Bits Bucket And Craigslist Finds For March 12, 2008
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
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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On another thread, renters were discussing the problems of renting with animals. Currently, I and others are dealing with this in CA. Also the owner/rent scam is huge in CA. The owners: rent/lease to own etc. and pocket the rent. Ya da ya da. But good people and co-workers are being evicted. Yes, I know they should have done due diligence, but what can they do??
Hooray! Hoooooraaaaaaaaaaaaay! A PNW thread! Last evening! Thank you, Ben! It was like sweet, sweet lotion for the soul, which I craved, because my soul was getting all chapped and irritated.
Say, do you all think that when a person wakes up at 4:30 a.m. to go pee and they end up slouched in front of their computer yawning and gawking blearily at the HBblog whilst wearing pink jammies with big grinning monkey heads on them, and their hair sticking straight up like a dandilion, does this mean they have a problem? I don’t mean the monkey jammies, those are obviously a sign of derangement, I mean like maybe this person needs a 12 step program to help wean them off the HBB.
This is all hypothetical, you know. And it happened to a friend of mine. Who lives in North Dakota, and is an Eskimo, and is not me at all.
“Say, do you all think that when a person wakes up at 4:30 a.m. to go pee and they end up slouched in front of their computer yawning and gawking blearily at the HBblog whilst wearing pink jammies with big grinning monkey heads on them, and their hair sticking straight up like a dandilion, does this mean they have a problem?”
Are we discussing you or Professor Bear?
you wear pink jammies nyc boy? with the feeties as well?
I love my Winnie the Pooh pajamas. They even had that flap in the back. But when I was living in the West Village I made sure to sew that thing shut and then cover it with a few layers of cement. I didn’t want to send any mixed signals.
I’ve noticed something odd here in AZ. Young people, high school or a little older, wearing fuzzy house slippers in public. What’s up with that?
You see it in the City, too. I don’t understand fashion. All of these little baboons pay a fortune to look poor. The girls with these flowery rubber boots really crack me up.
i hate those flowery rubber boots (not sexy) and the ones who still wear those ugg sasquatch boots in warm temsp crack me up
hey buy a $1500 a sq ft apartment in dumbo brooklyn and get mugged in broad daylight! no extra charge!!
http://dumbonyc.com/2008/03/11/march-crime/
The whole crocs craze has really deteriorated the standard of footwear stlye around the nation. Crocs should be banned in certain areas (like any public place) like smoking.
Ouch. I have 22 pairs of them and hardly ever wear anything else.
Pajamas? Slippers? WTF?!! What ever happened to free-stylin’? We spend most of our lives with cloths on, so I look for every opportunity to liberate. (yep, I’m naked-posting. Deal with it!)
Crocs saved me from foot surgery and constant pain, wish I would have bought some sooner and bought stock.
Crocs are ok (I confess to owning some for days at the nursey) and I love the new prints on Wellies. I work at a big AG school and they make sense. The house slippers and plaid flannel jammies in public? Those folks need a fashion trout upside the head.
Recently saw articles suggesting Crocs weren’t safe to wear on escalators.
Google “crocs escalator” for more stories
Here’s one - http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Consumer/story?id=2530368
I like Born clogs from Denmark. Just as comfortable as Crocs and as good for your feet, but more formal looking.
i’m sorry i would not be caught dead in crocs
unless i become an md
“The girls with these flowery rubber boots really crack me up. ”
It’s the latest fashion trend—looking expensively underdressed. It’s the only explanation I can think of for something like Crocs, which probably cost $.25 to make in some Chinese prison camp, yet sell for $40.
My fashion statement is my gold ol Fonzie lunch pale that I take every day to work. You should see the envy of people’s faces.
I was on the sea plane in the Virgin Islands this weekend, and my pilot was wearing Crocs over his shoes. I moved here from Boulder, CO (birthplace of Crocs), and I’d never seen that one.
I’m a big Chacos sandal fan…
Must have 8 pairs.
I’ve backpacked 40-50 miles in them, many times.
ROTFLMAO over this entire thread! Classic HBB sidetrack.
it’s 7:30am here in Mordor-on-the-Potomac (aka Washington D.C.).
That’s funny. Might even get me through today’s meetings.
LOL
That was great. Gotta remember that.
Mordor-on-the-Potomac
lol
Why We’re Powerless To Resist Grazing On Endless Web Data
…new and richly interpretable information triggers a chemical reaction that makes us feel good, which in turn causes us to seek out even more of it. The reverse is true as well: We want to avoid not getting those hits because, for one, we are so averse to boredom.
It is something we seem hard-wired to do, says Dr. Biederman. When you find new information, you get an opioid hit, and we are junkies for those. You might call us ‘infovores.’ ”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120527756506928579.html?mod=hps_us_inside_today
I’d say you need some serious attention, especially at that time of the night/morning.
That may be 12 step worthy. If you find a group can you ask them what they’d you say if someone got up at that same time, with similar attention to personal care only to read the last night’s stale CA thread.
I am also ashamed to have to report having withdrawal symptoms (feelings of agitation) while I wait the extra hour for CNBC’s Worldwide Exhange to be on in the background now that daylight saving time has pushed it back. It’s on at 5 am now instead of 4. (Now you have to remember I’m a housewife. This info is all for my own entertainment!)
Bill Wilson is rolling over in his grave.
I dunno exeter, I find 12 steppers enjoy making fun of themselves (at least w/each other)….especially the addictive personality part. The sense of humor they develop is the best part of the camaraderie.
Well I was speaking generally on what it has become relative to what he established and wrote about in 1934. Success rate until the 1950’s was 85-90%. Now? 3%.
I too was up at 4:30 but I still can’t log onto my website.
Client # 10
lol
Yes it’s a problem. However you won’t get any help from any of us!
Luckily oly, my computer is too far away from my cozy bed. But I do turn the tube on at 3, 5 and 6. DT’s
To return to the original question:
Say, do you all think that when a person wakes up at 4:30 a.m. to go pee and they end up slouched in front of their computer yawning and gawking blearily at the HBblog whilst wearing pink jammies with big grinning monkey heads on them, and their hair sticking straight up like a dandilion, does this mean they have a problem?
This is perfectly normal behavior, right down to the monkey pjs.
Posting about it, on the other hand….
i rent an apartment with a dog, yes i have a nice place which is large and the rent is fair but my problem is that my dog is getting old (almost 13) and i have to carry her (65lbs) up stairs 3 or 4x a day so you see why i am interested in moving
but like i said last night it almost impossible to find what we need (good location-pet friendly-parking?) last night i was just
in a bad mood but i guess i will have to deal with it for another year unless something comes up before 5/1 when my lease is up
you get alot of pet friendly places up to 15lbs limit
15lbs that is a cat not a dog
anyone who in a similar situation to mine and decides oh well i will just get rid of the dog deserves to be tared and feathered imo- unfortunately it happens all the time animals are the speeechless victims in all this bubble crap
the only positive is now i believe prices are going nowhere but down so maybe in spring 09 i can make a move
I would still bid on places that might not be pet friendly because the landlord may want the money more than keep the rule at some point. Negotiate a pet deposit or something.
I remember reading a landlord site a few years back and there was a whole thread about whether pets or children did more wear and tear on a rental. Literally, the conversation was 50/50 on landlord opinions as to which was worse (or better).
When I moved to Boston, I couldn’t find a pet-friendly rental and had to kennel my dog for 6 months. He had a nervous breakdown (no kidding) and almost died from the drugs they gave him. I finally found a house in Hingham, but it was a very long commute. So…when I became a landlady, I swore I would always be dog-friendly (can’t accept cats because I am allergic). In 7 years, I have had no problem with any dog and would recommend being dog-friendly to all landlords/ladies. Being dog-friendly can actually be a selling point for your property, when there’s a lot of competition in the rental market. I do insist on meeting the dog first and do charge extra on the deposit.
What I object to here in this university town are the freshmen who come to town, rent their first apt and immediately go out and adopt a big dog (or two) that they can’t handle. In my clinical training I had to represent some of these dopes and it was sickening.
I have no problem with longstanding family pets that are well trained. But how do you know as a landlord?
Been there Anna. I had that happen to me as a landlord. Most of my tenants were college kids.
Girls brought in a few stray cats without telling me that pissed on the carpet over a month. They didn’t clean it up and it stank. Smelled it when I was in there and made them get rid of the cats. It was expensive to clean when they moved and chewed up a nice part of their deposit. Let another tenant get a small yapping dog. Biggest effin mistake I ever made. Thing never shut up. Had to make them give it away. Place I bought where the dogs were already there and the tenant wouldn’t clean up the shit in the yard and it would stink in the summer.
I’m a pretty easygoing person, but yeah, I’m in the no pets camp.
MG:
If your dog means that much to you, then ALWAYS offer the landlord and extra Thousand or Two as a pet deposit, you would be surprised how many would say YES when cash is put in their faces.
But of course most tenants want a landlord to take the risk of the dog causing more damage the apartment then the available security deposit.
“But of course most tenants want a landlord to take the risk of the dog causing more damage the apartment then the available security deposit.”
It’s the landlord insurance problem. Dog bites man and landlord gets sued. Insurance rates with animal costs more, and one law suit will cause major insurance uptick.
How much does it costs to feed and maintain a 65lb dog over a year? Way too expensive for me
I have 10 dogs. Over 800 lbs of dog. Each day I spend less than $10.00 a day to feed them. Each day I boil down a Costco chicken and put both the broth and chicken on dry food. Add in vet bills and I pay about $500 per dog per year.
RE: I have 10 dogs
Whew…poop patrol for my 2 Doberman’s was grim.
Couldn’t even begin to imagine trailing behind an army of 10!
Poop patrol is easy. My front door is always open. All of them go outside. Once in a while I hit a landmine in the roses but thats what shoes are for.
For my little dogs, we use puppy pads. They are truly a godsend when i’m gone out of town for 12 hours.
Puppy Pads work!
i use em as well and they are a godsend
I’m in the same boat. I have a 100 lbs German Shepherd who has degenerative myelopathy. It’s like MS for dogs. I have to go up stairs just to get in my apartment and it’s a two floor apartment.
I’ve been lucky so far because he’s had DM for almost 2 years and he can still go up and own the stairs on his own. It’s very hard for him and usually he asks for help but I make him do it by himself as much as possible for exercise. (When I have a treat waiting for him he goes up pretty well on his own.)
I know before long that will change though. Right now I’m dealing with the neighbor below me complaining about the noise he makes going down the stairs. I’m sorry but it is what it is.
JJ,
all my best wishes for you and your dog.
Hey Ben, Could we have a thread for the retired people or going to be retirees in the coming 5-8 years. The money in 401K is almost 30% gone and housing is toast. Some of us have only some cash left which all these instituions want to put it in some kind of fund( I would say scam to screw us). A blog that would help generate ideas about where to park money for future, what are the good investments left, if any etc.
Myself. Just turned 59 and have prematurely cashed out. But I don’t think Ben wants to do anything here resembling investment advice..
Why do I get the distinct impression you’ll be dumping the WV shack and moving back to MD?
Buy low - sell high.
” … what are the good investments left, if any etc.”
Keep investing in yourself, meaning keep your job.
If you spent a lot of years getting to where you are now in your career (assuming you are in good health) then think twice before walking away from your job because chances are good you will never find another job that will equal it.
I know this is a very general statement, but I’ve seen too many of my coworkers retire early from good paying jobs then, because of boredom or financial difficulties, end up working for $8.50/hr.
FWIW.
Just watch the 700 Club.
Just last night Pat Robertson told an 82 yr old woman to divest the 401k, abandon the dollar, and put it all into Swiss Franks.
:dont ask me why I know this, ever.
HAR!
Housing-fraud leader sent back to prison for work with CM Development
http://tinyurl.com/29o36b
McEntee declined to speak. His lawyer, Jon Babineau, said his client seemed “to have an addictive behavior pattern” in continuing work that “he knows is wrong.”
Addicted to greed perhaps? Will there be a new 12-step program for housing scammers?
Howdy local! Yes, CM development went down in flames. Any housing or economy story in the local paper, you will see my negative comments below
I’ve been posting them forever. Other readers accused me of lowering their values with all of my negative talk. *sigh* What can you do.
testing
Troll Brothers…
http://www.philly.com/philly/business/homepage/20080312_Toll_Bros__hints_at_joint-venture_problems.html
High Gold price and real Estate connection. Surprised to see prominent list of sellers and their reason for selling, quite linked together to high home price (tax burden)
or the bubble bursting…..(income loss)
http://tinyurl.com/2tkzd5
Is it time to buy or sell. Price went too fast and now stalling…will some of the experts in PM please comment.
“I have mortgage brokers, real estate agents, retail shop owners. They’re nervous, you can see the stress on their faces,” he said. “Many haven’t been to a pawn shop before _ they want to know how it works. Some don’t want to let go of their gold. (But) gold is cash to them.”
“Division Gold store owner John Vela recounted housewives coming in to pawn treasured items from their jewelry boxes and numerous clients saying they need money to pay their property tax bills and take care of other rising financial obligations.”
Cash is king.
Connections to the rule makers is king.
Your king is dead.
http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DX&v=dmax
We’ll see. What will you use to pay for stuff today? And are you only holding gold?
Cash doesn’t have to be in $$.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23485844/
In Zimbabwe, $100 USD gets you 40 pounds of cash! Check out that picture… to buy groceries!
Looks like the business to be in is selling rubber bands
Hey, does anybody know where I can buy some of those bundles of notes? I’d love to have a couple hundred million for my kid to play with.
Seriously.
Watcher:
Here is the reality of a falling dollar, 3 years ago I bought 4 these powered speakers for $599 each, Made in Italy… then another set at $699….now they are $899, and 1 company just upped it to $969…Not a single change or improvement in the speaker.
http://www.fullcompass.com/product/288523.html
Selling gold to pay your bills? Classic transfer of wealth from weak hands to strong hands.
As someone who has done collections, I can tell you that accounts receivable doesn’t equate to strong hands. What happens next month, when there isn’t anything to sell?
What happens next month, when there isn’t anything to sell?”
That’s my point; these people are burning the furniture to heat the house. You can only do that once.
That isn’t what you said. You said strong hands. My point is that possibly neither are strong. Who benefits there? And what is inflationary about that scenario?
The strong hand is the one that is waiting on the outside for both of them to go belly up. Then he swoops in and takes it over for a song. I always think of Mr. Potter in “It’s a Wonderful Life” when I think of these scenarios. The banks and the borrowers all went broke and then the guy with the money came in and bought everything. So, yes, for Mr. Potter cash was king. But I would guess he also owned the local government officials. That would come in handy.
Cash + Inside Information = Great Power
“Cash + Inside Influence = Great Power”
FTFY
Selling gold to pay your bills? Classic deflation of PMs. Notice you can’t pay bills with gold, only cash. Cash will be King again (albeit for a relatively short time…).
In L-EY you can sell your gold for cash at a good reputable coin store, drive within a mile to a grocery store and buy a whole aisle or two of food within 5 minutes, thus, holding cash for 5 minutes.
The “strong hand” is the one who is buying the gold and paying an absurdly low price for it.
You really need to get some humility or the market will find a way to force it on you.
What’s the ticker symbol for Humility? I’ve never heard of that one. I think I will buy some puts.
GOOG
LOL
Still short gold eh?
And long on common sense… sheesh.
“You really need to get some humility or the market will find a way to force it on you.”
Truer words have never been said.
The dollar is a unit of measure, it used to be measured to one once of silver. now its linked to nothing. There is nothing to stop it from becoming worthless besides the US military. The oil peg and the world currency thing is going to be a thing of the past with in 7-10 years. So long term gold is priceless in dollars.Sell now? Weak hands, strong hands are very happy to meet you!
real money is king, that is pre 1964 US coinage.
“will some of the experts in PM please comment.”
——————-
There are only pseudo experts. Gold has no fundamental valuation, only psychological. Although many will trot out voluminous stats. It’s appeal is of the religious variety.
i’m not sure it has anything to do with expertise.
did you need to be an electrical engineer to make money long tech in the 90’s?
a metallurgical engineer to be long base (or precious) metals since 2002?
a nuclear physicist to be long u3o8?
did you need to be a farmer to make money long ag the last 12 months?
an “economist” to see that housing was sliding off a cliff?
i’ve lost WAY too much money in the markets to be “arrogant”, but i’ve found that when i lose it’s generally on trying to predict some kind of “turn” in the market.
betting with big long running trends you can be right at 10,000 different price points.
betting on a powerful long running trend you’ll be right once.
who was smarter? Me, when I sold my house in the summer of 2004 — or the guy who held on until 2006 for another 200k move and sold 20k off the highs?
dunno.
fuBarrio
oops…shoulda said, “betting on a long run trend TURNING you’ll be right only once”
My interest in religion is not in baiting, but rather in debunking.
Nice to see you babbling on about much ado about nothing, Brad.
How’s your beloved Orwell’s Fargo holding up?
Pawn shops will buy all the gold you have to sell because they expect gold to move higher in price. Gold is liquid like cash not like power tools , etc.
On the inflation barometer; Credit to someone who posted yesterday. In 1990 Gere bought Julia Roberts for $3000 for a week!
Spitzer payed $4500 for 3 hours…
I thought that funny anyway…
Is this measured in C.P.I?
It’s measured in the nominal value of real services rendered.
Probably due to a shortage in that commodity.
With a massive oversupply soon coming on the market.
Remind you of something? LOL
In 1980… (a year a lot of you like to throw out)
Russia was a net seller of precious metals.
China didn’t have a pot to piss in.
India was an economic wreck.
All 3 of these countries have a long heritage of being fond of mellow yellow.
How does that compare to today?
Pawn shops will buy all the gold you have to sell because they know they can buy it below its resale value - has little or nothing to do with expecting it is going higher, and, in fact, people who operate pawn shops on expectations of increases in metal prices are following a dangerous business model.
What is the issue with renting with pets in CA? I have been a landlord and understand how it can beat you up. However, people want you to rent from them. They seem to want bad credit more than an animal. Anyone have an answer.
Also, the rent/lease thing in CA. is getting huge. Renters/leasors are being evicted because the money they gave their landlords is gone and they are being evicted. Good folks too. What is their recourse?
Apologies for double posting: time lag.
jtie (or anyone)-
Any landlord notice any correlation between credit and how people treat the rental with their animals? I would speculate that good credit tends to indicate responsibility, which one would conjecture that the responsibility would spill over to the pet realm.
I watched an exceptionally good film, Glengarry Glenn Ross. I didn’t know “real estate disaster film” could be a genre. I watched it without popcorn. Got whiskey?
Only vino fino.
coffee is for closers!!!
classic film
Ahhh…so I discovered it late. I’d always thought it was about kilts and olden times–or something like that.
Whiskey is for closers.
First prize, a new Cadillac.
Second prize, steak knives.
Third prize, you’re fired!
My WATCH is worth more than your CAR!
The feel-good hit of 1992.
I also really enjoyed “The Match Factory Girl.” Almost as good as the Hans Christien Andersen original Little Match Girl.
Oh, and “Johnny Got His Gun.”
Redundant. But, where is gwynster?
Still here just changed my name >; )
Oh, a play on gas prices I see…
LOL I live in the Sacramento area. Nuff’ said.
It’s a buyers market in Austin.
I own a duplex in Austin. In 2005, I was getting postcards two to three times a week encouraging me to sell. By mid 2006, the postcard mailings had stopped. Yesterday, I got a postcard for a realtor (one of the same that was mailing me in 2005) suggesting that I use their services in this “Buyer’s market”.
The times are a changing.
“I got a postcard for a realtor”
Which makes me think how much fun it could be to reverse the favor and start sending post cards to realtors with little moral sayings on them and pictures of boarded up, dilapidated houses on them. Or, forget the moral sayings. Just some of the idiot quotes by realtors that have been posted on the HBB over the years, superimposed over a particular house. Like, let’s take that Ron Shuffield quote about South Florida operating off a totally different economic model than anyone has seen, and superimpose it over a boarded up crack-shack in Liberty City or some such thing. Maybe we could print the 2005 price, and then what the price would be today.
Desperate measures. You are always astute and funny.
Wow, that is SO funny! I forgot to go to the little Realtor sales pitch last night… I was going to see if I could make them cry and run out of the room. They sent me a card with NAR quotes about renters only having $4K of net worth on avg, and the “throwing money away on rent” line.
I will seriously execute this idea! I’d love to send postcards to the chumps that have filled my mailbox with them over the past few years. I bought some before and it was easy, except it normally came in a quantity of a box of 5000 cards (for less than $200).
$4k? Really? Real estate people seem to want to lump all renters into one group. There’s a large contingent of current renters, who used to be owners, and I suspect their net worth is quite a bit higher than $4k. The key was to know when to get out of real estate.
BTW, thanks Ben.
I actually tried to get the average renters insurance policy value, figuring that would be an easy way to disprove the statistic. While I couldn’t find the insured dollar amount average, I found that only 1/3rd of renters carry insurance. Since they are listing assets in the net worth of the homeowner, they should do the same with renters. I’d imagine when you figure cars and what not it should come out above $4K. But it’s a NAR statistic, and we know they are a bunch of liars so it’s nothing to get too bent out of shape over.
But the flyer I got said stop throwing money away on rent, which is funny. My friends who recently bought a condo that is a bit bigger than my apartment, definitely nicer facility but worse view… they spend about $1200 more a month than me on the mortgage, insurance and condo fees. They put down $20K as well.
This renter is enjoying watching his savings grow. I just hope employment remains steady so I don’t have to use it to cover costs inbetween jobs.
The Bernie count is rising. Is it possible to identify the financial Zombies?
Speaking of Zombies, this song has new meaning now, reminds me of used house salespeople…
Will no one tell me about her?
The way she lied
Will no one tell me about her?
How many people cried.
But it’s too late to say you’re sorry
How would I know, why should I care?
Please don’t bother trying to find her
She’s not there…
An all powerful Fed, or a cat at the top of a pine tree?
‘The risk of losses on U.S. Treasury notes exceeded German bunds for the first time ever amid investor concern the subprime mortgage crisis is sapping government reserves, credit-default swaps prices show.’
‘The U.S. government is not immune from the consequences of the credit crisis,’ said Fabrizio Capanna, BNP’s head of high-grade corporate trading in London. ‘Support for troubled financial institutions in the U.S. will be perceived as a weakening of U.S. sovereign credit.’
I think I know what this means but could somebody explain it simply?
I might try after I get out of this fetal position.
Yikes! We’re doomed!
The Fed looks as though it might be treed at this point.
A cat lost in the forest is trying to escape a bear. So it climbs the nearest tree. The bear is still there, so the cat keeps climbing. It’s a very tall tree so the cat can keep this up a while. But eventually the cat reaches the top of the tree. The bear is still there. Now what can the cat do?
interest rates should go up now.
They are in purgatory.
I’m glad there’s a bits bucket for OT stuff:
March 10, 2008
Bush Reveals Tap Water as Prescription Drug Plan
Hopes Doped Water Will Be His Legacy, President Says
On a day when millions Americans were reeling from the news that there were trace amounts of prescription drugs in their drinking water, President George W. Bush made a stunning announcement at the White House.
“I am responsible for this,” Mr. Bush told reporters. “This is my idea of a prescription drug plan.”
Standing before a banner reading “Prescription Accomplished,” the president said that he hoped providing Americans with free medications via their tap water would prove to be “the finest legacy” of his Administration.
Mr. Bush indicated that America’s drug-laced waters could boost tourism in the U.S., adding that English rocker Pete Doherty was “getting on the next plane over here.”
Across the country, the announcement that President Bush had doped America’s drinking water with dozens of prescription medications drew a variety of reactions.
“It makes me proud to be an American,” said pitching great Roger Clemens.
Responding to the news that she had been imbibing anti-anxiety drugs in her water, New York resident Carol Foyler said, “I’m not worried about it, but come to think of it, I’m not worried about anything anymore.”
But Atlanta’s Tracy Klujian said that he believes all drinking water in the U.S. should come with a warning label indicating possible side effects.
“I had a glass of water yesterday and I had an erection lasting more than four hours,” he said.”
LOL!
Wrap it in an American Flag and the buffoons will fall for it.
It has to be a toxin laden, Chinese made American flag.
“Patriotism is the last refuge for a scoundrel”
Samuel Johnson
Thanks for the first big laugh of the day.
Well, maybe the spiked water does explain why people went off their rocker with the housing boom (just kidding ,wouldn’t want that be be the new defense ).
When you think about it ,the “I was on drugs “,and didn’t know what I was doing ,has become a fashionable defense for “bad acts “in recent years .
Palmetto,
Did this come from your great imagination, or was this borrowed?
The inspiration came from his water tap.
To revive the faltering bottled water industry perhaps flavors of water should be introduced such as “Cannibus”, “Prozac”, “Viagra”, etc.
Combo,
Good one
Hi, San Fran Girl, didn’t see your post as I left the house for the day and just got back. This was an email from a buddy, don’t know where they got it, but I loved it and wanted to share.
Classic. You win the thread.
Maybe Detroit should be renamed Bargain City:
“In Detroit, for example, February sales were up 49.4 percent from a year ago, but nearly 58 percent of the sales involved foreclosed homes, with a median sales price of $10,000. In contrast, the median price of foreclosed homes in February 2007 was $27,000.”
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080312/BIZ/803120364
Buy Detroit. It can only go up.
T*ts up? Yeah, OK. Fo’ shure!
Up in smoke?
The Onion says Detroit should be sold for scrap metal.
So in Detroit are they giving away a house with a new car purchase?
On second thought, that new car might not survive long next to some of those houses.
Rant - If that sick power freak Spitzer doesn’t resign today I’m going to get pissed and hyper.
Supposedly he’s bargaining to keep his law license (i.e., plead guilty to a misdemeanor vs. felony).
I don’t understand what hanging on as governor has to do with plea bargaining - the guy has no shame. I saw Dershowitz last night saying there was no reason he should resign, who then went on to impugn other leaders such as Jefferson and Roosevelt (who he pronounced Rusevelt, like dumb hicks from the south do - what’s with that?) - I’m beginning to really despise Harvard Law School.
Having a fling is not against the law, transferring funds to disguise payments is a 10yr jail sentence. Mr. Spitzer is alleged to have transferred funds to disguise payments.
Prostitution is against the law, and transporting prostitutes against state lines is against federal law. Even if you pay with pocket cash.
Not exactly true, in Rhode Island as long as the prostitutes comes to your house as well as in certain counties in Nevada. Transferring moneys is a federal crime. He never transported the young lady across state lines.
Uh . . . D.C. is in New York state?
It is quite a circus. I am curious about what is going on behind the curtain.
We don’t impeach in this country over sexual peccadilloes.
Illegal transfer of money from one account to another is an outrage here why? Attempted evasion of sales and use tax? Drug Kingpin? Terrorist?
How could he be so stupid to transfer over $10K to get cash for a $5K party? How do we know it is the same cash? Marked bills?
It just doesn’t add up without some motivation to nail this guy that isn’t in the news story.
We don’t impeach in this country over sexual peccadilloes.
Maybe you should change your handle to Blue Dress
oz, that didn’t make sense. You think that because I have a paranoid suspicion of a setup that I should become a transvestite! LOL. I guess I just don’t understand how you do things Downunder.
Clinton was impeached.
Anna,
I didn’t like him either, but I also thought that one was a political lynching.
Clinton was impeached for perjury for lying under oath about matters pertaining to the Paula Jones lawsuit. Also lost his law license for it. Perjury is a big deal in the U.S., and the bigger you are the bigger a deal it is, as Roger Clemens may be getting ready to finding out.
According to Wikipedia (hey, it’s my story I can quote who I want), the Supreme Court has said you can be prosecuted under the Mann act for taking your wife across state lines for immoral purposes.
(OK, he was a bigamist and the bigamy was construed as the immoral purposes… but still!)
I agree. I want Larry Craig and David Vitter;s resignation too. By noon toaday.
Teddy and FDR pronounced their names differently, as they were from different branches of the family tree: Teddy was rose; Franklin was rooz.
I met Dershowitz a few times when i worked at Court TV, he was ok…but not someone i would want to work for.
But Prof. Arthur Miller was incredibly nice and encouraged me to be a Paralegal, he said i should be in his law class. He liked my offbeat angles (alternative viewpoints) and it would stimulate the discussion.
PS……. My cousin works at Harvard Medical doing research on auto-immune diseases linked to asthma.
There really is no $10k limit. Banks are reporting just about any amount these days:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/financial-planning/article/investigators-detect-suspicious-behavior_515683_26.html
When the Argentine Peso went from being @ par to the Dollar, to being worth 1/3rd of a Dollar, just 6 years ago…
Banks there wouldn’t allow people to pull their money out of their accounts.
Bank on this happening, in the Estados Unidos.
Americans are about to get a crash course on hyper-inflation.
he better the gop in nyc will move to impeach
80k on hookers unbelievable
I am assuming he paid for the presumed discretion. Clearly it didn’t work out well for him.
Why couldn’t he just meet a pretty new york single lady and have her sign a privacy contract?
Bill Clinton was a pig as a lover , but I bet spitzer is a sexy lover because he is so intense. This is all so exciting.
Exciting? What ever happened to the repugnancy that comes with moral degradation?
Speaking of moral degradation …
“About 26% of teenage girls in th U.S. are infected with at least one sexually transmitted disease, the CDC said.” - Today’s WSJ, page 1.
No shit, sherlock. If we continue to peddle the idea of “you are going to be a virgin until married and your virgin husband will do you” when we very well know it wont happen, how on earth do we expect them to have a clue to use a contom or practice “sexual discrimination” where partners are screened based on possible risky behavior flags?
80k on hookers unbelievable
If I were Mrs. Spitzer, I’d brand that on Elliot’s crusty behind.
Or tattoo it on his face - then he could join the carnival and forever be known as the “80k on Hookers Man.”
What a crum.
Why are ppl so upset he paid for something in cash rather than using a complex implicit bartering system? Where are the free market ppl?
Spitzer has been an obnoxious, in-your-face, holier than thou, I never do anything wrong, prostitution-busting, arrogant, insulting, pugnacious (if you’re that ugly you become pugnacious - I believe he was a boxer) SOB since he started trying to run NY. His hypocrisy is so over-the-top that there needs to be a new word invented for it, so normal hypocrites aren’t lumped in with him.
“Spitzer has been an obnoxious, in-your-face, holier than thou, I never do anything wrong”
Which is different than Larry Craig castigating gays for years while trolling for gay sex in public bathrooms?
And you wonder why so many refuse to excuse (r) hypocrisy.
exeter - to even bring up some Idaho congressman in the same conversation about a New York governor just shows how rabidly partisan you are. One is in the top 10 of the most powerful people in the country; the other is not in the top 1000. Nobody gives a s#it about Larry Craig; I bet you’d never even heard of him until the incident in the Minn. A/P.
Acceptable behavior for one group, unacceptable for another. Yes. Thank you for the textbook case of the moral hazards of relativism.
Well done.
exeter -
You got a problem understanding English? I never even commented on whether whatever Craig did was acceptable or not. So don’t go making crap up. I never brought party politics into my remarks and honestly never really even thought about or cared about what party Spitzer belonged to. I’ve always thought he was the biggest jerk on the political scene, and I’m very glad to see him gone.
You’re just trolling around the blog, looking to stir up partisan political bickering. You don’t even bother to separate out different people’s comments into what they individually say - you just lump it all together and throw your barbs.
You show yourself to be remarkably unclever with your mocking “Well done.”
So, tell me all about how important Larry Craig is in the life of Americans again and why I should give a rat’s a$$ about him and should ignore anything Eliot Spitzer has done?
Still trying to find some way to excuse one and castigate another aye mate? Someone with a bit more sense would use a more sophisticated approach.
Understood.
there’s already a word, two words, actually - malignant narcissism.
Where are the free market ppl?
I’m here. I have no problem with prostitution (well I do personally but don’t think my personal preferences should be imposed on others) but I also know that position (politically) is a bit like pissing in the wind.
Most “free market people” really aren’t. Kind of like how the Rep party is supposed to be the fiscally conservative of the two. “Free market” is usually code for “what I want right now” and is frequently followed with “with proper regulation” or some such thing.
I think prostitution should be legalized and I do not think there is anything immoral about it. However, Spitzer has been overzealous in his anti-business witch hunts. I find this matter hilarious that he got caught doing something illegal. He paid too much for the girls anyway.
Why Not legalize pot? You know grow your own, then why would the Columbians want to smuggle boatloads into the US?
We could save Tens maybe Hundreds of Millions, by not having the Coast Guard FBI etc, worry abut this and spend the money on finding Osama.
Just make it a mandatory felony to SELL pot……
————————-
Where are the free market ppl?
I can’t grow potatoe sprouts in a jar.
If this guy were a Republican he’d be gone in a micro second.
There is the the tendency is to feel sorry for the wife, but come on, like she hasn’t known this guy was a freakin nut job? She should’ve dumped him years ago, period.
Yeah - he would be gone in a microsecond - just like David Vitter -
Lip has been watching too much Fox news.
If he was a Republican like Larry Craig or David Vitter? Come on, this crap has nothing to do with politcal party.
Then let the same standard hold. If it is acceptable for a US senator to troll for gay sex in public bathrooms (while demonizing gays) then it is acceptable to hire a hooker (Vitter).
You all got me there, I thought Craig had changed his mind and decided to resign, and Vitter, I had never heard of him.
Both should be gone.
And let me add that I hope that Spitzer stays in office as long as these retarded Republicans do.
Since he met “Kristen” on Feb. 13th, I wonder what he did for his wife on Valentine’s Day.
Probably gave her some disgusting disease. The whole thing just makes me want to heave.
The fact that it’s been the whole news cycle, on at least 4 stations, for 3 friggin days, is what’s making me puke.
Yes, he was a naughty, hypocritical man.
Get over yourselves and start producing other news, relevant news, about other things - its not as if the world has stopped turning since he got caught.
What is it with cable news channels? They get their teeth into a story, any story, and we’re all stuck watching the same footage, with the same talking heads blithering on -for days - in lockstep with each other.
(/rant off)
If you read the indictment Kristin said they practiced safe sex.
Kristin wasn’t the only one however.
No, I think high-end hookers are absurdly careful about transmission: who’s going to pay that much for an orgasm if they wind up with an odd unpleasant discharge?
I don’t think high end hookers are absurdly careful about diseases. I know they are. My GFEs insist on using skins, and I respect that.
Well, I’ll admit I’ve never understood it. The whole idea of buying sex-off-a-menu from someone who treats you like a client and who doesn’t want to start out with kissing and holding hands is completely beyond my comprehension. I can’t think of anything more demeaning - for a man.
Paul in Jax—-I was wonderin if you’ve been catching Letterman since this Spitzer story broke. He can’t get away from the subject and his acerbic barbs are sharper than ever!
Paul I have been pissed and hyper since jan. 2nd. My house is very clean these days.
Did anybody hear about Maryanne from Gilligan’s Island?
Maybe the Professor fashioned her a bong out of a bamboo shoot.
The mug shot isn’t pretty, she’s 69 now, but a few years ago she was still a fox.
So sexist
And you are going to look as great at 69? puleeze.
here’s the link
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080312/ap_en_tv/people_dawn_wells_16
She didn’t look too unhappy in her booking photo, lol.
I’m a MaryAnn guy.
Yes, saw her mug shot on TV last night.
What really amused me was that she looked like she cared not one whit that she had just been busted for pot. It almost looked like she’d shared a toke or two with the arresting officers.
You get through your life to age 69 and then BANG what happens, you get drug busted. Gilligan’s Isle must have been one wild place. Makes you wonder what Mr. and Mrs. Howell were into.
Idaho is rebel state.
I love that place.
“Private Idaho” by the B-52’s, is a most excellent rant against the spud state and it’s antiquated marijuana laws…
“Makes you wonder what Mr. and Mrs. Howell were into.”
Ahhhhh….my eyes! Put them out with a stick!
Fed Can’t Fix Home Prices
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120528077518628769.html?mod=todays_columnists
What the Fed, big IBs and a few hedge funds may have missed:
1) All real estate is local (at least so far as what determines fundamental values).
2) Holding on to vacant homes forever is a better way to throw away money than is renting.
3) You can’t sell devalued collateral without first marking the price down to what the market will bear (marking-to-market, as it were).
Letting lenders swap some junk mortgage-backed paper in for treasuries doesn’t really change anything. Just delays, e.g. Thornburg Mortgage bankruptcy.
“The transfer of wealth from the overleveraged banks and hedge funds to those who kept cash handy will be shocking, ugly and catharic …”
There’s that “cash” word again.
It’s worthless paper combo…. buy gold because it always goes up./sarcasm off
This article re-enforces my fear that we are in for a political turning point. Look for a government that has even greater power and is even less tolerant of dissent that it is now. Right now, only the very rich have a voice in government. That is what this article is saying.
Roidy
Long-Term Fears Curb Futures Run
Stock futures retreated from early gains, as concerns about the efficacy of the Fed’s $200 billion capital injection curbed earlier momentum. The Fed’s moves buoyed overseas markets, as financial shares surged in Europe and Asia. 9:06 a.m.
How quaint to discover that WS traders some times think long term.
Bearish sentiment at highest levels since 2002. It will take awhile for people to trust an up move but when it’s embraced, watch out. Be happy. If you have some long exposure, you’ll make some money and it will give a very nice short entry later.
Yeah I notice it’s getting harder and harder to short things these days - no shares available to borrow. Presumably that’s because there are lots more short holdings out there than usual.
Just an anecdotal observation. Not sure if that’s what you meant though.
Every now and then the public is right. Stay careful and keep extra powder.
I caught the pop up, went out to sep on the djx. This is more than a bear market, it’s as close to ‘29 as we can get.
Various articles calling the market bottom here. Remember reading the same crap in 2001, 2002, and 2003.
http://tinyurl.com/yrs5z8
It’s just the charts for me. If 1275 breaks with volume, I have no problem kicking the whole mess out.
We got the 50% retracement off the lows, let’s see if it holds.
I did dump the BIDU for another freaking $35. That sucker has been a gold mine, up and down.
Bidu looks like it might be exiting a small pennant. Thinking about taking it for a test drive. txchick you playing the up/downs with puts/calls?
Just watch the currency market. If the dollar has bottomed (possible) the US stock market can rally, if the dollar continues its slide (possible) the market will tumble through its lows.
Hoz, nobody wants to the dollar to rally more than me. With my usual exquisite timing (uggg) I have a list of Euro denominated purchases I want to make. Some involve PMs too. A lovely toxic combination.
Tx,
Patience fair lady, all good things come to those that wait.
And I have to remind myself of that because I wish to keep hitting the sell button for the bank stocks I covered yesterday morn’, but maybe I can get them off 10 -20% higher. (I will probably be short the financials again by the weekend. Every now and then reality hits the markets.)
You’ve been at this as long as I have but I wouldn’t yet.
That’s just me.
The 5 day BBs say you are right, but the 30 days suggest a bounce to the top and then a ride down the wave.
I was always crappy at any tech analysis. I just look at blocks and the names. e.g. if Vanguard is buying no big deal, if Medallion is buying I don’t wish to sell.
LOL. And remember Fidelity dumping huge chunks of tech stocks at the bear market bottom and buying huge positions like HLTH at 66 in 1999 and early 2000.
Just watch the currency market. If the dollar has bottomed (possible) the US stock market can rally, if the dollar continues its slide (possible) the market will tumble through its lows.
The Trend is Your Friend.. No way to pick this bottom if you are really looking at the charts.
Ok David, What is the currency trend? I’ll tell you if you are right.
A few questions:
1) Does the $200 bn more or less serve as a “temporary-but-potentially-indefinite Superfund SIV”?
2) What happens if the value of the collateral drops once the Fed has it in hand; e.g. will the banks have the option to send the Fed jingle mail?
3) Can the Fed hold REO auctions?
Fed Offers Lifeline for Spurned Debt
The Fed will lend dealers $200 billion in a move aimed at taking difficult-to-trade securities temporarily off their books. The offer is an attempt to counter the recent selling of mortgage-linked securities, but it won’t reverse falling home prices or mounting mortgage defaults.
P.S. For those who don’t take the dead tree edition of the WSJ, this is the headline article.
Think of it as Just in time Accounting.
I was thinking of it as “Off-balance-sheet” accounting.
It’s a direct line to the balance sheet of the Zombie institution. Remove AAA subprime asset. Replace with Treasury. Look at the auction dates and the duration. It’s just in time for CPA reviews.
I don’t see what the big deal is. These were already accepted, it’s just easier:
‘The Fed will let dealers use U.S. agency debentures and agency mortgage bonds, as well as top-rated private label mortgage securities as collateral in the new lending facility. This will be the first time the Fed takes non-agency residential mortgage bonds as auction collateral in its latest effort to add market liquidity. It already accepts this kind of paper as collateral from banks that borrow directly from the U.S. central bank at the discount window.’
‘The Fed said that the private-label MBS it would accept must be AAA-rated and could not be on watch-list for rating cuts. The size of the plan pales in comparison with the mortgage bond markets totaling more than $7 trillion.’
Where was all the hoopla when Fannie and Freddie stopped reporting? We still don’t know about those 1,000+ entities that Fannie has off-shore. What happened to the 1,500 accountants that were working on the companies books? Why were the criminal charges announced in 2004 never publicly resolved?
Folks, all this stuff adds up to trillions and happened over 4 years ago. I covered all of it when this blog had 5 hits a day, or less. I can’t get excited by some paper-pushing maneuver aimed at grabbing headlines.
Ben — Your perspective is always appreciated.
But if 1 lender blows up won’t this undermine the TSLF effort? (mark to market for everybody else)Seems they are rejecting quite a bit of agency and mbs submitted. How will the quality hold up going forward, or do they relax their standards?
The private firm’s version of pushing on a string?
Fannie, Freddie Stock Issues Expected
Investors expect the Fannie and Freddie to issue new stock this year. The question is whether such a move would just dilute existing shareholders or drown them.
The Fed’s actions yesterday indicates we’ve entered a new phase in the Great Unraveling. It’s no longer a liquidity crisis. It’s a solvency crisis. Liquidity is a euphemism for solvency. With this in mind, it’s going to get really silly wacthing CEOs in the financial arena talk about earnings and make denials about solvency and the need to raise additional capital.
“…It does not, therefore, take much of a leap in imagination to suggest that the US banks need to raise well over $100bn in new Tier One capital, and perhaps more than $200bn. They also need to do it in short order, so as to avoid that spiralling destruction of capital.
Those are big numbers. Given that the mark-to-market theology would, without much of a stretch in interpretation, tell you that some major institutions would already have something less than the capital they need to support their business, one might reasonably ask why the investing public would give them more money. After all, you can buy big piles of mouldering securitised paper on the open market, without the management value subtracted offered by the Citigroup board.
The answer is the franchise value of the banks. Because the banks will be given positive yield curves, effective monopolies for making markets in government sponsored securities, and will be cossetted with easier accounting rules in the future, they are gigantic rent-paying machines in a risky age….”
Mr. John Dizard
FT
Mar 9, 2008
http://tinyurl.com/23np4u
Mark to market BKs every major US bank and financial institution.
It has been an insolvency issue since last August. I do not believe that any major player believes that the $1T injected and to be injected by the Federal Reserve can support the $36T in credit swaps outstanding.
CEO conundrum:
- Nobody wants to lend me a dime without charging usurious interest rates.
- If I try to issue new shares, my stock price goes down.
http://tinyurl.com/yrp3fg
Mortgage rates near five month high.
TIPS Yields Acting Like Politicians
The real yield on five-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities has turned negative, which seems to suggest investors are worried about inflation. But it’s too early to say the Fed is losing its inflation-fighting credibility.
(From the linked text): “The real yield on five-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, TIPS, has turned negative for the first time since the Treasury Department started issuing the securities in 1997.”
Another Challenger rally today?
http://www.marketwatch.com/tools/marketsummary/
Bumpy ride in l-t T-bond yields
test
Best of the Bubble Contest….This Just In
One of my favorite Bubble Watch areas is Fort Myers.
Yesterday I discovered a house at 10212 Mimosa Silk Dr. 33919,
sold 12/29/06 for $516,200…… then 12/1/07 for $ $193,000
Quite a haircut……..nice new subdivision….are we there yet???
pull the picture up at http.//www.leepa.org/
–
“are we there yet???”
NO. When we get there no such questions will be asked.
Jas
Sorry, wrong zip……should be 33913
Blunderbuss lending was not contained to subprime:
Banks See Home-Equity Losses Soar
Lenders that avoided blunders on subprime loans are taking a hit from soaring losses on home-equity loans.
Alt-A mortgage losses accelerate, study says
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/alt-mortgage-losses-accelerate-threatening-mbs/story.aspx?guid=%7B7AE4DCF2-44BF-457B-8595-4440243EEA1D%7D
Two different areas of concern with same results.Its just a matter of time.
Here is a nice kick in the groin for housing market bottom callers.
Freddie Mac sees home prices falling further
By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch
Last update: 9:52 a.m. EDT March 12, 2008
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. home prices have much further to fall, the chief executive of major mortgage-buyer Freddie Mac said Wednesday.
“…CEO Richard Syron estimated that housing prices, from peak to trough, have dropped only a third as far as he thinks they’re going to. The McLean, Va.-based company’s expecting a peak-to-trough decline of 15% in all….”
Optimist
Historian
Illinois Tea Par-tay:
Cook tax increase has county border towns steaming:
Palatine looking into ways it can secede from Cook County in wake of new increase
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-tax-protest_both_05mar05,0,2753998.story
Also, as part of the CTA funding agreement reached a few months ago real estate transfer taxes will be rising 40% in Chicago.
The Chicago city council wants to split the burden of the transfer tax between the buyer and the seller. Currently it is the buyer who pays this tax @$7.50 per $1,000. The amount of the increase would be wholly paid by the seller under this proposal.
Big city taxes - gotta love ‘em! I hope all those flippers and yuppies paying half a MM for a box of air enjoy their chance to pony up for that hip urban lifestyle.
“Dollar Falls to Record Low on Concern Fed Package Won’t Succeed”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aLIfNVT7JCZs&refer=home
The EUR is now above 1,55 US $, and still climbing.
The imbalances within the Eurozone already huge and still growing. The spreads among European bonds are frightening. Germans stop lending to Spain.
The Eurozone might break up.
This would be their first major crisis together wouldn’t it? Trial by fire.
Europe is a continent with very different cultures and very different economies.
Germany has always been a country with relatively huge export surpluses. These surpluses have been absorbed by Eurozone countries, but as well by the US, Russia, Arabian countries. Above all, monetary stability is extremely important to Germans.
France and Italy were and still are a bit different. Germany’s gains in productivity used to be offset through inflation and currency debasements in France and especially Italy.
Neither Germany nor the Southern countries have changed. Germany is still becoming more and more competitive compared to countries such as Spain. At the same time, savers did not have very profitable investment opportunities in Germany. After all, Spain offered safe and higher yielding securities. And, the currency risk was gone.
Oh, wait! It’s not gone of course. The trade imbalances are still there, only now the settlements have to happen in the real economy as well, not in the exchange rate.
So, Spain will, learning the hard way, have to increase productivity and / or lower wages and real income. Germany, at the same time, should raise real incomes and wages. The problem is, Germany’s main competitors are Japan and China and the US, and Eastern European countries. Germany does not want to lose competitiveness to these countries.
The Germans who have invested into Spanish securities will pay as well - rising defaults will hit them hard. But, the core of Germany’s economy are SMEs in machine building and other industries. It will be harder for them to get loans, too. The question is, just how hard.
Either, some Southern countries leave the Eurozone, or they adjust, both would be very hard for them.
And Germany? Someone has to absorb all the exports…
So, will Spain and the other countries cope with the hardships to come? Or will they leave the Euro?
I really don’t know, the Europeans seem to be clueless about what is going to happen.
Collateral Damage
By Meyrick Chapman
In some respects cross-border lending is the defining success story of the euro zone, and Germany has been the prime lender. At the moment, however, German money is staying at home. European Central Bank figures suggest a virtual halt in overall cross-border lending. …
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120389536583989181.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
–
Germans will force discipline on Spaniards and other less inclined to discipline, including the various Anglo countries.
Jas
Guernica? Coventry?
Dresden?
Payback is a bitch…….
‘You vill enjoy dis’.
Achtung.
Now if only Spitzer had just gone to Amsterdam or Berlin for a quickie. No one would have known. He vould enjoy.
“Good fences make good neighbors” - Frost
Freddie Mac says U.S. house prices only 1/3 of the way down to the ultimate low.
I can’t find the link now. It’s on the Marketwatch site.
–
That should sink the company, at least the shareholders, no?
If prices fall linearly, say 10-15% a year, the defaults rise exponentially.
Jas
–
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/ceo-says-freddie-mac-sees/story.aspx?guid=%7B4980245A-5B7E-4EA6-B68B-8119100162E4%7D
Freddie Mac sees home prices falling further
By Robert Schroeder, MarketWatch
Last update: 9:52 a.m. EDT March 12, 2008
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. home prices have much further to fall, the chief executive of major mortgage-buyer Freddie Mac said Wednesday.
Speaking to analysts on a conference call, CEO Richard Syron estimated that housing prices, from peak to trough, have dropped only a third as far as he thinks they’re going to. The McLean, Va.-based company’s expecting a peak-to-trough decline of 15% in all.
FRE reported a fourth-quarter loss of $2.5 billion, blaming the weakened U.S. housing market and credit-related expenses.
Shares of the government-backed enterprise rose 3.5% in early trading on Wednesday, to $20.87.
On Tuesday, Freddie Mac’s shares gained nearly 16%, rallying after the Federal Reserve said it would make available to Wall Street institutions and major banks billion of dollar in a move to boost liquidity.
…
Posted above and below…
Sounds about right, although the first 1/3 and last 1/3 are/will be the drawn-out bits. We’re into the steep part of the “backward-stretched-out S” curve right now - I think we’ll have the better part of this next 1/3 done in 12 months and even though I don’t expect house prices to recover at all in the foreseeable future, at least from there on the knife-catching won’t be as treacherous.
David Mamet: Why I Am No Longer a ‘Brain-Dead Liberal’
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0811,374064,374064,1.html/full
Please everyone, read this article. I believe you will agree that most of us agree on about 90-95% of what we all think. That might scare some of you, but IMO its true.
–
I read the first part. The guy is a standard propagandist, if you ask me.
Others wouldn’t miss anything if they don’t want to take the advice to read it.
Jas
“Why I Am No Longer A Brain-Dead Liberal”
Sure, I’ll read that, right after you read this highly intellectual essay entitled “Jesus Freaks Are Morons.” I’ll look for the link.
My dad (a engineer ),use to say that the battle is always between the “haves” and “have not” . Everybody or group is self-serving ,so that is why we have laws ,that need to be enforced, to have some kind of equal playing field in a world where people can get pretty evil sometimes in the “pursuit of happiness “.
For me ,laws or policies that tend to promote one group not being able to step on the toes of another groups rights ,seem to be the ones that have the most value to me . Mass corruption in any playing field can create a lot of damage . Right now this society is experiencing the fall out from a cycle of faulty corrupt lending ,whereby various groups got rich by the corruption and lack of enforcement of the laws .Nobody can say that bad loans were made to advance the American Dream or homeownership ,but it was a ponzi -scheme mania to make easy money on many peoples part . I suspect that the underlying problems that brought this mania on had to do with peoples self-interest in losing buying power and the lack of good jobs in America ,and the lack of people seeing a viable future with the way things were going .Time to solve American problems ,without new bubbles to side-track Americans from real issues .
JJ,
“Standard Propagandist” working for the Village Voice??? The guy had an epiphany about how he’d been brain washed into thinking “liberal good” “conservative bad”. Duh! Life is more complex than that.
I can understand not wanting to read conservative propaganda, but this is liberal propaganda, telling the left that the right’s not all that much different from the left.
In fact, that’s what you guys don’t want to consider, that you actually might be more conservative that you ever thought possible. Scary thought I know.
Jas, by the way, how’s everything in the mountains in CA? There are so many awesome things about your state and its funny how the rest of county thinks. IMO they think all of CA is like Hollywood, wrong, not even close.
Peace all.
If you genuinely meant “peace to all” you wouldn’t be posting the garbage that has nothing to do with HOUSING on a consistent basis.
Ex,
If my posts make you mad or make you think, EXCUSE ME!
I do it in Bits Bucket and I try to bring up subjects that challenge you to think about what you believe. It makes you mad because you’re not used to thinking about what you believe, you feel that you’re right. Fine, don’t think about what you believe and don’t read my posts.
Little “makes me mad”. I merely pointed out the logical fallacy of your post.
Mamet wrote Glengarry Glen Ross and one of the best shyster movies of all time, “House of Games”, amongst his many works.
He has more talent in his little finger, than most of us.
I don’t get it. Uncle Ben is trying to spend his way out of this credit crunch which then drives the dollar lower which then deepens the credit crunch.
Does anyone in DC care about the dollar?
March 12 (Bloomberg) — Drake Management LLC, the New York- based firm started by former BlackRock Inc. money managers, may shut its largest hedge fund after a 25 percent decline last year, according to a letter to investors.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ah0mwgmwika8&refer=home
Do any of you short sellers have huge tax payments this year?
Did you set money aside to pay?
I love making $ and I hate paying tax.
This is my season to fall apart.
Annie, I love paying taxes. Why last year I made sure I paid as much taxes as i could so that I did not have to worry about the tax increase when it comes.
Every year and every year I make them work for every $ of payment.
Are your estimated taxes increasing?
Yeah, my mom always says I should be happy I get to pay taxes.
Thanks Hoz, I won’t be such a baby.
i have an idea. how about we walk away from paying taxes just like people are walking away from their mortgage. What would happen if the same thing happen for paying taxes en masse ? I doubt the IRS would be able to handle it.
You go first.
lol
Pay taxes, I don’t pay taxes!! Wesley Snipes and Leona Helmsley told me I didn’t have to!!
Taxes are for the masses not for me!!
I picked up not paying from Peter Schiff’s dad.;)
“The Fed’s actions yesterday indicates we’ve entered a new phase in the Great Unraveling. It’s no longer a liquidity crisis. It’s a solvency crisis.”
Right, and if all major financial institutions are insolvent, should the government:
a) Just allow them all to shut down.
b) Have the government take them all over, or
c) Do a back door nationalization in which the government lends them money they cannot repay, rolls over the debt so that in a future recovery taxpayers will have first claim on future profits even as the insitutions remain privately run?
The New York Sun suggests we are slouching toward c), if not intentionally having c) as a worst case scenario policy.
http://www.nysun.com/article/72721
Regardless of the right course, the government needs a plan to cover the downside, however likely or unlikely it is. If the “masters of the universe” had one we wouldn’t be in this mess.
Good read . The Feds loaning money to banks , based on known bad loans ,is no different than giving a loan to a sub-prime borrowers who will never repay or can’t . Are the Feds talking a gamble that the market will bounce back up and eventually these junk loans will be good and the taxpayers will take this risk . The fact that the FEDS have never done anything like this is the clue that it’s a bail-out. .Combine this Fed play with the fact that the underwriting on the government sponsored loans are starting to get creative, you should just have a big headline ,MASSIVE BAIL OUT FOR BANKS ON THE TAXPAYERS DIME ,TAXPAYERS ARE NOW THE SUB-PRIME LENDER OF CHOICE .
When e-mail responding to Craigslist rentals of late, I’ve been receiving this automatic response:
“This house is actually behind on payments (in pre-foreclosure) and you can see it at http://www.preforeclosuresearcher.com. It is listing number xxxxx. All details about the house are found on the site as well as pictures. It is available for takeover, just fill in your information on the right hand side.”
You should send that to abuse@craigslist.org if you have time.
Thanks Tx!
I’ll take care of that.
March 12 (Bloomberg) — Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., the world’s biggest poultry processor, will close a U.S. chicken-processing plant, six distribution centers and cut 1,100 jobs because of surging feed costs that have put the industry into “crisis.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=axGaGV2QF_BM&refer=home
And the chickens rejoiced…. One has to wonder how well business really was before the downturn.
Im glad I switched to brown rice last month.
I am sure that very shortly Americans will be eating Chinese chicken.
Gives new meaning to the phrase “free-range chicken”.
Totally OT, but I’m genuinely curious about this:
It would appear that hedgies may be speculating in oil to offset recent lo$$e$ elsewhere. Our own Mr. Cheney is in Dubai (Halliburton now owes its tax obligation to Dubai now, not the IRS,) and rumor has it that the Emirates are about to depeg from the USD.
TS Paulson is set to address Wall Street tomorrow.
So, anyone care to venture a guess as to what His Blinkiness will say?
You mean we have more carnage coming up?
I thought it was over yesterday.
carnage a$ada
Cheneys’ cover story was the peace process! Dollar is doomed.
Greenspan gives green light to depeg
By Frank Kane on Wednesday, February 27 , 2008
http://www.business24-7.ae/cs/article_show_mainh1_story.aspx?HeadlineID=2927
Gee, if you are a real person and change citizenship to avoid taxes, the IRS can still require your taxes for up to 10 years.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/12/cramer-chokes-up-over-pal_n_91121.html
Love the Google ad too:
http://www.squeezeshirts.com/ViewProduct.aspx?product=Eliot_Spitzer_Client_9_T_Shirt&gclid=CNq256uLiJICFQJgxgodIAObEw
Nice: “This shirt is perfect for those who love to pay for sex, send dirty text messages, and blow smoke up the entire state of New York’s ass.”
Cavorting with prostitutes is the least of Spitzer’s crimes. It is nothing compared to his blocking of an independent 9/11 investigation (with subpoena power) in 2004 when that is clearly what the people of new york wanted.
Maybe they should have had hookers deliver the petition requesting Spitzer to investigate the crimes when he was AG.
And what’s up with his wife not wanting him to quit?? Is she just a junior witch???
“I have 22 pairs (croc’s) of them and hardly ever wear anything else”
Texchick, yep and they’ll be even better as you enter old age. Have relatives that bought them for older relations with incontinence. After they wet them just take them outside and hose them off. Heehee.
yuck.
Why does blumenthal look like spitzer?
Eliot, or Silda???
I found this intro to economics education program on the NYS fed reserve site. I’m gonna do it w/the kidlets. Thought some other parents on here might find it interesting.
Warning: pdf file
http://www.newyorkfed.org/education/econexjrnl.pdf
Great find CarrieAnn. Thank You.
Spitz resigned.
Hope he had a good time with the whores because I’ll bet it’s a cold day in hell before he gets any again.
He and BC should start a support group for pols who got caught with their zippers down.
Diamonds Are Forever.
Perhaps he hadn’t been getting any (or of any quality) for some time prior.
I wouldn’t be too sure about that.
Easy Come, Easy Go
by M. Haggard
1. Shake up yourself
You’re not the big man any more.
Pick up the pieces
You left lying on the floor.
She’s up and gone, you’re on your own,
Better act your age ‘cuz by now you oughta know
It’s hard my friend, but it’s easy come and easy go.
Diesel at $4+.
http://truckinginfo.truckmiles.com/page.asp?pg=FuelPrices.asp
“Diesel at $4+”
Everything you touch from food,clothes electronics,paper,building materials,furniture is hauled by a truck at least once or twice.Not to mention moving costs for all those moving at the moment.Fuel surcharges are added to everything.
This is the economic # that is being ignored right now.
Its an economy killer.
Stock Rally Runs Out of Gas as Oil Tops $110
http://www.cnbc.com/id/23593252
So maybe the magic # was $110.
First time its been the headline above the market on the front page.Its been listed daily but not on top of the market story for the day.
An hour later this was posted………
Where Is The Economy’s Breaking Point?
http://www.cnbc.com/id/23598210
The world is not running out of oil. The world is running out of cheap oil. But…we may as well think we are running out of oil anyway! Many bloggers here, although educated about the overpriced houses, are still in denial that we have a huge energy crisis nearing soon.
Bill - how about a prediction on prices of (1) oil, (2) gasoline, and (3) natural gas for, say, 1 and 5 years from now, in current dollars? Seriously, would be interested in your best guess.
Will check back in the a.m.
Humboldt: $650,000 for 900 sq ft 1 bath 1 br in Trinidad
Comical!
Considering that this mansion: http://tinyurl.com/2hhlux, also on couple of acres goes for only 50K more. Asking.
Land in Trinidad ain’t that valuable.
http://tinyurl.com/2hhlux : Mansion - also in Humboldt - for about the same price.
Sorry if double post…
Like I’ve said often, Humboldt county California IS the MOST OVERPRICED in the state. I can’t believe how expensive it is there, now about the same as San Diego county. And, unlike most of the state, it hasn’t fallen in price.
I am seeing alot of listings worded as follows.
“Seller will entertain offers between $299,990-$377,990.
Now in a boom I can understand that but in this market? They sound like they expect a ton of offers.I guess they wont take $298,000.
Am I missing something here?
It is called a range offer. The seller is willing to sell at $300K to an individual that is offering CASH close and is willing to take $378K to someone that needs 100% financing. By doing this type of listing it hits multiple listings for an individual that wants to spend no more than 300K as well as the indivdual looking to spend up to 375K.
Thats kinda what I figured but wasnt quite sure.Didnt know the term.It just seems there are alot more of those lately.
Thanks….
So, someone with CASH gets a $78,000 discount to someone who needs FINANCING?
Wow, cash REALLY IS king!
“…But falling home values are leaving banks with little or nothing to collect on many home-equity loans in case of default. Some stretched borrowers are keeping up with their mortgage and credit cards — but not their home-equity loan.
The problems are already causing trouble for J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co., and are expected to hit other large banks when first-quarter earnings results are released next month. The pain is likely to deepen through the rest of 2008, sapping capital levels and resulting in tighter lending standards as banks try to reduce their risk.
“”These losses are well beyond what we would have modeled…and continue to get worse,” said Charles Scharf, head of J.P. Morgan’s retail business….”
WSJ
http://tinyurl.com/2qno2a
I love the friggin models they use. Sayonara Wells Fargo and Bank of America and Morgan. Bad enough that you were involved in over 80% loans, now you have the largest number of defaulting 2nds. That will make the CDO debacle look like a cake walk.
this to me is a shocker. jim crammer was telling his fans to buy Humana in sometime in febuary, in fact he had the ceo on the phone pumping up the company. i am not an avid watcher of his show, but that night i watched for about 8 minutes. i do not know if he told them to sell or not, but look at what is happening with their books and stock. what a shame! anyone looking for stock picks i wouldent trust his judgement.
Humana slides again on profit warning
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/humana-warns-profit-shares-slide/story.aspx?guid=%7B9E869581%2D8233%2D42FF%2DB781%2DB442719AE8CD%7D&siteid=yhoof
Put some more debt on the fire,
load me up some treasuries and GSEs,
Go over to the bank and perspire,
watching my stocks drop into the low teens.
Benny, sell my gold and then go buy some silvers,
Buy me another car of beans.
Put some more debt on the fire, Ben,
Come and tell me how you’re saving me.
Don’t I let you play with hookers on Sunday ?
Don’t I warn you when its time to raise the tax ?
Ain’t I gonna show you derivatives some day ?
Well, a man can’t help a banker more than that.
Ain’t I always nice to your brokers,
Don’t I let ‘em fill my orders every day ?
So look here at my debt because I like you when you sweat
And you know that my margins a fright.
Put some more debt on the fire
From Sub-Prime to Prime-Time—A Debate On the Current Financial Crisis
Will the sub-prime crisis catapult into a full-fledged financial crisis? Are lower interest rates and fiscal stimulus the right medication? These issues will be the central focus of “From Sub-Prime to Prime-Time? A Debate On the Current Financial Crisis,” sponsored by the Program in Economic Policy Management (PEPM) 85 min debate Feb 28
SIPA
Columbia University
http://tinyurl.com/2kfmm6
The not ready for sub-prime time players?
Dont we really have this wrapped up nice and tidy.
FED cut should dissapoint Mr. Equity market, but only because dollar crisis is imminent, flush the system (and the chumps), consolidate the banking sector, if the dollar moves higher it will drag the equities along with it, spank oil and gold prices, and get out in FRONT OF THE BOND MARKET…. allow the strong buyers to buy the equities market.
The only bad move(s) by the FED were the emergency cuts, poor plays sir, poor play. Failures must occur. But the dollar in all its conceptual framework should not fail. That failure would trigger zero hour…the destruction of fiat in this example, would alter the course of history.
Voz,
Are you drinking that Pale Ale again? lol - you know it drives you goofy!
Failing is OKie dokey, but mass failure is not OK. At this time the Federal Reserve is trying to prevent mass failure. The first efforts as we know, were to lower rates. Then through the TAF auctions to suck up a couple of hundred billion in bank crap. This failed. Now through absorbing a couple of hundred billion more from Wall Street hopefully this will get money moving. The ECB kicked in a few hundred billion (500B), Bank of Japan is buying dollars.
The Federal Reserve has one other possible tool, nationalize the banks. (There is a sound argument that this is what the Federal Reserve is currently doing.)
thanks for talking me down, Hozzie. for a second there it made sense.
orderly selling. roger that.
you know why coors Light is like sex in a canoe?
its f*ckin close to water.
apologies to Client niner.
Given the current plan of action for our governement, is to cover up a mess, with another one, and Admiral Fallon resigning over his comments about Iran…
How much longer before ’ssshrubery & corp. attack?
A premeditated black swan event, is likely.
you imply that Iran is a target, not on my watch.
Not only is it a target, but because we have no military to spare, the attack will re-open the Pandora’s Box, closed in August of 1945.
not gonna happen mister.
and Im a tin foil super collander kinda mope.
I’m skeptical.
From Reuters:
Valero the largest refiner in the United States has slightly reduced gasoline production from its refineries due to recent negative profit margins in the Upper Midwest. Valero has had to obtain additional lines of credit as crude oil prices catapult to new records.
“$110 oil is clearly stretching our working capital,” Klesse said. “We are still buying the same amount of oil, but with the price, we are exceeding our credit limit.”
I suspect expensive credit is the real cause for negative profit margins. Seems like it would be a no-brainer to buy crude at $110/barrel, refine it & sell gas at $3.45/gal and diesel at $4.00.
Found on the treasurydirect web site:
A couple of ING NZ funds stopped redemption yesterday, to the tune of NZ $520 Million. 8,000 investors in New Zealand are in deep kimchee.
There are dozens of similar funds here, all offering obscene interest rates of 9 to 11% on your money.
It’s their August 2007, Bear Stearns moment.
This country is truly a canary in a coal mine.
AHEAD OF THE TAPE
Mind the Gap: Home-Price Downside
By SCOTT PATTERSON
March 13, 2008
The economic balance hangs in large part on how much further home prices will fall. A look at one important measure — the relationship between home prices and household income — suggests we might not even be halfway there.
ARMs: Only the risk-tolerant need apply
They’re still useful, but history is proving the pitfalls
By Jennifer Waters, MarketWatch
Last update: 7:39 p.m. EDT March 12, 2008