Some Folks Are Getting Into Homes They Couldn’t Afford
A report from Mansion Global on New Mexico. “Santa Fe is now the ‘hottest second-home market’ in the world, according to ‘Luxury Defined,’ Christie’s annual analysis of global luxury residential housing dynamics, which was released earlier this month. ‘New Mexico’s capital city of Santa Fe posted luxury sales volume levels not seen since 2005-2006,’ according to the report. ‘We have a very large second home market—that is a big focus here,’ said Darlene Streit, an agent with Sotheby’s International Realty in Santa Fe. ‘Lately we have been seeing a lot of people coming from Colorado as well as our usual markets of Texas and California,’ she said. ‘We’re also seeing a lot more New Yorkers.’”
“Ms. Streit defined the Santa Fe luxury market as ‘over $1 million, some would say over $1.5 million.’ There are no hard numbers on how much of the luxury market is second-home buyers. ‘I would say it’s more than half,’ Ms. Streit said. The overall Santa Fe luxury market is doing quite well, said Stephanie Duran, an agent with Barker Realty/Christie’s International Real Estate based in Santa Fe. ‘Two years ago, in the $2 million-plus price range, we had no more than five homes sold within the city limits,’ she said. ‘Last year, we had 20.’”
From Fortune. “For decades, it’s been part of the American dream: owning a vacation home, a lakeside or mountain getaway somewhere for the family to escape to on weekends or for a week or two in summer. And with the country enjoying strong economic growth, a healthy stock market, and relatively low mortgage rates, you might think beach houses and country cabins would be especially hot commodities today.”
“But all is not well in Holiday Village. ‘Vacation-home sales have been relatively weak for the last four or five years,’ says Aaron Terrazas, senior economist for Zillow. Demand is being stalled by a traffic jam of different trends—ranging from climate change to demographics to, of all things, the Trump tax reforms. Year-over-year price changes in many second-home markets have dipped into negative territory, and some experts think that trend could go national over the next couple of years—making many buyers think twice about a real estate investment that people used to count on for both fun and profit.”
“There were only 721,000 vacation-home sales transactions that year, a 36% drop from 2014.”
From the Detroit Free Press in Michigan. “In 2016, Fritz McGirr and Shahar Josef-Ben began searching for a home in Detroit. After Josef-Ben graduated and took a job in the city, the couple decided the idea of buying a home seemed more practical. So they did. They put the house back on the market when Josef-Ben got a job in Boston this year. The bungalow they purchased for $170,000 two years ago is now pending a sale for $239,000. The 40% spike in price for 1438 Seventeenth St. could be surprising for some — especially since the home sold for just $39,000 in 2013, following a mortgage foreclosure.”
“On a cool spring day last week, Johnny Espino stood outside his family’s home on Hubbard. ‘That one sold for $110,000. I heard that’s going for $177,000,’ he said about one house on the block. ‘The rich are coming back and buying homes for any price you put on it. We could probably put this house on the market for a quarter of a million and it would sell.’”
“He may not be exaggerating. One street over, a house on Vinewood in the nearby historical Hubbard Farms is pending a sale for $300,000. That home was built in 1900. It’s 2,879 square feet with four bedrooms, two baths. Jose Franco has called southwest Detroit home since he was 3. Franco always assumed he’d buy a home where he grew up. It’s recently occurred to him that this may not be possible ‘I tear up a bit because it’s becoming harder for me to find something for myself, it’s getting ridiculous,’ said Franco. ‘We don’t make crazy money. It’s getting hard to find affordable places to buy … because outsiders are coming in and buying them up like candy almost.’”
From Realtor.com. “It’s no secret that we’re in one heck of a sizzling housing market, with prices reaching new heights in many parts of the country. It’s a go-go seller’s paradise of historic proportions. It may seem like nothing can slow down those runaway prices for everything from high-rise condos in the biggest cities to cookie-cutter, single-family homes in the suburbs. But here’s the news: There are exceptions to every rule.”
“There are actually a few metropolitan areas in the U.S. where prices are coming down. (Only 27 of the nation’s 350 largest metros saw price drops.) We compared the 12-month periods of May 2016 to April 2017 with May 2017 to April 2018 to come up with our findings. Then we ranked metros that saw the biggest price cuts. Now let’s take a look at the metros where buyers can still get a home for a discount. Maybe even a deep discount!”
“1. Santa Maria–Santa Barbara, CA. Median home list price: $951,600. Price drop*: -17.7%. The tony swath of California coast, almost two hours north of Los Angeles, got hit with a double whammy of natural disasters over the past year. 2. Pottsville, PA. Median home list price: $72,300. Price drop: -8.1%. The unemployment rate hit 5.7% in March, well above the national average of 4.1%. That’s left fewer folks with the means to become homeowners. ‘Homes between $50,000 to $125,000 aren’t selling as fast’ as they were last year, says Erica Ramus, owner and broker at Ramus Realty Group.”
“3. Napa, CA. Median home list price: $823,900. Price drop: -6.7%. ‘In the immediate aftermath [of the blazes], the market slowed down,’ says Kristofer Chun, an associate broker at Kristofer Chun Real Estate, in Napa. ‘We are slowly seeing some of these burnt-out lots come on the market priced around $500,000,’ Chun says. That’s a fraction of what they were valued at before the blazes.”
“4. Austin, TX. Median home list price: $373,000. Price drop: -4.3%. For years, fun ‘n’ funky Austin has been experiencing a prolonged growth spurt. Builders responded in kind by putting up sleek, new apartment and condo buildings downtown and creating new subdivisions and communities of more suburban, single-family homes on the outskirts of the city and beyond. But they may have gone a bit overboard. The result has been something rare these days: a surplus of housing. After years of surging home prices, they’re finally beginning to head south as a result of that overbuilding.”
“Not only have prices dropped, but foreclosures are up, too. That’s a sign of an overheated market: If prices get too high, buyers might overextend themselves in an attempt to get their foot in the door. In the first three months of this year foreclosures in Austin increased 30% compared with the same period last year, according to ATTOM. Those increased foreclosures came from borrowers who bought homes a few years back when prices were lower—so recent borrowers who took out even higher debt loads might be headed for trouble.”
“‘The Austin market has performed very well for the last few years, but it is not immune to some distress creeping in,’ ATTOM’s Darren Blomquist says. The surge in foreclosures means ’some folks [are] getting into homes they couldn’t afford.’ Long before the rest of the housing market fully recovered from the last recession, Austin was growing at a rapid pace. If prices keep falling here, the rest of country might want to hope the city isn’t a bellwether this time around, too.”
From Patch Cambridge on Massachusetts. “Apparently there are only two homes currently on the market in Cambridge with pool access, according to the folks at Realtor.com. And this is one of them. It’s part of the River Court Condominium complex which is not a small building built in 1989. The unit is about the size of a small house and comes with plenty of amenities you might find in such a building, but it does come with a heavy price tag: just under a $1 million. Check out what the realtor has to say about it and start window shopping.”
“Address: 10 Rogers St Apt 720, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Price: $995,000. Square Feet: 1208. Bedrooms: 2. Bathrooms: 2 Baths. Features: Benefit from 1st Buyers Remorse!”
‘Builders responded in kind by putting up sleek, new apartment and condo buildings downtown and creating new subdivisions and communities of more suburban, single-family homes on the outskirts of the city and beyond. But they may have gone a bit overboard. The result has been something rare these days: a surplus of housing. After years of surging home prices, they’re finally beginning to head south as a result of that overbuilding.’
But, shortage?
‘Not only have prices dropped, but foreclosures are up, too. That’s a sign of an overheated market: If prices get too high, buyers might overextend themselves in an attempt to get their foot in the door.’
Wait a minute. How can buyers overextend themselves? Aren’t lenders super strict and Senator Running Deer? Me confused. How can a white hot city without any shock like a hurricane have both oversupply and skyrocketing foreclosures? Golly, it’s like there is something else going on.
Yup, we know about the shortage of affordable housing. We know about the glut of luxury housing. We know that land is so expensive that builder/developers can only afford to build luxury housing and collect luxury rent. We know that builder/developers are able to borrow the funds to build the luxury units because interest rates are low (yellenbucks).
We know that buyers can overextend themselves to 50% of income on housing because Mel Watt is loosening the restrictions on what Fannie/Freddie will buy and guarantee. We also know that buyers can’t pony up that 50% indefinitely, and that they could be derailed by a single Venti Americano.
“But, shortage?”
Not in Austin, TX apparently.
Austin, TX 78759 Housing Prices Crater 13% YOY
https://www.zillow.com/austin-tx-78759/home-values/
https://snag.gy/m5EzRB.jpg
Everyone who lives there has a high-paying IT job, dontcha know?
‘Ms. Streit defined the Santa Fe luxury market as ‘over $1 million, some would say over $1.5 million.’ There are no hard numbers on how much of the luxury market is second-home buyers. ‘I would say it’s more than half’
Now Darlene, just how many locals can buy these shacks that already haven’t?
I’ve been to Santa Fe. It’s a nice place to visit, but why have a second home there that will just sit empty hundreds of days a year? These homes have to be purchased for speculative reasons. The opportunity cost of 1.5M house, assuming it was paid with cash, or the interest on a mortgage ($60K in interest alone), plus taxes, insurance and maintenance would pay for some really awesome vacations, and you’d have money left over.
How many times can you visit the main plaza, St. Francis Cathedral, etc?
FWIW, many of these second homes are pre-retirement homes; the house that some boomer couple plans to retire into eventually. But why Santa Fe? beats me.
You mean they’re carrying two mortgages?
Many times, yes they are. Just like any second home. And why not? There are probably loads of 60-year-old boomers who went to college almost for free in the 70s, bought their house 25+ years ago, didn’t cash-out refi for boobs or kids’ college, and kept their jobs during the recession. They are doing well and can easily handle two mortgages.
I guess they plan to pay off the second (retirement) home with a lump sum when they move out of the primary home.
Now, why they need a $1.5M house in Santa Fe beats me.
Donk,
Carrying two mortgages, a medical bankruptcy with one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel isn’t “doing well”.
Santa Fe might not be such a great retirement spot.
First of all, it’s very high altitude (7200 ft), which takes its toll on seniors.
Half the population is Hispanic, so if you don’t speak Spanish you will feel like an outsider (like you would in California). Add to that the fact that “New Mexicans” consider themselves a separate culture (and they are adamant that they aren’t Mexican).
The winters are chilly (because of the high altitude)
Incomes are low in town, meaning many poors, The crime rate is high.
And to top it all off, you have to pay king’s ransom for a shack.
I guess they plan…
No sane person buys a second house they can’t afford out of pocket change for some future retirement. If these people don’t have the money to actually buy a second home, they don’t have enough money to retire.
Speculation.
Santa Fe might not be such a great retirement spot.
Does Santa Fe have a good airport (considering the size of the town) that caters to the wealthy? Jackson Hole and Aspen do. I was just imagining rich people having to drive to their second home from Albuquerque or Denver and that part wasn’t making sense.
Apparently it’s Albuqurque, From wikipedia:
Yeah, the main airport for Santa Fe is in ABQ.
The main Hispanics in NM are Hispanos who often don’t even know much, if any Spanish. Regardless, Santa Fe is kind of viewed as full of old, rich, snotty white transplants by a lot of the rest of NM.
“All I needs a few more dollars
And I’m outa here to stay
Dreams comes true, yes they do
In Santa Fe”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPIjH0k09hY
Now I ain’t getting into heaven
If the devil has his way
I swear I’m gonna live forever
Heading back to Santa Fe
Got debts to pay in Santa Fe
It’s judgment day in Santa Fe
– JBJ
FWIW, many of these second homes are pre-retirement homes’
yes that’s true to get a jump on housing inflation if it keeps going because all their brother and sister Boomers are thinking the same thing.
Boomers have to get ahead of other Boomers they have been doing this all their lives why stop now?
At least I hear this kind of talk among CA state workers getting ready to retire at about 60 years old. They retire at 55 but then keep working its a provision to retain critical workers. juices the retirement. These are police.
Private workers are either so rich they stay in CA or so poor ( way more common ) they are trapped can’t ever retire.
My co-worker just moved to MO but rents his house out here in CA to a REALTOR. haha can you believe it ? A Chinese realtor with like 5 kids. Chinese don’t move to MO at least not yet.
They just pay up to live in CA where they have at least some other folks who speak the lingo, etc. I think he gets 3500 a month for a 1700 sq foot house. yikes !!!!
I think Santa Fe is very nice but the state is not real tax friendly to the people that can afford the homes. Maybe the short term rental market has a role in this.
Yes, check out VRBO and AirBnB in Santa Fe. I used to live there and still enjoy visiting. The wealthy older white people listing to the side from too much turquoise jewelry are commonplace, and their vacay homes can be yours for way too much money per night.
Why buy years before retirement, unless you are convinced that you will make bank through buying and HODLing?
Why buy years before retirement, unless you are convinced that you will make bank through buying and HODLing?
Almost nothing anybody does in real estate makes sense unless you will make your retirement on the HODL.
FWIW, many of these second homes are pre-retirement homes; the house that some boomer couple plans to retire into eventually.
That’s what they tell themselves, to help rationalize their speculation; in the meantime, they’re really just double-down because housing always goes up.
I know a Los Angeles family that bought a San Luis Obispo home for retirement when it was cheap. They sent each of their children to Cal Poly and live in that house (no dorm expense). Eventually they sold their Los Angeles home near the top, and they’re happily settled in San Luis Obispo now. They had the benefit of good timing (early boomers) and being conservative educated professionals.
Ok, that sounds like pretty good planning, rms…
Yeah, they really nailed it. The guy was an Aeronautical Engineer and his wife (still working) is a Nurse.
Colorado…seems like no matter the city you find something wrong with it. No place is perfect.
Santa Fe is very dry which is awesome for old people with asthma or rhumatoid arthritis or othetr oint issues. It also has 300 sunny days a year. And NM has some of the lowest prop tax rates in the country, something retirees are very concscious of. And SS benefits are only partially taxed by NM, again something retirees might appreciate.
Pretty much everywhere on the downwind side of the Rockies is dry and sunny. But the property tax and SS/income tax info is interesting and might explain it. Thanks.
If it was affordable, it would be acceptable.
I think some of the appeal is like that of Boulder, CO — there’s kind of an artsy/crunchy/hippie vibe in Taos and Santa Fe.
I think the higher altitude does make things colder, at least relative to ABQ. ABQ’s weather, IMHO, is actually pretty nice — dry, doesn’t snow much, doesn’t get that cold in the winter, and doesn’t get insanely hot in the summer either.
Another thing is that NM seems just subjectively brighter vs. e.g. CO. You really notice it when you cross Raton Pass on I25.
OK. To me it looked the same as the similar things in Colorado and Wyoming. I was only there once though.
Every sunrise I saw in New Mexico was just blinding, and every sunset brought out beautiful colors in the landscape. I can see why the state has appeal to artists.
I liked it, too, primarily because the building code keeps it from looking like everyplace else, even if “faux-dobe” is the occasional consequence. I liked Taos also. But yeah, a second home in a state where you don’t already live is primarily a speculative investment.
Outside of state government in Santa Fe, both of those places had what looked like an economy based on catering to outside wealth.
So if you are wealthy what better place to be than where the entire economy is there to cater to you?
I have a second cousin who, has a home in Taos. They bought it before retirement with the intention to live in it post retirement and did just that. They also have an RV that probably cost $250k. For peeps like that carrying two mortgages is barely noticable. He worked as a pilot for American back in the day when 747 pilots made doctor money, fwiw.
For peeps like that carrying two mortgages is barely noticable.
According to you know who, those people don’t exist. Everyone has “empty pockets”.
Kailua Kona, Hawaii Housing Prices Crater 6% YOY
https://www.movoto.com/kailua-kona-hi/market-trends/
Don’t worry! They’re working on making more land there! (as soon as it cools off)
Yeah, but the new land is on the rainy side of the island where few people want to live.
Seattle climate with a more active volcano than Mt Rainier
‘The bungalow they purchased for $170,000 two years ago is now pending a sale for $239,000. The 40% spike in price for 1438 Seventeenth St. could be surprising for some — especially since the home sold for just $39,000 in 2013′
Nothing to see here.
The larger story is that these homes are being bought up by outsiders. Who? Pension funds? AmericanHomes for Rent? Money launderers thinking that Detroit is actually going to appreciate more? Wealthy foreigners looking to invade the US heartland?
Donk,
Degenerate gambling and mortgage fraud has no geographic boundaries.
is amerucin homes for rent still buying?
WTF !
American Homes 4 Rent … so how well are they doing?
(seek, and ye shall find)
Here’s some customer complaints (794 of them). Enjoy.
https://www.bbb.org/losangelessiliconvalley/business-reviews/property-management/american-homes-4-rent-in-agoura-hills-ca-264491/reviews-and-complaints
It’s not just Detroit - smaller towns everywhere are being hit with this in a way that’s not really been seen before.
I blame the giant supply of printed money sloshing around in the hands of the very well connected who are looking for ‘tangible assets’ and returns.
I suspect that when we look back on this, we’ll realize there’s been a structural transformation in US home ownership, and it won’t be something to be proud of.
HBB poster “measton” (he hasn’t been around lately) predicted that non-consumer entities would buy up all the property at low prices after the crash. He was half-right. Non-consumer entities are buying at market prices using Yellenbucks. Soon enough we are going to go back to being a nation of renters.
It’s already happening now, just from looking at the renters on HBB who might be waiting to buy for the next 20+ years. We’re being screwed. And if the foreign and/or printed money keeps buying up pieces of America, are there even going to be any Oil Cities left?
Heard that there are 13 million rental SFRs in the USA. Only 200k owned by hedge funds.
I think we are of similar minds oxide with the ownership change and it’s impact(s).
Even if in absolute terms, the numbers scooped up don’t seem that big compared to the total, it doesn’t take that much to have a very serious impact that will last.
Re: numbers - most existing homes are not on the market in any given year, so it’s a bit of distraction to be comparing against them instead of the percentage of the market that’s actually active in a given year.
I really wish we had better data on the percentage of Americans (or homes) that were owned free and clear. Whenever we talk about home ownership I think it would be useful to distinguish between those who actually own the house outright and those who have a mortgage. This is the best analysis that I’ve seen of this:
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-many-homeowners-have-paid-off-their-mortgages/
Greater fools have a way of coming out of the woodwork in the parabolic stage of a mania.
Can you even go parabolic without them?
With 25 million excess, empty and defaulted houses out there, they’ve got a whole lot more buying to do.
Realtors are liars.
Alameda, CA Rental Rates Crater 8% YOY As Bay Area Housing Bust Accelerates
https://www.zillow.com/alameda-ca/home-values/
*Select price from dropdown menu on rental chart
Truckers respect what they do for us. Or else
Brazil, nine days into grinding strike, still a transport hell
https://www.yahoo.com/news/brazil-hopes-end-truck-strike-eighth-day-141557061.html
Once you head down the socialist path, it is very hard to turn around. At the beginning of the twentieth century many immigrants who had achoice chose Argentina over the U.S because they thought it had better prospects. Then government expanded in Argentina and it has had one bankruptcy after another.
It does not seem to be considered by the truck drivers that the world price has gone up and that might even help Brazil to develop its offshore deposits. Instead they want the government to subsidize diesel which will probably starve Petrobas of funds and make the entire country poorer. Asia countries are moving from poor to middle class while Brazil seems destined to move from middle class to poor. And remember the IMF definition of middle class would not even be considered a poor lifestyle in this country.
Bbbut Bernie sez with socialism we all get free college and free health care and free daycare and subsidized housing only have to work 30 hours for it all. And he is like speaking truth to power man.
I see Bernie is putting out feelers for 2020. While I don’t want to discourage an honest alternative from the left, I hope the Ds can come up with someone a little younger.
I hope every candidate is younger. The position visibly accelerates the aging of everyone who has held it.
What about heading down the empire path? That’s very hard to turn around as well.
What about heading down the empire path?
We’re so far down that path I’m not sure where to even go from here. It’s hard to beat a Death Star into plowshares.
The MSM says anyone can be president. As long as your name is Bush, Clinton, Obama or Oprah Winfrey.
You see that pic of Ms. Weight Watchers sucking on Weinstein’s ear? She won’t be elected even if she buys everyone a new car.
Chris Murphy would be a decent choice for the Dems imho.
When Trump was elected, I figured the Democratic party would be shocked enough that they would ask “why did we get blindsided?”
Apparently their conclusion was that they “didn’t sell enough of the stuff that was rejected last time”. Holy hell they don’t want to acknowledge the truth.
Holy hell they don’t want to acknowledge the truth.
Yeah, Trump’s deplorability seems to have short circuited their ability to think that through. I keep thinking that maybe somebody like Milo or Peterson will click with them and break them out of it. So far no.
I was talking with someone who voted for Obama twice and voted for Trump. Said, “I was disappointed when Bush got reelected but I didn’t go out and protest.” It’s the deep state and their media poodles that keep this crap going. Fine, stay butt hurt forever. Good luck with that in the mid-terms.
‘Blue-state Democrats have a new cause: Helping millionaires’
‘Some Democrats in blue states are looking to create loopholes to the federal tax rules on state and local property taxes.’
‘The so-called SALT provisions say taxpayers can only deduct up to $10,000 in state and local taxes from their federal returns.’
‘The cap means many affluent people in high-tax states may see their taxes climb.’
‘New Jersey state Senate President Stephen Sweeney was once a chief supporter of New Jersey’s millionaire tax, tweeting about the “long-overdue millionaires tax.” Now, following the federal tax law, he said a tax aimed at the wealthy is “the absolute last thing I’m willing to look at.”
‘He said the state can’t risk losing more taxpayers to lower-tax states. “I’m not going to run in and do something that’s going cause even more problems for the economy,” he told NJ Advance Media.’
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/29/blue-state-democrats-have-a-new-cause-helping-millionaires.html
Farage: With Italy you’ve bitten off more than you can chew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZppyrvmmpOc
“Chris Murphy would be a decent choice for the Dems imho.”
Chris just doesn’t have that inside-out Oreo look.
‘The morning after Trump wins! *{media SHOCK + HORROR on Nov. 9}*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdb-vMI7w-Q
Note how honest the results are discussed. Nothing about Russia. All about losing the middle class in places that had voted for Obama twice.
4:04 the exit polls have never been so wrong,
10:15
“The media was all in on this narrative, Clinton’s going to win, Clinton’s going to win.”
Italian president now taking orders from EU - David Coburn MEP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM6MYNkar_U
How Student Debt Can Ruin Home Buying Dreams
The New York Times
Natalie Kitroeff
May 25, 2018
“Homeownership among Americans in their 20s and 30s is hovering near a three-decade low. Just 35 percent of households headed by someone younger than 35 owned a home in 2017, down from 41 percent in 1982, according to census data. Now, they are much more likely to be living at home with their parents or elders.”
“At the same time, the nation’s student loan bill has soared to $1.4 trillion, surpassing credit cards to become the largest source of personal debt outside mortgages.”
“A broad set of headwinds is holding millennials back from buying homes. Underwriting standards have become stricter in the last decade, making it more difficult to get a mortgage. Many young people are moving to cities where they can only afford to rent — a problem that has been compounded as home prices have soared while wages have barely outpaced inflation.”
“More than 80 percent of millennials surveyed by the National Association of Realtors and the nonprofit group American Student Assistance said that student debt had forced them to shelve their plans to buy a home. And people who did not own homes estimated that the debt had forced them to put off buying by seven years.”
No “pent-up demand” for $500,000 starter homes happening here.
sell in may?
whoops
are those 7.5% expected returns going to have an off year?
then late 2019 recession through 2021.
Meanwhile county property taxes will really bite hard.
“Televangelist, seeks donations for $54 million jet”
“Jesse Duplantis, the Destrehan-based prosperity gospel televangelist with a global reach, is asking disciples for money to buy a jet that costs $54 million ’so we can go anywhere in the world in one stop.’ He seeks the donations in a video posted last week on his ministry’s website.
“‘I really believe that if the Lord Jesus Christ was physically on the Earth today, he wouldn’t be riding a donkey,’ Duplantis says in the video. ‘He’d be in an airplane flying all over the world.’”
“He says his 40-year-old Jesse Duplantis Ministries has paid cash for three private jets and been ‘just burning them up for the Lord Jesus Christ.’ The most recent purchase was in 2006, he says.
“Now he has his sights set on a Dassault Falcon 7X, a three-engine jet with a range of 5,950 nautical miles. Its customizable cabins accommodate 12 to 16 passengers. A 2017 write-up on SherpaReport.com, a website focused on private aviation, said the list price for a new Falcon 7X was $54 million.”
But so as to not be outdone …
“Duplantis’ solicitation comes four months after another televangelist, the Newark, Texas-based Kenneth Copeland, announced he had bought a new Gulfstream V jet. That aircraft, when first sold in 1998, carried a $36 million price tag, The Christian Post reports.
“In 2015, Duplantis and Copeland defended their use of private jets. In a segment on Copeland’s television program, they argued that commercial planes were full of ‘a bunch of demons’ that will bog down their busy schedules with prayer requests, The Washington Times reported.”
http://www.nola.com/religion/index.ssf/2018/05/jesse_duplantis_private_jet.html
“But so as to not be outdone …”
Keeping up with the Jesuses.
Matthew 7:15 comes to mind
The comments to the article point out that this po’ preacher built a new home for himself on Ormond Blvd and River Road in Destrehan (near New Orleans). Looking at the googlemap satellite, there is only ONE house on that corner suitable for this preacher.
For giggles, googlemap 13900 River Rd, Destrehan, LA.
Just looked at the front of the house from Google street view.
… I .. Can’t … Even … (*Hurls*)
I think there was a South Park cartoon that had this theme.
Sally Fields, aliens something like that…
Sally Struthers was connected to Starvin’ Marvin. What you’re thinking of is Pat Robertson.
Negative Ionic Tractor Disrupter Beam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayCeeGbW_og
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starvin%27_Marvin_in_Space
This episode begins with an alien landing on Earth to make first contact in the African desert. Not realizing it is facing lions, it is killed and devoured. Its ship is discovered by the people from Starvin’ Marvin’s village. The village is occupied by Christian missionaries led by Sister Hollis (voiced by Michael Ann Young), who attempt to convert the community by assuring them that their faith in Christianity will get them food, prompting Marvin to board the ship in search of a place free of missionaries to relocate his people. Meanwhile, two agents with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), having found out about this spaceship and wanting it for themselves, track down the boys and torture them by making scraping noises on a balloon until Cartman suddenly cannot take it anymore and tells them where Starvin’ Marvin might have taken it. The two government agents then recruit Sally Struthers, whose character is depicted as looking similar to Jabba the Hutt. She is the leader of an Ethiopian food drive that is nothing more than a front for her to get all the food she wants. They offer her Chocolate Yum Yum bars in exchange.
Marvin and the boys team up, and by accidentally pressing a button, they fly via a wormhole to the home planet of the ship’s former owner: the planet Marklar, whose inhabitants speak a language that is identical to English except for the fact that every noun is replaced with the word “Marklar”. The benevolent Marklar agree to allow the Ethiopians to live on their planet. Back on Earth, the boys try to round up the Ethiopians, but the government agents seize the spaceship. The boys are able to take back the spaceship, letting Marvin load his people on while the boys distract the government agents, pretending to be Tom Brokaw. The agents are easily able to see through the disguise. Despite this, they are distracted long enough to load the ship, but Kenny is lost and seized by the government agents when the boys try to make a break for it.
The boys try to make it to Marklar, but they are confronted by the missionaries, who have built their own ship and are trying to force Christianity to Marklar. During this time, while broadcasting his show The 600 Club on the Christian Broadcasting Channel, Pat Robertson is shown attempting to raise funds for various absurd weapons and upgrades to aid the missionaries while in space. A space battle ensues, before the boys have to face the government agents. The agents have had Kenny frozen in carbonite and given to Sally Struthers so she can support them. Cartman convinces Sally that she has influenced the boys that they need to help people more. This touches Sally, so she lets the boys go and captures the missionary ship instead. Then, the wormhole is opened again, and all the ships are taken to Marklar.
When they arrive on Marklar, the aliens are very confused by the humans’ trying to explain their motives. Kyle explains the situation in the aliens’ own language, and the Marklar are touched. They banish the missionaries and let the Ethiopians stay. The boys promise to visit again (with Cartman sarcastically adding “Yeah, and maybe Jesse Jackson will be President”). Sally Struthers then takes the boys back to Earth.
Brilliant young Chinese house flippers:
https://torontolife.com/city/crime/wanted-make-fortune-flipping-houses-toronto-wound-killing-partner-1-6-million-debt/
Washington, DC 20010 Housing Prices Crater 10% YOY As Housing Depreciation Ravages NoVa/DC Area
https://www.zillow.com/washington-dc-20010/home-values/
*Select price from dropdown menu on first chart
My wife and step daughter are moving here to Folsom at the end of June from Shanghai. She’ll have to go back fairly regularly for business, though. She might be able to get by on a tourist visa but we’re working on a green card anyway.
I’ve been looking for a specific car that she would like. They are common as lease returns on the east coast but more difficult to find in California. I’d prefer to not ship from out of state if possible. I finally found one at a CarMax in Sacramento and went to check it out over the weekend.
This was my first experience with CarMax. Apparently their business model is to overprice by about 20% but make the buying process so smooth you don’t notice or care. Kind of like an Apple store for cars. That wasn’t what I was looking for, so no deal was made. I was just surprised that they overpriced blue book by that much and had zero interest in getting the car off the lot at a more reasonable price, what with it being the end of the month and all. Oh well.
I see you guys were discussing private jets over the weekend. That got me thinking…would a private jet be a good way to move wealth between countries that otherwise might block the transfer? Simply buy it and fly it and then sell it at the new destination?
carmaxx- I was going to say 20% over private sale price
Carl,
Have you checked autotrader and ebay?
I was surprised to find that a lot of dealers will list their trade-ins on ebay, especially if it is a different brand than what they sell, as well as lease returns. I’ve had good luck with that route, most recently to hunt down a specific set of options on a Honda CR-V (top model plus several dealer options) and found one at a GM dealer with just 22K miles.
I’ve been checking everywhere. Autotempest is a good one for that. I just haven’t pulled the trigger on a long distance purchase yet due to shipping cost and risk and the extra hassle of getting California emissions testing done on it. Since these guys had one within an hour I just wanted to take advantage of that and go try to make a deal in person.
But yeah, this is a very specific combination that I’m looking for.
Carmax…ofer 30% less on trade in than what I can sell for on my own privately and charge 30% more than what I can buy on my own privately.
It is a hell of a good business model.
It is a hell of a good business model.
You would think it wouldn’t work. But they seem to be following Mr. Banker’s business plan successfully. Make it so easy they’re happy to sign. CarMax must have figured out that traditionally a lot of lucrative deals were being lost not because people were too smart, but because people were too pissed by the end of the negotiating stage to submit to the rest of the procedure.
My negotiating takes 5 mins….My offer for the car is $x. If they say yes great, if no, thank you for your time, goodbye. I never get how people spend hours negotiating a car.
Dealerships are people’s worst nightmare for a reason. You might get a deal on a price for a car in 5 min, but then you walk into the finance manager and they are tacking on extras and saying they are non-negotiable, though of course you know better. They will waste your time and pull all sorts of shenanigans. They have myriads of techniques that haven’t changed a bit in decades and they just make people ticked. There are some exceptions out there, but typically there is an asymmetry in the negotiation process since they do this day-in and day-out, whereas the typical Joe only purchases a vehicle a couple of times in a lifetime.
The perception of Carmax is that it is fair and that everyone is treated equally, even if that means paying a higher price than can be had by an expert haggler. Carmax doesn’t try to target non-English speakers, women, minorities, or anyone else they think they can pull one over on.
The perception of Carmax is that it is fair and that everyone is treated equally, even if that means paying a higher price than can be had by an expert haggler.
OK. I could totally get that if the prices were a little more reasonable. As it is (at least 10% above the most generous possible retail appraisal), it’s hard for me to imagine finding comfort in feeling equally screwed.
I never have had any problems with dealerships when it comes to purchasing a car. Not one.
I take Tik Tok’s approach. I have X and I must have Y. What do you have? Nothing? Thanks, anyway.
I also don’t bother to negotiate. Doing so leaves the door open for irritating sales pitches, b.s., lying, worthless warranties, exorbitantly costly dealership maintenance plans. All of that is nonsense.
When in the finance office listen to Nancy Reagan and Just Say No.
How about an extended warranty? No!
How about pre paid oil changes? No!
How about VIN etching for only $8 a month? Hell No!
How about an extra layer of wax, aka premium protection package for only $279? No no no no a thousand times no.
And so forth.
All good advice. But fundamentally I am against dealerships period. I find them an unnecessary intermediary and a rent-seeking middle-man. One of the reasons why I like Tesla is that they are by-passing the dealership. I would like any other car company that did the same. I bought my wife a bare-bones Chevy Spark a few months ago and did it all online with the local dealership. Basically I just said I wasn’t willing to come in until the paperwork was ready, price was agreed upon, and everything looked good. I let them know if there were any surprises, all bets were off. Thankfully they kept their end of the bargain. But I’ve had dealerships pull funny stuff. I just don’t have time for that kind of nonsense. I don’t haggle with the Apple store. Show everyone the same price and get rid of sales people.
Yep!
You made me laugh with that response. Reminds me of myself.
Only a sucker buys all that crap.
Especially the dealership maintenance packages. Total garbage. They’re even worse than the warranty programs electronics/computer retailers try to ram down your throat at the register.
“One of the reasons why I like Tesla is that they are by-passing the dealership.”
Yep. For the modest price of$100K, you can enjoy the pleasure of having a brand spanking new Tesla SUV shipped directly to a nearby pick-up location, sans dealer hassles, where you can begin to permanently enjoy its many useless features, such as the beta self-driving feature, or the ability to illegally accelerate from 0 to 100 mph along the length of a U.S. freeway entrance ramp.
the ability to illegally accelerate from 0 to 100 mph along the length of a U.S. freeway entrance ramp.
That’s not useless, it’s my favorite feature :-).
Maybe - and it would also apply, maybe even more so - to boats/yachts I would think. Whenever I go past a harbor and look at all the boats that rarely get used, I think there has to be something more to it than just getting out on the water.
there has to be something more to it than just getting out on the water.
Definitely. If it’s anything like the car world it’s also hopes and dreams and egos and regrets and somedays and time machines and I’ll-show-yous.
At the marina there is a large lot filled with boats that no longer get uncovered and launched. “Field of Dreams”.
I’ve seen that too; a retired relative had a small sailboat that he used and worked on every chance he got. I visited and we went to his marina. I asked “how many of these boats just sit here?” He answered “most of them.”
My wife and step daughter are moving here to Folsom at the end of June from Shanghai. She’ll have to go back fairly regularly for business, though. She might be able to get by on a tourist visa but we’re working on a green card anyway.
I’m really glad you’re on here talking about visa fraud. Seriously? Is Carl Morris your real name? You can’t move to a foreign country on a tourist visa. That’s immigration fraud, and we have enough of that going on here.
Well, in theory if she goes back before her visa expires and doesn’t seek employment in the US, technically it isn’t fraud.
Exactly. So Karen…why so quick to label that as visa fraud? It’s just a bunch of long vacations to visit family, and a tourist visa offers the ability to do that up to 6 months a year.
I think you can stay 10 years on a temporary visa. If one is truthful where is the fraud?
People who live here aren’t tourists, and obtaining a tourist visa for someone who is coming here to live, as Mr. Morris did, is fraud.
And no, you cannot stay here for 10 years on a temporary visa! A tourist visa is for tourism, and there is a difference between how long the visa is valid (10 years) and how long the holder is allowed to stay here on each visit (maximum of six months).
His oblique reference to her having “go back fairly regularly for business” is really a wink-wink acknowledgement that both he and her know she has to leave the country every six months and then re-enter here.
This is why I said before that “building a wall” isn’t going to stop illegal immigration or immigration fraud. Most of it is done by people arriving on airplanes and then “overstaying” tourist visas.
Are you sure about fraud?
Visiting family is classified as “Pleasure, Tourism or Medical Treatment” B2 category of Visa. It doesn’t fit into any other of the categories as far as I know. Yes you have to go home in 6 months, but you can apply at the beginning to reenter multiple times for 10 years I believe.
If she is already planning to go back multiple times a year there would be nothing fraudulent about getting this kind of visa, just might be an inconvenience down the road.
His oblique reference to her having “go back fairly regularly for business” is really a wink-wink acknowledgement that both he and her know she has to leave the country every six months and then re-enter here.
Actually that’s the truth. She will be returning regularly to maintain her businesses. You can’t just hire a manager or two and assume everything will be fine while you are gone, even if you are in daily contact with them.
Ms-13 is not arriving here on tourist visas. We need the wall and it will be effectively in slowing down immigration of the people we must need to keep out. moreover it will slow down the trafficking of drugs. When you look at the cost benefits of the wall it is a no brainer. You know when something is effective, the Bush Republicans are against it. A large wall, mandatory e-verify and more detention facilities are exactly what this country needs. The only tourist visas issued that have caused trouble are from a handful of fundamentalist Islamic countries. They should receive special scrutiny.
Most need to keep out.
And when I think about it the 9/11 terrorists were mainly using student visas. It is easier to catch and deport people when you have information about them. Also mandatory e-verify would take most of the economic incentive away for abusing the system. I just cannot see the logic of being against something because it is not 100 per cent effective. It seems to be just an excuse to do nothing made by people that either want cheap labor or both.
In my opinion, landlords should have to use eVerify to ensure tenants are legal before being able to rent to them.
How would you enforce that? Doesn’t seem like a practical place to apply pressure.
The UK does this, albeit imperfectly using required document checks:
“Housing illegal immigrants in the private rented sector allows such people to establish a settled life in the UK and frustrate the necessary process of returning them to their home country. This creates a significant cost to the public purse and also reduces the amount of housing stock available to British citizens and others residing here legally.
As a landlord, you have a responsibility to restrict illegal immigrants accessing the private rented sector.”
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/right-to-rent-landlords-code-of-practice/code-of-practice-on-illegal-immigrants-and-private-rented-accommodation-for-tenancies-starting-on-or-after-1-february-2016#acceptable-documents
Looks to me like they’ve created a big bureaucracy of govt workers to go out and verify the renters. And then after lots of wrangling and appeals there may be a fine of up to 3000 pounds. Still seems like more of a jobs program for govt workers than something that will really end the problem.
I still think hitting the employers is the place to do it if you’re serious. And of course you don’t put them on the dole, so work is necessary.
Talking about US Visas:
If he is married to her, then she can apply for a US Green Card as a spouse. If they have a provable relationship, it shouldn’t be a problem to get one.
Green cards used to be permanent, but now have to be renewed every 10 years.
If she becomes a US Citizen then she needs to have permission to work in China (just like the other way, but China is getting serious about enforcing their rules). Not sure about Chinese citizens who are US Green Card holders - the Green Card might affect their status back in China.
I’m not aware of any issues in China for Chinese citizens with American green cards. The biggest issue is being required to pay US taxes when Chinese small business accounting isn’t really up to IRS standards. That’s one advantage of staying on the tourist visa if you can stand the associated restrictions.
The tourist visa might not help with the IRS. I think if she spends half of the year or more in the US the IRS will require she pay US taxes. Check the IRS rules.
She can’t legally stay more than half a year on a tourist visa. And we have no intention of violating that because it would endanger in the in-process green card. Until there is a green card the IRS is a non-issue if no work is performed/paid here.
“My wife and step daughter are moving here…”
How about a follow-up on the Airbnb hottie landlord?
Hahah :-). I thought I gave an update when I moved out of there. She talked to me a couple more times. Professional in all cases. But made it very clear that she’d love to have a long term renter.
“I thought I gave an update when I moved out of there.”
Looks like I missed it.
IMHO, there’s no such thing as a hottie without a story. And thanks for the follow-up!
Roseanne’s show got cancelled.
All of the real journalists are calling out her racist Twitter comments but very few of them are quoting her on calling Hillary Clinton “a colostomy jug cuz full of shite” LOLZ.
If Hillary would have won that would be considered revealing state secrets and she would have been shot. (Sarcasm)
Actually, she would have been put in prison a la Tommy Robinson. I dont think its a coincidence that Merkel used islam hordes to destroy Germany, Mays is continuing that in the UK, and if Hillary would have gotten elected I would expect the same to be done here - including classifying any dissent as hate speech and making it illegal. Matriarchy always destroys civilization - really no different than marxism, communism or the something for nothing mentality found just about everywhere among certain groups.
Matriarchy always destroys civilization
How’s that? Are you saying matriarchs believe in something for nothing?
I tried to read a really esoteric analysis of Father/Mother Jungian stuff written about the appeal of Jordan Peterson (who I like). But I couldn’t follow it…apparently the author saw the 60s as a feminine takeover that’s now about to be reversed but that’s about as far as I could follow.
As far as I’m concerned it’s all a lot simpler than that.
So many (usually young) people I’ve met are convinced that if we just switched our government to socialism, a matriarchy or whatever ‘justice and prosperity for all’ dream they have, then we’re usher in a new age of peaceful utopia and plenty for all.
To wit, I offer this rebuttal: http://dilbert.com/strip/1989-10-20
Take a look around, Carl.
Have you ever worked in a non-STEM field? Life outside of STEM is quite a bit different for men than what you yourself experience.
And I’m not talking about pay and perks.
Have you ever worked in a non-STEM field?
Not since the military. Is your point that working in a field dominated by women is a way different experience? It hadn’t really occurred to me before that I haven’t ever worked in one of those fields.
Why has that never occurred to you?
Good question. I worked with and have been managed by women in the military and in STEM and considered it normal. The fact that I haven’t worked in a female dominated industry never struck me as noteworthy before. But I can see how it might be a different experience.
The clinical term for fecal incontinence is encopresis.
Imagine having a President of the United States who could not physically control her bowel movements. And in the age of the 24/7 news cycle and social media. But we all know that real journalists would cover this up, i.e. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s wheelchair.
Hillary Clinton is too sick, too old, too frail to govern anything…
“Roseanne’s show got cancelled.”
Maybe PBS will pick it up.
Richard M. Nixon’s Western White House is back up for sale at $63.5 million
http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/hot-property/la-fi-hotprop-richard-nixon-20180528-story.html
I wonder how much Mr. Herbert paid for it 30 years ago? 2 million?
I wonder how many millions he sunk in the money pit. $40 million? $60 million?
You always say that construction is dirt cheap, $50/ sq foot. Why would he spend so much?
Here’s the house:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4100-Calle-Isabella-San-Clemente-CA-92672/25145233_zpid/?fullpage=true
realtor.com and zillow don’t have the price history. The county assessor just has tax information.
Total taxable value: $3,034,003
Total tax paid: $32,310
Can any Californians translate this?
Prop 13?
wow you have to cross RR tracks to get to the beach???
The Amtrak San Diegan runs along the coast. Unless you’re right on the beach in north San Diego county or south Orange county you’ll have to cross the tracks to get to the beach. IIRC, there are no freight trains on that track
It means he bought it 30+ years ago for about 1.5M
Camping for $25 100 yards down the beach @ Calafia …
Eagle Point, OR Housing Prices Crater 19% YOY As West Coast Housing Correction Looms
https://www.movoto.com/eagle-point-or/market-trends/
A Silent Coup in Italy
“Liberals on both sides of the Atlantic spend a lot of time these days fretting about the threat posed by populists and nationalists to Western democracies. An entire cottage industry of writers and think-tankers has sprung up to palliate and address these liberal anxieties. But as the Italian example makes clear, it is more often liberals who short-circuit the democratic process when it doesn’t go their way. “Heads we win, tails you lose” is no way to play politics in a free society.”
https://www.commentarymagazine.com/foreign-policy/europe/silent-coup-italy/
‘Heads we win, tails you lose’ is kinda how they do it in the US too.
Brexit is being short-circuited as we speak.
Libs are trying to get Trump out of office by hook or by crook.
And I can’t think of anything more threatening to Western democracy than hordes of young men from religious caliphates camping on the streets of Paris or Malmo.
it is more often liberals who short-circuit the democratic process when it doesn’t go their way
Like with Brexit? How many years has it been, and how many logs have they rolled in front of it to slow it down?
George Soros in 82 Seconds
George Soros is worried about another financial crisis
By Paul R. La Monica May 29, 2018: 11:12 AM ET
Legendary billionaire investor George Soros is worried that another “major financial crisis” could be lurking around the corner.
Soros, speaking at the annual meeting of the European Council on Foreign Relations in Paris Tuesday, said that rising anti-European Union sentiment, the disruption to the Iran deal, a soaring dollar and investors taking money out of emerging markets are adding up to bad news for the global economy.
“We may be heading for another major financial crisis,” he said.
…
I am sure if he can arrange it we will have one
Denver, CO 80210 Housing Prices Crater 8% YOY On Failing Subprime Mortgages
https://www.zillow.com/denver-co-80210/home-values/
*Select price from dropdown menu on first chart
http://ktla.com/2018/05/29/tesla-on-autopilot-crashes-into-laguna-beach-police-patrol-vehicle/
‘A Tesla that was in autopilot mode crashed into a Laguna Beach police patrol vehicle Tuesday morning, totaling the SUV and leaving the sedan’s driver injured, an official said. The crash occurred along Laguna Canyon Road shortly after 11 a.m., Laguna Beach Police Department Sgt. Jim Cota tweeted.’
‘A Tesla on autopilot crashed into a semi-truck in the exact same area on April 10, 2017, Cota told KTLA. “Why do these vehicles keep doing that?” Cota told the Times.’
Because nobody is driving?
Looking at the pix, it was a beautiful partly cloudy day in California, on a well-maintained dry road with plenty of line markings. The cop’s (?) SUV was parked; it’s not like it jumped out into the roadway. Geeze, what are they going to blame?
Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for those tests in winter in Pittsburgh…
At least it was cheaper than owning a standard car.
What do you expect for a measly $8k option? Maybe Tesla will release a software update for autopilot to work properly - like they did for the brakes..
Perhaps Teslas need to be driven 30,000 miles or so to get the bugs worked out.
BTW, who is suing whom for what regarding these Tesla crashes? Do we have a list of the insurance companies? We hear about the crashes, and then, as if by magic, all subsequent discussion and action disappears into the ether.
More integrity brought to you by National Association Of Realtors “professionals”
“Two Destin Realtors Charged With Battery”
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/20180419/two-destin-realtors-charged-with-battery
Italexit time?
The Financial Times
Italian politics
Global financial markets buffeted by Italy crisis
Central bank chief warns politicians as Di Maio calls for coalition talks to restart
…
“No more apologies” — President Donald Trump, Nashville, TN 5/29/2018
Ben Jones, my entire childhood and early adulthood was watching the de-industrialiasion of the Midwest. F* globalisation, and f* globalists. Go choke on George Soros’s withered stump of a c*ck.
This is a turning point. You can turn toward economic nationalism, or retreat into globalist defeatism. Do not turn this into a civil war, because it is war that you will lose
https://www.c-span.org/video/?446257-1/president-trump-campaigns-marsha-blackburn-nashville-tennessee&live&vod
Even Chelsea Clinton got into it today.
“I was curious if I could care about [money] on some fundamental level, and I couldn’t,”
Oh I”m sorry that was the wrong quote.
By Jane Coastonjane.coaston@vox.com Updated May 29, 2018, 3:22pm EDT
Chelsea Clinton
✔
@ChelseaClinton
Good morning Roseanne - my given middle name is Victoria. I imagine George Soros’s nephews are lovely people. I’m just not married to one. I am grateful for the important work @OpenSociety does in the world. Have a great day!
https://twitter.com/therealroseanne/status/1001310680111243269 …
7:03 AM - May 29, 2018
103K
19.8K people are talking about this
https://www.vox.com/2018/5/29/17404972/roseanne-clinton-conspiracy-trump
Any thoughts on whether and when Trump will put barriers in front of the foreign real estate investor hordes who are overrunning U.S. residential markets and pricing American families out onto the streets?
One can hope. The problem is that it is not recognized by the masses for what it is. The situation makes me think of this quote from that Atlantic article that Karen posted here the other day:
The best thing about this program of reverse taxation, as far as the 9.9 percent are concerned, is that the bottom 90 percent haven’t got a clue. The working classes get riled up when they see someone at the grocery store flipping out their food stamps to buy a T-bone. They have no idea that a nice family on the other side of town is walking away with $100,000 for flipping their house.
The truth is that the there is some misdirected ire. I’ve seen it on this board manifest itself in different ways. Resentment isn’t policy and it doesn’t lead to tangible solutions. But yes, restricting the foreign purchases would tackle part of the demand side, so we should definitely form some concrete solutions to tackle housing affordability. But absent that, let’s just lash out at Tesla and other political footballs to make us feel better.
But then how many house flippers will ever use that $100K profit and pay off their and their kids student loans…….ZIP its let be selfish and buy a bigger house
“But then how many house flippers will ever use that $100K profit and pay off their and their kids student loan”
I know a couple that used big refi $ (house bought in 90s for$150k refied 2005 $400k) among other things to pay off their kids student loans and then defaulted and to add insult to injury lived there rent free for a few years.
Too bad he didn’t endorse this woman for Nashville mayor last week
https://www.facebook.com/profcarolmswain/
https://www.facebook.com/Carolmswain.1
If only cryptocurrency can grow big enough to become a systematically risky part of the global economy, then perhaps it would be readily obvious that crypto is too big to fail, and taxpayer-funded insurance could be established to insure its value against loss, in order to protect the global economy from the harmful effects of a cryptocurrency collapse. It’s essential to protect the future prosperity and happiness of the world’s children!
nltimes.nl
Stabilizing cryptocurrencies could cause new financial crisis: Dutch economic office
3 minutes
By Janene Pieters on May 30, 2018 - 12:10
By now everyone is aware of the risks involved in investing in cryptocurrencies with their wildly fluctuating prices. But the real risks may only appear should cryptocurrencies’ prices start stabilizing, according to the Netherlands office for economic policy analysis CPB. In the worst case scenario, this could lead to another global financial crisis, the CPB wrote in its annual report on the risks for the financial markets, RTL Z reports.
The financial crisis in 2008 was caused by American banks providing mortgages to customers who could not afford it, according to the broadcaster. These mortgages were then sold to other banks as new financial products, making it unclear what the underlying value and additional problems were. When mortgage holders could not repay their loans, banks lost massive amounts on these so-called subprime mortgages. This eventually led to the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the financial crisis.
According to CPB, a similar scenario could happen if cryptocurrencies stabilize. If that happens, professional investors may be willing to lend money for investments in cryptos. If prices then suddenly fall, financial institutions could be “badly hit”. Even if financial institutions themselves do not invest in cryptocurrencies because of the risk, their customers may do so. And not all private investors are equally well informed.
https://nltimes.nl/2018/05/30/stabilizing-cryptocurrencies-cause-new-financial-crisis-dutch-economic-office
It’s not too late to seek treatment for your gambling addiction.
Hospital launches rehab clinic to treat cryptocurrency addiction
Published: May 30, 2018 2:53 a.m. ET
A Scottish hospital has fielded inquiries from all over the world about its newly launched crypto rehab unit
By Aaron Hankin Reporter
Is trading bitcoin gambling? As mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies grows, proponents continue to argue that buying bitcoin and other digital currencies is a bet on the future — the future of decentralized technology that could dethrone current payment systems and fiat currencies.
However, gambling on the future is still gambling — and, like other forms of gambling, may be dangerously addictive to some. That’s according to a Scottish hospital, which announced on Monday that it had launched a rehabilitation program for people addicted to trading digital currencies like bitcoin (BTCUSD, -2.21%) and Ether (ETHUSD, -2.95%).
“Cryptocurrency users can get hooked by the volatile fluctuation of prices online which creates a ‘high’ when they buy or trade a winning currency,” said Castle Craig Hospital in a press release. “This can be exciting but also addictive and, like gambling addiction, can be financially disastrous.”
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/hospital-launches-rehab-clinic-to-treat-cryptocurrency-addiction-2018-05-29
markets
Why Some Emerging Markets Are Suddenly Melting Down
By Netty Idayu Ismail
May 28, 2018, 9:00 PM PDT
Investors had been enamored with emerging markets for more than two years. These days, they’re not so besotted. For several weeks, money has poured out of developing nations and into the U.S., causing the dollar to rise in value and the currencies of emerging markets to hit new lows. Turkey has been at the center of the rout, but many other countries, including Argentina, Hungary and Indonesia, have been hit as investors dump riskier stocks and bonds for the safety of U.S. assets. For some economists, it raises the specter of the late 1990s-era Asian economic crisis. What’s going on?
1. Why are emerging markets suffering?
The easy answer is that money is fickle and opportunistic — it goes where it can get the highest return, flowing out of countries as fast as it flows in. This latest upheaval started when the U.S., Japan and Europe kept interest rates close to, or below, zero to help their stagnant economies recover from the 2008 financial crisis. That made returns on stocks and bonds unattractive, and drove investors to developing nations, where the risks were higher but the payoffs more inviting. Emerging markets, as a result, have enjoyed a rally in stocks, bonds and currencies. But the reverse is now happening as investors react to several signals from the U.S. — faster growth, rising interest rates and a stronger dollar. All three indicate potentially higher returns on U.S. investments and thus act as a magnet for money. They also undermine the attraction of riskier emerging markets. The turmoil in Turkey has especially rattled investors.
2. How scary can this get?
Some say this is just a market hiccup as speculative investors betting on a weaker dollar were caught off guard by the U.S. currency’s new strength. Others say the developing world is in worse shape than many investors think. Harvard professor Carmen Reinhart, for example, has said mounting debt loads, trade battles, rising interest rates and stalled growth have made emerging markets more vulnerable than on the eve of the 2008 financial crisis. Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, has said the current episode somewhat resembles the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, when the MSCI Emerging Markets Index for developing-nation stocks slid as much as 59 percent.
3. What caused the Asia crisis?
It started when a real-estate bubble burst in Thailand, which undermined confidence in the economy, causing foreign investors to sell the currency and withdraw from the stock market. The crisis spread to the banks, and then across much of East Asia. Many of the afflicted economies had strong growth records that masked weaknesses like nonperforming bank loans, heavy foreign borrowing and rising trade deficits. Because their currencies were pegged to the dollar, South Korea and other nations were forced to spend billions trying to fend off speculators who were selling their currencies. They soon ran out of dollars and had to give up the peg and devalue their currencies. The contagion spread when foreign investors pulled back from other countries in the region seen as having similar problems. Several ended up seeking bailouts from the International Monetary Fund.
4. So is this another Asian-like crisis?
No, at least not yet.
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Whoever figured out how to short Italian bonds made bank yesterday.
10-year Treasury yield falls the most since Brexit vote as Italy fears spur haven demand
By William Watts
Published: May 29, 2018 4:27 p.m. ET
Italy bond yields soar on election prospects
Treasurys rallied Tuesday, pulling down yields, as political turmoil in Italy and Spain sent ripples through global financial markets, sparking demand for haven assets such as U.S. and German government paper.
Italian bonds sold off sharply, pushing up yields, on fears of a new general election that could effectively turn into a referendum on the euro, while Spanish bonds were also under pressure ahead of a confidence vote later this week on Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
What are Treasurys and other government bonds doing?
All eyes were on Italy, where the yield on the two-year Italian government bond (TMBMKIT-02Y, -29.71%) soared 189.4 basis points, or 1.894 percentage points, to 2.652%, marking its largest single-day climb since 1992. The yield on the 10-year bond, known as the BTP (TMBMKIT-10Y, -5.20%), jumped 51.8 basis points to 3.192%. Yields and bond prices move in opposite directions.
The yield on Spain’s 10-year bond (TMBMKES-10Y, -3.07%) rose 14.8 basis points to 1.669%.
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Whatever became of the PIIGS economies?
I recall that you could get laid with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in one of them a year or two ago.
crushing.housing.losses.
When will it ever end?
You can’t end it, but you can distance yourself from it.
” You can checkout any time you like, but you can never leave!” —Eagles
Probably look at the end of 2019 to get an idea of where things will be going IMO. We’ll see what the Fed really intends to do and/or what they’re concerned about will become more clear.
Realize that if there is a lot of speculative demand, and there is a flattening in prices, and a new paradigm among central bankers (”maybe we shouldn’t be allocating capital”), the market could angle down sharply.
OTOH, realize that a majority of people are loan/homeowners, and government loves its property taxes, and would mean extra-central-bank money injections and other non-central bank “price floor” measures.
The tidal forces are the world’s central banks IMO. There are other big forces though. Also realize however, that most or all of these other factors are running flat out - Freddie’s NINJA loans for example.
Plus side is, if you have cash, check out bankrate dot com for CD yields, and Treasury Direct for Treasury yields.
Just locked in at 3.25% for some 5-year CDs.