Bits Bucket And Craigslist Finds For September 29, 2007
Please post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
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While we were safely sleeping in our beds, an online bank…
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2007/09/28/netbanktips_0929.html
It’s happening faster than I expected. Batten down the hatches!
Best,
Leigh
One failed bank does not a banking crisis make.
It does for the bank that failed.
Fair enough — kind of like the difference between a recession and a depression.
recession = U.S. unemployment went up
depression = I lost my job
When you see one cockroach, rest assured, there’s battalions more on the way.
For every rat you see, there’s a hundred hiding.
Except at Taco Bell, where they prefer to promenade for the benefit of the customers.
I have posted here before that the Taco Bell in the City that was closed due to rats was frequented by yours truly and my wife. It was on 6th Ave. and 3rd Street in The Village. It is still empty and I believe the rats are feeling lonely.
Just what sort of meat is in those 2 for 99 Cents tacos, anyway?
and remember the black swan parallel: if you see one, you might see more of them soon - even if you have seen only white ones until now.
The past few years there were no bank failures, during the mid 90s there were a few ever year.
NetBank is the biggest bank to go under since 1992. Take a look at the painfully long 1992 bank failure tally on the FDIC’s site (180 bank failures). These were caused by the recession and bad real estate loans rotting on their books. It will be worse this time around.
http://tinyurl.com/2mazlo
102 US during the glorious years of St. Clinton, between 1993 and 2001.
Since then 26 banks have failed.
Banks fail every now and then. It happens. Life goes on.
Yikes that made no sense. What it should say is 102 banks failed during 1993 and 2001 during the glorious years of St. Clinton.
This one failed due to exposure to SW Florida and Subprime lending. A lot of subprime paper from the ABCP market is making its way back onto banks’ balance sheets. It might be nothing but it could also be the canary in the coal mine for directly supervised banks. This thing could go countrywide. In fact, if it were not for the ECB, we would probably be seeing more mainline bank failures.
It sort of has gone nationwide, because this is exactly what happened to the credit unions in Colorado and Michigan that went under. So far though it’s all small outfits.
The PTB will not let us know until they let us know. That’s privileged information. Meanwhile, they’ll save as many as they possibly can. It’s probably cheaper in the short run.
BTW, how are you posting? It’s the weekend.
The honest answer is….the only reason I come to work on Saturday anymore is to read and post on the HBB. In part so I don’t have so much catching up to do on Monday morning. Might come in for a bit tomorrow too.
I learn something here every day, literally.
“This thing could go countrywide.”
Or did you mean ‘Countrywide?’
Second bank failure this year. Metropolitan Savings out of Pittsburgh closed by state regulators in February. This is the first federally chartered bank to fail in years.
We’ve really never talked much about the exposure the rank and file
bank has to this housing debacle…
Are they all in deep doodoo, or somewhat insulated from the carnage?
The problem is with interest rates, the cost of funds. Banks borrow low and lend high. Lately and suddenly, with the problems in the ABCP market, some mainline banks are being forced to borrow higher, as reflected in LIBOR, than they have been lending over the past several months and years. As a result, some are experiencing negative margins. A situation that can’t last foreover. This is the reason BB scrambled to push the short end lower at the expense of the long, gave us a stealth cut in mid-August, and other central banks are anticipated to do the same.
IOWs, the Northern Rock / Countrywide model of borrowing short via the ABCP, without an adequate depositor base, is getting crushed. Unless a bank can secure funding at a rate lower than it has loaned, it is f@cked. This happened to the S&Ls. What’s more and as most people are aware, defaults at Rock like institutions are rising and expected to rise even more. As a result, the cost for them to borrow is naturally increasing.
This ‘is’ a financial crisis. Rest assured, however, the PTB know one when they see it. As the article above indicates, spread your deposits around, keep them below 100K and you should be fine. If your deposits are being held in a thinly capitalized Rock like institutions, you would be wise to move them.
Nation City said I think 27% of their loans were subprime and they have millions they have to write off. PNC CEO was on TV and said they didn’t do many mortgages and their accounts are about 70% deposits and 30% loans, so I think they’ll be OK. Haven’t heard about any others.
In the meantime, NYB is not depressed…
http://finance.yahoo.com/charts#chart1:symbol=nyb;range=3m;charttype=line;crosshair=on;logscale=on;source=undefined
At the time the article below was written, it was at $18. It finished Friday last week at above $19. Finally near a 3 year high after a 2 year trading range of around $17 or so.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070911/ny_community_banc_subprime.html?.v=1
I called to pick the brains of a couple of higher end pawnbrokers (think Patek Philippe, not Snap-on tools) I know, in the city of angles…
Typically, they loan around 50% of true wholesale value, on small items of significant value, as in the pawn business you really want as much lent out as possible, as here in California you can charge around 25% interest, plus lots of penny ante fees, that can ratchet it up to around 30%.
One friend said he was going down to around 35% of value, as he’s afraid because too many well heeled folks are hocking this, that and whatever, treading water, trying to keep up.
Redemption rates (people paying back their loans & getting their stuff out of hock) are plummeting as well.
Typically in the past, 90% of loans were redeemed…
One friend said it was around 70%, another said around 60% now.
WOW! I could never figure out how pawn shops continued to thrive…we were very poor, but much loved family. As the steel mills began to fail in Pittsburgh, many resorted to pawn shops. Although young, I observed by osmosis that those that pawned did not redeem. (I guess that’s why I didn’t understand how a pawn shop could stay in business).
Bringing back old memories aladinsane.
Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people
They all drinkin’, thinkin’ they’ve got it made
Exchanging all kinds of precious gifts and things
But you’d better take your diamond ring, you’d better pawn it babe
Another sign of hard times in the building industry is the increase in construction tools; miter-saws, compressors, nail guns, etc. Stopped in a pawn shop yesterday and there were ten miter saws where a year ago there would be maybe one or two.
As much as i dislike dealing with bulky inventory and/or the public, it makes me want to open a pawn shop.. a couple.. no.. a chain of them.
I wonder if this is another recession-proof industry, along with distilled beverages.
It is and it isn’t…
As long as there is a market for consumer goods, it’s a viable business.
But after you’ve loaned on the 10th miter saw, and nobody wants them, what do you do with ‘em’?
You pawn them off at another pawn shop?
need staying power.. enough warehouse space to store all the chop saws till the next housing bubble?
Maybe these pawn shop guys know bigger fences who will buy the stuff in bulk?
I know nothing about the business and would never actually try it alone.
I know a few people who own pawn shops in the Detroit area. One guy who has been in business for decades and is right in the city does extremely well. He is one of the richest men in the city, and this includes executives of the auto companies. Pawn shops are very busy and you make your money on the buy side. You offer very low prices on goods with high liquidity(jewelry, high end watches, tools, electronics) and hope people don’t come back to redeem the stuff. Then you can wholesale the goods and make a nice profit. The percentage you charge on loaning money is just gravy.
As a business, it’s really about loaning as much money out as smartly as possible…
Of course there are items you lie in wait, for the loan to expire and buy for the cost of the loan, but mostly people come back to get their stuff and pay off the loan.
And once somebody’s hocked something, they’ll be back over and over again, trust me~
You all forget EBAY…………lots of pawnshops just look…..
most of the start bidding at or just below what is owed on them, but lots of pawshops make their profit on shipping…not much but a few dollars on each item times thousands….
http://tinyurl.com/yrlsh3
Fragile markets risk relapse
I read this twice, and will need to read it again once the caffeine is absorbed by brain.
How many trips to The Betty Ford, errr I mean The Ben Bernanke Clinic, will the markets need to right themselves? Of course at the Bernanke Clinic he tries to cure the heroin addiction by giving the addicts more heroin.
Fed rate cut will make no difference at all. We are stuck with a fragile, weak credit market and no way to cure it.
BTW, in all fairness to BB, he is not the Fed. BB is a part of the Fed. He has built a consensus on this rate cut, but did not dictate the rate cut.
The scary part: the 1929 Crash was the announcement of the Great Depression, but it did not cause it. The GD started as a business-led recession that was made worse by a credit squeeze. Many believe that the Fed bungled the whole mess by raising short term interest rates along with trade-choking tariffs imposed by Congress. The 1930’s gave rise to the 1940’s. Madness.
I’m not fan of BB, but I do believe that he is trying to avert a mega-disaster. BB does understand the underlying reasons for the GD. I truly believe that. Yes, he is helicopter Ben. Still, BB is trying to wipe up the poop from Easy Al’s “looseness”.
I’m coming to the realization that we are headed for a real nightmare if we aren’t really careful. What bothers me is the reluctance to allow a “cleaning process” to take hold and do good. I know BB, Easy Al, Cramer, Kudlow, Bush, etc., really don’t understand this. Japan is a good example. They were in a funk for 15 years because they refused to clean house.
It’s frustrating. We have a new problem in uncharted territory and no one really understands all of it. Smells like disaster to me.
Roidy
Make sure your financial fallout shelter is fully stocked, my friends…
travel out of a suitcase, save $ for the stormy day. And wow! Look at how gold has been behaving! The carefree lifestyle is what I envied back in 1990 to 1996 when I was a homemoaner (more home than I could afford in a declining price market). Now I’m living that lifestyle.
That was a nice post, Roidy. I agree with your conclusions. I think we are really funked this time around.
I would like to hear one statement that starts with, “quit taking on so much debt”.
Then Hoover created a trade war and the fun really began.
Bushco will be sure to do whatever they must to keep the looming disaster in check until he’s out of office. They don’t get blamed and they more than likely throw a democrat under the bus! It’s a win/win! Vote Republican! Make them clean up their own mess!
They raised interest rates in the 1930’s because so many people were turning in dollars for Gold risking the Governments gold hoard.
The real problem we are facing is we screwed the international investors. We had bogus rating agencies, horrible lending standards, no oversight, and consequently they got burned.
It really just reinforces the belief among many in the world that we are just corrupt assholes. Don’t expect them to come back anytime soon.
Our markets are frozen because a lot of participants don’t trust us anymore. Just like they don’t trust us on foreign policy now.
We are really screwing ourselves.
Financial $uicide
“Our markets are frozen because a lot of participants don’t trust us anymore. Just like they don’t trust us on foreign policy now.”
This brings me back to the point I have been frequently making as of late: You cannot fix a fundamental lack of trust with the band aide financial engineering solution of liquidity dropped from helicopters. I wonder if the Fed actually realize this, in contrast to appearances?
Well put, and yes I do think they know this. It just doesn’t appear like they know what to do about it.
This financial engineering crap is too smart by half. They do it without looking closely at the initial results, but let it go on and on. It seems that the Fed, markets, etc., listened to the very people who had a stake in the continued application of these products: CDO, SIV, etc. It was a conflict of interest at the very least. I keep hearing something about not wanting to “stymie creative financial work and the free market”. So, you then get dangerous, unpredictable results. This is true of any engineered product that is not fully tested before it’s fielded.
I wish I could say that these financial types need to take some science and engineering courses. I can’t say that because of all the physicists that were involved in LTCM.
Roidy
More good news…the credit agencies need to clean up their act…
http://tinyurl.com/yq7erm
Years too late.
You got that right, Ben. The horse is already at the knacker’s and they are now getting around to checking out the barn door. The Wall Street chameleons will find away around any attempts to limit their devious ways. I would put money on that.
The book “Liar’s poker” outlines what went on in the investment banks in the 1980s. This is a must read since the origins of MBS and the two-timing rating agencies / investment banks started in those days.
Where were these jackasses in 2002? Countless loudmouthed pundits bemoan that we’re in trouble and they friggen knew it YEARS ago and said NOTHING.
I knew I wasn’t imagining this whole credit/debt economy but it sure seemed like I was alone when I stood back and watched people that I KNEW didn’t have the means buy all sorts of big ticket items. Some will say it was envy/jealousy but I can tell you that in many instances, I can write a check for that stuff….. even a damn house.
It sure seemed like I was alone when I stood back and watched people that I KNEW didn’t have the means buy all sorts of big ticket items…
Exeter, I hear you. I used to make calculations of what some of my friends should be making in order to afford the house/truck/vacation. I came up with astronomical figures that made little sense to me (OMG, he/she must be making at least 500, the lucky bastard). When I got to Ben’s blog I began to think they made less than I had imagined, but I still could not believe it. Fast forward a year and one of my friends could barely pay the prepayment penalties in order to refinance, the other is slowly beginnning to let on that his debts are weighing on him. A couple of others are still drinking the kool aid, but now I know all I have to do is wait.
We should just start over. These agencies cannot be trusted.
Hey! It’s official…Richard Syron, CEO of Freddy Mac says the “R” word!
http://tinyurl.com/2wzf3r
Syron apparently is invoking the recession hobgoblin in a desperation attempt to goad Congress and other high economic muckety mucks into relaxing GSE portfolio restrictions and raising the $417,000 conforming loan limit. Sadly for would-be sellers of $500K+ white elephants, it appears no such deal is in the political cards, at least until Madam President steps into the Oval Office come January 2009 (shudder!). By that time, I expect many of the white elephants will have already been auctioned to the highest bidder.
Fannie to the Rescue?
September 29, 2007; Page A8
Fannie and Freddie went up the Hill to fetch a pail of money last week. We can’t say they broke their crown, but it also seems no one is about to write them a blank check to profit from the current turmoil in the housing and mortgage markets. At least not until after the 2008 election.
…
We like profits. But Fannie’s and Freddie’s are of a very particular kind — involving private profit but socialized risk. Their quasi-governmental nature (and the implicit promise of a taxpayer bailout) allows the companies to borrow at rates unavailable to even their best private competitors. And the current market gyrations present a unique opportunity to leverage that borrowing advantage.
…
As “government sponsored enterprises,” or GSEs, Fannie and Freddie are supposed to assist low-income housing. But they want to move up the income chain because that’s where the money is. It’s less clear why Democrats in Congress should help them do so. This would do little or nothing to help the subprime market or the most distressed borrowers. But then again, doing favors for Fannie and Freddie is a favorite pastime on Capitol Hill — in return for campaign cash.
…
Remarkably, Mr. Paulson, Mr. Bernanke and House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank spoke with one voice last week: Any legislation that loosens restrictions on Fannie and Freddie should also strengthen regulators’ ability to control the companies. Our guess is that Fan and Fred won’t take that deal, holding out for Hillary Clinton’s election and a return to party time in 2009.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119103117703243498.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
The republicans gave us this mess and this conservative newspaper thinks that the democrats will renew it. Not likely - what they are really afraid of is the needed regulations on all parts of the mortgage lending business. They really fear that the reason for all these bad loans will be traced back to the CDO market that made Wall Street folk rich.
Republicans and Democrats are two hairy ass cheeks around the same stinking bunghole: predatory capitalism. Both parties are on the make and on the take, with not a dime’s worth of real difference between them.
RON PAUL IN 2008!
I agree except for one thing. One party wants to take more of my money the other doesn’t. I will stick with the one that wants less of my money.
Ya gotta admit that at least during the years of “St. Clinton”, we had a government surplus and the opportunity to pay down the national debt. Now we have both higher spending and less govt revenues due to lower taxes, thus a huge deficit. Both parties are at fault here.
Just remember cg those budgets were passed by a Republican Congress. Both parties should get credit there, just as both parties are to blame now in their own ways.
BP,
And which party would that be? It look’s like to me both parties are tied in wanting to take our money.
CG,
Keep in mind those budgets were passed by a Republican Congress. Both parties deserve credit for that, just like they share blame in their own ways now.
“I agree except for one thing. One party wants to take more of my money the other doesn’t. I will stick with the one that wants less of my money.”
Sort of. The party that wants less of your money now is taking out loans in your name…eventually they will be back for that money, plus interest.
Cutting taxes is only meaningful if spending is also cut.
To add to Amazing Russ’s comment
The party you are implying that wants to take more of your money is at least upfront about it and wants to spend at least some of that money on programs for the public good. Unfortunately the party that you identify as wanting to take less of your money just refinanced your life, pocketed the proceeds, cut taxes on themselves so they won’t be repaying the loan and stuck you with the bill.
All the crowing about tax cuts by the R’s over the last 20 yrs has been BS There is no tax cut if the government is deficit spending to finance it…. It’s a loan and all we get stuck with is the payment.
“I agree except for one thing. One party wants to take more of my money the other doesn’t. I will stick with the one that wants less of my money.”
No, they are spending even more money and sticking our children and grandchildren with the bill.
The point everyone is missing here and that I told my family about years ago is that when Bush put in the tax cuts, he also cut federal aid to individual states. When they were cut, they raised the local taxes. No one got a tax cut, you’re just paying more in local and state and less in federal. Win win for Bush, because he gets credit for the tax cuts and the state and local govs get the sh*t for raising theirs.
we had a government surplus
This piece of propaganda will never die, will it?
Cash receipts temporarily exceeded cash expenditures, but government debt continued to climb throughout.
“…this conservative newspaper thinks that the democrats will renew it.”
They are just reporting the facts, pal. Other than Democratic Senators Dodd, Schumer and Frank, what other MOCs can you name who were recently quoted in the MSM as favoring a relaxation of GSE conforming loan limits?
At least there is this (courtesy of Prudent Bear):
http://tinyurl.com/26vxqw
“The Federal Housing Administration will prohibit borrowers from using seller-financed down payment assistance programs…”
At least it’s a start. Hopefully many more loopholes are closed that had been jacking up the “apparent” value of housing.
Believe me, buyers who use this end around around the law know exactly what’s going on. As with toxic mortgages, all they cared about was getting in the house.
“Make it so” from Star Trek was their battle cry re: getting to closing.
“The Federal Housing Administration will prohibit borrowers from using seller-financed down payment assistance programs…”
I was standing in line at the bank this morning and they had CNN on, some “advocate” was talking up exactly this type of scheme. Kalfani-Cox was her name I think. She was talking up how it was free money. Nothing at all about how the seller paid it as an end around to seller paying the down payment.
Nehemiah and AmeriDream are major players and major scams. They got a lot of innumerate, low-wage earners into homes they could not afford to keep; they raised prices since sellers had to hand the downpayment cash to the middlemen, and even the IRS labeled them scams in 2004.
They should have been shut down years ago. The default rate is very high.
More on regulation need.
Most mortgage lenders are not licensed and their books are not even checked by auditors. In the Seattle area one big area lender was shut down for bad loans on a friday afternoon. Monday morning they opened up shop across the street with a new name. Business as usual as they were one lender who realtors knew could get their client a loan when over avenues were closed.
All mortgage lenders need to be licensed and audited. If they write one bad or fradulent loan their license should be revoked and they should be out of the business. If that policy had been in place guess what - NO HOUSING BUBBLE!
“But then again, doing favors for Fannie and Freddie is a favorite pastime on Capitol Hill — in return for campaign cash.”
Other than the kickback scheme, er I mean, campaign contribution motive, is there any reason for Congressmen to back the GSE expansion bailout measures?
Syron’s optimistic remark about Congressional relief is at loggerheads with the WSJ Op-Ed piece this morning on GSE constraints. What gives?
“Mr Syron also predicted that Congress would bring some relief to the troubled US mortgage industry by lifting restraints on the operations of Freddie Mac and its sister mortgage company, Fannie Mae.
He said the $417,000 ceiling on the size of home loans they can buy was likely to be raised to help support the US mortgage market.”
vrs.
“Fannie to the Rescue?
September 29, 2007; Page A8
…
Remarkably, Mr. Paulson, Mr. Bernanke and House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank spoke with one voice last week: Any legislation that loosens restrictions on Fannie and Freddie should also strengthen regulators’ ability to control the companies. Our guess is that Fan and Fred won’t take that deal, holding out for Hillary Clinton’s election and a return to party time in 2009.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119103117703243498.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
And they will raise the $417,000 limit on mortgages this moron’s company can fund to ensure that it is ten times worse than it would be if they just left the damn thing alone. This ticks me off.
Why is it set @ $417,000?
Seems like an odd figure
They can’t even produce a financial statement. And we should trust them on this?
They can produce one, it just can’t be trusted.
They should have been delisted years ago. They can’t produce a statement, because it would reveal the depths of fraud and mismanagement. And even if they eventually do jerry-rig some numbers on a piece of paper, it ain’t worth spit from these monkeys.
Why can’t he get his books in order and yet he still clamors for a raising of the limit so they can take on bigger and riskier loans?
indiana
The flood of foreclosed homes has stretched the staffing limits of the Marion County sheriff’s civil division and drenched the resale market with so many properties that it has nearly dried up profits for investors who deal in homes.
A record high 8,874 foreclosed properties, all but a small percentage of them homes, were handed over from the courts last year for the monthly sheriff’s sale in the City-County Building. This year’s numbers could go even higher, with 6,700 in sales so far this year.
http://tinyurl.com/yuxr7x
Indiana… one of the triumvirate of approved states for home buying, as per the N.A.R.’s suggestions?
From the Indiana url above,
…During the September sale, bidders representing lenders stepped in to bid up prices for a half-dozen properties, winning most of them.
Lenders’ representatives tend to bid in $1,000 increments, a big-money tactic that often scares off individual investors who are used to increasing bids $50 or $100 at a time, said Aaron Adams, of Alpine Property Management, a frequent investor-bidder at the Marion County sale…
What? Someone please explain to my teeny brain why on God’s green earth the banks would do this? HELP!
LOL,
Leigh
It makes them feel important.
Good morning aladinsane, Ben and watcher!
Good morning Leigh, I enjoy your posts.
Curtsey, my friend. It is you that makes this all possible!
Best,
Leigh
Thanks for providing us with some excellent morning reading, Leigh!
Good Morning, all!
Good morning to all…
Confirmed morning peoples
Yes, lad, even in CA. Leigh, great posts this morning. When I was a child living on the farm, we had a drought year and limited water use. We had a cousin visit from the city. He could not fathom a water shortage, but quickly understood the new reality. Many, many people do not understand banking insolvency, but will quickly get slapped to their senses when their deposits disappear. The new reality…..
Morning Jingle Jangle…
I hate mornings. Let’s crash something, Dave:
Sweet like candy to my soul
Sweet you rock,
And sweet you roll
Lost for you, I’m so lost for you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ_Nf7yGxbc
Maxed Out… Worth watching when you have the time.
http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/maxedout.html
Awesome link. Just the first few minutes, showing the tour through the Italian-themed Vegas development is amazing. Just sums up the bubble very concisely and visually. I’ll be spending the next 1 1/2 hrs watching.
I love how the RE gal laughs about it all. The rest of the video is well done and is a snap shot of what is going on in the credit industry.
yeah .. it’s pretty good.
funny thing .. about 30 min into the video, some illiterate guy demonstrates how he had to copy his own name in order to sign some kind of a loan contract..
It happened to me. My customers, sellers, had to do exactly that to accept an offer on some property in SF, south of market..
After checking with my office manager I (or was it his wife?) printed his name, and then he copied it over.
..spooky feeling..
“funny thing .. about 30 min into the video, some illiterate guy demonstrates how he had to copy his own name in order to sign some kind of a loan contract..”
Great documentary.
Actually it was a developmentally disabled man. Get this…the toxic loan he signed was marketed to them by a “friend from church.” Isn’t that special. Just a little financial brotherly love from a fellow God-fearing friend.
Sarcasm off.
DOC
I watched the video in it’s entirety. Folks, this one is an eye opener on how the credit industry operates. Particularly notable are how far debt collection agencies will bully; Providian’s (now owned by WAMU) deceptive practices; MBNA (now owned by BOA) political contributions, most notable George Bush (said to be the largest contributing factor to his election).
Thanks wmbz,
Leigh
Thanks for the link. “Maxed Out” should be required viewing for many people.
I thought maxed out sucked, I mean some of the stuff about credit card companies and cash advance places was interesting, but then they had those parts where the lady killed herself because she gambled away all her husbands money and credit. They tried to act like credit card companies killed her.
Also there was that part about the kids who killed themselves because they ran up student credit cards, what a bunch of losers.
That movie tries to make people who run up debt the victims, its the opposite of what most people on this blog seem to believe.
I watched an AWESOME “Intervention” episode last night. It featured this former child prodigy turned addictive gambler. His parents mortgaged their home in order to pay his gambling debt (even though he was in his 30’s), and ended up losing it. They put him up in a motel for a while, then pulled out the tough love and forced him into rehab which didn’t take. He owes over 100K to various creditors and the parents keep helping him ’cause everytime they refuse, he plays the suicide card! I told my husband, if that were my kid, I’d give him a gun.
I can relate…
Never suicidal, but I flushed a great deal of money down the gambling toilet and got an education in the process.
We’ve turned into a nation of degenerate gamblers, and it’s time to ban games of chance across this fair land and get back to making a living the old fashioned way…
Before I quit going, I used to get really worked up hearing all those bells and seeing all the bright lights in the Vegas casinos. And the “Wheel of Fortune” chant almost gave me the big o. I won a few hundred, but lost a couple of thousand over the years, and that was enough. I have a very low threshold for self-loathing.
I played blackjack ONE time, on my 21st birthday. I put my 5 bucks down, the dealer hit blackjack and took it, and I got white hot mad. Closest I ever came to punching a woman.
When in Vegas, I fritter away my money in the arcades instead.
We walked thru a casino once in our area. We had lunch in the restaurant and then left. I couldn’t stand the noise, and I love Disney World, so that’s how loud it is.
“I watched an AWESOME “Intervention” episode last night. It featured this former child prodigy turned addictive gambler. ”
Saw it too. Total spoiled brat. Parents had no spines–probably let him get away with bloody murder as a kid. Looks to me like he’s got a solid diagnosis of narcissistic disorder too. The truest definition of manipulators narcissists are. No cure. DOH! They need to let him pay the price or he’ll keep on gambling.
I actually really enjoy gambling. Always have my play “tracked” so I get free rooms, meals, shows etc. On the other hand, I’m fully aware no matter how skilled I am at any game, the house is gonna get their cut…sooner or later. Nevertheless, through good solid, sane blackjack and/or craps playing, I’ve paid for more than a few vacations.
The money I take to Vegas or Lake Tahoe is money I know will likely be spent. Gone. Entertainment money. When I win, it’s nice, but mostly I spend all my “fun money.”
DOC
“Maxed Out… Worth watching when you have the time.”
Watched it in its entirety. Thanks!
Got a laugh out of this. How to reduce your “a$$hole footprint” on the planet. Someone should send this to some of the developers.
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/10/footprint200710
LOL!!!!!! Here’s my favorite.
7a. If you do indeed have young children, have you launched a blog, or, worse, a video blog, about raising them?
Don’t ya know these self absorbed dweebs today ALL do this!
The biggest as^hole footprint of all is appearing on the cover of Vanity Fair.
Yeah. If they spent the time with the kids that they spend blogging, say, going on a nature hike or reading to them, the kids would be much better off!
When I think about how life might change for all of us when all of the ramifications of this housing bust are felt, thes kind of people are least likely to be able to teach their kids how to deal with lowered expectations.
How to Reduce Your Asshole Footprint: Some Tips
…
5. Do not leave any comments in any “Comments” section, on any occasion, ever.
Uh oh…
Uh oh. Can I buy some a$$hole credits?
3. Refrain from ever using the construction “Mmm, I want me some.…” Gross
4. Do not ever order a Cosmopolitan again. Ewww
5. Do not leave any comments in any “Comments” section, on any occasion, ever…er…I blog here
6. Give in to the aging process, through every step of it. Check, and quite nicely : )
7. Eat leftovers. Sometimes.
8. Go two entire, consecutive days without using a wireless electronic communication device…now come on! TWO days…LOL
YEEEESSSSSSSSSS!
I am not an a$$hole. I didn’t answer yes to any of the questions in my age category. I’m going to tell my wife. She will be so proud.
I’m too poor to answer “Yes” to any questions in my age category
Yeah, as soon as I saw “hedge fund” I knew it was all no’s for this boy.
I’m extremely disappointed because they don’t even have a category for my age group.
I wish I could afford to go out and do every single one of those things on that list right now! Sure, I’d be an azzhole, but I’m nobody’s god damm monkey.
Asia Times is facinating to read–reminds me of the more honest reflection on MSM of years gone by…
http://tinyurl.com/3aa6pb
Teeny excerps for those who do not have enough caffine in blood stream.
Capitalism does work
By Chan Akya
…It is the attempted perversion of free markets by Asian and other governments that has caused the current turmoil in the global financial system…
…US politics, however, represents the greatest threat in this discussion, even if the biggest losers of any turn away from capitalism would be the country’s poor. That’s because the seemingly well-intended advice provided by members of the US government to rescue subprime borrowers [2] and increased protectionism against Chinese goods [3] would inevitably damage the frail US economy. More important for the future of Asia, non-capitalist behavior by the United States that could easily be duplicated by other countries would dent potential growth rates across the region for decades to come. This is one tit-for-tat battle in which both sides will lose…
…Asian central banks invested primarily in debt, and were bound by historically inspired mandates of asset quality that relied much on the rating agencies such as Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s. Profit-seeking agents (or normal human beings to you and me), in this case Wall Street bankers, rightly then provided the service of combining the willing lender with those that America’s own banks would not touch with a barge pole, namely the subprime borrowers. Long considered too risky by mainline banks, the borrowers suddenly presented other market folks with exactly the right opportunity, namely the generation of new mortgages, securities on which could be sold to Asian (and European) banks…
…As a recession grips the US economy and shakes out excess consumption, China will suddenly find itself all dressed up for a non-existent party. Whether the waxworks in Beijing like it or not, the country has to revalue, and do it soon, to allow consumption to take over from production as the key engine of the economy…
A really good read.
Wow! Wonder what the CNBC crowd would say to this.
WARNING: Do not read if you have a big heart…it might break (sniff)
http://tinyurl.com/25ojey
“While its assets have grown to almost $6 million, from $5.1 million in 2000″.
What’s this, a 20% return in total over the past 7 years, a period for one of the greatest bull runs in asset prices in history??
Even a “certified” financial planner could have done better than this. Jeez, my dog could have done better than this.
Am I the only one who smells fraud here?
heartbreaking fraud.
am I missing something here? the return on Nasdaq from January 2000 to June 2007 is, what, -40%? for the DJIA it’s maybe +20%, S&P somewhere in between.
Bond, Vigilante Bond… agent 006.83
http://www.prudentbear.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4773&Itemid=56
I hope this doesn’t make me a big azzhole, but I will leave a comment and say that I found that wonderfully animated, humorous and clever. I could just here it read aloud or see it acted out by a young Fernando Lamas, (”…corrrrrinthian leather…”)
Was that our very own “Prudent Bear”?
It was really well done…
HUH???…….They had a surplus just like US…..We blew ours!
Record budget surplus for Canada
By Bernard Simon in Toronto
Canada posted a record budget surplus of C$13.8bn last year, allowing Ottawa to reduce its debt ratio to the lowest level in 25 years and paving the way for a fresh round of personal tax cuts.
The announcement on Thursday by Stephen Harper, prime minister, is likely to fuel speculation that his minority Conservative government is preparing for a general election either this year or early in 2008.
The federal government has run a budget surplus every year since 1998, allowing the Conservatives and their Liberal predecessors to bring the federal debt down to 32.3 per cent of gross domestic product. The debt-to-GDP ratio reached a peak of 74.8 per cent in 1996.
The Conservatives pledged this year to use all interest savings on the debt to lower personal income taxes. Mr Harper said that savings for the fiscal year to March 31 would result in tax cuts totalling C$750m (US$746m, €528m, £370m).
The government’s strong fiscal position, compounded by a trade surplus and robust domestic growth, has driven the Canadian dollar close to parity with the US dollar for the first time since 1976.
However, Jim Flaherty, finance minister, speaking at the same event as Mr Harper, cautioned that “our economic fundamentals are strong, but we cannot become complacent”.
Looming challenges, he said, included the impact of the strong Canadian dollar on export-oriented manufacturers, the US housing slump, an acute shortage of skilled workers in the booming resource industries of western Canada and intensifying competition from China, India and Brazil.
Mr Harper repeatedly insists that he is content to govern with a minority and has no interest in calling an early election. According to recent opinion polls the Conservatives have yet to gain sufficient support to form a majority government.
An election could be precipitated by the three opposition parties combining in a no-confidence vote in the House of Commons.
Embattled leaders of the two main opposition parties, the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois, have laid out policy demands in recent days that will be difficult for the Conservatives to meet.
Both the Liberals and BQ suffered stinging setbacks in three Quebec by-elections earlier this month.
Some analysts have suggested that Stéphane Dion, the Liberal leader, and Gilles Duceppe, his BQ counterpart, may see an election as a way of galvanising and uniting dispirited members before their own positions are threatened.
The first test of the opposition parties’ intentions will come in a vote on the throne speech setting out the government’s agenda for the next parliamentary session, which starts on October 16.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Does my mother being born & raised a Canadian citizen, make it easier for me to immigrate there?
If she is currently a Canadian citizen (or was a Canadian citizen when she passed away) - yes, you can get citizenship
She’s been a citizen Americano, for a long time now…
I’m kind of thinking about going to Canada or New Zealand on vacation, and having an anchor baby there. Hedging my bets, if you will.
Not too hard to run a surplus when you are an oil and gold exporter, with $80 oil and $700 gold.
The Canadians wisely declined to follow us off a cliff by joining
the war in Iraq. Very smart move on their part.
Though they are fighting and dying in Afghanistan.
The budget surplus in Canada has nothing to do with the price of oil or gold since the royalties are paid to the provincial government not the federal government. The province of Alberta has a surplus because of oil.
The budget surplus is there because Canada doesn’t have the kind of fiscal discourse nonsense your hear about in the US like “supply side economics” or “trickle down” theory or huge tax cuts accompanied by massive spending (as opposed to tax and spend liberals ???).
The weather is often harsh for about half the year and most people know that they need to save for winter and are frugal by nature to survive in such a harsh environment.
Different culture, different politics, different people.
Something about the cold weather that makes the people more sober and realistic.
“The budget surplus in Canada has nothing to do with the price of oil or gold since the royalties are paid to the provincial government not the federal government.”
Oil companies pay billions in taxes, FEDERAL TAXES. It’s as simple as it gets. Canada’s economy is based on exporing oil and minerals. When oil and minerals increase in price, Canada becomes richer and pays more in taxes.
“The weather is often harsh for about half the year and most people know that they need to save for winter and are frugal by nature to survive in such a harsh environment.”
You can’t be serious. I will assume you are joking, I hope you are joking. You do know that 90% of the Canadian population lives within 100 miles of the US right? And you do know that Vancouver has milder climates than Chicago right? And you do know that Toronto’s weather is pretty much the same as Boston and New York’s right? I have to say this is the first time I have heard anyone attribute weather to fiscal policy.
this character over-generalization might hold true for the eastern maritime provinces, but all you have to do is visit Calgary or Vancouver; there you’ll see a lot of glitz and boom mentality, and major office and residential construction projects ever more high-end.
“Toronto’s weather is pretty much the same as Boston and New York’s right?”
Wrong. Toronto receives unimpeded the Artic winds blowing south. Lake Erie which buffers Buffalo, 90 miles to the south, gives Buffalo “lake effect” snow, but moderates the temperature and kills the winds. Toronto’s metro area has tons of underground malls which connect downtown skyscrapers, as does Montreal, as the cold is killing.
NYC is close to 400 miles south of Buffalo, and sits on the ocean, and has a much more moderate climate.
Please find a subject you know something about, and stick to it.
Lake Ontario also acts as a moderating effect to the winter weather. Yes, the city’s location makes it less vulnerable to lake effect snows that hit Buffalo and Rochester (the average winter temperature is only -6C), but in the last few years it’s been fairly warm (Jan 1 the temperature was 9.2C). And yes, there are a few underground malls, but most people avoid them because they’re difficult to navigate.
Not too hard to run a surplus when you are the 6th most taxed country on the planet either (and that is the case). Government spending on all levels in Canada is so gross and poorly directed that it is morally extremely difficult paying tribute in taxes to all of this and Canada is a great place to live in some ways in spite of (and definitely not because of) the various current governing regimes. Ywo of my sone (both professionals) have left Canada to live as expats for lifestyle purposes and their stress level has gone down enormously.
Americans should try electing an economist for a change — might work better than all those lawyers/preachers/actors
Yes, a FAKE District Attorney is what this country needs~
It has been fun to watch fred make a horse’s ass out of himself, without really trying too hard…
David Lereah or Lawrence Yun? Which one should I vote for?
my thoughts exactly!
Is she really this stupid?
http://tinyurl.com/23yahy
Communism, here we come. For all of the people that feel so high and mighty for not voting for Bu$h, check out what your party is offering. She is so concerned about having a nation of savers yet she wants desperately to pump up Fannie and Freddie so people can increase their debt load. Moronic! It’s beyond moronic!
Ham & Eggs anybody?
In California in the 1930’s, something similar was proposed, but you had to be over 60 to get the money, not a newborn…
http://survey.caltech.edu/ham+eggs.pdf (warning pdf)
How depressing not a single of the probable candidates appears to have either a grasp of macroeconomics and/or the strength of character to take the actions necessary to keep our country from fracturing.
Breaks my heart.
Mc Govern in 1972 presidential election said if he were elected he would give $1,000 to everyone. Looks like more of the same adjusted for inflation.
I am rediscovering my Republican roots by the day!
Txchick,
Please leave the roots behind and strike out for some new territory. Consider Ron Paul.
Ron Paul is the only TRUE Republican left. He’s standing up for Main Street, not Wall Street, against the hostility of the corporate stooges and neo-cons who hijacked the GOP.
Yes but he is not electable and he will put Hillary in the WH if he siphons off enough from the Republican candidate.
“Politics and the fate of mankind are shaped by men without ideals and without greatness. Men who have greatness within them don’t go in for politics.”
- Camus, Albert
RP is siphoning off more Dems than Republicans
“Yes but he is not electable and he will put Hillary in the WH if he siphons off enough from the Republican candidate.”
You’re in Texas. Whoever the republicans end up running is going to get Texas’ electoral votes…and yours by extension. Vote your conscience…it won’t hurt anything.
Voting out of fear makes a mockery of democracy.
I’ve long since quite plugging my nose and voting for the lessor of two evils, on the basis that “he’s not electable and will put [insert horrendous Democratic front-runner] in the White House.” Today’s Republicans DESERVE to lose elections, after their utter betrayal of the productive middle and working classes in this country. Show them that you’re prepared to vote on principle (and to see them lose) and they might finally have some incentive to clean up their act.
Spelling correction? - “lesser of two weevils” ?
I don’t have any Republican roots, but I think I’m starting to grow some. This blatant attempt to buy the votes of illegal immigrants (yes they do vote–illegally), will encourage millions more to flood in. Mrs. Clinton is not stupid; she is malicious beyond belief.
Please be joking. While Democrats are eager to register new “Democrat-on-Arrival” illegal aliens, it was Bush and his corporate wire-pullers who wanted to amnesty 12 million illegals - that’s a lot of cheap labor to further depress wages. The Republican party establishment is actively courting the Hispanic vote and has actively resisted legistlation that would secure our borders and, most important, penalize employers who hire illegals.
Ben: Pardon my intrusion here, but the flood of immigrants has increased since NAFTA, despite the joke of the new jobs in the border factories.
The Mexican laborer cannot survive in his economy by farming when competing with our subsidized corporate exports. Oversimplification to be sure, and only part of the issue, but definitely a strong part.
I am sick and tired about you folks hammering on illegal immigrants. When will you get your head out of the sand and face the real problem with this. If the business owners who love the republicans would not hire these people they would not be here. Even the fines that these companies pay once in a blue moon are nothing but a pat on the wrist. They need illegals to do the work that many Americans will not do. They also know that if they had to pay higher wages and taxes that they will have to raise prices and oh no we cannot have that!
‘When will you get your head out of the sand and face the real problem with this.’
I lived on the border with Mexico for 5 years. IMO, the ‘real problem’ is, why can’t Mexico and other southern nations provide a decent standard of living for its people? Especially given all the resources they have. And if you think the labor is cheap, spend a few hours in a Phoenix emergency room.
BTW, when I was in Alaska, I would go into a fast food chain and it would be all high-school kids working there. And the prices weren’t any higher.
One of the “Big Lies” pushed by proponents of Bush’s amnesty for illegals is that “we can’t round up and deport 12-20 million people.” To which Roy Beck of NumbersUSA retorted: If you remove the incentive for illegals to come here - the insane anchor baby policy, and employment/exploitation by unscrupulous employers - they will have no incentive to come here or stay here, and many or most will leave on their own.
Most of my buddies got our first gainful employment working hair-net jobs in fast-food places. While we may not have been pillars of the community back then, we at least worked hard for the meager wages we got, and it taught us the value of things.
I worked at Hot Dog on a Stick. I made $4.50 an hour, which was well over minimum wage at the time. For that, I had to wear itchy, extremely tight polyester shorts, an ugly rainbow tank top and a matching, unbelievably gay raised baseball-style hat, in which I had to stuff all of my hair. The perverts would come out of the woodwork and leer at us when we “stomped” each fresh batch of lemonade, (it looked more like what the gamers now call “corpse humping”), and if we wanted to be paid for that time, we had to leave the hat on during our breaks. Glamorous? No. Borderline exploitation and completely humiliating? Yes. But, I earned my own money and could decide what to do with it. Darn good lemonade, too.
Nice visuals!
I always felt sorry for the girls in those getups. They make me think of the pirate suit Judge Reinhold had to wear in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
I don’t know what the business case for it is. Maybe people buy more from people who are being humiliated.
http://www.numbersusa.com/index
When you get fed up with government abdication of its responsibilities and refusal to act against out-of-control immigration, stop bitching and do something about it.
Hooray! Hooray! Someone else gets it!!
A Federal Tuition Inflation Plan
Economics: President Bush has signed a student loan bill that’s being hailed as much-needed assistance for current and prospective college students. It looks like they caught a break — but only if they don’t look too close.
Under the law, students who choose some government and public-service jobs are allowed a special privilege: Nurses, first responders, police officers, firefighters, prosecutors, public defenders, librarians, early-childhood teachers and those who join the military will have the remainder of their loans forgiven after working and making payments for 10 years.
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=275871984141344
20 billion. About the cost of two months in Iraq. Sounds like a bargain to me.
The economics of an i.e.d. blowing up a Humvee…
Humvee $100k
Dead G.I.: $500k
Wounded G.I.’s: $20 Million to care for them over the course of their lifetime
Total cost: $20,600,000.
Driving around a hellhole that could fill in for Tijuana, for no apparent reason?
Priceless.
Did you see the HBO documentary in which James Gandolfini interviewed 10 injured Iraq vets? It’s just heartbreaking. The media is doing a brilliant job burying this gut-wrenching aspect of this war. And so many of them want nothing more than to go back. Imagine that.
Never have so many G.I.’s survived as many grievous wounds, as in this war…
What becomes of them?
My goodness NY! Did you read the comments? They’re creaming her!
Look at the picture of her. Does she look satanic or what?
Another disasterous “idea” by her….at least she is consistent.
I just wonder how many of her political donors would profit from taking those little $5,000 gifts and “taking care of them” for the little buggers. Of course, she would never trust people to invest their own money. It would have to be funneled through some agency run by, let me guess, a “close associate” of hers.
Just question, would the $5,000 per kid include offspring of illegal immigrants?
Why not? They are US citizens if born in the US and should be treated as such.
Any child born in the U.S. is a U.S. citizen, I do believe. So, “yes” it would.
Her idea is clearly discriminatory, based on age..
Therefore it should be made retroactive.. goin back say.. to at least my age.
Free money..
“Mmm, I want me some.…”
Perhaps the hedge fund her kid “works” for.
Add this story to the left wing craziness:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-09-28-pelosi-fence_N.htm
This beotch wants to give illegal criminals in-state tuition rates!!! And check out the last paragraph….it doesn’t matter how the criminals got here, she wants to help them!!!
I defy any lefties to justify this.
Texas already provides K-12 school for illegal aliens, so I don’t see why the rest of the country shouldn’t have to subsidize their college education.
I’ll assume you’re joking, lol. Aren’t illegal criminal’s children allowed to go to K-12 everywhere though??
time out. there are plenty of Republicans that support this crapola as well. We’ve been bitching over the same stupid issues for 30 years, and the problem’s getting worse, not better. How about this: why don’t we massively expand Federal spending for college education IN AREAS WE NEED (engineering, healthcare, etc. not Liberal Studies) AND THEN we disallow these grants for students intending to go to schools that allow taxpayer-subsidized tuition for illegal aliens. This would relieve state tax burdens, it would benefit citizens and legal residents, and it would burden illegals.
I agree with the idea. These kids are not the criminals - they are the innocent victims. They had no choice and no recourse. Most don’t even know anyone in their so-called homeland and have no access to anything if sent there. They did their jobs, went to school, stayed out of trouble, and were accepted to college - I don’t think they should be punished for the sins of their parents. On a practical basis, we’ve already invested in their K-12 - why not put them on the citizenship tract (with no benefits to parents) let them pay in-state tuition becaue that’s the reality of who they are, get educated and pay more in taxes and contribute to society. What do we get by pricing them out of college?
“What do we get by pricing them out of college? ”
A legal resident’s child won’t get bumped.
Hey Blano,
knock off the “lefties” crap. With your boy George in the White House, you ought to develop a little humility. Who was the big advocate for legalizing 20 million illegals, declined to enforce immigration rules, refused to defend the border, and dumped all the medical, educational and social costs on local taxpayers?
You got it, it was all those “righties”.
Caught John C. Bogle (did not know who he was) on PBS last night giving a very candid and realistic view of the problems with the US economy and consumer. To see someone talk so frankly on television about our problems was a breath of fresh air.
(http://www.johncbogle.com/wordpress/)
I like Bogle and he’s built a company and a whole industry on low-cost investing. His focus on index investing and buy the dips will prove misplaced in the near future but that is a reflection of a couple of generations of pavlovian conditioning by the Fed. He is a bright and honest man.
I am a bit afraid he is a dying breed. Perhaps an enormous financial enema is on the way for Wall Street and its legion of leeches and society can get back to rewaqrding those who are educated and prudent.
I read here daily but have never posted. But I watched a movie the other night that left me with some questions. I know the readers here can put this in perspective. Do you think the decline of the dollar is just paving the way for the acceptance of the Amero?
Yes. Bush is absolutely an idiot, but the Dems pushing this stuff (for votes) are no better. A country without borders isn’t a country at all. I wonder if those who think we should forget them would leave their own doors unlocked for anybody to come in and establish residence. I would never turn away someone who needed food or medical help, but it’s time for Mexico to take care of its own. Instead of bombing Iraq, we should have overthrown the depots of Mexico.
My personal fave is Hilbil’s brainstorm announced yesterday. Award every American child a 5k gift for being born. Yep, a trust fund for everybody. So every illegal could pop out tots and collect 5k per head. Goodness me, what will that clever Mrs. Clinton think of next.
Is Florida Over?
By CONOR DOUGHERTY
September 29, 2007
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119100802312142956.html?mod=home_we_banner_left
Wonderful article! The last paragraphs described me!
Only the name was changed, and the destination state.
“Florida has been through this before. In the early 1990s, economic weakness and failures in the savings-and-loan industry pushed the state’s unemployment rate to among the highest in the nation. Immigration slowed and some metropolitan areas had a net outflow of residents. The state recovered and the next boom came along.”
Yes it has been through this before, but it was not in 1990…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_land_boom_of_the_1920s
Here is the money quote from this article…
… Ms. Thomas has her mind set on going back north. With the aid of a no-money-down mortgage, Ms. Thomas and her husband bought a $168,000 house. The mortgage, with property taxes and homeowner’s fees, comes to about $1,500 a month — more than half a month’s pay. To supplement her income as a middle-school teacher, Ms. Thomas teaches night school two days a week. “There is no way I could raise a family here,” she says. Next year, she plans to sell her home and move north, perhaps back to Ohio. “I thought it would be like a vacation,” she says. “It turned out to be a hurricane.”
Slash and burn auction under wraps…
Builder’s condominium auction under wraps
By Emmet Pierce
STAFF WRITER
September 29, 2007
Home builder D.R. Horton has clamped down on public attendance and media coverage of a planned auction today of condominium units at two San Diego developments amid a growing national interest in its marketing strategy.
Horton, the nation’s largest builder, is one of the first to use auctions to clear out inventory. It’s a practice that many in the anemic homebuilding industry fear may lead to further price slashing.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070929/news_1b29auction.html
Ben, I tried to post an article I found in my old email files from the WSJ dated April 2001. It was rather large but I thought interesting. It did not post. Was it to large?
As if San Diego didn’t have enough problems economically, here comes the California drought of 2007…
I saw this coming 6 months ago, why are they only doing something now?
“San Diego’s city attorney called for a 33 % cut in water use for the city, which would mean a reduction in water use of 21.5 billion gallons per year.”
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20070927-9999-1m27b2briefs.html
Amazing…
Every lawn in so cal will be dead in a few months, and here’s an hoa flexing it’s dubious power
“A woman in Jurupa received a letter from her homeowners association threatening her with a $50 fine if she didn’t water a patch of grass that was turning brown near her driveway. The region is in extreme drought.”
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_landscaping27.342ef41.html
Now serving up Kool Aid, on the lawn…
“When you’re keeping up with the Joneses in California,” Brown said, “you’re looking at a nice landscape that fits the California landscape and not something imported from a different part of the country that doesn’t fit our resource constraints.”
The little people need to stop watering their lawns because the golf courses need the water. Check!
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/
The clinical definition of insanity is repeating the same actions over and over again, but expecting different results. The zombified GOP and DNC herd creatures who continue their mindless support of the two-headed snake that is our current dualopoly, have lost all right to complain about the erosions of our liberties and the control of the “monied interests” over our nation’s policies.
For citizens still capable of independent thought, who smell the stench of corruption and deceipt emanating from the Establishment Hollow Men and their Wall Street wire-pullers, there’s a real alternative: Dr. Ron Paul. Unlike the Establishment stooges he’s running against, Dr. Paul is relying on ordinary citizens for support. His special fundraising drive, aimed at raising $1 million by the end of the quarter [September 30], is pulling in donations at a rate of $10,000 an hour from people who want a man of integrity and principle running for office, and are willing to dig deep despite the overwhelming odds against him.
Ron Paul in 2008!
http://cosprings.craigslist.org/fur/435260873.html
Former Century 21 office selling off the furniture. By January realtors will be burning the furniture to stay warm.
I would NEVER buy furniture from a reators office sale. Man, think of the cooties!
I meant ‘realtors’. See, that’s Freudian. I can’t even bear to type the name ‘r..e..a..l..tors..’ Eeeew. Icky.
I’d buy the coffee machine - it should be barely used. After all, coffee is for closers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TROhlThs9qY
Hahaha!
I’ll make a note of the wise idea.
In the WSJ Weekend Journal there is an article about inconvenient youths. It’s about kids making their parents go green. An 8 year old kid named Luke after being in a school play about global warming convinces the parents to install solar panels on their new roof for $15,000 extra expense. ” Many of these kids are getting more explicit messages about becoming eco-warriors at school and from popular books and movies.”
Yeah, what’s with those kids…
Where’s the hankering for a Suburban or a McMansion?
Schools should teach children how to think - not WHAT to think.
Good. That’s the only way to real change away from dependence on the media/industrial complex.
Yeah, my kids are all up in my grill about my paper towel addiction. Little bastards.
More social brainwashing.
I just tell my kids their teachers are full of s**t and we are NOT going green in my house at all.
Blano only pawn in game of life
Lol, me, or the kids??
This is just more of why Johnny can’t figure how credit works or that 1000sq ranch is not worth $1,000,000.
But hey, if the house is solar powered, Johnny might have saved a tree somewhere.
or saved money!
why do you even bother to send your kids to school?
Oh, oh! The “Experts” are at it again.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070929/BUSINESS/709290437&theme=
The Indianapolis housing industry is poised for a rebound, according to Business 2.0 magazine’s October issue, which ranks the city among the hottest 10 in the country expected to experience a turnaround.
ON THE VERGE
Top 10 cities poised for a housing turnaround, according to Business 2.0 magazine:
1) Dallas/Fort Worth
Austin, Texas
2) Indianapolis
3) New Orleans
4) Atlanta
5) Montgomery, Ala.
6) Memphis, Tenn.
7) Mobile, Ala.
9) Houston
10) St. Louis
The magazine predicts that by the end of 2009 the average sale price of a home in Indianapolis will have risen to $162,600, up from $153,850, a 5.6 percent spike. This isn’t a whopping growth rate, but it is much better than the current state of affairs.
The magazine cites the city’s low unemployment rate, an influx of people here for white-collar jobs, and the ease of finding a 2,000-square-foot home for less than $200,000 as reasons the housing market will rebound. The magazine called Indianapolis “the nation’s most affordable major metro” area.
Donna Kreps, general sales manager for F.C. Tucker Co., said she credits the predicted turnaround to an increase in jobs in the area, more consumer confidence and lower interest rates. She said her real estate company is planning for an uptick in business — including increasing its recruitment.
“Indianapolis is ready for growth,” said Kreps, who is quick to remind everyone that things could have been worse. “We are honestly very optimistic that the market will be headed in the right direction.
“As a company, we are positioning ourselves,” she said. “We’ve been doing a lot of marketing and prospecting, believing that we will see a turnaround.”
what a joke…every one of those cities relies on people moving from the coasts during the boom. Those are the folks that walk in with cash and drive house prices up. Just like the tech boom went bust last in cities like Denver and Dallas, so will the real estate boom. Few are talking about the domino effect the higher priced coasts have on lower priced flyover country. Now that is ending and flyover country will get hit next.
I’m going to go against the grain here. I’d think that IN/OH/MI might not be too bad of places to hunker down this RE mess so long as you stay out of the big cities. Why? Because this area of the country hasn’t had the huge runups in housing values like elsewhere. For the record, the entire great lakes area is fairly low. I’m not saying you won’t have nasty drops here; you’d easily see 90%+ drops in most of the Great Lakes area. However, 90% of 100 - 150K house is 90K - 135K (duh). What’s 90% of the McMansions in the rest of the USA? 200K? 300K? 500K? We’ve lost around $1.5 trillion in RE values since Sept 2006. This is only the beginning…
Hasta la vista, baby!
On the lighter side:
6 die from brain-eating amoeba in lake
PHOENIX - It sounds like science fiction but it’s true: A killer amoeba living in lakes enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain where it feeds until you die.
http://tinyurl.com/2fnfgq
Pretty wild. Stephen King where are you/
The scary part is that it is not transmitted host to host — rather it lurks in the mud of the lake bed until some hapless swimmer inadvertently stirs it up and inhales it.
From Ron Pebbles at Prudent Bear:Return of the Bond Vigalantes
Sorry, that should be Vigilantes
I have a cash-preservation question, and any help would be appreciated.
For reasons both financial and convenience-related, I recently moved our savings from Emigrant Direct (5.05%) to Vanguard’s NY tax-free money market fund (3.6%). I know it’s not FDIC insured, but what are the realistic chances of the muni debt that underlies this fund defaulting?
Thanks in advance.
I moved my cash from Emigrant direct about 10 days ago and it’s sitting in my account at USAA. i have several accounts at Vanguard and they’re all in the Treasury money market funds. There has been some great discussion about problems with munis on the blog, Calculated Risk, check the past postings. In short, many munis may well be very dicey. Vanguard is a good firm, IMO, but i am wary.
I have a good chunk of change just sitting there at USAA, but no clear thoughts on where to deploy it. Like to hear from others too.
Thanks, Spike — I’ll check that out. As for how I’m deploying my chips, the reason I moved it was to get access to the brokerage account so I could do a little Bernake hedging: 70% cash, 15% gold ETF, 15% in ETF’s shorting the big indexes. Bought about a week ago, flat since then.
Bill in Phoenix is temporarily now Bill in Maryland. Here I am in Maryland at my hotel along I-95 between Havre De Grace and Baltimore. New contract assignment in the region and will be here at best 5 months, and at worst 9 months.
Heard on the radio yesterday that houses in some region here in Maryland have gone up last year from an average $800,000 to $1.3 million. Could be another case of low end homes not selling and high end homes being the only sales.
I put a deposit on an apartment in an upscale location on the northern fringe of Baltimore near I-95. There is some bureaucratic issue that has to be resolved before I could dive into the serious work. This has been the reason I stalled coming over here. Also why I did not yet take a lease. Living out of a suitcase though - renting a car and hotel-ing. My per diem will handle the expenses easily though.
This is the freedom lifestyle. Homeoaners who are stuck in their debt can only drool with envy.
i think you’re awesome.
Ha Ha! Shucks! Thanks Chilidogg!
B.i.M.,
Welcome home…
Hi Bill the weather is just starting to get nice again in Phoenix. Winter in Phoenix is the reward for putting up with the summer. Where I work we have had a parade of Freescale workers interviewing as they all seem to Think Blackstone is going to screw them. Blackstone bought Freescale with the help of Chinese money now I wonder were all that technology is going………
Hello Cactus, yeah I noticed that about the weather last Monday morning when I was headed into “Ahwatukee West” LA Fitness. I’m crying already. Phoenix mornings are perfect right now. Actually the weather right now in Maryland is perfect for me. But I know this will quickly change. Hey, I lived in northern NJ in winter of 2002/2003 and the average low temperatures there are 6 degrees colder than this part of Maryland.
I basically am getting out of the frying pan and am headed into the freezer. Then back again in April (mornings not too bad in Phoenix at that time). Will reward myself at that time by going to a bunch of Diamondbacks games at Chase Field. Even better reward is that my experience on this product line in MD will give me even greater value when I return to work at the Phoenix client. Most direct hires have families and refuse to uproot themselves to a cold winter place. I talked to some and note they have a sense of relief that I am here instead of them. They in turn treat me nicer.
But that’s looking ahead too far. That “bureaucratic issue” I wrote about a few posts upward lingers. I’m going to try to win some committment this week from the client so that I can determine to do a lease or … go back home.
This is how we treated somebody from the then, evil empire~
“Nikita Khrushchev disembarked from his plane at Andrews Air Force Base to a 21-gun salute and a receiving line of 63 officials and bureaucrats, ending with President Eisenhower. He rode 13 miles with Ike in an open limousine to his guest quarters across from the White House.”
Contrast to current day and the awful way we treated a guest, to our country~
http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/bet_wetter_nation
Tax and Spend or Borrow and Spend. It’s all the same. Until we quit consuming more than we create we will all be in the Popcorn Machine.
It is that simple.
In today’s NY Times: more nice things to say about Angelo Mozilo and Countrywide
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/business/30country.html?hp
Sorry if previously posted…the 10 percent for super bubble zones sounds mighty conservative to me…
Real Estate
Mortgage Meltdown 2007 Archive
Double-digit home price drops coming
Three quarters of housing markets - many in crashing Sun Belt areas - face price declines over next few years.
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer
September 19 2007: 3:24 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Over the next few years, more than three-quarters of the nation’s housing markets will suffer some decline in home prices. Many will experience double-digit hits in a forecast that has worsened considerably in recent months.
According to an analysis conducted by Moody’s Economy.com, declines will exceed 10 percent in 86 of the 379 largest housing markets. And 290 of the cities will experience price drops of 1 percent or more.
The survey attempted to identify the high and low points of housing prices in each of the markets, some of which started declining from their peak in the third quarter of 2005. All are median prices for single-family houses.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/19/real_estate/steep_home_price_drops_coming/index.htm?postversion=2007091912