Bits Bucket For December 7, 2009
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The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
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The great American credit contraction rolls on. ~ Dec 6, 2009
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans face the seemingly intractable dilemma of having to reduce their levels of debt but not so rapidly as to derail a nascent economic recovery.
How that transition is handled has wide-ranging implications for global growth, which is still heavily reliant on U.S. consumption. Two reports this week should offer some sense of how the dynamic is playing out.
U.S. consumer credit is expected to have shrunk another $9.3 billion in October, marking the ninth straight month of contraction for the longest streak of declines since the data was first compiled in 1943.
“We face a dilemma, which is we want banks to lend and we’re encouraging them to lend, but we certainly don’t want them to make bad loans because, of course, that’s what got us in trouble in the first place,” said New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jack Reed at a banking committee hearing.
The U.S. Congress is looking at ways to reform the financial system, following what many people say were glaring regulatory failures that pushed the global financial system to the brink last year.
Real Estate agents must be getting big heads again…
Mrs. Chile found an ok house in an ok neighborhood at a good price (realtive to the past and consistent with 3.5x median family income). So she sends an email to the listing agent saying we’re interested in the property and would there be any open houses.
Got the reply: “No open houses”.
Nothing else. I was shocked. If it were me, I’d write back “Thank you for your question. Unfortunately, I’m sorry that there will be no open houses per the seller’s request. However, I’d be happy to arrange a showing for you and your real estate agent. If you’re currently not working with an agent I’d be happy to serve as your agent. Please get back to me (or have your agent do so) letting me know what day and time you’d like to see the house.”
Of course, I told her to write back, “No buyee house.” She didn’t.
Big head “again”?
When did the arrogant lowlifes ever show a smidgen of humility?
If it’s a foreclosure that would be a typical response. Agents who specialize in foreclosures deal in bulk and are very different from “traditional” agents. It’s actually kind of refreshing - just ask when you can see the place and put in an offer if you like it. No frills.
Yeah, I called about a ‘bank-owned’ (what the sign said) house a few months ago, and the RE agent who answered the phone just said ‘hello’. No indication that it was anything other than a residential line. I asked about the house and was told that they didn’t have a price yet and I should call back. He never asked for any of my information at all. Definitely not typical reeltor style. It was kind of bizarre, really. Like he had no interest in whether the house sold or not. Maybe they’re on salary i/o commission? (And he wasn’t ’saving it for a friend’- the last time I saw it, it was still for sale.)
Hmm… When there was an auction for a failed flip two doors down from me there WAS an open house. But it wasn’t any staging or refreshments. Heck, there wasn’t even an agent present, just a security guard to make sure that you didn’t burn down the place. She certainly didn’t seem interested in talking up the place.
I thought open houses were just where the thieves went to pick up Christmas presents?
Oh that would be funny. Have open houses and at the very end be like, “Hmm anything I forgot to mention, oh yea, the place comes with a 32 channel digital video recorder and all hidden cameras are included, as well as a conventional security system.” If the person was a thief wonder if they’d squirm.
When wifey was an active RE agent, there was one local woman well-known to all the agents for her habit of walking off with prescription pain meds that were in medicine cabinets and on dresser and vanity tops of the open houses she visited.
My wife also carried an aerosol container of pepper spray when she held an open house. I could never convince her to carry a real weapon.
I sent an email to an agent asking for mls sold and current listing in a neighborhood where she had a listing. I didn’t get a response back. She must have been way too busy with her 3 listings to prospect for new clients.
No, it’s just taking her that long to figure out how to compile such information. It’s not like pressing the cheeseburger picture on the register.
Gloomster! Didn’t you get the green shoots memo that the recovery is under way?
“We face a dilemma, which is we want banks to lend and we’re encouraging them to lend, but we certainly don’t want them to make bad loans because, of course, that’s what got us in trouble in the first place,” said New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jack Reed at a banking committee hearing.
should add “…contrary to his colleague in the house…representative Barney Frank (D) from MA.”
I love when politicians come out with ‘brilliant’ statements like these. They want banks to lend, but not to make bad loans. Pure economic genius there. Curious that no one else ever considered that angle. Also heard from Sen Jack Reed, “we like to cook food on the stove, but we try to avoid burning it.”
For consumer credit levels - it’s worth showing a little perspective.
Even though we’ve had “longest streak of declines since the data was first compiled in 1943″, we’re still very much near record highs, even in GDP-adjusted terms. Also we’re nowhere close to having the largest sum-total decline - the declines (small as they were) in the 1940’s, 1970’s, and early 1990’s were much larger in magnitude.
I have no debt and I pay off my credit card (yes, CARD) every month. I never thought of myself as hurting the economy. I’m sorry.
I’m even worse, Mugsy. I get cash back from my credit cards. It’s used to help pay off the following month’s CC bills.
SHAME on you two!!! I’ll bet you eat babies too!
…and there is no telling what he does to puppies.
Yes, Bill. That’s a new one. I got a second credit card a few years ago for travel purposes only. I called them recently to warn them that I’d be traveling again (it’s embarrassing when they deny your credit card at a hotel) and they asked me if they should credit my bill for $500 because I had not used my points. I was pretty happy about that. That’s a pretty good return on a credit card that I pay in full every month. We get four round trips per year from our other credit card, which does cost $60/year.
Stores Face New Hurdle in Pitching Credit Cards.
Retailers Object to Proposed Rule Requiring Customers to Show Income Data Before Opening Accounts. 12-7-09 ~ WSJ
Some big retailers are balking at federal proposals that would make it a lot tougher for them to dole out instant credit at the cash register.
The restrictions, if enacted by the Federal Reserve, would force retailers to gather more financial information from customers— including how much they earn— before giving them credit.
That would endanger at least some popular cash-register pitches, which often echo one from apparel retailer Talbots Inc. to “get 15% off today’s purchase” by opening a charge-card account on the spot.
Macy’s Inc., Saks Inc., Best Buy Co. and other retailers are fighting the proposed rules, claiming customers wouldn’t be comfortable handing over a pay stub or tax document to a cashier in order to show they can pay their bills.
“Instant credit is important because it is another service that we can offer the customer that the customer considers to be valuable,” said Jim Sluzewski, a spokesman for Macy’s, which like the other retailers has lodged gripes with the Fed. In the third quarter, more than half of Macy’s sales were rung up on store-brand credit cards. Macy’s operates more than 850 department stores in 45 U.S. states.
it is another service that we can offer the customer that the customer considers to be valuable,”
BS. I always turn the offer down cold,
Confession: I went to Macys to buy one piece of on-sale jewelry. One piece turned into several, and they offered me an additional 20% off if I signed up for a credit card. It knocked hundreds of dollars off the purchase. Of course now I’m stuck with a credit card.
I do that all the time actually. I just cancel the card after paying it off (with no interest).
There’s no harm, you just have to be disciplined.
They make a credit inquiry which affects your credit score. If you are disciplined this probably does not matter as your credit score is probably high.
And cancelling a card hurts mostly if it is one of your older lines of credit. Not an issue when you are taking a new card to save on a single day of purchases.
Just a credit inquiry hurts your score? I didn’t know that. Got a link for info?
Either way - it can’t hurt too bad because I’ve had tons of inquiries, and I’ve got a pretty darn high score.
I get lots of savings using my Macy’s card and just pay it off at the end of the month. Interest rates are astronomical on those department store cards, so they have to be paid off.
Anecdote: I was once shopping in a Lord&Taylor (2004 or so) when I strayed into a service hallway. The hallway had the same carpet and walls as the sales floor, so I didn’t know I’d gone into enemy territory until I saw one of the worker-motivation posters on the wall.
The poster was an instruction sheet of what associates should say to a customer to convince her to sign up for one of these store credit cards. “Should I put this on your Lord & Taylor charge? You don’t have one? Would you like to apply for one? You can save XX…” [the register calculates and displays exactly how much you'd save, but the poster used a typical purchase of $150.] The poster then went on to say that the associate would earn $2.50 for each signup, and if the associate achieved 10 signups a day, that’s like making an extra $2.85 an hour… It’s just like another commission.
The reason I remember this is because I was staring at the poster so long that an L&T sales associate in the hall caught me looking and anxiously gave me the third degree, asking why I was there. She thought I was a spy for Macy’s!
What a dip. If if was such a deep dark secret, then why display the poster so close to the sales floor?
———-
In JC Penney, whenever a customer signs up for this fleece card, they announce it over the PA system, in code. Something like: “Today’s number is 26! Congrats, Angelina, for helping a customer save 15% today!”
It’s barfworthy.
i signed up for one to save a couple hundred bucks once. paid it off…never used it again.
not even sure how it affected by credit score by getting a store credit card…no debt so don’t care.
someone needs to make a slogan…to print on a t-shirt to wear in response to that poster….when they ask…just point to your shirt.
“Stores Face New Hurdle in Pitching Credit Cards”
Why doesn’t the store simply carry the credit risk themselves?
in fairness, they aren’t in the credit business, they’re in the retail business. they have store cards for the purpose of boosting retail sales.
I woke up today and the boiler was dead. That meant we had no heat and no hot water. Luckily the gas was still on. I heated up water in pans and used that to wash up. All in all I’m pretty clean.
While I was washing I couldn’t help to think about all of the Mad Max pronouncements on various blogs. This morning I got a small taste of what it would be like to live in a world where there was no cheap energy. I didn’t mind a small taste but I would not enjoy eating the full buffet.
one christmas in Mississippi we lost power for 7 days due to an ice storm. my brothers and i would go out and chop firewood every day. it was kinda fun looking back. i was very impressed with how we adapted to the situation.
i really missed the hot water though.
Not to turn this into a “who walked further uphill both ways” kinda discussion, but…
I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere, and also endured almost TWO weeks without electricity, following an ice storm! I was maybe 8 years old. We had a generator that hooked up to our tractor, which provided power for the milk barn (of course!) but not the house. We had hot water - down at the barn. Had to tote the steaming buckets of water up to the house to take a bath. Also, since it got dark about 5 o’clock, there were long hours of sitting around by candlelight before finally going to bed. I’d like to say that we played board games and bonded as a family (and maybe we did - for the first couple of days) but after a week I was ready to watch some damn tv.
Yeah, mourn the death of the family farm yadda yadda yadda. I’m soooo grateful that I live in the city now.
Why didn’t you just take your bath down at the barn?
Did the population of your family increase during that time?
Sue the landlord for 2 days rent off next months bill…They are scum for harassing such a good tenant as you…..
You got a nice preview of what the EPA/enviro whackos will be dumping on all of us. And according to the WSJ article this morning, we don’t even need a Copenhagen accord for it to happen. EPA is set to issue rules regulating the emission of carbon dioxide early next year.
EPA is set to issue rules regulating the emission of carbon dioxide early next year.
Oh noes, the sky is falling!
Let’s not have any standards at all — we’ll race China to the bottom as we eviscerate wages, safety, and the environment.
Sounds like a great plan, Bill.
False choice..
False choice would apply to a logical argument. This ET used pure sarcasm.
Here’s my point. Energy WILL become a lot more expensive. Everyone will pay more, and some people who currently get by will have a very difficult time paying their energy utility bills. Hot showers for a few will be replaced by a sponge bath using a single pan of heated water.
Oh wait. We taxpayers can just pay more to help those formerly independent folks out. And the govt can hire even more people to administer the subsidy program. And scammers can figure out how to game it. And some of those scammers will be caught, prosecuted, and sent to jail so we can support them too.
But it’s better than doing nothing. Uh-huh.
When energy becomes more expensive that should push down real estate even more. When any necessity becomes more expensive (gas, food, water, taxes&fees) that takes more money from incomes and leaves less for rent and mortgages.
No matter what, energy will become more expensive. Period. It’s done nothing but go up since the day I was born. (that’s a figure of speech to illustrate a point, BTW)
Better pray that solar and wind HOME units become affordable, because until you can control your own energy, you will always be at the mercy of the suppliers.
Really Eco?
What is the cost of gallon of gas relative to minimum wage?
How about the cost of a kWhr relative to minimum wage?
Gas? Well I seem to remember it being about 1.20$ per gallon back when min wage was 3.35 per hour.
Now min wage is 8.35$ and gas is about 2.85$ per gallon.
0.34 vs 0.35 ish. Now, Jersey had cheaper gas for a while and I’m in LA now. So, the ratio seems pretty close. Might be bad memory here with respect to gas prices. Could be that gas was .79$ per gallon at that point and 1.2$ waas when min wage got bumped to 5.35$. Again that was in NJ so forget the exact effective date.
Not sure on the price of electricity.
Why would you assume the price of energy is going up? There have been tremendous increases in efficiency and plenty of new sources. Wind power is getting close to cost competative to coal. Nuclear is gaining in popularity and is even cheaper.
Now, in a hundred years of so we might be getting short of oil… maybe… more of a production rate concern than anything else.
We are also saving by going to compact florescent lighting. A huge amount of energy savings there. I’d guess that LED arrays will pass CFB as well. That will save even more.
Also would expect that things like double pane windows will keep getting installed saving even more energy.
Hence, outside of oil, possible we could see declines.
Federal min wage is $7.25. Your state may be higher.
Yes gas was $1.25 when min wage was $3.25. So what? Is it 1.25 now? Will it ever be again?
In my state electricity has done nothing but rise and keep rising in the decades I’ve lived here. Maybe it’s cheaper than it was 20 years ago where you live. I kind of doubt it.
And let’s ask our more northern neighbors about the cost of heating oil.
Natural gas is also up since min wage was $3.25. Doubled in fact.
All these facts are available on the Internet and from reputable mainstream sources.
I don’t assume energy costs are going up. I know, FOR A FACT, they are.
Please note: I ignore “adjusted for inflation” because most peoples wages didn’t “adjust for inflation” in the same time period. The phrase “adjusted for inflation” is a red herring. An interesting, but non-essential factoid that does not reflect the reality of peoples true buying power. Or I should say, lack thereof.
Well what is just nuts Eco: I found that it’s very difficult to trace electricity prices.
I’ve seen wages for skilled workers go through the roof. As a hiring manager, the new college grads are raking in 60-70k+. Mostly MSME, MSEE types.
Not sure where we are at from an overall standpoint. IMHO and from small data I’ve gleened, seems like most of the ground lost was through out the Bush years with respect to inflation related pricing. AKA life got harder due to all the loose money pumped into the system unless you were very lucky or scamming effectively.
Gas prices are for LA and min wage is 8.x per hour here. Could easily be looking at 25% increase depending on exact numbers.
While we are normally engaged in name calling, my post was more of just a question on how you were figuring things. I’d go with inflation adjusted numbers though. Wage inflation only.
Guess if we compare to median income or average income then go from there.
The driving force behind all the carbon bs right now, is the nuclear industry - with “of course” close ties to Obama.
I am not necessarily opposed to nuclear, but it is the crooked way they are going about it.
Google “small nuclear power plants”. How about a power plant the size of 2 car garage that can power 20,000 avg houses. Just more technology being suppressed by the current financial interests.
The big corrupt nuclear construction industry is or soon will be, dead.
EPA is set to issue rules regulating the emission of carbon dioxide
In Texas we solved the carbon dioxide issue by building higher smoke stacks so the carbon dioxide doesn’t affect anyone in the state any more.
Now if we can just figure out how to get the mercury emission to follow the wind east we would be all set.
Why not put a giant electromagnet in the stacks to collect the mercury?
Dam dem dar ee pee aye wackoze! Day gunna wanna take me gunz!
nawwww dawg…they just gonna gimme dat obama money.
we gonna get paiyeeeeeddddddd dawg!!!! yeeeaaahahh!
(exeter so frequently represents the average republican supporter as a bumbling ignorant redneck…i just thought i would stoop to his level…my apologies)
Just as I thought. No stooping on your part.
i definately stooped.
you’re better than that
hheh…. no (s)he’s not.
How will they stop humans and animals from exhaling carbon dioxide now that it will be classified as a poison? That will take a little work. We can all wear some kind of carbon scrubbing mask. Hey, I may have just stumbled across a new Al Gore style Eco-Business.
Nah… they’ll just look up who doesn’t believe in the “green shoots” and “reducate” them to some labor camp somewhere to reduce CO2.
I guess I’ll need a fart filter for my bloomers. Oh, wait, that’s methane, I guess that’s OK.
Actually methane has seven times the green house effect as carbon dioxide.
Oxide –
I think that the global warming potential (GWP) of methane is actually 25 times that of CO2.
MrBubble
You can die from drinking too much water, or eating a couple tubes of toothpaste. Beyond actual toxicity, its the quantity that’s the issue. People dumped their sewage directly into rivers for hundreds of years, and aside from those silly little diseases (like typhoid fever), pollution worked for them fine. But our population was small, so Mother Nature somehow absorbed all the extra goodness. We now have an island of plastic particles floating out in the Pacific the size of Texas, and this trash doesn’t break down like the wood and metal flotsam of years ago. And do we really want 1.5 billion Chinese to produce the same level ofpollution we do? I think not.
If you have a proposal for stopping them, let’s hear it.
I for one am doing my part. I have devised a revolutionary breathing technique that reduces measured exhaled deadly CO2 particles that result from standard breathing.
This technique does seem to result in other unexpected gas-based outputs to the atmosphere, but although unproven, I’m sure the net result will reduce the melting of the polar caps.
I am now teaching this technique to family and friends. Children seem to take to this revolutionary global-saving initiative faster than results…burp…s’cuse me
exhaling carbon dioxide now that it will be classified as a poison? That will take a little work. We can all wear some kind of carbon scrubbing mask.
Well, if we keep slashing forests, you won’t have a problem with that.
I think we do a pretty fine job of managing forest land in this country. We could do a little better with brush clearing and fire prevetion.
Other parts of the world do a piss poor job of managing resources, I am guessing that was the forest slashing you referenced.
Other parts of the world do a piss poor job of managing resources, I am guessing that was the forest slashing you referenced.
BUT we are run by global corporations and OUR people own those &/or they are on the BODs of those corps that are raping/pillaging the forests. Therefore, “we are doing a pretty find job” of helping to ruin the planet and our air?
“BUT we are run by global corporations and OUR people own those &/or they are on the BODs of those corps that are raping/pillaging the forests.”
You make a good point. Not sure how wide spread that is among US based companies. I think most are wise to modern resourse management techniques. We still have issues with the third world’s lack of education/interest in preservation, conservation and management.
West End condos auctioned for a song.
Nashville Business Journal
Thirty-two units inside The West End luxury condominium were sold Saturday at auction.
The units, part of 42 that were on the auction block, were sold at steep discounts, with units selling for an average of 45 percent of their original list prices.
Units were sold at an average of $160 per square foot. Only one unit, a one-bedroom, sold for more than $200 a square foot, going for $205 per square foot. Original list prices for the units ranged from $250 to $402 per square foot.
Saturdays biggest discount went to a three-bedroom unit that sold for $360,000 less than 39 percent of its original list price of $925,000.
The West End opened in April 2008. Prior to Saturday’s auction, organized by Murfreesboro-based Jerrold Pedigo Realty, seven of the condos 72 units had sold.
The auction came on the heels of one for Terrazzo, a condominium in The Gulch whose units fetched about two-thirds of original asking prices from bidders. Though Saturdays auction was not as heavily marketed, and though it didn’t attract television news cameras, it nonetheless attracted an estimated crowd of 200 people, with each one either possessing a cashiers check for $5,000 or accompanying someone who did.
John Coleman Hayes, developer of The West End, said the auction was designed to increase the number of residents in the building while also retiring some of its debt. Hayes said the extra occupancy will help make the units eligible for Fannie Mae financing.
Hayes said he was surprised by the number of units that were sold at auction, though bidding was aborted in three cases when they weren’t fetching high enough rates. Hayes said the square footage rates set Saturday were lower than he expected.
As he was heard telling one successful bidder afterward, “I’m in the business of subsidizing people these days I’m sort of like the government.”
Did the story really have those run-on sentences? Morons.
You do know that most news these days is written by college interns, right? (no joke)
I really like the West End. I used to go get coffee at the Owl’s Nest and watch Reggie Wooten and Jeff Coffin jam - they were unbelievable. Reggie slaps and pops the guitar, and Coffin would rip double sax all the time. They’d encourage people to jam with them, but I was scared sh!tless — I’m a player, but not a player’s player.
Nashville had some promise but then the music business caved in…
I still have some friends and colleagues on Music Row. I doubt they’ll be there much longer.
Severances dwindle as job searches fail.
Life between paychecks keeps taking its toll.
When TaRita Wright was laid off a year ago, the severance package she got from her employer felt like a windfall.
At first, she played it financially smart: The 41-year-old single mom made extra payments on her car note and rent on a Smyrna townhouse where she lives with her 6-year-old daughter. She also paid ahead on car insurance.
But the severance pay, which she expected to last six months, also lulled her into a false sense of security.
She didn’t immediately jump into the job hunt, giving herself some time to reflect on a possible career change and to spend the summer months with her daughter. Wright also shopped for clothes and shoes more than she should have, she admits.
“I never thought the job search would be this hard,” Wright now says. She doesn’t regret the quality time spent with her young daughter, but her severance money is long gone and she’s still without a new job. “I didn’t know how bad the economy would get,” she said.
In the midst of double-digit jobless rates nationally, the average length of unemployment for American workers has stretched to 27 weeks — more than six months — and that often outlasts severance benefits that people have been paid by their ex-employers to smooth the transition.
Amazing! Give a person 6 months severance and she’s just uses it as an excuse to wait 6 months before looking for work! Why the heck didn’t she start using it the first day? Then it really could have been a _windfall_ because she’d be earning a salary and could get to keep the severance.
Maybe single moms aren’t Heroes, as our society now considers them.
(I meant to say “Why the heck didn’t she start looking for work the first day”. Need to have another shot of espresso.)
I remember reading a stat after the end of the dot com blow up that the average person who was laid off waited 30 days before looking for a job.
The average for persons who had been laid off twice waited 30 minutes.
How many times were you fired for no reason????? It stinks And a lot of times you really don’t know its coming….so soon
Sure business gets slow and you wait it out……So Its the shock not being lazy that’s at the core of your question.
“How many times were you fired”
Several!
“…for no reason????”
Never!
See Reuven, you got fired for cause, well so did I…its part of life.
But to come out of left field with being fired its a shock, most times you see it slow down you can cut back spending and plan, but one day the boss walks in and your department or your job is eliminated its not easy to deal with.
Yea I always hated the jobs I got fired from.
Last one, coworkers did me in. But I hated them, and so did others that worked there. Once I left, friends would send me pictures of the people that got me canned. Sleeping, at their desks. Go go Navy-Marine Corps Intranet project.
“Why the heck didn’t she start using it the first day?”
moral hazard…the government has created a false since of security. unemployed for six months and still no job? we will just print more money and extend your benefits.
part of federal and state government’s economic policy is to borrow printed money and subsidize unemployment…apparently.
Michael:
I guess in the New Economy we are all free lancers according to you. Because having a stable job is going to be a rarity.
So It’s not a sense of security, its takes time to readjust to doing something NEW, like look for a job, get proper clothes and to be able to walk in and apply. Skills very few people have if they had a steady job for years.
Maybe you and I can do this, but tell that to a GM worker who’s 3rd generation in the plants.
GM worker = union worker = entitlement attitude…he needs to get over it and get out there and find a job…just like this stupid woman.
There are six unemployed workers for every job. It’s not you just “get one” like getting a gallon of milk at 7-11, ok?
However, if this woman was laid off “a year ago” and “spent the summer months with her daughter,” then she must have slacked for a good 7-8 months. And this was summer 2008, when it was clear the economy was going to go down. Nice going, Einstein.
Lots of blame to go around.
DJ, I considered myself a “free-lancer” even as an employee from the first time I got laid off in the early ’80s. Laid off a total of three times in my career and fired once.
And my “career” changed significantly over my working years. There was no way that the job skills I got in the ’70s were still relevant at the turn of the century.
Like the Nth-generation harness and buggy-whip makers who lost out when Henry Ford got going, one either adapts or starves.
Bill:
I really think this time is different, people are prepared for a quick recovery like in the past….but not for a jobless recovery. This scares most people.
Which part of “there are 6 people for every job” do you folks not understand?
Basic math people. And since more than 1 of those people are basically equally skilled, it becomes a lottery.
The 60s are gone. Get used to it.
Several yrs ago, I applied 4 a job for extra $.
I was asked why was I applying. I wanted to answer with the honest answer ” I want to make extra money”. WHY else would someone apply for a job? I thought it was a stupid question by the owner.
With uneployment benefits extending to 79 weeks, its taken a lot of urgency out of looking for a new job. Here in WA it pays about 60% of base pay, up to about a $40,000 base wage.
In Texas, the most you can collect NO MATTER YOUR PREVIOUS WAGE, is $350 per week.
The avg is more like $280.
So what’s the problem with wanting some time off? To socialeest for you?
Especially in this recession. There ain’t no jobs. No point in spinning your wheels. And she was smart with her budget.
“The Associated Press’ monthly analysis of economic stress in more than 3,100 U.S. counties found the economy little changed in October compared with September. Some states saw slight improvement or stabilization, thanks to steadying foreclosure and bankruptcy rates. But the gains may be brief. Unemployment remains high, and the housing market is still weak”.
~ Despite the cheerleading from Washington and the news media, the economy is still in the doldrums and promises to be gimpy for quite a while. In fact, the AP sub-headline is “US facing weak recovery, further threats from joblessness, foreclosures.”
Beware establishment propaganda.
More gloom and doom, please…
For what it is worth.
Here is info RE: Polk County Florida (Between Tampa and Orlando)
Preforeclosures (NOD?) 3460
Sheriffs Sales 24
Foreclosures 1931
Bankruptcies 1066 (Battle of Hastings?)
FSBO 148
Tax Liens 3186
Found all this info at foreclosure dot com.
What I do not know how to find out is how many total single family houses there are in Polk County as a reference to the above.
eg. Is it 2% 5% 8%, ect. of the total?
Here you are, from
http://quickfactsDOTcensusDOTgov/qfd/states/12/12105.html
Housing Units 2008: 280,609
linky no work
Sorry, it’s the DOT DOT. I was playing dodgeball with the filter and got hit. Try this:
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12/12105.html
Seems like if the filter sees ‘h t t p :’ together, it assumes link regardless of what esle follows.
Seems like if the filter sees ‘h t t p :’ together, it assumes link regardless of what esle follows.
Somebody’s regex skills are weak.
Oops, sorry, from the same website, 13.9% (in 2000) of the housing units are in multifamily structures. So 0.861 * 280609 = 241604 SFH.
* The Wall Street Journal
* OPINION
* DECEMBER 6, 2009, 7:14 P.M. ET
Saving More Homes for the Same Money
Why Treasury’s foreclosure modification plan isn’t working.
By EDWARD PINTO
The Treasury Department announced last week that it is revamping its Home Affordable Modification Program. Unfortunately, its changes—threats to fine and publicly shame mortgage loan servicers for not acting quickly enough—do not address two glaring shortfalls of the program and won’t stabilize housing markets.
The first shortfall is that the program doesn’t provide a clear process to triage the over 7.5 million delinquent loans. The second is that it doesn’t take into account that the primary reason borrowers default is “negative equity.” When a house is worth less than what is owed on it, making monthly payments seems like a waste of money and many homeowners walk away.
…
Why does our Government feel it needs to “help” people who can afford to pay their mortgage simply because their house is now, theoretically, worth less than they paid for it. That’s a disgusting/outrageous waste of taxpayer money, and an attempt to manipulate markets.
Theoretically?
Yes! Theoretically. They haven’t sold it yet, so who knows what it’s worth. They were willing to pay $X for it last year, so who are they to presume it’s worth less than that now! How about keep paying what they agreed to w/o asking the government for a tax-free windfall cramdown handout?
tax-free windfall cramdown handout
There’s a mouthful!
They are not helping the people, they are helping the owners of the mortgages.
Exactly.
That is an interesting take on things. I think the primary reason it won’t work is because the bankers are actually immune to shame. I once sat in a partner’s office and listened to him “negotiate” with another attorney (bank merger) by lying about whether a particular clause in one of the agreements was standard language or not. Guy said that he had never seen this type of agreement without the clause. He had been a lawyer for a few decades. These agreements always evolve and the big NYC law firms were always tweeking stuff to benefit the side of the deal they were on. I bet the clause was completely missing from the template the firm used when representing the other side of the deal. He was lying.
In the same deal, attorney from the other side tried to get a change in language from me by claiming that there were reports of people taking furniture out of the building (in the mid-west) and she wanted some sort of guarantee about the contents of the building. I told her to call the local police if there was stealing going on as it had nothing to do with my client.
And in general, the lawyers were way better behaved than the bankers.
That is an interesting take on things. I think the primary reason it won’t work is because the bankers are actually immune to shame.
You don’t say?
http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/2009/12/03/the-ultimate-vanity-plate/
“The second is that it doesn’t take into account that the primary reason borrowers default is “negative equity.” When a house is worth less than what is owed on it, making monthly payments seems like a waste of money and many homeowners walk away.”
Stupid on the way up, and smart on the way down. Self interest?
By the way, a great way to keep people from walking out on their houses because they are underwater would be to let interest rates go up. I bet a lot of folks who are 20% underwater on their houses but have 5% fixed mortagages would be delighted to stay and pay if the interest rate on a new place would be 8% or more.
Of course, it would up the default on folks still in ARMs and people who are willing to rent might still walk, but you wouldn’t get the “buy a new place, move in, stop paying on the last one” sequence as often.
Letting the private market set credit standards on downpayments would be even more effective.
Higher interest rates => lower (equilibrium) home prices => more owners underwater…
I still think the ones who can afford their payments would be unlikely to walk if the monthly costs on a new place at a lower purchase price would be higher than the old monthly costs.
Won’t help with the folks who can’t afford the payment, but strategic default on an actual primary residence probably involves the being underwater part PLUS the being able to get something else for less part. Assuming they aren’t willing to rent, of course.
You’re assuming primary residences.
“I still think the ones who can afford their payments would be unlikely to walk if the monthly costs on a new place at a lower purchase price would be higher than the old monthly costs.”
The walker gets to choose his monthly payment on his next residence.
Medium to high inflation would also benefit those folks.
I’m sorry. Did that say 7.5million loans are delinquent?
Ah… that is a couple years of inventory.
But that’s resale sales rate, which includes a very large amount of non-first-time buyers. Presumably anyone who’s delinquent isn’t going to turn around and buy a new house (under normal conditions at least). So in reality - if you look at the sales rate for first-time-buyers only, we’re looking at probably 8-10 years of inventory, at best. Maybe 10-15 years’ worth really.
(though I’m not sure the stats for first-time-buyers).
OMG — someone is actually proposing a sensible solution to the foreclosure crisis!
Expect him to be roundly ignored, as Timmay thinks command and (his) control works best.
…
There are three types of delinquent borrowers. The first consists of vacant homes with loans often taken out by scammers or investors. These need to be identified quickly and, when necessary, foreclosed on. The second group consists of borrowers who can’t or won’t pay their mortgages. These borrowers need to be given incentives (either a small amount of cash or the ability to conduct a short sale) to vacate their homes. Many foreclosed homes in these two groups will be scooped up by bargain hunters and either fixed up or rented out, while others will be bulldozed.
The third group consists of homes that can be saved because the borrower has a demonstrated ability and willingness to pay. We can best help this group if we stop clogging the system with unqualified borrowers from groups one and two.
…
[combotechie]
These borrowers need to be given incentives (either a small amount of cash or the ability to conduct a short sale) to vacate their homes.
No, the banks don’t want them to vacate and walk, the banks need these FB’s to feed their cash into that alligator for as long as they can.
Cash is king.
[/combo]
“No, the banks don’t want them to vacate and walk, the banks need these FB’s to feed their cash into that alligator for as long as they can.”
Yep, that’s my position. Thanks for the reminder.
Let’s please remember that the banks don’t own the debt anymore - CALPERs, etc. own the debt. They may be servicing the debt. They stop getting paid once the house is sold.
Different details, same effect.
These borrowers need to be given incentives (either a small amount of cash or the ability to conduct a short sale) to vacate their homes.
Given incentives using… whose money?
Many foreclosed homes in these two groups will be scooped up by bargain hunters and either fixed up or rented out, while others will be bulldozed.
Bulldozing homes? That’s a solution? Perhaps very old broken down homes that are beyond repair, but that’s not what my impression is of what they’re talking about. Eventually population growth will catch up with supply, as long as housing starts stay at record lows. Is it really more efficient to bulldoze homes now and rebuild them later? That’s quite a waste of resources, in all but the very extreme cases.
What is really going to amaze everyone is we are heading into a period of zero or negative population growth.
Unless your idea is to open the borders up?
Unless your idea is to open the borders up?
Open them up?
(scratches head…)
In other recent news - I hear the border between east and west Berlin may open up soon…
That’s quite a waste of resources, in all but the very extreme cases.
Since when did that stop anybody? The way the invisible hand is set up, the best thing I can do for the economy is to buy something, use it once, and throw it directly into the landfill. Oh, and drive my car in a separate trip for each new item. Mining companies are happy, shipping is happy, China is happy, Wal-mart is happy, and Waste Management is happy. And taxes at each transaction, of course.
Yeah yeah - I know; people really are that stupid and wasteful. One can dream.
“The way the invisible hand is set up, the best thing I can do for the economy is to buy something, use it once, and throw it directly into the landfill.”
I have to disagree with your presentation of the invisible hand theory. Under the theory, the best thing you can do is the best for yourself, without concern for what mining companies, retailers or governments want. The market will adjust to aggregate demand. The greater good is supposed to be achieved by each of us making rational choices in our own best interest. Making separate trips to buy stuff rarely makes sense and thus wouldn’t fit with the invisible hand theory.
Where the invisible hand fails is in the assumption that people can make rational choices (a common failing with economic theories.) People buying a house they can’t afford makes no sense, with inflated prices and excess being the short term negative outcomes. Now that people are leaning towards being rational again markets are correcting, even with governments fighting the invisible hand. Similarily, it isn’t rational to buy a stock just because it’s been going up, but speculators do just that.
The second failing of the invisible hand is the tragedy of the commons. It is in each individual’s best interest to abuse the common ground (ie environment.) A throw away society is horrible for the environment, but it could be seem to be in the individual’s best interest to act this way.
I agree with your first and last statements, but not the middle.
People buying a house they can’t afford makes perfect sense - if what it means to “afford” something is artificially manipulated by things like bank-colluded interest rates, artificial stimulus, etc. The traditional “afford” metrics of 2.5x income are stretched to 3%, 4%, even 5% by near-zero interest rates.
IOW it’s not the fault of the invisible hand if the hand itself is manipulated. The invisible hand only works if it’s either unfettered (though resulting in the Tragedy of the Commons), or in constantly-fettered states. The problem is that it’s not constantly-fettered - the rules are changed often, such that people can no longer make wise investment choices. With 20/20 hindsight they appear to have acted irrationally, but it becomes increasingly more difficult to act rationally when the factors are always changing.
packman,
I’m going to try to restate my second para and see if it works better. A flaw with the theory of the invisible hand lies in the assumption that people can and will make rational choices. When people make poor choices, due to a lack of care on their part and external manipulations, the market will react in a predicable yet undesirable fashion. Using the HB as an example, it is irrational to believe that housing prices can become far removed from historic norms. With low interest rates (external manipulation) and a lack of knowlege (sure I can afford a $300K mortgage on a $40K income), prices can temporarily deviate from fundamentals.
I wouldn’t say that the hand is ever manipulated, but instead it is the people.
I wouldn’t say that the hand is ever manipulated, but instead it is the people.
But the invisible hand is the people, for the most part. By manipulating the people, be it by:
- Changing the affordability equation with interest rates.
- Changing the affordability equation with tax changes.
- Influencing people with “ownership society” rhetoric, and ARM pushes.
and by manipulating financial institutions (another element of the invisible hand), be it:
- Forcing loosing lending through laws like CRA
- Changing laws to encourage and/or force higher risk through securitization, excess leveraging, etc.
- Encouraging risk by providing backstops, and providing mechanisms for banks to hide and/or offload their losses
- Providing a virtual monopoly of ratings agency by regulation
.. then you’re influencing the supposedly-free markets to be not free. When this is done by the government - usually by forced mandate, it is insidious.
So to say it is a failing of The Invisible Hand is kind of like putting Brett Favre in as a defensive lineman, and then blaming him for failure when your team loses. In reality it’s the coach’s fault for not providing the right context for the player to do his job - it’s not the player’s fault for doing the job poorly.
There is NO invisible hand and never was. The closest thing to it is natural catastrophe. That’s like “enlightened self interest.” Looks good on paper. Will never happen with the majority of the human race.
Economics is, was and always will be an artificial construct of humans and greed, manipulation and gaming the system will always have influence.
By the time the population catches up, those homes will NEED to be demolished.
But the author has the right idea. Stop clogging the system with more canon fodder.
BTW, when posting a news story/article/etc, please at least cite the source and author. No need for the link when you have the name of the source.
Uncle Buck to gold bugs: “Rumors of my untimely demise are greatly exaggerated.”
The Financial Times
Dollar hits one-month high
By Peter Garnham
Published: December 7 2009 11:49 | Last updated: December 7 2009 11:49
The dollar extended its gains on Monday following a sharp rally on Friday after US employment data came in far stronger than expected.
A much smaller-than-forecast drop in US non-farm payrolls in November, combined with substantial downward revisions to job losses in previous months pushed investors to reassess the view that US interest rates would remain at ultra-low levels for the foreseeable future.
This prompted a rally in US bond yields, which supported the dollar across the board.
…
What effect on unemployment will there be when the estimated 4.8 million new foreclosures flood the market, as Zandl predicts between 2009 and 2011? Between 20006 and 2008 there were 2.7 million foreclosure sales. Also note option ARM resets are gaining momentum.
I sense a temporary rise in the dollar and spot gold to dive below $900, which will be the last buying opportunity before $4000 per ounce gold in 2012.
In the meantime the good unemployment news is hopefully going to send my staffing company stock up a tad more to my selling price.
My prediction is high 900’s. I think there’s too much support around $1000.
I think the dollar’s in for a decent rally, but it will eventually fizzle as interest rates begin to rise (they will), and the debt situation of the government gets worse - both from reduced revenue (weak stock market in 2010), and from increased interest expenses.
Gold probably won’t hit $1200 again until 2011 or even 2012.
Just off-the-cuff predictions.
It seems more clear today that the market sentiment is tying interest rate predictions to the unemployment outlook, rather than to gold spot price or the increased sales of houses the last few months.
$850 rock bottom is my prediction for gold spot within the next year.
Seems reasonable, if perhaps after an overshoot to the low side when the gold bubble popped. Notice something similar happened w.r.t. the recent oil bubble: first the price popped to somewhere well north of $100/bl, then dropped to circa $35/bl, and finally doubled back up to the neighborhood of $70-$80/bl, where it is currently range bound.
At the end of the day, the “new” oil price is a lot higher than the “old” oil price, implying that inflation somehow got baked in through the course of the volatility episode.
This, IHMO, is also the financial engineering blueprint for housing prices…
Seems reasonable, if perhaps after an overshoot to the low side when the gold bubble popped. Notice something similar happened w.r.t. the recent oil bubble: first the price popped to somewhere well north of $100/bl, then dropped to circa $35/bl, and finally doubled back up to the neighborhood of $70-$80/bl, where it is currently range bound.
At the end of the day, the “new” oil price is a lot higher than the “old” oil price, implying that inflation somehow got baked in through the course of the volatility episode.
This, IHMO, is also the financial engineering blueprint for housing prices…
Excellent observations.
Oil $20 stable -> $140 peak -> $40 bottom -> $75 stable
Housing index 75 stable -> 190 peak -> 130 bottom -> 150 stable??
Gold $300 stable -> $1200 peak -> ?? bottom -> ?? stable
Even stock markets, e.g. DJI (longer-term):
1000 stable -> 14000 peak -> 6500 bottom -> 10000 stable??
Seems like a common pattern.
good unemployment news ??
What good news…Less bad is good now…IMO, it is not cyclical it is structural…A new normal you might say…
Only good right now. After Jan 6 or thereabouts, holiday work will go away, again.
Unexpectedly.
The Fed
Dec. 7, 2009, 1:28 p.m. EST
Inflation will not get out of control, Bernanke promises
U.S. economy on the mend, but has some distance yet to go
* Dollar turns down; Bernanke dashes rate-hike hopes (1:45p)
* Inflation will not get out of hand, Bernanke vows (12:39p)
* Your nest egg may need an emotional rescue (1:03p)
* Intel’s fumble on graphics chip could hurt (2:12p)
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — When the time comes, the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to keep inflation under control, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday, adding that that time could be far away.
With the U.S. economy still very fragile and unemployment so high, inflation isn’t a pressing problem right now, Bernanke said in a talk to a group of economists in Washington.
For now, getting the economy back on its feet is the top priority. “We have come a long way from the darkest period of the crisis, but we have some distance yet to go,” Bernanke said, according to the text of his remarks released in Washington. Read Bernanke’s speech.
“Significant headwinds remain, including tight credit and a weak job market,” he said.
Riding the Rate Roller Coaster
With bonds fully priced, it may be time to swap into preferred shares, utility stocks and other investment that offer protection if interest rates rise, according to Barron’s Associate Editor Andrew Bary.
Bernanke’s talk was titled “Frequently Asked Questions.” The most frequently asked question of the Fed right now is: Will the Fed let inflation get out of hand?
“The answer is no,” Bernanke said. “The Fed is committed to keeping inflation low and will be able to do so.” However, inflation “appears likely to remain subdued for some time.”
…
Incipient fire sale in the desert? Who’s gonna wanna buy Dubai now that their real estate isn’t always going up any more?
* The Wall Street Journal
* BUSINESS
* DECEMBER 7, 2009, 8:37 A.M. ET
Dubai World May Sell Some of Its Assets
By SUMMER SAID
CAIRO–Dubai World may raise some of the money needed to pay down its $26 billion debt pile by selling assets in the United Arab Emirates and overseas, a top government official told Al Jazeera television.
But the emirate’s government itself will not sell any assets to meet the obligations, Abdulrahman al Saleh, director general of Dubai’s Department of Finance, said in an interview posted on the news network’s Web site Monday. “Part of obtaining finance is selling assets… belonging to the company and not the government,” Mr. Saleh said, adding that Dubai World will delay projects it hasn’t started because of the credit crisis.
…
Don’t worry — Dubai is contained.
GLOBal markets | Emerging Markets
Dubai stocks tumble
Shares traded in Dubai fell sharply, led by a 10% drop in shares of Emaar, developer behind Burj Dubai, slated top to open in January.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about that little word “contained”, whenever you see that something having to do with financial matters is “contained”, look out below!
Really, they might as well say “Run for The Exits”, or “This puppy’s going down!”
Whenever I see “contained,” I think of the third class passengers on the Titanic. For the most part, they were “contained” successfully.
“Unexpectedly.”
Florida really dodged a bullet on Dubai, I think. Our gov Charlie Crist courted them with a vengeance and a bunch of thug looking guys from Dubai came over here with some cock-and-bull plan to build an “International Media Center”. The news had some great clips of these guys sweating in dark suits, as they came on an “inspection” tour to see in which part of Florida they would like locate their little venture. Of course Charlie was on his knees in front of them, every step of the way, offering this piece of land or that. Why, all the jobs Dubai was going to create! Right here in Florida! Gasp!
I dunno how these Dubai thugs kept a straight face.
“ST. PETERSBURG - A group of investors has gotten the attention of Governor Crist. They met in a closed-door meeting Monday.
The team, from Dubai, plans to make Florida into “Hollywood East.” Now they are looking for support from state leaders.
“These are individuals who have a great interest in Florida. They are from Dubai. Beyond that I’m not sure I’m at liberty to say much more,” was all Gov. Crist would say before the meeting.
The group showed FOX 13 photos of the planned media complex. They say it would rival Hollywood with sound stages, backlots and room for film students to learn the business.
“This is coming in and investing and partnering with our state, creating jobs in our state. The projects we’re talking about could create upwards of 8,000 jobs. And fusing billions of dollars in to our economy,” explained State Rep. Kevin Ambler, who spent the day with the investors.
But there are some critics who wonder about the negative reaction this could bring. Last year, a deal by a Dubai company to take over security at U.S. ports drew harsh criticism. Critics worried it would put our nation’s security at risk. Representative Ambler sees this differently.
“They want to partner with us so they want us to set the course and the direction. They’re not coming in with their agenda, to try and use this as a soapbox, if you will, for any agenda that they’re after,” Ambler insisted.
The group is moving quickly. They want to identify property within 90 days and they hope to break ground within a year.
They are also looking at Miami, Palm Beach, and Orlando.”
Chicago did a deal and sold off all of their parking meters to Dubai.
Well, you can bet that’s one investment that will pay off.
Of course, maybe they’ll have to sell off the meters and wouldn’t it be a hoot to see who will end up owning them.
Is ‘Hollywood East’ the latest travelling salesman/419 scam? There are *two* Hollywood East plans (one at the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, one in Plymouth) for Massachusetts right now, and both are on indefinite hold pending someone finding money.
Seriously - I think every single state on the Atlantic seaboard is convinced it has what it takes to be ‘Hollywood East’ and is throwing tax credits, sweetheart deals, and financing at shady con men.
Has been since the 50s.
The deal is with Chicago Parking Meter LLC, a company managed by Morgan Stanley.
Tannadice Investments LLC, which is owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi holds a 25% stake. The German company Allianz also holds a large minority interest, but Dubai is not directly involved. Morgan Stanley has the majority interest in the company.
(I’m not apologizing for the selloff — it sucks. Just clarifying.)
“its $26 billion debt pile”
Wasn’t it reported to be twice that just last week?
HAHA…..We are having trouble borrowing more money to make the payments on the money we borrowed yesterday, so we might consider scaling back our plans…..
“Dubai World may raise some of the money needed to pay down its $26 billion debt pile by selling assets in the United Arab Emirates and overseas[...]”
I love the sweet smell of deleveraging in the morning…
Megabank, Inc’s lackeys are going cannibalistic. This can only be a promising sign.
Opposing view: Fed has too many duties
New entities should focus on bank regulation, consumer protections.
By Chris Dodd
Chairman Ben Bernanke and I agree that the Federal Reserve should be strong, independent and able to perform its core functions: conducting monetary policy, supervising payment systems and acting as lender of last resort.
Under his leadership, over the past year we have seen the Federal Reserve exercise these authorities to help stop a financial meltdown. Financial markets are beginning to recover. The Fed deserves credit for its response, but we cannot ignore the mistakes that allowed the financial crisis to happen.
Responsible for protecting consumers in mortgage markets, the Federal Reserve failed to develop meaningful mortgage regulations until after the housing bubble burst.
Responsible for regulating bank holding companies, the Federal Reserve failed to rein in excessive risk-taking by large financial companies that ultimately required a taxpayer funded rescue.
The lesson? An institution assigned too many roles cannot fulfill them all well. We must learn from these mistakes as we develop an architecture for financial regulation that can better predict and prevent the next crisis. Loading up the Federal Reserve with too many responsibilities dilutes attention from its core duties and exposes it to dangerous politicization that threatens its independence.
Therefore, I propose creating new entities to focus responsibility for bank regulation, consumer protections and systemic risk, so these important duties will not need to compete for attention.
…
Congress Is the Drunk at the Fed’s Punch Bowl: Roger Lowenstein
Commentary by Roger Lowenstein
Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Congress wants to ride herd over the Federal Reserve. It wants the power to scrutinize the Fed’s interest-rate decisions. It wants to look into how the Fed decides to lend to individual banks.
Like a lot of their constituents, legislators are angry at the Fed’s handling of the financial crisis. They want to know why the Fed permitted such a huge financial bubble to develop — and why, when it burst, it bailed out so many banks.
Many of the criticisms of the Fed are valid. Former Fed chief Alan Greenspan, who oversaw the economy during the boom years, has admitted he placed too much faith in the ability of bankers to monitor their risks. Ben Bernanke, the current chairman, has been overhauling regulatory policy in the hope of preventing a repeat.
But here’s the thing. The changes that Congress is urging would make things worse. If anything, the Fed has been too sensitive to public opinion. And in the recent past, it was too eager to satisfy the public with an easy-interest-rate and easy-mortgage policy.
…
in the past?
in the past…present….future…infinity…other dimensions.
I think I just hurt my self laughing, because you’ve got that right!
. And in the recent past, it was too eager to satisfy the public with an easy-interest-rate and easy-mortgage policy.
Oh I see they were doing this for the public???????????????????
“i was drunk…in bar…you threw me in public”.
“now…i don’t know how many people it takes to whoop my ass…but i knew how many they were gonna use”.
“he placed too much faith in the ability of bankers to monitor their risks.”
I think the bankers did a great job of monitoring their risks. They off-loaded the risk on Freddie, Fannie, and CALPERS.
Who could have known that “self policing” was an oxymoron?
.. like ‘he is over there, self policing’.
well that is what came to mind, all of a sudden like
My prediction is creeping closer. I think populist anger is making people actually think about the Fed.
Probably be a good time to start posting factiods about the Fed being a private bank owned institution that does not serve the people of the united states like, theoretically, the treasury and SEC do.
I think the message is getting out there. Hopefully we can snag some dead weight like Dodd and Frank along the way to the historical trash bin.
Once the treasury and congress get ahold of the Fed balance sheets, Megabank is going to eat it badly.
…my dream phone conversation….
“Oh, you have profits Megabank? Sure then you can buy back this collateral at par? What? That means your insolvent? Wow, look we have these clawback provisions on you bonuses and payouts? If you like, we can have a little discussion about this at club Fed. Little place in the Harbor in LA. You can meet a celebrity there, I think we’ve got John Gotti”.
OK. That is the dream. Of course we will all be ravaged by deflation as well, but seems right to take these fu8$s out too.
+10
FED is private, ie no freedom of information act will get info out of this group. Only congress can make it happen.
Even historians can’t count on this info being released in the future.
We need an audit.
The Fed Chair makes $191,000 per year; fed governors make $172,000 per year. That fact alone makes them morally superior to the bankers they regulate.
Hopefully we can snag some dead weight like Dodd and Frank along the way to the historical trash bin.
james why do you always forget all the other thugs in office?
Seems to me, there is an awful lot of dead weight that you aren’t naming, like 95%. Start naming more names and equally, plz.
DD,
I will just attach the names of all the senators and congress. Will also include the names of the California state legislature and Arnold.
Did I forget anyone?
Oh yeah. Granholm in Michigan.
Watch out below on the stock market if the resurgent dollar gains its sea legs.
* The Wall Street Journal
* FOREIGN EXCHANGE
* DECEMBER 7, 2009
Dollar Comes to a Crossroads
By BRADLEY DAVIS
The dollar could be at a turning point after a promising November labor-market report boosted expectations that ultra-low interest rates in the U.S. could rise sooner than expected.
The greenback gained around 1.5% against the euro Friday and soared 2.8% against the yen, posting its biggest gain in 2009 against the Japanese currency. But for the dollar to hold on to and extend these gains, the data will have to confirm that a sustainable recovery is under way.
“The challenge is really whether this is a one-day wonder, or something different,” said Alan Ruskin, global head of currency strategy for RBS Global Banking and Markets in Greenwich, Conn.
“All of the leading indicators still point to the recovery taking hold,” Mr. Ruskin said. “It does look like we’re onto something.”
(View Full Image Bloomberg News
Stacks of one hundred dollar bills pass through a circulator machine at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C., in October.)
…
Since there are further signs an improving economy is on the horizon, this means the stock market is going to drop?
Please explain.
Not “improving economy” but a “recovery”.
I don’t think that word means what you think it means.
Improving economy => Fed unwinds its life support measures (which help prop up prices) and eventually raises interest rates (which lower equilibrium housing, stock and l-t bond prices, while bolstering the dollar) => stocks and l-t bonds crash off their quasi-permanently high plateaus.
P.S. An improving economy undermines the dollar-collapse scenario favored by gold bugs. The collateral on the dollar is future U.S. economic production. Gold is only valuable when the value of productive assets (and the paper backed by them) is in doubt.
I personally don’t get these tightening rumors, as the Fed has loudly signaled as of late that (1) it won’t tighten soon and (2) it will first unwind recent unusual asset purchases (e.g. MBS).
Fed fears cut into futures
Concerns that the Federal Reserve may tighten interest rates next year knock U.S. stock futures on Monday ahead of a Bernanke talk.
I see all of this as a good sign. The evidence that unemployment may be slowing is putting the kibosh on the dollar carry trade. That’s what’s been propping up stocks for the past six months. It’s like everything is normalizing at a nice pace.
Of course, if there’s a double dip, the craziness will resume.
Ok let’s consider option ARM resets pushing up monthly payments on higher end houses. 4.8 million more foreclosures for sale between 2009 and 2011 according to Moody’s Zandl. More rentals on the market pushing existing rent prices down.
Will anything in that scenario push unemployment up? If so, I would say a double dip is certain, with the dip even bigger than the one we’ve “just been through.”
AIG top execs might resign if pay gets cut.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10639503/1/aig-execs-threaten-to-resign-over-pay.html
We simply cannot let this happen. There is no way to replace this kind of talent. With 10% unemployment it would be impossible to find someone new to do this job for less pay.
Loved the story, until I saw this at the bottom:
“BREAKING NEWS: Cramer’s Portfolio beat 9 out of 10 of the ten largest mutual funds rated by Morningstar and Lipper in Q2. I want your portfolio to do just as well, so I’m inviting you to trade with Cramer for free right now.”
I can hardly wait.
I have a question about credit default swaps. Is there a time limit on these insurance contracts and have people stopped trading them? I guess I want to know if they are less of a threat now than they were last year.
If they are less of a threat, maybe it’s time to break up AIG.
Hoz would have known - anybody elese?
As far as I know CDS contracts are written for a set term. They are still being written. I suspect the volume is lower than its height, but I don’t know where to look for exact data on the dollar volume still outstanding.
Anyone?
I haven’t seen Hoz post in a long time. Does anyone know what’s going on in Hozville?
They need to unionize and go on strike. I’d love to see them standing around the burn barrels in the snow.
Does anyone doubt that the top executives who sit on each other’s boards and (with the help of pay consultants) inflate each other’s pay are nothing more than the largest and most rapacious union in the country?
The only alternative view is that they are in fact a mafia.
“Does anyone doubt that the top executives who sit on each other’s boards and (with the help of pay consultants) inflate each other’s pay are nothing more than the largest and most rapacious union in the country?”
Interlocking directorates have been that for many years. The most recent egregious example involves the narcissistic Kenyan Marxist:
(From the Galen Barnett, The Oregonian, May 2009)
The interlocking directorate is anathema to trustbusters and corporate watchdogs. It occurs when a board member or top executive of one company sits on the board of another company, accumulating undue power over a given industry. When it reduces competition, the arrangement is forbidden by the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914.
If Henry De Lamar Clayton, the Alabama congressman who introduced the aforementioned act, were still with us, he’d presumably be shocked at the creation of the most far-reaching interlocking directorate in U.S. history.
Obama Inc. has effectively won a seat on the board of companies at the heart of the nation’s industrial production and its financial system. The robber barons of old would marvel at the tentacles of influence of Barack Obama, a CEO whose power would overawe J.P. Morgan (the famous industrialist, not the bailed-out bank).
In difficult negotiations with business, Obama has the advantage of sitting at both sides of the table. This makes the art of the deal considerably simpler than when Donald Trump wrote about it years ago. Consider the matter of CAFE, the mileage standards that have been resisted by automakers for decades in a multifaceted regulatory and legal battle featuring enviros, the state of California and industrial-state lawmakers. The other day, Obama snipped the Gordian knot in an offhand swipe with his fingernail clippers.
He gathered Detroit’s CEOs in the Rose Garden and announced they had acceded to a drastic increase in the standards to 39 mpg for cars in 2016. And why wouldn’t they? Both General Motors and Chrysler continue to exist on the basis of Obama’s good will. After their bankruptcies, the companies will give a 72 percent and 8 percent ownership stake, respectively, to the federal government. A president needn’t bother with the traditional “jawboning” of an industry, the tiresome work of a Harry Truman or Lyndon Johnson, if he carries that industry around in his back pocket.
As Chrysler headed into bankruptcy, the government got the company’s creditors that were dependent on TARP funds to do its bidding and take a substantial “haircut.” The banks, too, knew to heed the directive of the ultimate interlocking directorate.
As the next logical step, former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich has proposed putting public directors on the boards of all companies in which the government has an ownership stake. “In exercising their oversight function,” Reich writes, “they should seek guidance from the president and his top economic officials.”
Over time, this public-private arrangement will be subject to all the traditional pitfalls of interlocking directorates, from collusion to conflicts of interest to strategic myopia. The directorates have at times been used to create cartels, commonly defined as “a form of collusion between firms in the same industry aimed at restricting output and increasing prices.”
The new CAFE deal fits the definition almost exactly. It restricts the production of large automobiles, will increase the price of cars and ignores the interests of the consumers. Except that industry doesn’t benefit from the cartel. It’s the senior partner, the federal government, that is wielding its industrywide influence to twist the market to its social-political ends.
Government doesn’t have to own a stake in its corporate partners to bring them to heel. The liberal lion in the House, Henry Waxman, got surprising industry buy-in on his draft of a cap-and-trade bill through giveaways that favored selected energy players. Health-industry groups are jockeying for a place at Obama’s table on health-care reform so they can see to it that all the pain is inflicted on others. This is beggar-thy-neighbor industrial policy wherein government uses its power to inflict harm or bestow advantage to divide and conquer corporate America.
As a short-term political strategy, it’s unassailable. As a way to run an economy, it will prove corrupting and stultifying. The cause of free-market capitalism awaits its Clayton to unravel the sprawling Obama directorate.
Nice way to spin something that’s been happening for over a century and blame Obama for it.
The only relevant point of that article is the interlocking directorates. This is the modern equivalent of an inbred aristocracy. They also conveniently left out the Business Roundtable that was formed in 1972 and has been in collusion against the American public ever since.
You recall the link I posted..
muckeyDOTcom.
Which is a live reactive site for all those who are on BODs anything corp you can name. Cool site.
Aha, it’s the same trick Ken Feinberg pulled with the banks. Feinberg said to the banks: “Look, if you need gov money, then you’re incompetent. Here, have a well-deserved 57% pay cut, be happy you kept your job. Or, pay back what you borrowed.” Lo and behold, the banks paid back the gov. I would be thrilled if this worked on AIG too.
Makes me wonder how much of that TARP was really needed. Certainly not all $700B of it.
[in related news, Obama&Co. are going to use the leftover TARP money to fund a jobs bill direct to Main Street.]
How? Was the money that loosely appropriated? I knew the language of the bill was rather vague, but I didn’t know it was that vague….
I don’t know the details Polly, but I don’t think it’s executive order. Obama has to go back to Congress to change the purpose of the TARP from Bank Bailout to Jobs Bill. The House is already looking at it. The Senate…heck I don’t know about the Senate.
It takes a lot of carbon emitting devices to keep the junk science crowd comfortable.
Copenhagen climate summit: 1,200 limos, 140 private planes and caviar wedges. (U.K.)
Copenhagen is preparing for the climate change summit that will produce as much carbon dioxide as a town the size of Middlesbrough.
On a normal day, Majken Friss Jorgensen, managing director of Copenhagen’s biggest limousine company, says her firm has twelve vehicles on the road. During the “summit to save the world”, which opens here tomorrow, she will have 200.
“We thought they were not going to have many cars, due to it being a climate convention,” she says. “But it seems that somebody last week looked at the weather report.”
Ms Jorgensen reckons that between her and her rivals the total number of limos in Copenhagen next week has already broken the 1,200 barrier. The French alone rang up on Thursday and ordered another 42. “We haven’t got enough limos in the country to fulfil the demand,” she says. “We’re having to drive them in hundreds of miles from Germany and Sweden.”
And the total number of electric cars or hybrids among that number? “Five,” says Ms Jorgensen. “The government has some alternative fuel cars but the rest will be petrol or diesel. We don’t have any hybrids in Denmark, unfortunately, due to the extreme taxes on those cars. It makes no sense at all, but it’s very Danish.”
The airport says it is expecting up to 140 extra private jets during the peak period alone, so far over its capacity that the planes will have to fly off to regional airports – or to Sweden – to park, returning to Copenhagen to pick up their VIP passengers.
As well 15,000 delegates and officials, 5,000 journalists and 98 world leaders, the Danish capital will be blessed by the presence of Leonardo DiCaprio, Daryl Hannah, Helena Christensen, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Prince Charles. A Republican US senator, Jim Inhofe, is jetting in at the head of an anti-climate-change “Truth Squad.” The top hotels – all fully booked at £650 a night – are readying their Climate Convention menus of (no doubt sustainable) scallops, foie gras and sculpted caviar wedges.
People have the Climate change advocates wrong.
The real reason behind climate change, and why the left is so much for it, is simple. It is an enourmous wealth transfer from “rich” nations to “poor” nations, and then to make it even out more, “rich” nations get their most sensitive industries laden with rules and regulations like Cap And Trade. In essence it is the Harrison Bergeron solution for countries.
Ask this of your rep. We currently spend millions of dollars in countries mired in poverty. We have spent this money for years on end, yet these countries are still mired in poverty, and seem incapable of making the lot of their citizens any better, so why do we keep on spending any more money on them? (Disclaimer. I lived for a long time in one of these countries, and saw no improvement with any social incentive. All it did was enable people to leach off of the system, and then go rob you at night.)
#1 is Israel, #2 is Egypt.
Its all about priorities.
Israel, at least, is required to spend the overwhelming majority of that money on US manufactured weapons systems, airplanes, etc.
During the Cold War we gave lot of aid to Turkey and then we gave a lot to Greeceso as not to po the USA Greek lobby. I think the ratio was 60T/40G. A large part of foreigh aid should have been assessed to the Pentagons budget.
Well, maybe I am thinking of it to simply, but if the world didn’t keep wiping out the forests, perhaps, carbon emissions wouldn’t be AS big a deal. But, lo and behold, saw em all down. Burn em all down. Cool, now we can’t breath. Perfect.
“Copenhagen climate summit: 1,200 limos, 140 private planes and caviar wedges.”
Who said it ain`t easy being green?
All these years and I find out Kermt was a liar.
i saw 4 shows on TV this weekend that discussed the horrors of man made global warming….man…they came out of the woodwork this weekend after those emails got released last week.
NYC….no lights today, it’s 19 degrees out.
Drink good coffee. You can sleep when you’re dead.
It’s Christmas time and the Scamming continues , and not just in Real Estate . One of Our Upstate SC Hospitals has arrested & Charged the 2nd registered Nurse now for stealing the Meds away from the patients.
If you have a family member in the hospital , try & have someone with them 24-7 . Anyone who messes with , or administers the Medicines , Stare at them long and hard , and look thoughtful and informed , that will usually scare off charltons . The MDs are included in that equation too .
And wear a suit and carry a clipboard! Works well in any situation.
and i though stealing was a part of the pay package when you are paid so low. What.. is this something new??? You can’t steal if the boss pays you a crappy wage?
Paid so low? In upstate SC, which is a pretty low cost of living area, the going rate for hospital RN is $20 to $31. That’s $40k to $62K per year full time with no overtime.
www dot pcmhcareers dot com/nursing dot aspx
Not one of headlines on the local news site I checked. From what I have heard it is considered to be a good hospital. I’ve never had any dealings with it though. I suspect that this type of behavior goes on a lot.
that will usually scare off charltons
Isn’t he dead?
I would love to see the voters in Nevada flush this turd, and send whispering Harry, back to Porch Light.
Reid’s chances look really dim. Health care bill is a killer
Remember what “Dandy” Don Meredith used to sing in the early days of “Monday Night Football,” when the game fell out of reach?
“Turn out the lights … the party’s over.
Well, if the latest polling data are any measure of the re-election chances of Sen. Harry Reid, Nevada voters stand ready to sing the same refrain to their four-term senior U.S. senator.
A fresh poll, conducted last week by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research of Washington, D.C., for the state’s largest newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, shows Reid’s approval rating again stuck at a dismal 38 percent. This will disappoint a Reid camp that has furiously saturated the airwaves with advertising to, as the campaign puts it, “reintroduce” Harry to Nevada voters.
Apparently Nevadans didn’t need a reintroduction. Reid’s getting the thumbs down from 49 percent of Nevada voters — the same high level as the start of the year.
And, to make matters worse, Republicans and independents seem reunited and re-energized by the Obama presidency. Each of the two senatorial front-runners in this latest poll — Republicans Sue Lowden and Danny Tarkanian — would defeat Reid if the election were held today.
Lowden bests Reid 51 percent to 41 percent statewide. And what surely scares the Reid war room the most is the part of the poll that shows Lowden leading Reid in the Democratic stronghold of Clark County, 47 percent to 44 percent. It’s within the poll’s 4 percentage-point margin of error, but that’s still a killer number for a Democrat in Nevada.
At the risk of sounding like that Sham Wow guy … wait, there’s more. And none of it is good for Sen. Reid.
This new poll also asked Nevada voters about the health care “reform” bill. Reid is clearly out of sync by a wide margin with voters on this key issue.
Reid’s been carrying the water for President Obama on the health care debate in the Senate. He’s walked so far out on the plank in support of the parts of the health care “reform” bill Nevadans hate the most that imagining a reconciliation and a retreat to the home ship seems nearly impossible.
wmbz: care to give a little equal time to your other senator, Mr. Ensign?
And remember that Danny Tarkanian is a “real estate professional.”
Oh I realize they would be trading one sleazeball for another. I would just like to see the crop rotated more often.
Yea, but, “you” guys never mention Craig, Ensign, The SC guy, and so forth. Oh, and that Kyl guy-sheesh.
The LIST is long my friend and they thought it would never end, they sing and steal forever and a day.
Ensign is preoccupied at a swingers event. Gotta love those conservative family values.
“Democracy… while it lasts is more bloody than either aristocracy or monarchy. Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide.”
-John Adams 2nd President of the United States from 1797-1801
Which is why we supposedly have a republic, not a democracy.
However, our republic has degenerated into a democracy. Or mobocracy.
Completely wrong. We have already gone the other way and, like Russia, we are an oligarchy.
You’ve got a point. However, there are still mobocratic elements, what with all the pandering to various cultural and ethnic groups. ACORN, LaRaza,etc. Looks a bit like Rome at the decline. An oligarchy with mobs agitating.
The only mobs I have seen lately were the ones storming the mall a couple of Fridays ago.
The only way we are going to have a revolution is if it is 80-90% off.
I don’t mean mobs actively rioting as yet, I’m talking about the various “activist” mobs, such as Louie Gutierrez’s merry band of bussed-in amnesty supporters.
Or mobs of victims that “activists” use to shake down various govmints from the local all the way to the Federal level.
However, there are still mobocratic elements, what with all the pandering to various cultural and ethnic groups. ACORN, LaRaza,etc.
I think you meant to say FreedomWorks, Family Research Council, Focus On The Family, the NRA, etc.
Agreeing Palmy. Was thinking about posting the striking similarities.
Also like to note another causes of the fall were tax related. Seem to remember that tax burden became worse and worse on productive members of society particularly at the fringes.
So, every new enterprise was punished with enough taxes that eventually growth went negative.
They also had a dangerous drive twords privatization.
The only mobs I’ve seen storming Capitol Hill are lobbyists for banks and health insurance companies.
“The only way we are going to have a revolution is if it is 80-90% off.”
“…I’m on a low budget.. I’m a cut price person in a cut rate land.”
I think you meant to say FreedomWorks, Family Research Council, Focus On The Family, the NRA, etc.
Obomacracy, or communist state.
Nice one, Hannity!
I was gonna say Albert Jay Nock. Google it.
Plutocracy.
Does anybody know how the deleveraging is going? Is total debt as a share of GDP going down, or is falling private debt merely being shifted to the taxpayer as Uncle Sam borrows to keep the system intact?
I think debt as a share of GDP is the indicator to watch for an end of the lost period, whether year, decade, or century.
Is total debt as a share of GDP going down, or is falling private debt merely being shifted to the taxpayer as Uncle Sam borrows to keep the system intact?
I report
You decide
That doesn’t look like de-leveraging to me.
Nor me.
Total debt is actually flattening some the past few months - mainly financial sector (agency etc.), due to some writeoffs. However it’s still extraordinarily high even relative to 2006. Very little has been written off so far.
IOW - yes, private debt is very much just being transferred to public debt. There is no overall deleveraging happening.
And the media is now talking occassionally about people who want to pay down debt, etc.
Remember, in the media, three examples are a trend, two examples are an emerging trend, and one example is the next “hot” thing.
Ha!
Sometimes the anectdotal evidence leads or explains the data, sometimes it does not.
My observation is that the deleveraging in this country is involuntary deleveraging.
FWIW - I generally ignore anecdotes, except for amusement purposes.
E.g. “Joe’s house down the street has been for sale for X months” doesn’t mean jack to me.
Obama administration about to declare carbon dioxide a danger to the public, allowing regulation
Jeremy Hance
December 06, 2009
The day before talks start in Copenhagen on a new international treaty to combat climate change, the Wall Street Journal reports that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States is set to declare carbon dioxide a ‘public danger’ as soon as Monday.
The decision by the EPA means that carbon dioxide emissions could become regulated by the US government, including setting new emission standards for vehicles and possibly regulating other high-carbon industries such as utility companies.
The timing of announcement is thought in part to give even more political clout to the Obama Administration at the Copenhagen talks. The move may also propel the Senate to act more quickly on climate legislation before them.
After long waiting for Congress to tackle climate policy, the Obama Administration recently shot into action in time to counter rising criticism of the United States’ inaction before the Copenhagen Summit. Over the past few weeks the administration has set an emissions reduction target, negotiated with China and India on the issue, and announced that Obama will attend the end of the Copenhagen talks along with other world leaders.
Sounds like more regulation that will in turn force companies to send more jobs overseas.
US businesses fume over EPA climate change rule
Jeffrey Ball and Charles Forelle
The Wall Street Journal
OFFICIALS gather in Copenhagen this week for an international climate summit, but business leaders are focusing even more on Washington, where the Obama administration is expected as early as today to formally declare carbon dioxide a dangerous pollutant.
An “endangerment” finding by the Environmental Protection Agency could pave the way for the government to require businesses that emit carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases to make costly changes in machinery to reduce emissions — even if Congress doesn’t pass pending climate-change legislation.
EPA action to regulate emissions could affect the US economy more directly, and more quickly, than any global deal inked in the Danish capital, where no binding agreement is expected. Many business groups are opposed to EPA efforts to curb a gas as ubiquitous as carbon dioxide.
An EPA action to reduce emissions won’t do much to combat climate change, and “is certain to come at a huge cost to the economy,” said the National Association of Manufacturers, a trade group that stands as a proxy for US industry.
“Sounds like more regulation that will in turn force companies to send more jobs overseas”.
You can count on it!
Yep, just like all those flag-waving US corporate citizens were “forced” to move offshore to the Cayman Islands in order to avoid those “unfair” US income taxes.
This CO2 stuff is peanuts. The real motherload here is water vapor.
+100
Water vapor is a GHG, true; however, its concentration is a function of temperature, not the other way around.
MrBubble
I don’t think there is any disagrement that water vapor is the dominant GWG. By a factor of 20.
The big question is exactually how much it would change if there is a slight temperature shift.
So big guy, does the amount of water vapor go up and result in more rain due to higher temps?
Or does it result in more clouds lowering temperatures?
Or perhaps, does it act as a buffer to temperature meaning this will all be a neutral effect?
Or does it mena perpetual drought?
Which are you calling for? More rain might be a godsend?
Although your post is a bit difficult to parse and a touch aggressive for as yet unknown reasons, you have some fair points.
“The big question is exactually [sic] how much it would change if there is a slight temperature shift.”
I’m not sure of that one personally and it’s not even known if atmospheric water vapor concentration is rising. However, even if it is, water vapor is measured in percent, or parts per hundred, and CO2 and methane, etc. are measured in parts per million (ppm). So, increasing the concentration of water vapor by a few ppm will do little, while increasing CO2 by a few ppm can have a much larger effect. Additionally, once the radiative band has been saturated, then dumping even more water vapor will have less and less of an effect. I would have to leave the real answer to an expert.
“So big guy, does the amount of water vapor go up and result in more rain due to higher temps?”
Since getting back on the bike and hitting the gym, I will choose to take “big guy” as sincere flattery. Yes, water vapor increases with temperature (graph here), but rain patterns will depend on many, many other factors.
“Or does it result in more clouds lowering temperatures?”
Clouds is a tough one. Check out Stephen Schneider’s 1971 paper on this issue for the first (to my knowledge) discussion of the effect of cloud cover. Essentially, you are dealing with the competing factors of cloud height and cloud area (i.e. albedo vs. Stephan-Boltzmann Law and blackbody radiation). It’s a highly nonlinear system, for sure, and it’s tough to determine the “winner”
“Or perhaps, does it act as a buffer to temperature meaning this will all be a neutral effect?”
See above. Unfortunately, the effect of clouds is a poorly established part of the system.
“Or does it mena [sic] perpetual drought?”
That depends. You are going to have to delve into the GCMs to determine that. And I realize that many on this board are not happy with the predictive models, so let’s not conflate the verified reality of climate change with what is likely to happen in the future. These are two different things, in my opinion. I am not saying GCMs are not valid. I am just saying that the ocean CO2 curve, for example, and predictive weather models for California in 2050 are different.
“Which are you calling for? More rain might be a godsend?”
I am not calling for anything personally. I think that the first question is best answered by my response to your last question. As for the godsend, that depends. Any of you Seattlites or Portlanders want any more rain? Any front-range Coloradans want less?
MrBubble
“An EPA action to reduce emissions won’t do much to combat climate change, and ‘is certain to come at a huge cost to the economy,’ said the National Association of Manufacturers, a trade group that stands as a proxy for US industry.”
NAM-blah.
I mean, really — what else do you expect them to say?
Does this mean I can petition OSHA to make my co-workers stop breathing?
Yes you may! It’s OK if they inhale, it’s that exhaling thing that’s killing the planet.
I believe some of the new rules for living the “clean&green” life should require this of about 535 people in D.C.
Has Anyone ever heard the Trial Lawyers saying? “Mold is Gold”
Next famous saying, “CO2 is No Good 4U”
Seriously, I had an account that said that they’ve had their first WC claim because of CO2 poisoning. Oh man, what a country!
OT - wife and i are having issues with “Furnitureland South” (a north carolina furniture retailer) and a dining room set we bought from them. The manufactuerer of the set is “chataham crossing”.
(please never deal with either of these companies ever!)
anyway…we want a refund. just in case…what type of attorney should i be looking for?
no attorney, just find a Vinnie Knucklebuster.
when i try to look online for a defective product attorney all i get is a ton of hits for product liability attorneys. the dining room set has not hurt anyone…it’s just not in good condition or complete. it’s been a year.
Perhaps start with the Better Business Bureau.
Next, if paid for with a credit card, then immediately call the credit card company and request a hold on the payment.
Oops just noticed you mentioned it’s been a year. Why did you wait so long?
1.took them 4 months to deliver the set (i know…first warning sign…but my wife really liked the stuff…plus the manufacturer is in england i think.)
2. table was wrong size. seat on 3 of the 6 chairs was worn and shelf in hutch did not fit.
3. took them 3 months to replace table. replacement shelf did not fit.
4. couple months later the 3 replacement chairs did not match the 3 original chairs. second replacement shelf did not fit.
5. they offered a discount on the chairs. my wife said if you can get a shelf that fits the hutch i may accept the discount.
6. fourth shelf arrived today….and it doesn’t fit.
enough is enough…i want my money back.
enough is enough…i want my money back.
Sometimes the state attorney general can work for you. When I used to work for the cable company years ago in Tucson, sometimes the best way for a customer to get some action was to just threaten to call the SAG or the Corporation Commission.
This sounds like a small claims situation, if your community has an arbitration or mediation office you could check with them as well.
If you want the satisfaction of telling your tale on the internet and thereby warning others, go here:
http://www.kudzu.com/
Maybe you could use the threat of internet complaining to get your money back.
Can’t you bust out a saw and cut the shelf down?
not acceptable to my wife.
i kinda understand her point.
INVENTORY DEPLETION
U.S. Mint now suspends all one ounce gold coin sales due to shortage of physical gold!
Once again the U.S. mint has had to suspend sales of all its one-ounce gold coins, and some fractional ones too, as its supplies of physical gold cannot meet the demand. 07 Dec 2009 -LONDON -
“The United States Mint has depleted its inventory of 2009 American Buffalo One Ounce Gold Bullion Coins. … No additional inventory will be made available. As additional information becomes available regarding 2010-dated American Buffalo One Once Gold Bullion Coins, you will be notified.” So said a memorandum issued Friday to authorized purchasers of U.S. Mint gold coins and reported by Jim Sinclair..
Mineweb reported only two weeks ago, on November 25th, the suspension of sales of American Gold Eagle coins by the Mint - U.S. Mint suspends American Eagle 1-ounce gold coin sales - again, which, at the time, reckoned such sales would be resumed early this month - but in the event, not only is the suspension of the Gold Eagle coin sales continuing, but also now the American Buffalo one ounce gold coin sales have also been suspended, with no new sales now planned until some time in 2010 - although the current sharp fall in the gold price may provide the Mint with a bit of respite from its supply/demand woes.
But supply problems also persist with smaller gold coins, particularly given the enormous demand for fractional sized gold coins following the suspension of the one ounce Gold Eagles. Thus the Mint was forced to issue a second memo on Friday saying “the American Eagle Gold Tenth-Ounce Coin inventory was depleted” and that “inventory for the half-ounce and quarter-ounce coins remains very limited.” Following the sale of these remaining gold coins on Friday, the Mint anticipated that it would again offer all fractional sizes by mid-December, but in an allocation process.
On a more positive note for the Mint, the resumption of American Silver Eagle bullion sales will resume today. These silver coins were suspended along with the one ounce gold coins a week ago - also due to depletion.
I’m sure this ’stimulus’ will migrate from state to state.
Fed approves Great Appliance Swap Out program for NY state
December 07, 2009
ALBANY — The U.S. Department of Energy has approved a rebate program that will allow New Yorkers to trade in old appliances for new energy-efficient ones.
New York state submitted a proposal in October for its version of the Great Appliance Swap Out. Similar to the “Cash for Clunkers” program for cars, this program — also part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — is expected to help issue nearly 170,000 rebates totaling $16.8 million.
“[The program] also works to reduce appliance-related electricity consumption in furtherance of my ‘45 by 15′ energy efficiency and renewable energy initiative,” Governor Paterson said in a statement. “Moreover, by offering additional incentives for people to recycle, we will help avoid placing additional burdens on our landfills.”
Rebates for high-efficiency appliances will range from $50-$105 for a single unit and up to $555 for the purchase of a three-appliance package.
For example, New Yorkers will be able to receive a $75 rebate for refrigerators, $75 for clothes washers, $50 for freezers and $500 for a three-appliance package.
Check out Craig’s list for folks who want only one or two appliances getting together to get the $500, instead of the lower rates. Or maybe it will just be among friends who have at least a little reason for trust. Would you trust a stranger to fork over your $167 share when the check was in his name?
New Yorkers should go on line TODAY to see what the price for a particular qualifying model number is right now at your local appliance chain. Betcha that same model will be $50 to $75 higher if you check back in a week.
Not to mention that $50-75 dollars off $500+ ain’t really much a discount.
246,000 Ill., Mo. workers to lose benefits.
St. Louis Business Journal
Nearly 193,000 workers in Illinois and another 53,000 in Missouri will lose their federal unemployment benefits in the first three months of 2010 if American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provisions aren’t extended, a new report shows.
Illinois’ projected number of workers without federal unemployment benefits is the fifth-highest in the nation, behind California, Florida, New York and Texas, according to a report released Monday by the National Employment Law Project, the Center for American Progress Action Fund and the Half in Ten Campaign.
Nationwide, 1 million workers will be left unemployed in January with no access to benefits, which will swell to more than 3 million workers by the end of March, the report says.
The report estimates that hundreds of million of dollars in income will be lost to struggling unemployed families when the federal stimulus package’s $25 boost in weekly benefits expires, along with a provision suspending the federal income tax on the first $2,400 in unemployment benefits.
“The unemployment crisis will not disappear when we flip the calendar to 2010, and that means the unemployment benefits and COBRA subsidies that millions of Americans now survive on must continue if the economy is to recover,” said Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, in a statement.
This will look good for the next UE report!
Hooray! More green shoots!
Recession troubles hit Myrtle Beach harder this time around.
Myrtle Beach leaders often say the city feels a recession less and recovers faster than others.
Until now.
“Normally we fare pretty well in slowdowns,” City Manager Tom Leath said. “But I’m not sure we’re going to fare as well this time, because of the depth of the recession.”
The 5 percent dips in accommodations-tax revenue and retail sales were not unexpected. A 60 percent reduction in business-license revenue is going to hurt.
“The crisis on Wall Street has spread to Main Street, and we are clearly feeling it throughout our local economy, both in tourism and seemingly everywhere else,” Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Brad Dean said. “2009 is shaping up to be a very challenging year, in part because of the uncertainty in financial and employment markets.”
The housing slump is also going to present a problem, because no one is buying. Myrtle Beach has an abundance of property for sale. Leath predicts this is going to present a lagging economy even after the nation begins to get back on its feet, because there probably won’t be much new housing built here until what’s already for sale gets snapped up.
The big pinch, though, could be yet to come.
“I definitely believe the real estate downturn and a general decline in the economy will impact revenues to the city in this calendar year, but will be felt in the 2009-2010 fiscal year, which begins in June,” Myrtle Beach City Council member and local restaurateur Wayne Gray said.
He predicted a 3 percent decline in accommodations tax revenue because of fewer visitors, and said the restaurant and retail sectors this coming year will feel some of what the real estate market has already been experiencing.
Though Leath said the city is in for “a rough year,” Gray said its modest pricing will still make it a desirable destination for many people.
Just Gotta Love All the Unintended Consequences, From Those Who Never Saw Them Coming:
Priority? What’s That?
If you wondered how ugly things would get in terms of lenders ignoring priority (after the government wantonly did so) here’s your answer:
A new foreclosure tactic, whereby lenders or debt collectors holding second mortgages freeze bank accounts or garnish pay checks of already struggling homeowners, is emerging and making it even more difficult for people to hold onto their homes.
Lawyers for troubled Staten Island homeowners say they are beginning to see examples of clients who go to the bank to take out money and find that their accounts have been frozen or wiped out by other banks or debt collectors — the entities holding second mortgages on houses already in default on the first and primary mortgage. Some are learning the lender or debt collector has already gone to court and secured a judgment to garnish paychecks.
It’s a move more in line with the traditional debt collection industry, which typically targets credit card debt, and it’s dragging the house and what little cash reserves people often have into the foreclosure battleground. Experts say it’s an end-run by second lien holders around the traditional foreclosure process, which involves only the first mortgage holder and provides important legal protections for the homeowner.
“It’s a fast and dirty process,” Margaret Becker, lead attorney with the Homeowner Defense Project of Staten Island Legal Services in St. George, said of the new trend.
It isn’t supposed to work like that. See, that’s the point of a capital structure - the first (secured) lienholder gets his, and if (and only if!) there’s something left, the second gets what they can.
This is why a first mortgage is typically cheaper than a second, among other things.
If the subs are allowed to pull stuff like this then the damage to the first mortgage market could be tremendous - and result in a significant repricing of risk - and thus rates - upward.
Of course it’s the government that started this crap with Chrysler, GM and others. Ignoring capital structure in order to favor certain politically-connected parties at the expense of those who (rightfully) paid for preference through lower coupon rates looked smart (for those who were trying to curry favor with those interest groups - cough-UAW-cough!)
But now we see that when one pulls this sort of stunt it spreads. And spread is the right word for what’s going to start happening to lending rates - soon - if a sock isn’t put in this.
This makes two stories today alone - the other being Saudi Arabia, of course - in which private parties are “learning” from the example set by government, simply ignoring capital structure whenever they think they can get away with it.
Congratulations are in order to Treasury, The Fed and Government - they’ve really made a mess of things now.
(From K. Denninger)
“Congratulations are in order to Treasury, The Fed and Government - they’ve really made a mess of things now”.
As anyone with an IQ greater than their shoe size knew they would, and we haven’t seen but the tip of the iceberg.
Can companies garner your paycheck without notifying you in all states or just NY?
Good question.
I didn’t think that anyone other than the IRS or some court ordered judgment could invade your bank account. If that is not the case then it is bad f-ing news.
Companies garnish wages based on an order from the court, or governmental agency (for child support etc) or a tax authority. The company must comply with the order. It is the responsibility of the garnishor to notify the notify employee.
Most companies will notify the employee as a matter of courtesy, but there is not requirement to do so.
Reading the fine print is a lost art. IIRC all your stuff can be taken if you default on a HEL. That was my reading of a loan document a long time back (in NY). I doubt that a judgement is hard to get when you default.
The way around loosing everything would be to “seek the protection of the court” in BK.
This is looking ugly.
Here’s the latest from the multi-talented father of the internet.
AlGore
Here is how the poem begins:
One thin September soon
A floating continent disappears
In midnight sun
Vapors rise as
Fever settles on an acid sea
Snow glides from the mountain
Ice fathers floods for a season
A hard rain comes quickly
Then dirt is parched
Kindling is placed in the forest
For the lightning’s celebration
The shepherd cries
The hour of choosing has arrived
Here are your tools
One thin September soon
A floating continent disappears
In midnight sun
He should ghost-write for Palin. At least his prose is vapid and coherent.
Copenhagen climate conference opens to dire warnings! (AFP)
COPENHAGEN — A landmark conference on tackling climate change opened here on Monday, with negotiators from 192 countries aiming toward a deal to ward off global warming’s potentially catastrophic effects.
The meeting will climax on December 18 with more than 100 heads of state or government in attendance.
Opening ceremonies began with a short film featuring children of the future facing an apocalypse of tempests and desert landscapes if world leaders failed to act today.
“There will be hundreds of millions of refugees,” Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN’s panel of climate scientists, said in the film.
“Please help save the world,” said a little girl, plaintively.
Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen told opening ceremonies that the world is looking to the conference to safeguard humanity.
“The world is depositing hope with you for a short while in the history of humanity,” Rasmussen said
“There will be hundreds of millions of refugees,” Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN’s panel of climate scientists, said in the film.”
Best way to stop global warming is to put on a condom. But don’t expect the populations of “emerging markets” to do that. Nope, instead they’ll just whine about “wealthy nations” and emigrate.
Rajendra would do better to work on changing policy in his own country (India) than lecture other nations.
Lordy, do I ever hate globalism. As if we don’t have enough bloviators in the US already.
Best way to stop global warming is to put on a condom.
Wait. Greenhouse gases can come out your..?
… butt. Yes. So you have to put the condom in the right place, to catch the methane.
Just stay away from sharp objects, when it starts to get highly inflated.
Listening to N.P.R. yesterday afternoon and the fella that wrote whole earth catalogue and a Prof.Lovelock both said that it’s already too late and the best thing to do is to start adapting for the new normal. Whatever that might be. Nuclear power was mentioned but both agreed that are too many people on the planet. North America is well situated except the coasts.
“it’s already too late”
Good, then we won’t ‘need’ Cap&Tax, but we’ll get it anyway!
One thing I’ll say for China, at least they have tried to do something about their population. Here in the US, we invade and invite the world, and then encourage massive under-class reproduction by giving incentives for it. China gave incentives NOT to reproduce.
Yep, with a population of over 1.3 billion cutting back is a good thing.
The U.S. spends more that any other country on this planet for ‘developing’ nations, year after year. Birth control in some of these rat holes we dump bucks into should be priority one. Instead all we hear over and over is, send us mo’ money. We stay on the hamster wheel while most of those dollars are siphoned off by government crooks and the U.N.
“China gave incentives NOT to reproduce.”
Let’s not use them as a role model, shall we?
“Let’s not use them as a role model, shall we?”
Hey, I’m usually the first to jump all over China, but I do agree with at least trying to do something about overpopulation is a very good idea. When you pay an underclass to reproduce, what do you think they’re going to do?
The Washington Post had a very good article yesterday about the second generation of immigrants in this country. Not going well. Choice between poverty and crime for many. Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in two generations. And yet, still having kids like gangbusters.
OK, then I’d give prosperous, stable, educated families ginormous tax breaks for each child.
Uneducated, poverty level, no incentives.
War famine and disease = population control for those that don’t believe in birth control.
Birth control in some of these rat holes we dump bucks into should be priority one
Religious interests make teaching about birth control almost impossible in many of these “rat holes”
Abstinence uber alles.
Whatever happened to saltpeter?
Whatever happened to saltpeter? You can make gunpowder out of it.
“Prof.Lovelock”
I don’t understand this man — his own theories (Gaia) put to rest all of his doomerism. One thing’s for sure, I am really tired of all these heady, old white men (Kunstler, too) who keep predicting death for everyone. I guess they’re so special they don’t want life to go on after them. These guys both are smart enough to realize that there are too many variables to make any reasonable, useful predictions.
F off and die, I’ve got kids to raise.
Copenhagen climate conference opens to dire warnings! (AFP)
Gropenhagen
Just wait until next year, and on and on.
US State News: 29 US States Hike Up Taxes
Stateline.org ~ 7 December, 2009
Twenty-nine states raised taxes or fees this year, bringing in an estimated $23.9 billion — the highest increase since at least 1979, according to data released this week. The reliance on so much new revenue is sudden, to say the least. In the previous year, tax and fee hikes totaled $1.5 billion.
That’s the word from the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers, which together issued a state-by-state tally of actions taken to close ever-expanding budget gaps and balance state spending plans. The report is an update (PDF) of preliminary numbers released last month.
Eleven states upped their personal income taxes, accounting for $10.7 billion in new revenue. But a closer look reveals that most of that comes from just two states: California and New York, which raised payroll taxes for a combined $8.4 billion. California also accounted for $4.4 billion of the $6.1 billion in new sales taxes nationally.
Meanwhile, 22 states and Puerto Rico used layoffs to trim state expenses, and 23 states applied across-the-board cuts, according to the study.
The final report paints an even grimmer picture of state finances for fiscal 2010 that began for most states in July than last year, which was plenty painful. Last year’s general fund spending by states shrank by 4.8 percent and marked the first time on record that state year-to-year spending dropped two years in a row. There will likely be a third year: The report estimated that state spending this year will drop even more, by an “unprecedented” 5.4 percent.
Jaxport cargo down 19% in October
Jacksonville Business Journal ~ December 7, 2009
The amount of cargo handled by the Jacksonville Port Authority’s customers and tenants in October was down 19 percent from October last year.
The number of containers that came through the port increased by about 12 percent, but the handling of all other cargoes fell. The sharpest decline was in bulk cargo handling, which was down about 15 percent. The port handled about 719,000 tons of cargo this October, compared with about 885,000 tons of cargo in October 2008.
Imports were down about 35 percent and exports were up about 3 percent in October, compared with the same period a year ago. The number of cruise passengers grew by about 20 percent to about 15,800.
Webb warns Obama on taking action in Copenhagen.
Dec. 2, 2009 into Water Cooler
Looks like a fellow Democrat has concern with the president’s handling of the the cap and trade issue upon Mr. Obama’s trip to Copenhagen. Senator Jim Webb (D - Va.) wrote to the administration last week warning President Obama that the White House does not have unilateral power to commit the United States to any standards agreed upon at the upcoming climate change conference in Denmark.:
Dear Mr. President:
I would like to express my concern regarding reports that the Administration may believe it has the unilateral power to commit the government of the United States to certain standards that may be agreed upon at the upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The phrase “politically binding” has been used.
Although details have not been made available, recent statements by Special Envoy on Climate Change Todd Stern indicate that negotiators may be intending to commit the United States to a nationwide emission reduction program. As you well know from your time in the Senate, only specific legislation agreed upon in the Congress, or a treaty ratified by the Senate, could actually create such a commitment on behalf of our country.
I would very much appreciate having this matter clarified in advance of the Copenhagen meetings.
Sincerely,
Jim Webb
United States Senator
Senator Webb’s office told the Washington Times Water Cooler the president has not replied back in writing, and the decision to write the president a letter on this issue comes from Mr. Webb’s concern about issues of constitutional checks and balances.
Good for Webb. Obama really is so clueless, dangerously so. But I say, let him go ahead and commit to whatever he wants and then come back and find out he can’t do it. Looks like much of the world considers him irrelevant anyway, and anything that contributes to it is a plus.
Clueless, or are the tinfoil hat folks right after all?
Any other possibilities? The above two choices are both rather scary.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/07/AR2009120702229.html
A giant rock, you say? and she didn’t even have a mortgage on this thing. Imagine how someone who actually bought one of these in her neighborhood felt when she sold it.
What ever became of Neel Kashkari?
At Truckee Mountain Hardware, Kashkari picks out a new ax, a heavier one with a fiberglass handle. “Pure therapy,” he says, hoisting it. At this altitude, pressure builds to bursting. Minal’s hand lotion oozes in her purse, the pretzel bags swell, and when Kashkari hacks a log, it explodes with pine-scented powder. The smell, he says, is “purifying.”
They drive back to the cabin, where Minal reads out loud a November 2008 Gawker column about her husband:
“Financial Crisis Taking a Toll on Our Favorite [expletive] Banker: He came in looking peppy enough to bore holes in a taxpayer’s forehead . . . now his eyes are dazed, plaintive even, and he’s putting on classic stress-related weight under his chin. Congressmen yell at him –
“All right,” Kashkari interrupts. He slips out the door. “I’m going to chop wood.”
Yep, I read that article, tresho. It’s a good ‘un. If you can, repost tomorrow so more will see it.
This is a weird article . Hank Paulson hires a guy from Goldman’s
to help him ,and they even looked alike . What are they trying to do ,make a fall guy out of him ?Hank Paulson made the big bail-out decisions ,including the AIG one . These people don’t realize that they did another PR piece a while back in which they did a blow by blow about Hank Paulson making the AIG decision . This is absurd that this guy is the 700 billion dollar man ,its Hank Paulson ,but they both worked for Goldmans .
Despite the alarming dip in funds, donations are up, which means that charities are not generally feeling the pain.
‘‘The fall certainly can’t be blamed on donors. Despite the economy, they boosted giving to our 200 by $US7 billion, or 16 per cent,’’ Forbes said.
‘‘One-year asset drops usually do not prove crippling’’ because most non-profits depend more on current contributions, the magazine said.
Charity executives are not feeling the pain either, the survey found.
‘‘Total compensation of the highest-paid person at these charities — usually the chief executive — rose 21 per cent on average, topping $US650,000 for the first time
Anyone know what the head of the Salvation Army makes?
Hmm. I need more info. Last year’s charity donation were down across the board.
http://www.nps.gov/partnerships/fundraising_individuals_statistics.htm
Citizens lay down law on U.S. debt.
Americans from around the country weigh in on how lawmakers should deal with the fast-growing fiscal challenges facing the United States.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — When it comes to managing the country’s purse strings, Washington gets a failing grade from several groups of citizens and experts across the country.
Those groups, part of the Concord Coalition’s Fiscal Stewardship Project, went to Capitol Hill on Monday to deliver a report to their lawmakers detailing their suggestions for how best to address the long-term fiscal storm facing the United States if lawmakers do nothing.
The approaching storm is not a surprise to anyone in Washington.
Indeed, the debt issues threatening to consume the federal budget over time have been in the making for years. The economic crisis of the past year isn’t the underlying problem, but it accelerated the timetable lawmakers face for dealing with the country’s fiscal problems.
There are many ways to fix what’s broken. What’s been lacking is the political will.
Some experts believe that all will be much better once the economy recovers. A strong economy means more jobs, more taxable income and more government revenue. And when government has more money coming in, it has to borrow less to pay its bills.
That would be swell. But it’s not enough.
To solve the country’s fiscal problems, the gross domestic product would need to increase by double digits on average for the next 75 years, according to estimates from the Government Accountability Office. Oh, and that’s on an inflation-adjusted basis.
So unless someone finds a serious stash of economic fairy dust, lawmakers are left with three unpopular choices: cut spending, raise taxes and stop making promises the country can’t afford.
lawmakers are left with three unpopular choices: cut spending, raise taxes and stop making promises the country can’t afford.
The most popular choice is (4) kick it down the road.
“Federal regulators on Monday accused three former top executives of collapsed mortgage lender New Century Financial Corp. of fraud, saying they misled investors and inflated profits as the company’s subprime loan business was failing in 2006.”
I hope we get some good perp walks out of this.
Don’t count on it. Corporate fraud appears hard to prove.
If you go to FRONTLINE on your computer ,they have a good documentary called “The Card Game “.
It exposes a lot of the tricks of Banks .Apparently even the new rules ,
that don’t go into effect for 8 months from passage , doesn’t limit the interest rates they
can charge on credit cards and fess on debit over drafts .The lobbyist got to them again . Most of my life they have had limits on interest rates and laws against usury .With de-regulation Banks can charge what they want .
Since changing and charging high interest or fees retroactive is the main complaint of consumers ,it’s interesting how the Politicians didn’t manage to get that
regulated by the new reform bill . It’s all a bunch of BS ,the Politicians are incapable of opposing the lobbyist .We can’t get anything out of that body of puppets for the lobbyist these days .
Anyway ,the documentary is a must see ,and you can apply it to the lenders tricks concerning the sub-prime boom real estate loans also and it might explain why they didn’t underwrite the loans .
Thanks, I enjoyed the show.
“Free” and “All You Can Eat?” LMAO!
I’ve never been late, ever, but my card rates all doubled to roughly 15%, which likely reflects today’s increased risk. However, my $30k limits remained unchanged. I pay my card balances to zero weekly, online. I live a very modest lifestyle that draws occasional laughter; I laugh with them.
Six-Figure Federal Salaries Jumped 46% During The Recession
Latest analysis from USA Today finds that the federal government has been creating a lot high paying jobs for itself.
Yet, the excuse is that they’re hiring more skilled people than in the past:
USA Today: “There’s no way to justify this to the American people. It’s ridiculous,” says Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, a first-term lawmaker who is on the House’s federal workforce subcommittee.
Jessica Klement, government affairs director for the Federal Managers Association, says the federal workforce is highly paid because the government employs skilled people such as scientists, physicians and lawyers. She says federal employees make 26% less than private workers for comparable jobs.
http://www.businessinsider.com/six-figure-federal-salaries-jumped-46-during-the-recession-2009-12
I say clap your hand and say YEAH!!! YEAH
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives approved the biggest changes in financial regulation since the Great Depression on Friday, marking a win for the Obama administration and congressional Democrats.
With the Senate due to debate similar reforms well into next year, the House passed a 1,279-page bill hammered out in the months since last year’s global banking and capital market crisis convinced Democrats of an urgent need for reform.
The bill would create an inter-agency council to police systemic risk in the economy, crack down on hedge funds and credit rating agencies, set up a financial consumer watchdog agency, and expose Federal Reserve monetary policy to unprecedented congressional scrutiny, among other reforms.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5B90CY20091211
Lies damned lies and statistic. “A hedge fund is a household”. Now
THE DEVASTATING BLOWS suffered by America’s middle class from the housing collapse and resulting credit constriction come into clear focus in the latest comprehensive look at the nation’s finances by the Federal Reserve.
The media dutifully reported Thursday that the Fed’s Flow of Funds data showed U.S. households’ net worth rose by $2.67 trillion in the third quarter, largely as the result of the continued rebound in the stock market from the March lows.
But overlooked in that good news was a sharp, downward revision in households’ net worth by $2.38 trillion in the second quarter. That was the result of a fuller accounting of the plunge in home prices during those months.
Also not widely noted is what the Fed considers to be “households” includes hedge funds, which probably are beyond the reach of 99% of Americans. Average individual investors actually have been dumping U.S. stocks and clamoring for low-yielding bonds, so it’s questionable how much a lift they’ve gotten from the rally.
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB126053647416087305.html?mod=BOL_hpp_dc