Bits Bucket And Craigslist Finds For April 10, 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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Where is everyone?
Mining for gold. Everyone knows gold always goes up.
They are mining less.
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/degraaf/degraaf040908.html
No, the Dollar always goes up. LOL. Get in there and prop the buck, you and Prof bear.
I saw a story on CNBC on Tuesday about that. They were talking about how individuals are doing more panning for gold (high price and all that). So the reporter interviewed someone who was panning for gold. His day job? Mortgage broker.
I staked out a few claims (costs around $250 and time) a while back with the idea of flipping them when gold prices went higher. I think it’s just about time to sell them on eBay and see if I can turn a profit
COMEX June Gold 2008
Last trade 932.4 Change -5.1 (-0.54%)
Settle Time 13:38
Open 937.5
Previous Close 937.6
High 943.4
Low 925.4
Volume 111,122
jeez, I just put up the post 4 minutes ago. Have you been up all night?
considering his name he should have known when the post went up
LOL
Hahahaha! Funny.
Yes, mining for gold!
It only goes up. Errr…. except today.
Feel free to double down your short GCM8’s.
Ben,
Sorry if this is a duplicate, but there was an interesting story on NPR on Wednesday. They found some seemingly honest ex-mortgage brokers:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89505982
An Industry Riddled with Fraud
Anthony Narag worked as a loan officer for several different mortgage brokerage outfits in Southern California. He says everybody in the industry knew there was fraud all over the place: “It’s almost like baseball with steroids. They knew about it, but they didn’t do anything about it.”
makeschips
Middle Class Squeeze…
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/09/national/main4005101.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4005101
‘Still, over a span of a generation, it’s been a pretty good run, even as there are some recent pressures that I think people are feeling,” he said.’
Let’s all show our age and compare the time in which we grew up with the current times. We had nothing. We had big families. We had one car. We wore, oh my gosh, “hand-me-downs”. We didn’t have cell phones at age 12. We didn’t have glass backboards. Our parents didn’t swim in a pool of credit card debt. A Chevrolet Chevette was just fine, even for one of the wealthier families on our block.
The biggest change has been the size of families since the 1970s. In a bigger family you typically had less but valued it more. Now little Britney and Dylan have to be lavished with everything that mommy and daddy can throw at them.
Today’s “middle-class”, whatever that term might even mean, is spoiled rotten. Twenty five years of excessive debt has wiped away a lot of this nation’s character. If we are fortunate, the coming storm may just rebuild some of that character.
If we are fortunate, the coming storm may just rebuild some of that character.
I’ve become convinced that ‘building good habits’ is the up side of a recession.
Got Popcorn?
Neil
What I try to explain to my children is that most of the items being pushed to them via commercials are manufactured in China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, etc., and oftentimes the people making the toys and so on are in fact children themselves who are working in slave-like conditions.
I think they get the basic “made by slaves” part of the argument.
Plus I turn off the TV at every opportunity. Basically whenever it is left alone for 30 seconds or more.
We had a 76 Chevette, it lasted 158.000 miles and was one of the best cars we ever had. Silver, with red vinyl as I recall.
Had a new 77 Pinto when I got my first job out of college, worst pos I ever owned. Died at 65k miles.
Parents helped me buy a used Chevette when I turned 16 so I could get to work @ the family Machine Shop. It was yellow with Brown racing stripes, just hideous. But I was so proud and loved it. Lotta good times in that car
I don’t miss the American cars of the late ’70s to mid ’80s at all. Not exactly Detroit’s Glory Years.
(I had an early ’80s Chevy Citation that drove like a big marshmallow. POS.)
Tell us more about the “good times”. LOL
In the olden days we didn’t drink water. When we got thirsty we had to drink things lemonade, soda, and slurpees. The weakest member of the tribe was forced to manually change the channels on the TV. We rode bikes made of steel. Healthy food was things like Wonder bread and Slim Jims. Children could get a good whacking in public with the approval of observers. The commies were bad, America was good, and the CIA had yet to invent AIDS. And strangely enough, houses were affordable.
My family had two Chevettes, a 1980 and a 1986. I drove one or the other until my mid-twenties, when my grandparents gave me an old, yet pristine, Buick Century. I drove the Buick until I was almost thirty. Now my spouse and I share a used Subaru Outback. For us, the car is a necessary evil. It’s simply convenient transportation, not a lifestyle.
i don’t believe any of the “spoiled rotten” rants. things will change, people will change with them, young old, americans, europeans, there’s nothing inherent in character. necessity will change it.
My sister and I had a late 70s Chevette as well. It was a totally POS. Brown with gold interior. The highlights that I remember were having the vinyl seats crack into hundreds of small pieces on a cold morning (and me having to sew them up), and the cable that attached to the clutch fraying one day. Ahh, the glory days of American automotive engineering. The car also had pretty bald tires which made for an amazing ability to slide around snowy parking lots.
“The weakest member of the tribe was forced to manually change the channels on the TV.”
As the youngest (and dumbest) my brothers would always make me be the one to go stand next to the television whenever we got that pesky “please stand by” message.
You people are so soft. In my day we walked to school barefoot, uphill both ways, and in snow drifts that chiiluns got lost in. In the summer we had no a/c. Bicycles. Huh, we made our own from steel we cut with our bare hands.
Wimps!
He that’s content, hath enough; He that complains, has too much. -Franklin
Nothing topped our AMC Pacer! (well, maybe the Gremlin, but the Pacer was the greatest cruising vehicle because one could see everything inside of that fishbowl.)
We let carrots grow up before we ate them (no baby carrots). And we had to strip ‘em naked ourselves.
We lived 8 to a 800 sq. foot house, located under power lines. My dad Skip used to call us “Mr. Stupid-Head” when we’d get the Frisbee caught in the metal towers. Our family pet was also a filling meal. Did I leave anything out?
Where I grew up, they eventually tore our house down to build a ghetto.
Right. But, our parents had one job, or at least mine did.
One thing I’m conscious of is not living a lifestyle my children will be able to replicate easily. That’s why we don’t have cable TV or AC, and they brown bag their lunch. Wouldn’t want them to feel a loss and borrow to get it back.
The coming pain is well timed for them.
Same here, my son has all of the neccesary requirements - good education, good manners, good healthcare, good living conditions, and most importantly - IMHO - a good work and savings ethic. I always make sure he knows that he is incredibly fortunate to have what he does. We have tried hard to instill in him the idea that if you have everything you actually need, and some of what you want, you are doing VERY well in this world. Hopefully it all sticks…
Thanks WT and Jwhite,
It’s so good to see that attitude put into words. We have tried to do a similar job w/our children. But our attitudes are so markedly different than what’s around us as a family and them in the schools. Sometimes I forget to feel good about what we’re doing while my best friends are all getting their teeth done and their tummies tucked.
(What’s wrong with the gym, I ask? Good for your tummy and your heart!)
The GYM???? Why mess around with something so antiquated and DANGEROUS when all you need is $5000 and a scalpel????? It’s a difficult attitude to overcome isn’t it? It’s very prevalent in my stratified little town where everybody who makes over XXXXX knows each other and only associates with each other. Keep up the good work!
You are equating being poor with being virtuous. It sounds a lot like class warfare rhetoric. Poor people good, rich people bad. People with big houses or nice cars must be in debt up to their eyeballs. And if your parents are rich then you grew up a spoiled brat. It’s generalizations and stereotypes. And it’s BS.
I grew up in the 80s. My father owned his own business that employed 75 people at its peak. My parents drove luxury European cars….back when they were actually made well and not the junk that passes for a Mercedes these days, but I digress. We lived in a fairly big house, with cable and oh my gosh a/c and sit down for it…. a pool (GHASP!!). My sister and I both went to private schools (I know, the horror!!). My dad sold the business 8 years ago. My parents have no debt, house is paid for, as is their vacation home where they spend their summers.
I wasn’t spoiled. My parents bought me a used car in high school. But I had to pay for my own insurance and gas as well as any repairs/maintenance. I worked part-time since I was 14 years old. And so did my friends growing up.
Today I earn a good living and I am debt free. I can’t remember the last time I paid interest on a credit card. But I do enjoy life. I own a sports car, but my daily driver is a 15 year old Japanese econobox that’s hanging on by a thread. Both bought with cash. My wife and I go out for dinner at the trendy, overpriced restaurants but we’ll hit a Chili’s or Outback Steakhouse too. We’ll go camping one weekend and spend $50 for the whole trip and next we’ll go spend $250 a night for a hotel.
It’s all about balance. Living like a pauper and depriving yourself of basics like a/c - when you can afford it - makes about as much sense as living the bling/H2/heloc lifestyle when you can’t.
“if you have everything you actually need, and some of what you want, you are doing VERY well in this world.”
Good comment, Jwhite.
And time, yes, that’s the big one. I consider myself very lucky to have lots of free time. Of course, I could be using it to make money… but instead I savor the freedom. Life’s too short, no matter how old you are when you die.
Thought I’d chime in about my 10 yr old son’s upbringing without television drumming into his head that creation of need. Instead he spends his time reading books and comics, playing piano and engages in imaginary games amongst a host of other things. When I see kids mesmerized by the monotonous drone of the television I am glad that my family is free of that time suck. Watching TV is akin to somnambulism and a means of social control by the PtB. Don’t get me wrong we do rent movies, its the commercial infonews and entodrone that we stay far away from.
“We make ourselves rich by making our wants few.”
- Henry David Thoreau
Yup. Class Warfare. Why did the wealthy elite declare it? Greed.
Melvin Frumph Hoppe,
we’re the same regard to TV. Our daughter is 11 and just now it’s becoming a social issue for her. She’s getting tired of all the “I can’t believe you don’t have TV” comments and really feeling left out when she doesn’t know what kids are talking about regarding favorite idols, who was cut from what show, etc. Any ideas on helping her deal with that?
Sure. Get a TV and moderate what she watches. There are many educational shows on TV. You have reverse snobbery……………:-)
My husband and I come up w/a different compare and contrast story.
In the 70s, my husband had the large home, his Dad drove an Audi and his Mom some big giant thing. In the summer they left town and spent the entire school break at their cabin on the lake. Waterskied every day, had cousins and friends up to visit. Snow skied in the winter. Oh yeah, Dad retired at 55. Although he did run a seasonal business out of his home for years. My husband refers to that time in his life as “The Brady Bunch” years and not ’cause he was watching the show. Life was damn sweet! (Parents put together a nice comfortable retirment too.)
My family lived a bit more modestly. But we had our boats and the boys had their motorcycles. My Mom didn’t work until the 4th child was in school but meanwhile drove a big gas sucking Chevy behemoth. Dad was self employed and drove his car as part of his business but since he practically lived in it it was tricked out w/every possible extra. My bro’s friends used to drool over Dad’s wheels. He also was affectionately known as “Inspector Gadget” because he had to own every new cool item to hit the markets.
We went to the beach every nice summer day until we took on jobs at 15 to pay for college. If we wanted to join a sport team or club we did it without budget worries. We lived in a tourist area and went for the cheaper beach shack food but did go out often.
My husband and I, despite being armed with more schooling, don’t live that way at all. We have one car (although he drives a company car for work) Even camping seems to drain our finances as too many sites are set up for the “condo campers” and feel the need to provide the kids w/arcade games and sometimes even a Disney like experience. With $50-$70/night site fees, my tent collects dust downstairs. We only go out for dinner when schedules get nutty.
I’d trade my kids 2 ipods and the Wii (that g-parents gave for Christmas) for that camp on the lake w/the waterski boat any day. But of course that’s not apples to apples. I’m not sure how anyone suggests a few toys ever could be.
Camping: We go for state parks and national forests, and we hit the most basic of the campgrounds. The only facilities we really look for are picnic tables and toilets. Oh, and “No RV camping” signs are a welcome sight as well.
Showers nearby are a nice bonus, but not required. Some of the national forest campgrounds are less polished, but they are always cheap.
Then again, we never do the beach thing; those campgrounds are usually painfully expensive (see Bahia Honda in the Keys for example… ouch!).
And if you are up to it, primitive hike-in camping is great — and cheap. We used to do a lot of that, especially in places like West Texas, but with toddlers in tow it’s not so good anymore.
RE: his Dad drove an Audi and his Mom some big giant thing. In the summer they left town and spent the entire school break at their cabin on the lake. Waterskied every day, had cousins and friends up to visit. Snow skied in the winter. Oh yeah, Dad retired at 55.
My Dad had his pelvic region shattered by the shrapnel from an 88mm cannon shell shot by a German Tiger 1 tank he was trying to take out with a bazooka during a scuffle between the Waffen Panzer Laher SS & his 11th Armoured Division in a small town outside Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. He was 22.
He then spent 3 years in an army VA re-hab hospital trying to recover.
Despite an MBA from Harvard Business School he never owned a camp on a lake or a truck with fancy wheels.
But he did get a Bronze Star for his efforts against the German Tiger.
He saved every dime he ever earned in case he died unexpectedly and left my mother a widow.
He retired at age 66 and died of war related injuries at 84.
I thank you for your father’s sacrifice for our country, hd74man. It may make you feel better to know my fil served his (4?) years in Tripoli during the Korean War. He stays in close touch with his war buddies and supports veterans’ organizations.
NoVa, I enjoyed your response re the national forests. Being a VT/NH girl, I grew to love the outdoors in our national forest parks. My favorite was Rangely Lake in ME where the the park dropped us off on an island for 3-4 days. We watched a lot of wildlife that weekend and my friend made me a birthday cake w/steam in her dutch oven.
I’ll have to do my research specific to the national parks again since your post reminded me I’d forgotten where that cheap camping was. (I’ve done Bahia Honda as a day trip as Bro lived on Islamorada—what a beautiful place, huh? I was always too nervous of the scorpions and rattlesnakes to camp there.)
Oh yeah, the fil had the camp because his Dad built it himself and it was passed down. (Probably originally purchased in the 40s or 50s. I can only imagine how cheap that property was back then.)
Carrie, if you can, contact me via my webpage.
I’m a camper and a state park volunteer. I miss the days when I could load up the car with a tent, bag, and cooler and stay at the local park (about 45 mins drive) on Saturday, no reservation, for $10. Now the fees are $22, it’s always full with huge RVs, and everything must be reserved online with at least a day notice, removing any spontaniety. Thankfully, the national forest is close and offers cheap or free camping away from the RV mecca.
Large RVs are something I don’t understand. If you’re going to pay that much to own + gas + $22-50 a night to park it, just to sit inside in the AC and watch TV, why not stay at the Hilton and get a free breakfast? The Hilton is cheaper.
oh God, Bahia Honda, don’t remind me. Girl Scouts trauma–it’s all coming back. Growing up in south Florida made me hate camping. I only got over it when I moved west.
hd74man,
hey, read your post re your dad, and saw Bastogne. My dad was there with the 101st airborne…On his first trip back to Europe with my mom, one of his first stops was the military cemetary,though I’m not sure which one, to look up the names of lost friends, and be sure their graves were tended and the names were spelled right. And I’m sure, to pay his respects.
saw the funniest thing on 75 in Sarasota. A huge RV towing a hummer. Talk about gas mileage.
taxes as % of gdp have almost tripled since 1947
mothers now have to work- that’s our great leap forward
And the money has gone where — senior citizens, for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid.
For better or worse, the care of the eldery has been socialized at a time of increasing lifespans and health care spending.
taxes as % of gdp have almost tripled since 1947
You couldn’t be more wrong.
Total US taxation (all levels) in 2004 was 26% of GDP.
In 1947 it was 22%.
See for yourself:
http://www.urban.org/publications/1000556.html
Oh one more thing - corporations and the rich paid a much bigger share of the taxes back then, so the burden on the middle class has indeed risen higher than those numbers would indicate.
Correct Yogurt. And heres another sunshine fact that makes the rats scurry back into the dark. The wealthy have never paid a smaller percentage of their wealth in total taxes than the do today in 2008. And the non-wealthy have never paid MORE in total taxes as a percentage of their income than they do today. The wealthy declared war on the non-wealthy and shifted their burden to to those who can least afford it.
And let’s not forget the inflation tax on the working class as well. When you’re making a few tens or hundreds of millions of dollars a year, inflation is meaningless. But when you’re working at one of our “new and exciting service sector” jobs - aka, minimum wage, no benefits, the future of American employment - that inflation is a killer.
But all is well since inflation in food, energy, and even houses is not recorded in the CPI, so it must not be happening! Right…
What are you people talking about? The top 1% pays 30% of all federal taxes. Top 10% pays 70% of taxes.
The bottom 50% pays a whopping 3% of federal taxes.
You’re right it is very unfair to have 50% of the country living off the work of the other 50%…and on top of it complain that they don’t get enough.
Laugh.
I read Exeter’s post and thought, “Manny’ll jump on that like a horsefly on a glistening turd.” And then I scrolled down …
I’m glad Manny’s here to remind us of how magnanimous and long-suffering the rich truly are.
(Not that I think your post is a turd, Exeter. My infantile brain works poop into my metaphorical musings whenever humanly possible.)
lmao. But ET….. Manny was promised that someday he’ll be rich if he just works a little harder….. and he was dumb enough to believe it. In the meantime, he slaves away for a wages like everyone else. But I’ll repeat the Fact again just to remind everyone…
The wealthy have never paid a smaller percentage of their wealth in total taxes than the do today in 2008. And the non-wealthy have never paid MORE in total taxes as a percentage of their income than they do today.
Glad I could entertain. You of course didn’t comment on the fact that 50% of the population lives off the work of the other 50%. I know pesky facts like this get in the way of a good ‘the rich don’t pay their share’ diatribe spewed by the left, so I understand.
The rich. Sure, the old rich don’t have to worry. Like a Kennedy or Bush will ever be caught driving an UPS truck delivering packages for $35 an hour while trying to raise a family and pay even a modest mortgage.
Just go away. And don’t get me started on the 50% deal. If I make 25 million a year, sure 50% means I still kepp 12.5 million. 25% to a guy making 60K means he gets 45K to keep. Remember, it is like inflation you can make so much that it doesn’t even matter. Heck, if I make 100 million and taxes take 99%, I still keep 1 million, or, almost 20K a week. Geez. I just get so pissed.
Part of the problem is that most of these rich people provide no real product or service of value. Yes, many do, but there is also a lot of old rich and gambling rich. Even Gates wasn’t the sole brain behind MicroSoft.
“The wealthy have never paid a smaller percentage of their wealth in total taxes than the do today in 2008. And the non-wealthy have never paid MORE in total taxes as a percentage of their income than they do today.”
You do realize you are comparing wealth and income right?
“The wealthy have never paid a smaller percentage of their wealth in total taxes than the do today in 2008. And the non-wealthy have never paid MORE in total taxes as a percentage of their income than they do today.”
That’s just about meaningless without understanding context. Be honest. Government spending has grown significantly as its powers and responsibilities have grown. Middle and lower-class spending/entitlement programs have balloned the cost of government, in response to the wants of the people. Government had to go elsewhere to find revenue as the “rich” can only pay so much of their income before the economy is negatively impacted. Therefore, first the middle class got taxed then the poor through lotteries (at the state level). Turn the clock back to a 1950 budget, deduct for the Cold War peace dividend, and I bet you’ll find that 90% or more of Americans would no longer have to pay income taxes to support federal spending. Even with an Iraq war.
I get ticked when folks talk about who pays what share of the tax burden when the issue is always and eternally SPENDING beyond our tax revenue and then pols DIVIDING us with CLASS WARFARE to create undesireable groups who get saddled with the next tax increase. The rich may pay less of the total than before, but that in no way means that they don’t pay ENOUGH or even TOO MUCH. It just means more of us in lower income levels have been INVITED to pay more and more taxes to support the spending that WE CANNOT DO WITHOUT.
“It just means more of us in lower income levels have been INVITED to pay more and more taxes”
Thank you for establishing that fact. But nobody every asks why the contributions by the wealthy haven’t gone up proportionally to the unwealthy. The fact is contributions by the wealthy have gone down proportionally.
My father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. My mother was a fifteen year old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. My father would womanize, he would drink, he would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Some times he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy, the sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. My childhood was typical, summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we’d make meat helmets. When I was insolent I was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds, pretty standard really.
There are only two things I hate; people who are intolerant of other peoples cultures … and the Dutch.
Muggy neglected to post the full quote by Dr Evil. Here’s the rest of it.
“At the age of 12, I received my first scribe. At the age of 14, a Zoroastrian named Wilma ritualistically shaved my (balls) — there really is nothing like a shorn scrotum — it’s breathtaking… I suggest you try it.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Evil
I was sparing the HBB “shorn scrotum.” This is a family-friendly blog, right?
Yes. Wife and child right here blogging with me.
What moral icon says the rich should pay a higher percentage of their wealth to to govt to waste? What happened to personal responsibility–pay as you go/use? Should the rich pay a higher sales tax? Charged more for fire/police service, toll roads?? I am fairly certain the rich use govt services less not more that the middle/lower income.
I don’t resent those who have done finacially well….cuz for me money is not success or happiness. I know many who have made themselves miserable chasing big bucks ,and paid the personal price. (yes there are always exceptions)
This idea of redistribution of wealth to those that did not make the sacrifice is far to communist for me… and I am not rich.
sign me A liberal libertarian.
NYCityBoy is right, we have become possessed by “stuff”, and no one seems to really enjoy life. Time is one of our most valuable assets but no one seems to have any.
Perhaps no where is that more evident than on our roads. The frantic pace with which I observe people driving every single morning on the bus ride to work is becoming alarming. Traffic lights? Stop signs? Pedestrians? Ha!
Yesterday there was an accident on Lake Shore Drive. The firemen were trying to get people to stop so they could back the truck up to it as there were injuries. Dozens - no exaggeration - of vehicles did not stop despite the waving arms of the firemen.
The vehicle leading the way? A Land Rover. Happy my _____!
My friends family had a chevette. Got passed down to his brothers year after year until it was his turn. Ran like a champ. Unfortunately, we beat the hell out of it during college (back and forth to the beach and a few times to Tijuana, to parties)
It sure wasn’t a babe magnet but it was the most reliable transportation. Fond memories. Now kids needs the new Ford Mustang GT, BMW, etc.
When my kid starts driving, I’ll buy him an El Camino.
My parents had 3 kids - we were all born in the 60s. Family of 5 on a teacher’s salary (that wasn’t as generous as teacher’s salaries can be nowadays). Kept cars for 10-15 years. (We did have 2 cars, but my dad always drove a beater - a Corvair that leaked when it rained, then a Volkswagon squareback stripped of any and all luxuries - like even FM radio.)
We still bust on my parents for not buying us games like “Operation” (that was for rich kids) but we just joke with them. We had a perfectly happy upbringing. We used our imaginations to play (my brother and I were always playing “spies” and sneaking around the tiny house we lived in). We always got a new, blank pad of paper and new box of crayons at Christmas. We drew stories on those pads of paper.
We played outside - a LOT. It was a huge treat to go to Burger King for a hamburger. It was like winning the lottery if we were allowd to get a milkshake. We ate spam casserole and tunafish and noodles.
And we were happy. And we’re all still close.
I’d give my right arm to have that kind of experience to give to my son. Problem is, the same small house I was raised in now sells for ~$275,000. What a flippin’ joke.
But… but… the house NEEDS to be unaffordable! That way you can get deeply in debt, and so can your wife, and then life the Amerikan Dream of being in debt, working all the time, driving a huge car while yacking on the cell phone, and then buying mounts of toxic products made in China to give the kids as a replacement for the real, loving upbringing our generation had as kids.
Yep, that’s “progress” for yah… we’ve really come a long way… or not.
You all sound like that Monty Python sketch with the well-off middle age guys in tuxedos upping each others account of their terrible childhood….
“You were lucky to have a room! We used to have to live in the corridor!”
RE: it’s been a pretty good run
As long as you don’t look under the rug.
$53 trillion in government entitlement debt; corresponding with the passing of taxed to death boomers, a crap-out currency, and worn out infrastructure says the run has ended.
USA, no more Numba #1, GI.
I agree hd…The bill is comming due and nobody has a clue on how we are going to pay for it….
Have you noticed how cheap home printers have become? The treasury is just going to send everyone a link to print their own.
cmhappyrenter
The reason printers are so “cheap” is because printer ink is so expensive. 2 tri-colors and a black cartridge for my printer cost me $70 bucks at costco. I betcha those 3 cartridges cost pennies for HP to make.
Among the middle class, no consensus existed on who was to blame for their economic problems. Twenty-six percent blamed the government, 15 percent faulted the price of oil and 11 percent said the people themselves were responsible. Others faulted foreign competition and private corporations for economic woes.
Of course they’ll never blame themselves, for spending beyond their means and wanting everything NOW.
“Twenty-six percent blamed the government…”
How many of that same 26% also look to the government for answers?
100%
GAO… Millions Wasted…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080408/ap_on_go_ot/government_credit_cards
Holy Cow.
41% of 14 billion in unauthorized spending, that’s 5.74 billion.
There are 300k gov’t employees with cards, thats 19k in unauthorized spending per card.
how many will get fired ?
0
“how many will get fired ?”
These abusive folks are mostly people who claim minority status on their employment records, and they come from poor backgrounds lacking in discipline and maturity. These cases quickly become ethnic issues that are difficult for supervisors to process due to obstacles.
“”claim minority status?”
Based on what?
Are you a white person?
“Are you a white person?”
No, half brown, half white, appear brown. Pure mutt!
Yeah, I’m with spook here. If you are gong to make blanket statements like “These abusive folks are mostly…..” then back up your statements with hard data. Otherwise it’s bullsh*t.
These data are tough to come by because it’s not politically correct to rank them.
Great, my post got eaten…
1. Airline cancellations, crane collapses from dishonest inspectors
2. GAO abuses and irresponsible govt spending
3. Politician ‘misspeaking’, earmarks, and lack of transparency
4. Lack of stockholder accountability and accounting abuses
5. Tainted meat, vegetable, and drug scandals
6. Record numbers of children dropping out of school
7. Financial Ponzi schemes
8. Lender and borrower abuses as detailed on the HBB
This isn’t a housing crisis, a credit crisis, or even a debt crisis…this is an HONESTY and INTEGRITY crisis.
When will it end? these are not the values that made this country great, and will undermine the trust and leadership role we have had in the eyes of other countries that have been funding the Great American Spending spree…
Are we really any better than China? At least they don’t pretend to have more of a moral compass than anyone else. If anything, we’ve proven ourselves more dishonest than they are…
We’re sunk.
“We’re sunk.”
Were BUSHED !!!!
Once all of these things become so completely obvious that even Joe Sixpack and the most partisan fools on both sides of the aisle can no longer deny the truth no one will ever trust this country ever again. I have to admit that I will never trust this country ever again.
And without integrity we lose the ability to govern ourselves. Tyranny becomes imminent.
Integrity = that thing you do when nobody is looking…
Integrity=picking my nose?
and hell I thought it was doing the right thing for the right reasons no matter what the environment is.
I would have read your post, but I was too busy trying to work out the next scam to pull on somebody else…
Seriously, though - I agree with you.
I just finished reading about the airline inspections cancelling thousands of flights. Add that to the file with corporate accounting abuses, tainted meat/produce scandals, politician earmarks, financial Ponzi schemes, lending/borrowing abuses…
I don’t think we are having a housing, credit, or debt crisis. We are having an INTEGRITY and ACCOUNTABILITY crisis.
I thought the Chinese were dishonest and greedy…but we make them look like boy scouts.
This country is sunk. Financial re-engineering is not what we need to get this country back on track. What we need is a repair of the moral compass…
VERY sorry for the repost… I thought the original got eaten
No worries. Your post was worth the repeat.
“honestly and integrity crisis.” I love it.
The FAA is having a hissy-fit, because they got their Pee-pees wacked by Congress…..the American Airlines re-grounding is about wire bundles having a QUARTER INCH MORE clearance than the AD paperwork calls for (among other MINOR) things.
I fix airplanes for a living…….a wire bundle can shift a quarter inch after the airplane has flown 2-3 times.
The real kicker…….the FAA is not even LOOKING AT the airlines that have off shored all their major maintenance (ie, JetBlue, Northwest, etc.). By treaty, they are accepting Mexico/Korea/El Salvador/whoever’s word for it that the work or inspection has been completed properly.
Never mind the fact that these overseas shops have no drug-test requirements, or training requirements, or tool certification, etc., etc.
End result of all this? Another US “core competancy” thrown under the bus
This brings up a good point on regulation and competition. If one country has lots of regulation it increases costs to that company in order to comply with the regulations. When another county has fewer regulations, the companies are able to provide a product cheaper. Regulations, although tend to be great in their ideals, sometimes have the opposite effect. In the long run the company in the highly regulated country can’t compete and goes under while the less regulated company thrives yet potentially produces an inferior product or one at a greater cost to workers, environment or safety. One should be willing to pay a little extra for these regulations but we all know people don’t and won’t but then wonder how things got so screwed up. Pay me now or pay me later!!!
he FAA is not even LOOKING AT the airlines that have off shored all their major maintenance (ie, JetBlue, Northwest, etc.). By treaty, they are accepting Mexico/Korea/El Salvador/whoever’s word for it that the work or inspection has been completed properly.”
Thank you for posting this. I had no clue about this…and I usually fly JetBlue. Probably not again,though.
What’s left out from the story is that the employees pay the credit card bills. A government credit card for travel purposes is in the name of the employee and the employee receives the bill every month. The employee has to pay the bill. If the employee defaults the government pays the bank and then docks the employee’s pay until the government is made whole. Also, unauthorized credit card use can get an employee disciplined or fired, even if the employee pays the bill on time and in full.
This is not correct in all cases. There are government charge cards (as distinct from credit cards) for which expenditures are tied to actual budget lines in agencies’ budgets. The employees use these cards to purchase discretionary items to support the mission below a certain threshold amount (I believe Fedral rule is $25k) but there is considerable discretion for threshold setting at the Agency level
Unlike most on this board most of my friends are lower middle class. From talking to different friends over the past six months, many are starting to feel the pinch of higher inflation in food, energy and everything else that a family requires to pay.
My friends who own small businesses are feeling the pinch in slower sales and increased expenses as well.
Those that were not shy with using credit are starting to really get nervous and thinking about getting part-time jobs to just keep the boat afloat.
I can’t say that most of these people overpaid from housing by a huge amount, maybe by 25k or so at the most, so I can’t blame the problems on housing expenses. Sure taxes in PA aren’t the lowest, but they aren’t the highest either.
When I see friends with household incomes ranging from 65k-110k struggling with homes in the 150k range, I can only imagine what people must be going thru in the high-flying areas where real estate has been thru the roof for quite some time.
A friend of mine is having a complete breakdown. She is 2 months behind on her mortgage and seriously depressed. She needs a walk away intervention.
I am sorry for your friend, it should not be like that MM.
RE: A friend of mine is having a complete breakdown. She is 2 months behind on her mortgage and seriously depressed. She needs a walk away intervention.
Hey, the femininsts crowed it up, noting that single women were the biggest players in this real estate run-up.
Men were specifically castigated as being financially short-sighted and having “no balls” for sitting on the sidelines.
Just go ask Suzanne.
HD, your categorizations based on gender are not fact, they’re biased and based on bitterness. If you want to convince anyone, base your statements on something more than blanket categorizations.
RE: base your statements on something more than blanket categorizations.
LinU`
I’m not one much for PC.
If I had the time I’d put in all in a book.
It’s there.
You just need to expand your horizons a bit.
HD, I can right now at this moment see about 80 miles in any direction. But hey, truly sorry about the pain, been there, but not every woman on this planet is a bummer. And I admire your lack of PC, generally. Write the book, I’ll read it.
Sounds like someone needs to do some inner work. If you go through life prejudiced against one gender, it means you have had some bad experiences or been brought up in a prejudiced culture, or are perhaps an older white dude bummed that women are finally getting some opportunities, although still not paid equally to men.
But ultimately, this attitude boomerangs back on you and exacerbates itself, and makes you more and more unhappy and less popular with others.
Being a curmudgeon with personal anecdotes does not help yourself or prove anything to anyone else.
FWIW, the Suzanne commercial did target this stereotype. There must have been something to it.
But to be fair there has been no shortage of guys willing to buy more than they could afford.
RE: I can right now at this moment see about 80 miles in any direction.
Count your blessings.
Nothing better in this world than a great vista that inspires. True wealth in my book.
Regards.
Yeah, being out here in the Big Empty helps put things into proper perspective, including my own not so long ago splitup with who I thought was the love of my life…
hd74man - My sister has just such a book coming out in July. Her name is Kathleen Parker and the book is “Save the Males”.
I think hd74 is referring to a New York Times (or some other) article that went on & on about how if a man wasn’t ready to buy a house (in 2006), that he had psychological issues.
Is one whole commercial the basis for your bitterness? Or did big mean ball-breaking women in hard-hats and overalls stick post-it notes on your man-door saying ‘Ha ha, I’m a woman, and I bought a house for myself, ha ha ha, you man, you’? Was it like that? Terrible, terrible things like that?
Man, get over it! Sit on your man-bum and breathe through your man-nose, in and out, in and out, and say aloud ‘Bitterness is unattractive and can also lead to ulcers.’
RE: Or did big mean ball-breaking women in hard-hats and overalls stick post-it notes on your man-door saying ‘Ha ha, I’m a woman, and I bought a house for myself, ha ha ha, you man, you’? Was it like that? Terrible, terrible things like that?
LMAO…
Man, you women and your feminist inspired media cheerleaders can sure crow and caw on the upside, but when it gets thrown back in your face, it’s kill the messenger. The resorting to third grade personal character attacks to the exclusion of rational debate is especially poignant.
Always the reaction when you strike a nerve.
HD hasn’t gotten over his divorce yet. I should introduce him to my bro who had 3 before the age of 40.
Unlike hd and despite some pretty nasty experiences (more than a few his own fault) his positive feelings toward women still appear to be intact.
re: The resorting to third grade personal character attacks to the exclusion of rational debate is especially poignant.
Hey, HD, have you met yourself? Because it sounds like you are talking about you here. I didn’t see anything close to rational debate in your posts, just a lot of crowing and cawing and criticizing and bitterness with no facts.
ok, we get it . . . you think women have a place and should stay in it . . . Sorry that that is what your life is focused on.
Agreed, hd74. It’s can’t-lose for the women.
Warn them, you’re a nasty man who wants to hold women back. Point out you warned them, you’re a nasty man who is glad they failed. Never are you simply a person who can see that most ’social progress’ over the last 50 years was just a way to get you working, paying taxes, and in debt.
Reap the whirlwind, folks.
Well said.
market-maven,
I am sorry for your friend. I posted that a pal who’s a doc at
Bellevue has decided to throw in the towel on working to support a mortgage…and she has moved fast. She emailed me that the place is listed with an agent, and the first open house is a week from Sat. I know she had an 1/0 mortgage but despite mentioning in Dec. 06 that she switch to fixed, she did nada. Doctors are truly the worst at money management. But the bells finally went off for her without my interference. I am cheerleading her along though.
Will post what the price is for 1-bed on the Upper West Side in landmark building…and how the sale goes.
There is always hope…
She’s lucky that NYC is “different”. She’ll probably actually sell it.
At the right price, anything anywhere will sell.
You might be surprised how quickly the mood has turned. I live on the UWS too.
The way I figure it if they make 65k they can`t afford a 150k house to start with.
I think you probably could do that, if you could live with driving a junker car that you paid cash for, and do without a lot of the “necessities” of modern life - day care, cell phones, cable TV, Internet, nail treatments, Starbucks, etc., etc.
The problem, is so many people are already absolutely loaded to the gills with debt and they are falling further and further behind.
At some point, people will grasp the seeming paradox that simpler lives with smaller houses and fewer gadgets equals more happiness.
I used to think that they would grasp that but I don’t think they ever will. In fact, it’s moving further and further away in the other direction.
I compare some of this consumerist behaviour to that of children not wanting to go to bed. They will deny they are sleepy while rubbing their fatigued eyes. They will charge around the house, going faster and getting themselves more and more wound up. Then all of a sudden they crash and go to bed. Eventually the debt consumers will quit denying they’re broke, quit running around the mall getting themselves more and more in debt.
It means more happiness to you. As a technophile some of us love having those gadgets. Everyone has their passion. Before gadgets were as sophisticated as they were, my dad and I would stay up late playing intellivision or working on the model train layout we had. We had loads of fun doing that. My childhood would be way less fun and memorable if my dad hadn’t passed on his passion for gadget-like things to me. Simpler lives, eh? Not for me. I think there’s a difference between loving gadgets and being in debt, they’re not required to be together. I have a house full of gadgets but I owe zero in unsecured debt. I have a mortgage and that’s it.
my dad and I would stay up late playing intellivision or working on the model train layout we had
These days how many kids want to “work on” gadgets? We found some great electronics and science kits that we bought for our nephews at Christmas, figuring this would spark their interest in fiddly gadget things and who knows, maybe even an interest in science for the long term.
Unfortunately, their mom bought them MP3 players, a portable video, and a PSP (something). The kids had zero interest in putting together something basic but IMHO very cool like a crystal radio when they could instead just download MP3’s into their new players.
Gadgets are fun and nice, but gadgets that make you work and think are better.
My brother and I grew up building erector sets and doing electronic projects (my dad was an electronic whiz). We had all kinds of “clubs” that the kids from nearby ranches would join, maybe mostly for the goodies my Mom made. Geology club, astronomy club, oceanic club (in the middle of Colorado), botanic club, horse club, reading club. We had a meeting of some kind or other every day in the summer. We were serious, would actually read books about these topics and talk about them. We did this from the time we were about 6 on up to 10 or 11. It was a lot of fun. My bro’s now a geology prof at a university - we get together and still talk about those things. My family didn’t have a lot, but my mom made sure we had access to books and music (especially classical). We grew up on a ranch with no TV. My favorite was weather club, where we’d all lay in the grass and study clouds and just talk about whatever. We even had a smoking club for awhile (things like sagebrush and the occasional cigarette), till we got caught. (No, we’d never even heard of real weed).
Ever noticed how legos have changed? When I was a kid there was no such thing as the pre-designed lego kits that are so common today (like all the star wars kits).
I had a big bucket of generic legos, with a few specialty pieces (you know, the ones that you could plug a wheel into). I recall making all sorts of houses, buildings, bridges, cars, airplanes, spaceships, etc. from scratch. Apparently todays kids have no interest in this stuff. So they get a star wars kit, assemble it, and it gets tossed aside.
I just despise those pre-made kits. not only does it take the creativity away from the kids and make them follow the instruction like a robot, but the kits themselves are so customised that to build other things with them besides the pre-ordained object just doesn’t work that great.
There’s way too much specialization in kids’ toys today, and that leads to a horde of single-purpose, single-use junk all over the house. Give me old, wooden Tinkertoys and the old Erector sets any day!
I still have my old set of Legos to give to my son. Mine are basically generic, but it was a set that had roof tiles, windows, shutter, and doors. *sigh* Even back then I dreamed of having my own house…
Eastcoaster,
If you can’t dream, don’t dream big…
Wait, I got something wrong there…
patience, grasshopper…
I think the orginal Lego sets were about creativity. The modern designs are about maximizing sales.
People in general these days don’t want to think, and anti-intellectualism is stronger now than it has been in years. This attitude extends all the way from children to adults in supposedly technical fields who will grudgingly learn what they need to do their jobs, but who will still consider anyone who DARES to desire to learn and create something outside of work a nerd, freak, etc. If one’s interests extend beyond drinking and partying, there is “something wrong with you” in modern day Amerika.
anti-intellectualism is stronger now than it has been in years. This attitude extends all the way from children to adults in supposedly technical fields who will grudgingly learn what they need to do their jobs, but who will still consider anyone who DARES to desire to learn and create something outside of work a nerd, freak, etc.
Maybe I live in a different realm than most people, but in my world, everyone is expected to have strong interests or advocations — whether that’s technical (audio engineering on weekends), artistic (painting, photography, filmmaking, etc.), blogging, or participating in some kind of social justice movement.
A job is just what you do to pay the bills. Most people I know define themselves by their interests and intellectual pursuits (or their family), not their “day jobs.”
Utah, your stories are priceless. An oceanic club? Just fabulous….
The original Lego type sets are still there - but hidden. For his birthday, I bought my 4 year old son a box of about 40 “people”, all with various outfits and a box of just wheels. The Lego store at the mall has a wall of a-la-carte grab a handful and put it in bucket parts as well. Look for Lego Educational. One day the boys will want the Star Wars sets, but right now I can build them an airplane or a boat out of a few mismatched color pieces, and their imagination will make up the rest (and they can put a wheel or 5 on it!).
If you ever go to Disneyland or Disneyworld they have these all lego stores (in Downtown Disney) where you can buy just about anything they make. What is especially cool about these stores is that you can buy generic legos in bulk.
I think they could, if the price of everything else is what is should be. We may have to rethink the traditional budgeting rules of thumb, like 2.5x income, 28%/36% debt ratio, or, even the % of income that goes to food/clothing/shelter
It wasn’t too long ago (100 years or so) that families spent, what, 80%(?) of their time/money just on feeding and clothing themselves?
You have to assume no kids , I have three 16, 14 and 11. You can`t say no to everything, a trip to Washington that fifth graders take, 2 down last one this year,they all have an ipod they all have clothes and they all eat. We make more than $65,000 a year have little debt, nothig I couldn`t pay off tomorow, and a $150,000 would be a stretch.
Well yes, a stretch. But possible, and if houses weren’t overpriced now and comming down possibly not a bad thing. It’s not just beacuse of real estate shills that the traditional advice is to buy as much house as you can afford. Modest appreciation forever is the normal pattern. As nominal incomes improve* the house becomes more and more affordable until it’s paid for. With transaction costs that run about 6%, it is probably better to stretch today to buy a house that you’ll still want to live in 10 years from now, rather than moving up in 5 years.
*Well they haven’t improved noticeably for most lately, but that IS the traditional pattern.
We make more than $65,000 a year have little debt,
Oh dang. For a moment I was wondering if you were THE Jeff Saturday, who plays center for the Indianapolis Colts. But I guess that a man with a job description which reads “allowing Peyton Manning to put his hands under my butt every day” would make more than $65K/year.
Wonder if Manning cops a feel now and then but then I wonder a lot of things.
What ever the Colt`s center makes , I am sure he would need a lot more if it were Tom Brady taking the snaps.
‘We even had a smoking club for awhile (things like sagebrush and the occasional cigarette), till we got caught. (No, we’d never even heard of real weed).’
Sounds like a “Rushmore” life. Those days have been replaced with kids emulating adults now.
Good point. I don’t understand why the banks don’t feel more under siege. Maybe they are just good at hiding it. Or the middle aged and aged are in management and insulated from it, while the younger workers don’t see anything wildly different.
You have this building economic shift in commodities that seems will be with us for awhile, to what additional effects? The debt culture. People shifting from paying their mortgages when in crisis, to maying their credit card minimums, and (gasp} walking away from housing seen as a “bad investment.”
How long can banks continue to make bad loans, huge credit limits, etc. available?
Yes. And .99 (or less) cent coffee (Save $4 + tip).
I drink tea. 2.5 cents per cup!
I would love to like tea. For a long time I thought I did, maybe partly because that seems to go along so well with tree-hugging and hippie-dom, and then one day I was sipping away at some organic Zanzibar ginger chamomille blend and reading James Joyce when I suddenly put down my cup with a bang and loudly announced, ‘I’ve just noticed something. I don’t like tea.’
It was a dramatic event for me, and rather jarred my world view.
LOL! Oly, do you even like Mormon tea? Tastes like dirty socks to me, until I put lots of milk and sugar in it,m then it tastes like dirty socks with milk and sugar. But hey, it’s free, lots of it growing out here. Ever tried juniper berry tea? tastes like gin, sorta.
So after your revelation you tea-joyced, eh?
(Also a Joyce fan.)
I make less than $65K and would LOVE to find a $150K house. I could definitely afford that. Someone making $65K should be able to (pretty easily IMO). After all $65K x 3 = $195,000 and - even better - $65K x 2.5 = $163,000. What am I missing?
Do you have kids ?
Yup. Single parent of one child currently in daycare that runs me $1000 / month. And yet I know I could still do it. I’ve run all the numbers.
But then again I also have a 14 year old t.v., a used car, I use freecycle to both give and receive items, I’m not opposed to hand-me-down anything for my son (most recently a new bike). Etc.
eastcoaster you are doing a great job! I hope you and your son find the home of your dreams.
Living frugally as you do, I bet you can afford it no sweat. The hand-me-down, freecycle, and used car lifestyle can buy you a lot of financial flexibility.
We bought a house some years back that was 3x my income. Not only can we afford it easily, the money just piles up ever since then. Seriously. And that’s with full 401k and IRA contributions. But then again, we NEVER buy cars or anything else with borrowed money, and we are by nature careful with our spending, especially with cars, which I see from friends can really wreck your budget.
‘eastcoaster you are doing a great job! I hope you and your son find the home of your dreams.’
I think so, too, eastcoaster. I always enjoy your posts, for their content and for the neat person they reveal you to be.
EastCoaster, you are on the wrong side of the state. I have many friends that live in nice suburbs of Pittsburgh in houses in the 150k range. These are my friends with household incomes around 100k, and they are all over the board in how they are doing financially. Those that can save and pay with cash are fine. Those that want it all now, are finding it harder and harder to cover those easy monthly payments that helped them get themselves into a bind.
I guess my point is that in an area that is relatively cheap compared to the rest of the country, I still know a lot of people struggling a bit.
I feel for those in bubble areas that might have done what they felt was the right thing. From what I can gather a home more than twice your income is pretty much the outer limits for the people that want to have it all and have it now.
Nonsense! With today’s loan products, we can get anyone in a house!
Now, keeping it, well… that’s another story!
Oh, and we don’t have those loan products available anymore… but housing prices won’t go down!
Laid off friend whose wife works got a $4k windfall. Gone in 1 afternoon of taking cash to various banks. Spent on one house payment and several loaded credit card minimums. The sports car payment wasn’t paid yet.
4K is a windfall?
sheesh i had to write uncle sam a check for $3084 last night
that one hurt
How many adult Americans have @ least $5,000 savings in the bank?
I’d guess 1 out of 10
I’d guess less than that.
It surely has to be more than that. Aren’t 20% or more adult Americans retired? Can’t do that without savings, unless you like cat food.
I get nervous whenever my liquid savings drop below one year’s living expenses. If I had less than $5k in the bank, I don’t think I would get any sleep at night.
My retired in-laws live very comfortably with minimal savings. Of course the collect:
US Social Security
German state pension (in Euros)
German private pension (in Euros)
IIRC their pension income handily exceeds 100K. And their house is paid for. What suck for their heirs is that there won’t be a whole lot in the way of inheritance, as their pensions will die with them.
” . . . unless you like cat food.”
Good Lord! Do poor folk really eat dog and cat food? That’s insane, considering the utter lack of regulation in pet food manufacturing. Like road kill, euthanized pets from the local vet and diseased animal parts? YUMMM!!
Poor people can eat well on rice and lentils for example. I have. I wouldn’t eat dog/cat food on a dare.
Hey Colorado, couldn’t help responding to your comment-
“What suck for their heirs is that there won’t be a whole lot in the way of inheritance, as their pensions will die with them.”
I guess my view has always been that our parents’ purpose isn’t to leave us money. I will be a very happy man if my parents spend every penny they have ever earned over their long, wonderful, and interesting lives and when they die leave me memories and stories and their love.
I’m not complaining, just saying that if they were yankees and had fat 401(k)s insteak of pensions that they would be able to leave some money to their pensionless offspring. One of BILs could really use it, as he is mentally ill.
Gadfly said . . .
“Poor people can eat well on rice and lentils for example. I have. I wouldn’t eat dog/cat food on a dare.”
My animals eat better than I do; they get very expensive food with human grade ingredients. It isn’t sold in grocery stores, though many health food stores now carry it. But, even the marginally good pet foods (Purina One, Iams, etc.) sold in supermarkets are pretty expensive compared to what they cost just a few years ago, and poor people certainly could not afford to buy enough to stay alive.
Rice and lentils are okay, I guess, but I suspect you’d die of malnutrition if that’ all you ate for a long time.
Not to brag, but I got zinged for 13k over what was already withheld. Time to up the withholding!
Come on. $110K income and struggling to pay a $900 mortgage (which is what $150K would be). Sorry I just don’t buy it. I don’t care how expensive gas is or how high health insurance is. If you make $110K a year and can’t afford your $900 mortgage, you’re doing something wrong.
And the funny thing about your assumption is…you assume a $150,000 mortgage while I assume a $150,000 house - 20% down = $120,000 mortgage = even lower than $900/month payment.
But who uses downpayments anymore? Especially 20% down. Sheesh, I’m so old fashioned.
Nice way to deflect by the issue.
Fine then you make my point even more valid. $150K house with 20% down = $120K mortgage which is $700 or so a month. I call big time BULLSH**T on a story of someone making $110K a year and having trouble paying a $700 mortgage.
I agree, there’s something to this story that we’re not being told. I paid $1450 rent when my income was $110k, without breaking a sweat.
That was without any tax deductions of any kind - the equivalent mortgage payment would be close to $2400/month, at least for the first few years of the amortization process. That payment would support a $380k mortgage assuming 6.5% interest and a 30-year loan.
Now there are other expenses involved in owning versus renting, so I wouldn’t advocate a $380k mortgage on a $110k income, but $280k would be completely reasonable, and $150k would be really easy IMO.
UK follows us into the tank…Cuts Rate to 5%
April 10 (Bloomberg) — The Bank of England cut the benchmark interest rate for the third time since December as higher credit costs and the worst housing slump in 16 years threatened to push the economy into a recession.
just goes to show that current central bank policy is about just one thing, supporting the housing/credit bubble
IMO central banks are only concerned with staying in power.
And expanding that power.
looks to me like they decided the housing/credit bubble is the best (or easiest) way to realize their objectives
ECB is hanging tough; no cut today. I wonder how long it will last. Peter Schiff has always said foreign CBs would chase the fed down the rate rabbit hole. I never believed they would because they can see that inflation is destroying the US, and Europe generally has stronger unions, etc. but maybe he was right. Maybe they are all just slaves to the banks. If ECB does cut, all bets are off; global race to inflationary hell.
The Australian CB actually raised their rates in contrast to most of the western world…it will be an interesting contrast to see who is able to better control inflation and stimulate economic recovery in about 5-7 years.
Aussie banks also own 80% of the NZ banks, and NZ real estate is about to go kerplunk…
Down under dominos
they are in good company, Iceland raised their rates as well recently; maybe the cause was a bit different
maybe it doesn’t even matter what the ECB does.
The funny thing is that that despite different CB policy, inflation in Europe and US is very similar (of course, with both regions pumping liquidity to the max). The ECB seems to be getting exactly the things they (officially) don’t want and which the FED says it wants but is NOT getting: surging wages (but just for the better-off workers), lower mortgage rates and a continuation (or maybe soft landing) of the housing bubble thanks to all the new ECB measures to limit the credit-crunch fallout.
The fallout continues in the bond market - Possibly the largest municipal failure in history.
http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a_.hdWe1xXmM&refer=home
States can not print money like the Federal Gov. can, so it must come from taxes. This is not the last we will hear of Counties with big problems. Our State S.C. is going to have to cut it’s budget, and is also raising the cigarette tax by 50 cents per pack.
We can’t come out on the other side of this financial hurricane until the companies/municipalities/individuals that were boneheads fail. I actually think Bush gets this, and he doesn’t have to face re-election, so maybe it can happen. Let BB’s job be to best protect those who did nothing to cause the present crisis (being an optimist?) It is Winter, but Spring will come again.
interest costs on its sewer debt
An unintendedly accurate description, methinks.
Speaking of which, a new investment company opened up an office along one of the routes I walk home on. It’s called Superfund Investments.” I had to laugh - what sort of toxic waste do they invest in?
The $3.4 billion in sewer costs include approximately $1.0 billion due to fraud. Numerous contractors and government officials went to prison as a result of public corruption and bid rigging. The “corruption inflation factor” was greater than that in the NY Metro area where Mafia controlled bid rigging by the concrete industry and other construction sectors increased construction costs on major projects 10-20%.
“County officials say they can’t burden residents with higher sewer rates, which have risen more than fourfold since 1997.”
Why not? They either voted for the plan, or voted for the idiots that approved the plan. Live with your decisions!
Report: Nation’s Gentrified Neighborhoods Threatened By Aristocratization
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/report_nations_gentrified
funny stuff
VERY funny! Thanks!
Art (humor) imitates life. In June 2005 we did a few interviews for school of the long gentrified neighborhood surrounding Oz Park in Chicago’s Lincoln Park.
I remember one older woman who said she was amongst the first to gentrify the area decades ago. It had previously been a somewhat hardscrabble working class ‘hood. She complained to us that in the last ten years a wave of “hyper-gentrifiers” were pushing up her taxes and putting the squeeze on her and her neighbors.
The neighborhood just south of Oz park - roughly around Armitage and Halsted has become the preferred haunt of the area’s uber wealthy. They say a single residential lot (about 25×100) goes for $5 mil. Someone bought up five lots and had constructed a villa - cost $45 mil. You even see natural wood garage doors - in Chicago - with our weather!
So, the Onion again speaks the humorous truth.
Once upon a time, lo more than 25 years ago, I knew someone who was one of the first “gentrifiers” in that neighborhood. An ex-nun, believed in doing good, live amongst the working people, etc. By the time she was ready to buy (vs rent), she was priced out. So it goes…
Dutch housing bubble update:
Dutch home prices were still climbing in the first Q of 2008, up 3.2% yoy. Inventory and days-on-the-market (2-6 months, depending on type of property) are climbing too. Sales numbers declined 8% from previous year, probably because more and more starters are priced out.
At the same time, a possible Dutch housing bubble is starting to attract discussion in the media, first time in eight years. The recent IMF report caused quite a stir in the media, with Netherlands at number two on the worldwide list of overvalued countries. All financial and political authorities assure us that the IMF report is totally bogus and irrelevant. And of course the realtors are everywhere, telling people that a housing bust in Netherlands is impossible, and there never was a better time to buy!!
There were also stories in the press about the Spanish housing market being in ‘free fall’, but I have seen no data that really proves that. Many Dutchies have second homes in Spain, often financed with first home equity gains. A bust in Spain might be the spark that
sets of detonation in the Dutch housing market.
From the economics front there were more reassuring messages: average disposable income increased 3.9% according to the Ministry of Truth. Most of this seems to come from small business owners (up 12%, probably because of surging incomes in financial sector, the average small business owner is certainly not doing well) and high level professionals (incomes up 10-30% from last year). The average citizen is certainly not keeping up with inflation, food bank use is up 150% from last year. Mortgage debt increased 8% from last year; a bad sign if you ask me, with just 3.2% yoy price growth. Total mortgage debt in Netherlands is now 600 billion euros, more than double the amount of savings. Other consumer debt is around 100 billion. But why worry, despite mounting housing trouble in surrounding countries the Dutch housing market is extremely healthy
I live in Marbella in Spain, which has probably (apart from Madrid??) one of the biggest bubbles in Spain.
Its interesting that the bubble on the Costas were undoubtedly fuelled by the British, Irish and Dutch investors.
Prices on the Costas are beginning to fall. Transactions are way down.
The question I have is, will the UK, Irish and Dutch bubbles popping, cause the Spanish Costas bubble to pop or vica-versa?
Personally, I think trouble in investors home markets will cause people to try to dump their Spanish properties and protect their primary residences.
My expectation is that Spanish property prices on the Costas will get thrashed over the next 2, 3, 4 years….
yes, I think the Spanish Costa is an accident waiting to happen, just like the Dutch, UK and Irish home markets. Financial authorities know that these markets are linked, although nobody knows exactly how important the links are because governments don’t track this out-of-country speculation (and a big chunk of it is black money anyway, especially in Spain).
The important issue is that many investors use leverage; wherever real trouble starts, it will spread to the other countries. It is a guess which market will pop first, because the EU governments are all doing what they can to prevent the inevitable. The UK with FED-like policy of lowering rates and easing credit conditions, Spain by spending more taxpayer money to increase spending power of the citizens (hoping to keep the bubble alive a little longer) and the Dutch by strongly denying that there is a housingbubble at all. The Irish bubble is already deflating but it doesn’t seem to have much effect outside Ireland - maybe because the number of Irish foreign specuvestors is small compared to the UK, Dutch and German buyers (just my guess …). Also I wouldn’t be surprised if statistics about Spanish holiday home sales/prices are severely lagging.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,348415,00.html
High School Student Raises Questions About Textbook Bias
Hansen has sent Houghton Mifflin a letter stating that the book’s discussion on global warming contained “a large number of clearly erroneous statements” that give students “the mistaken impression that the scientific evidence of global warming is doubtful and uncertain.”
While there are still some scientists who downplay global warming and the role of burning fossil fuels, the overwhelming majority of climate scientists and peer-reviewed scientific research say human activity is causing climate change. Last year an international collection of hundreds of scientists and government officials unanimously approved wording that said the scientific community had “very high confidence,” meaning more than 90 percent likelihood, that global warming is caused by humans.
50 Cent and Universal sued for pushing “gangsta” life
Wed Apr 9, 2008 4:06pm EDT
By Edith Honan
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hip hop mogul 50 Cent, Universal Music Group and several of its record labels were sued on Wednesday for promoting a “gangsta lifestyle” by a 14-year-old boy who says friends of the rapper assaulted him.
The lawsuit filed by James Rosemond and his mother, Cynthia Reed, says Universal Music Group — owned by Vivendi SA — and its labels Interscope Records, G-Unit Records and Shady Records, bear responsibility for the assault because they encourage artists to pursue violent, criminal lifestyles.
The lawsuit also names 50 Cent — whose real name is Curtis Jackson — Violator Management, Violator CEO Chris Lighty, Tony Yayo, a rapper and a member of 50 Cent’s G-Unit hip hop group, and Lowell Fletcher, an employee of Yayo.
All defendants declined to comment.
Rosemond says he was assaulted on a Manhattan sidewalk in March 2007 by four men including Yayo and Fletcher.
The lawsuit claims Rosemond was targeted because he was wearing a T-shirt by Czar Entertainment, a management company that represents The Game. The Game is a former G-Unit rapper who fell out with the group and had become a rival rapper.
In February, Yayo, whose real name is Marvin Bernard, pleaded guilty to harassment and was sentenced to ten days of community service. Fletcher pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and was sentenced to 9 months in jail.
“The members of G-Unit, including defendants Yayo and 50 Cent, encouraged, sanctioned, approved and condoned its members threatening violence, and or engaging in violent acts in furtherance of its business,” the lawsuit said.
The attack on Rosemond was intended to “promote and maintain Yayo and 50 Cent’s ‘gangsta’ image,” which was “promoted, marketed and advertised” by record labels.
I’d like some global warming. This has been a very cold and snowy winter…even today snow is forecast.
In Netherlands we had a warm winter but the coldest spring in 40 years. I think that was a black swan event, 8 of the warmest summers of the last 200 years or so occurred in the last decade; global warming is very obvious here. Of course, if you see a black swan there might be some more around the corner.
In NYC it is utterly beautiful today.
I would say that your post is far more biased than that text book. It is one thing to note an increase in temperatures and another to speculate on the cause. Volcanoes and solar dust can have a far greater impact on global temperatures than anything man has done. We have a history of wide ranging global “climate” changes including ice ages etc. Man had NOTHING to do with these past changes.
“While there are still some economists who downplay global growth and the role of central banks, the overwhelming majority of economists and peer-reviewed economic research say that central bank activity is causing economic growth. Last year an international collection of hundreds of economists and government officials unanimously approved wording that said the economic community had “very high confidence,” meaning more than 90% likelihood, that economic growth is caused by central banks.”
Now tell us about the evidence for the flat Earth and the theory of Creationism.
There is no longer a debate in the scientific community about Global Climate Change and it’s man made cause.
So go back and tune in Rush and keep looking for those WMDs.
Your straw man argument and attacks show more to underscore your preference for dogma and assertions instead of open debate using logic and facts. Your appeal to authority argument (logical fallacy) is typical of government school training.
For the record I am skeptical of EVERYTHING our government produces and see the global warming “scare” as just another “war” to justify the suppression of liberty and violation of property rights.
If a “majority” determine accurate science then you would be in the flat earth crowd. And you would believe that the earth is the center of the universe and the sun rotates around it.
How can there be debate if people take your attitude? Clearly there is still debate!
VTD,
The fact the edhopper went straight to diversionary personal attacks and declared that “the debate is over - I win” (like a child with their fingers in their ears saying “La, La, La”) proves conclusively that he knows that his own position is weak and undefendable, like a Realtor saying “This is a great time to buy, because, well, um, I just KNOW that it is!”.
Don’t worry - real scientists will continue to question, hypothesize, and be willing to throw out their assumptions while Al Gore and the others continue to worship on the altar of Global Warming, er I mean, Climate Change.
Global Warming is a new cult religion, and Al Gore is the Grand Puba of it all. His 10,000 square foot house is the “Warmers” Vatican.
Things are changing in ways we can’t understand…
750,000 adult Chinook Salmon were recorded going into the Sacramento River in 2002, vs just a token amount this year.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/science/earth/17salmon.html
Why did thousands of birds fall dead from the sky in Australia & Texas, about a year ago?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=427997&in_page_id=1811
Something of great magnitude, is occurring…
Something is occurring and we should debate the cause. Interesting link that falls in line with the thousands of pollination bees that go missing. Something is affecting the animals, but I do not think that it is related to a gradual change in temperatures.
If anything I would be more likely to believe that our Radio Waves and other man-made energy broadcast experiments are causing this. Unfortunately, the experiments are probably top-secret government programs.
VT Dan,
I agree very much with radio waves and how they affect everything from the environment and what seems to be an increase in cancer in young people. Weird stuff going on.
Old definition of science:
Theories and postulates proven by numerous controlled, repeatable, blind or double blind experiments with defined inputs, outputs, and objectives.
New definition of science:
When 9 out of 10 “scientists” agree on something, not based on repeatable experiments, measurable observations, or basic statistics and empirical evidence, but because it gets them invited to fancy Nobel prize celebration parties. Between fake “hockey stick” charts and a global cooling over the past 1 year that has “undone” 100 years of warming, the hard data does not support the hypothesis. Moreso, the main celebrity proponent of the theory lives in a 10,000 square foot house, flies around in fuel-guzzling private jets, and now has to advertise on TV to get people to accept his “scientific” point of view. Nobody ever had to advertise to get people to accept the Law of Gravity.
Just like the hard data is proving that the housing bubble was unsustainable, so to will the hard data show that global warming is not as cut and dry as the “believers” claim.
So back to your link, apparently now it is taboo to even suggest the possiblity that some of the data on global warming may not be solid?
Geez, attitudes like that are sure to produce inquisitive, flexible scientific minds in the young people being taught. I can’t wait to see some of these kids take on research positions and be confronted with problems nobody has ever seen before. How will they be able to question assumptions if they have been taught that to do so is wrong?
I’ll take the whole global warming scare seriously when Al Gore does. When he’s living in a tent and not using any fossil fuels, so will I. Until then, I’ll play along with the “believers” - I bought GE at $32 recently since they are “on the bandwagon” with green tech, etc, and will profit nicely from the hysteria. Sort of like the small Catholic churches that are selling St. Joseph statues at a record pace to desperate Realtors - they’re not going to get in the way of other people giving them money to satisfy a superstion.
Here’s a link on the recent cooling trend and how it doesn’t “fit in” with the dire warnings of global warming:
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/102/story/375112.html
Be warned, though - if you click on this link you will cause an internet server somewhere to use fossil-fuel generated electricity, and you will cause a small island somewhere to be washed away by rising sea levels.
I’ve actually read the real scientific reports and read the peer reviewed papers in scientific journals on Global Climate change. Not the Exxon funded studies that conveniently find against it.
The overwhelming of scientist now accept Global Climate Change as a reality because the science has lead them there. All based on “measurable observations, or basic statistics and empirical evidence”.
ed,
Did you read the article at my link? This global cooling trend that has been observed from 1998-now - is this not hard data? Now the sudden talk of solar cycles (NOT man-made, right?) and 30 year trends - were these all just “oops, forgot about that” when the dire predictions of melting icecaps and 30 foot sea level changes were being made?
Why is Global Warming and/or Climate Change such a political issue? Most other scientific theories and facts are not - ie gravity, chemistry, biology. It seems that there is a great “element of faith” required to be accepting of the GW/CC mindset, as if to suggest that even though there is ambiguity in some of the data, everything will just “work out” if you simply close your eyes and believe.
So seriously, how is the 1 degree drop in ocean temperatures explained against a theory of relentless greenhouse gas effects and a predicted 10 degree F rise in temps in 92 more years? I guess that’s 11 degrees now, since the planet is moving the opposite direction.
And really - why does Al Gore live in an energy-sucking 10,000 square foot house if he believes in his own preachings? How much jet fuel was used when he went to Europe to accept his Nobel Prize? Couldn’t he just have teleconferenced in, to save Mother Earth? Doesn’t he care?
Something just doesn’t add up with the whole GW/CC scare, like a $800,000 one bedroom condo in Miami in late 2005.
Who paid for these non exxon funded studies? Was it some government? Hrmn, what conclusion would the government seeking more regulatory power pay to get? Seriously, you ignore the scientific claims by Exxon’s scientists because you do not recognize them as an “authority”, but you accept the claims of government scientists because you respect their “authority”.
“I’ve actually read the real economic reports and read the peer reviewed papers in economic journals on global economic growth. Not the gold-bug funded studies that conveniently find against central banking”. The overwhelming of economists now accept that long term economic growth as a reality because the science has lead them there. All based on “measurable observations, or basic statistics and empirical evidence”.
Past performance is no guarantee of future performance. Correlation does not equal causation.
Authority does not define truth.
Majority does not make right.
If anything the complaint about the school book is a perfect case AGAINST government funded schools. You wouldn’t want you kids taught with that text book and I wouldn’t want my kids taught your dogma. This text book would not be an issue if people did not attempt to FORCE their will and world view on others through the use of government.
Your understanding of the scientific process is mind numbing.
Your article is not a scientific journal but a promotion of Don Esterbrook, an outlying geologist who has failed to convince anyone else in his field of his theory.
I’ll take peer reviewed journals, thank you.
Fox news as a credible source that is depressing.
Well my news is my 112 year old grandmother passed away Yesterday…
The last update was last week:
First, Kaku Yamanaka 1894-2008 who was sitting at # 6 in the World passed away yesterday, which moves Grandma/Elizabeth up a notch in the World’s Oldest listing. She is now # 7 in the World…#5 in the USA, #1 in CT.
Also the Oldest Hungarian they ever found.
I’m sorry for your loss, my Grandmother was 98 when she passed away. She was Japanese too. Strangely we lived in CT at the time as well!
OOPS! I see my mistake. Sorry.
Stepford Wives: we were thinking where could we put a town of robots and not be noticed, then it came to us … Connecticut
http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=stepford+wives&x=0&y=0
You haven’t lived until you’ve been to a “garden party” in New Canaan, CT.
B@rf me up, b@rf me down!
Heheh, we lived in the Silvermine section of New Canaan… But that was a long time ago when it was just abunch of old families who’d lived there forever.
DJ, sorry to hear about that. You have some “old” genes in your family. Take good care of yourself, cause you may be on this planet for awhile!
The Inflation Monster And It’s Owner…
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/inflation-monster.html
Still no takers in Miami
###
Bedrooms: 3
Full Baths: 2
Partial Baths: 0
Square Feet: 967
Lot Size: 7,165 Sq. Ft.
Year Built: 1937
Entered Date: 03/16/07
On Site: 391 days
Type: SFR
Status: ACTIVE
MLS #: N253604
anual taxes: $3341
last sale: $145000 in 9/2004
Price Reduced: 04/17/07 — $169,900 to $161,500
Price Reduced: 05/19/07 — $161,500 to $153,900
Price Reduced: 06/15/07 — $153,900 to $146,500
Price Reduced: 07/17/07 — $146,500 to $114,900
Price Reduced: 12/13/07 — $114,900 to $98,000
Price Reduced: 01/30/08 — $98,000 to $89,900
Price Reduced: 03/14/08 — $89,900 to $74,000
###
Bedrooms: 2
Full Baths: 1
Partial Baths: 1
Square Feet: 1,403
Lot Size: 5,900 Sq. Ft.
Year Built: 1949
Entered Date: 04/07/07
On Site: 369 days
Type: SFR
Status: ACTIVE
MLS #: D1185386
anual taxes: $4912
last sale: $65000 in 7/2003
Price Reduced: 05/26/07 — $214,900 to $199,900
Price Reduced: 07/27/07 — $199,900 to $189,000
Price Reduced: 10/31/07 — $189,000 to $174,900
Price Reduced: 12/04/07 — $174,900 to $162,500
Price Reduced: 04/04/08 — $162,500 to $99,900
###
Both houses would have fetched around $250K in late 2005. Now these little nightmares have been festering on the market for over a year and still no taker despite substantial price reductions. Both are in so-so neighborhoods. People with money don’t want to live there. Renting is impossible since the vast majority of tenants don’t pay rent. Even if they would pay rent it would barely cover taxes and insurance which is an additional $3000 - $4000 a year.
What are these properties really worth? Nobody knows, but certainly less than the current asking price.
What kind of condition are they in? These places may be completely trashed and vandalized at this point.
A 967 sqft 3/2!! We’re not talking particularly large rooms, are we?
The second one is listed as a “handyman special”..get that bulldozer ready.
“Price Reduced: 04/04/08 — $162,500 to $99,900″
Seems like they have suddenly become very motivated.
Yes, there’s an increasing number of seller transitioning from denial to panic. Still the the majority are still in denial about the situation of the market. A few knife catchers are out there that might pick up a short sale/foreclosure at steep discounts. Hardly anything is selling at the lower end with inventory still grwoing.
I wonder what will happen to all this rotting junk when we eventually do have an active hurricane season and some of the storms decide to go on a “foreclosure tour” of Florida?
No doubt that some realtor will be there on the scene, claiming that a demolished and abandoned house is still “worth” at least $200,000!
My sister works as a wireless rep in a retail store. Her region in NC went cold about four weeks ago. New sales or add on services are getting hard to come by and long standing customers are coming in and dropping services.
Awhile back we had a conversation about her job and both thought that one of the very last things people would give up would be their cell phones. Now it is happening.
Cell service would also be one of the last things we would give up too. Like the old saying - My Wife would give up her Blackberry “When they pry it from…….etc”. In her case, it’s an absolute truth.
I don’t know - my mother is not a huge technology person, and she would happily get rid of the Blackberry, and drop cell phones services she never uses. I have no camera in mine, limited memory - it is essentially just a phone.
Ohhh believe me - I could do without the phone - hate the little thing anyway - My Wife? NOPE! She would have withdrawal symptoms from being out of touch from her job. She even has internet in her car… Grrrrrrr
Internet in her car? Wonderful. How many people has she run off the road when her car wanders across the center line while she’s checking or responding to email?
Actually she works while I drive on road trips. She’s not too coordinated so she doesn’t even try…
luckily my wife has a blackbeery from her job
we have 2 phones on our plan with sprint that we barely use
it cost me $88 a month and i have another 12 months on the contract
sprint was calling me all the time and i finally answered and i was able to get a reduced amount of minutes (450) free nights and weekends after 7pm for $39.99 amonth plus taxes
i was paying 69.99 a month plus taxes and i did not have to go beyond my 12 month contract to do it
i am also going to cancel hbo on my cable bill and i told my wife and she says why? i will just do it she will not even know
the wire is over so i have no use for hbo except maybe Bill Maher show but @ $15 a month for something i do not watch it is just a waste
i am looking to cut out anything i do not need- we have greatly reduced eating out and have been cooking more on the weekends and enjoying it (love the leftovers too)
i will be lean and mean going forward
0 debt- amped up savings and reducing monthly expenses as much as possible
i am the anti-consumer
“the wire is over so i have no use for hbo”
LOL. Exactly why I canceled too. Realistic ending though…Marlo walks with his money and no jail time…
I actually live in Baltimore City. The veracity of The Wire scares me and I see the truth of it every f’in day.
Being not too far from Baltimore, and venturing there several times a year for “tourist weekend” fun, I’ve been itching to see The Wire, but no way will I pay extra on a cable subscription for it. Now when the season makes it out on DVD however…
Sideliner, The Wire vids are all over youtube; thats the only way I know about it.
What’s the wire??
an excellent show on hbo check it out on dvd
thanks, but no tv…
Well I’ll stake out my position as the resident anti-social Luddite: I still haven’t gotten a cell-phone.
Luddites will inherit the housing bubble.
I don’t even answer my landline. The very idea of being instantly accessible to humanity gives me dry heaves. Finally broke down and bought a microwave oven last year. Popcorn, you know…..
‘Luddites will inherit the housing bubble.’
Maybe, but they won’t know it, since they are so inaccessible. Maybe the carrier pigeons will get the news to them eventually?
Don’t call us - we’ll call you!
I expect, as a Luddite, you eschew any healthcare more modern than was available in 1812.
Well I’ve been fortunate enough not to NEED any modern healthcare in the last 20 years or so.
I wouldn’t imagine that work related cell phones would be dropped. Although as people lose jobs the accounts may eventually go too. The kids phone accounts however….
A few years back my son’s 3rd grade class included quite a few kids that had their own cell phones. Tell me that’s not a cost waiting to be eliminated from the family balance sheet.
Personally I think we’d be looking at a cheap phone w/a pre-paid plan in the future….kids can pay for pre pay out of their allowance. I believe Verizon Wireless is already preparing for a business contraction by accepting phones previously outside its network. Didn’t they also make some sort of prepaid account announcement recently too?
We use a pre paid cell phone service, and we save at least 50% (if not more) from our prior service. We don’t use our cells while driving, or endlessly chit-chat on them. Its a quick communication device for us. You have to track the expiration of time/$, but we’re organized and don’t over fill them. $10 expires in 30 days, $20 or more in 45 days.
The Wife and I use a prepaid system as well. $10/month with the balance building as long as you don’t let it expire (set up a direct payment to avoid this.) We rarely use it in an average month, so if one of us goes on a trip we can talk alot without running out of minutes.
Verizon has a prepaid phone. You can call any other Verizon # free, but all other calls are expensive.
I have a regular cell phone (unlimited) - it’s my only phone. When you rent and move occasionally, it’s the only way to go no need to set up landlines, new #s etc.. I also run my internet connection off V. towers with a modem on my laptop. Have access anywhere there’s cell phone service and this way I can take the net with me, as I need it some for work (and screwing off on the HBB, er, I mean, staying informed…).
I’m not paying much attention to the market these days but looking at things, I’m going to buy back the Dow and S&P calls I sold awhile back. This shake and bake stuff is going to resolve to the upside IMO.
maybe also sell short a little SKF at 111-114 here if I can get that.
It’s at 110.30 at the moment….that still not enough in your opinion??
I’ve gotten a little off and bought some ES because I may not be here at the open to adjust the call bids. I think it got to 113 on the last move down. It’s close enough for me but others might want to try for a better entry.
Sounds about right. The news in the past 48 is seems like its building towards another little spasm, but not sure it will be a doozie like Janaury.
I think you and Hoz should host a thread for beginner traders on how to get started, what basic knowledge they’re going to need, etc. Because the old days of when you could put your money in a good, solid company and let it ride are long gone.
Hah! You want me to lose your money in this garbage. I suppose I can do what every mutual fund does/
Lipper Fund Awards — Step right up, Everyone’s a winner!
“…Lipper’s web site is selling fund companies award trophies so they can “order as many replica trophies as they need, to display in offices around the world.” In addition, you can order a trophy for “awards not catered for at an Awards evening.”
So even if you’re such a sad-sack fund company that you couldn’t muster up a single win in the 113 categories, there may yet be hope for you. You can order a large Lipper trophy for just $155, a medium one for $119 or a small one for just $95.”
So I will order a large Lipper trophy under level 3 accounting for funds - “awards not catered for at an Awards evening.”and now am a great adviser.
Seriously, read and research
start with
REMINISCENCES OF A STOCK OPERATOR by Edwin LeFevre
available on pdf.
http://tinyurl.com/5tq52t
Then read anything by
Mr. Peter Lynch
Learn to Earn
Beat the Street etc.
try Amazon
Ignore Mssrs Cramer and any other mope (including me). What is appropriate for mopes is not likely to be appropriate for you. Buy what you know, sell what you know. If it is banks, then stick with banks. I do not trade any tech (with the exception of IBM), I do not understand them (except for IBM).
Read the Financial Times, ignore the Wall Street Journal.
The US government never lies in their actions, ignore what they say. e.g. ‘We favor a strong dollar’ is said, what the US policies are doing may cause the dollar to lose another 15% against the basket.
Do not trust anybody that says we have found a bottom or a top. There are always stocks that are going to go up and stocks that are going to go down in every market.
Ignore PE: especially trailing PE ratios, the 1yr forward PE ratio of the DJIA this morning is over 50. The 1 yr forward PE ratio of the S&P500 is over 40. The best way to look at PE ratios is to keep a 10 year moving average monthly. This is a lot easier now than 30 years ago, thank you Intel and Compaq and Microsoft.
Look at the companies prospectus. Look at the quarterly and annual reports. Look at pictures of the companies headquarters (google has great images), if the headquarters are plush beyond competitors the money will never get back to shareholders.
I am just finishing up TRADING IN THE ZONE by Mark Douglas
Amazon. around $31.
FXP took a bit of a tumble this morning. Interesting stuff.
Jim Bunning must have been reading this blog.
Great comments on CNBC.
I found the information reported in the following very hard to believe as the number of for sale signs and huge repeated price reductions is mind numbing.
http://www.millersamuel.com/reports/pdf-reports/HNF4Q07.pdf
nflation is back.
After several years of relative stability, a wave of rising prices is washing over the world economy.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120778643316903397.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news
Uncle Buck down on his luck:
April 10 (Bloomberg) — The euro rose to records against the dollar and the pound on speculation the European Central Bank will signal at a policy meeting today that it isn’t prepared to cut interest rates anytime soon.
http://tinyurl.com/4fhahy
Everyone needs cash.
Ooops. This post was meant to go with WT Economist’s post below.
Only a government can take a useful item, paper…
And render it useless by printing on both sides of it~
I was talking with my elderly mom yesterday. Turns out she thought that paper money was backed by gold. When I explained to her that all major currencies are simply fiat currencies and that Uncle Buck hasn’t been backed by gold since before she was born she was shocked.
Tell combotechie the Buck is on sale. He should buy more; cash is king…
LOL.
Watcher, you’re finally getting it or the swirly twirl got you dizzy.
long odds:
WASHINGTON – Americans with mortgages exceeding the value of their homes face long odds of getting help under an expanded Bush administration program aimed at helping distressed borrowers.
http://tinyurl.com/3r6dye
so over:
The great American experiment with homeownership for all and mortgages for everyone is over.
Millions of homeowners will lose their houses. The government is scurrying to minimize the damage to the nation’s economy and banking system. Wall Street is picking shards out of its hide. Politicians are beseeching experts for ways to prevent a recurrence. Academics are straining to find the right historical analogy and tally the losses. And the press is looking for people to blame.
http://tinyurl.com/4oub3o
How does that saying go, “on the financial battlefield, the lawyers pick the pockets of the wounded and the accountants shoot them”. I wish I could remember the exact wording, I thought it was a great saying.
Good article but I found myself wishing that he would mention a little bit about how the abuse of sub-prime lending led to rampant speculation which drove up prices to unaforadable levels which put a lot of sub-prime borrowers in a position of paying more than the property was really worth. Screwed from both ends as it were and no dinner or flowers either.
To a certain extent I find myself in this position and you can be sure that I’m pissed as hell about it. I bought a ‘distressed’ duplex in a ‘transitional’ neighborhood in Baltimore with a 30 year fixed at 6.5%. I did a full gut renovation on the place using my own hard work and knowledge built up from 15 years working as an Architect. I was my own general contractor and I know that the work was done correctly.
I did this because there was no f’in way I could afford anything in my home city of Washington DC but now I’m screwed anyway because the prices have fallen so much that the 80k I spent on the house itself plus the 120K i put into it is WAY more than its now worth. I have no intention of moving and my mortgage payments are so low that there is no way I would ever default but I bought the place hoping to build some equity and now I’m screwed because of all the OTHER fools out there.
At least I didnt buy what I was ‘qualified’ for in DC. I would really be F’ed had I done that. I’ll just have to ride this thing out and satisfy myself with hurling invective at the idiots who created this mess.
My father was an architect who went out on his own in the late 70’s due to the housing bust back then. He would buy the land, zone it if necessary, design, build and be the contractor for it. This model worked well for him. He subcontracted everything and would move from area to area (commercial, SF residential, apartments, etc) His costs were always lower due to being a jack of all trades. He also taught me that a house that you live in is not a good investment it should be something you want to live in and affordable to you. If you want to make money on real estate build or buy rental property since someone else is paying your bills. Obviously the numbers have to work. Enjoy your home for what it is and forget about the investment side of things.
As per the WSJ, Americans are still borrowing to spend with maniacal desperatation, running up credit card balances and drawing down HELOCs as the refinancing windows close.
People are drawing down the HELOCs even if they aren’t spending, because that is their “savings” and they are afraid the banks will take it away.
And per the Financial Times, Libor money market rates indicate another panic coming on — they are at the level they were just before Bear blew up.
Everybody needs cash.
The equity is disappearing whether they borrow against it or not. HELOCing it only means that they’ll be upside down.
Anti cash?
Cash good. Paying interest for cash bad.
You all see this?
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/04/hotpads-foreclo.html
It is good especially the foreclosure hit.
Bank of Ireland Mortgages:
The lender has e-mailed brokers with the update that its mortgage range, which includes standard, self-certification and buy-to-let products, will be pulled until the end of next week.
It said the move had been prompted by the need to preserve service levels after experiencing high demand for products after many lenders have pulled products out of the market.
http://tinyurl.com/53fxmj
It wasn’t me!
http://stockmania.com/?q=node/5053
vacant:
Office vacancies in the U.S. rose for the first time in six months to 9.9% in the first quarter as employment fell nationwide, real estate broker Cushman & Wakefield said.
The national office vacancy rate was up from 9.7% the previous quarter, New York-based Cushman said
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-briefs10apr10,1,3213520.story
Here in Chittenden county VT, commercial real estate is still being constructed at a breakneck pace…..even there are absolutely no new jobs being created AND the existing empty commercial RE inventory appears to be at a record high. I don’t get it.
If my backyard is any indication then commercial RE will be the next bubble to pop.
I don’t have any data on Chicago commercial real estate, but in the neighborhood I work in (River North — lots of art galleries, ad agencies, design firms, fancy rug and furniture stores), I see more and more commercial vacancies, without new replacement tenants. The vacant spaces seem to sit unused for longer, too. We’ll see if spring changes any of that, but I have my doubts.
Anyone from the Si-Valley - near US-101 and CA-237 they are contructing the “Moffet Towers” - a big office complex with four buildings. The unfinished buildings already have the “Space Available” plastered all over them. The funny thing is if you drive the 101 a bit south to San Tomas, you’ll see “Full Building Available” on one of the large office towers between the WebEx and McAffee buildings. The office vacancy is still very high in BA to warrant new construction.
Some commercial construction I drive by every day, is frozen, with no work done for the last month.
SAN FRANCISCO — Housing prices in Silicon Valley remain defiantly high. New BMWs and Saabs cruise Highway 101. But for the first time there are signs that the current economic downturn is taking its toll on the country’s cradle of technology and innovation.
http://tinyurl.com/6a673x
http://tinyurl.com/6ymvdn
“The Federal Reserve is considering contingency plans for expanding its lending power in the event its recent steps to unfreeze credit markets fail.
Among the options: Having the Treasury borrow more money than it needs to fund the government and leave the proceeds on deposit at the Fed; issuing debt under the Fed’s name rather than the Treasury’s; and asking Congress for immediate authority for the Fed to pay interest on commercial-bank reserves instead of waiting until a previously enacted law permits it in 2011.”
“Before the credit crunch began in August, the Fed had $790 billion in Treasury securities on its balance sheet, about 87% of its total assets. Since then, it has sold or lent about $300 billion. In their place, the Fed has made loans to banks and securities firms to assist them in financing holdings of mortgage-backed and other securities. Some on Wall Street say the potential for further declines in Fed treasury holdings could leave it out of ammunition.”
Let’s get a little (very little) private equity “bail out” fund together, just in case…
Bail-out…
So where the fook does it all add up that FB’ers constitute a greater voter constituency than all those who have to pony up tax money for these programs. Somebody explain this to me.
All just another example of all that is wrong with government today.
Massive sums of money to be spent on the ignorant, unproductive, and incompetent.
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/04/10/white_house_moves_to_expand_fha_program
Politicians play to whomever they think will be the most motivated group in any election given election year.
They have gotten the crazy idea that FBs will constitute that group - but they might get a surprise because when the cold November winds start blowing - it will be the most stalwart voters - the seniors - that will get out and vote. Those seniors might realize that they aren’t being pinched by falling house prices - but by rising house prices (taxes).
The FBs will be too busy grabbing their apron for the afternoon shift at Home Depot/Starbucks/Walmart.
The problem is those who are not FB don’t understand the problem, and don’t understand that the medicine is worse than the disease. Thus the politician will throw all the money they can get their hands on to get elected.
Small highly motivated (or well funded) groups are often more influential than an indifferent majority.
It’s an example of my law of “narrowest constituency.” The narrowest of constituencies is the most motivated to push its objectives on government officials and representatives. For example, if the National Association of Manufacturers takes “Position A” and the Automobile Manufacturers trade group takes opposing “Position B” then Position B is most likely the one the government will follow. Since the general public is the broadest constituency it almost always loses.
It isn’t really a bail out. The government guarantees are only for the reduced principal. The idea is that the banks will eat a big loss in return for a relatively stable and assured income. The claim “Massive sums of money to be spent on the ignorant, unproductive, and incompetent” seems to ignore that there are many qualifications for that money and the whole reason this is being revisited in the first place is that not that much money was flowing through that channel. Having a strong point of view is one thing, but not paying any attention to what is actually happening is something else entirely.
This measure isn’t going to stop the bubble from bursting, and it could accellerate the process. Using the government this way may be a huge mistake, but it isn’t a direct bail out as claimed.
It is amazing that billions upon billions get shipped to Iraq on an ongoing basis for a doomed nation building program nearly a world away, but relatively harmless measures taken to soften a downturn here cause intense opposition. Soldiers are assumed to be heroes to sacrifice for their country, while all desk workers are nothing but blood suckers. Money that goes to Iraq is okay, or at least cannot be stopped, while money spent in to the US even with strings attached is forbidden.
“Soldiers are assumed to be heroes to sacrifice for their country, while all desk workers are nothing but blood suckers.”
Eh…soldiers do as they are told or face court martial. Desk workers do what they are told….or….um ……look for another job. Not quite the same MM.
I agree that some of the money for the current actions is spent “in Iraq”. But much of it is spent in America, just like almost all the NASA money some people think is “spent in space”.
The truth is, we simply don’t know how much these sorts of gaurantees could cost the taxpayer.
America Needs 12 Step:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/09/beck.twelvesteps/index.html
America needs a swift kick in the A$$
Don’t kick me bro!
The biggest problem I see facing our country, is the idea that the populace has long held a very high opinion of itself, as we hoisted ourselves so very high on our own petards, and now we are having to face facts in a similar fashion to what Russians went through, when communism went away, just a generation ago…
In the future, there will be legions of Americans that will spend the rest of their lives longing for “the good old days”
Kiss them goodbye…
brokers should just take the year off
http://www2.nysun.com/article/74469
MRIS (Mid-Atlantic) stats are out for March. My county - Loudoun (richest per household in the U.S. mind you) got slammed with a bad month. Median prices are now down 23% off-peak - including about 10% just the past 5 months. Most shocking thing to me is the sale price as a % of list price - set a new record by far of 88.53% - holy cow! That and the record-high inventory indicates we have a *long* way to go.
Yep the decline looks like it’s starting to pick up speed around here.
I wonder if the NAR counts that area as part of the South or part of the NorthEast. If it’s the latter that trend could play merry hell with the NAR YOY comps going forward.
(Last year in the NAR EHS stats the NorthEast region had a BIG move upwards in price from February through to June/July. Big enough to drag the national median and mean to their highest values ever.)
I am guessing the bank doesn’t know about this little sale, but I would think putting this in the “permanent ink” of the internet could be dangerous, if the bank decided to pursue judgement…
http://orlando.craigslist.org/gms/636004193.html
Whatever. I think they are in firefighting mode. At this point, this is all small potatoes.
Still, the “bring own tools for removing things from the walls” theme was pretty funny. This guy is a marketing person, or a screenwriter.
No wait: a 14″ computer monitor and a 27″ TV. I think he’s a hermit.
Is this a scam?
http://dallas.craigslist.org/rfs/637127727.html
It’s complete BS. If it was such a “great deal”, trust me, it wouldn’t be offered to you or me.
Yep and I flagged it off.
Meany!
Wall Street’s Free Pass In Congress
By Robert D. Novak
Thursday, April 10, 2008
“…The hearing, transferred from the Banking Committee’s cozy quarters to spacious Room G-50 in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, was televised and attracted a packed audience. Details of the government’s extraordinary intervention promised a tense interrogation. But this was not the customary confrontation between lame-duck Republican officials and the congressional Democratic majority. A fraternal mood prevailed on both sides of the table, as if Wall Street had moved to Washington. While conservatives inside the administration are unhappy about the intervention in markets, President Bush seems content with how the Federal Reserve and the Treasury cooked up the deal with erstwhile colleagues on Wall Street. There is little that’s conservative or Republican about the administration’s approach to the fiscal crisis. Uncritical Democratic senators were not even inquisitive.
http://tinyurl.com/5co3h3
Washington Post
Why would anybody expect hard questions from the senators to their primary campaign donors? This gives a good breakdown.
Oil depletion lease? Made billionaires out of the Bushes….
Better jump on it, RIGHT THIS MINUTE! It’s TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!)
This tells you what’s going on in the economy
America’s foreign oil bill fell 5.7 percent to $37.7 billion. It was the first decline since February 2007 and occurred even though the average price for imported crude oil hit a record of $84.76 in February. With crude oil prices hitting record highs on the spot market above $100 per barrel, analysts believe the petroleum bill will resume rising in coming months.
A drop this fast is not new technology, its decreased activity, decreased construction, decreased trips to the mall and the spa ect.
Somebody mentioned oil tankers coming in empty and leaving full from San Francisco, the other day…
Are the powers that be simply “kiting” oil, in lieu of using checks?
news from Bank Investment Daily:
Foreclosures: The MBA reported 2% of all homes in the
country were in foreclosure as of the end of last month. The
worst state in the country was CA, with 2.23% of all mortgages
in foreclosure (about 9% worse than the national average). In
addition, while subprime loans make up only 13% of all home
loans, some 29% of them were delinquent or in foreclosure. By
type, adjustable rate subprime mortgages were performing the
worst, with about 35% in trouble.
• Banking: Merrill Lynch issued a new research report on the
banking industry, cutting its 2008 and 2009 earnings estimates
on mid-cap banks by 16% and 12% respectively. Merrill said
more banks will cut their dividends in coming periods as credit
issues, margin compression and regulatory pressure force
further writedowns.
• Bad Statistic: The latest tally shows banks and securities
firms have taken $245B in asset writedowns and credit losses
related to subprime, more than the thrift crisis of the 80’s and
90’s in total dollar terms.
Gosh, I guess everything IS alright just like Ben Stein said: after all, 98% of home mortgages aren’t in foreclosure yet.
35 Reasons the Market has not hit bottom:
“Greenspans still continues to speak”
“Builders aren’t yet offering Two Fers”
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/35-signs-market-hasnt-hit/story.aspx?guid=%7BAA73AD73%2D4257%2D4D38%2DAE97%2D1CFB6B53DD71%7D&dist=TNMostRead
The best words by Mr. Greenspan this week
“I don’t know…”
If he had ended his statement about housing at the word ‘know’; he would have made sense.
I have a question and someone here will know it. An aquintance is trying to refi out of a bad situation (why do they tell me these things at the last minute?!) and the lender is asking for a copy of his old chapter 7 paperwork from 9 years ago. He’s misplaced it and the county is far away in Ohio. Is there a service we can use to go pull the court records and copy them for us? I’m sure there is, just not sure where. Thanks
No one?
Pacer.
Go onto the court’s website (U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Ohio or wherever it is) and sign up for ECF. You can get the document on Pacer. If you can’t get on for some reason, email me whatever information you have (debtor’s name, case number would be good) and I’ll see if I can pull it and email it to you. You need the bankruptcy discharge, I presume?
Thanks TX. The need a copy of the discharge is all but he says he doesn’t even know the case number. I’ll pass this to him (and smack him upside the head again for bad record keeping again). Another check to Dashound rescue in your name? deflationaryjane@yahoo.com
No. Humane League. http://www.humaneleague.org, an organization in Lancaster County, PA that is trying to raise money to keep a Frenchie from being returned to a puppy mill. Say it’s for “Sally Jane” - the Frenchie in question. And I would be glad to obtain the document if you need it. I can get it in 10 minutes.
Brava! Sally Jane it is.
True story.
A few days ago I started writing an email to Txchick.
I was going to ask her how much she would charge someone to run an account. How much to setup, manage and keep informed.
Also, how much money to start up? Well’s is saying it wants 25K to start. I figured I would need permission to send her and email, so I never wrote. If I could make one profit this year in stocks, I would be so excited.
I don’t charge anything. I don’t do it very often but when I do, it is exchange for an agreement to donate a certain percentage of the profit made to my various dog and cat rescue causes.
You could probably help me out soooooo much and make my money make me some more money. I’m so clueless. Which sucks cause I’m so good at saving. It’s a talent, txchick57. And I admire you for it.
I find this amusing, so for day traders in the stock markets this is probably worth reading. Txchick should read for funsies.
Experts Online: An Analysis of Trading Activity in a Public Internet Chat Room
abstract
“We analyze the trading activity in an Internet chat room over a four-year period. The dataset contains nearly 9; 000 trades from 676 traders. We find these traders are more skilled than retail investors analyzed in other studies. 55% make profits after transaction costs, and they have statistically significant s of 0:17% per day after controlling for the Fama-French factors and momentum. Traders hold their winners 25% longer than their losers. 42% trade both long and short, with equal success rates, and almost double the profit per trade when short. The estimates show a strong influence from other traders, with a buy (sell) order 40:7% more likely to be of the same sign if there has been a recent post. Traders improve their skill over time, earning an extra $189 per month for each year of trading experience. They also gain expertise in trading particular stocks. Traders who raise their Her ndahl index by 0:1 raise their profitability by $46 per trade.”
http://tinyurl.com/4nwkf2
click download to link to the 34 page pdf.
Internet chat rooms here I come! Maybe I can get lucky.
I got one of my best trades of all time off the Martha Stewart Yahoo chat board. It was something like a 10-15 bagger in a couple of days (calls on Martha stock when she was about to get out of jail).
Take a look:
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepa….TRICS.html
..sorry, trying again here:
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/04/05/business/20080406_METRICS.html
Why McCain? While both parties have “screwed our financial situation up”, you got to give it to the Reps for controlling this country in the last 7 years under GWB.
I say that we need to drive a stake into the heart of Reps management of the US. Since everything is going into hell anyway, why not let the Republicans finish the job.
Vote for McCann will end Republican domination of the US (after 28 years.)
Anyone have any friends in Maine that might want to have a word with Senator Olympia Snow re: “more aggressive bailouts”:
WSJ - April 10, 2008 - “Underscoring the pressure to be responsive to voter worries about the economy, however, Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine said there was a “general disposition” among both parties to act more aggressively to help homeowners.”
HBB friends, please help, talk me down…
Friends of a friend have a beautiful farm for sale here in E. Utah, 60 acres with full irrigation and a remodeled farm house (with granite!!! /sarcasm) - very nice, big cottonwoods, set up for horses, golden eagle’s nest in big trees, asking 200k… but 20 miles from the nearest town…
Tell me again why I shouldn’t do this… and don’t say, cause it’s in E. Utah, I’ve thought about that a lot and it’s OK, near a town that’s very diverse… help, I’m very tempted…
If you don’t want it, give them my email.
Jump on it if you can afford it, pay cash if you can. Productive assets such as farms will always be in demand especially as food prices climb and the economy tanks. It could be a great place to ride out a hyper-inflation and avoid mass riots and crime resulting from millions of newly poor middle class. I wish I could find 60 acres w/ a good house in VA for that price. Sadly, 60 acres with a farm house costs 600K here (but is only 15 minutes from a town with everything you need and more).
I am about to jump on another property: 82 acres w/ supper energy efficient house. This one is for sale by owner so there are no realtors involved! We will be paying cash and value the property more than we value the dollars. We will always have that “wealth” because the value of the property to us will not change.
Thanks TX and Dan. My gut is saying yes. No realtors involved. You should see the views. At the end of the road. Two county water taps, so could sell off some if I needed (can cut off part w/o needing approval). But what about renting? I’d really miss that…
OK, actually, I now feel a huge welling of comittment anxiety…
It is still in Utah! lol
yup, you’re right about that…
…scratches head…
but in a diverse part, only half belong to the dominant religion…
but I’ve thought long and hard about buying land in a foreign country…and I ain’t talking about outside the U.S. …
Can you get a good beer there? At least you can get a good beer in Dubai and a great one in the Republic of Georgia.
Sounds like the perfect place to brew your own.
Utah has Polygamy Porter Ale (Wasatch Brewing Co.),though I don’t care for it, poorly brewed, tastes different every time…
(sorry if this post is in poor taste, they’ve had a lot of grief over that name, and rightly so, IMO, but you gotta laugh or you’ll just cry sometimes…)
Enjoy your tax dinner on that 82 acres of non-productive dirt.
Property taxes are a concern, but they get passed on to renters as well. Enjoy your income tax dinner on all of that “productive” income you must generate in order to pay your rent.
Unless you live in the desert the dirt can be very productive on its own creating vast quantities of vegetation, black berries, raspberries, blue berries etc. With some manual labor you can generate wealth and feed your family. Try to take care of yourself on a rented property without any non-productive dirt. You cannot do it, you need a job working for someone else. You need other people to be solvent to employe you. Businesses need the middle class to be solvent.
Land is a valuable asset that you must compare with mobility. Land in a rural county with minimal government has relatively low taxes and will not need to raise money to bail out people.
If you like manuel labor and your family likes eating berries for 3 months and starving for the remaining 9 months, knock yourself out. And who will “rent” your dirt to offset your taxes? Squatters, illegals? Sounds like real dream. And please do show me what rural county has low tax rates on dirt with no ag exemption. $xxxx later, you’ve got berries or squatters. Another can’t go wrong “infestment”.
Taxes here are incredibly low. The house I’m renting has taxes of $250/year. Yup, two-hundred-fifty. Not much meddling gubmint. Few rules and regs. Can go out and camp anywhere and not see another human, all free. Can pee off your deck if nobody’s looking (guess you can do that anywhere - not that I do, mind you
). There are good reasons to like it here, nice climate in E. Utah, too (hey, I’m from cold snowy Colorado - we got one inch here in my part of Utah last winter). Land is a security thing in my mind, but I keep wondering if I’m operating under a paradigm that no longer holds…
Ah hellsbells, I’m gonna go toss a coin…be right back…
exerter, go read Barbara Kingsolver’s book. She’s in VA, on a farm. Very interesting to see how they managed to feed themselves with seasonally grown food. Two adults, two kids (one now in college). No hired labor that I remember (I read the book when it first came out).
It takes a boatload of planning, of course, along with building ties to the surrounding community, and it’s hard work–no question about that–but it can be done.
Exeter, while the country life and owning/working on land may not appeal to you, that does not change the value of that land to others. In the depression there were a large number of individuals that were willing to work hard, but were unable to find a job. Owning land gives you a backup job where you can work hard and get by. Please tell me what your free lunch solution is? Americans that think they are above having to sweat to earn a living/get by are why we have turned into a country that pushes paper around instead of doing anything truly productive.
If you produce enough berries during the summer you can can them and enjoy them all winter. If you have more than you need for your family then you can trade them with others.
My only point was that your claim that dirt is “not productive” is completely unfounded. It may not be as productive as working an engineering job (my day job), but it is a lot more productive than being out of work with no prospects!
Plus, if you have a gardening hobby and don’t mind taking care of one animal then you can get all of the tax discounts of being a farm.
If anything you can build a cheap hunting cabin and rent it out for a few months per year. It just takes an entrepreneural spirit to own land and make a living.
Besides, you need someplace to live and if you own a place outright then paying taxes and insurance is much cheaper to maintain than paying a mortgage or rent on top of that.
Remember, you are taxed 40% on the work you do for others, but you are not taxed on the productive work you do for your own consumption!
Lost,
are you serious? 250 for prop. taxes?? Do you know why the folks who own it now are selling? Does it have any water problems? Any meth labs in the vicinity? (I’m serious about that).
Heck, you could probably rent it out occasionally to folks on this blog, while you and the dogs are out camping.
Would love to see a photo.
Whatever you do, good luck.
Spike, probably too late for this reply to get to you, but the 250 is for the house I’m renting, not the farm. But it’s for sale, also, for $150k (overpriced), but is in a very small town. Not quite the same. If you really want photos, contact me with your email thru the link on my name above.
Sorry, can’t talk you down. Country boy here. Don’t know where you live there now, but if you have the means, it sounds nice.
Gee Lost you’re tempting ME! $200k for all that? Hmmmm….Wondering how my outdoor lovin’ honey would do in Utah!
On a serious note, there have been what appears to be a few deals around me recently. A few places that my breathing has deepened for while I entered my awakened dream state.
When I get to the stage of thinking perhaps I should go out to take a look as this is a place I could truly love, thankfully the next thought that goes through my head is: yes but if I wait I might find a place I could truly love with a 20-30% lower mortgage.
Does that help?
Carrie, that does help, but I’m also more of the instant gratification club. BTW, if you contact me via my webpage I would like your kids to test drive my latest kids’ book - thanks.
Cool. That would be very exciting.
I have a friend who’s a ghost writer. Do you mind if I show it to her too? She’s one of the nicest people I know besides having a PhD in Eng Lit.
This is interesting for traders, historical data is always valuable:
“free real-time and historical market data for trading systems and trading platforms.*
over ten terabytes of historical tick data for free.
Market data is available from all US stock, futures and options exchanges, including regional exchanges and electronic communication networks (ECNs) via otFeed. For a list of exchanges, please click here.
opentick has gone open source! If you are a developer and wish to contribute to the only free, open source market data provider, please review our CVS tree and forum for more information….”
http://tinyurl.com/4qkar9
Opentick
“…Shadow Trader’s TradeStreamLive is a cutting edge, revolutionary service that generates automated, real-time, trade-navigated suggestions complete with defined entry levels, defined stop-loss levels, and defined exit levels that are instantly calculated and streamed to you live in real time with specific audio prompts. Our proprietary algorithms, built by a group of successful traders, combines many years of experience and knowledge acquired by a team of professional traders from varied sectors of the market. This team then put forth their own trading models, triggers, and risk management rules to a group of very talented financial programmers who combined them into the most accurate and sophisticated trade identification and risk management system available today….”
http://www.tradestreamlive.com/
free trial for the next 2 weeks, just released by Shadow Trader including demo. Another toy to play with.
I hate things like that.
Toys are fun and since I am bored, might as well play with all the new “You to can make big money” toys coming out.
Lenny Dykstra’s deep in the money calls:
Today, I’m going with Nvidia(NVDA - Cramer’s Take - Stockpickr), which competes with Advanced Micro Devices(AMD - Cramer’s Take - Stockpickr) and Intel(INTC - Cramer’s Take - Stockpickr) and makes chips that are used in generating interactive graphics on both consumer and professional computing devices.
A little early to be hitting the pale ale! Those are real companies, those can generate real losses. I picked up a little Westport. Danke
chick loves the Dykstra.
I consider your assesment and aquisition of Wesport to go into my bullish for the DEMS investment strategy.
Im trying to find the humor thats been lacking in my attitude as of late.
I went for a thimble full of CNY. gulp, bit o’ medicine to call the nerves.
No more than 17% of net worth, j’espere.
I know what you mean about loss of humor. I wake up with a text message from a colleague that points out “on April 7th there were 153,000 fewer college grads working than April 6th -check your data.” Danged if it aint right, don’t know what happened - gov fudge factor? Nothing funny about loss of jobs. Then Mr. Bernanke gives a speech in Virginia and what he does not say is scary. Eye brows twitching, hand to the face. “The worst economic crisis since the ’30s, but it won’t be nearly as bad. Banks and financial institutions are a lot stronger.” Pull the rabbit out of the hat on that one. I do not think US banks have ever been this sick. 75% of the banks that failed in the Depression were under the aegis of the Federal Reserve system.
when I say thimble, seriously, like 3% of net worth.
stick this in your bailout story:
not only is the yield curve seriously juiced for the banksters (and at cheap money rates), but I got the old payment-tech CC statement in the mail today: MERCHANT FEES up 0.25% (I consider this inflationary to the tune of 10% YoY)…… the squeeze is on, and its on big time.
If you see this:
A relatively safe investment strategy for the next five years.
Vanguard 500 Index VFINX : 10%
Vanguard Emerging Markets Stock Index VEIEX :15%
Vanguard European Stock Index VEURX : 2 - 5%
Vanguard Extended Market Index VEXMX : 10%
Vanguard High-Yield Corporate VWEHX : 10%
Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities VIPSX :10%
Vanguard Long-Term U.S. Treasury VUSTX :10%
Vanguard Pacific Stock Index VPACX : 17-20%
Vanguard Small Cap Growth VISGX : 2 -5%
Vanguard Small Cap Value Index VISVX : 2-5%
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index VTSMX :2-5%
Vanguard is relatively cheap, this combination has given a 22% annual rate of return over the last 5 years. I have it as 20% in Asia, 15% in emerging, 2-5% in Europe (it would probably be better to kick out Europe and add to emerging or Asia)
Just something I am toying with in my dotage. lol
chick loves the dykstra
blue horseshoe loves ancacot steel
I’ll make it easy:
when NVDA retraces 17 to 22 its time t o short again.
kay…..
kay.
I do not time the market, ever.
Vanguard Precious Metals and Mining
VGPMX - closed to new investors
Precious Metals & Mining
Average Annual Returns—Updated Monthly as of 03/31/2008
Important fund performance information
1 Year 35.64%
3 Year 39.79%
5 Year 39.86%
10 Year 23.10%
Fidelity gold and PM might still be open.
Yahoo News - Candidates respond to voters economic fears
“U.S. voters in 2008 want their next president above all to listen to their anger and fix the economy…”
In all fairness, my fellow American’s, YOU are the ones that broke the economy in the first place. The moment your wants and desires went into overdrive, and outpaced your earning ability, that was the day you drove us into this mess. Yes, easy lending, Madison Avenue advertising, and keeping up with the Jones’ made resisting temptation very very hard. However, that is no excuse to live beyond your means. Saying that “Mr. Jones has a fancy new car, I DESERVE one too!” sounds as juvenile as it actually is!
Ultimately, many greedy people in government and big business enabled you to be greedy, borrow way beyond your means, and make the economy hum along like there was no tomorrow. Well, now tomorrow is here. Since you borrowed from your future, you now have less because the future finally arrived. Get used to it. Admit you made a mistake. LEARN from it.
And stop whining to everyone else to “save the mystical magical pink pony economy”.
If you want to know who ultimately got us into this mess, look in a mirror.
lost me at “American’s”
“lost me at “American’s””
Yes, I can understand how a typo would stop some people.
Hey, I shot my grammar teacher long ago (figuratively), but some still carry theirs around in their head, squawking about picky little rules and all…
Did we communicate? OK, Roger, over and out… (we ain’t publishing books, it’s a blog).
The free market is where true liberty is exercised and there is “democracy” where people make voluntary exchanges that improve the happiness of both parties to the transaction. Prices of goods and services are democratically selected by the laws of supply and demand.
When people go to the government to “fix” the economy, the only thing they can ask for is for the government to step back and remove all of their laws that bind the economy. Otherwise they are asking the government to use more FORCE that will decrease the happiness of some for the benefit of others. No one has the right to use force against another, but everyone has a right to defend themselves. Therefore, people cannot ask their government to do what they do not have the moral authority to do on their own.
Ken Lay exchanged his Enron shares for $$$. I don’t think both parties were happy in the end. Without rules there is no game. The gov sets the rules. Without enforcement of the rules there is no game. The gov enforces the rules. If no one trusts the system then no one invests and they hoard cash or assetts under the bed. Not a great way to grow the economy.
Would you consider the current falling apart state (financially & otherwise) of commercial airlines, to be a black swan event?
Birds of a feather…
My dad gave me his 66 Chev Monte Carlo for a graduation present in 1974. I kept it almost 15 years more and it still ran great. I still remember Bonanza and the new Chevrolet’s commercial . The whole family would gather to watch it on that Sunday in September when the new cars came out. We anticipated seeing them like people now wait to see American Idol..” See the world in a Chevrolet” that jingle bring back memories of my on good old days. Where of mom and dad was their to protect us and America seem to be better than it fell today or where we just young and dumb…
the era of pushbutton transmissions…
Ben might find this interesting:
While checking foreclosure.com’s listings for Sheriff Sales in Flagstaff, AZ I noticed a familar name under the “defendants” column. Seems that a certain big-shot editor of a certain local fishwrap (cheerleading the housing bubble all the way) will be having his house auctioned off later this month.
He bought in `01 for $319K, worth about $577K (per zillow.com) now. That’s all the detail I’ll provide–unless you want more.
A schadenfreude moment, perchance?
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge - even to ourselves - that we’ve been so credulous.”
Carl Sagan
“If you find yourself in an argument with a conservative who is defending George W. Bush’s intelligence, ask them to name an elected President they think George is smarter than. I have seen not a few huff and puff so hard to that they turned purple.”
Goodbye to the Dollar?
by Kenneth Rogoff
“…Over the past six years, the value of the trade-weighted dollar has fallen by more than a quarter, as the US has continued to rack up historically unprecedented trade deficits. With a soft economy, a badly compromised financial system, and serious concerns about rising inflation, the long-term dollar trend is downward, however the current crisis ends. And it is not over….
Next year will almost certainly see a massive rise in US corporate defaults, even though many firms entered the recession with relatively strong balance sheets. State and municipal finances are in even worse shape. With tax revenues collapsing due to falling home prices and incomes, dozens of US municipalities could well go into receivership, as New York City did in the 1970’s. US municipal bonds are already trading at huge risk premia, and the first big government default hasn’t even hit yet….
In 1971, as the dollar collapsed towards the end of the post-World War II fixed exchange-rate system, US Treasury Secretary John Connally famously told his foreign counterparts that “the dollar is our currency, but your problem.” And the dollar’s exalted global status has survived ever since, despite many episodes of neglect and abuse….”
Project-syndicate
http://tinyurl.com/4qkvgv
“LEVIN: Now, next question, if all goes well — if all goes well, what would be the approximate number of our troops there at the end of the year?
Let’s assume conditions permitted things to move quickly. What, in your estimate, would be the approximate number of American troops there at the end of the year?
Can you give us a [ ], just say if you can’t give us an estimate.
PETRAEUS: Sir, I can’t, I can’t give you an estimate on that.”
Frag ‘em all. Half assed planning if there is any planning at all.
“Half assed planning if there is any planning at all”
I tried to watch this, but it was too discouraging. Why Petraeus gets a free pass on this I don’t know…but since he can bluff Congress, it probably doesn’t matter.
Paging Wolfowitz and the rest of the neo-con warmongers…I think the only solution is the one Mark Hatfield proposed re Vietnam…Declare victory and go home.
Perhaps they’re trying to be respectful of the military guy. After all, it is an election year.
Having originally thought going to Iraq was a good idea myself, I agree with you……if that’s the best answer Petraeus can come up with, even now, after all this time, it’s time to take our toys and go home. We are officially stuck.
I would love to explain what is going on over here in the blog, it would take a week/ month to go over everything in enough detail to create an understanding of the highly complex interactions and political forces at work. I am also prevented from doing this due to my position and daily secret briefings. I can say the Iraqi people are a mess with very different ideas of what direction they want their country to go toward. When a country is ruled with an iron fist and nobody gets a say in what goes on for so long. People stop thinking about what the country should do. When they are ‘awakened’ and people (typically uneducated) start to think and try to influence thing it creates major problems. A parallel: I think America is starting to awaken to our troubles and we will be going through similar, although to much less degree, conflicts in ideas over the next decade as well.
Txchick:
Remember how everyone was wondering what Bill Gross is holding since he goes on CNBC and calls for a full bailout all of the time?
See what tickerforum found. I think you’ll like the video done in response too.
http://www.tickerforum.org/cgi-ticker/akcs-www?post=39606
Heads up PM lovers, lol…….Cramer says he loooooovvvveeessss gold.
cmon blano estacado:
Cramericans going long the yellow can only be balanced by deep in the money calls by Lenny “wad o chew” dykstra in the virtual world.
heres the trade: grab your z-box, and then get it gilded in gold.
(what’s the worst thing that could happen, anyway?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niVjE5m4v2o
Well thats it folks. I’m mostly out of Gold and Silver anyway.
I like ag stuff now not making any more farm land right, acually I don’t think they are it gets destroyed as fast as new land comes on line.
Terrain Tamer drove off the North Umpqua highway..a man in a truck…150 gallons of diesel,the North Umpqua,
man lives, fish die. iron rusts.
seasons closed.
tryin to find the recovery story….I wont paint the picture, but Ill get a snapshot…think Polariod..an abandoned technology.
does the virtual world trump reality?
ben,
you just cannot put a pricetag on this.
thank you.