The Housing Bubble

My change involves kicking all the deadbeats that aren’t paying their mortgage out of “their” houses and tracking down everyone who made money selling this swindle… But neither candidate offered those options… So, you gotta go with the options you have…

Barack- “You wanted change? So do I! I’ll take your ‘change’ (dollars too), with your new tax bill…Have a nice day!”

That’s right. They take dollars, and give you change back!

“You like chicks with potty-mouths? Well, then, baybee–you’d just adorrrrre me.”

Days later, I’m still trying to get over a line you posted about “gently reared ladies…”

Oly,

Don’t ruin the mood.

SPLINTER!!!!

Shorts get squeezed, as the December longs can request the precious, of which there is precious little inventory of.

Push meets shove…

Thank you!!

For a preview of what’s coming, think Porsche killing the hedge funds that went short on VW stock…

So lad, does COMEX break/crash then?? Should I add to my GLD or get out now….

I have no idea what happens to paper wafers when push meets shove. In reality you are just as interconnected to the system as everything else.

I do know that Comex changed the rules back when the only buyer of physical Silver in any quantity tried the corner the market 28 years ago.

It doesn’t matter if they change the rules this time, as they’ll make themselves redundant as a market force if they do, or the stark reality of supply vs. demand will do it for them.

changing the rules, isn’t that the number one rule of the game these days in the USSA? If November 28 is threatening in some way for the Comex manipulators, I’m sure Hank and Ben will provide them with some new cover.

Ultimately all that manipulation will fail, but up to now the market manipulations are taken for granted by the investors; the small fish still hurry to get in at the first sign of a (bear)rally.

“For a preview of what’s coming, think Porsche killing the hedge funds that went short on VW stock…”

That sounds highly irrelevant. Porsche had near-monopoly control on supply of its own stock; gold hoarders are near-perfect competitors.

“near-perfect competitors”

AKA price takers…

Good Professor,

The hedgies had to 5 times market value for a car stock, as obligations had to be met.

I’ve read that Comex is potentially short around a dozen million ounces, and obligations have to be met.

‘I’ve read that Comex is potentially short around a dozen million ounces, and obligations have to be met.’

That part of your scenario may resemble the Porsche situation, but what part compares to Porsche’s degree of control over their own stock price? The only thing I could think of is international monetary authorities, but their incentives are quite a bit different from Porsche’s incentives so far as I can tell.

To push my point a step further, it seems to me as though international monetary authorities have considerable incentive to use price volatility to knock the leverage out from commodities speculators who are long on gold. This may not affect deep pocketed speculators directly, but could have an indirect negative effect on them due to forced sales by leveraged long speculators. This is closely analogous to the effect of unqualified homeowners losing their homes to foreclosure on the values of homes owned by financially secure individuals in the same neighborhood.

BTW, the problem I see with your logic is that you assume that monetary authorities are either dumb or powerless, or perhaps both, while you and your comrades who are long the Precious have outsmarted everyone else in the room. These assumptions are not plausible.

Professor,

Have you ever considered how hard it’s going to be herding 12 million karats?

Good thread.

In any case, in the south if you got knobby tires, subs and winch, you can usually pick up a wench for free.

Just remember you get what you pay for with a wench

Renting is definitely cheaper than buying, and you can move anytime you like. You also save a lot on maintenance.

Does that apply for studs as well?

Studs are just giving it away. No money, no house, no credit, no car, no job, no problem!

“Does that apply for studs as well?”

Hopefully!!!!

RE: They told him since he waited 6 months before filing, they would only give him 1/2 the money he would have gotten had he filed on the 1st day of being unemployed.

The arrogant attitude and hostile demeanor of the “public servants” employed for life in state unemployment offices
always left me outraged and nauseous.

I know quite a few people over 70 years of age who are suddenly out looking for work. Maybe they should apply for a job in the unemployment office, isn’t that a growth area?

No unemployment benes for anyone on Soc. Security here in Ohio.

seems the authorities are doing a good job over there; in Netherlands in some cities like Amsterdam about 20% of the population collects unemployment benefits while many of them have other (official or unofficial) jobs, live most of the year in another (cheap) country etc. etc. Some also rent out the rental home they get nearly free through socialised housing on the black market (you can collect about half a median income that way).

All this fraud is rampant and the government simply does not want to know; and even if people are caught they are usually clever enough to hide the money, in which case they don’t have to pay anything back

drumminj,

No argument here, and it’s assured that they WILL ultimately catch it. I understand how you feel, but again here’s the reality. They just make it up on the other end!

Right, the 1099 gets issued and the periods overlap so… “here’s your bill!” To a large degree you can offset that by adjusting your witholding when you DO return to work. Not to rationalize too… much but there’s a couple trillion dollar hole out there from -truly- fraudulent mortgage practices ( I wouldn’t get yourself wrapped around the axle too much on this one? )

Ahem, as you’ve already implied ( there’s no such thing as “brownie points” where the gov. is concerned! ) So why worry yourself about racking them up?

Why worry about racking them up? Not worried about brownie points, exactly..but I will make a point to be civil yet firm with whomever is on the other side of the phone, as if you piss them off you’re most certainly not going to get anywhere.

I’m not sure I follow the rest of your comment. Unemployment insurance comes from my former employer. Arguably I get paid less b/c they have to pay for it, but I have no way of opting out in any way/shape/or form. You make it sound like somehow there’s a way I can make things go differently. As far as I can tell, I ask for payment, and tell them what I did for those weeks (did I work, how much income, how many “job search activities” did I engage in). If I meet their criteria, they give me money. If not, I can pound sand. Lying about any of that info is fraud, and as far as I can tell a criminal offense, likely punishable by far more than just having to pay the money back.

Is your point that there are bigger fish to fry and fraud is rampant, so why worry about that?

drumminj,

I can’t speak to ‘all’ states but here in Oregon, the employer pays half and you pay half. And yes, your check has been reduced by that amount.

Look, I’m not advocating that just b/c a bunch of people went out and committed mortgage fraud that you should do this without caution or conscience. I didn’t say that. At some point when you get hired again, you will terminate your claim. Now had you continued to “collect” 26 weeks ( even though you were re-hired in week… 10 ) then yes, I’d say you’re a fraudster!

But to throw a wrench in your own machine over a week and half of part-time work? That I can’t see. Again, it’s not like they won’t catch it. I’m just trying to think and react the way I would have back then, especially if you have a young family. I think it’s real easy for some of us to sit here and say “Why don’t you day-trade your Forex account until something to your liking turns up?”

AFAIK they DO have privately funded un-employment insurance but that’s missing the broader point of getting the insurance you’ve already paid for. O….k, think of it this way, when you go to retire, does the state say; “Gosh Jay, you’ve worked since you were 14, never made a claim and we need to cut you a check for all your unused benefits!” ( Hint, ain’t gonna happen ) Damn it Jay, you need to be every bit as adept at working ‘with’ UN-employment system as you are IN the workforce! God forbid you get ill or disabled, then what?

drumminj,

I ‘thought’ I responded so again in brief; anyone that lands a job after being on “un” and continues to collect BOTH checks ( for extended periods especially ) has plenty to worry about. Again though, primarily from a tax perspective. Many states don’t withhold and it can cause real problems when you go to file. I have no doubt many of our MB friends are there now.

But hire dates and benefit filing dates don’t always coincide perfectly. There’s being honest and then there’s being ‘too’ honest. You’re complicating things for them and you aren’t doing yourself any favors. Remember, when you go to retire, you don’t get a check from the state employment office for unused benefits!

I’ve heard private UI is available but that’s neglecting the benefits you’ve already paid in to!

“protecting CA public school”

Not to mention protecting dude from litigation stemming from “hate speech” accusation for preaching marriage from the pulpit as defined in the bible.

“I still have the belief you are born this way.”

I don’t put much stock in beliefs, but I am interested in objective scientific evidence on the subject.

Another issue where people would rather fight than solve the problem.

Quit calling it a “marriage license”. Call it a “Civil Union Permit” for any kind of “union” of two consenting adults.

As “marriage” is considered by most people to be a religious ceremony, it will always be a issue for those who’s religion doesn’t approve of anything other than man-woman relationships. The government shouldn’t be involved in giving “permits” to religious ceremonies anyway (Anyone think “Circumcision Permits” are a good idea?? )

Call it a “Civil Union Permit”, and people would probably buy into it, if the gay community is really interested in addressing the real problems concerning insurance, wills, child custody, etc.

OTOH, I’m convinced that a part of the gay community insists on calling it a “marriage” mainly as a way to rub it into the noses of the religious right.

Once again, nobody wants a workable compromise, evryone wants “victory”. Including the lawyers, lobbyist, non-profits, etc., who don’t want to see their revenue streams dry up.

‘…so who am i to judge “god’ s work”?’

I judge God’s work all the time. I am frankly confounded when I observe creation–why’d He make so many stupid, ugly people? There must be a reason. Like with marbles, perhaps? In case? Because it’s all funny? And He likes a good joke? Jeeze. Take up knitting, God, is my own advice.
But my point is; I think you can go ahead and judge the results all you want, and probably escape lightning bolts from above.

Schools have nothing to do with prop 8 or gay marriage. The yes on 8 campaign ads LIED when they said gay marriage would be taught in schools. That’s how this odious POS passed.

There were a lot of lies spread around by the yes on 8 campaign and they were not effectively countered. The problem is, civil rights should never come up for a popular vote. If so, we would just now be getting around to outlawing interracial marriage.

P.S. Without more than thirty seconds thought, I think the IMF is wrong, and Canada will not grow next year. They are a bit too close to their 800 lb gorilla neighbor to the south for that to happen. Further, one of the big factors dividing the U.S. and Canada was that they rode the commodity boom — got $60 oil? Forget about U.S.-Canadian decoupling — it ain’t gonna happen.

Yep.

Add to that all the tourism $$ that they’ll lose. Forget the strong US $ - it’s back down about where it was relative to Canadian $. Tourist trips to Canada will be down next year a lot as well.

Professor Bear,

I’m not disagreeing entirely by any means but there’s little room to question that 2008 will go down as one of the worst in market history. Hands down.

While we’re at it, the first DECADE of the new millenium will go down as one of the worst in history! I didn’t read that particular “Bull Case” ( but I’ve heard most of them ) yet I tend to view things in the light of getting a friend into Rehab. Surely there are more “relapses” to come but I know you’ve been reading about the regulatory changes that are to come. Obviously I think there’s less to fear here ( than @ 14K ) IMHO.

Even the cottage folks up north are getting scared. It’s a big tradition to have a summer cottage and the prices have skyrocketed beyond belief, and it was different there, until very recently….

The Euro tourists are still showing up here in the High Sierra, although nowhere near the numbers of summer.

If foreign tourists stay home next summer, it will be interesting-as visitation to National Parks here is down from last summer’s numbers, and they picked up a lot of the slack for Americans that staycationed in their backyard, playing video games of real-life adventures.

“The Euro tourists are still showing up here in the High Sierra, although nowhere near the numbers of summer.”

Adlad,

i missed my annual vacation to sequoia NP this year due to high gas prices this summer. Now the gas prices have fallen it is Nov, days are short, and i have to wait till next year. I have never missed that annual trip to three rivers, giant forest, lodgepole ,wolverton, kings canyon, seeing the giant sequoias/ hiking the lakes trail,ect., except once or twice in 20 years .

I suppose i could still go even in early nov but i hate short days, and the chance of a sierra snowstorm, as i dislike snow campng. I missed my sierra camping window in late sept/ early october. Could camp out in the flats at hospital rock or Potwisha i suppose but i will wait till next year. have been out to the gorgeous sierras enough times and it will still be there next year.

too bad but no matter. i have become an avid beach biker & water sports fanatic -going from camper/hiker/backpacker to avid bodyboarder/surfer. Seriously thinking about taking up the newest extreme sports craze - kitesurfing.

it is a beautiful 80% here in LA and i will go to the beach and work on my winter tan and catch some waves.

why do people still read these IMF reports? They are totally clueless …

“Even the cottage folks up north are getting scared. It’s a big tradition to have a summer cottage and the prices have skyrocketed beyond belief, and it was different there, until very recently….”

I’m not sure what they’re so afraid of as they’re just returning to year 1999. I suppose many of them believed that the good times were here to stay but I’d wager that those who thought that weren’t natives anyways. The denial among everyone *there* was indeed thick and almost unique. Somewhat like a rags to riches story. And now the locale is headed back to rags. I haven’t taken a pulse of the area in a few months so I can’t say what the sentiment is but I’ll be back there (and home in VT) for Christmas. It should be very interesting.

Seriously, what is up with all of the Euro tourists at parks around the Sierras (Yosemite for sure)?

I will say this though, it is pretty refreshing to hear some Euro languages.

Euro tourists: I guess those are the people that booked a year ago because of the low dollar. I think the numbers for next year will be a lot lower …

It was the summer of the cheap buck, and they came in droves…

One thing that’s changed over the years of my people watching is the decline of world-wide regional clothing, as in everybody pretty much wears the same clothes nowadays and it’s hard to pick out nationalities of folks, until they open their mouths.

‘Obviously I think there’s less to fear here ( than @ 14K ) IMHO.’
DinOR

yes - that’s why I started dollar-cost averaging in at 8300.

“yes - that’s why I started dollar-cost averaging in at 8300.”

I have a hard time seeing the downside to this strategy, provided you have a cash (or gold) cushion to fall back on if necessary, and you don’t need the money for the next decade or so.

I have a hard time seeing the downside to this strategy.
Professor!!! I didn’t expect you to make this Bastiat mistake of ignoring the unseen.

It’s called “opportunity cost”. The unseen future “great opportunity” got trumped by the fact that you put it somewhere.

Go back to the “broken window”. Do not pass GO, and do not collect $200.

‘The unseen future “great opportunity” got trumped by the fact that you put it somewhere.’

I wouldn’t put it all into DCA. But staying long in green paper when the evidence suggests central banks around the globe are willing to print as needed to respike the punchbowl would not seem to be a very sound strategy, either. As you yourself pointed out, timing is everything in both finance and xes.

I seldom give myself a pat on the back for my nonsensical remarks about immediately incipient market movements, but that was a damn good call I made today.

The law of unintended consequences bites them in the back of the neck, just when they think they have rescued everyone with their grandiose political gestures.

It just creates another problem they are more qualified to solve than anyone else, thereby keeping them awash in business.

Reminds me on a engineering text I once read about unintended consequences…

Some small town with a cute small town shopping area had a few extra bucks to spend. So asking around all the shop keepers and residents, everyone complained that the traffic wasn’t bad, but it moved too fast. Everyone was flooring it, going 40mpg in a 25mph zone, making it hard to cross the street, etc.

So the town put in traffic calming devices: speed humps, neck downs, a few other innovative methods to keep people going 25mph and making the shopping experience pedistrian friendly.

What happened? People in town stopped shopping there, instead going the opposite direction to the next town over because it was faster to get there and there was less vehicular traffic. The net effect of a well intentioned movement that “all” agreed was a great idea was a number of local shops went under.

Doh.

“…when they think they have rescued everyone with their grandiose political gestures”

Mr Bear, what is the consequences…politically…if they did nothing? Think Shrub & the first 72 hours of Katrina.

Something tells me that: “Mr. David C. Wheelock, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis”…does not have to smile at the general public and ask them kindly and in reassuring tones…can you please print me a paycheck, I need to pay some bills this month.

Also protects them from the inevitable accusation that they are “doing nothing to fix the problem” if they attempt to stand back and let Mr Market correct it.

Well, UK mortgage lenders have “decided” not to pass on the rate cut to the end masses.

The BBC reports it here.

End of the road, Mervyn King. Maybe you can open up a mortgage shop directly.

‘Well, UK mortgage lenders have “decided” not to pass on the rate cut to the end masses.’

That is sort of like the slow response of local gas stations to lower their prices when oil is plummeting…

Packman — Good luck with your employment situation.

Regarding policy, no good politician lets practical realities trump expedience.

packman,

And a good night’s sleep always does wonders. I don’t have any qualms with a “What the hell is going on around here?” moratorium just to get a grasp on the situation. ( At this point what could it hurt? )

But agreed, if enacted for lengthy periods of time, the result ( however well intended ) would be a disaster in the making.

“…if enacted for lengthy periods of time, the result ( however well intended ) would be a disaster in the making.”

I don’t think the length of time matters much. The collective realization among lenders that they can be summarily screwed would lead to immediate shrinkage of private sources of mortgage lending.

Being that the lenders own the politicians - I don’t think there’s any chance of the lenders being screwed. Politicians know not to bite the hand that feeds them.

That’s why I guarantee that either:

A. Any foreclosure moratorium will be brief and therefore meaningless - and this will be made clear to the lenders beforehand, or

B. If a moratorium is long, it will be traded for some other huge form of compensation, e.g. an agreement by the government to rework the loans that would have otherwise foreclosed, and to compensate the banks for any money they would have otherwise lost via the rework.

Bankers live by loaning to people. They cannot, will not, allow the government to take away their power to do so, for any extended period, period.

“B. If a moratorium is long, it will be traded for some other huge form of compensation,…”

I was thinking perhaps mortgage guarantees which shift falling knife collateral risk from lenders to taxpayers? Nah — a Republican administration would never support anything that socialistic…

Agree with all you said here. My main point is that housing prices will tend to fall farther and faster than they otherwise would without the stupid foreclosure moratoriums. But that does not preclude them ffrom continuing to fall for over 15 years, a la Japan.

My guess is that once most people are at the point of foreclosure, they have burned through their cash and have finally gotten used to the idea of losing their house. At that point, they probably hate the house because it has caused them so much financial and emotional pain. I’d imagine they’d take the 90 days to save up for their deposit on a rental.

corrent except for this part, “I’d imagine they’d take the 90 days to save up for their deposit on a rental.”
save, whats that?

I won’t think you are allowed to discriminate against former meth producers unless they are legally in prison while being out on temporary overcrowding work release.

In California, most young people live with other roommates. We can’t afford the costs otherwise.

Ann,

Having had too much experience with the whole roommate thing, I’d advise you to make up some very clear rules and state that up-front. We kept a list of rules on the fridge, and that really helped a lot.

Call me if you want a copy.

Fear spawns opportunities for those who have cash.

“…opportunities for those who have cash.”

Or gold.

LOL. PB you have lots of fun playing both sides, don’t you?

I try to play the side of rationality.

Just saw where MasterCard offered 15B in bonds, and not one taker……”No soup for you…NEXT!”

“No one seems to be worshiping my cash.”

You need to get out more often.

If you were in the market for an RV, Boat, Car, real estate, or something like that, you would be bowed down to with all of your cash.

I paid cash last night to have my tire fixed off the books, at a reputable tire dealer near my house. His suggestion, saved us both the tax on it.

Some fool wanted $200.00 to restring two necklaces for me. Think I’ll have my cousin Mary Linda do it. She’s 77 and lost $10K in markets, a disaster for her. I don’t mind if I pay her $200.00

RE: I paid cash last night to have my tire fixed off the books, at a reputable tire dealer near my house. His suggestion, saved us both the tax on it

Economy will be going cash black market/underground from now on.

Anybody on a W-2 schedule is cooked.

There will be a bazillion hot dog seller’s (no pun intended) out on the sidewalks next summer.

If you were in the market for an RV, Boat, Car, real estate, or something like that, you would be bowed down to with all of your cash.

Isn’t that justt trading one depreciating asset for another?

“She’s 77 and lost $10K in markets, a disaster for her.”

*****

Anyone who’s 77 and loses what they call “a disaster” - should NOT HAVE BEEN ANYWHERE NEAR ‘THE MARKET’ IN THE FIRST PLACE.

We all know fixed income investments haven’t been sexy since way before Easy Al Greenspan sunk the FFR to 1% in 2003, but that’s “the market” where 77 year olds BELONG.

And in 2003, just as a reminder, that 77 year old was 72.

Jeez…. (sigh)

I’ve been offering cash for all sorts of purchases since late September - and asking for cash discounts - and getting them maybe 2/3 of the time. At times, I’ve managed to land 30-50 percent off shelf prices merely by waving greenery.

Barter like there’s no tomorrow, folks. Time to create our own local markets. Cash is indeed king. Mercantilism is on the comeback.

BTW, compliments to one and all on this most recent series of threads and posts.

And I can’t store eight tons of rice and chicken.

Got Goldschläger?

Now it’d be a crying shame if all the bad money got mixed up with the good money and the money all looked the same, wouldn’t it?

Gresham, Sheriff of Law County.

Hey if all the good and bad money get bailed out by the gov’t at the end of the day, what difference does it make?

Makes no difference as both will be bailed out by the Gov’t at the end of the day.

Get your free cash now before being priced out forever.

The only problem I see with our fiscal of Dollars bailout attempt is, that we’ve been swinging a sledgehammer in the dark, trying to nail it down.

Is it one of the Federally guaranteed MMs?

I know Fidelity is participating in the gov program, so I guess FTEXX is covered. 1.11% 7-day. I don’t know if that’s any good…

scdave,

Oh I don’t think it’s a credible threat, most of us would just move over to our own IRA contributions and even if we had stay-at-home wives/dads we’d simply invent a way to show “earned” income.

My point was that even w/ B.O just being ‘ahead’ in the polls, the nut jobs think the coast is now clear. Theresa Ghilarducci if you’d like to Google her. Further, it’s not BAD enough we’ve long said good-bye to traditional Defined Benefit Plans, this nut job professor wants to take what little we DO have left away!?

I’m wondering about burning off my (pre crash, sadly) capital gains carryover loss in small business stock by converting to a Roth IRA. Using the loss in todays dollars seems better if inflation is expected.

Unfortunately, I haven’t studied yet whether the conversion to Roth is a capital gain or just income.

The other problem with this potential strategy lies in assuming that the government will never reneg on Roth.

P.S. Just talking about eliminating tax deductibility of 401(K) contributions could cause the DJIA to drop 947 points or so…
If I were the CIC-elect, I would be tempted to publicly entertain some policies that would appear to be very bad for Wall Street, just to make sure that whatever correcting the market has ahead of it is finished by inauguration day. (I heard on APM Marketplace last night that FDR played a similar strategy in the months leading up to his inauguration.)

P.S. Romney would have been a rational choice, but he was too white, too bright, and too Mormon for the political situation at hand.

I would have rather had the mormon instead of the undercover muslim.

Religious intolerance is unacceptable. Here… direct your attention to the US Constitution, Amendment#1:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Per a new yorker article I read a few weeks ago, McCain was the one who nixed Romney. Hated him.

“Hated him.”

I bet he did. Romney has attributes that McCain lacks, such as youthful vitality.

As well as a good handle on financial and economic matters.

Romney was also taller, with better hair, and really sorta pro-choice. As was Tom Ridge and Joe Lieberman(and Jewish).

If he had been mavericky enough to pick who he wanted, he might have won.

P.S. Romney would have been a rational choice, but he was too white,

“Too white” for the Republican ticket? Is the guy an albino?

He was the GOP pretty boy version of John Kerry.

“Is the guy an albino?”

“Larry’s not white…..Larry (Bird) is clear.”

Bill Murray in “Space Jam.”

Johnny Winter for VP?

Ann Coulter pointed out today that 52% was the best the Democrats could do in a year where everything lined up for them: unpopular president, economic crisis in the last month of the campaign…. and the Republicans running Caligula’s Horse.

ROFL.

2000 Bush, popular vote margin —-> 0.05%

2004 Bush, popular vote margin —-> 2.4%

2008 Obama, popular vote margin —-> 6.3%

Why is it that smart people ignore empty skulls like Coulter?

ROFL

Does she even realize the moon is a planet?

She was an all dressed-up with no place to go, version of Chance the Gardener…
=======================================

President “Bobby”: Mr. Gardner, do you agree with Ben, or do you think that we can stimulate growth through temporary incentives?

[Long pause]
Chance the Gardener: As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden.

“Does she even realize the moon is a planet?”

Actually, to be a planet it would have to orbit a star (as the Earth orbits the Sun).

The moon is a satellite of Earth, not a planet.

(and yes, I would be surprised if Sarah Palin knew this.)

How come no one talks any more about The One’s even worse lack of experience? Ward heeler (oops, I mean community organizer)? U.S. senator for less than one term? Never once held an executive position (e.g., governor) and now he’s the Chief Executive? Yikes!

“The Presidency doesn’t lend itself to on-the-job training.” - Joe Biden

Careful, Bill, you’re not being politically correct here. Don’t forget, there was a mental health parity clause slipped into the bailout. If universal health makes it, and you don’t say the right thing, you might be tagged for some “anger management” or “reindoctrination”.

Lets see. 18 month gov. who took 10 years to get a bachelors (in art no less)from a state of 650k population with year after year budget surplus never having to make a hard, unpopular decision or……..

A Harvard juris doctorate that graduated #1 in his class that represents a state of 13 million people at the federal level.

Gee Bill…. that’s a tough call.

Who cares?

She’ll be just as forgotten as Alf Landon’s VP pick way back when.

A single-line historical footnote.

smathis, I’m sure PB was joking

“Actually, to be a planet it would have to orbit a star (as the Earth orbits the Sun).”

Thanks for the enlightenment.

BwaHaHaHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

Technically, the Earth and Moon orbit about their common center of mass and due to their size, there are some astronomers that consider them to be a double planet.

Technically, the Earth is not the subject of astronomy.

‘She’ll be just as forgotten as Alf Landon’s VP pick way back when.’

Who’s Alf Landon? No, really. I don’t know.

“Who’s Alf Landon? No, really. I don’t know.”

Michael’s brother?

Alf had a TV show once.

Perhaps some adorable young voters can help us understand why someone would vote for Stevens?

“Jennifer Crutcher, 20, of Eagle River, said she and her two friends were voting Tuesday for the first time because they wanted to be part of history. “It will change America completely,” she said of the election. “We are going in a whole new direction. Crutcher voted for Begich.”Stevens did something wrong and got burned for it,” she said.

Crutcher’s friend, Patricia Eychaner, 19, also of Eagle River, said she voted for Stevens because even though she “felt like kicking him” when he was found guilty of corruption, he’s also done a lot of good for Alaska. “He has done so many great things,” she said. “Everyone deserves a second chance.” “

I would vote for Stevens, because I am personally aware of some of the positive long-term contributions he has made over the course of his career.

“I would vote for Stevens…”

I would NOT, simply because he was accepting bribes, and committed multiple felonies in the process.

why not vote for Stevens…it was completely alright to vote for the democrat from Loisiana with 90K in his freezer….what about Klinton, purgery and obstruction of justice. Oops minor details.

“purgery”…. gotta love the LIV’s.

red Michael Jackson Thriller jacket ??

Fricken Hilarious Oly…..:)

SP fit right into the phony Aunt Mildred contingent of the GOP a’la LizardBeth Dole and Kay “envelopes from Centex” Hutchinson.

aladinsane,

I’ll have to respectfully disagree. Nothing is warranted nor guaranteed. Other than if B.O supporters continue to exhaust themselves vilifying the Bush Administration long after they’re gone, rather than invent solutions, we’re all going down.

Unless that IS… the objective here? Has BDS reached such a point that even B.O supporters are willing to scuttle the nation just to “prove” GWB irreversibly changed the course of this nation? Please tell me Change hasn’t ALREADY left the building?

“I’ve been waiting 8 long years for my country to abandon blind faith”

Keep right on waiting, Congress hasn’t changed its spots and Congress is where it’s at! If you want to abandon blind faith get off your ass and make your voice heard out where it counts and not hidden on a blog. Freedom isn’t free, it comes at a cost, the cost of active participation from the city, to the county, to the state, to the national forum. God, I hate all of this crying!

Go back to austin, ’ssshrubery.

alad,

Again, solutions, s-o-l-u-t-i-o-n-s.

Uninviting someone from the blog just b/c they refuse to waste precious energy ( and time ) joining you in a “victory lap” isn’t helping B.O or the nation.

“Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.”

Coretta Scott King

We have a plethora of self injurers.

mehhh…. the sniping came from within the gop. Go back and read it.

‘Now that the Bush haters have won, you’d think they could tone down the snipes.’

Well, austin, you’d be thinkin’ wrong.

That dogma don’t hunt anymore.

Blue Skye,

( And she oughta’ know )

So was electing B.O -really- about enacting change ( or just sticking it to the man? ) If that’s the attitude we’re going at this thing with, ( I can get a healthy dose of that down at our local skate park )

Personally, the first appointment B.O should make is to say good riddance to “King Henry” and bring back Bob Rubin! Infinitely more qualified, universally more respected and just better liked in general. There. There’s a start, I’ll go first.

austin posted:

“Now that the Bush haters have won, you’d think they could tone down the snipes. Maybe it’s just a way of life.”

“The tendency to whining and complaining may be taken as the surest sign symptom of little souls and inferior intellects.”

-Lord Jeffrey

I plan to give President Obama every bit as much respect as my Democratic friends have given President Bush over the last few years. Unless of course Obama gives Paul Volcker something serious to do. In that case I’ll forget all about the fact that Obama’s ears are much more chimp-like than Bush’s.

Why not Riley. You wouldn’t want your friends to think you were different.

Obama every bit as much respect as my Democratic friends have given President Bush ??

Respect is earned…Divided country particularly on the “War on Terror” and he pissed on the opposing side because he could..…He had both the house and senate on his side…So condescending remarks like “I’m The Decider” and “I Have Political Capital and I Am Going To Spend It” did not sit to well with many….Then the 2006 election and no more front line giving him running room and cover….Now its back to what it always was; “All Hat, No Cattle” and “No Respect”….

scdave,

Again before we get all excited here, B.O will have a similar tailwind. Look, everyone in DC thinks that whatever it is that they’re working on has End Time implications. ( Even if they work at the Smithsonian )

Bush took it as his personal mission to make the American people safe. I happen to think he felt so strongly about that he didn’t care what the Beltway thought? How would you have felt if you were President and 9/11 happened on your watch? Just let it slide I suppose?

Had all this “ego” ( real or imagined ) occured during two of the most peaceful terms in American history, yeah, I can see your points. But it didn’t.

bring back Bob Rubin! Infinitely more qualified, universally more respected and just better liked in general.

In the same way that Greenspan is respected and “qualified”? Give me a break.

I agree with Dean Baker:

“I saw Andrea Mitchell tonight talking about who President Obama will turn to for help in dealing with the financial crisis. The first two names were at the top of the list of people who gave us the financial crisis: Robert Rubin and Larry Summers. This would be a bit like turning to Osama Bin Laden for aid in the war on terrorism.”

“The tendency to whining and complaining may be taken as the surest sign symptom of little souls and inferior intellects.”

Hey, bear–what’s the tendency to snarkiness and cheerful malice a symptom of? Tell me quick! Because whatever it is, I have it!

Jeeze, I hope I don’t need a doctor visit.

Bush took it as his personal mission to make the American people safe. I happen to think he felt so strongly about that he didn’t care what the Beltway thought? How would you have felt if you were President and 9/11 happened on your watch? Just let it slide I suppose?

Wow,
I voted for Bush in 2000 and I have a completely different view of Bush’s “mission” than you.

If it were his mission to make the American people safe, then maybe we would have at least gotten those goofy “green/yellow/orange/red” terrorist warnings BEFORE 9/11 and not after. For chrissake, he got a briefing from Condi Rice (NSA) on August 21, 2001 that Al Qaeda was planning a strike somewhere inside the U.S. And what did he do with that information? Absolutely nothing.

He had a chance to take Osama Bin Laden out in Tora Bora, and let him go.

And he had the gall to run a campaign that he was “tough on terrorism” in 2004, and Kerry never called him on it. What a candy-ass president he was. Good riddance…

Olympiagal,

LOL! Oh I have no doubt of that! And I never said SP *wasn’t a “dunce and a half” ( one of mom’s faves ) All I’m saying is if B.O really wants to “be MY President too!” he needs to tell his supporters to call off the dogs and get a freakin’ grip.

Given the slant to the election there’s no earthly good reason for Rubin not to say yes! They’ll just have to promise him he can… largely work out of NY. “I” have no objections?

Said with an axe in your hand?

“…Well, austin, you’d be thinkin’ wrong”

Now would be a good time for McSame to consider his age and future in politics, and being a “maverick” he could repay Cheney-Shrub & the “young repubicans / True Believers” for all that effort they put forth in helping him win the Presidency:

News break…Jan 21st 2009: “John the Maverick” McSame announced today that he is going Independent…he’ll be caucussing with the Democrats.

Isn`t that what FDR said on television after the stock market crashed in 1929 ?

Or maybe a hatchet. An axe would tire my girly arm, see.
You know what I want, is a taser. I don’t have one of those things, and it would come in handy a lot, I bet.

Don’t think of it as slamming. Think of it as preemptive efforts to encourage the R-cans from politically shooting themselves in the foot again. I personally could vote for a smarter, more (traditionally, not evangelically) conservative R-can ticket than what was fielded this time around.

FED is right. It’s really not acceptable to pick on the mentally challenged. It’s been 8 long years now…..

PB,

Hard to argue ‘that’. But I’ll leave it to historians and political analysts to determine what ticket ‘could’ have worked?

The part that drove me to the brink of insanity is how quickly Dems shifted gears from pretending to care about the war ( ducks ) to “it’s the economy stupid”. I mean almost without missing a beat? It’s really hard to defend against your opponent when they can’t decide if we’re playing baseball or cricket?

Wait a minute. Protesting against a war… can be a noble thing. It shows some of the highest callings of being human. But how did we get from that to… “It’s killing me to fill my wife’s Suburban!”? That doesn’t strike ‘anyone’ as more than just a little disingenuous?

Ditto Here…

I would have no problem voting for a Republican that is fiscally conservative and a moderate on social issues.

‘I would have no problem voting for a Republican that is fiscally conservative and a moderate on social issues.’

Heck, so could I.

It stands to reason, that HBBers would be basically Goldwater Repubs (”Religion has no place in public discourse”) …great, let’s all just agree on that, but: Schwarzenegger was supposed to be that kind of Republican, and yet there he is with his foreclosure moratorium nonsense…pols always think they have to Do Something. Yawn.

The terminator is a phony….He ran hard right when he beat Mclintock for the Rep spot…After that he hitched his wagon to Bush…Oops…Then he morphed into a moderate….His political career is finished…Whisper is he is going to run for boxer’s senate seat…I doubt it…Look for the terminator IV soon….

Evangelicals are already split up themselves over social issues. They were the only ones with the grassroots ground game. The regular country club R’s suck at that stuff.

Look, they picked Sarah Palin. It was said they did it to go after Hillary Supporters. Either they’re stupid or that’s bull. If they’d pulled Olympia Snowe (80%ish approval rating among her constituents) into the VP spot, I would have voted for McCain hoping that he’d kick the bucket the day after inaugeration. And I suspect quite a few Hillary supporters would have too.

But Olympia is a pro-choice moderate republican, not a rabid pro-life religious nut, and McCain bet his race on being able to win with Jesus, not with centrist appeal.

McCain would have likely had my vote.

Elections are won by getting the undecided and centrists to vote for you. 40% of the country will always vote Dem and another 40% will always vote Rep no matter who’s on the ticket.

“There is no solution”

“I’m glad they picked her”

Not helping guys. Really-not-helping.

Pull your hair out building a “dream team” cabinet, drink a case of chardonnay and get back to me will ya’? There’s d-i-f-f-e-r-e-n-t types of people in different parts of the country. SP is simply a reflection of her Alaskan heritage.

If you want something to chip your teeth over how about William “the freezer” Jefferson getting re-elected w/ ease? Oh but we can’t say anything about that and SP is fair game. Got it.

Hey, at least W. Jefferson was smart enough to know that Cash is King.

Okay, here’s a Palin policy question: If each citizen of Alaska gets a cut of profits from the oil which is drilled baby drilled, how is this not “sharing the wealth?”

Oil drilling on public lands? Just a guess.

In retrospect, i’m glad they picked her…

She was everything the evangs stood for (and then some) and her approval ratings as a potential VP only ever went down, and she was saved from future declines only by the election mercifully releasing her from further fall from grace.

i’m glad they picked her…??

Kind of embarrassing really if you were one of her supporters…..She is suppose to be some “bad a$$” hockey mom who kills moose and hunts wolves from a helicopter right ?? So why do you sequester her during the campaign and the only “selective” time she gets to talk to the press is when McCain is sitting next to her holding her hand ?? I am also glad they picked her…It just exposes the “Mindless” support the evangelicals will provide…

I sure wish they would sequester Biden for the next 4-8 years.

scdave, with every post you prove yourself to be an idiot of unfathomable proportions. Palin spoke to the press more often than Obama or Biden did, she put herself out there and took the full brunt of the partisan attacks leveled at her and her family. She was not ’sequestered away’ and hidden from the cameras, which is in stark contrast to Obama that shrank and hid like the thin-skinned coward he is after he embarrassed himself at Saddleback…which was the only appearance the Teleprompter Jesus was actually expected to answer questions that couldn’t be shrugged off with 5 cent cliches from that golden throat of his.

Hey, maybe she didn’t know S Africa was part of the African continent…but our president elect thought there were 57 states and that his grandfather liberated Aushwitz…and Biden, aka The Human Gaffe Machine, will be tucked away in the White House attic to prevent his senile dipsh*tted ramblings from becoming public knowledge.

But in all seriousness, Dave, did you breastfeed until you were 9 or something? Is that what’s wrong with you?

Good one Skip :)…Biden does like to flap his jaws long after brain function has ceased….

If the way the left has reacted to Obama’s victory in any way resembles the way the right reacted to Bush’s victory in ‘00, I may be one step closer to understanding why the left hoped and prayed for and later cheered any American failures at home and abroad during Bush’s tenure. Frankly save for the fact that I live here I’m failing to find any reasons why I should have an invested interest in the well being of such condescending, bitter, intolerant and hostile beings as the American left as portrayed on blogs such as this.

But, since I am an American first and a party member a distant fifth, I wish Obama luck on getting our country back on track, even if I will fail to shed tears for any personal tragedies expressed by individual members of the board.

PB,

( Truth be known I had FAR more issues with Biden than I did w/ Obama )

Both candidates started campainging WAY too early and then had to play “Indian Poker” w/ their VP selection. I don’t know if we have any zoo keepers on the board but I think even an elephant can deliver more quickly?

Hey there’s a rule of thumb! Whatever species inherits the planet no campaign can last longer than the ruling species gestation period! Fair enough?

My dream ticket was Obama/Paul

Would that have been prescient or what?

other than they disagree on almost every issue.

“My dream ticket was Obama/Paul”

From the direction of your previous posts I would have thought Pol Pot/Madalyn Murray O’Hare.

Success has very strange oddfellows often.

is that right? how about an example?

Wernher von Braun was the central figure of the nazi team that developed V-2 rockets, and he later became the brains for our rockets that launched our satellites in the 1950’s, and took us to the moon and back in 60’s…

Is that odd enough for you?

Bronco,

Penn & Teller!?

FDR/Truman - never have found a good explanation of why a dieing president picked him to succeed.

JFK/LBJ was a pretty strange combination.

Bush/Quayle, never understood that one until I read that Quayle’s dad put Bush on the BOD of some company when he was unemployed during the Carter years.

RE: From the direction of your previous posts I would have thought Pol Pot/Madalyn Murray O’Hare.

LMAO-Ding! Ding!

We have a winner for “Zinger of the Day!”

LOL. Pol Pot sure took care of that population problem in Cambodia, didn’t he.

You just can’t FIND the HBB kind of humor in Al-Jazeera, the NY Times, or Pravda.

Paul/Kucinich would have been my dream ticket.

As a long time lurker here I’ve long found this blog to be very informative and filled with a common sense that is all too rare in our society these days. Even where politics was brought up there was very little vitriol involved and the discussions were more intelligent than those found elsewhere. Since the election however this blog seems to have reached a low point. I understand those on the left are excited over their win but things are getting a bit out of hand. Alot of your fellow bloggers are people you share alot in common with who also have different political views than you do….in this orgy of boasting, ridicule and self congratulation I see alot of alienation going on. I’ll give a grace period to allow for your unbridled emotion at this time but if this state of affiars persists and this place ceases to be an informative place to read about and discuss the housing crisis and economic crisis in general then I can say for certain that Ben will have lost at least one reader, and probably more. He may gain more readers but they will not likely be of the quality that this blog has seen in the past. Ben will have to make a decision regarding which direction he wants this blog to go in if things keep up like this.

People who want to read or participate in a moveondailyhuff.org style leftist love in would be better served in visiting and participating in blogs that are more specialized in that direction.

I know, I know….who cares? I’m just a lurker who has made a dozen or so posts in the last 2-3 years. I’ll bet I am writing what more than a few of your fellow bloggers are thinking, though. Try to remember why people follow this blog in the first place.

She(HC) was alot more qualified than Obama too, but that hasn’t seemed to curb your enthusiasm for him all that much.

I’m not going to cry about it but does anybody here love rom emmanuel? He’s hot looking but he is so serious and has razor blades for eyes.
Smile Rom.

Happier Emmanuel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN_w0UoYG_0

He will look good standing next to Ambassador Caroline Kennedy. At least Teddy’s payback was quick and obvious. I hope Pres. elect Obama doesn’t do this type of stuff, its too much like the standard playbook for all Washington clowns. I do hope he taps Kerry for something so we can get him the he** out of Mass.

I am hopeful that Arizona will soon be free of our Dem governor Napolitano. Please, Pres. Obama, make her your AG. And then she can be America’s problem, and Arizona will have a Republican governor. I guarantee “that one” has no nanny problems.

PB,

I think it was just to make a “catchy” headline. I’ve long ago given up on making sense out of financial reporting. ( I guess I just assumed you and WT had as well? )

I don’t bother trying to make sense of it, but I do thoroughly enjoy pointing out the nonsense of it.

Okay, how about:

“There are more people who WANT to sell than there are people who WANT to buy. [or, more accurately, there are more shares of stock that a certain set of people want to sell than the number of shares that a different set of people want to buy, but no room for semantics here.] But sellers need to drop their prices to get anybody to buy. Therefore it’s the high number of sellers causing a dow dip, so yeah, you could say that sellers are “controlling” and thus “in charge” of the market today.”

I’ll take that in 32-point above the fold, please.

“There are more people who WANT to sell than there are people who WANT to buy…”

at current (above-market-clearing) prices.

Exactly. I want to buy every share of every company on every exchange for a grand total of $1.00, but there are no sellers out there. Guess that means the market is going to the moon tomorrow!

Everything which is exchanged is traded precisely and only because two people value the exact same thing differently. One side values the stock more than the money, and the money less than the stock. The other side vales the money more than the stock, and the stock less than the money.

Valuation is by definition non constant and subjectively different for each trade.

“…COSTCO can be fun,…”

It can be hard to find shelf space for the large packages they sell, and the hunting can be a challenge, but I have been quite impressed with their product quality standards. Though Trader Joe’s offers a similar emphasis on high quality at reasonable prices, CostCo’s quality has tended to be superior in my recent experience (talking about Carmel Mt Ranch CostCo versus Trader Joe). I am guessing this comparison depends on local factors, but I am not sure — it could also reflect CostCo’s ability to compete on volume for high quality at an affordable price.

One thing that I miss here in Colorado is getting the Fearless Flyer in the mail.

But must be in exactly the right mood to brave the customers.

I will only go late at night, for this very reason.

Sadly remember Sam Walton’s “Be American - Buy American” slogan early on. Transformed to “most of our merchandise comes from China, where we have even greater leverage regardless of safety, content, and human rights!” Long live malamine!! - “)

Isn’t Africa a Southern Ward in Louisiana?

Oh I very much have expected it all along. I figured I’d continue shorting until I saw signs of hyperinflation. I don’t think we’re quite there yet.

I haven’t seen any direct signs yet with regards to price increases (aside from the recent commodities spike which is now gone) - just indirect signs in the form of “liquidity” injections like this by the Fed and Treasury. Treasury injections aren’t inflationary though since it requires money being taken back out of the system via bond purchases. Fed loans though are direct cash infusions, watering down the value of the rest of the existing cash.

Paging combo…