The Housing Bubble

The New York Times

Economic View
Don’t Bet the Farm on the Housing Recovery
By ROBERT J. SHILLER
Published: April 9, 2010

MUCH hope has been pinned on the recovery in home prices that began about a year ago. A long-lasting housing recovery might provide a balm to households, mortgage lenders and the entire United States economy.

But will the recovery be sustained?

Alas, the evidence is equivocal at best.

The most obvious reason for hope is that, unlike stock prices, home prices tend to show a great deal of momentum. Correcting for seasonal effects, home prices as measured by the S.&P./Case-Shiller 10-City Home Price Index increased each month from June 1995 to April 2006, then decreased almost every month to May 2009. Since then, they have risen through January, the latest month for which data is available.

So, because home prices have been climbing of late, isn’t it plausible that they’ll keep doing so?

If only it were that simple.

Home price booms and busts do end, sometimes quite suddenly, as was the case for the boom of 1995 to 2006 and the bust of 2006 to 2009. Today, we need to worry about strong headwinds, as the government begins to withdraw its support of a still-troubled lending industry and as foreclosures are dumping millions of homes onto the market.

Consider some leading indicators. The National Association of Home Builders index of traffic of prospective home buyers measures the number of people who are just starting to think about buying. In the past, it has predicted market turning points: the index peaked in June 2005, 10 months before the 2006 peak in home prices, and bottomed in November 2008, six months before the 2009 bottom in prices.

The index’s current signals are negative. After peaking again in September 2009, it has been falling steadily, suggesting that home prices may have reached another downward turning point.
…

Comment by Professor Bear
2010-04-12 23:16:42

“What are you going to do between now and when prices reach historical levels?”

Waiting for:

1) Expiration of first time buyers tax credit

2) Aftermath of end of Fed’s MBS purchase program
(e.g. ‘higher than expected’ mortgage rates)

3) Shocked expressions on FB’s faces when they learn that yes, home prices do have farther to fall from here

4) Blood in the streets

5) Many heard to say, “Real estate is the worst investment”

Capiche?

——————

Capiche, but no mention of how much your rent is now, and what type of housing you receive in return, and how long you think it will be until ‘blood is in the streets?

Aren’t these part of the equation, or is it different this time?

Hmm. Thinking.

Momentum: up or down?
Boom or Bust: In a global economy how, why, and when?
May have reached?: Not yet
Big Red Truck: Coming at you

Survey: Consumers keep cutting spending
Business First of Buffalo

Despite some indicators that an economic recovery is underway, a majority of Americans are still trying to cut expenses, according to a survey conducted for M&T Bank.

Reducing debt and increasing savings were the two other most reported financial behaviors among the 1,000 respondents in the national phone survey, which was released Monday.

GfK Custom Research North America found that 66 percent are focused on cutting expenses and sticking to a monthly budget. Additionally, 18 percent said they are paying off or refinancing debt, and 15 percent report saving more money in a 401(k) or IRA. Just 6 percent of respondents reported that they were not taking measures to deal with the current economic conditions. In addition, only 5 percent reported that they are starting to make major purchases again.

“House Hunters” was fun last night. It was someone in Cincinnati looking for a new home for him and three daughters. First house, large, very modern, $ 1.9 M; second house, larger, more trad design, $ 1.4 M; third house, smaller “fixer-upper” for $ 880 K. All of them in an upscale neighbourhood, with very large lots (acres in size)

Anyway he picked the “fixer-upper” …and tore it down. (too many unspecified problems for a reno to fix). So he paid $ 880 K for a lot and a driveway…

JPMorgan Profit May Show Decline on Consumer-Lending Results

April 13 (Bloomberg) — JPMorgan Chase & Co., the second- biggest U.S. bank by assets, may show a decline in net income on losses from credit cards and home lending when it reports first- quarter earnings tomorrow.

Profit was probably about $2.93 billion, or 64 cents a share, according to the average estimate of 21 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. That compares with net income of $3.28 billion, or 74 cents, in the fourth quarter and $2.14 billion, or 40 cents, a year earlier at the New York-based bank.

Mortgage writedowns may be as high as $2.5 billion per quarter during 2010, compared with $8.3 billion in all of 2009, according to company data. Analysts including Anthony Polini at Raymond James & Associates said they will be watching to see if Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon was able to reduce provisions against future credit losses as a gauge of whether the worst of the U.S. housing crisis is behind the company.

“The key factor for this quarter for banks will be to say reserve builds are largely behind us and the outlook for lower problem loans and loan losses have improved for the second half of the year,” Polini said. “It’s the outlook that matters.”

May I plug a PBS program? Tonight’s PBS Frontline is going to be VERY interesting:

—–
“Barack Obama promised change. Then he took on one of Washington’s toughest issues: health care. During his first year in office, he found himself making one deal after another with Capitol Hill’s powerful insiders–lobbyists and influential members of Congress. He angered his political base, watched his popularity sink, and nearly failed to pass the bill. In Obama’s Deal, FRONTLINE follows the story of the president’s historic victory and offers the first in-depth look at how the Obama administration operates. Veteran FRONTLINE producer Michael Kirk (Bush’s War, Dreams of Obama, Inside the Meltdown) provides a sobering view inside Obama’s deals and reveals the realities of American politics, the power of special interest groups, and the role of money in policy making.”
—–

More info on the PBS website. Frontline is sometimes biased, but they are not given to fluff pieces. Maybe this will clear up some of the complaints (from both sides) about smoke-filled-rooms and where’s-my-transparent-debate-on-Cspan and Obama-is-a-sellout.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/12/jpmorgan-chase-argues-aga_n_534898.html

“With millions of homeowners losing their homes to foreclosure during this recession, megabank JPMorgan Chase plans to argue against the Obama administration’s latest weapon in its fight to stem the problem — principal cuts for struggling borrowers — by citing the sanctity of contracts and the borrower’s “promise to repay.”

In testimony to be delivered Tuesday afternoon, David Lowman, chief executive officer for home lending at the “Too Big To Fail” behemoth, will fight back against the program which calls for lenders and investors to decrease the outstanding debt owed on a home mortgage. While his competitors at Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup plan to dance around the issue — judging from their prepared remarks — Lowman cut right to it: borrowers don’t deserve it.”

There it is, FBs. Time to exercise strategic default and leave these banks holding the bag for loans they never should have made in the first place.

I loved reading some of the mildly testy exchanges yesterday. It really took the blog back to it’s roots showing some viewing the situation with caution and some viewing the situation with hope and frustration.
I’m a renter who sold out in 2004 and moved because wife’s job was relocated. At first renting was not to my taste but within six months I found I liked it; no added costs to rent, added $25K plus per year to savings. Yes, we would like to buy but, and that’s a big but I’m stuck on the house buying values in existence since the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. I expect any house in the $200K range to be solid, good location, and turn key. I don’t want to be levied with high taxes or a deteriorating neighborhood in the future. Nor do I want water rationing. I will not go out bidding against others just to buy when the future holds the likelyhood of lower pricing in neighborhoods whose futures cannot be predicted to remain solid. I will not buy a house that I don’t like the flow of. Just call me patient. I’ve shifted my impatience from housing to the war on savers.

College Graduates Struggling To Obtain Personal Loans
22% of young people report having been turned down for traditional personal loans within the past year (I-Newswire) April 12, 2010

Young people, including recent college graduates are struggling more and more in the current economy. The average overall rate of unemployment, at 31 weeks, is at its highest level since the end of World War Two. There were a total of 2.3 million unemployed college graduates in March 2010, 1.45 million more than in March 2007, with heavy layoffs in white-collar sectors such as finance.

According to a February 2010 survey conducted by FindLaw.com, a legal marketing and information site, borrowers who have had little opportunity to build up their credit history are struggling when attempting to get personal loans or qualify for credit cards. More than one in five (22%) people between the ages of 18 and 34 have been refused a mortgage, personal loan or credit card within the last year. That’s more than twice the percentage of any other age group. Young people are four times more likely to report that they were turned down for a personal loan than are people over the age of 55.

More specifically, 4% of survey respondents state that they have been turned down for a mortgage, a home equity loan, a personal loan, car loan, or a student loan within the past year. Of those surveyed, 2% have been turned down for mortgage refinancing or a small business loan and 1% for a home improvement loan. The numbers shoot up however, when it comes to credit cards. A significant 15% of those surveyed were turned down when they applied for a credit card in the last year.

More young people have been turning to non-traditional lenders for personal loans. While banks – the traditional source of credit have struggled and sometimes failed altogether - credit unions, small banks, private money lenders and finance companies often still have the ability to make loans and be more flexible in the approval process.

The “Bank of Mom and Dad” is often closing as well. Young people are not alone in experiencing financial difficulty in the current economy. Many families, especially those classified as “upper-middle-class professionals,” are finding themselves suddenly downwardly mobile. While in the past two decades, families used rising incomes, stock market returns and rising home values to help pay for college and to help kids get started in their lives and careers, pay cuts and layoffs in almost every sector of the national economy, coupled with low returns (or even losses) from investments mean that many families find themselves unable to financially assist their children, at a time when they often need a financial helping hand more than ever.

Survey: Homeowners make sacrifices in tough economy, but investor demand is up.

MIAMI (AP) — More than two thirds of Americans who’ve been unable to sell their home and buy one that better fits their needs have cut back on household expenses such as food, entertainment and clothing in order to pay their mortgage, a survey released Tuesday shows.

Homeowners who have fallen on financial hard times have made other sacrifices and lifestyle changes: About a third have downsized to a smaller home or delayed expanding their family as planned.

And, a quarter of homeowners who want to sell their current home and buy another say they need to make the move in order to lower their monthly expenses due to financial problems.

The survey, conducted for Move Inc., found wide-ranging concerns about the financial condition of homeowners in a challenging economy, but also unearthed evidence of increased demand among investors in residential real estate.

“Concerns around employment and their overall economic situation are causing many people to wait until the economy improves before they commit to one of the largest purchases they’ll most likely make in their lives,” said Errol Samuelson, chief revenue officer for Move, which runs the Realtor.com and Move.com Web sites.

A stronger housing market will be an important part of the nation’s economic recovery. As home sales and prices rise, consumer optimism usually follows suit, leading homeowners to feel wealthier and make them more comfortable spending.

Despite economic concerns, investor interest in the housing market is growing, according to the survey.

I’m looking on re-al-TOR dot com, and I’m seeing lots of late 70’s condo conversion 2/1’s in the $175K - $200K range. But surprisingly, there are also about a dozen 2/1 and some older 3/1 SFH in the same $175K - $200K range. These are well within my price range.

I’m sure these places are near-teardowns, but still, this is the bubbly DC burbs, the land of job security. I guess some things are starting to pop. I’ll give it a little more time.

BAC looking at a 600% increase in REOs by the end of the year?!!!

http://blog.oregonlive.com/frontporch/2010/04/2_big_banks_forecast_major_ris.html

Bank of America, which currently forecloses on 7,500 homes every month will see that number rise to 45,000 by December 2010 as one senior executive pointed out at a recent trade show. However, a spokesman for BofA told HousingWire, he could not confirm the numbers and they do not reflect a public position of the bank.

JPMorgan Chase ,,, expects the amount of real estate owned (REO) properties in its portfolio to reach between 33,000 to 45,000 in Q410. By comparison, in Q409, REO inventories were at 23,100.

Top ex-WaMu executives come before Congress Senior execs of fallen WaMu come before Congress as investigators allege widespread fraud

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former senior executives of mortgage lender Washington Mutual, the biggest U.S. bank in history to fail, are appearing before Congress on Tuesday for the first time since the bank’s September 2008 collapse.

Their testimony follows an 18-month investigation by a Senate panel that found fraud throughout the bank’s lending operations and failure by management to stem the deception despite internal probes.

WaMu’s pay system rewarded loan officers for the volume and speed of the subprime mortgage loans they closed on. Extra bonuses even went to loan officers who overcharged borrowers on their loans or levied stiff penalties for prepayment, according to the report being released by the investigative panel of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Testifying at a hearing of the subcommittee Tuesday are former Washington Mutual CEO Kerry Killinger, ex-President and Chief Operating Officer Stephen Rotella, and David Schneider, who was the highest-ranking executive in the bank’s home lending operation. Two former chief risk officers and an internal auditor are also due to appear.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the subcommittee chairman, said Monday the panel won’t decide until after the hearings on Tuesday and Friday whether to make a formal referral to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution. Justice, the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission opened investigations into Washington Mutual soon after its collapse in the fall of 2008 at the height of the financial crisis.

The new report by the Senate investigators said the top WaMu producers, loan officers and sales executives who made high-risk loans or packaged them into securities for sale to Wall Street, were eligible for the bank’s President’s Club, with trips to swank resorts — like Maui in 2005.

Fueled by the housing boom, Seattle-based Washington Mutual’s sales to investors of packaged subprime mortgage securities leapt from $2.5 billion in 2000 to $29 billion in 2006. The 119-year-old thrift, with $307 billion in assets, failed in September 2008. It was sold for $1.9 billion to JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a deal brokered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

WaMu was one of the biggest makers of so-called “option ARM” mortgages, which allowed borrowers to make payments so low that loan debt actually increased every month.

The Senate subcommittee investigated the Washington Mutual failure for a year and a half. It focused on the thrift as a case study for the financial crisis that brought the recession and the loss of jobs or homes for millions of Americans.

Senior executives of the bank were aware of the prevalence of fraud, the Senate investigators found.

Washington Mutual “was one of the worst,” Levin told reporters Monday. “This was a Main Street bank that got taken in by these Wall Street profits that were offered to it.”

The investors who bought the mortgage securities from Washington Mutual weren’t informed of the fraudulent practices, the Senate investigators found. WaMu “dumped the polluted water” of toxic mortgage securities into the stream of the U.S. financial system, Levin said.

In some cases, sales associates in WaMu offices in California fabricated loan documents, cutting and pasting false names on borrowers’ bank statements. The company’s own probe in 2005, three years before the bank collapsed, found that two top producing offices — in Downey and Montebello, Calif. — had levels of fraud exceeding 58 percent and 83 percent of the loans. Employees violated the bank’s policies on verifying borrowers’ qualifications and reviewing loans.

In an episode in 2007, some of WaMu’s mortgages were viewed as so suspect by American International Group Inc. that it refused to insure them and complained to both California and federal regulators, according to the Senate investigators. AIG, one of the world’s largest insurance companies, itself nearly collapsed in the fall of 2008 and received about $180 billion in bailout aid from the government.

Washington Mutual was repeatedly criticized over the years by its internal auditors and federal regulators for sloppy lending that resulted in high default rates by borrowers, according to the report. Violations were so serious that in 2007, Washington Mutual closed its big affiliate Long Beach Mortgage Co. as a separate entity and took over its subprime lending operations.

In late 2006, Washington Mutual’s primary regulator, the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision, allowed the bank an additional year to comply with new, stricter guidelines for issuing subprime loans.

According to an internal bank e-mail cited in the report, Washington Mutual would have lost about a third of the volume of its subprime loans if it applied the stricter requirements.

Jennifer Zuccarelli, a spokeswoman for JPMorgan Chase, declined to comment Monday on the subcommittee report.

BAE announces 180 new layoffs ~ Business Courier of Cincinnati

BAE Systems in Butler County said it will eliminate another 180 jobs due to long-term defense contracts that are ending.

The layoffs are effective Tuesday, BAE said in a statement.

“We recognize and understand the impact decisions like this have on our employees, their families and the communities where we live and work,” said Don Dutton, vice president of security and survivability for BAE, in the statement. “While we regret the need to reduce unemployment, adjusting our business to challenges now, will better position us for consistent growth in the future.”

In March BAE announced two separate layoffs at its Fairfield plant, totaling about 200, most of which were temporary workers. Those took place after BAE lost a contract to produce armored vehicles for the U.S. Army and saw a decrease in orders for Humvee armoring kits.

Reminder:

1. an illusion of understanding of current events,
2. a retrospective distortion of historical events,
3. an overestimation of factual information, combined with an overvalue of the intellectual elite.

Hmm…

I would like to point out that the bubble’s new spark of life is highly in evidence right here on the blog. All I had to do to get labeled a bully was to dare to question Muggy’s wisdom in deciding now was a good time to buy in FL, in the face of the perplexing realization that bidding wars were back.

’nuff said.

Did y’all see where hidden in the HC Bill is a extra 3.4 % tax on all real estate sold ? So if you owe $500,000 but short sale for $400,00 you owe the Fed $15,000. Pelosi was right, you will just have to wait to see what is in it !!!

Second Mortgages Vex Borrowers
April 13, 2010 ~ WSJ

After losing her condo in San Diego to foreclosure last year, Charissa Kolich thought that at least she was free of mortgage bills.

But Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC - News), which holds a home-equity loan made five years ago to Ms. Kolich, last month filed a lawsuit against her in the Superior Court of California, San Diego County, seeking to collect the nearly $72,000 it said she still owed on that second mortgage. “This was all kind of a shock,” says Ms. Kolich, a food-service administrator recently diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer.

Banks are coming under increasing political pressure to write off or at least write down second-lien and other junior mortgages as a way to help borrowers keep their homes or extract themselves from heavy debt. As the Wells Fargo suit shows, however, banks often are reluctant to give up on loans when they see a chance of recovering all or part of their money.

This issue will be the focus of a hearing Tuesday by the House Financial Services Committee in Washington. Panel members are due to quiz executives from Wells Fargo, Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC - News), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C - News) and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. about their junior-lien mortgage policies.

Why do junior-lien mortgages matter? The $1 trillion of junior-lien mortgages outstanding in the U.S. at the end of 2009 added up to only about 10% of total home-mortgage debt, according to Federal Reserve data. But many banks have large holdings of these junior liens. Among borrowers whose first mortgages were packaged into so-called private-label securities (those not backed by any government entity), about half also have junior-lien loans, according to mortgage-bond trader Amherst Securities.

Those junior liens now represent one of the trickiest obstacles to efforts to get distressed borrowers back on their feet. Borrowers who negotiated lower payments on their first mortgages often find they are overwhelmed by payments on second mortgages and other debts.

“. . . . recently diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer” I feel bad for her and hope she has good insurance, but to make such statements is blatantly unfair and meant only to enrage unsophisticated readers. Is there really an expectation that companies should forgive your debts if something bad happens to you? Let’s not confuse business with charity or insurance. Do people really want prices to go up so that businesses can cover the costs of buying hedges against the risk that something bad may happen to their customers? I am not heartless, but I just dont understand what people that write these stories expect. Just seems they throw it in to get an unwarranted reaction.

a townhouse in the neigborhood were i rent (an identical townhouse) was listed a week ago for $730k…a sale is pending.

i rent the same type for $ 2,500 a month.

i live in northern virginia. vienna, va to be exact.

For the first time in 18 months the DOW opened this morning above 11,000. Meanwhile, The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said its monthly index of small business optimism fell again in March for the 18th consecutive month.

“I think there’s a huge disconnect between the stock market and the real economy,” says Lynn Tilton, founder and CEO of private equity firm Patriarch Partners. With a portfolio of more than 70 small and mid-sized businesses, many of them manufacturing companies, Tilton has a strong understanding of Main Street. Having previously held varied positions at a number of Wall Street firms, including Goldman, Oppenheimer and Morgan Stanley, she also understands that world.

Liquidity is plentiful on Wall Street but small and mid-sized businesses are still dealing with a “huge credit crisis,” she tells Aaron and Henry in the accompanying clip. “If we didn’t lend to our own [portfolio] companies we’d be in huge trouble.”

The NFIB survey backs that assertion; two key components, ‘Plan to Hire’ and ‘Increased Capital Spending,’ fell.

Tilton points to the growing reliance on trading on Wall Street as a cause of the problems with the ‘real economy.’ The percentage of business from traditional businesses like IPOs, M&A and debt offerings — which support broader economic activity — are shrinking, she notes, while revenue from proprietary trading grows, benefiting few beyond the trading floor.

Proprietary trading = market manipulation
GS admitted this when a prior employee was accused of stealing their trading software. They said in the wrong hands it could be used to manipulate markets. Of course GS would never do that on their own.

The case for more stimulus $
Spending may be needed to stave off “double-dip”
By Peter Coy MSNBC ~ April 13, 2010

President Barack Obama would have been forgiven a few high-fives April 2 after the Labor Department announced the U.S. economy generated 162,000 jobs in March. Instead he was cautious.

At a speech in Charlotte, N.C., Obama did say, “We are beginning to turn the corner,” then added that the job numbers “leave us with a lot more work to do.” Chief economic adviser Christina Romer was even more circumspect, issuing a statement that said, “the American labor market remains severely distressed.” And over the weekend, National Economic Council Director Larry Summers drove the point home on CNN, saying, “We’ve got a long way to go.”

It’s not modesty, false or otherwise, that’s making the Obama administration so reticent. It’s reality. With 10 million Americans out of work, Obama’s team knows that the employment growth in March (a quarter of which was driven by the hiring of federal Census workers) actually makes its mission over the next year or two more difficult.
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Here’s why: The positive jobs report reduces the political urgency for fixing the U.S. economy. If voters and lawmakers decide the economy is healing on its own, it becomes harder to justify more infrastructure spending, aid to stressed states, extended unemployment insurance and the like. Even before the report, the administration had begun to focus on smallish fixes like the $14 billion HIRE Act, which encourages hiring of the unemployed, and new measures to discourage foreclosures. “Stimulus has become a dirty word in Washington,” says Augustine Faucher, macroeconomics director of Moody’s Economy.com.

That’s understandable, but it could be a problem if the economy begins to sputter.

Small businesses don’t see recovery panning out: NFIB
Sales, hiring and capital spending remain very weak, trade group says

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. small-business owners were more pessimistic in March than in February, according to a survey of companies released Tuesday by the National Federation of Independent Businesses.

The NFIB’s index fell to an eight-month low of 86.8 from 88, with only one of 10 components improving. The index has been below 90 for 18 consecutive months now, having hit a cyclical low of 81 in March 2009.

‘This is another piece of evidence suggesting that the official payroll data are overstating the degree of improvement seen in recent months.’

“Something isn’t sitting well with small-business owners,” said Bill Dunkelberg, chief economist for the small-business lobbying group. “Poor sales and uncertainty continue to overwhelm any other good news about the economy.” Read the full release on the NFIB’s Web site.

The survey “suggests the small-business sector is still contracting, even as the economy as whole is expanding,” wrote Ian Shepherdson, chief domestic economist for High Frequency Economics.

“Economic recovery has benefitted larger businesses more than smaller ones,” wrote John Ryding and Conrad DeQuadros, economists for RDQ Economics.

Indeed, surveys of larger companies show much more optimism about the economy.

Consumer Reports Says ‘Don’t Buy’ Unsafe Lexus GX460 (AP)

Consumer Reports has given the Lexus GX460 a rare “Don’t Buy” warning, saying a problem that occurred during routine handling tests could lead the SUV to roll over in real-world driving.

NEW YORK — Consumer Reports has given the Lexus GX460 a rare “Don’t Buy” warning, saying a problem that occurred during routine handling tests could lead the SUV to roll over in real-world driving.

In the latest blow to Toyota’s reputation, the magazine said that during a test of the vehicle’s performance during unusual turns, the rear of the vehicle slid until it was nearly sideways before the electronic stability control system kicked in.

Consumer Reports said in real-world driving, such a scenario could cause a rollover accident. As a result, the magazine has given the seven-seat SUV a “Don’t Buy: Safety Risk” label until the problem is fixed.

Pulte buys 88 Gilbert lots for $5.7M
Phoenix Business Journal April 13, 2010

PulteGroup Inc. announced Monday that it purchased 88 finished lots in Gilbert at the Lyon’s Gate master-planned community located near Higley and Ray roads.

Pulte spokesperson Jacque Petroulakis said PulteGroup purchased the land from an undisclosed group of investors who had bought the land from Orleans Homes in December 2007. Pulte also did not want to disclose the price, but Phoenix Business Journal records show that Pulte paid almost $5.7 million for the lots.

Pulte will build homes ranging in size from 2,400 to 3,500 square feet. No word on when those homes will be up for sale or what the pricing will be.

This is the second major acquisition for Pulte in the Gilbert area.

In October Pulte, along with Meritage Homes and Toll Brothers, collectively purchased 232 finished lots at Stratland Estates in Gilbert for $13.3 million. Pulte received 106 lots, according to trade publication Business Real Estate Weekly.

In Pulte’s announcement about Lyon’s Gate, the company said its Stratland Estates homes will be open for sales in early May.

If We’re Dismantling Too Big To Fail…

… why are we creating a huge international bailout fund?

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved a ten-fold expansion of the Fund’s New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) and the transformation of the Fund’s premier standing credit arrangement into a more flexible and effective tool of crisis management. The NAB will be increased by SDR 333.5 billion (about US$500 billion) to SDR 367.5 billion (about US$550 billion), representing a major increase in the resources available for the Fund’s lending to its members.

For a nation that claims to be ending “too big to fail” sticking our people with $100 billion of the cost of this new bailout fund - a fund that we allegedly will never need because we’re going to fix the “too big to fail” problem - is rather interesting, no?

More importantly, what’s the rush?

If the financial system has been “stabilized”, if everything is ok, if the stock market is going up because the economy and financial system is healthy, why does the IMF suddenly need $500 billion, with 1/5th of it, roughly, provided by American tax money?

Or is the little ugly here that they know the problems haven’t been and won’t be fixed, and that at any time - all it takes is a trigger - there will be yet another rush for the exits, and this one no single sovereign government will be able to stop?

(From K. Denninger)

‘Free money’ is stocks’ secret weapon
April 13, 2010:

(Fortune) — Stock-market bulls are hoping the sharp rebound in corporate profits will keep the rally alive, but continued low interest rates might be more important.

Good first-quarter results will certainly help, and profits will be jumping when numbers start rolling in this week. Earnings at S&P 500 companies are expected to rise 34% from their depressed level a year ago. Reports are due from JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and General Electric (GE, Fortune 500), among many others.

But the real secret weapon is the Federal Reserve’s policy of holding interest rates near zero, which bulls contend will fuel a long-lived rally by forcing investors out of cash accounts gathering next to no interest.

“As long as we remain in this monetary twilight zone, stock prices should continue to rise, and corrections should be short and shallow,” economist Ed Yardeni wrote in a note to clients this week. “The alternative to stocks is to earn zero in the money markets.”

Though it has been 16 months since the Federal Reserve cut its Fed Funds rate to a range of zero to 0.25%, those who expect stocks to extend their gains say many people are only now warming to the idea of jumping back into the market.

Layoffs spreading among N.J. public-sector workers
Philly News
They had it all planned out.

Jennifer Beese would give up her $65,000-a-year job as a sales rep and borrow money to go to graduate school. Her dream: to become a teacher.

Her fiance, John Cidoni, would support them on his income as a Lumberton police officer and save money by moving into Beese’s home in Bordentown City.

The couple would marry in June and have their first child next year.

Now New Jersey’s fiscal crisis has thrown their plan off course, as it has for thousands of public and private workers across the region.

Cidoni, 32, was laid off from his police job of seven years at the beginning of the month, along with five other employees, when Lumberton faced a budget deficit.

Beese, 30, is one month away from receiving her teaching certification from Georgian Court University but is concerned about finding a job at a time when many other school districts in the state are considering teacher layoffs.

“There’s nothing more important than safety and security and education,” Cidoni said. “I think those are the pillars of society . . . and I just think it’s a sad state of affairs when those are the people being hit.”

Clipped from Neal Boortz 4-13-10

“In honor of tax week, I figured I would give you some insight into exactly how much of the wealth that you have created Washington is spending … and how they are spending it. The folks at the Heritage Foundation have the details”.

* In 2010, Washington will spend a record $31,406 per household.
* In 2010, Washington will collect $18,276 per household in taxes.
* The $13,130 difference between spending and revenue is our budget deficit per household … on top of all prior government debt.
* Since 2008, government spending has increased by $5,000 per household. That’s in just two years folks.
* Over the last decade, government spending has increased $10,000 per household.

Now, considering that Washington spends $31,406 per household .. what exactly is the breakdown? The Heritage Foundation also has that information for us. Here are the highlights:

* Social Security/Medicare: $9,949 per household
* Defense: $6,071 per household
* Antipoverty programs: $5,466 per household
* Unemployment benefits: $1,640 per household
* Interest on the federal debt: $1,585 per household
* Veterans’ benefits: $1,052 per household
* Federal employee retirement benefits: $1,018 per household
* Education: $914 per household
* Highways/mass transit: $613 per household
* Health research/regulation: $550 per household
* Mortgage Credit: $470 per household
* All other federal programs justice, international affairs, natural resources, the environment, regional development, farm subsidies, social services, space exploration, air transportation and energy: $2,078 per household

At the same time that our government has seen fit to spend more money that it has … the number of non-payers (there are people without income tax liability) has increased by 59% in less than a decade. The number of non-payers grew from 32.6 million in 2000 to 51.6 million in 2008. At the same time, the total number of tax filers only grew by 10%.

One thing about this recession is an education on the topic of money. I’m getting an extended education on the use of cash. Not only do you get the discounts but businesses have very, very creative ways of not charging and paying taxes!

What? Really? An institution of higher learning, loaded with bloated money wasters…

UC Berkeley bloated, wasteful, consultants say
Nanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff Writer ~ Tuesday, April 13, 2010

For a world-class university studded with Nobel laureates and innovative research, UC Berkeley manages its finances a bit like a sloppy undergrad, a new report suggests.

The campus could save about $75 million a year by streamlining purchases, concentrating job duties and laying off “redundant” managers, according to consultants hired last fall to help the school become a leaner operation.

“This kind of change is hard,” said campus Vice Chancellor Frank Yeary, who is overseeing the Operational Excellence Project. “We will get pushback in certain quarters. But the fact that the state has so consistently disinvested in our organization … most people really appreciate the need to change.”

Yeary said UC Berkeley’s plan is not only to push the state for more education funding - which has dropped by half since 2002 to $232 million in inflation-adjusted dollars - but to do a better job with the money the university already has.

The campus has five big areas of bloat, according to Bain & Co., the Massachusetts consulting firm being paid $3 million to identify waste.

The biggest, say the consultants, is too many managers. The human resources department alone has one manager per 63 employees, compared with an average of one per 127 employees across other universities.

Next up is purchasing. Instead of negotiating universitywide contracts with bulk discounts, for example, it’s every department for itself.

“Ethical” / “Professional”… promate: Buy & Hold / 201K = “TrueDeceiver’s™”

Think they got “tax advice” from other “Ethical” / “Professional” types?

Lehman Channeled Risks Through ‘Alter Ego’ Firm:
NYT, On Tuesday April 13, 2010

“None of this was disclosed by Lehman, however.”

Entities like Hudson Castle are part of a vast financial system that operates in the shadows of Wall Street, largely beyond the reach of banking regulators. These entities enable banks to exchange investments for cash to finance their operations and, at times, make their finances look stronger than they are.

Critics say that such deals helped Lehman and other banks temporarily transfer their exposure to the risky investments tied to subprime mortgages and commercial real estate. Even now, a year and a half after Lehman’s collapse, major banks still undertake such transactions with businesses whose names, like Hudson Castle’s, are rarely mentioned outside of footnotes in financial statements, if at all.”

Then the case is made for the interesting story of these “Non-Bitter” “Lost Wages” renters:

“The Wynns reside in villas at opposite ends of their attached Vegas resorts. According to SEC filings, Steve Wynn pays the company $503,831 a year in rent and Elaine pays $350,000 for her pad.”

Steve Wynn: My Divorce Is Most Expensive Ever:

LAS VEGAS (April 9) AOL news

Funny, wonder just how many “loop holes” can be jammed into over 2000 pages? I guess as MB Polosi said, “we have to sign the bill to see what’s in it”

Healthcare overhaul won’t stop premium increases.

The new law doesn’t prevent rate hikes such as Anthem Blue Cross’ double-digit increase last year. ‘It is a very big loophole,’ says Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is pushing regulatory legislation. LA Times
From Washington

Public outrage over double-digit rate hikes for health insurance may have helped push President Obama’s healthcare overhaul across the finish line, but the new law does not give regulators the power to block similar increases in the future.

And now, with some major companies already moving to boost premiums and others poised to follow suit, millions of Americans may feel an unexpected jolt in the pocketbook.

Although Democrats promised greater consumer protection, the overhaul does not give the federal government broad regulatory power to prevent increases.

Many state governments — which traditionally had responsibility for regulating insurance companies — also do not have such authority. And several that do are now being sued by insurance companies.

“It is a very big loophole in health reform,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said. Feinstein and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) are pushing legislation to expand federal and state authority to prevent insurance companies from boosting rates excessively.

GMAC’s ResCap sells European mortgage operations
Philadelphia Business Journal

GMAC Residential Capital, also known as ResCap, said Monday that it agreed to sell its European mortgage operations to asset manager Fortress Investment Group.

ResCap, the residential mortgage finance arm of GMAC Financial Services based in Fort Washington, Pa., said the deal represents about 10 percent of ResCap’s total assets as of Dec. 31.

“The agreements to sell the European mortgage assets and businesses are key steps toward our objective of reducing the ongoing exposure for GMAC from the legacy mortgage operation. This is a significant achievement and will contribute in putting GMAC on a path toward improved performance,” GMAC CEO Michael A. Carpenter said.

Under the agreements, GMAC said the sale will include certain loan assets (including nonperforming loans) and servicing rights, and the shares of the related operating entities in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands.

Separately, GMAC said it sold U.K. loans worth $177 million on March 31 that, combined with the Fortress deal and certain other transactions, will allow the company to effectively exit the European mortgage market.

GMAC Financial of Minneapolis, which is majority-owned by the federal government, said earlier this year that its overall mortgage business lost $4 billion in the fourth quarter.

Being the evil bastard that I am, I would cut them off along with thousands of life long mooches. She should be fixed, enough shooting out babies.

“Why work when I can get £42,000 in benefits a year AND drive a Mercedes”? UK Times 13th April 2010

The Davey family’s £815-a-week state handouts pay for a four-bedroom home, top-of-the-range mod cons and two vehicles including a Mercedes people carrier.

Father-of-seven Peter gave up work because he could make more living on benefits.

Yet he and his wife Claire are still not happy with their lot.

With an eighth child on the way, they are demanding a bigger house, courtesy of the taxpayer.

‘It’s really hard,’ said Mrs Davey, 29, who is seven months pregnant. ‘We can’t afford holidays and I don’t want my kids living on a council estate and struggling like I have.

‘The price of living is going up but benefits are going down. My carer’s allowance is only going up by 80p this year and petrol is so expensive now, I’m worried how we’ll cope.

‘We’re still waiting for somewhere bigger.’

Mrs Davey has never had a full-time job while her 35-year-old husband gave up his post in administration nine years ago after realising they would be better off living off the state.

At their semi on the Isle of Anglesey, the family have a 42in flatscreen television in the living room with Sky TV at £50 a month, a Wii games console, three Nintendo DS machines and a computer - not to mention four mobile phones.

With their income of more than £42,000 a year, they run an 11-seater minibus and the seven-seat automatic Mercedes.

But according to the Daveys they have nothing to be thankful for.

‘It doesn’t bother me that taxpayers are paying for me to have a large family,’ added Mrs Davey.

‘We couldn’t afford to care for our children without benefits, but as long as they have everything they need, I don’t think I’m selfish.

‘Most of the parents at our kids’ school are on benefits.’

Calm Before The Storm?

On Monday, the Chicago Board Options Exchange volatility index, or VIX (NYSE: ^VIX - News), also known as the market’s fear gauge, sank to its lowest since July 2007.

With endless pulses of freshly created Spanky Bernanky FunnyMunny pushing up the stock market, how can you lose?

Long and strong - algorithm me up to new highs, 100 trillion at the market, fill or kill, all or none, immediate gains or cancel, please.

Intel 1Q profit nearly quadruples; company predicts increased profitability
April 13, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Intel Corp. said Tuesday its net income in the first quarter nearly quadrupled over last year and reflected an overall bump in spending on technology by companies. The results sent Intel shares higher.

Among other things, Intel got a lift from sales of new chips for computer servers — the kind of purchase that many companies delayed in the recession. And Intel’s chief financial officer, Stacy Smith, said in an interview that demand for processors for higher-end laptops was stronger than expected as corporations upgraded their workers’ computers.

That is a change from what Intel saw in the past few quarters, when its growth was largely driven by consumer demand for “netbooks,” stripped-down laptops used mostly for surfing the Internet. Chips for those machines are less profitable than chips for regular laptops.

“But the real secret weapon is the Federal Reserve’s policy of holding interest rates near zero, which bulls contend will fuel a long-lived rally by forcing investors out of cash accounts gathering next to no interest.”

And thus the war on savers is out there for all to see! I imagine it would only take 5%-10% of the savers to move their money out of the banking system (hoard elsewhere not the stock market) to bring the system to its knees.

Tim Geithner Is A Hero, Says Hedge Fund Manager Mark Dow
Apr 13, 2010 Henry Blodget Newsmakers, Recession, Banking, Politics.

If one man has born the brunt of the outrage over the Wall Street bailouts over the past 18 months, it’s Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. And this criticism, says Mark Dow of Pharo Management, is wholly undeserved.

On the contrary, says Dow, Tim Geithner is a “hero.”

A former Treasury official himself, Mark Dow argues that Tim Geithner, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, and the other folks who managed the bailouts did exactly the right thing. They saved the country and economy from collapse. They acted swiftly and prudently. They held their ground against widespread public fury about what they were doing. And even though, in the process, they saved some folks who didn’t deserve to be saved–Wall Street bankers who took too much risk and brought the economy to the brink–there was no other option. They did exactly what they had to do.

This, of course, is what Tim Geithner, Ben Bernanke, and others have been saying since the start of the crisis: We had to do it or the world would have ended. To say this argument has been met with widespread skepticism is an understatement: What Geithner and others “had to do,” appeared, from the outside, to be a heroic effort to use taxpayer money to save people and firms who were the last folks on earth to deserve it.

But Dow is persuasive. And he believes there was no other way out.

Householders in a hurry to sell before the election ‘decimates the property market’ 13th April 2010 UK Daily Mail

The number of homeowners putting up ‘For Sale’ signs has shot to its highest level for nearly three years

The number of homeowners putting up For Sale signs has shot to its highest level for nearly three years

Homeowners are rushing to sell their properties before the election, a report revealed today.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said the ‘dash for cash’ was being fuelled by the extreme levels of ‘uncertainty’ about the future.

It comes as the number of mortgage loans from lenders jumped 12 per cent in February as demand recovered from an ‘extremely weak’ January.

The rush to put homes on the market appears to stem from a fear that, whoever wins on May 6, the impact on the housing market could be bleak.

Homeowners are worried about the lethal mixture of massive job cuts, particularly in the public sector, rising interest rates and tax hikes crippling workers’ ability to buy.

The influential report, published today, shows the number of homeowners putting up ‘For Sale’ signs has shot to its highest level for nearly three years.

Some estate agents said they were approaching record levels, with an almost unprecedented number of homeowners looking for a buyer.

Texas man pleads guilty to hiding money at UBS
Apr 13, 2010

WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - A Texas man has pleaded guilty to hiding assets and related income from accounts at giant Swiss bank UBS AG (UBSN.VX) (UBS.N), the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.

Paul Zabczuk pleaded guilty in federal court to filing a false tax return related to hundreds of thousands of dollars held in UBS accounts, and he could face up to three years in prison, the Justice Department said.

UBS last year admitted it had helped U.S. clients evade taxes, and paid $780 million to settle a United States government suit against it.

One whining wimp after another, reminds me of grade school.

Rep. Grayson Wins ‘Muzzle’ Award For Free Speech Offenses FOXNews.com

Outspoken Florida Rep. Alan Grayson topped the “Muzzle” awards on Tuesday, earning the dubious distinction for asking Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate a Web site that parodied his campaign site.

The annual award list, created by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, is presented on April 13, Jefferson’s birthday, to remind people of the third president’s unavowed commitment to free speech.

The center says the awards are handed out for “some of the more egregious or ridiculous affronts to the First Amendment right of free speech.”

Topping the meter was Grayson’s effort to seek a monetary fine and five-year prison sentence against a group of Orlando-area Republican activists led by Angie Langley, who launched the Web site “mycongressmanisnuts.com,” a parody of Grayson’s official Web site “congressmanwithguts.com.

Grayson wrote a complaint to Holder in December alleging that the Web site violated federal law because Langley is not actually a constituent of his and the site targets him solely, even though it claims to oppose or endorse several candidates.

“The merits of Rep. Grayson’s claims are weak at best,” the group wrote. “Alleged violations of Federal Election law that, even if true, represent minor transgressions.”

Grayson is no stranger to free speech, having used his own First Amendment right to call an adviser to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke a “whore.” He later apologized for that.

Minn. man pleads guilty in $190M Ponzi scheme (04-13) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) –

A Minneapolis money manager has pleaded guilty to orchestrating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded at least 1,000 victims out of $190 million.

Thirty-seven-year-old Trevor Cook of Apple Valley pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to one count of mail fraud and one count of tax evasion.

As part of a plea agreement, Cook admitted that from July 2007 through July 2009, he told clients he’d invest their money in a foreign currency trading program with annual returns of 10 percent to 12 percent. Instead, prosecutors say, he used the money for personal expenses, including gambling debts, and to keep the scheme going.

Cook faces up to 20 years in prison on the mail fraud charge and five years on the tax evasion charge.

CSX lifts 1Q profit 24%
Jacksonville Business Journal - April 13, 2010

CSX Corp. credited increased volumes and efficiencies for a 24 percent spike in net income to $306 million in the first quarter compared with a year earlier.

Earnings per share from continuing operations increased from 64 cents per share to 78 cents per share within the same period, beating analysts’ averaged expectations by about 9 cents. The company’s revenue in the first quarter grew by 11 percent to nearly $2.5 billion.

Higher revenue and productivity helped the company achieve its record first quarter operating ratio of 74.5 percent and record first quarter operating income of $634 million.

CSX’s stock closed at $53.29 per share Tuesday before earnings were released. Company shares have ranged between $26.72 and $53.47 over the past year.

The company reported an increase in handling of chemicals, agricultural products, metals, phosphates and fertilizers, and vehicles. Coal handling declined despite China putting in an order for more than 5 million tons of U.S. metallurgical coal.

As CSX Corp.’s handling of goods and materials increases, it’s calling back furloughed employees. About 1,000 furloughed CSX workers have returned to work since the summer, said Gary Sease, a company spokesman.

CSX, which employs about 3,500 in Northeast Florida, provides rail, intermodal and rail-to-truck transload services. Its transportation network spans about 21,000 miles in 23 eastern states and the District of Columbia, and it connects to more than 70 ocean, river and lake ports.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/13/the-fourteen-banker-anony_n_534820.html

‘The Fourteenth Banker,’ Anonymous Bank Insider, Describes His Moral Crisis: ‘The System Is Built To Be Gamed’

The system is built to be gamed.”

“The voices of dissent are not being heard.”

These are the words of an anonymous executive at one of America’s 10 largest banks, who after many years of watching the worst of Wall Street’s ethics transform his company, has decided to speak out.

Haven’t been on today until now, but just scanned some posts and want to say that PB has never been a bully towards me - even when I was *this close* to purchasing a few weeks ago. He was satisfied with the fact that it was a mortgage I could afford, I was putting a substantial amount down, and planned to live there for a very long term. I don’t know what Muggy said that sparked the debate, but I do know he’s seemed, in the past, to be driven by the wife’s pressure more than anything else. And at the end of the day, I kind of feel like most of the people on here are looking out for each other. Perhaps it was just a matter of “tough love” from PB. I may not know Muggy, personally, but I’ve felt kind of bad for him having to make decisions based on pressure. And sometimes when we make decisions we aren’t really comfortable with, we tend to “oversell” them to others. I know I’ve been guilty of that.

Just my 2 cents.

Did anyone see that idiot Cramer on the Today show this morning? He was nothing but sunshine and rainbows. Except for Florida and Las Vegas, apparently the housing crisis is completely over and is all better now. Oh, and, the stock market will continue to go up, up, up. No more closing below 11,000.

Let’s all party!

The rotteness of the business model of buying and selling loans hit me today.

Imagine if I could, out of thin air, generate this product, put any dollar value I want, sell it off and take a percentage of that as profit. And people keep doing this on down the line.

Until the time comes for the product itself, not the sale of it, but the product itself, to create some profit. At which time it disappears, and someone is left holding the bag.

It seems a little silly, almost tulip-bulb-esque. The emperor doesn’t have any clothes.

This is spectacular news!

- America is back!
- We’re Number 1!
- There is no further need for housing market life support; hence the Fed’s MBS purchase program, the $8K tax credit and other housing subsidies can be eliminated without any negative impacts on the market!

The Comeback Country

How America pulled itself back from the brink—and why it’s destined to stay on top.

List of new agancies under the healthreform bill–Wonder what these all cost?Share.. Sat at 1:00pm
Recently President Obama signed a government takeover of health care into law. Below is a list of new boards and commissions created in the bill.

1. Grant program for consumer assistance offices (Section 1002, p. 37)

2. Grant program for states to monitor premium increases (Section 1003, p. 42)

3. Committee to review administrative simplification standards (Section 1104, p. 71)

4. Demonstration program for state wellness programs (Section 1201, p. 93)

5. Grant program to establish state Exchanges (Section 1311(a), p. 130)

6. State American Health Benefit Exchanges (Section 1311(b), p. 131)

7. Exchange grants to establish consumer navigator programs (Section 1311(I ), p. 150)

8. Grant program for state cooperatives (Section 1322, p. 169)

9. Advisory board for state cooperatives (Section 1322(b)(3), p. 173)

10. Private purchasing council for state cooperatives (Section 1322(d), p. 177)

11. State basic health plan programs (Section 1331, p. 201)

12. State-based reinsurance program (Section 1341, p. 226)

13. Program of risk corridors for individual and small group markets (Section 1342, p. 233)

14. Program to determine eligibility for Exchange participation (Section 1411, p. 267)

15. Program for advance determination of tax credit eligibility (Section 1412, p. 288)

16. Grant program to implement health IT enrollment standards (Section 1561, p. 370)

17. Federal Coordinated Health Care Office for dual eligible beneficiaries (Section 2602, p. 512)

18. Medicaid quality measurement program (Section 2701, p. 518)

19. Medicaid health home program for people with chronic conditions, and grants for planning same (Section 2703, p. 524)

20. Medicaid demonstration project to evaluate bundled payments (Section 2704, p. 532)

21. Medicaid demonstration project for global payment system (Section 2705, p. 536)

22. Medicaid demonstration project for accountable care organizations (Section 2706, p. 538)

23. Medicaid demonstration project for emergency psychiatric care (Section 2707, p. 540)

24. Grant program for delivery of services to individuals with postpartum depression (Section 2952(b), p. 591)

25. State allotments for grants to promote personal responsibility education programs (Section 2953, p. 596)

26. Medicare value-based purchasing program (Section 3001(a), p. 613)

27. Medicare value-based purchasing demonstration program for critical access hospitals (Section 3001(b), p. 637)

28. Medicare value-based purchasing program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 3006(a), p. 666)

29. Medicare value-based purchasing program for home health agencies (Section 3006(b), p. 668)

30. Interagency Working Group on Health Care Quality (Section 3012, p. 688)

31. Grant program to develop health care quality measures (Section 3013, p. 693)

32. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Section 3021, p. 712)

33. Medicare shared savings program (Section 3022, p. 728)

34. Medicare pilot program on payment bundling (Section 3023, p. 739)

35. Independence at home medical practice demonstration program (Section 3024, p. 752)

36. Program for use of patient safety organizations to reduce hospital readmission rates (Section 3025(b), p. 775)

37. Community-based care transitions program (Section 3026, p. 776)

38. Demonstration project for payment of complex diagnostic laboratory tests (Section 3113, p. 800)

39. Medicare hospice concurrent care demonstration project (Section 3140, p. 850)

40. Independent Payment Advisory Board (Section 3403, p. 982)

41. Consumer Advisory Council for Independent Payment Advisory Board (Section 3403, p. 1027)

42. Grant program for technical assistance to providers implementing health quality practices (Section 3501, p. 1043)

43. Grant program to establish interdisciplinary health teams (Section 3502, p. 1048)

44. Grant program to implement medication therapy management (Section 3503, p. 1055)

45. Grant program to support emergency care pilot programs (Section 3504, p. 1061)

46. Grant program to promote universal access to trauma services (Section 3505(b), p. 1081)

47. Grant program to develop and promote shared decision-making aids (Section 3506, p. 1088)

48. Grant program to support implementation of shared decision-making (Section 3506, p. 1091)

49. Grant program to integrate quality improvement in clinical education (Section 3508, p. 1095)

50. Health and Human Services Coordinating Committee on Women?s Health (Section 3509(a), p. 1098)

51. Centers for Disease Control Office of Women?s Health (Section 3509(b), p. 1102)

52. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Office of Women?s Health (Section 3509(e), p. 1105)

53. Health Resources and Services Administration Office of Women?s Health (Section 3509(f), p. 1106)

54. Food and Drug Administration Office of Women?s Health (Section 3509(g), p. 1109)

55. National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council (Section 4001, p. 1114)

56. Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health (Section 4001(f), p. 1117)

57. Prevention and Public Health Fund (Section 4002, p. 1121)

58. Community Preventive Services Task Force (Section 4003(b), p. 1126)

59. Grant program to support school-based health centers (Section 4101, p. 1135)

60. Grant program to promote research-based dental caries disease management (Section 4102, p. 1147)

61. Grant program for States to prevent chronic disease in Medicaid beneficiaries (Section 4108, p. 1174)

62. Community transformation grants (Section 4201, p. 1182)

63. Grant program to provide public health interventions (Section 4202, p. 1188)

64. Demonstration program of grants to improve child immunization rates (Section 4204(b), p. 1200)

65. Pilot program for risk-factor assessments provided through community health centers (Section 4206, p. 1215)

66. Grant program to increase epidemiology and laboratory capacity (Section 4304, p. 1233)

67. Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (Section 4305, p. 1238)

68. National Health Care Workforce Commission (Section 5101, p. 1256)

69. Grant program to plan health care workforce development activities (Section 5102(c), p. 1275)

70. Grant program to implement health care workforce development activities (Section 5102(d), p. 1279)

71. Pediatric specialty loan repayment program (Section 5203, p. 1295)

72. Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Program (Section 5204, p. 1300)

73. Allied Health Loan Forgiveness Program (Section 5205, p. 1305)

74. Grant program to provide mid-career training for health professionals (Section 5206, p. 1307)

75. Grant program to fund nurse-managed health clinics (Section 5208, p. 1310)

76. Grant program to support primary care training programs (Section 5301, p. 1315)

77. Grant program to fund training for direct care workers (Section 5302, p. 1322)

78. Grant program to develop dental training programs (Section 5303, p. 1325)

79. Demonstration program to increase access to dental health care in underserved communities (Section 5304, p. 1331)

80. Grant program to promote geriatric education centers (Section 5305, p. 1334)

81. Grant program to promote health professionals entering geriatrics (Section 5305, p. 1339)

82. Grant program to promote training in mental and behavioral health (Section 5306, p. 1344)

83. Grant program to promote nurse retention programs (Section 5309, p. 1354)

84. Student loan forgiveness for nursing school faculty (Section 5311(b), p. 1360)

85. Grant program to promote positive health behaviors and outcomes (Section 5313, p. 1364)

86. Public Health Sciences Track for medical students (Section 5315, p. 1372)

87. Primary Care Extension Program to educate providers (Section 5405, p. 1404)

88. Grant program for demonstration projects to address health workforce shortage needs (Section 5507, p. 1442)

89. Grant program for demonstration projects to develop training programs for home health aides (Section 5507, p. 1447)

90. Grant program to establish new primary care residency programs (Section 5508(a), p. 1458)

91. Program of payments to teaching health centers that sponsor medical residency training (Section 5508(c), p. 1462)

92. Graduate nurse education demonstration program (Section 5509, p. 1472)

93. Grant program to establish demonstration projects for community-based mental health settings (Section 5604, p. 1486)

94. Commission on Key National Indicators (Section 5605, p. 1489)

95. Quality assurance and performance improvement program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 6102, p. 1554)

96. Special focus facility program for skilled nursing facilities (Section 6103(a)(3), p. 1561)

97. Special focus facility program for nursing facilities (Section 6103(b)(3), p. 1568)

98. National independent monitor pilot program for skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities (Section 6112, p. 1589)

99. Demonstration projects for nursing facilities involved in the culture change movement (Section 6114, p. 1597)

100. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (Section 6301, p. 1619)

101. Standing methodology committee for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (Section 6301, p. 1629)

102. Board of Governors for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (Section 6301, p. 1638)

103. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund (Section 6301(e), p. 1656)

104. Elder Justice Coordinating Council (Section 6703, p. 1773)

105. Advisory Board on Elder Abuse, Neglect, and Exploitation (Section 6703, p. 1776)

106. Grant program to create elder abuse forensic centers (Section 6703, p. 1783)

107. Grant program to promote continuing education for long-term care staffers (Section 6703, p. 1787)

108. Grant program to improve management practices and training (Section 6703, p. 1788)

109. Grant program to subsidize costs of electronic health records (Section 6703, p. 1791)

110. Grant program to promote adult protective services (Section 6703, p. 1796)

111. Grant program to conduct elder abuse detection and prevention (Section 6703, p. 1798)

112. Grant program to support long-term care ombudsmen (Section 6703, p. 1800)

113. National Training Institute for long-term care surveyors (Section 6703, p. 1806)

114. Grant program to fund State surveys of long-term care residences (Section 6703, p. 1809)

115. CLASS Independence Fund (Section 8002, p. 1926)

116. CLASS Independence Fund Board of Trustees (Section 8002, p. 1927)

117. CLASS Independence Advisory Council (Section 8002, p. 1931)

118. Personal Care Attendants Workforce Advisory Panel (Section 8002(c), p. 1938)

119. Multi-state health plans offered by Office of Personnel Management (Section 10104(p), p. 2086)

120. Advisory board for multi-state health plans (Section 10104(p), p. 2094)

121. Pregnancy Assistance Fund (Section 10212, p. 2164)

122. Value-based purchasing program for ambulatory surgical centers (Section 10301, p. 2176)

123. Demonstration project for payment adjustments to home health services (Section 10315, p. 2200)

124. Pilot program for care of individuals in environmental emergency declaration areas (Section 10323, p. 2223)

125. Grant program to screen at-risk individuals for environmental health conditions (Section 10323(b), p. 2231)

126. Pilot programs to implement value-based purchasing (Section 10326, p. 2242)

127. Grant program to support community-based collaborative care networks (Section 10333, p. 2265)

128. Centers for Disease Control Office of Minority Health (Section 10334, p. 2272)

129. Health Resources and Services Administration Office of Minority Health (Section 10334, p. 2272)

130. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Office of Minority Health (Section 10334, p. 2272)

131. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Office of Minority Health (Section 10334, p. 2272)

132. Food and Drug Administration Office of Minority Health (Section 10334, p. 2272)

133. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (Section 10334, p. 2272)

134. Grant program to promote small business wellness programs (Section 10408, p. 2285)

135. Cures Acceleration Network (Section 10409, p. 2289)

136. Cures Acceleration Network Review Board (Section 10409, p. 2291)

137. Grant program for Cures Acceleration Network (Section 10409, p. 2297)

138. Grant program to promote centers of excellence for depression (Section 10410, p. 2304)

139. Advisory committee for young women?s breast health awareness education campaign (Section 10413, p. 2322)

140. Grant program to provide assistance to provide information to young women with breast cancer (Section 10413, p. 2326)

141. Interagency Access to Health Care in Alaska Task Force (Section 10501, p. 2329)

142. Grant program to train nurse practitioners as primary care providers (Section 10501(e), p. 2332)

143. Grant program for community-based diabetes prevention (Section 10501(g), p. 2337)

144. Grant program for providers who treat a high percentage of medically underserved populations (Section 10501(k), p. 2343)

145. Grant program to recruit students to practice in underserved communities (Section 10501(l), p. 2344)

146. Community Health Center Fund (Section 10503, p. 2355)

147. Demonstration project to provide access to health care for the uninsured at reduced fees (Section 10504, p. 2357)

148. Demonstration program to explore alternatives to tort litigation (Section 10607, p. 2369)

149. Indian Health demonstration program for chronic shortages of health professionals (S. 1790, Section 112, p. 24)*

150. Office of Indian Men?s Health (S. 1790, Section 136, p. 71)*

151. Indian Country modular component facilities demonstration program (S. 1790, Section 146, p. 108)*

152. Indian mobile health stations demonstration program (S. 1790, Section 147, p. 111)*

153. Office of Direct Service Tribes (S. 1790, Section 172, p. 151)*

154. Indian Health Service mental health technician training program (S. 1790, Section 181, p. 173)*

155. Indian Health Service program for treatment of child sexual abuse victims (S. 1790, Section 181, p. 192)*

156. Indian Health Service program for treatment of domestic violence and sexual abuse (S. 1790, Section 181, p. 194)*

157. Indian youth telemental health demonstration project (S. 1790, Section 181, p. 204)*

158. Indian youth life skills demonstration project (S. 1790, Section 181, p. 220)*

159. Indian Health Service Director of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment (S. 1790, Section 199B, p. 258)*

*Section 10221, page 2173 of H.R. 3590 deems that S. 1790 shall be deemed as passed with certain amendments.

Your Friend,

Congressman Lee Terry

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100414/bs_nm/us_shinsei_earnings

Japan’s Shensi bank set to report a billion-dollar loss on property writedowns.

All is well. The crisis is contained. The economy is recovering. Happy days are here again. The bailout has saved us.

Enron again.

And again, and again, and again, and again,… AAAARGH!!!!!

Lehman used ‘alter ego’ to shift risks

The New York Times’ Louise Story talks with Kai Ryssdal about a story she co-wrote involving a shadow bank that helped Lehman Brothers cover up risky investments that helped bring the company and economy to its knees.

PBear, don’t forget to feed your wife some crackers, water, and give her some light.