Bits Bucket And Craigslist Finds For May 5, 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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Yahoo crached to $21,does this mean the end of bull run in tech sector
It’s been speculated that Microsoft’s recent troubles made the Yahoo acquisition unwise anyways.
Exactly! I’d rather Microsoft spend a couple of Billion on employee incentives and fixing up its OS offerings, rather than 35 billion (or whatever it was) for a friggin’ website!
I’ve bought a little, would buy more if it broke under 20.
almost $2 off it. You have to love those panic sellers.
Sentiment points to a deal coming.
Should be good for a pop.
Where, or how, do you view “sentiment”??? Thanks.
News commentary, newsgroup posts, etc. This looks like a replay of Oracle walking away from Bea. Oracle eventually bought by Bea.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/29/bea_oracle_lapse/
I like the Yahoo boards for that too.
Correction - Oracle eventually bought Bea. Apologies for the double post if it appears.
News commentary, newsgroups, Etc. Looks like it could be a replay of Oracle walking away from Bea. Oracle eventually bought Bea after Bea shareholders pushed it through.
GLD looks good here.
GLD prices today are purely a hedge against inflation, and right now the economy is experiencing both price inflation and wage/savings deflation. If the commodities bubble pops (i.e. speculation price outstrips actual demand), kiss your a$$ goodbye. I bet deflation wins…
Perhaps long term.
GLD looks poised to bounce to $90.00 in the near term. If it gets there it won’t be a fast ride like SKF.
GLD prices today are purely a hedge against inflation
Gold is money, so when the other forms of money (to use the term loosely) lose favor, gold gains favor.
I agree GLD is mainly working as an inflationary hedge right now. And inflation, has in a way, entered a postmodern condition: it’s different from every perspective. The long term outlook for commodities is deflationary, but the long term outlook for labor is inflationary. I expect interior, suburban real estate to be dramatically deflationary in the long term as energy costs continue upwards. Warm weather coastal urban centers will hold their own after adjusting 30-40% for the recent bubble.
About four years ago I gave one of my Economics classes an assignment to calculate each student’s personal inflation rate. (You basically take your monthly expenses from one year and compare them to the previous year–with some adjustments for lifestyle changes.) The students’ individual rates varied from about 10% to 50%. Rent and healthcare were both increasing wildly at that time. It sure made the stated rates of 2% to 4% look like a joke.
And this is an example as to why inflation will not “fix” the housing price problems. Unless wages are going up at 10%+ per year to match REAL inflation, then people are effectively earning LESS each year, leaving them with less money to spend on an overprice house. This, in turn, will drag housing prices down even farther.
“If” the commodity bubble pops..?
So gold is at historic highs-time to buy-it can only go up
Buy gold now or be priced out forever!
Nothing can “only go up”, but gold is nowhere near its historic highs if you adjust for inflation.
USS Titanic…
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/JE03Dj03.html
Why can’t North American newspapers print the truth?
Why can’t North American newspapers print the truth? Good question.. Maybe they have an agenda..
In 2005, Newsweek had featured a picture of an American flag in a trash can on the Japanese edition, absent from all other editions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsweek
http://www.newsweek.com/id/135380
The largest Ferris wheel is in Singapore.
o m g .. the USA is in trouble.. Thanks for ruining my day
Excellent article! Thank you.
(from the article)
‘The Mall of America in Minnesota once boasted that it was the largest shopping mall in the world. Today it wouldn’t make the top ten.’
Shall I weep sadly? Shall I breath a sigh of relief that apparently other countries are peopled by consumers even stupider than us ‘Merican consumers? Confusion reigns in my head. I better go shop for some aspirin! At the mall!
The article had me interested until the part about Donald Trump… then they lost me.
Watched WALL STREET again last night and the blurbs at the bottom telling the full Backstory on how it was made/who etc. mentioned the donaldster and how he loved the movie.
Greed is good. Seems Oliver Stone’s father had been a Wall streeter who made a fortune then lost it during 86 and never recovered it. Said the people running wall street today were a different breed. The implication being NOT GOOD for anyone but themselves.
Interesting reading the background.
Movie made me angry…again.
“Almost three-quarters of the US economy is consumption, compared with the more usual 50-50 mix considered “normal” in Economics 101 textbooks.”
You mean making deals isn’t making something?
I’m no economist, but I’ve always been worried about the “New Service Economy” people always tout. Don’t you actually have to “make things” and “add value” at some point? Simply selling houses to each other, doesn’t make an economy.
My understanding is that the morph to a service economy is a natural consequence of becoming wealthier.. local materials, labor, land and everything tied to mfg.. well, everything becomes more and more expensive.. So, as long as transportation costs allow, it’s just cheaper to mfg stuff elsewhere. Business gravitates towards whatever avenue presents the lowest costs.
We can see how the cheapest-labor-country gets the mfg business for awhile, until it grows stronger.. Japan gave it up to Korea who gave it up to India and pakistan, etc. China has it now.
I don’t even think it is about providing a service–many are just trying to get themselves into the money stream–whether it be inheritance, entitlement programs, or “skimming the cream” occupations like mortgage brokers. That’s the sign of a decadent, over-fattened economy. We’re headed for a national diet.
“You mean making deals isn’t making something”
Sure, that’s the shape of things to come. We can all sell each other “deals”. That’s why I wanted txchick and Hoz to host a thread about trading, because clearly that’s the only way to make a real buck anymore. I mean, if everyone gets into it, you may have a hard time finding someone to fix that clogged toilet or do electrical work or teach your kids or whatever, but what the hey.
That would be terrific if Hoz/txchk would do at least a one day info on trading.
I second that.
Pretty puleeze
Well, we DO export inflation and toxic mortgage-backed securities to the rest of the world, so that should count for something, right?
Our economy is based mostly on stealing from each other.
Greenspan Sees U.S. in `Pale Recession,’ May Last Through Year
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aTdPSFO7gMLg&refer=home
The former Fed chief said a recovery won’t begin until home prices show signs of stabilizing, relieving pressure on financial firms to write off mortgage-related losses.
“Until there are stabilized prices of homes, and I think they have a good way to go down, you still have prospective losses” for financial companies and investors. “It’s too soon to tell” if the worst of the credit crunch is over, he added.
Home prices in 20 U.S. cities fell in February by the most on record. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index dropped 12.7 percent from the same month last year.
“It is possible, not probable, that prices could bottom out” toward the end of the year, Greenspan said.
It’s probably possible that something could happen that will be better or worse than the current financial numbers indicate.
Death rides a pale horse.
Wha the heck is a Pale recession?
Oh, I can’t buy the expensive brand for a month, but that surely will clear up after that?
No Pale Ale recession here…
Cracking open a Sierra Nevada
Probably possible, my black hen,
She lays eggs in the relative when.
She doesn’t lay eggs in the positive now
Because she’s unable to postulate how.
-A Space Child’s Mother Goose
Untill Schrödinger’s cat got into the henhouse
Just don’t look at the darn cat, and it’ll all be FINE.
Thank you, Polly, for posting this. I’d forgotten all about that little gem from my nerdlette adolescence. I used to read it to my babysitting charges. Worked like a charm to get them off to sleep….
‘“It is possible, not probable, that prices could bottom out’’ toward the end of the year, Greenspan said.’
I am sure he must have meant the stock market here, not housing?
I love the idiocy about how we need to “stabilize” housing prices… at the current unaffordable levels. That won’t help the nation a bit, but it WILL let the fat-cat bankers keep raking in the money, and that’s all that matters!
“The former Fed chief said a recovery won’t begin until home prices show signs of stabilizing, relieving pressure on financial firms to write off mortgage-related losses.
“Until there are stabilized prices of homes, and I think they have a good way to go down, you still have prospective losses’’ for financial companies and investors. “It’s too soon to tell’’ if the worst of the credit crunch is over, he added.”
Well thank you Mr. f*cking Wizard for that little ball of wisdom. How long did it take you to come up with that gem?
And when will prices stabilized again? Answer: When there’s a steady stream of buyers buying houses.
When will that happen? When people can actually AFFORD houses again without using “funny money”(subprime sludge).
When will THAT happen you ask? When prices FALL to a level in line with family incomes. We still have a long way to go for that - at least here in the Seattle area anyway.
Why is Greenspan such a douche? I’m tired of people with credentials on paper being considered qualified, while intelligent people like many on this blog are treated as second class Laymen when in fact we have done a far better job of sizing up the situation accurately, and laying out the hard choices that need to be made.
Txchick, Hoz, Ben, Prof Bear, or hell, even *I* would clearly be a better choice as fed chairman than any of the clowns we’ve had since Volker.
I’m tired of the annoited priesthood of Academia carrying so much sway over our Public hiring choices. That crap needs to end sooner rather than later.
Government Intensifies Mortgage Investigation
Federal agencies are intensifying a criminal investigation of the mortgage industry and focusing on whether some lenders turned a blind eye to inflated income figures provided by borrowers.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the criminal division of the Internal Revenue Service have formed a task force to examine mortgages that were made with little or no proof of the earnings or assets of borrowers, a government official who had been briefed on the matter said Sunday.
The task force, which was established in January, stepped up its investigation in recent weeks as the financial industry disclosed billions of dollars in additional write-downs from bad mortgage investments. The latest inquiry is broader and deeper than a separate F.B.I. investigation of mortgage lenders that is also under way.
While the new task force is focusing on the role of mortgage lenders and brokers in low- or no-documentation loans, it is also examining how the loans were bundled into securities.
“This is a look at the mortgage industry across the board, and it has gotten a lot more momentum in recent weeks because of the banks’ earnings shortfalls,” the official said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/business/05lend.html?hp
What a joke. Where were these clowns 2 years ago when HBBers were spotting fraud every single day? Or better yet, why is it that it takes an “earnings shortfall” to trigger an investigation?
I Favor Discrimination…
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rozeff/rozeff205.html
wmbz, you always find the best stuff.
“In the name of justice, Congress unjustly prevents an individual from discriminating in his or her private behavior against another individual. A landlord cannot turn away some prospective renters. A business cannot turn away some prospective clients. An employer cannot turn away some applicants. A banker cannot turn away some bad risks.”
“…cannot turn away some bad risks…”
Everyone who can breath gets a loan, then…
This guy is going to make you mad, Chick. He doesn’t seem to be too fond of lawyers.
“The old asylums have been emptied, but we have new ones that go by the name of University of XYZ Law School. They produce insane inmates for that assembly known as Congress. Their peculiar psychosis is the manufacturing of rationales to justify their steady stream of mad laws.”
Discrimination is nothing more than making distinctions and being selective. Without discrimination, freedom to choose is an empty exercise. I favor the freedom to choose. Therefore, I favor discrimination.
Yes, I believe in Nepotism when it comes to jobs, college admissions, and government policies. I believe that only people with the same religion as I have should benefit from my tax money. I think that only people who look alike should be able to marry, unless they are of the same gender. I believe that only people in my same economic and social demographic should be my neighbors. I believe that if people want government services that they should only get them if they speak English.
I believe that it is un-American to have to consider the needs and liberty of anyone who disagrees with me.
I believe that the world will be a better place when laws that protect minorities from discrimination by the majority are dismantled. It is the Natural Order…Darwin hates diversity.
/sarcasm
Darwin says “lend only to those who can and will pay you back”
Darwin says - “Don’t poop where you eat…”
“I believe that only people with the same religion as I have should benefit from my tax money. I think that only people who look alike should be able to marry, unless they are of the same gender. I believe that only people in my same economic and social demographic should be my neighbors. I believe that if people want government services that they should only get them if they speak English.”
None of those things have anything to do with discrimination. You should read the article before commenting.
You should read the article before commenting.
I read the article…did you read it? If so, why did you fail to notice that I quoted from it? It was a right wing puff piece equating bigotry with patriotism.
Maybe you should look up the meaning of the word “sarcasm”.
I’m not sure what that article has to do with the “right wing”. It more closely represents classical liberalism, back when “liberal” was derived from “liberty”.
Here we go with the sematics arguments…
Here we go with the sematics arguments…
Wassa matta wit chew? You anti-sematic or sumpin’?
courtesy of Woody Allen:
he keeps asking me, “d’you eat already? d’you read that article?” everything’s “jew, jew, jew!
Playboy magazine used to appeal to the discriminating audience.
Government Intensifies Mortgage Investigation
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/business/05lend.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
Countrywide is also under scrutiny by California and Illinois; federal prosecutors in Sacramento; and the United States Trustee, the federal agency that monitors bankruptcy courts. The S.E.C., meanwhile, is examining stock sales by certain Countrywide executives.
A spokesman for Countrywide did not return calls for comment on Sunday.
They are rushing these now because they want to get a sweet heart settlement while Bush is still in office.
Pardons for everyone!!!!
Neat trick they did in Cali was the Notary reform. They closed the barn doors after the fraud, now it is harder to convince a notary to fake something, but in return for morality they got a nice statute of limitations of only 3 years for past frauds.
The clock is ticking if the feds want notaries to roll over on the scammers.
I won’t link the entire article, it’s sort of irrelevant, except for this one interesting soundbite: the MAJORITY of the poplulation is more likely to be renters in the future.
“Original plans for the units were for condominiums but in October developer Rey Ortega of the Garrison Group of Florida, based in Tampa, changed the condos to rental units. “We moved into the final plans just as the sub prime issue reared up, indicating that the majority of the population is more likely to be renters in the future,” Ortega said. “The number of people requiring rentals is consistently way above the number of units available to them.”
“The number of people requiring rentals is consistently way above the number of units available to them.”
That doesn’t sound right. The rental market is hardly tight. Almost any housing can be rented, not just apartments. It sounds like he’s trying to justify his decision. There weren’t enough buyers, so there must be a shortage of rental units. There’s a glut of housing. More people may be renters in the future, but that’s separate from the supply issue.
This weekend IIRC there was an article and discussion that clarified that condo building rules can specify a maximum percentage of rental use (in the case of the article, 20%). I don’t know if it was universal. One lady wanted to rent out her condo but had to get onto a waiting list because the building was already at the maximum number of rental units.
Read from this point of view, perhaps the condo owners are trying to rent at more than 50% of units but are constrained by covenants from doing so.
In the early 90’s lenders would not loan on condo’s unless there were at least 80% owner occupied…
These rules about percentage of renters seem to be fairly typical as far as I can tell.
There are also often stipulations that the condo board must approve a renter, background checks must be conducted, no subletting, etc. When I was president of my former condo association in ‘04-’05, we used such provisions to force the developer to sell a unit he owned in my building and continued to rent to … unsavory types.
Agreed. That is a “sellers puff” line. In this case, more likely an “investors puff” line, but pretty much the same thing. And a very casual use of the word “majority.”
“Renters” for Mr. Ortega is a catchall term for non-home owners…it seems that people who live in spare bedrooms, converted garages, group facilities, and spaces at the mobile home park get ignored.
No, people like Mr. Ortega believe that everyone who doesn’t buy a home or condo should be living in an apartment, and the government and Wall St. need to recognize that, dammit! If the REIC can’t make money off of non-homeowners somehow, then that makes baby Jebus cry, and the terrorists win….
UBS still struggling
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=azTgBxZu2wYQ&refer=home
WASHINGTON — Like a spreading infection, restrictions on credit are moving into more specialized niches of the mortgage market.
The latest to feel the pinch:
* Cash-out refinancings.
* Loans with less than full documentation of borrower income, credit and assets.
* Mortgages for certain second-home purchases.
* Investment loan applications in which the buyer already owns at least three other rental properties.
* Mortgages to borrowers with nontraditional credit.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-re-harney4-2008may04,0,4114878.story
Hmmmm… Sounds like the BAD areas of the credit market. In real life, we tend to avoid places like this anyway we can. Banks on the other hand have been like “respectable” folk leading a double life in the red light district. I think that this return to normal credit standards is a major systemic shock to those legions of irresponsible types who have been living off of easy credit (both as consumer and supplier) for so long that they can’t imagine life (or get through it) without reaching for that plastic or HELOC.
These people are about to drop out of the Middle Class and into a choice place of their own making.
These people are about to drop out of the Middle Class and into a choice place of their own making.
They are.
“Some of those high-loss loan products — mass-marketed option ARMs with minimal down payments and “stated” incomes, for instance — probably never will be seen again. Others are likely to return only with tougher underwriting standards and higher fees tied to credit and geographic risks.
In the meantime, consumers have little choice: Get used to it. It’s not going away any time soon.”
When these ramifications hit, it will truly be a buyers market.
Oh, lil Al, I love your story. What a good story to start the day with. Tell it to me again!
Hey, didn’t I recently read that the biggest mortage insurer in the USA, can’t recall the initials, will no longer insure Option arm loans?
It’s all just falling down. Hooray!
Okay, now tell me the story again. I don’t seem to get tired of hearing it.
My wife didn’t quite get the impact of changes requiring down payment until I mentioned that “Um, dear, WE can’t write a check right now for the amount we did as a down payment when we bought this house with 20% down.” We would have to sell first before we could buy it like that. We will likely only sell to move up buyers (with selling contingency, darn it) and are unlikely to find a first time buyer.
I think it is beginning to sink in.
A return to sensible, low risk lending? Oh BOO HOO…what a plague on the credit markets! Thanks to this awful “infection”…now people who put their money into savings accounts will be paid higher interest because there will be less fiat money, leverage will be extended to those with track records or federal guarantees of paying back their debt, and everyone else will have to live within their means!
Excuse me while I get some Kleenex…this is a sad day for our country.
“Genworth Financial, one of the largest insurers, recently told lenders that after Monday, it no longer will consider applications for second-home purchases anywhere in Florida. The new policy is irrespective of borrowers’ credit scores, assets or other characteristics.”
Another sword in the heart of Florida!
Another sword in the heart of Florida!
And many other area’s also…If I read this correctly, if you are a real estate investor and you have three outstanding loans you don’t qualify for another…If this becomes the standard, you have just eliminated a massive amount of potential buyers from the market…
they can’t print food:
BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters) - Food price inflation may be one of the most serious problems facing the world, but one that monetary policy has little power to tackle, central bankers said on Monday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSL0512998320080505
I’ve been wondering how long it will take before some govt’s really start mucking around with new commodities markets rules or by slapping the buyers of futures with taxes to make speculation unprofitable (though the way gov’t works no doubt it would still benefit the speculators while still screwing famers).
The Ethanol Bubble
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-ethanol4-2008may04,0,1722380.story
No, but it grows on trees.
What a dick. You can just tell this guy is a class A jerk. 62 years old with three small kids . . . you know the rest. I hope the judge tells him to stick it.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080504/ap_on_re_us/cemetery_dispute
I’ll bet you he’s in the financial industry…
he is from greenwich ct so no doubt a hedgie
62 with 3 young kids? sounds like a trophy wife
there are several places in and around san francisco where many thousands of bodies were “relocated’ for the purpose of building stuff.. Sears Hill for one..
SF is the only county in the nation without a graveyard (except for a tiny native indian one designated as a preserve.. behind Mission Delores if i recall.)
There’s also a cemetery in the Presidio. The Mission Dolores graveyard was used in Hitchcock’s “Vertigo”.
yeah.. i forgot about that one.. i guess the presidio is now city property.
There’s also .. what do they call a place they store cremated remains in jars.. Anyway, there’s one of those, an old circular building.. near Turk and Arguello, behind some houses. I don’t know if it qualifies as a cemetary. It’s been featured on TV too.. CAlifornia’s Gold with Huel Houser i believe.
There may be a couple others.. none active afaik.
Columbarium.
Yep. I believe it houses all military. Pretty interesting actually (I visited by coincidence recently).
There’s also a pet graveyard in the Presidio.
I heard that Colma has more dead people than living (and more shopping malls and big box stores, too)
The graveyeard looks tiny in the picture - maybe 50 by 50 feet at the most. And he has to put the house so close to that little space out of a 130 acres? I bet the graveyard is on the part of the property with the best views. It wouldn’t have been unusual for a New England farm family to put the family graveyard on a hill. The original house would have been near the well.
Our family graveyard in CT is on the prettiest piece of the old homestead.
A clear case of his needs trumping the needs of the many.
They dont like what he wants to do with the land? They can buy it and make it a public property. That land was already sold.
Who are these crazy people who make an annual pilgrimage to visit (far removed) ancestral graves on someone else’s private property? Do you think they have genealogy charts and fake family crests to complete the tableau?
So they should negotiate with the new owner. They can lease that plot from the new owner. They can buy that plot from a new owner. What they can’t do is stomp on new owners property rights. Their parents/grandparents/etc gave up all the rights to the land unless the restrictions were put in a deed. It is in no shape or form different from a FB wanting a do-over on his/her mortgage - current remorse does not cancel out previous actions.
The many who? Dead people? They don’t really have many needs. They don’t need anything, they can be dead under any circumstances.
Among other things, he doesn’t want the graves around his three young children. “I feel that it’s improper to have a reminder of the sadness of life so near where children are playing,” .
That is the lamest thing I ever heard. After growing up in a small town, knowing the HS and an elementary school were located nearby a cemetary, and it was on a main street where everyone drove by, and I babysat in homest right across the street from said cemetary…I don’t think I turned out weird “for all the sadness reminders”. Quiet out there, no comments from the peanut gallery.
Even having a grandmother who owned a funeral home and seeing people in repose…didn’t screw me up one bit.
Shhhhhhh I can hear you guys snickering.
Even having a grandmother who owned a funeral home and seeing people in repose…didn’t screw me up one bit.
My mother was the office manager of a funeral home for over 20 years. She loved everything about working there, except dunning the widows and orphans for money. Plus, the only men who ever asked her out were morticians.
” bet the graveyard is on the part of the property with the best views.”
Yes! There is one like that on Route 1 in Maine, with the most amazing view of Damariscotta, where I would like to end up. I also visited a graveyard on Maui that had a phenomenal view of the ocean. I think this is where Lindberg is buried. I’m sure developers have been drooling…
I rode my bike from Winneconne WI up to Appleton years ago. I stopped to rest and drink some water at a cemetery. One rather splendid-looking grave had the most gorgeous view overlooking the river. I had to check it out. Joe McCarthy.
He can’t find another spot on the 130-acres to build his house? His kids can’t find any other area on 130-acres to play? The sale is contingent on him being able to move the graves. If I were the seller, I’d tell him no deal.
The seller probably has the thing liened up the wazoo and needs the money.
I love going into old graveyards. This guy is despicable.
Maybe we’ll eventually do it the way they do it in at least one town in Austria. They RENT the plot. When no descendent makes the next annual payment, they dig up the body and rent the plot to the next dead person’s family.
The dug-up bones (at least the skull) are placed in a large, communal crypt that is somewhat of a tourist attraction.
This was covered on a Rick Steves travelogue on the PBS HD channel.
Kutna Hora, Czech Republic, actually.
http://www.ludd.luth.se/~silver_p/kutna.html
we live two houses down from an old church graveyard, which has very old (by midwest standards) markers. right in our subdivision. our kids have always loved it.
jct
As teenagers we used to park in the cemetary, or on the indian reservation or at spooky houses.
I think we turned out alright. tic tic tic…
Would it be wrong of me if I were to hope to see that guy and his family sometime soon and in not so good circumstances on “Ghost Hunters” or some such?
“Among other things, he doesn’t want the graves around his three young children. “I feel that it’s improper to have a reminder of the sadness of life so near where children are playing,” he said in February.”
The buyer is also delusional. He’s an old guy of 62 with little kids…guess he doesn’t want reminders that he’ll probably croak before they get to college.
By the way, the gravesite contains the remains of veterans…yeah, no need to teach your children respect for the sacrifice of patriotic Americans who built this country.
that exactly is what pissed me off about the story.
Not to disimilar to our Great Decider in Chief who wants none of Americans to note how many flag covered coffins return to Dover.
OH geez , lets not remind ourselves everyday of the sacrifice of others. I WANT to pay tribute.
But our decider in chief wants us all to ignore lifes challenges, justsos he can make a profit for him/friends.
I want to honor those who have fought.
what a dick he is.
‘I love going into old graveyards. This guy is despicable.’
Squared! No, cubed!
I love old graveyards, and I love ghost towns. Utarrr has great ghost towns, many near where I grew up–red rocks area, lots of mines and gold rushes and excitements in the old days–and they were just wonderful. Are just wonderful, only I haven’t been in a few years, since I moved here.
Eureka was a great one, Silver Reef, Mammoth, Diamond—ahhhh. The history was fascinating to research, as well.
My great great great grandpa is buried in the Eureka cemetery. I visited his grave now and again to observe the sun-bleached stone, the words crumbling away, a little old cemetery in the middle of a vast wide bright silent land, surrounded by sagebrush.
Yeah–let’s kill this greedy pompous asshat, I say. But bury him someplace else.
If you were the seller you would be pissed that the value of your land just got a hole blown in it’s foot because any future owners couldn’t do with the land what they please.
I wouldn’t move the graves, but I wouldn’t buy the land either if the best spot on it was a graveyard. Either way the decision should be in the hands of the owner of the land. I don’t see why it’s fine to dredge up an Indian cemetery, or even a veterans cemetery to put a road through, but by god if you want to do something to a cemetery on private land your the worlds enemy.
Other countries that ran out of a ton of room to bury people ages ago have gotten over this whole can’t move the earthworms that used to be a corpse thing.
Generally, the original landowners have either a covenant, restriction or exclude the graveyard plot from future sales of the overall property.
My family on my father’s side has a family plot/graveyard in a white picket fence in Oklahoma. The graveyard is still being actively used after four generations, if we should decide to do so.
Who cares what they do with your remains after you are dead and gone. Funerals are a waste of money. Some people pay more for the funeral services than was ever paid when the person was alive.
In Washington state, at least, you are not allowed by law to put a road through a cemetary.
Of course, putting a road between two different cemetaries is perfectly legal.
By coincidence, there are lots of place where there are roads between cemetaries with different names.
I agree. Either move ‘em or don’t sell.
You would think with the profits from the sale they could purchase a gravesite somewhere?
Anyway, the dead aren’t making the most of that view, no matter what people think.
What was that Rodney Dangerfield line from Caddyshack?
“I tell you, golf courses and graveyards - the two biggest wastes of real estate.”
If the buried corpses meant so much, why did the family shed their land?
..didnt care about it at the time.
I think it’s possible to put restrictions in the deed.. or set up a trust with provisions to preserve the graves..
Exactly. The thing is that the family did not do it because deeds with restrictions always were less attractive than those without restrictions.
I wish the kids signing up for Iraq could see this thread…they would understand that any personal sacrifice on their part, including risking their lives, is held by many greedy Americans to be worth nothing at all.
I wish they could see it also. Maybe then they wouldn’t throw their lives away so others can maintain their grip on power.
It’s a grave situation, over there.
If there is no deed restriction from when the original family sold the land, it is probably because everyone understood at the time that any decent person would respect a family gravesite. And it’s true, any decent person would. If the guy doesn’t want to live in Vermont and follow the customs of the people in Vermont, maybe he shouldn’t move to Vermont.
Agree 100%.
The land comes with the cemetery. If you don’t like cemeteries on your land, don’t buy the land.
Simple.
I hope Ghosts come back and haunt his ass.
These pictures in the link don;t come close to doing the site justice, but eventually land developers got thier way. Bones or no, no body is guaranteed a single final place to go to ground. Put in perspective, many old tombs are now tourist sites, with all physical remains of the departed long sinse turned to dust. The one exception might be the tomb of Lazarus, who came back with no complaints and now his remains are under a slab in Larnaca.
http://www.sarafyan.com/images/Cemetery/index.htm
Any opinions about the wisdom of reducing the gas tax for the summer? I think it is just pandering to the suburban commuter FBs for votes.
Infrastructure (especially roads) needs to be maintained, and it is a reasonable tax. If the presidential candidates really want to save the American taxpayers money, they need to get us out of Iraq and stop subsidizing Wall St. with free $$$ for bankrupting the country.
If reducing the tax doesn’t affect the price much (as economists say, due to supply (same) and demand (same), and reducing the tax shifts the tax money from government to oil company profits, … then I don’t understand why Clinton doesn’t suggest RAISING the tax
OK, politically I understand it. This shows it IS just pandering. Otherwise we would be hearing about RAISING the gas tax in order to:
1) sock it to the oil compaines, yay yay (previous H.C. suggestion)
2) raise prices a little to: reduce demand => more energy independence (also previous rhetoric)
They should, however, do it in such a way that it is clear that this is a long term trend that needs to be planned for by many elements of society: e.g.: a 5 year plan ;).
For example, raise it smoothly over 5 years to $1/gallon or some other large number.
This transparency would assist the automakers to make the needed reinvestments, the congress and industry to bring in supply side adjustments, the refiners to actually readjust, … etc.
As it is, based on past decision over the last 30 years, the car makers will probably decide this is just a temporary fad of high oil prices and fool themselves into trying to cost over any temporary valley in demand without changing their fleets much.
Perot suggested raising the gas tax $.25 back in 1992 and using the proceeds to eliminate the national debt. Nobody wanted that then as it would have raised the price to $1.25/gallon. Outrageous!! Who would ever pay that much for gasoline! It would cripple our economy!
If you put a stop to the federal exise tax for the summer, doing so without an order to the oil companies to reduce prices .18 cents, would be a lie. Theres no guarantee, they won’t use the .18 for their own purposes and just keep screwing us. In the name of price increases, gas will go up, not down. Justification for not decreasing .18 cents. Liars all of them!
Price restrictions!!!! great idea, I can’t wait to stand in line for hours for gas like they did in the 70’s… what a genius!
They could at least get rid of the 8 cent tax on beer so we could afford a couple of extra cold ones while we wait in line for gas.
LOL.
In the 70’s, in CA, gas was rationed on an odd even basis. The last number on your license plate dictated when you could get gas.
Yes, that was lovely. I had to carry two five-gallon gas cans in my trunk to make sure I had gas when I needed it. Good thing I never got rear-ended. Rationing was the dumbest idea ever - they should have just priced it at market.
Dumping the tax will have the opposite effect. Raise the damn tax by $1 or more and you’ll see prices drop in a hurry.
Right on! This grandstanding is all backwards.
The state of Indiana did just that a few years ago. Gas taxes were rescinded or reduced for at least one year. I recall getting gased up and noting it was only 1.39 per gal.
What I am watching about this squabbling amongst the presidential contenders re the gas tax holiday is about their abilities to:
a) select the best appropriate advisors
b) listen to those advisors and choose the best course (not the political best course)
c) even realize they should find and listen to some advisor
None of the current crop of candidates does very well by any of these standards, unfortunately. It amazes me that this isn’t one of H.C.’s thrusts. (Except for the maverick damn-the-politics-full-steam-ahead-on-the-correct-path part which McCain should be able to own.) Instead we get “Annihilate them!” (what point is served by reminding people, except an obviously political one: I’m a toughie) and “Damn the economists! Full Steam Ahead!” on the gas tax holiday (HC & MCCain).
If you are so much wiser you “experienced” candidates, show it by atracting wise council and listening to it.
Isn’t ’ssshrubery in office until January of next year?
So McCain and Hillary’s posturing about doing something about the price of gas this summer is strictly a moot point, no?
They form the critical “which way the wind is currently blowing” swing voting block in the senate, controlling 3% of the votes
Don Quixote & Sancho Panza, revisited.
They’re both still in the Senate and could sponsor a bill.
walk away?
(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) is likely to renegotiate its deal to buy Countrywide Financial Corp (CFC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) down to the $0 to $2 level or completely walk away from it, said Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, which downgraded Countrywide to “underperform” from “market perform.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSBNG17385120080505?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
That makes the letter I received on Friday from the mortgage broker who nearly insisted on putting me and the now ex-wife into an option-ARM (despite our 25% downpayment and pristine FICO scores) in early 2005 even funnier. He was notifying his former customers that he had moved from WaMu to… wait for it… Countrywide. My favorite line from the letter: “Countrywide has been in the media during these turbulent times as well. However, the more I learn about the company, its products, and its way of doing business the impressed I become.” Nearly choked on the coffee I was drinking when I opened this on Saturday.
We did end up buying a house in Walnut Creek, albeit with a 30-year fixed at under 6%. Luckily for me, the ex insisted on keeping the house (her childhood home that she had insisted that we buy from her parents who gave us less than a 10% discount off 2005 Walnut Creek pricing — gee thanks), so I was able to trade its early 2006ish equity in exchange for a bigger chunk of the liquid assets and no spousal support. I must say that trade looks better every single day of this housing mess.
I know a guy who traded to get the 401K back, giving up the antique china cabinet to his ex-wife. His intended replacement was rich anyway, apparently.
Sounds like a good trade. My only requirement was the freedom to never have to communicate with her again. Keeping my 401k (while she kept hers) and a 65% chunk of our brokerage account was just a happy bonus.
I bet she’s smiling at the thought of you “throwing your money away” on rent and being permanently priced out of the market, while she will go back to having unlimited equity appreciation after housing mania returns after this ‘minor’ economic downturn. She’ll just sit in the house for the next 3-5 years and won’t compromise on the house’s “true” value…lol.
What a small world. So, when did you meet my ex? LOL.
It’s OK. I smile when I think of having escaped the commute from there to Palo Alto. And the mobility I gained from being a newly minted rentor became truly useful less than 4 months after the separation when I was laid off. No way on earth I could have moved back to San Diego and enjoyed a beach-laden summer of blissful unemployment had I still been shackled with a crushing mortgage payment.
It was while living in Ocean Beach that I decided I would not be able to tolerate paid employment for much longer. That place was made for slackers. Of course then you could theoretically afford to live there.
I live about a 15-20 minute bike ride from MB. Sadly traded in sun-soaked laziness for paid employment in fall of ‘06. The paychecks are nice. And being less than 10 minutes from work is a nice upgrade from my previous commute nightmare. Still think I’d rather be at the beach all day, though.
Gritty,
MB?
Mission Beach.
sometimes you do get lucky
i have a co-worker who went thru the same thing and he is looking to buy a new house in Mass with his money
some people never learn
Better terms…
housing bubble update from Netherlands:
in the past week I toured some small villages in my area and was shocked by the number of homes for sale. Judging from the realtor signs in the gardens and on windows, in many of these villages 15-25% of homes are for sale (probably more if you count the ones that are just listed on internet or ’silent sales’ which is pretty popular over here). For perspective, in my hometown 2-3% of homes are for sale, and that is a lot more than two years ago.
Most of these villages look very nice and friendly: often beautiful homes from 1-4 centuries ago (but with all the modern comfort), big mature gardens, very quiet surrounding (but not much to do in the winter time when tourists are gone). Prices are up 10 to 20 times from twenty years ago and totally out of reach for the local population. My guess is that most of the sellers don’t live there at all but are speculators who purchased 5-10 years ago and are trying to cash in on the once-in-a lifetime price surge. Judging from some of the asking prices I have seen they are all hoping to hit the jackpot. I am absolutely sure there are no buyers for all these properties at the current prices (and not even at 50 or 75% lower price). This is a disaster waiting to happen but who knows when it will hit …
The Dutch government just announced the biggest spending increase in 40 years (probably thanks to our Finance Minister from the Labour party). They are convinced that the recession and housing crash that is starting to spread in Europe will not happen in the Netherlands.
Also, how is the population going there? Rising demand everywhere, or are people starting to wonder whether recent immigrants are going to be able or desire to live in the Dutch country style in their first generation?
In the seven years I spent in German (3 in the Eifel and 4 in the Rheinland Pfalz) I truly enjoyed small village German life. Go out and “putz” (sweep) the gutters everyday. The little gartens that were so immaculate. The local gaststubes and little meat and cheese shops, the bakereis with such great bread. Most of all - The BEER! The wein was great to being along the Mosel, but I just loved that small town brewery beer.
It was such a quiet, orderly, and serene way of life. MUCH different that small town Middle of Nowhere here in the U.S.
Content has dropped out of my post. Sorry for the read.
Loved your post, Jwhite.
My family is in Austria, and your post brings back very good memories!
Bratwürst with proper mustard for €1… Yum
population in my area is declining slightly, probably most of all in these small villages. Overall population in the area is predicted to start decreasing at a faster pace in about 10 years from now, so it’s only going to get worse (young people are leaving, only the elderly stay).
Most of the recent immigrants hang out with each other in big cities like Rotterdam, where there it lots of illegal activities, drugs, booze, guns etc. Not much of that to be found in the countryside, so I’m sure most of them are not interested (well, maybe if they get a free home and car from the government; you never know, some EU countries already have arrangements like that for immigrant families). I don’t think these immigrants would survice very long there, the ones we get have already learned that in Netherlands the way to get ahead of others is NOT to work (at least no official/legal work).
That is excellent news, nhz!
I know you’ve been waiting for this for a long, long time.
Thank you for your perspective on the other side of the globe. Please keep us updated.
How Fraud Fueled the Mortgage Crisis
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050408E.shtml
Research firm Friedman Billings says BOA is likely to renegotiate Countrywide purchase down to the $0 - 2 level or walk away entirely.
“Just walk away”
The Humongous
Wasn’t part of the apparent rationale for the original buyout the prevention of a ripple effect if CFC were to default on their CDS (and other alphabet soup) obligations? If so, this sounds ominously like BAC taking their finger off the first domino…
I doubt anyone on this board is suprised. BofA agree to buy a toxic waste factory and now wants out of the deal. Let Countrywide wither on the vine. Lynch Mozillo.
i always thought BofA was hot for countrywide .. they reqally want and need an established mortgage arm… couldn’t this be nothing more than a bargaining maneuver?
I agree with you; this is a negotiating tool. I never expected BoA to actually take on the bad part of Countrywide anyway - looks like they’ll spin off the bad debt into a related entity, then sell them off or have them file bankruptcy. Not at all different from the 80’s - remember the good banks spinning off the bad banks? Amresco comes to mind, in fact.
http://nreionline.com/mag/real_estate_amresco_finds_opportunity/
Here’s a good, albeit dated article about it. I had not remembered that this was a spin off of NCNB, which ultimately became B of A. So let’s just say they have experience with this type of thing.
Did Microsoft just cause an avalanche of M&A walkaways?
Didn’t BOA make a deal with the Federal Reserve about purchasing Countrywide?
I would challenge Big V’s statement of Silicon Valley losing population. I agree they are losing the high paid caucasian workforce (including myself and spouse). They have had a great increase in the undocumented guest workers from across the US border to the south. Of course, they can pay the high prices with those high paying strawberry picking jobs.
So silly valley will switch silicon chip design and production to chocolate chip production?
Also, illegals (AKA “undocumented”) are not “guest workers”. Guest workers have visas. I really hate the use of the term “undocumented”. Perhaps we should call bank robberies: “undocumented withdrawals”.
My wife grimaces at the term “illegal immigrants”. To her (a naturalized U.S. citizen), “immigrant” is a stage in the normal documented legal process of becoming a citizen. She prefers the more correctly descriptive term “illegal aliens”.
Last week’s news commented on how hispanics — whether legal or not are moving to Southern states and out of Calfornia because of its unaffordability factor. You can bet that applies to the Bay Area.
My hot shot relative in her mid-20s who works for Countrywide in Sacramento is going to:
a. Purchase a 4,000+ square foot house.
b. Allow the 3,800 square foot house, which she purchased in Dec. 2005, and which has declined approx. 50% in value to go into foreclosure
I’m trying to wrap my head around this and what it means.
Personally, I don’t think my relative will be able to pay off the loan on the new house either, but someone out there in RE land does.
Obviously, she is going to buy the second house first, and then let the first one go into foreclosure. Not sure how prevalent this practice is and what it means for trying to time the bottom.
I guess your relative is expecting Uncle Sam to offer foreclosure bailout monies to make it all good for her?
Does she have the 20% she needs these days for a down payment ?, Her cunning plan may not be so foolproof as she thinks.
No 20% needed. FHA loans available with 3% down, and that can come from the seller.
This is a clear sign that credit is still way too easy to get by people who shouldn’t be getting it. Thanks Uncle Fed!
Yesterday I heard that an aquaintance bought with a no-doc a couple weeks ago. He did however have to cough up 20% down.
I heard of someone else in the Natomas area doing the exact same thing. I could see this happenening at the begining of the year, when lenders were still giving away 100% financed loans. But what lender is going to give a loan to someone who bought a house in 2005? Don’t they assume that anyone who bought after 2005 is going to be over their head in debt? When you do find out how she manages this, do let us know.
I just gotta add –okay, I can see a lot of people getting caught in the bubble. But when I hear stories of people doing underhanded things like this I think it might be time to bring back the debtor’s prisons.
Just think of it as an “undocumented” loan payoff.
I was going to suggest that banks upgrade their software from CREDIT_RATING > X to some system that finds the debtors that it makes sense to persue further for deficiency judgements when able.
But since the deficient can just declare bankruptcy and stay in the new house, we are left with the only real workable way for the banks to stay out of this situation: get smarter about loaning money.
I know 2 people who did that in CA during the last RE bust, didn’t seem to bother them one bit. stupid banks
You said she works for Countrywide. Would be REALLY interesting if she had her (old) mortgage with Countrywide, wouldn’t it?
It would give new meaning to the term “employee benefits”…
You mean everyone doesn’t want to live in a small town in Canada hundreds of miles from the nearest big city, surrounded by thousands of square miles of nothing in particular? Where the only employer, the forest industry, is on life support?
Thanks GIS…there are now at least 4 more lots on the same street that my land is on that have suddenly come on the market as well. Housing that is very cheap is still being snapped up right away but unfortunately mine isn’t in that price range so it may take awhile. One thing was made clear though, so many we know talk about the equity they have in their home as though it was guaranteed money in the bank - this huge financial nest egg to fall back on if things go sideways, and we had been guilty of that thinking occasionally too - yeah…but only if you can actually sell the house and only if it’s worth what you think it is. Friends and relatives who have said they are set because they know their house is worth X amount of dollars, because all they have to do is sell (which they are sure will be instantaneous for their property) don’t really like our tale of property sitting unsold for months, etc. But of course they all thought we were crazy when we started saying the market is softening and things are going down. Guess we’ll see!
http://www.realestatetalks.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=35265
March 17, 2008
Dollar hits bottom
Gold hits top
S&P500 hits bottom
and St Paddie turns all the beer green.
dollar: Last trade 73.297 Change -0.200 (-0.27%)
NY Gold 870.6 +12.6 +1.47
and I don’t care about SPX
But what about the green beer and the leprechauns!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nda_OSWeyn8
Took th e$5+ on the other half of SKF. Support is here on the S&P
Your turn to buy the green beers!
s&p hitting 50mma at 1410 on the 10 day. Is oil putting in a double top here? unp finally rolled over on good news. aapl is looking tired up here, too.
Going to double down that oil short again?
Still holding, volume is dropping on this leg up. 287k in the june contract on friday, today is only 166k so far.
Where is your stop? It’s over 120 now.
Another benefit to the housing collapse, it will save the newspapers.
“…Foreclosure notices are filling in where condo sales and auto deals once held sway. “There are definitely more than we’ve ever seen,” says Ginger Stanley, executive director of the Virginia Press Association. “I’ve been in the business 30 years.” Here’s what Stanley’s talking about: On March 13, the Washington Post’s classifieds section totaled 22 pages, approximately 14 of which were devoted to what are technically known as “trustee’s sales.”…”
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=35513
Who owns all the major newspapers in California and Florida? Are they on the NYSE? A buy opportunity?
Included in the Kenneth Harney article, “Say Goodbye to Specialized Mortgage Options”:
Short-term construction loans that convert to permanent mortgages
Isn’t this what anyone who wants a house built needs, unless they can pay-as-you go all cash?
Yes, the “all in one” loan is standard for construction. However, they are not talking about eliminating such loans… just requiring large downpayments. Since things can go wrong during construction this makes a lot of sense. The lender doesn’t want to get stuck owning a partially complete house.
In the early 90’s, you had to have a “take-out” Commitment in place to be able to get a construction loan….Very expensive…
So what is a “take-out” commitment?
Its a forward loan commitment from a lender that Guarantee’s long term financing on the finished product thereby removing the risk of pay-off for the construction lender…..No forward commitment…No construction loan…
Service sector grows in April: ISM survey
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080505/usa_economy.html?.v=1
The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index came in at 52.0 in April versus 49.6 in March.
According Buffet, AG, and most other pundits, the worst is over: http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ned=us&q=worst+is++over
Do you all concur?
I agree that people are moving from full-time manufacturing and construction jobs, into part-time service jobs…
Not sure that means the worst is over for markets.
Short on Cash, City Rushes Casino…
A casino at the aqueduct race track is being sped along…the new American economy…gambling in every city.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/nyregion/05track.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
a casino at aqueduct will no doubt be a lovely place
this city really blows hard
Has anyone here done a paid subscription with realtytrac?
I tried it for a couple months late last year @ $49.95, but it wasn’t as helpful as I had hoped. Most of the properties they displayed in the Rochester, NY area were also available through MLS.
Casinos are at best a 0 sum game. To plug that $5 billion gap means their citizens need to volunteerarily lose the $5 billion. Actually a lot more to pay winners and expenses. They will then be spending money for other services when the losers are broke, families broken up, alcohol and drugs up, crime up, etc. I evaluate some casinos for work (heading to one today). You can tell the difference between those there for entertainment (I’ll play $20 win or lose, who cares) and those that are zoned (I have to win) and sit there until everything is gone.
Hopefully I’ll never be one of those “lose it all types”. I doubt I will since losing money gambling would be like a physical pain to me. However, I do know some folks who head to the casinos in MS and GA the instant they have the money to do so. One gent I know lost $10,000 a couple months ago in Biloxi…
I would S-H-O-O-T myself if I did this… Shudder.
Oh, now now. What’s not to like about breathing second hand smoke for half the day while pissing away your ‘discretionary’ income? We got-em big casino nearby and I can say the inhabitants are the finest bunch of people I’d never want to know. The once proud American Indian reduced to selling Kachina trinkets and discounted smokes on the periphery of the blackjack shacks. Pow wow and low brow.
My elderly mother uses them the appropriate way. Since they put up the indian casino up in cosmopolitan Worley, Idaho, halfway through her road trips, she stops there to use the restrooms.
One time I was driving back to Tucson from Nogales with some friends and one of them wondered aloud why I had been deathly quiet for the past 30 minutes. An indian casino restroom saved my life!
AZ Republic has the ability for readers to comment on stories. For the last 3 years I have been one of the most vocal saying that housing bubble was going to end very ugly. Well, from time to time I get emails from people asking what they should do.
Last week the story was how congress is working on some big rescue plan that will stop the crash. I say, NO WAY should it be done and NO WAY will it work. Over the long-term, fundamental market forces of supply and demand and affordability are stronger than our ability to manipulate them.
So, this morning there is an email in my inbox from a guy. He gave me his name and address, which are real name and matching address, which it would be rude to include here since it was a private email.
He says he owes $340K on a house including a large HELOC that is maxxed, his credit cards are maxxed and he is unemployed. Asks me if he should walk.
So, I look up the address in county recorder records. Single guy, house has to be at least 2500 sqft if not 3000 sqft in one of our new exhurbs way out on the fringe of town where speculators pushed prices to insane levles and builders WAY overbuilt.
He bought March 2007. Looks to be one of those “deal of the century” type transactions where builders were selling under market comps. He bought for $260K, got an appraisal for $380K, and immediatly took out a HELOC for $80K. There are now houses listed and not selling in the neighborhood for $260K.
My answer back to him is that I saw no choices. He can’t sell. He can’t short-sale. He can’t get any more debt to live off of.
The more interesting question… These are the kind of people we want to bail out? How much would a bailout really help?
What kind of bailout can we come up with that will allow the U.S. population to continue spending 10% more than it makes and NEVER have to actually pay back any of its debt? That is the bailout we need!
What kind of bailout can we come up with that will allow the U.S. population to continue spending 10% more than it makes and NEVER have to actually pay back any of its debt?
Umm…from history, we have as a nation been doing that since 1968. We have a huge national debt that ( check out the clock at: http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/ )I have not seen any of the three people running for President even mention it once.
So don’t worry. It’ll all work out fine.
It’s bound to come crashing down, our economy can’t take much more of this flim flam. Like North Korea’s back in the 90’s, our economy has probably already crashed. We just don’t know it(recognition lag) and it’s limping along on inertia. I don’t mean recession either, I mean a crash in every sense of the word. It’s pretty obvious that we are facing a change in paradigm event with all that has occurred over the last few years.
The U.S. is no longer the undisputed number 1. We’re Britain in 1928, bankrupt, dead in the water, no longer the hegemon, and oblivious to the fact. We just haven’t come to grips with this new reality. Our government will continue to act as if we set the rules and it will take a major event that drives home this new set of rules to shake them from this lala land (it took WWII for the Brits). It will be a rude and humbling awakening for this country when it occurs. I personally don’t think any of this current crop of politicians (regardless of affiliation) is capable of what may be coming down the tracks at us.
I even see a possible return of 1930’s style American Fascism (the New Deal), and it won’t be pretty for what remains of civil liberties, personal freedoms, and liberal (classic) democracy. Desperate sheeple agree to anything which may save them from facing reality.
I know we endlessly debate on this site about what happens next and there are those who want to see everything fall, but frankly, I’m hoping for a soft landing for the country regardless of our shortcomings - the alternative is just too awful to contemplate IMO.
Still some hope, I guess, for a wake up.
After all, even after the 30’s, Britain still had its “Finest Hour”.
We watched the “Battle of Britain” movie over the weekend. My historically challenged
wife asked several times, “Is this a true story?” She was waiting for the happy ending and it just kept getting worse until the Germans just quit.
Perhaps we need Obama so he can give a housing bubble “Fight them on the beaches” speech
That final scene of just empty skies was really something… Very powerful. I hope we still have some of the mettle of the generation that fought that war. I know they had their faults, but they certainly stepped up to the plate when the nation called.
Even being career military, I don’t know how I would handle the fighting at Peleliu at 18 like my Father did, or being aboard the USS San Francisco while it was being shot to pieces by multiple Japanese warships like my Father’s cousin did (he was killed). I can only hope we still have it in us.
At some point, you simply don’t have a much of a choice.
“I hope we still have some of the mettle of the generation that fought that war. I know they had their faults, but they certainly stepped up to the plate when the nation called.”
The Atlantic Monthly ran a story a few months ago regarding today’s draft-age youth. Out of ten, seven were obese and lacking in real strength that they would be disqualified from entry into boot camp, and the remaining three had discipline and maturity issues that one might overcome. Bottom line, we couldn’t revive the draft today if needed.
Heh. Makes me glad we got a good used mtn bike for the step instead of a car. He rode that thing hard all over town and fit fell right in with the routine when he went to Marine boot camp.
Yea, but I’ll bet that due to GTA4, Counterstrike, etc, etc, they’re much more efficient killers than kids were back in WWII. To bad they’ld have to get off their fat assses and hoof it in the desert/jungle with no A/C or processed junk food.
(Funny aside. The wife and I happen to play a first person shooter WWII video game online. She may not know where Normandy is on a map but she can sure terrorize the enemy. Three times my stats. It’s embarrassing.
)
I wish I could taunt ‘em: “Dude! You just got owned by a 4′-11″ GIRL!” I can’t because she’d shoot me too
Enroll your historically challenged wife to a US and World history jr college course.
I keep running into people who don’t remember 9/11.
Heysoos Christos.
I could have cared less about history until reading William Manchester’s “The Glory and the Dream” in my 30s. (My apologies for not knowing how to underline here.)
That book lit the fire.
It’s US History pre-Depression to Nixon’s Watergate, btw.
I know Ben doesn’t like age warfare type posts, but I think this all comes to a head when Social Security tries to tap into the “trust fund” and that isn’t going to be 10+ years like current projections the way payrolls aren’t keeping up with inflation.
The baby Boomers were the first generation that had to pay for the Social Security for 2 full prior generations…. but they didn’t have to start paying for the 2nd generation until their later years, and they had numbers on their side.
My grandparents entered the workforce as Social Security was being enacted. Over the next 40 years, they had to pay for more and more recepiants, but when they finally retired in the 80s, we were finally paying the full force of an entire generation collecting Social Security. Now my dad’s generation is fully retired, and the Baby Boomers are now preparing to go. But my grandparents are still alive and collecting, as is my dad’s generation.
My generation simply can not afford to pay the Social Security that was promised to prior generations. It can’t happen.
When Social Security goes negative from positive net cash flow, I think it TRUELY gets ugly.
The retirement age will be raised. There is no other way to fix it.
It simply isn’t feasible for each worker to carry two workers from previous generations plus the disabled who also get social security. No one seems to be counting the disabled - I know two people who have been disabled since their early 20’s and have collected since then.
It’s a good thing that the home builders created all of that soon-to-be-affordable excess housing, because the country will need all of it and more before long, as a large number of people will be paying their rent out of inflation-diminished SS checks.
Well, rounding generations to 20 years, there are always 2 generations working, one that is “being raised”, and as we push the life expectancy above 80 and pushing 90, 1.5 generations retired.
It was okay when people were having 4-5 kids per family. Drop that to 2, and it gets ugly.
There would be no problem if the SS monies collected had been left in the SS Trust Fund and allowed to collect even measly passbook savings rate interest. This issue is not a generational thing; it is a stupid politican thing.
“…Oh lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends…”
“THE spirit of St Augustine hovered over the Federal Reserve this week. “Oh Lord, let us stop cutting interest rates, but not yet”…”
Global monetary policy
Bernanke’s bind
May 1st 2008 | WASHINGTON, DC
From The Economist print edition
The Fed, the dollar and commodities
http://www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11294268
“Everyone quiet down, please, there is more than enough kool-aid to go around.”
Jimmy “the Prophet” Jones to the faithful.
apologies to the kool-aid drinkers.
the fade spread.
looks like the two year is gonna vie with the 30dt-bill, good thing the 1 year is making the debut…libor coming down faster than most would expect.
what happens in Vegas, shows up in movies and books. radar off/
BofA-Countrywide merger thoughts.
By now the executives at BofA should be aware of the problems at Countrywide, specifically the asset quality of the S&L, Countrywide Bank. The merger will be a disaster for BofA unless BofA, like Morgan-Chase, gets government assistance. Accordingly, it would now make sense for Countrywide to more properly report its assets so that the bank has book capital just above the insolvency level. That would make Countrywide an FDIC insurance case. Since insured deposits support 39% of Countrywide Bank’s assets and all of the good assets are pledged for FHLB advances (and probably for much of the uninsured deposits which represent 11% of total assets) the FDIC would take a big loss on a receivership. If BofA can get the FDIC to effectively guarantee a big chunk of Countrywide’s assets (like the Fed did with $40 billion of BS’s assets) then the merger may make sense. If BofA can’t get FDIC or Fed assistance then the merger makes no sense. It won’t work even if BofA can effectively off-load the Countrywide holding company debt — the S&L itself is in too poor of a condition.
TXChick - I mentioned a strawbale house for sale, they started at 370k and dropped to 250k - I hadn’t seen it for awhile but tracked it down, it’s back up to 325k - you wanted the link:
http://tinyurl.com/5cnlh2
This house has been on the market for at least 2 years, I’m thinking maybe even 3. The owners don’t live in it. This is the one where I saw the Psychology diploma.
How far is that from civilization, i.e., grocery store, etc.?
I love it! It’s empty????? What do you think is a fair price for it?
Given the area (no economy, mostly retirees), I’d think maybe 270k would be a very fair offer. It’s prob. actually worth 230. It’s kind of a weird design, the entire downstairs is a big galley type kitchen and a half bath and the rest is a huge open room. Kind of makes you think of ballroom dancing. The upstairs has 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. They didn’t orient it right for passive solar, it’s sitting E/W, no SW exposure. But the land and neighborhood are nice. Nearest real grocery store is Delta, about 20 miles. Not a happening kind of place, for sure. No nearby espresso shops or any of that, it’s in an orchard economy, I think I might like it if I could travel whenever I wanted but would hate to get stuck there.
I love this one too. Probably nobody else would lke it
http://www.greenhomesforsale.com/listing.php?id=18281
I like it too. It reminds me of grain bins. But very attractive.
Oh. They ARE recycled grain bins. Well done.
How about this one: http://www.greenhomesforsale.com/listing.php?id=17828
hahahaha…just kidding!
It may be rented, they had it rented for awhile to a woman who was building her own home. You can’t see the lake from the house, but it’s a short walk away. They have sandhill cranes there by the thousands when they migrate through and a local event called Crane Days. ALso lots of bald eagles.
I’d love that place. So would my husband. He’s from Nebraska and they are big on the sandhills there. I once saw a few fly overhead here. You can’t mistake the sound.
Google Eckert and Cedaredge and Austin Colorado for the nearest towns, all within a few miles.
I thought you meant Delta, Utarrr and was all excited. I like Delta. I camped around there often, especially on the way to Topaz Mountain, to winkle out garnets and fossils and such-like.
Hey, I used to go to Orderville and collect septarian nodules, that was fun!
In March, in what turned out to be the right move, I cashed out 60% of my commodity investments and about 25% of my gold investments. I started to ease back in to gold and I’m following closely DBB, PCRAX, and DBA (which seems reasonable at or below 36). Dumb or smart to get back in? There has been seasonality in gold but it doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t think there’s any seasonality to base metal and ag prices. Should I wait longer, say until June or July?
I started buying some gold on Friday.
I advise contemplating the following:
Humpty-Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty-Dumpty together again.
So is this Dumpty dude’s job open?
Don’t egg him on.
You crack me up. And I didnt have to shell anything out for the joke..
He is very eggcitable.
What came first?
The chicken or the eggonomist?
Get ova it.
I got out of my spec gold in mid-April. I won’t be looking for re-entry until after trade balance report.
Crude blasts past $120 bbl http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/oil-futures-climb-past-120/story.aspx?guid=%7BAC1993F9%2D3413%2D4D9F%2DA335%2DF8C3F96C12E3%7D
Oh, sh**. I found something. Ben, are you around? Counsel on what this should sell for???
http://www.greenhomesforsale.com/listing.php?id=18099
I wouldn’t pay more than $150k for anything in CV. Lots of straw bale in hte area. I’ve seen some where the walls looked like a sleeping bag.
Ben’s right, be careful with strawbale, if they did it wrong you’re in for a world of hurt. Just down the street from the one I mentioned above is one with mold inside the walls. BTW, TX, I talked to the owner of the property I mentioned above and he may have a contract coming in on it, if you’re seriously interested, give him a call, seemed like a nice guy. It’s not rented, I called to see if I could rent it.
Um, is the cabinet that opens on the straw wall a gee-whiz asthetic kind of thing, or some kind of building code required inspection panel?
It’s called a “truth window” - shows the house is really strawbale…sort of a tradition.
Why don’t you build your own? There are some really good books to educate yourself and make a plan including specs, features, and design you want. Get a contractor with straw bale experience. Invite your friends for the wall raising. If you want, bring in people interested in learning about sustainable building techniques to participate.
I haven’t built one, but did research and planned to, then changed my mind. I’m planning to build an additional structure behind my little S Austin bungalow, and I decided instead to build something that looks compatible.
But straw bale construction offers so many great design possibilities - thick walls, curved lines, window seats, seating and shelving that grows out of or into the walls, SWestern or N African or S Arabian design elements, walled courtyard, mosaic walls. You could really make a house that is art.
I have friends who built one in Blanco when they first retired. They had fun designing and building the house and found it beautiful and comfortable, but felt socially isolated, sold and moved to Rockport.
You been to that crepe place that’s in the Airstream? What do you t9ink?
The one on Twomey Rd near Zach Scott? I go past it regularly and when it is open -I’m not sure of their schedule- looks attractive and well frequented. I’ve always meant to check it out but haven’t yet. I will and will let you know.
At corner of Oltorf and S Lamar (across Oltorf from Office Depot) was a really cool outdoor restaurant operating out of a trailer, DaVine Foods (http://www.davinefoods.com/), specializing in organic vegetarian food mainly locally grown. Nice yard art, funky surroundings, absolutely delicious food. They seem to be closed and moving to a new location.
We used to go to Grandmother’s back in the UT Law days. I was there again as recently as about 1998. Wonder if it’s still there.
Wow, that does look good! We had a raw food place open up here, it lasted about a week. I’m there the next time I’m in Austin.
Sure there are no termites, but once you get horses in the walls, it’s really expensive to get them out.
hahahaha
or cow?
hahahahaha
thanks
if life gives you horses in the walls, make glue
April sets another record for Maricopa County (metro Phoenix) pre-foreclosure notices.
The wifey and I are going to the bank this week to buy our first ever house. Before you say anything, 20% down and buying at just under 2.5x gross annual income. We were ready to buy in 2005, but it just didn’t feel right… wheeeeew [wipes brow]. Thanks to the awesome HBB’ers for keeping thing in perspective and helping me stay patient.
Marcus,
Good luck. Where are you buying?
Gainesville, FL
lights out:
May 5 (Bloomberg) — Chile’s worst drought in five decades and power rationing from South Africa to China mean the price of aluminum, gold, copper and platinum will keep climbing as the lights go out in the world’s biggest mines.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aCUU6NbjPfmM&refer=us
Rep. Frank wants answers on jumbo loan inaction
Monday May 5, 1:36 pm ET
Rep. Frank complains of industry inaction on new jumbo loan mortgage standards, calls hearing
Democrat Barney Frank of Massachusetts said Monday that the House Financial Services Committee that he chairs will hold a May 21 hearing to try to find out why so-called jumbo mortgages remain difficult to get, and often carry high interest rates. Frank will try to get answers from mortgage bankers, Wall Street financiers and government-sponsored mortgage firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080505/jumbo_mortgages.html?.v=1
someone needs to investigate this yahoo!!! he is the NAR’s puppet or the NHBA’s puppet or both! why is it bothering him so much because the company’s refuse to make bad loans to deadbeats?
We demand that you lose large sums of money in these crazy overinflated, but rapidly imploding, housing market!!!
All I could think of while reading that story was that Clowngressman Frank really needs someone to pull a Col. Jessup on him. And fast.
Frank is NAR’s and Wall Street’s puppet, based on who donates to him:
http://opensecrets.org/politicians/sector.asp?CID=N00000275&cycle=2008
Dodd shares the same profile:
http://opensecrets.org/politicians/sector.asp?CID=N00000581&cycle=2008
thankyou for the links! that just about says it all. what a country we live in!!
from the site:
National Assn of Realtors
The National Association of Realtors represents the nation’s real estate industry. While the bulk of its issues tend to deal with property management and control, the group also lobbies members of Congress and the administration on virtually every issue facing business, including health care reform, bankruptcy legislation and tax cuts. One of its biggest issues in recent years has been a move toward deregulating the financial services industry. For years, real estate agents have successfully warded off attempts by banking interests to delve into the sale and management of property. One of the keys to the group’s success.
Everyone is fighting for “their share” of your money.
Sick, filthy parasites…the NAR and Frank/Dodd.
Is the 2007 U.S. Sub-Prime Financial Crisis So Different? An International Historical Comparison*
Carmen M. Reinhart
University of Maryland and the NBER
Kenneth S. Rogoff
Harvard University and the NBER
“…The first major financial crisis of the 21st century involves esoteric instruments, unaware regulators, and skittish investors. It also follows a well-trodden path laid down by centuries of financial folly. Is the “special” problem of sub-prime mortgages this time really different?
Our examination of the longer historical record, which is part of a larger effort on currency and debt crises, finds stunning qualitative and quantitative parallels across a number of standard financial crisis indicators. To name a few, the run-up in U.S. equity and housing prices that Graciela L. Kaminsky and Carmen M. Reinhart (1999) find to be
the best leading indicators of crisis in countries experiencing large capital inflows closely tracks the average of the previous eighteen post World War II banking crises in industrial countries. So, too, does the inverted v-shape of real growth in the years prior to the crisis. Despite widespread concern about the effects on national debt of the early 2000s tax cuts, the run-up in U.S. public debt is actually somewhat below the average of other crisis episodes. In contrast, the pattern of United States current account deficits is markedly worse.
At this juncture, the book is still open on the how the current dislocations in the United States will play out. The precedent found in the aftermath of other episodes suggests that the strains can be quite severe, depending especially on the initial degree of trauma to the financial system (and to some extent, the policy response). The average drop in (real per capita) output growth is over 2 percent, and it typically takes two years to return to trend. For the five most catastrophic cases (which include episodes in Finland, Japan, Norway, Spain and Sweden), the drop in annual output growth from peak to trough is over 5 percent, and growth remained well below pre-crisis trend even after three years. These more catastrophic cases, of course, mark the boundary that policymakers particularly want to avoid….”
http://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/rogoff/files/Is_The_US_Subprime_Crisis_So_Different.pdf
So of the major economic crises in the world The US rates near the worst. 13 page pdf.
“Perhaps this time will be different as so many argue.”
God I can handle my enemies , save me from my friends!
“…the run-up in U.S. equity and housing prices that Graciela L. Kaminsky…”
There is a smart lady. Double-degreed in math and econ from Cal — sheesh!
Oops — wrong Graciela…
Prosecutors in NY form subprime task force
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080505/mortgage_probe.html
The USA now houses 751 per 100,000 of it’s citizens, in prison.
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/law/research/icps/worldbrief/wpb_stats.php?area=all&category=wb_poprate
To put it in perspective, Canada can only manage to incarcerate 108 per 100k, The UK is @ 148 per 100k and Mexico is @ 198 per 100k.
The prison industrial complex in our country is quite profitable, as it costs lots to build them and jobs within the walls are a 24/7 proposition.
It was the perfect vehicle, as China (119 per 100k) couldn’t compete and take away this business, could they?
But what happens when states can’t afford the holding costs anymore?
_____________________________________________________________
“Reversing decades of tough-on-crime policies, including mandatory minimum prison sentences for some drug offenders, many cash-strapped states are embracing a view once dismissed as dangerously naive: It costs far less to let some felons go free than to keep them locked up.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/04/AR2008050402054_pf.html
The big house.
Uh! Define CRASS! What a scumbag.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080504/ap_on_re_us/cemetery_dispute;_ylt=AmY.lhPrhrcUW4L4EJDKv_hH2ocA
Fed says banks still tightening loan standards
Monday May 5, 2:35 pm ET
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080505/usa_economy_loans.html
“Substantial majorities of domestic and foreign respondents pointed to a less favorable or more uncertain economic outlook and to a worsening of industry-specific problems as reasons for tightening their lending standards on C&I (commercial and industrial) loans over the past three months,” the Fed said.
Macy’s identified as having suspiciously high priced puts. Like Bear Stearns did.
As discussed on another thread, hard to run a business like that once revenues (in mm) start declining. Talk about hitting a wall:
FY end 1/08 26,313
FY end 1/07 26,970
FY end 1/06 22,390
FY end 1/05 15,776
And revenues decline way before costs start doing the same.
Frank’s 300 Billion dollar “Troubled Homeowner Relief Program” takes another step forward, in party line votes:
“The bill would authorize the Federal Housing Administration to guarantee up to $300 billion in new mortgages offered by government-approved private lenders.
The House Financial Services Committee passed the bill on a vote of 42 to 21. The full House is expected to take up the measure next week, committee aides said.
[...]
Committee chairman Rep. Barney Frank, the main author of the bill, says the millions of individuals who might face foreclosure because of the expanding credit crisis deserve help, even if they made a mistake by borrowing beyond their means.
[...]
Republican amendments defeated. On Wednesday, the Democratic members of the House Financial Services Committee defeated several GOP amendments to the proposal, which would have excluded people with bad credit, limited the program to low- and middle-income borrowers and eliminated a requirement that lenders accept losses. They were all defeated on mostly party-line votes.
The Bush administration also “strongly opposes” the legislation, calling the bill a “bailout.” The administration expressed its objections in a letter send last week to Franks.
The bill would not authorize the government to loan money directly to homeowners, but would guarantee new mortgages offered by government-approved private lenders. The new mortgages could at most equal 90% of a home’s current value…”
http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/01/real_estate/congress_mortgages/index.htm?postversion=2008050115
But they still require sound appraisals and fully documentable income… right? And 90% LTV… ouch! How unreasonable!!!!
And yet Bernanke is supporting massive intervention in the mortgage markets:
“High rates of delinquency and foreclosure can have substantial spillover effects on the housing market, the financial markets and the broader economy,” Bernanke said in a dinner speech to Columbia Business School in New York. “Therefore, doing what we can to avoid preventable foreclosures is not just in the interest of lenders and borrowers. It’s in everybody’s interest,” he said.
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=116&sid=1398761
He is a banker first, and is supporting policies that will benefit banks. Just like Greenspan.
“Federal agencies are intensifying a criminal investigation of the mortgage industry and focusing on whether some lenders turned a blind eye to inflated income figures provided by borrowers.”
About that time again for the usual Republican watchdogs to start pontificating about tax dollars being wasted on big government investigations. Their solution to our economic ills - pare government oversight programs to the bone and let nature run its course. Why not? It seems to have worked out really good these past five years - right?
Buy a real home in Gary, IN for less than $10,000!
Gary, IN
Sorry, bad html above:
http://realestate.yahoo.com/Indiana/Gary/Homes_for_sale/9a85aadb55b6e5b229b5e01fdcc87bf9;_ylt=Al1zvTxozS1tFdWILfbAPpvnMrQs?cc=realestate&p=gary,%20indiana&priceHigh=&priceLow=&nodeId=750007014&radius=&bedrooms=&bathrooms=&type=classified&sortBy=price+1
I just sent them a lowball of $150.
The Tropicana Casino is about to go BK…
Pavlovegas isn’t getting much reinforcement anymore~
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121001918657068461.html
Nobody’s got money for frivolities and bling anymore.
The party is over (at last). Now it’s piper paying time.
Interesting mail today:
I received a 1 lb package of Dark Roast Coffee Beans from Starbucks. About a year ago, I opened a Starbucks Duetto card from Visa because I received a free $25 S’Bucks gift card. I went to use the card and the Clerk ‘charged it’ instead of taking it off the gift section. No complaint from me, just paid the bill when it came and sparingly use the gift card. Other than the bloop from poorly trained clerk, no other charges on the card. Free coffee with a note of apology about messing up my card.
Do they want me to buy Starbucks or use the Credit card?
I never have a balance due on any card, but I have no worries about getting a card that gives a $25 or more gift certificate when I sign up. Target gave me $50, they are all advertised and I still look for gift certificates if I sign up. $10 doesn’t cut it. lol
Deadbeat!! LOL
is the coffee any good, or did you just give it to Lars in leui of him siphoning gas? I blew the 20 buck cash backs for hundred dollar purchases at not one, but two retailers……hint, office supplies and toilet seats…
humbly yours,
poorly trained clerk.
Way o/t, but check out these 10 photos of the aftermath of the Hiroshima atomic bombing…
http://faculty.ucmerced.edu/smalloy/atomic_tragedy/photos.html
The atom bombs used 63 years ago were mere toys compared to what’s lurking around the world, today.
Absolutely horrifying. So very, very sad.
Had a call today that astounded me. I had just reviewed an appraisal of a vacant home and it was a refinance. I had no issue with the appraisal but part of the form asks for comments about the subject property. As I always do I noted that the subject is on the market and at what price if that info. is available. I also took a photo of the signs. For Rent and For Sale.
The bank called an asked if the owner took down the signs would I change the report.
I sat back in my chair and asked the lady if they were Federally or State chartered. “Oh we are a federal institution”, she responded.
So you are asking me to promote a fraud on a Federal Bank? “Oh no sir, we would never do that.” I then asked to speak to her supervisor and I explained that the issue here was serious and under most conditions I would contact the FBI but I told her to review FIRREA of 1987 vintage and call me back if she had any questions.
No calls. Can you imagine after what we are going through the lenders are still trying to coerce? Oh and this house ain’t no thang. $160,000
got a letter from a Kentucky fraud investigation outfit questioning my report on an income/employment form….
I filled out the form?
Message to the fraudsters: You have met the enemy, and we are they….. I was happy though, for nothing more than policing the scamsters is of the utmost importance. This makes me want to call loans, and impede credit. I also had my payroll audit last week, and as usuall…..that is squeaky clean tight as a drum, no shinanigans.
those who either evade or outright lie is what is at stake here, and that is why confidence continues to be eroded.
And she’s probably running around telling the story: “You can’t believe how tight things are getting around here, guess what happened to me today . . .”
Housing Plan Could Have Limited Reach
Report Undercuts Democrats’ Figures
By Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 3, 2008; Page D03
A plan to spare homeowners from foreclosure would aid about 500,000 households over the next four years, far fewer than its Democratic authors have predicted, according to an estimate released yesterday by the Congressional Budget Office.
Aides to Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the proposal’s main author, have said the plan would assist as many as 2 million households, citing estimates by industry analysts.
And God knows industry analyst reports are 100 percent truthy, er, I mean, truthful…
still trying to find the opposite of the real,
tea with Alan Greenspan and Mrs. Bubbles Greenspan stands at 16k
pay your debts.
No, it isnt that bad, yet.
expect lower returns, dont matter how much dough you have, or how smart you are not.
nobody works more hours than the VOZ…..thanks for coming out, for the last few years.
DONT GET STUCCO.
Im gonna straddle up on PTRY,
could go either way. put call says 10 12. Stock closed at 10.21.
implied long call at 12.
September puts at 12, one trade, 2.45USD
Comment by txchick57
2008-05-05 12:22:46
Macy’s identified as having suspiciously high priced puts. Like Bear Stearns did
US banks continue to tighten lending
By Krishna Guha in Washington
Published: May 6 2008 02:43 | Last updated: May 6 2008 02:43
US banks tightened lending standards in the early months of this year in near-record numbers, a Federal Reserve report indicated on Monday, suggesting that the credit squeeze in the economy continued to intensify.
The senior loan officers’ survey reported that the fraction of banks tightening lending standards was “close to or above historical highs for nearly all loan categories” – including corporate loans, commercial real estate, mortgages, credit cards and other consumer loans.
Despite Uncle BB’s repeated administrations of X-lax treatment, lender sphincter muscles continue tightening…
But looking at media coverage, it seems that BB is losing it…