the ethics investigation….sometime in 2019, well after the mid-terms, they will issue a report that will mentioned on p.35 of the NYT. And the consequences will be a harshly worded letter to Al Franken, which he will read, chuckle and throw in the garbage.
May I remind you that the adult woman was ASLEEP? That makes a pretty big difference too.
woman was ASLEEP
Yeah well it is a tad confusing. The picture shows him not touching her. He really looks like a jerk.
And then there was this:
“While rehearsing a sketch, Franken, who was a comic/talk show host at the time, “aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth,” Tweeden writes, adding that he “relentlessly badgered” her into rehearsing the scene. She shoved the future Democratic senator from Minnesota away, and was left feeling “disgusted and violated,” she writes. ”
This is well beyond mimicking the grabbing of a sleeping woman’s breasts.
BTW, if the other stories being broken are anything to go by, my guess is that odds are better than 50/50 that more women come forward about Al’s behavior.
http://www.kabc.com/2017/11/16/leeann-tweeden-on-senator-al-franken/
“Al Frankenstein”. LOL! Another linguistic kill shot from my favorite Tweeter-in-Chief.
I found myself doing extraordinary things that aren’t in the textbooks. Then the IMF asked the U.S. to please print money. The whole world is now practicing what they have been saying I should not. I decided that God had been on my side and had come to vindicate me.
–Gideon Gono
Podesta Group on the verge of shuttering amid ties to Mueller probe …
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/11/politics/podesta-group-mueller…/index.html
5 days ago - Podesta CEO told employees firm would cease to exist at end of the year; Developments come after firm was tied to Mueller’s indictments of …
Manafort, Gates indictment a red flag to others - CNNPolitics - CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/06/politics/manafort-mueller-podesta-mercury/index.html
Nov 6, 2017 - Manafort, Gates indictment a red flag to others. By Kara Scannell, CNN. Updated 2:04 PM ET, Mon … Tony Podesta’s long Washington career …
How much trouble is Tony Podesta in? - CNNPolitics - CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/31/politics/tony-podesta-trump/index.html
Nov 3, 2017 - Tony Podesta’s long Washington career …. (In the indictment of Manafort unsealed on Monday, the Podesta Group appears to be referred to as …
Russia Scandal Befalls Two Brothers: John and Tony Podesta - The …
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/…/john-tony-podesta-mueller-russia-investigation.ht...
6 days ago - Tony Podesta stepped down from his firm hours after it was obliquely referenced in the indictments of Mr. Manafort and Mr. Gates, though he …
Under Mueller Scrutiny, Democratic Donor Tony Podesta Resigns …
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/us/…/tony-podesta-resignation-lobbying.html
Oct 30, 2017 - The indictment on Monday did not name the Podesta Group or Mercury, instead referring to them as “two Washington, D.C., firms” that were …
Tony Podesta steps down amid swirl of controversy - The Washington …
https://www.washingtonpost.com/…podesta…/14c4bb0a-bd97-11e7-97d9-bdab5a0ab38...
Oct 30, 2017 - Tony Podesta, a Democratic power lobbyist, announced to colleagues Monday that he is stepping down amid a series of indictments that cast a …
Podesta Group among two companies anonymously implicated as …
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/podesta-group-among…indictment/…/2639033
Oct 30, 2017 - Sources identified as current or former Podesta Group employees have made … The indictment alleges both Manafort and Gates orchestrated a …
The downfall of The Podesta Group - Washington Examiner
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/the-downfall-of-the-podesta-group/…/2640518
3 days ago - Since August of 2016, when the Associated Press reported the Podesta Group and Mercury Public Affairs worked with indicted Trump
This is getting interesting:
DAVE NEESE PROVOCATIONS: Collateral damage from Trump probe
http://www.trentonian.com/article/TT/20171112/NEWS/171119950
The indictments don’t mention Trump, but do mention Shriek and the Podesta’s. It’s like a box of chocolates!
Moar please
MOAR
Hillary Is Afraid!! Yesterday on Mother Jones: Prosecuting Me Will Cause Terrible Consequences
BY IWB · PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 16, 2017 ·
HRC had to get out in front of the special prosecutor talk, best she could get on was Mother Jones yesterday. A no-name host feeds her three rehearsed questions. It’s a drab, cheap background, she looks old and has let herself go. Also, she seems to have had no coaching for this, and while portraying the threat to her as some general principle (don’t investigate in general?), everything she says is about her. Excerpts at time mark, check wording, listen for yourself:
1:10 “It’s personally offensive that they would do this [prosecute her].”
1:21 We are a nation of laws, NOT MEN…
1:32 We have to remain vigilant that justice remains blind…
2:19 It would be very demoralizing for the people in the Justice department, both Republicans and Democrats, to (prosecute me)
2:40 Second Question starts, “You have had a lot of experience with special counsels… (she GRABS HER NOSE – to check the length?)
Third Question: Are you concerned about a [special prosecutor prosecuting you?] WATCH HER EYES, THEN BODY MOVEMENTS
Hilllary ends with ‘prosecuting me will cause terrible consequences…’
http://investmentwatchblog.com/hillary-is-afraid-yesterday-on-mother-jones-prosecuting-me-will-cause-terrible-consequences/
Very nice, watching the video Hilldabeast is answering the questions before the Bobble head who nods in agreement with her is even done asking the questions.
How come I haven’t seen this on the CBS Evening Propaganda I mean News?
“A dubious “dossier” allegedly linking Trump to a Moscow romp with Russian prostitutes was funded by the lawyer for — a drum roll again, please — Hillary Clinton’s campaign, i.e., the campaign run by John Podesta. The paymaster go-between here was one Marc Elias. Elias was — may we get a third drum roll, please — the lawyer for both the Clinton campaign and for the Democratic National Committee.”
“If you’re following the money trail, the money went from the Clinton campaign/DNC, to lawyer Elias, to a dirt-digging firm named Fusion GPS, to one-time British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, with perhaps finally a little something going to Kremlin insiders.”
You’d think Lester Hole of NBC Screws might pick up on the story since CBS “missed” it.
The same reason ABC refused to break the story about Weinstein.
And the same reason you probably won’t see a story on the Clinton takeover of the DNC prior to her nomination (as told by Donna Brazile) on John Oliver’s HBO show.
The MSM doesn’t like to break from the “GOP bad” narrative.
America’s Righteous Russia-gate Censorship
November 14, 2017
‘Sometimes you see this in individual acts like HuffingtonPost taking down a well-reported story by journalist Joe Lauria because he dared to point out that Democratic money financed the two initial elements of what’s now known as Russia-gate: the forensic examination of computers at the Democratic National Committee and the opposition research on Donald Trump conducted by ex-British spy Christopher Steele.’
‘HuffingtonPost never contacted Lauria before or after its decision to retract the story, despite a request from him for the reasons why. HuffPost editors told a BuzzFeed reporter that they were responding to reader complaints that the article was filled with factual errors but none have ever been spelled out, leaving little doubt that Lauria’s real “error” was in defying the Russia-gate groupthink of the anti-Trump Resistance.’
Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s.
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/11/14/americas-righteous-russia-gate-censorship/
Austin, TX Housing Prices Crater 7% YOY
https://www.movoto.com/austin-tx/market-trends/
Heck, I don’t know any Navy veteran who could swear, under oath, that they had not sexually assaulted females, orally or physically.
Maybe it is different now, yet the females in the USN seem to get pregnant aboard the navy vessels. lol
It’s hard to win a war between the sexes when your troops keep sleeping with the enemy.
Rarely post but wanted to run story by people here and don’t know if/when will find the end of the story…
This is New England area. During a meeting yesterday heard the following from a couple who is building/has finished building a new home. Now ‘new’ home may be clear moneywise as it is the place was the mother’s family home that was used as a rental. The renter burned down the home and the couple decided to build a new place and sell existing house. (Renter asked if the couple was building a new place if could rent from them. Since the renter was responsible for the place being burned down the place the answer was ‘No’ and they decided to build).
Moving into new home next month December and putting existing home on the market end of this week.
There is a neighbor interested in buying. He has NOT even seen the inside of the house because this is about Location, Location, Location.
Neighbor lives ‘behind’ them – separated by enough land to build homes, but instead bought the house and the land behind them and doesn’t intend to subdivide. He wants the house as he is looking for a place for his sibling to live.
The sibling currently lives in one of the apartments in his rental building in the next town. He is thinking about selling the apartment building. If he sold the apartment building he could then buy the house outright…
He went to the bank and the bank said he has a 98.9% chance of getting a loan. He mentioned this would be the first place where he didn’t buy the property outright. He said planned to retire in 2 years, but if he bought this place he would then have to retire in 4 years. Couple believes he is in his 40s, has a pre-teen child.
They gave them a deadline of talking to them by Friday.
I cannot figure out why the potential buyer would be telling the couple all this information. (Of course, I cannot figure out why the couple is relaying all this also.) Maybe people like giving information? Wish I could have gotten the couple’s address as I could have looked up the purchase information.
The husband is playing hardball because Zillow says the how is worth $380K and he is going to /list get that. Note – it’s what Zillow says, not a UHS (realtor) doing comps or having an appraisal but Zillow. From here I’ve learned how reliable Zillow is. If parents’ home could get the Zillow price, would sell before the buyer got sober. (In a small area with approximately 100 houses so easy to watch and estimate based on time sold, square footage, condition, etc. The last house one neighbor thought it had gone for less than should have. I went through it on Open House, it was being sold ‘as is.’ Told him what needed to be done. House sold within $10K of my guess. Hmm, should Zillow that house.)
I just made the comment about saving the 6% realtor’s commission, about $23K. Husband replied that is why he offered the house at $360K.
Oh, and the payment on the house is $2K/month. Said if the house takes 3 months to sell that is another $6K. Then I was quiet again. (Didn’t want to get into other carrying costs – taxes, maintenance, utilities (heat with New England winter coming. Not to mention the time, energy, and aggravation dealing with 2 houses.)
One listener said to be this is way to be because “You see the way houses are selling in this area. It’ll go.” (I was quiet on this.)
Is it just me, or maybe potential schadenfreude but are these people taking a gamble on finding/getting an approved buyer?
Another couple, just bought a summer vacation home about 2 hours away from where they live.
I am just a lowly renter here and may be a lowly renter for the rest of my life. This week my landlord is buying a new furnace for the apartment.
Wow what a story! Thank you for sharing
Vienna, VA Housing Prices Crater 5% YOY
https://www.movoto.com/vienna-va/market-trends/
moar STAWKS & HomeS
crime_is_uncontained
“Former west suburban real estate agent pleads guilty to stealing jewelry from homes that were for sale”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/ct-met-realtor-guilty-of-home-theft-20171110-story.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/16/homeownership-doesnt-build-wealth-study-finds.html
Imagine that…housing is an expense, perhaps a store of wealth, but not an investment that will create wealth. Shocking.
Oh, wealth is definitely created, even transferred.
😁
If you own a mortgage, you are contributing to bankster’s wealth…not yours.
Ashland, OR Housing Prices Crater 5% YOY
https://www.movoto.com/ashland-or/market-trends/
Stocks and bonds will surprise a lot of investors in the next crash
Jared Dillian, Mauldin Economics
- People have become accustomed to an inverse relationship between stock and bond prices.
- In the next bear market, stocks and bonds will likely go down together.
- Central bank tightening would deflate asset prices just as expansion inflated them.
I have been a bond bear for a while.
Back in the summer of 2016, I spoke at a small conference out in San Diego. My topic: How interest rates were going to go up.
It didn’t go over very well with people. I haven’t been invited back to speak, which is too bad-because I was right. (You may also want to learn what I predicted about today’s bubble in my exclusive free report, Investing in the Age of the Everything Bubble.)
When I gave that talk, yields on 10-year notes were about 1.6%. Today, they are about 2.4%. That may not seem like a lot, but it is.
The evidence is starting to pile up that yields may be going even higher.
Quantitative tightening is picking up speed
The Fed is letting assets roll off the balance sheet. A little at first, but more later. This is not a small thing! New Fed Chairman Jay Powell wants this to be smooth as a gravy sandwich, but we will see.
Meanwhile, the ECB is tapering, and will taper more…
The BOJ has pegged the yield curve and buys bonds when the market forces them into it…
The Bank of England seems to be finally lifting off…
What had once been a flood of global liquidity is now starting to run in reverse.
…
you have to lie about inflation so bond buyers pay more for bonds and get a puny yield.
bonds, stocks , real estate all n a bubble. But has it all become to big to fail and will central banks across the globe keep printing to keep it all afloat?
stawks have climbed a wall of worry for like 8-9 years now. It almost feels like this market wont go down till nearly everyone captitulates and goes long. kind of like a mania like the dot.com days.
Short sellers have been consistently used and abused as a source to power the market to new highs.
The algos seem to have this pattern down well.
‘prosecuting me will cause terrible consequences…’
Hillary Rodham Clinton