Investors Fleeced By Sharks With Armies Of Brokers
A report from El Pais on Spain. “Around 60 people who have been affected by an alleged scam in Mallorca, in which properties that didn’t exist were put on sale, say that they feel ‘unprotected’ under current Spanish law, and are calling for new regulations so that episodes like this one cannot happen again. The real estate company Mallorca Investment was offering off-plan properties in a number of areas on the Balearic island, at below-market prices. Clients handed over 10% of the sale price as a deposit. ‘We suspected that we were looking at a case of fraud,’ a victims’ statement reads, ‘after determining that construction had not begun, that a number of the plots of land were not theirs, and that any changes we wanted to the plans were possible and free. We met with a lawyer who confirmed what we already suspected: that this had the look of a pyramid scheme.’”
“The average amount that each person has lost is around €30,000, although there are more extreme cases, such as a foreign man who handed over more than €200,000 on the promise of a luxury apartment close to the sea. ‘We all trusted that, by making a bank transfer to a real estate company account, our money was protected; we thought that this kind of account was controlled by the banks and that it wasn’t so easy to take money out,’ the victims’ statement reads. ‘Although this man was moving it around as he pleased.’”
From AME Info on Dubai. “According to Matein Khalid in a report for the Khaleej Times, off-plan sales have grown significantly, accounting for 58% of total sales in Dubai in Q2 2018. This comes as a surprise as many homes and villas remain vacant in the prosperous Emirate. Off-plan purchasing in and of itself is a risky endeavor. It is easy to be scammed into buying properties from developments on the basis of vacant promises and beautifully-rendered 3D previsualizations.”
“Earlier this year in the UK, buyers wooed in by illustrious projects in Liverpool and Manchester, reportedly worth $463.5 million according to the Guardian, lost their investments when the projects stalled amidst accusations of fraud. James To Kun-sun, a member of Hong Kong’s legislative council, estimates more than 700 buyers have lost an average of $58,000 in Hong Kong alone, with many more across Asia and beyond.”
“According to Cavendish Maxwell’s report, this surge in off-plan purchases is one of the main reasons for the drop in rents. ‘Buyers continue to be spoilt for choice in the off-plan market thus forcing developers to offer special incentives such as aggressive payment plans, fee waivers and others to differentiate their projects,’ Cavendish Maxwell’s report explains.”
“Another cause has been the construction boom in the country, which has resulted in a surge in vacant homes, villas and apartments. According to Khaled’s report, off-plan purchases in Dubai have not been as rewarding as initially believed. ‘I have so many friends who waited three to four years for their luxury flat only to find out that prices were 30-40% lower, if their flat or villa could be sold at all,’ he said. ‘Rents are now falling faster than capital values, clear evidence metric of a glut in existing units, let alone development pipeline. An investor who cannot analyze the credit cycles can and will be fleeced by off-plan sharks with armies of commissioned brokers motivated by even 7% payouts.’”
The Times of Oman. “A number of people have cancelled their rent contracts in 2017, according to statistics issued by the Muscat Municipality. Al Khadouri from Al Sahwa Real Estate Company said, ‘In some apartments that we own, the rent has declined by 30 to 40 per cent; for example, rents that were OMR450 were cut down to OMR350, and then in 2018, we lowered the price again to OMR325,’ Al Khadouri added.”
“‘Rents in Muscat witnessed a 30 per cent decline,’ explained Al Ruqeishi, owner of Al Ruqeishi Properties.’We have 120 vacant apartments, and there are many residential and commercial units that have been lying empty in recent years because of the economic downturn,’ he said, adding, ‘I expect that the number of vacant units in Muscat alone exceed 100,000, including apartments, villas, and shops.’”
The Bangkok Post in Thailand. “The pace of condominium development has slowed dramatically in Pattaya over the past three years as developers wait for the supply built during more exuberant times to be absorbed. Although the average take-up rate in the Pattaya condominium market is 81% and sales have been improving lately, there are still at least 14,000 unsold units available.”
“Some market observers believe the real figure is higher, as some buyers have abandoned reserved units and are negotiating with developers to resell or return them. A lot of these units were speculative purchases made for investment during the boom years; when the market started to falter, many buyers started looking for ways to avoid losses.”
From ABC News in Australia. “Australia’s housing downturn is getting worse, with the more expensive end of the market in Melbourne and Sydney leading the declines. CoreLogic’s head of research Tim Lawless said there were a range of factors that had slowed the housing market. ‘The rise in inventory is simply due to a lack of absorption; with fewer buyers, homes are taking longer to sell.’”
“This trend continued over the weekend, with preliminary auction clearance rates in both Sydney and Melbourne below 60 per cent, pointing to a final clearance rate in the low-50s. The first reading on clearance rates was only just above 50 per cent in Perth and less than half of properties up for auction sold in Brisbane.”
“CoreLogic’s analysts are not expecting an improvement in the market for sellers during the peak spring sales period, even more so after Westpac become the first major bank to lift interest rates out-of-cycle for owner-occupiers. ‘The news that the first of the big four banks will lift variable mortgage rates in September is likely to send a chill through the housing market,’ Mr Lawless said. ‘With household debt at record highs, borrowers are likely to be sensitive to small movements in the cost of debt and this upwards shift in mortgage rates is a negative for housing market conditions.’”
“The rise in rates, tighter access to finance, a lack of investors and cautious buyers mean that property sellers need to lower their expectations, according to CoreLogic’s head of Australian research Cameron Kusher. ‘For sellers, they really need to be very realistic about the market … and set appropriate prices for the market, which means not prices that they would’ve set 12-18 months ago,’ he said. ‘For potential buyers, you don’t really need to be in a hurry in this market, there’s lots to choose from, there’s not as much competition out there in the market. Be aware that the cost of housing is falling, so if you hold off you might be able to get that property or a similar property at a lower price point a little bit further down the track.’”
‘Some market observers believe the real figure is higher, as some buyers have abandoned reserved units and are negotiating with developers to resell or return them. A lot of these units were speculative purchases made for investment during the boom years; when the market started to falter, many buyers started looking for ways to avoid losses’
This is why inventory is exploding in Seattle and California.
It just keeps getting worser in Australia. That’ll be you in short order California.
It’d be nice if the government only encouraged speculation in electronic constructs. The problem with leveraged speculation in physical assets is there are a whole host of noxious side effects that don’t exist with the electronic poker chip speculation.
“…only encouraged speculation in electronic constructs.”
Like Bitcoin?
…
It is well-established established that Bitcoin mining — aka, donating one’s computing power to keep a cryptocurrency network up and running in exchange for a chance to win some free crypto — uses a lot of electricity. Companies involved in large-scale mining operations know that this is a problem, and they’ve tried to employ various solutions for making the process more energy efficient.
But, according to testimony provided by Princeton computer scientist Arvind Narayanan to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, no matter what you do to make cryptocurrency mining harware greener, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the overall network’s flabbergasting energy consumption. Instead, Narayanan told the committee, the only thing that really determines how much energy Bitcoin uses is its price. “If the price of a cryptocurrency goes up, more energy will be used in mining it; if it goes down, less energy will be used,” he told the committee. “Little else matters. In particular, the increasing energy efficiency of mining hardware has essentially no impact on energy consumption.”
In his testimony, Narayanan estimates that Bitcoin mining now uses about five gigawatts of electricity per day (in May, estimates of Bitcoin power consumption were about half of that). He adds that when you’ve got a computer racing with all its might to earn a free Bitcoin, it’s going to be running hot as hell, which means you’re probably using even more electricity to keep the computer cool so it doesn’t die and/or burn down your entire mining center, which probably makes the overall cost associated with mining even higher.
https://theoutline.com/post/6047/bitcoin-mining-accounts-for-almost-one-percent-of-the-worlds-energy-consumption?zd=1&zi=g6tm2gxz
Wonder if/when MGSpiffy will hang up the “For Sale” sign.
Not for decades if at all.
We bought to live in and hopefully retire to, as well as buying at ~2.5x income (almost 2.0x at time of purchase).
The most likely reason for a sale would be something catastrophic such as one of us dying unexpectedly.
Remember those mining towns that have been getting hammered for years?
‘Perth house prices tumble again as banks mull interest rate hikes’
And once was a time when people would say here, “oh they’ll never raise rates!” Here they are practically jumping up and down on the necks of loan-owners.
“Here they are practically jumping up and down on the necks of loan-owners.”
I suppose I should go and invest in a trampoline but a trampoline won’t generate such interesting noises when I jump up and down on it.
You are a black-hearted scalawag, Mr. Banker.
Thank you.
For Mr. Banker
I myself didn’t believe they’d raise rates either, but was wrong. One thing that still doesn’t make sense is our gov better stop running deficits, else the interest on future debt will be astronomical. No sign of the gov spending slowdown. Will the Fed hold off after September hike?
These Australian banks are raising rates because of risk. They say that straight out. The central banks are raising rates so they can cut them when it hits the fan, IMO.
Rising inflation - a direct consequence of the central bankers’ debasement of the currency - might force the CB’s hand on rate hikes.
“These Australian banks are raising rates because of risk.”
Time to close the proverbial barn door?
‘People would say here, “oh they’ll never raise rates!”
I was one of those on occasion. Bernanke was clear enough: “No rate normalization in my lifetime.” I have to wonder if politics didn’t change the game plan - before Nov 2016 there was a plethora of articles touting the wonders of negative rates. Then the negative rate propaganda disappeared overnight.
Not that central banks have any qualms about crushing the borrowers; they didn’t have any about crushing savers for years. But you’ve documented both Australian and Canadian govts are aggressively trying to pop their housing bubbles; my question is to what purpose? Any insights? If they cared about the health of the (not already bad) banks, or the solvency of their citizens, or social unrest, they wouldn’t have blown the bubble in the first place, then gone to extreme lengths to prop it up way past its natural life. Is it simply that the runways have been sufficiently foamed, so their work is done?
I don’t think they meant to blow a bubble of this proportion. They screwed up from their own hubris. Thought they could control it.
Housing prices in San Fran is so ridiculous, now everyone knows what is really going on. Their credibility is on the line big time.
Clients handed over 10% of the sale price as a deposit. ‘We suspected that we were looking at a case of fraud,’ a victims’ statement reads, ‘after determining that construction had not begun, that a number of the plots of land were not theirs, and that any changes we wanted to the plans were possible and free.
Sounds like failure to perform even the most elementary due diligence, despite the REIC’s well-known proclivity for fraud and misrepresentation. As always, fools and their money are soon parted.
We all trusted that, by making a bank transfer to a real estate company account, our money was protected; we thought that this kind of account was controlled by the banks and that it wasn’t so easy to take money out,’ the victims’ statement reads.
Man, these sharpies must’ve loved seeing you muppets shamble through the door like lambs to the slaughter. How do people as gullible as you end up with a down payment in the first place? Were you completely unaware, despite near-daily accounts of the schemes and scams carried out by the sociopaths in the REIC and banking industries, that these are people whose entire business model is based on screwing over their “clients”?
‘The average amount that each person has lost is around €30,000, although there are more extreme cases, such as a foreign man who handed over more than €200,000 on the promise of a luxury apartment close to the sea’
Oh, you want one by the water? That’ll be an extra 170k.
And if you want a bridge to reach the mainland, we’re running a special on those for one week only.”
30,000 pounds is about $38,500. You couldn’t buy Amazon or Apple stock last year with that? It’s amazing reading these FB stories and seeing thousands thrown around like it’s nothing. But THEY are the victims!
“It’s amazing reading these FB stories and seeing thousands thrown around like it’s nothing.”
It’s easy, as easy as signing a dotted line.
You’re talking to a guy who won’t spend $95 for the Marriott Rewards CC because I have a problem spending $95 to obtain a CC. But close to $40 Gs for this guy to drop a deposit on a shack in a foreign country? Nah, not a problem. Some days you look in the mirror and say “Is it me that has the problem?”
“You’re talking to a guy who won’t spend $95 for the Marriott Rewards CC because I have a problem spending $95 to obtain a CC. ”
You need to get with it or you will suffer the same fate as the lemming who got left behind.
You need to get with it or you will suffer the same fate as the lemming who got left behind.
A lonely life with all the natural resources he could want?
“30,000 pounds is about $38,500. You couldn’t buy Amazon or Apple stock last year with that? It’s amazing reading these FB stories and seeing thousands thrown around like it’s nothing.”
Exactly. And even worse, once you plunk down that massive chunk of cash, you have much more to pay, including interest. Then there’s maintenance, repair, taxes, landlording and more. I cannot wrap my mind around speculative real estate “investment.” I would never dream of doing something so stupid.
James To Kun-sun, a member of Hong Kong’s legislative council, estimates more than 700 buyers have lost an average of $58,000 in Hong Kong alone, with many more across Asia and beyond.”
Ever-vigilant regulators and enforcers in the UK and Hong Kong will get right on that.
“Some market observers believe the real figure is higher, as some buyers have abandoned reserved units and are negotiating with developers to resell or return them. A lot of these units were speculative purchases made for investment during the boom years; when the market started to falter, many buyers started looking for ways to avoid losses.”
And now the chickens are coming home to roost. I love it.
Leverage works on the way down too…
Leverage works especially well on the way down.
“Australia’s housing downturn is getting worse, with the more expensive end of the market in Melbourne and Sydney leading the declines.
B…b…but ABC previously cited an REIC “expert” who assured us this was just a small “summer pullback.” Only now it’s September, and the declines are accelerating?
Oh dear…I’m beginning to suspect the REIC “experts” are dissembling about how bad things are going to get.
ABC called recent declines a “summer pullback”? It’s winter right now down there.
Littleton, CO Housing Prices Crater 14% YOY As Denver Area Homeowners Realize They Got Fleeced By Defective Appraisals
Littleton, CO Housing Prices Crater 13% YOY As Denver Area Housing Market Collapses
https://www.movoto.com/littleton-co/market-trends/
Exposing the progressive/liberal lie that illegals don’t steal American jobs…
+++++
Load Trail hiring after ICE raids, detains 160 employees
KXII-TV | August 30, 2018 | Kristen Weaver
SUMNER, Tex. (KXII) - Days after a Lamar County trailer business was raided by immigration agents, the company said they’re moving forward and hiring new people.
Connell said the armed ICE agents told them to drop their tools, get into a room and show documentation.
160 people were bused away to detention centers in Oklahoma and North Texas.
The company had to pay a fine four years ago for hiring 179 people in the county illegally.
“Most folks detained are skilled laborers making up to $40 an hour–That’s above market pay.”
Besen tells us they could not comment on whether Load Trail knowingly hired undocumented immigrants.
Load Trail hiring after ICE raids, detains 160 employees
Exposing the progressive/liberal lie that illegals don’t steal American jobs…SUMNER, Tex. (KXII) - Days after a Lamar County trailer business ?
78% in that county voted for Trump. Hypocrisy. Just like you 2 Fruit.
The angry troll is back.
My good friends never leave here. They don’t have the fortitude to leave.
Albany, OR Housing Prices Crater 13% YOY As Banks Choke On West Coast Foreclosures
https://www.movoto.com/albany-or/market-trends/
Albany is one of the worst places to live. People who can’t afford to live in Corvallis live there. Big trucks, coffee shacks and traffic.
EEEEEEEEbola!!!!
Kirkland, WA Housing Prices Crater 18% YOY As Banks Stagger On Failing Seattle Area Mortgages
https://www.movoto.com/kirkland-wa/market-trends/
I open most of your links because I’m curious and the last few have been very interesting. Kirkland, Littleton, and Bellevue all show large price median listing drops but not on a square foot basis. If you break it out by SFH, it’s even more pronounced: 23% drop for Kirkland even though condo prices went up.
What this tells me is we’ve hit the top for affordability has been found. The houses that are selling are smaller and thus lower prices. Larger, more expensive houses are sitting. Hopefully this moves down into the lower price bands to put some pressure on rents because they’ve been soaring along with the house prices.
Again.$/sq ft valuation is a poor performer as it excludes all items in the transaction except for the structure and the area of dirt directly under it.
Santa Monica, CA Housing Prices Crater 24% YOY As 2010-2016 Subprime Mortgages Fail
https://www.movoto.com/santa-monica-ca/market-trends/
Jeebus (as Ben says), the median price in Santa Monica last year was $2,500,000 for a 1,700 SF house. You would need an income of over $600,000/year to afford that price.
Incorrect. Santa Monica prices fell 24% or $1,949,500.
Eeeeeebola!
Atlantis FL Housing Prices Crater 19% YOY As Mortgage Fraud Runs Rampant
https://www.movoto.com/atlantis-fl/market-trends/
Trump Derangement Syndrome: An American Epidemic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD0CYKK_mMo
And he’s loaded w tan n fan etfs= bitter
Paris Junior College should send some grads their way.
da bear
And those voters want the illegals gone! How is that hypocrisy?
The Dems want the illegals because ultimately that leads to more votes for them.
The Reps want the illegals because it’s cheap labor for their businesses.
Thus, nothing is ever actually done to close the border and root out the illegals who are here.
These 160 illegals are just a drop in the bucket. We should be seeing multiple similar raids every day.
https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2017-Dec/BP%20Total%20Monthly%20Apps%20by%20Sector%20and%20Area%2C%20FY2000-FY2017.pdf
FY 2000: Over 1.6 million illegals apprehended on the SW border.
FY 2017: Barely over 300K illegals apprehended on the SW border.
Some interesting numbers. Are apprehensions down dramatically because lots of people are evading interception (despite the hype about enforcing border security)? Or because far fewer people are even attempting to cross illegally?
Love it. How about the massive fines, though? I never hear about those.
I can remember when $525 a month was mucho pesos…
Oh wait - it still is!
++++
Average New Car Payment Hits Record High $525 Per Month
ZeroHedge - 09/03/2018
According to Experian’s latest State of the Automotive Finance Market report, Americans are paying an all time high monthly payment for both a new and a used car and assuming a larger amount of debt to make it happen as affordability continues to decline. Americans now hold $1.149 trillion of outstanding auto loan debt (a record) up from $1.027 trillion two years ago….
Meanwhile, the average new-vehicle monthly loan payment hit a record $525 in the second quarter, up $20 from a year ago…
… while the average monthly payment for a used vehicle also hit a record $378 per month.
Also not surprising is that consumers are staying with a “strategy” of taking out long-term loans, to try and offset higher sticker prices, higher interest rates and higher loan amounts. The flipside is that longer terms mean consumers pay more interest over the life of a loan. The average term in the second quarter was just under 69 months, unchanged from a year ago and tied for an all time high. Experian said, “72 months remains the most common loan term for both new and used loans.”
This stuff is just nutty. New and used car prices are insane.
Hey, what should one expect from a nation populated by millions of totally - TOTALLY! - dumbed-down ignorant pukes?
“Average New Car Payment Hits Record High $525 Per Month”
Does that include full-coverage insurance?
LOL of course it doesn’t, don’t be silly.
Interesting story about the financial history of the Knights Templar: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-38499883
“When you owe the bank a hundred dollars, the bank owns you. When you owe the bank a hundred million dollars, you own the bank. When you owe the bank a hundred million dollars and you’re a ruthless dictator with an army, you not only own the bank, you can have the bankers burned at the stake in the public square.”
See, Mr. Banker!? Don’t get too smug!
Canada and the USA have both enjoyed fruits of the auto trade part of Nafta, and the USA has a positive balance of payments of about 30 B.
Some parts of Nafta are slanted and can be updated as any old document generally needs.
But for the President to threaten a 25% tariff on autos !
We sell heavy oil to the USA at a 40% discount because they are the only buyers and we are not complaining. We are the largest exporter of oil in the world to the US market.
To stop us from building pipelines to other markets your rich folk pay environmentalists to protest their construction.
Fairness ?
You really blaming others for not being able to build a few pipelines to ship your oil to asia?
Stop electing girly men socialists to high political offices.
An environmentalist used to be someone that already owns a house. Now it’s a house w piped in ngas.
“To stop us from building pipelines to other markets”
Gotta agree with banana here. Who is stopping you from building a pipeline to the coast of BC and shipping your oil to other markets, by yourselves?
oxide and banana
yes i agree that we should be strong enough to overcome these outside influences
whenever anyone collectively hurts they rise together to do something about it.
Posting this for the Realtor trolls and other koolaid drinkers:
“Since 2007, the total amount of student loan debt in America has nearly tripled.
The student loan debt bubble has now grown to 1.4 trillion dollars.
30 percent of all student loans in the United States are either in “deferment” or “forbearance”. The most common reason a loan is placed into one of those categories is because the borrower cannot pay.
It is being projected that a whopping 40 percent all student loan borrowers will default on their loans by 2023.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-03/11-rage-inducing-facts-about-americas-wildly-out-control-student-loan-debt-bubble
No “pent-up demand” for $500,000 starter homes happening here.
Not really “default”
Student debt cannot be wiped away in bankruptcy.
These debts will follow these “students” all through their adult life and even into retirement (with their meager social security being fair game).
It is insidious. It is evil.
Bankers, politicians and college presidents should swing from lampposts.
I don’t have student loans, but I guarantee student loans will be forgiven, or defaulted on after this generation, and those following behind them get into office, and are the major voting power in the nation. It simply cannot be paid back.
“It simply cannot be paid back.”
Nonsense. Pukes just need to work harder. And longer. And they need to cut their spending.
See? Nuthin’ to it.
In 2016 I asked some Bernout on Facebook if that meant I’d be getting a refund check for the thousands of dollars of student loans that I paid off.
He didn’t have an answer to that
I have said many times before treat the degree as an asset if you cant pay it back, the repo the degree. That effectively eliminates you from applying for jobs that require you to have a 4 or 6 year degree to even get an interview.
You may still have the knowledge but you wont be able to sue for discrimination if you dont have a valid degree. Also colleges will be forbidden to give out transcripts since you never got a valid degree.
I dont think a lot will do it because its really for those who throw in the towel, i will never get the job i went to school for. So let start over and work for trader joe’s debt free
“Bankers, politicians and college presidents should swing from lampposts.”
2banana for president!
I know a guy who is a prof at MIT.
He seems to be at the office about 10 or so days a year. Last time I checked, he only had two students assigned to him.
“Publish or perish” they say. But he’s not in the office or the lab. I guess he just gets the students to do all the work, then puts his name on the paper.
Every time I turn around, he seems to be in a different part of the country. Colorado, Montana, Hawaii, somewhere. Staying in a hotel for two weeks or 30 days at a time, and hiking every day.
So if you’re going into hopeless debt for a degree…perhaps this is what you’re actually paying for.
Other than colleges/unis in Power 5 Conferences excepting the top Ivy League schools and some institutions like CalTech and MIT, I am not too sure how many colleges will actually be in BUSINESS in 5 years.
Directional Buggy Whip State is in TROUBLE.
da bear
I know a couple people who went to Gettysburg College for undergrad.
$67K+/year. And the list of majors is a hoot.
WTF. Anybody here actually *been* to Gettysburg? It’s a podunk town with an artsy-fartsy tourist district full of obese semi-locals road-tripping to the battlefield. Go 5 miles from The Circle and it’s wall-to-wall apple orchards.
For reference, George Washington U and Georgetown U clock in around $70K. At least those schools are household names. Big city, big connections, great for international diplomacy/business (jobs that make real money). Who is paying $67K to major in Africana Studies in the middle of apple country?
No wonder the gen z and millennIal will suffer socialism to get their loans paid
For FBs in Melbourne and Sydney who bought at the peak of the bubble, the realization is sinking in that they are well and truly schlonged.
https://wolfstreet.com/2018/09/03/house-price-condo-bubble-sydney-melbourne-australia-new-construction-supply/
Are cryptocurrencies real? What are you buying or selling if you trade them? What if they don’t trade?
Venezuela is pegging its economic recovery to a cryptocurrency that’s widely considered a scam
- President Nicolas Maduro announces a new currency going into effect Monday to stop its out-of-control inflation, and it’s backed by a cryptocurrency that its own parliament says is illegal.
- Maduro unveiled the oil-backed “petro” cryptocurrency in February to secure cash in an economic meltdown and evade financial sanctions imposed by Washington. But that currency does not trade, and industry sites have labeled it “scam status.”
- “This is a smoke-and-mirrors operation typical of Venezuela — I’ll believe it when I see it,” says Steve Hanke, professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University.
Kate Rooney
Published 11:34 AM ET Mon, 20 Aug 2018 Updated 3:42 PM ET Mon, 20 Aug 2018
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/20/venezuela-is-pegging-its-economic-recovery-to-a-cryptocurrency–thats-widely-considered-a-scam.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cryptocurrency-venezuela-specialrepor/special-report-in-venezuela-new-cryptocurrency-is-nowhere-to-be-found-idUSKCN1LF15U
“It turns out that Venezuela’s petro is hard to spot almost anywhere. Over a period of four months, Reuters spoke with a dozen experts on cryptocurrencies and oil-field valuation, traveled to the site of the pledged oil reserves and scoured the coin’s digital transaction records in an effort to learn more.
The hunt turned up little evidence of a thriving petro trade. The coin is not sold on any major cryptocurrency exchange. No shops are known to accept it. “
Perhaps this is the crypto equivalent of our idea to just mint a trillion dollar (or two or three) and just store them at Fort Knox.
Our rigged, also-driven Ponzi markets are showing a curious shade of green this morning. It looks like red, but that would be un-possible.
It seems safe to assume that stock prices will keep rising, despite some gathering “storm clouds” over the global technology sector, because that’s what stock prices do.
Business
Dark Clouds Gather as Tech Stockpiles Hit Pre-Crisis Levels
Weaker turnover, rising inventories. Something’s gotta give.
By Tim Culpan
August 27, 2018, 6:59 PM PDT
A correction may be coming. Photographer: George Frey/Getty Images North America
Tim Culpan is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology. He previously covered technology for Bloomberg News.
Storm clouds are brewing over the global technology industry.
A host of hardware companies, including Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Foxconn Technology Group and Intel Corp., are sitting on inventory stockpiles not seen since the financial crisis a decade ago.
And it comes amid a possible U.S.-China trade war, likely monetary tightening by the Fed, more expensive growth in China’s consumer economy, and a long-standing sense that we’re in a tech bubble.
…
This is how much money you need to make to afford rent in every state
By Sue Chang
Published: Aug 24, 2018 12:48 p.m. ET
In Washington D.C., a person must make an average of $8,487 a month to afford rent
HowMuch.net
The rule of thumb on how much a person should budget for rent is 25% to 30% of monthly income. But due to inflation in property values and surging demand, affordable housing is increasingly becoming a pipe dream in some states.
Among the most expensive rental markets is the nation’s capital, where a person must make an average of $8,487 a month to rent, according to cost estimating site HowMuch.net.
…
I assume the average/median rental prices they are going by are for SFH’s. I my rent is well below the Nevada rent number they give. But I’m in a one-bedroom apartment (albeit in a gated/guarded community and with an attached garage).
Any thoughts on how China’s government debt as a share of GDP has risen from 30% to nearly 70% in the period since 2002? (Source: Front page of today’s Wall Street Journal)
It doesn’t seem like the uptrend can continue indefinitely. I’m wondering at what point further increases in this ratio will stop, and what the implications will be for the global economy.