Bits Bucket For April 15, 2010
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Be sure to send in your tax payments so the Gov can sent it to the banksters and home debtors.
Absolutely!
As we do each April 15th, we’ll mail our check to our fiscally prudent gubmint. Knowing that ‘they’ will do the the right thing with it. Goldman needs a new pair of Gucci’s
I’m just wondering when NY state will release its tax return payments. Legislators went home Wednesday night for their “weekend”. It appears the budget is no priority. Last I heard no returns would be paid out of the emergency interim budget.
Wait, they aren’t going to send people their refund checks at all? Not until they pass a budget?
Wow. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face. Everyone who was owed money and anyone they talk to who is still employed will immediately lower their withholding amount. That should be just great for current revenue.
every 4/15 I just file an extension. f’ em
This is not a useful strategy. If you are owed a refund, you just give the govt an interest-free loan. If you owe, you have to send a check anyway or pay interest and penalties later.
don’t you have to pay a fine if you don’t pay 4/15?
If you file for an automatic extension, and pay whatever tax is due (best estimate) you have until 10-15 to file the actual return. To the extent you underpay by 4-15, penalty and interest will be assessed.
Lots of Sub-S shareholders file for extensions, its a very common practice.
Not if you are one of the 47% of Americans who pay no income tax. You might have to wait that much longer for your windfall, though.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36226444
Income Tax is for “suckas”.
But, but, but that 47% pays sales tax and gas tax don’t you know? So it evens everything out or so I keep reading.
Should that 47% just send extra money to the gov’t out of the goodness of their hearts? They’re just following the tax code. What exactly is wrong with that? Are you saying we need to raise income taxes on minimum wage earners, and lower them for Wall St. banksters?
But, but, but that 47% pays sales tax and gas tax don’t you know? So it evens everything out or so I keep reading.
Butt then you dont reed too good or you just forgot:
In addition to
1. Gas tax
2. Sales tax
They also pay:
3. Payroll tax
4. Medicare tax
5. State taxes
6. local taxes
7. utility taxes
8. sin taxes
9. property taxes
10. phone taxes
11. Service taxes
12. Car property taxes
Heck, they might pay more than you as a percentage of their income in taxes.
Dang, maybe that 47% should join the Tea Party!
Exxon made 35 billion last year and paid no federal taxes.
The top 400 income earners in the US pull in 350mil/yr and pay an effective tax rate of 16%. Much less than anyone on this board.
Are you saying we need to raise income taxes on minimum wage earners, and lower them for Wall St. banksters?
No, I’m saying we need to raise them on minimum wage earners (or get rid of all the credits and deductions) and lower them on the middle class.
You’re arguing to the absurd. It’s not simply “uber rich” vs poor. Many of us are in the middle, getting squeezed all around.
I hate to break it to you measton, but anyone with a good size home mortgage pays 16%, or less.
Dang, maybe that 47% should join the Tea Party!
If they’re not paunchy white suburbanites, chances are they’re on the do not invite list. It’s a very “exclusive” sort of revolution the Tea Party is fomenting …
RioInBrazi:
I pay all those taxes AND about 27-28% of my income in federal taxes.
Your point again is?
Your point again is?
Again? Thanks for asking!
The 47% who Rush HanBeck says doesn’t pay any taxes actually pays:
1. Gas tax
2. Sales tax
3. Payroll tax
4. Medicare tax
5. State taxes
6. local taxes
7. utility taxes
8. sin taxes
9. property taxes
10. phone taxes
11. Service taxes
12. Car property taxes
Oh yea, they also pay the above taxes in a higher percentage of their income than most middle-class and rich.
The biggest freeloaders I see, besides the mega-corporations, are Rush, Shawn and Glenn freeloading off of fear, prejudice and gross ignorance.
I remember paying income tax back in high school on my minimum wage paycheck. I used the 1040EZ and always had some tax liability. Everyone should pay income tax, everyone should feel the pinch of funding the monster. The progressive tax rate scheme has morphed into a system designed to pit one group of Americans against another. Do you think that 47% will ever vote against their free ride?(Yes, I said free ride) When it moves beyond 50%, it’s game over.
All of the other taxes and fees listed above were put into place by the same progressives in government who claim to be the champions of the poor.
We need lean effective government that truly provides essential services spelled out in Constitutions and State Charters while treating everyone equally and clearing the way for people to prosper. That way we can begin the process of reducing fees and taxes.
Income tax is for suckers. There, I said it again. I can get free $hit and vote - my vote counts as much as yours - I won’t work enough to pay any income tax - that is for you people (like Rio) to do. Get out there and work so you can buy me my $hit.
By: by David Leonhardt
The New York Times
“But the picture starts to change when you look not just at income taxes but at all taxes. This average household would have paid 0.8 percent of its income in corporate taxes (through the stocks it owned), 0.9 percent in gas and other federal excise taxes, and 9.5 percent in payroll taxes. Add these up, and the family’s total federal tax rate was 14.2 percent.
State and local taxes, meanwhile, may actually be regressive. That is, middle-class and poor families may face higher tax rates than the wealthy. As Kim Rueben of the Tax Policy Center notes, state and local income taxes and property taxes are less progressive than federal taxes, while sales taxes end up being regressive. The typical family pays a lot of state and local taxes, too — almost half as much as in federal taxes. ”
—
Don’t forget that many of those who pay no income taxes are retirees. Many of whom, I’m sure, vote republican and/or Teaparty. Sorry if that pops anybody’s ‘welfare queen’ fantasies.
Measton,
Do you have a source for your info?
I remember paying income tax back in high school on my minimum wage
I think you were paying payroll tax unless you worked 80 hours per week.
Do you think that 47% will ever vote against their free ride?
I don’t understand this point because close to half of the 47% are Republicans.
(Yes, I said free ride)
But that’s kinda jive. How is it a free ride if they are paying the same portion of their income in total taxes as everybody else? Not only are they paying the same percent in taxes but they are making less money! Do you want them to pay a higher percentage of their miserable pay in taxes than the rich? Wait, lemme think…….
Maybe you’re right. Take their jobs, ship the jobs overseas, raise the cost of living, lower their pay and f’ em. Soak the poor!
I think many of you guys are presenting a straw man argument. From what I’ve seen - the Tea Party folks’ problem isn’t with too many taxes on the rich - it’s with too many taxes on people in general. Maybe I’m wrong though. I don’t watch Rush HanBeck so I have no clue what they’re saying.
Personally my problem isn’t at all with too much taxes. My problem is too much spending period. I think the whole “tax problem” thing is a giant red herring. We can “fix” taxes - Fair Tax, VAT, Brass Tax, whatever - all day long, but that won’t help at all. It’s spending we need to cut, and hard.
“RioInBrazi:
I pay all those taxes AND about 27-28% of my income in federal taxes.
Your point again is?”
He wasn’t blunt enough to say it, but I will. That means you are an extremely wealthy person.
The marginal rate for a single person (using single because that will make the numbers lower) with a taxable income of up to $171,550 is only 28%. And marginal rate is not the same as overall rate. For example, a single person who actually makes $171K of taxable income has a marginal rate of only 24.3%. So to get up to 27% overall rate for federal income taxes only, you have to make more like $250K of taxable income (27.057%). And if you were allowed to put money in a tax deferred retirement plan of some kind, that would be excluded. I am not sure if other deductions have been fully recaptured at that lofty salary level. But even so, an overall rate of between 27% and 28% on federal income taxes could easily be for a person making close to $300K a year in salary alone. If some of it were in the form of long term capital gains, the income level would be even higer. For a married couple it would be higher still.
Pardon us if we don’t weep for your unbearable tax burden.
Rio,
All of those taxes you mention that crush the poor were created by big government progressives that claim to be champions of the poor. Hidden fees on utility bills, sales taxes, alcohol and cigarette taxes, personal property taxes, gas taxes, and payroll taxes all created to grow government without “raising” income taxes.
“I think you were paying payroll tax unless you worked 80 hours per week.”
This was the Late 70’s and early 80’s, I DID pay income tax on my part time minimum wage jobs. I paid state and local tax as well and had no problem with paying my small share. This was long before the Earned Income Tax Credit giveaway program.
It’s spending we need to cut, and hard.
I agree but how?
Here’s current federal spending: source cbpp.org
Military: 20%
Social Security: 20%
Saftey Nets: 14%
Interest:6%
Medicare/Medicade 21%
Fed pensions 7%
Scientific/Med research 2%
Education 3%
Intl Aid 1%
Stuff 4%
The only way to do it is to face the crises and take crisis measures . But this will never happen. So we head for the real crisis.
But anyway, here’s mine assuming we faced the crisis: All in inflation adjusted dollars.
1. Cut military spending 40% over 10 years per Ron Paul
2. Means test SS cut total beneficiaries 30% (too bad, so sad)
3. Hold safetey nets steady. (we’re in a crisis right?)
4. Interest– Pay it, we owe it.
5. Medical, Go to single payer, cut total national healthcare spending from 18% of GDP to 10% of GDP as Canada does. Damn the consequences. Let God sort it out and he will. Rationing? Deaf panels? Huh? Bring ‘em on.
6. Cut federal pay, and pensions across the board 15%. Raise the retirement age of all government workers.
7. Increase Education, foreign aid, and Scientific research 1% each.
8. Bring back jobs to increase tax base
9. Go back to very progressive taxing. The super rich’s income has increased 475% in the past 18 years and their taxes have been cut in HALF. source cbpp.org They can kiss it. Yea they create jobs……OVERSEAS.
10. Break up monopolies,(they stifle innovation and competition and they are a job killer) Bring back capitalism. Increase small business lending, Support small businesses the real job creators. Think small, stand tall.
Yes, time to cut spending.
I agree with most of your list with the exception of #5, the foreign aid and education parts of #7 and #9.
The latest polls show that the average Teapartier supports both social security in its current form, and medicare (!). Once again we see that they have little or no logical consistency. It’s the same old ‘cut government waste- but keep all my programs intact’ bullcrap. They’re still convinced that welfare queens and foreign aid are the big costs in government.
Not true, they feel they were forced to pay into a system for decades and by God they’re entitled to their promised benefits.
MD
It’s the same old ‘cut government waste- but keep all my programs intact’ bullcrap
While that may be the case, right now you’re just speculating and throwing out a straw man. Unless you can show that those who feel that medicare and social security should be preserved are also RECEIVING it, then you’re comment is without merit.
then
you’reyour comment is without merit.medical expenses were in excess of income last year
what are they going to do?
Well, medical expenses are only deductible to the extent that they exceed 7.5% of AGI—so you may still owe tax on 7.5% of your income, depending on the margin by which medical expenses exceed income. Depending on your income level, that may be zero, or may not. You may also hit itemized-deduction phase-outs if you have high-income, in which case your deduction would be reduced.
That said, sorry to hear that your medical expenses have been so high, Cassandra!
out of pocket medical was about 250% (no typo) AGI
Holy crap Cassandra - sorry to hear that. (Assuming your AGI wasn’t close to zero)
thanks for the concern, but what choices do I have? no Lexus for me. I’ll live.
AGI pretty low. but on taxes that’s a good thing right?
don’t think you can carry forward to offset
You still have to send in the $$ on 4/15 or else face penalties and interest.
I think I will just make the check out to Goldman this year and skip the IRS.
In keeping with the American Idol season, I’m sending mine to JP Morgan, on account of Jamie Demon’s better looking than Lloyd Blankfein. And I’m sure he’s better at warbling a tune, seeing as how he’s warbling all over Capitol Hill about financial regulation.
Jamie does have a great haircut - kind of like the one the CEO of Whole Foods has. My word, its stunning!
“I think I will just make the check out to Goldman this year and skip the IRS.”
I’ll just add it to my rent check
you already do
You misspelled Demon. Oh wait…
I thought it was God
Interesting theory. I am voting for Tim Urban, even though I think he’s the worst. It’s the hair and the smile!
You might be helping Gollum defray their legal bills.
Reuters
Parties Clash Over Ideas for Financial Reform
Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:17am EDT
- The Big Money
…
Goldman Sachs (GS) is being pulled into the insider-trading investigation of Galleon’s Raj Rajaratnam, reports the Wall Street Journal. A current Goldman director, Rajat Gupta, possibly shared inside information at a time when the company’s shares “gyrated amid the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings and concern about the future of all major investment banks.” Goldman isn’t alone: There are 22 companies being scrutinized in relation to Rajaratnam. This is the first Wall Street firm to be involved in the Galleon case.
…
Looks on the surface like only dark skinned players face scrutiny; WASPs with Ivy League educations get a Skull and Bones blanket exemption from legal probes.
Reminder to the dark skinned: no matter how it appears, you don’t belong, never did belong and never will belong to the country club. Also WASPs aren’t the only fair skinned people who escape scrutiny.
No if you are white, rich and republican you will be sent to jail. Look at the Enron guys.
If you are white, rich and democrats you will get bailouts. Most of WallStreet bigwigs.
No if you are white, rich and republican you will be sent to jail. Look at the Enron guys.
Hmmm, let’s look at the Enron guys.
Sixteen people pled guilty, and five others were found guilty at trial — four of the trial convictions were actually Merrill Lynch employees. With the exception of former CEO Skilling (Bush’s golf buddy Kenny Boy Lay conveniently died before sentencing, as you’ll recall), most of the sentences were fairly light.
And what about all the non-Enron “white, rich, and Republican” corporate and political leaders who aren’t in jail? Their numbers are legion.
No if you are a white, rich, apologist for wall st./bank industry republican(no other reason to be republican if you’re not rich) you will bribe your way out of it.
If you are any color and poor(why else would anyone be a democrat), you’re on you’re own and going to jail.
most of the sentences were fairly light.
I would take that for the WallStreet fucksters any day.
no other reason to be republican if you’re not rich
The delusion must run deep with you. That may have been the case 20/30 yrs ago. Today, look at all the mega riches (especially WallStreet) and tell me what percentage are not solidly Dems? Truth hurts, doesn’t it?
The truth is never painful. And most hilarious in the absence of it.
Thanks for the reminder, Backstage. I’m so looking forward to doing that today.
NPR reported today on some of the new tax-credit-handouts and the “confusion” over them. They said that nearly 50% of the first-time home-buyers handout deduction claims were faulty.
Why on earth would Congress want to extend a tax break that has a 50% fraud rate?
….’cause then they can add interest and penalties?
They said that nearly 50% of the first-time home-buyers handout deduction claims were faulty.
Why on earth would Congress want to extend a tax break that has a 50% fraud rate?
Because faulty doesn’t mean fraudulent?
faulty
Faulty’s got nothin’ to do with it.
“Because faulty doesn’t mean fraudulent?”
That’s funny!
Indeed!
If I kept the money, I’d save it for something I can eventually afford (house, car, etc.) That, as we all know, is bad. Much better to take my money and give to banksters and dead-beat “homeowners.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/7591027/Greek-aid-in-doubt-as-German-professors-prepare-court-challenge.html
Greek aid in doubt as four professors prepare legal challenge, and domestic fury among Germans grows to the bailout scheme. Meanwhile Greek bonds are failing to attract market interest, and Portugal’s deteriorating finances are starting to creep into the headlines.
None of which you’re likely to hear about from the shills in the American financial media who are trying to lure more suckers into this short-lived, weak-volume “rally.” Germany is the economic powerhouse of the artificial Eurozone: if their portion of the rescue deal is blocked, Greece moves much closer to default. Stay tuned, this is about to get interesting.
“None of which you’re likely to hear about from the shills in the American financial media who are trying to lure more suckers into this short-lived, weak-volume “rally.” Germany is the economic powerhouse of the artificial Eurozone: if their portion of the rescue deal is blocked, Greece moves much closer to default. Stay tuned, this is about to get interesting.”
This is actually huge, Sammy, thanks for posting. This, combined with the foreclosure tsunami, ought to bring about the long-awaited “bottom”. I say “ought to”. But I think this could be the one-two knockout punch that makes everyone face reality right in the kisser.
A little birdie tells me we’re going to be getting a whole lotta that “change” bammy’s been gassing about. Except I don’t think it will be coming with a side order of “hope”. Unless of course, people start hoping things will get better.
“Hope and change the vampire squid across the face of humanity can believe it.”
Me thinks a slow burn. But a burn none the less.
off topic:
My PM pusher called the other day. I bought. Am I totally stupid?
traded 5 eagles for a truck last month. seemed like a good deal.
Last month you sold metals. This month you bought. I could tell you are indecisive.
Suggestion is to just pick a comfort percentage of your net worth you should have in precious metals. I think 20% or more is too extreme, but that is my own opinion. Between ten and fifteen percent is my comfort level. I haven’t bought any metals for over a year. But spot prices have gone up about 30% in one year and somehow keep me in my range of ten to fifteen percent.
When you get to your comfort level you can focus on accumulating in other asset classes, including those that move the opposite way of PM prices. Short term treasuries are as opposite as one can get from precious metals.
Interestingly, both asset classes - treasury bills and precious metals - are regarded as places that investors move to in economic crises. One may wonder if 50% T-bills and 50% gold (rebalancing every six months or a year) is a perfect mix in these bad times?
you are right. but I’m not comfortable anywhere these days.
but last month I wanted a truck. a truck is as good an asset class now as any I figure
Sorry, but to add. There is something comforting about keeping PMs in your pocket. It’s very different than t-bills and such.
I trade a few eagles for a truck. The business owner is middle eastern imigrant, I didn’t ask, probably Iraqi. He instantly knows the deal. So for “$300 face” I get a truck. Hardly any taxes when I register.
You’d have to check the specific rules in your state, but I doubt that they allow you to use face value of gold coins to decalre the cost of a truck you bought with them. There are rules and they don’t necessarily follow the words on the coin.
Just saying….
So sue me. Gov says $50 on face, they are $50. Newly minted AEs. They issue fiat.
see what a $50 bill is worth at melt
Me sue you? What do I have to do with it? Unless you live in Maryland I couldn’t care less.
But states are desperate for income these days, and it isn’t that hard to search a database for for transactions that look absurd on the face of them (truck in working condition for $300 is such a transaction). I don’t know if your state is clever enough to do such a search, but if they are, you might get a letter. And if they find out that you claimed $5000 worth of gold coins are really $300…well…they are unlikely to respect your version of the transaction.
sorry, didn’t mean it to sound personal
actually, a wyoming shell owns it. sue them. I just drive it. worst they can do is take the truck
transactions that look absurd on the face of them (truck in working condition for $300 is such a transaction)
Hey - I resemble that remark. I sold a truck a few years ago for $300 that was in perfect working condition. Well - perfect being relative I guess - it got one from point A to point B. So it had a few rust issues - big deal.
And Cassandra - tsk, tsk. You should’ve used 20’s. Then it would’ve been just $100 face.
Someone help me with the morality here. Everyone tut-tuts about 47% not paying federal income taxes, then it’s all ‘heckuva job’ when someone points out how they avoid paying taxes. Double standard at work? (We don’t pay taxes because we’re Patriots- they don’t pay taxes because they’re deadbeats!)
Because it’s not the deadbeats that people have a problem with. It’s the government they have a problem with, allowing deadbeats.
yeah, probably left some change on the table. but hey, a deal is a deal. sometimes you just jam it and go
Your explanation has confused me even more, packman. The gov shouldn’t ‘allow’ deadbeats? To do what, exist?
Is someone who makes a lot money but avoids paying taxes a deadbeat, or is only someone who makes less money and therefore doesn’t have to pay taxes a deadbeat?
What if the guy making a lot of money makes it off an inheritance, while the guy who pays none is starting his own business? Who’s the deadbeat then?
What if the guy paying no income taxes is a retired Republican (like many of them are)- is he still a deadbeat?
personally I refuse to talk about the two words “morality” and “taxes” at the the same time. they don’t belong together.
God only asks 10%.
Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.
“Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.”
Touche, alpha!
I paid a little above what was due today, mostly to defend against errors in my estimate, but felt like I paid it as penance for the tax-cheats.
Anyone else out there pay 100% of what is legally due, in spite of whether it is verifiable or not? Gimme an AMEN!
Cassandra,
Leave it to the school marm Polly to nag you about what she thinks you should do. She wants you to support and sanction her beloved bureaucracy. She’s such a Wesley Mouch.
No one loves a school marm.
My definition of a deadbeat is very simple - someone who takes more out in benefits than puts in in taxes.
But, but…what happened to no deadbeat left behind? I mean every deadbeat deserves a bailout. It is deeply unfair that other deadbeats got billions while Greek deadbeats might be left out in the cold. It is just wouldn’t be fair if Greece is not allowed to live at other people’s expense.
As the article points out, “The whole manoeuvre merely delays the day of reckoning.” Unless there is a second and third and forth and gazillionth bailout.
Old Europe - they don’t like our wars and they don’t like our bailout culture. Why can’t they just get onboard?
My father served in both Germany and Greece when he was in the Air Force in the early 60’s. His opinion is that the Germans have approximately zero respect for the Greeks and that is a big deal for Germans when it comes to trusting someone else with money. He doubts that Germany will ever be willing to take explicit action to “save” Greece. They see no reason to do it as they are sure that any money they give will be squandered shortly thereafter.
I just can’t see why Germany would have any patience to bail out another European country any time soon. They already had to fix East Germany and they did it on their own. As near as I can tell, that is all they plan to do for many decades into the future. And you have to remember how forward looking modern day Germany is. While we wax nostalgic about the “Greatest Generation” they rejected that demographic group. In business (I don’t follow their politics, but I worked for a German multinational before I got this job), they seemed to prefer leaders who just hadn’t been alive at all during WWII, never mind old enough to remember the war. It created an interesting dynamic - very intollerant of failure.
There needs to be German political correctness established for debtbeats; so going Greek is no longer taboo.
“…..wax nostalgic about the “Greatest Generation”…..”
Because their “Greatest Generation” lost. While making about 10 million people go poof! in the process.
Germans, unlike the US, quit paying attention to people who have been discredited by the course of events.
Our “give people a second chance” culture has morphed into a “keep propping up the idiots” culture.
Say what you will about the Japanese, but many of their leaders had the common decency to “do themselves in” when they lost.
Because their “Greatest Generation” lost. While making about 10 million people go poof! in the process.
Yeah, I think that’s the main reason the German’s don’t look to the greatest generation for guidance. (And I seriously doubt they call them the ‘greatest generation’. Even the neo-fascists don’t like them- they lost the war.)
‘…short-lived, weak-volume “rally.” ‘
LOL! It sure is easy to tell who didn’t place a big bet last March or April. Short-lived? It’s in its 13th month.
Disclosure: Being retired, we don’t own equities. But our kids sure have benefited from riding the elevator back up.
But our kids sure have benefited from riding the elevator back up.
So they’ve sold then?
Just like housing - no one benefits from price gains until they sell.
(FWIW)
Heh. My father had a big chunk of his money in equities until the day he died at age 86.
I’ve been following the Greece crisis closely and telling everyone I know that the “financial aid” package that was cobbled together is strictly a delaying action for the big boys to dump their Greek bond holdings before the inevitable collapse. Mark your calendars that I told you this and check back in 1-3 months or so.
Exactly. The same as with all the other recent bailouts.
As if right on cue, enter the IMF to formally begin the foreclosure proceedings on the Hellenic nation:
http://www.tinyurls.co.uk/W1320
That says they’re closer to bailout, which is the opposite of foreclosure.
Mortgage deduction: America’s costliest tax break
“NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The mortgage-interest deduction is America’s favorite tax break — and it’s also the costliest.
Between 2009 and 2013, the government will lose out on nearly $600 billion because of it, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation…
…And the mortgage-interest tax break is still deemed untouchable.
Case in point: a new bipartisan tax reform proposal that has been gaining currency in policy circles. Co-sponsored by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. and Judd Gregg, R-NH, the proposal would simplify the income tax system, streamline the numbers of credits and deductions, and lower the corporate tax rate.
But it doesn’t touch the mortgage deduction.
“We wanted a politically viable vehicle,” Gregg said at the Heritage Foundation last month.”
Aha!!! another RE incentive proposal. Do away with near every income tax deduction, except the mortgage int. deduction. Pure genius and fiscally asinine. Advice to all bubble sitters, if this happens, buy immediately.
I’ve got news - this already has happened. There are only three significant deductions left that the bulk of taxpayers care about:
- Mortgage interest
- Charitable giving
- Small/home business deductions
All three of those are politically untouchable - not just the first.
Other deductions - e.g. credit card interest, auto loan interest, etc. - disappeared long ago.
I’ve got news for you, you can still deduct work related expenses without being a small business.
I know - guess I didn’t mean just technically small businesses - I was thinking also contractors, which would include the vast majority of such deductions I think. My wife did this some - e.g. for licensing costs, and various educational upkeep, as an OT. Most people who are salaried get their business expenses paid for by the company they work for.
Un-reimbursed employee business expenses are subject to a 2% floor, which means if your AGI is $100K, the deduction begins at $2000.00. A real rip.
An even worse injustice is the medical expense deduction floor. That is 7.5% of AGI, which means that some poor schmuck that has to pay his own medical costs, does not get a first dollar deduction, if he makes $50,000, his expenses are not deductible until they reach $3700 or so. However, a business that pays its employee’s health care costs does get a first dollar deduction. The tax code is chuck full of such things.
And don’t forget the AMT, which negates any business expenses.
Packman: you forgot the sacred property tax deduction, too.
Packman: you forgot the sacred property tax deduction, too.
Oop - yeah there’s that too.
The child care deduction and student loan interest deductions are fairly sacred and/or useful, too.
Starting in 2014, thanks to ObamaCare, the 7.5% limit goes to 10%. Didn’t Obama promise no income tax increases for anyone making under $250K? I guess only people making over $250K get sick and have medical bills.
State and local income taxes are deductible too.
Also, hate to break it to you guys when you are on a rant, but a real small business owner (not incorporated, files schedule C) isn’t getting some sort of special deduction. They are paying taxes on the profits of the business, just like any other business. Only they aren’t incorporated so they are paying it directly instead of paying themselves a salary and then paying taxes on that. You are about as likely to change that system as you are to move all corporations to paying a tax on gross receipts, not profits.
They are paying taxes on the profits of the business, just like any other business. Only they aren’t incorporated so they are paying it directly instead of paying themselves a salary and then paying taxes on that.
You’re playing my song, polly! And, as much as I enjoy being in business and making a profit, I do have more than a grumble or two about how the taxes I pay on my profits are used.
significant medical expenses
Ah yes - forgot about that one.
What about deductions for dependents?
I think a very sensible way to fund universal health care for kids (which I’m not opposed to!) is by eliminating the deduction per-dependent.
Of course, I think that there should be NO deductions and everyone should be taxed at 25%. No exceptions.
The UK got rid of its morty-interest deduction. And, as far as I know, the islands of Great Britain and Ireland are still there.
And bubbly as ever! That may make the case that removing MID won’t hurt home prices by much, which is something the govt is afraid of doing.
Between 2009 and 2013, the government will lose out on nearly $600 billion because of it, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation…
Of course, the premise here being that the government somehow “deserves” that money, and thus is “losing out”.
Exactly.
Also I wonder if they take into account the taxes are that are subsequently taken out of that $600 Billion? I.e. if the government did remove the deduction, sure they’d supposedly get $600 billion more - however that’d be $600 Billion less flowing into the economy - thus less income taxes for the states, less property taxes, etc. etc.
Echo that. Getting rid of MID will put a damper on the whole equity extraction/home improvement loan scam. The overall opportunity to tax will be far less with MID gone.
But the government would spend it on goods and services just as the people would. A wash.
And the gov can be a pretty good customer. I’ve dealt with them. And would very much like to do so again.
Except they wouldn’t pay state income taxes, property taxes, etc. on it.
Also you’re assuming that they’d just spend it, rather than (hopefully) used it to pay down the debt. And also that they’d spend it as efficiently as the private sector, which they don’t.
Wait, would it be a bad thing for the government to use money to pay back debt? Sounds like a pretty good idea to me.
“Wait, would it be a bad thing for the government to use money to pay back debt? Sounds like a pretty good idea to me.”
If there were lots and lots of bad debt on banks books (say toxic MBS for example), couldn’t the Fed solve the problem by simply saying they were printing money (e.g. by creating a book entry in the computer which tracks the money supply) then using the proceeds to take the toxic MBS off bank balance sheets?
I am just speaking hypothetically here, of course…
U.S. Foreclosure Filings Rise 16% as Bank Seizures Set Record
April 15 (Bloomberg) — Foreclosure filings in the U.S. rose 16 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier and bank seizures hit a record as lenders stepped up action against delinquent homeowners, according to RealtyTrac Inc.
A total of 932,234 homes, or one out of every 138 households, received a default or auction notice, or were repossessed by banks, the Irvine, California-based firm said today. In March, filings rose 8 percent to the most in any month since RealtyTrac began publishing reports in January 2005.
“The banks are finally working through it,” Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s executive vice president for marketing, said in a telephone interview. “We’re seeing a resolution for properties that were in foreclosure but where seizure was delayed.”
Unemployed and “underwater” homeowners, or those who owe more than their property is worth, are driving foreclosures. The U.S. jobless rate was 9.7 percent in March, unchanged for a third month, the Labor Department reported April 2. More than a fifth of mortgaged homes were underwater in the fourth quarter, according to real estate data firm Zillow.com.
Bank repossessions climbed to 257,944 in the quarter. Scheduled auctions totaled 369,491, also the most since RealtyTrac began releasing data.
The Shadow is looming. Better hurry up, guys.
It doesn’t matter, really. You tell me when the FAS (Accounting Standards) reverses the fix they put in 2008 that let Wall St. extend and pretend the losses and then the number will matter. Did Japan ever make their banks book their losses back in the 90’s? Most of it is still out there but if they haven’t balanced their books by now I don’t think they ever will. What is really been going on for the last 30 years is just the accelerating the gap between the uber-rich and the shrinking middle class. If I look around the world I see this is in fact the new normal. Dubai, Ireland now Greece it’s all the same.
Well, they probably want to escape the legal morass of cramdown legislation. Additionally they might have enough reserves to handle more disposition and losses.
Sounds like another leg down is starting.
Program for rural homebuyers is nearly broke
Agriculture Dept. loans aim to keep buyers from moving to bigger cities
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A federal loan program that has helped hundreds of thousands of Americans buy homes in rural areas is about to run out of money, potentially crippling the real estate market in many small communities.
Since last fall, the loans from the Department of Agriculture have fueled much of the real estate business in some parts of the country. Real estate agents are pleading with Congress to find a way to keep the money flowing until more funding becomes available later in the year.
The program has doubled in size thanks to stimulus money, but now it appears to be a victim of its own success, largely because of the generous terms offered to borrowers.
“It definitely helped me out,” said Lisa Kartak, who closed late last month on a new three-bedroom house in Annandale, a small town 50 miles west of Minneapolis. “If I didn’t get approved through them, I would have had to bring thousands of dollars to the table.”
The USDA’s Rural Development program provides 30-year fixed-rate mortgages at market rates. Buyers do not have to put any money down, unlike loans from the better known Federal Housing Administration, which requires a down payment of 3.5 percent. And unlike FHA loans, there are no monthly mortgage insurance premiums in the USDA program.
Hey Barry, We’re gonna need a bigger bailout!
“Hey Barry, We’re gonna need a bigger bailout!
Yep! I started as a volunteer watchdog yesterday, and there’s a boatload of crap I need to bark about. And this is one for sure.
The USDA Rural Development needs about 1 trillion, stat! Can’t forget the Rurals, one of the world’s more important mountain ranges.
Print it up, Spanky, now! I’m a watchdog so you has to listen, woof, woof.
They shot their last clip. From here on out, it is hand-to-hand combat in the real estate trenches…
Fix bayonets!
Hey Barry, We’re gonna need a bigger bailout!
Rest assured that if it benefits rural areas and the USDA is involved, it’s very much a red state/republican scam. Obama’s a big scary bogeyman, but he’s not responsible for all the government waste in the world.
whoops- italics should have ended after bailout!
Thanks for clearing up a bit of a mystery for me, wmbz. I never realized the extent of this program, and I was wondering how South Hillsborough County (Tampa Bay area) was able to have so many of these gang-banger developments. We had a couple of them when I moved to the area, but during the bubble, they mushroomed and one of them is still expanding. The local fish-wrap is constantly advertising them, there’s been some partnership between the county and the USDA. While buyers do not have to put any money down, they do have to contribute a certain amount of “labor” as a “down payment”. In all fairness, I will say that the default rate appears to be rather less than other housing in the area, for example, the Lennar development I really do think it is the labor aspect of the program.
The irony, however, is that at least one of these developments has been built on former farmland, I think an orange grove or tomato field.
Here in central S.C. they advertise 100%, zero down financing through the FHA for rural ares as “Home Steps”. Just about anyone qualifies according to a real-a-tor I spoke with. I am not sure what constitutes “rural” in our area through this program. I have seen houses within 5 miles of incorporated areas offering this deal.
This is applicable to rural raw land as well as land with a home. It can be any construction, stick built, mobile home etc.
I have not seen any USDA loans available in our area. They be well outside of city limits.
These cheap POS cheap-a$$ tracts are all over central Florida and the FHA loans are directly to blame. The houses will fall apart before the abandoned foreclosed ones can become known crack houses - that is the theory I am guessing.
It’s just amazing how taxpayer money is used for social engineering and population distribution, isn’t it?
Yes. The untold story of how government subsidies contribute to energy overusage (and many would say therefore global warming) in fact - via suburban/rural sprawl.
The untold story of how government subsidies contribute to energy overusage
Or how gov’t subsidizing of corn prices leads to the excessive use of corn syrup as a sweetener, thus leading to higher health care costs.
The best part is when states are taxing products that include HFCS at the same time that the fed gov’t is effectively subsidizing it. Genius.
Also saw in the paper the other day that the WA state government passed a tax on doctor’s appointments. So while the fed gov is worried about the high cost of health care (And supposedly trying to do something about it?) the state gov is increasing the cost.
Also saw in the paper the other day that the WA state government passed a tax on doctor’s appointments.
OMG! What are WA state’s hypochondriacs going to do now?
The federal government (Obama’s administration) is not the least bit concerned about the high cost of health care. The high cost of health care was just an excuse to pass a fascist bill through the CONgress.s
Even before the bill is fully implemented, costs will INCREASE, as is being currently discussed by those who signed onto the “bill” as claim that they didn’t know “those provisions” were in the bill.
Well, gee, you’ve got a 2000 plus page bill that isn’t released for 72 hours before we MUST put it to a vote.
Yea, that’s “transparency”. I hope the people of this country won’t forget this come November, but that’s months away.
That 2000+ page law is the bill that was passed in the Senate. We had six months to read it before the House passed it verbatim last month. It was the reconciliation fix-bill that was released for 72 hours, and that wasn’t nearly as long — wasn’t it based on Obama’s 11-page proposal?
Also please understand the difference between absolute transparency and relative transparency. Remember, Rush makes millions of dollars off of quashing critical thinking.
And you are right, November is a long way away.
Or how gov’t subsidizing of corn prices leads to the excessive use of corn syrup as a sweetener, thus leading to higher health care costs.
That’s one of my favorites, too!
Corn subsidies lead all sorts of other directions, too: monocultured crops, GM crops as high-profit commodity, large scale factory farming of meat (the animals eat subsidized corn and soy), the indirect subsidy of all processed food, the promotion of ethanol fuels … the list goes on.
Health insurance reform is now “fascist”? I thought it was socialist?
You hoodless klansmen need an education and a lesson in consistency.
Ummm, don’t agree with you. I do think Obama was quite concerned about it. In fact, it was due to the lack of care for his mom that triggered all this, IRC.
“It’s just amazing how corporate money and lobbying is used for social engineering and population distribution, isn’t it?”
Fixed that for you.
“It’s just amazing how corporate money and lobbying is used for social engineering and population distribution, isn’t it?”
Fixed that for you.
So now the USDA is a corporation?
It was the reconciliation fix-bill that was released for 72 hours
Thanks for that.
“Real estate agents are pleading with Congress to find a way to keep the money flowing …”
Has Congress become nothing more than a sugar-daddy? How about telling them no?
Swimming upstream is costly. Globalization is driving people to conurbations to seek work. It’s been happening everywhere. These attempts at social engineering and central planning will not hold up to the wider economic shifts - but a lot of money will be wasted anyway.
If they really want to keep people in the sticks they need to work towards getting them jobs, not houses, there. Gee whiz, seems like everyone thinks that having a house solves people’s problems, ridiculous.
If they really want to keep people in the sticks they need to work towards getting them jobs, not houses, there. Gee whiz, seems like everyone thinks that having a house solves people’s problems, ridiculous.
You’ve just touched upon the economic growth model for the state of Arizona. No, wait. That model isn’t working anymore.
+1 edgewater. But what jobs? Manufacturing has gone to China. “Knowledge base” work that can be done from a home computer in podunk has gone to India. Agriculture is highly automated, and what isn’t imported from Mexico or Central/South America is picked and processed by people who — too put it mildly — don’t buy homes. All that’s left is rural high schools and stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart and Tractor Supply.
It’s the corporatist environment that’s doing to social engineering, if unwittingly.
I myself am hoping for green jobs.
All that’s left is rural high schools and stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart and Tractor Supply.
You left out working at the hospital. But I agree that’s basically the list of what’s available. And the “good jobs” at the school and the hospital that include health insurance are closely guarded and usually handed down from generation to generation.
You guys left out the big one- working for the local/county/state government. In fact, I find that the rural conservative small-gov we-luv-sarah types around here quite often have wives who work either for the school system or the gov- that’s where they get their ‘free-market’ health care. It’s like a rural tradition. When I point out that we all can’t be married to someone who works for the government, they call me a socialist.
“All that’s left is rural high schools…”
When mapping rural locations some of the most shocking and depressing sights we came across were all the abandoned schools. These old schools were usually in the heart of the small towns.
The new “unified” monsters that replaced them are usually far outside of town - taking kids away from the community. Also, a lot of these new schools bear a strange resemblance to modern prisons. As they rose into view it was only the lack of razor wire and gaurd towers that told the difference.
It must not be easy to be a kid in such locales.
Not to mention the incredible amount of fuel getting the kids to and from these behomoth prison-y schools.
Not to mention time…
School buses get 6 mpg, 12 on the highway.
Yet consolidation is promoted as a cost-cutting move.
Guess you’re not familiar with economies of scale? They apply to schools as well. Think about the library for instance. The cafeteria. Etc. etc. Especially the teachers. It’s hard to justify hiring a science teacher when there only 10 kids in the whole school at the right age to take science.
Yes of course you have higher transportation costs - but it’s a tradeoff.
Manufacturing has gone to China. “Knowledge base” work that can be done from a home computer in podunk has gone to India.
I myself am hoping for green jobs.
I myself am hoping for something I am going to call standard-of-living-techno-transversion.
In that the loss of purchasing power of lower wages in our country which bring back jobs, will be offset somewhat by improvements in technology which lower costs for essentials.
Yee-haw!
Markets could be derailed again, warns Soros
Apr 14, 2010
COPENHAGEN/Railway porter-turned-billionaire financier George Soros delivered a stark warning last night that the financial world is on the wrong track and that we may be hurtling towards an even bigger boom and bust than in the credit crisis.
The man who ‘broke’ the Bank of England (and who is still able to earn a cool $3.3 bln in a year) said the same strategy of borrowing and spending that had got us out of the Asian crisis could shunt us towards another crisis unless tough lessons are learned.
Soros, who worked as a porter to pay for his studies at the London School of Economics after emigrating from Hungary, warned us to heed the lesson that modern economics had got it wrong and that markets are not inherently stable.
“The success in bailing out the system on the previous occasion led to a superbubble, except that in 2008 we used the same methods,” he told a meeting hosted by The Economist at the City of London’s modern and impressive Haberdashers’ Hall.
“Unless we learn the lessons, that markets are inherently unstable and that stability needs to the objective of public policy, we are facing a yet larger bubble.
I guess Soros does not watch “Mad Moneeey” with Cramer.
Never trust men liks Soros. They have a hiddn agenda to what they are saying. Wasn’t this guy trashing god some months ago? But later we found out that he was actually buying it.
Wasn’t this guy trashing god some months ago? But later we found out that he was actually buying it.
God or … gold?
Au.
Thanks for catching it.
Soros = Dr Evil of financial markets.
He probably lives in a “hollowed-out volcano”.
“May.” “Could.” “Might.”
Or not.
Yeah - not to mention the nebulous prediction that we are “facing a larger bubble”. The problem is - that’s useless information. Even if you know we’re in a bubble - you don’t know whether to buy or to sell unless you know what stage of the bubble we’re in, and how long the bubble will last.
By most measures we were in a stock market bubble by about 1990/1991. However if you would have sold then, based on P/E ratios, you would have had to have waited until 2009 - 19 years - until ratios came back down to where then were before 1990. And you would have missed out on all the spectacular gains of the 1990’s.
We all worked before and during college. I waited tables.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/04/syracuse_area_gains_constructi.html
Hmmmm….so I guess it’s not just in my head.
“Only 10 of the 337 metropolitan areas in the country added construction jobs between February 2009 and 2010, and the Syracuse metro is one of them.
The area, with its shrinking population, has often lagged the rest of the nation in construction activity over the past 20 years. But a recent surge of construction at hospitals and colleges — “meds and eds” in industry jargon — has put it ahead of most other areas.”
Exeter if you check out the NY Fed Reserve site you’ll also see that we’ve only got close to 1/2 the subprime penetration your area has got and also a much lower foreclosure penetration. So I wish you’d stop making the assumption what’s going on in your neck of the woods is the same here. Albany area late credit payment numbers are much worse than the Syracuse area’s are where only student loan #s have seen a real spike to date. The school district cuts are of varying degrees but overall not as bad as I expected. One big employer I knew that might be laying off just got a nice juicy contract from Europe.
The article mentioned these projects were in the pipeline before the economic slowdown and now we’ll see if new projects will continue to be funded. But I do know if they’re building new wings for meds and eds there’s a good chance they’ll soon be hiring staff to fill them.
The country’s in trouble and we are all looking at the same solemn end but the route there is apparently NOT the same for all people in all areas. I’m not a troll and I’m not confused when I report the hurdles to my area correcting as we have all been waiting for.
Carrie…
Who said the housing collapse was synchronous? The fact remains that peak pricing in NY was 2007. Late to the party and late to the collapse. It *sounds* to me that you’re suggesting Syracuse is different. It may be in a different phase but the end result will be the same.
You have no idea how many times I heard “see? Prices aren’t falling, we’re not CA or FL, it’s different here” from family, friends and relatives on both sides of the NY/VT border.
Guess what? They’re not saying it anymore.
maybe just a dead cat bounce?
It could be Cassandra. It’s been my opinion that when the double dip becomes apparent in the markets or if Euro defaults started a domino effect, things would dry up here pretty darn quickly.
I’ve also got to get out of my 2-3 town radius which does house some of the deeper pockets and get out and see if its just as nutty in some of the other towns. The town I used to live in does not seem to be feeling the love anywhere near what we’re seeing here. People often tell me I was smart to get out when I did. That’s only 15 miles out. Another town I was frequenting last year seems to be only accumulating inventory too but I haven’t been out there to see for myself. That particular town did have overbuilding and a major employer in that town is making layoff noises although nothing yet.
Also this explosion of sales is all in the lower to lower middle end of the scale. (1500 - 3000 sq ft) Not seeing a lot of movement in the 3000 sq ft and up at all. There are a few. Most prices seem to fall around $100/sq ft although I’ve seen much higher and much lower. I’ve talked to people sitting on million dollar pieces of property that say they’ve had no bites at all. I have one friend w/waterfront. Her home’s been on the market for over 2 years.
Methinks that the higher priced properties are going to get some haircuts in the coming months.
Nukes do the biggest damage to the biggest things. I don’t know how it’s going to run. But I’m out. Put your money down, spin the wheel. I’m out. call me next month/year.
I think it is possible that some very low cost areas, like Syracuse and Buffalo… much of the midwest… might be in the early phases of recovery. Not expecting big gains out there but a lot of stability.
Got a job interview in dallas. At least I can wear a gun to work with out people getting all booh-hooy about it.
The trouble with meds and eds is that, next to housing, those are the two most bubble-icious areas of our economy. And, ever so slowly, the bubble-air is finding places to leak out of and the whole thing is starting to his-s-s-s-s-s-s-sss…
Precisely. Also not mentioned by the eds and meds boosters is that none of those shiny new hospital buildings, nanotech incubators and university performing arts centers generate a single dime in tax revenue.
But, but, but . . . all those highly paid docs and techies will move here and bring their money with them, right? Not likely. No one will leave Palo Alto or the Cleveland Clinic to come to South Bend, IN. Not gonna happen, but the PTB here have bought into this fantasy hook, line and sinker.
Arizona, I’ve been of the same mind on the subject but I’ve yet to see any signs of it so far. Closures of other hospitals in the greater CNY area may mean the system’s consolidation is a plus for Syracuse. Really most of my reports are made w/great exasperation. I’m still waiting but in the end I may just end up leaving the state after the kids are out of school as I may just wait through the right opportunity.
GoIrish, the Syracuse burbs are hardly hellish. The burbs in the hills are actually quite picturesque. I was just w/a friend today who has been in London, Houston, The Hague, Cavalry. She told us she’s pretty happy here and hopes her husband doesn’t get another transfer for a while. The other friend with us has a husband in the defense industry. They’ve been here for a while and have made it their permanent home. It might not be the cats meow for everyone. Certainly I had my years I pined for home. But once you find your niche there’s some good stuff to be a part of. The doctors won’t come here from the best places but they will come here from lesser places and they will be better paid than the retirees and manufacturing workers they are replacing.
Carrie Ann,
I certainly believe your comments on Syracuse and how it’s skirting the downturn at this point. Cincinnati is similar. There is more construction currently going on within 10 miles of my house than there probably is in the entire state of Rhode Island. And like Syracuse, it was in the pipe-line years ago (some of ours is being accellerated due to stimulous money).
And as you noted, a lot of it is planned government expenditures, although private construction remains surprisingly robust around here at the moment. Still, a number of larger projects have been moth-balled.
As you pointed out, many areas are in different economic phases at any given time. During the 1990s, every part of the country expanded nicely, with the exception of 3 areas that suffered a depression - Central NY was one of them (Hawaii with it’s economic ties to Japan, and West Virginia with its dependency on coal were the other 2). So Syracuse’s government spending comes after 15 years of delays.
And you only have to look 10 miles north of Syracuse to Fulton for an example of what can happen during an economic downturn. There was supposidly a depression in the US during the 1930s, right? Well, the Wall Street Journal ran an article in the late ’30s about Fulton, NY, and how it had completely missed the depression.
So not all areas are declining right now, just as not all areas were growing during the past 2 decades.
I def see signs of potential recovery out there. Seems to be plenty of livable inventory with prices under 150K. Not sure on the quality of the hood. Expect a lot of out migration. Increasingly think I might be one of them and I love California.
Too expensive here and can do contract work to generate income just about anywhere.
Professional Gang On Burglary Spree In Westchester
22 Houses Hit By Robbers In New Rochelle Alone; Cops Think They May Be Behind Other Burglaries In Nearby Towns
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (CBS) ―4-15-10
Imagine returning home only to find your underwear drawer ransacked by a stranger and your valuable jewelry no where to be found. That’s the frightening scenario confronting homeowners in five swanky neighborhoods in Westchester County, where a professional gang is carrying out a suburban burglary spree.
Inside the New Rochelle police forensics unit, Det. Isabel O’Rourke has a growing collection of evidence from the spree, including pictures of windows forced open with crowbars; bedroom closets ransacked; and dressers searched for valuables in the targeted neighborhood, where homes start at $600,000.
“We’re nervous,” said New Rochelle resident Glenn Staropoli. “We live in a pretty nice area, not used to this kind of stuff and now it’s starting to happen more and more.”
Police say a professional burglary gang has targeted 22 homes in the city’s swanky north end since November. The same crew may have struck homes in nearby posh suburbs, including Scarsdale, Eastchester, Rye, and Harrison.
They target homes that appear empty and strike between 5 and 11 p.m.
Bill Hertwig said the backyard burglars recently hit two of his neighbors, forcing open rear windows, grabbing jewelry from the bedrooms.
“I’ve spoken to several neighbors who have gotten broken into. It’s a very upsetting experience, it’s one that I don’t want to experience,” said Hertwig.
Sorry to hear about this. I was raised from a pup in that area, one of the towns bordering New Rochelle. If there was a better place to grow up, I don’t know about it, it was a blast.
Westchester County was targeted by the bammy administration and has been forced to provide more “low-income” housing. Taste of things to come.
“Westchester County was targeted by the bammy administration and has been forced to provide more “low-income” housing. Taste of things to come.”
That`s gonna get you on the watch list.
JANET !
NR and Harrison are enclaves…. “it’s different there”.
NOT!
Palmetto
Just out of curiosity, what program implemented by Obama lead to this?
Hey, measton, I was looking at my post above and danged if I could find anything that said Bammy’s program lead to this state of affairs. I said the following:
“Westchester County was targeted by the bammy administration and has been forced to provide more “low-income” housing. Taste of things to come.” Now, just for your edification, “to come” implies future activity. Meaning that the current incident is a harbinger of the future when bammy’s program gets cranked up.
Here’s the commie social engineering program I’m talking about:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/nyregion/11settle.html
One of the most disgusting things I’ve ever read. Notice that Westchester was never actually segregated. If you have the money, you can live there, no matter who you are. And don’t you think it’s rather racist to say that blacks and Hispanics are poor because they’re black and Hispanic? And since when is “Hispanic” a race? It’s a designation in search of a definition.
BTW, measton, have you ever actually lived in “low income” housing? I have. It sucks. Occasional gunshots in the middle of the night, druggies and drunkards carousing outside and knocking on the door to bum smokes or carfare or whatever, trying to peep past the doorway to see whatcha got, police stopping by to look for the former resident of your apartment, kids outside in the street crying because momsie and popsie had a violent disagreement, or the mentally ill older brother started whacking off in front of his sister. A real blast.
New Rochelle is a lot different than it was when Rob and Laura Petrie lived there…
Yes those people were priced out of Harlem and the bronx….next stop Port Chester
Oh right. Work at a low paying job and you are automatically a criminal. Jeez!
Right before the bubble went into hyperdrive, I looked at buying in New Rochelle and Bronxville (I still love Bronxville). This is why I dislike the entire NYC metro region — you ALWAYS have to watch your back, even worse than FL in many areas.
They didn’t hit Rob and Laura’s place did they?
“swanky”
Is this part of some unique NYC/Connecticut dialect? Because the only time I’ve ever heard this word used, is in reference to something within a 90 mile radius of Manhattan.
“is in reference to something within a 90 mile radius of Manhattan.”
You are absolutely correct, but the range is this:
60 miles to the north
100 miles to the east
1 Mile to the south
0 Miles to the west
Foreclosure rates surge, biggest jump in 5 years
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Foreclosure-rates-surge-apf-35024429.html?x=0
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A record number of U.S. homes were lost to foreclosure in the first three months of this year, a sign banks are starting to wade through the backlog of troubled home loans at a faster pace, according to a new report.
RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday that the number of U.S. homes taken over by banks jumped 35 percent in the first quarter from a year ago. In addition, households facing foreclosure grew 16 percent in the same period and 7 percent from the last three months of 2009.
More homes were taken over by banks and scheduled for a foreclosure sale than in any quarter going back to at least January 2005, when RealtyTrac began reporting the data, the firm said.
“We’re right now on pace to see more than 1 million bank repossessions this year,” said Rick Sharga, a RealtyTrac senior vice president.
Foreclosures began to ease last year as banks came under pressure from the Obama administration to modify home loans for troubled borrowers. In addition, some states enacted foreclosure moratoriums in hopes of giving homeowners behind in payments time to catch up. And in many cases, banks have had trouble coping with how to handle the glut of problem loans.
These factors have helped slow the pace of foreclosures, but now that trend appears to be reversing.
“We’re finally seeing the banks start to process the inventory that has been in foreclosure, but delayed in processing,” Sharga said. “We expect the pace to accelerate as the year goes on.”
In all, more than 900,000 households, or one in every 138 homes, received a foreclosure-related notice, RealtyTrac said. The firm based in Irvine, Calif., tracks notices for defaults, scheduled home auctions and home repossessions.
Homeowners continue to fall behind on payments because they’ve lost their job or seen their mortgage payment rise due to an interest-rate reset. Many are unable to refinance because they now owe more on their loan than their home is worth.
The Obama administration’s $75 billion foreclosure prevention program has only been able to help a small fraction of troubled homeowners.
About 231,000 homeowners have completed loan modifications as part of the Obama administration’s flagship foreclosure prevention program through March. That’s about 21 percent of the 1.2 million borrowers who began the program over the past year.
But another 158,000 homeowners who signed up have dropped out — either because they didn’t make payments or failed to return the necessary documents. That’s up from about 90,000 just a month earlier.
Last month, the administration expanded the program, launching a plan to reduce the amount some troubled borrowers owe on their home loans and give jobless homeowners a temporary break. But the details of those programs are expected to take months to work out.
The states with the highest foreclosure rates in the first quarter were Nevada, Arizona, Florida and California, with Nevada leading the pack, RealtyTrac said.
Rising home prices and speculation fueled a wave of home construction there during the housing boom. But now the state, particularly around the Las Vegas metropolitan area, is saddled with a glut of unsold homes.
Still, the number of homes in Nevada that received a foreclosure filing dropped 16 percent from the first quarter last year.
All told, one in every 33 homes in Nevada was facing foreclosure, more than four times the national average, RealtyTrac said.
Foreclosure filings rose on an annual and quarterly basis in Arizona, however.
One in every 49 homes there received a foreclosure-related notice during the quarter.
Florida, meanwhile, posted the third-highest foreclosure rate with one out of every 57 properties receiving a foreclosure filing.
California accounted for the biggest slice overall of homes facing foreclosure — roughly 23 percent of the nation’s total. One in every 62 properties received a foreclosure filing in the first quarter.
“Florida, meanwhile, posted the third-highest foreclosure rate with one out of every 57 properties receiving a foreclosure filing.”
I guess the re-set tsunami waves are finally hitting the shore. This is the moment we’ve been waiting for here on the HBB. The Dow? LMAO! Between the re-set tsunami and the fact that Greece’s bailout is about to vaporize, it should be a real hoe-down hootenanny on Wall Street any minute now. If I were Jamie Dimon, I’d be re-thinking those plans to hire 9,000 folks.
Wow - that’s remarkable, given how prices have flattened recently. Definitely points to job losses taking over as the primary cause of foreclosures; it’s not so much about price declines any more.
I think this is happening because prices have “stabilized”–it’s finally (sort of) worth it for the banks to take the property.
The squatting days may be over for a lot of people. I’d look to see consumer spending down 6 months from now as people actually have to pay rent again.
I think this is happening because prices have “stabilized”–it’s finally (sort of) worth it for the banks to take the property.
Good point. Back a year+ ago any bank that took over a property would just have to hold it forever, or give it up for an ultra-low (supposedly) price. Now that prices are stabilizing (for now), the banks are more willing to foreclose, since it’s easier for them to sell.
At any rate - an interesting bounce back up in foreclosures.
Biggest Jump in “5″ Years….
There were foreclosures in 2005?
Yes - even during the peak bubble years foreclosures ran at a rate of about 70k per month. There’s always going to be some level due to various factors - job loss, medical expenses, divorce, death of primary wage earner (with no life insurance), or just plain irresponsibility with money.
waiting_in_la
So are we. Well, actually Thousand Oaks. I would equate the foreclosure rate of 2005, as peeing in the ocean, compared to now. There has always been foreclosures, and it use to induce shame.
“……finally seeing the banks start to process the inventory……”
We’ve saw several stories over the past 2-3 years about how the banks were totally unprepared to process the number of foreclosures that they would soon be seeing.
Then we saw stories about how banks were not processing their foreclosures, while at the same time we were getting front page announcements of upcoming bailout programs.
Now, the banks are processing foreclosures with a vengeance……and the spokesman for all of the “bailout” programs (announced with such fanfare last year) are saying things like “we can’t help everyone”, “many are in too deep to save”, etc..
A cynic like myself might suggest that this whole program was designed to keep people in the property (to keep it from deteriorating, or being trashed), and/or to keep the payments coming in, until the banks got their ducks in a row, and could start cleaning up the mess.
I’d like to think that our business and political “leadership” is honest, truthful, and intelligent. Unfortunately, all the evidence indicates that the opposite is true.
It really is bad for your health to assume that the country’s “leadership” are a bunch of liars, crooks, cheaters, dumba$$es, idiots, etc, and have that assertion confirmed daily in the news.
“These are people of the land…….The common clay of the New West…..you know……….morons.”
A cynic like myself might suggest that this whole program was designed to keep people in the property (to keep it from deteriorating, or being trashed), and/or to keep the payments coming in, until the banks got their ducks in a row, and could start cleaning up the mess.
Gee, I thought I was the only cynic around here.
From TheEnergyDaily (I don’t have a link):
“Reliance Industries Ltd., India’s largest privately owned integrated oil and gas company, Friday became the latest foreign energy giant to jump into U.S. shale gas, announcing a $1.7 billion deal with Atlas Energy Inc. to get a 40 percent interest in key Atlas assets in southwestern Pennsylvania portions of the fast-growing Marcellus Shale play…Italian energy company Eni, British-owned BP plc and Norwegian oil and gas giant Statoil S.A. have also swung shale deals in recent months.”
The article goes on to say that small American companies pioneered drilling techniques. Now all that innovation is being bought up by foreigners. *sigh* Isn’t this how it always goes? Americans have the ingenuity, make a few mistakes, but innovate pretty well. Other countries buy it up, or reverse engineer it and pirate it for slave-wage prices cough*China*cough. Plus they benefit from American progress — developing countries don’t have to “waste” time and money on landlines or zip-drives, for example. [/end protectionist rant]
“Other countries buy it up, or reverse engineer it and priate it for slave-wage prices cough*China*cough.”
And the Chinese (and others) get to buy up this stuff with “worthess unbacked fiat dollars” of which we sent over to them a couple of trillion-or-so in exchange for their junk.
And along with these worthless fiats we sent to them some very worthwhile jobs.
there is a reason Americans sell it
A lot of big American companies have outsourced innovation to smaller companies and startups. The big players have money, ability to move markets and a customer base but lack agility. US blue chips have purchased foreign startups and vice versa.In fact the exit strategy for startups is most often to be bought out
As Americans you should be happy that you have a great opportunity to practice and profit from your tremendous ingenuity rather than complain.
“US blue chips have purchased foreign startups ”
This has become HP’s stndard business model: fire your engineers and buy start ups with viable products instead. Then fire most of the start ups engineers and bleed them dry until the cash flow stops. Lather, rinse, repreat.
The business model of the firm I worrk for is precisely to do “innovation” for larger clients. Since we are paid much less than the customer’s engineers it’s more cost effective for our customers. The firm is doing OK but we are still worried about offshore competition.
That “great opportunity to practice and profit from your tremendous ingenuity” isn’t available to everyone.
In fact, we’re complaining because it’s becoming less and less available to all but a few.
I guess they ARE making more land after all. In Iceland.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/16/world/europe/16ash.html?src=mv
Taxpayers Foot State Department’s Stiff Liquor Bill
Last year alone, the State Department sent taxpayers tabs totaling nearly $300,000 for alcoholic beverages — about twice as much compared to the previous year, according to an analysis of spending records by The Washington Times.
Months after President Obama urged federal agencies last year to cut wasteful spending, the U.S. Department of State paid $3,814 to fill an order of Jack Daniel’s whiskey for gratuities at one of its many overseas embassies, the Washington Times reports.
The booze buy wasn’t unusual.
Last year alone, the State Department sent taxpayers tabs totaling nearly $300,000 for alcoholic beverages — about twice as much compared to the previous year, according to an analysis of spending records by The Washington Times.
The purchases, small and large, included $2,483 to pay for “assorted spirits for gratuities to vendors” at the U.S. mission to the United Nations in New York, and $9,501 in “Christmas gratuities” of whiskey and wine at the U.S. Embassy in South Korea.
Taxpayer watchdogs say while accounting for a small fraction of the State Department’s overall budget, some of the liquor expenditures reflect larger concerns about stewardship of federal tax dollars at a time when many recession-weary Americans find themselves struggling to hold onto jobs and pay mortgages.
How much was the State Department bill for “personal lubricants”? I am praying it was high enough.
“Taxpayer watchdogs say while accounting for a small fraction of the State Department’s overall budget…”
Those are wannabee learner watchdogs.
Real professional watchdogs do not piss and moan about spending a few bucks on Jack Daniels. Even volunteer watchdogs know you reserve your howl for cases where the govt. needs to spend at least half a trillion MORE.
Mere pups on newspaper there.
Used to work for a gov agency. Every year the auditors would come around. I ran the the accounting system. Every year I’d drop them a tip, complete with accounting codes. Never came back to me, they knew the deal.
Now that the dang evangs are out - let the drinking commence!
“The purchases, small and large, included $2,483 to pay for “assorted spirits for gratuities to vendors” at the U.S. mission to the United Nations in New York, and $9,501 in “Christmas gratuities” of whiskey and wine at the U.S. Embassy in South Korea.”
I’d be curious to know how much the liquor bill totalled at the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia…
$2483 is nothing for alcohol. That’s not even a wedding’s worth of open bar.
I definitely want to party with you.
Actually no, I’m not a drinker. I was just making a quick and dirty calculation: 100 people have 5 drinks apiece at $4 each.
$3,814 to fill an order of Jack Daniel’s whiskey for gratuities
Don’t forget the panty hose, chewing gum and cigarettes.
Post-modification defaults increasing.
“The current model for modifications doesn’t necessarily produce sustainable results,”
Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/04/15/1376805/post-modification-defaults-increasing.html#ixzz0lAZKDxKU
Foreclosures up on high influx of REOs
Tampa Bay Business Journal - 4-15-10
Spring got off to a bad start in the foreclosure market as every Tampa Bay county posted increases in March and the first quarter as a whole.
That follows trends on both the state and national levels that signal a solution to the foreclosure crisis is still some time away.
Foreclosure activity through the first quarter seemed to mirror what happened a year before, said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in a release. That includes a “shallow trough” in January and February, but then a spike in March.
One difference was increases occurring more in the final stage of foreclosure, judging by an increase nationally in REOs, or real estate owned properties typically sold by banks following the foreclosure process.
“This subtle shift in numbers pushed REOs to the highest quarterly total we’ve ever seen in our report, and may be further evidence that lenders are starting to make a dent in the backlog of distressed inventory that has built up over the past year as foreclosure prevention programs and processing delays slowed down the normal foreclosure timeline,” Saccacio said.
“This subtle shift in numbers pushed REOs to the highest quarterly total we’ve ever seen in our report, and may be further evidence that lenders are starting to make a dent in the backlog of distressed inventory that has built up over the past year as foreclosure prevention programs and processing delays slowed down the normal foreclosure timeline,” Saccacio said.”
Yep, hop to, banksters! You’ve had your fun dicking around with prevention programs and processing delays. It’s over. Face it.
MOOOOOOOVE that real estate, banksters. You heard me. Palmy wants a $30,000 concrete block shack, NOW!
This is great news! Liquidity is back in the residential real estate market. I have this mental image of water cascading over a waterfall…
Speaking of water cascading, that’s kinda-sorta happening in my side yard. No, it’s not the water line that I had replaced last year. It’s the next door neighbor’s.
Yes, that neighbor. The one with the loutish common law husband/boyfriend/whatever. The guy who, with his brother, threatened my water line replacement plumbing crew while they were working here last year.
Well, the good news is that Senor Lout got his sorry old self kicked out the day after Easter. He was threatening the lady of the house, who owns the place, and she and what I believe were members of her family told him to get out. Among other things, one of the eviction committee members told Senor Lout that he was an f-ing drunk. He’s been back a couple of times for very brief visits, but that’s it. The nabe is a lot more peaceful without him.
Any-hoo, I got up this morn, opened my back door and what did I see but another leak in the neighbor’s elderly galvanized water line. I’ve called the water company because the shutoff valve is on another property, and I’d rather not tangle with the dogs that patrol that place. Furthermore, I don’t think the next door neighbor is home right now.
I think my neighbor is looking at a water line replacement. The line to that house had a similar rupture back in December ‘04, and that caused a big flood in my side yard. To “repair” that rupture, Senor Lout and his buddies grafted a piece of PVC onto the old galvi line. However, they didn’t use the correct fittings to do the connection. (I didn’t know that at the time, but it was something I learned while I was taking construction classes at the community college in ‘05-’06.)
So, stay tuned, people. I think the neighbor is about to get a nice lesson in the limited lifespan of galvanized water lines. (I replaced my line with copper. And I really like my new line.)
More like a dam bursting … ‘with pride’. haha
Me again.
Tucson Water came a-knocking on my door a few minutes ago. They were trying to find the water leak and the meter for my next door neighbor.
So, I let them into my side yard to show off the leak. And I directed them to the meter, which is two properties to the north, so they can shut off my neighbor’s water.
Said neighbor isn’t home, so Tucson Water is going to leave her a note about the shutoff. I doubt that she’ll be happy.
Any-hoo, while the water guys were here, I asked them to check my line for leaks (as in, watch the meter, which shouldn’t be moving because I don’t have any faucets turned on) and call me if there’s a problem. No call from them.
I also asked them about grafting PVC onto old galvi as a possible fix. Didn’t say that was what Senor Lout and crew did back in ‘04. I was just asking about this fix as a solution to the leakage problem.
The Tucson Water guy nixed the fix. “They’re going to have to replace their whole water line,” he said.
That isn’t going to go over well next door. Because today’s leak is in a section that was part of the ‘04 PVC graft. I wonder if one of those “wrong part for the job” fittings failed.
Me again.
The neighbor’s daughter and some young man I don’t know (I think he’s her boyfriend because I’ve seen his truck over there quite a bit) just came over to look at their water line.
Seems that the line failed just where I thought it would — at the joint between the old, rusting galvanized line and the PVC section that was grafted onto it in December 2004. I pointed out that the connection between the line and the section was done with one of those plastic nuts that you use for a PVC drain line, and those aren’t made to withstand the continuous pressure from water in a service line.
I also told them what Tucson Water told me and that is the only thing you can do with an old, leaky galvanized line is replace it. That’s what I had to do last year.
They asked me how much my job cost, and I channeled my inner Robert Gibbs and sidestepped the question. I just told ‘em that I hired a professional contractor and paid that kind of rate.
Well, apparently the young Mr. Fixit is a contractor, but he’s not a licensed plumber. He’s going to do a temporary fix of the line, but I advised both him and the young lady that on an old line, temporary fixes don’t last very long.
We’ll see what happens, but I’m not of the mind that they’re going to be able to keep using that galvi line much longer. Once one section blows, it’s not very long before the other sections start getting nasty ideas.
“Once one section blows…”
Yep, path of least resistance. Happened to me on my former home.
According to the San Jose Merc:
The median price of Santa Clara County houses sold last month rose 29 percent from a year earlier, to $550,000, the biggest year-over-year increase in almost a decade, a real estate information firm reported today.
DataQuick says its a statistical quirk. Gotta tell you though — places are selling here. Most people are still priced out of this market.
“Yep, hop to, banksters! You’ve had your fun dicking around with prevention programs and processing delays. It’s over. Face it”.
Yep, ‘they’ have gummed up the works really well. The real-a-tor we deal with has told me a number of times that the amount of REO’s in our area of S.C. far exceeds what most people may believe.
I would call what they are trying to do is a controlled burn. The breeze is picking up and is fanning the flames.
Gonna need a great big fire hose.
Back in the 1990s, there was a controlled burn in the Rincon Mountains just east of Tucson. The breeze picked up, and the controlled burn turned into and out of control conflagration. Boy, was that thing a bear to put out. All over town, we enjoyed watching the pillar of smoke, which looked like it was billowing out of a volcano.
I would call what they are trying to do is a controlled burn.
I think that’s what the bankers and the government are trying to do. The fact that foreclosures are increasing while the economy is gaining steam is an indication that the new decline will be somewhat “controlled”.
I think we’re entering the double dip in housing prices right now. The timing is perfect for the ones who want a controlled burn because the foreclosures are rising into the busy summer house buying season. This will control the speed of the drop for another 4 months.
Let’s see if they extend the tax break.
Duran Duran did a song about foreclosures: “Her name was REO and she sinks into the sand….”
Thanks so much for the earworm! Good parody lyrics though.
This would be great news, but the hood I just moved out of had 3 houses listed by RealtyTrac in some stage of foreclosure and a letter from the HOA to home owners had 33.
Home reposessions hit record high; new foreclosure filings level off
latest real estate news
By Kimberly Miller
Banks repossessed nearly 258,000 homes nationwide in the first quarter of this year, a 35 percent jump from the same time in 2009 and a record high as measured by analysts at Irvine, Calif-based RealtyTrac.
But while bank takeovers _ the last step in the foreclosure process _ grew, initial notices of foreclosure dipped one percent nationwide during the same time period.
RealtyTrac’s first quarter report, released this morning, showed 1,084 Palm Beach County homes went onto banks’ books through March, 89 percent more than the same time last year.
And while 7,524 Palm Beach County homes received an initial foreclosure notice in the first quarter _ an 82 percent hike compared to 2009 _ filings fell off in March, dropping 30 percent from the previous month.
The shift in numbers _ high bank takeovers, leveling initial default notices _ led some to speculate that banks are working through their property backlog while federal foreclosure rescue programs prevent, or at least stall, another wave of mortgage defaults.
“This subtle shift in the numbers pushed bank-owned properties to the highest quarterly total we’ve ever seen and may be further evidence that lenders are starting to make a dent in the backlog of distressed inventory that has built up over the last year,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, which began logging foreclosures in 2005.
WSJ
APRIL 14, 2010
Evidence Mounts of Strong Recovery
By MARK WHITEHOUSE
Shoppers turned up in surprising force at U.S. stores, auto dealers, restaurants and elsewhere in March, adding to a growing sense that the recovery could prove faster than anticipated.
Combined with a rebounding service sector, rising financial markets and new efforts to forgive mortgage debts, March’s 1.6% surge in retail sales is tempting forecasters to upgrade their assessments of the economy’s ability to restore the 8.2 million U.S. jobs lost since the recession began.
The renewed consumer and business activity also helped propel J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. to a 55% profit gain in the first quarter, increasing optimism among investors that banks, too, are rebounding from the crisis that floored the industry.
“There’s a growing risk that we’re underestimating the strength of the recovery,” said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities, noting that deep recessions tend to be followed by steeper recoveries. “If the economy pops, it’s going to be faster than anyone is forecasting.”
…
“The renewed consumer and business activity also helped propel J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. to a 55% profit gain in the first quarter …”
Bullsh*t! J.P. Morgan made most of this profit on their bond trading activities.
Borrow as much as you can at 0% and invest in treasuries at 4%?
Talk about a ponzi scheme.
People defaulting on their home loans are now back at the malls spending money right?
This would only make sense if one had inside information about when those 0% short term rates were going to go up, wouldn’t it? (Just sayin…)
Isn’t there actually very little borrowing that goes on at the official Fed Funds rate though - e.g. usually just overnight borrowing? It’s always been really fuzzy to me how this works.
Obviously the Fed Funds rate affects the overall interest rates - including the rates the banks borrow at, but I’ve often wondered about the mechanism and the scale of this interbank lending. Thus are the banks really “borrowing at 0% from the Fed and lending at 4%” at any real meaningful scale? Or is the bulk of their borrowing really just from the general markets (e.g. CD’s/MM/etc at around 1-2%)?
Would appreciate any commentary from someone more in the know.
Not really, rates don’t go from zero to 4+% in one shot. The banksters will have plenty of time to move out of their positons once rates start to move. They will lose a little as the value of the bond will decline, but they will have more that covered that in the arbitrage over the year of two that this goes on.
Ummm, initial claims are up again, 484k.
Remember gang, remember the unusually precise words of TTT and Romer a while back. I don’t know what the rest of you think, but mid-April is pretty freaking “springtime” to me.
Ok, and here is my problem. I really need to make some purchases. Not a car or anything, but I think my computer is going to hit 3rd grade next fall and my sofa is old enough to vote (though not to drink). But I hate boosting what I know are misleading consumer spending numbers that are mostly boosted because they are being compared to the tough of the first dip of a multidip recession.
Back to Craig’s List….
Same here. Sorry everybody, but my band just bought a new Yamaha PA system to feed “the system”. I wanted to go Craigslist, but the money man wanted to go new.
Bought a smallish edge-lit LCD flat screen last month too. Very low power usage though because PG&E is about to crank rates.
Otherwise, nothing but staples.
I had to bite the bullet and buy a new computer. In fact, it just arrived this morning but I can’t have it until Mother’s Day.
Anyhoo… this is a machine that would have cost $4,000 two years ago, and we spent about half that and of course got more oomph for the money than we would have back then. And its replacing a machine that is almost 15 years old (although I’ve cobbled in newer/upgraded parts as needed over the years).
I just had to spring for a new camera. Need it for an upcoming weekend-long shoot, and I’ll have more to say about that next month.
Any-hoo, my new cam is being financed by money I loaned my little ole self, and I’ll be repaying myself over time.
Now is a good time to have cash.
Depending on your computing needs, you might find a Dell refurb to be a surprisingly good deal. As for the sofa, lots of furniture stores are going belly up and are dumping inventory. Something to do with the economy, or so I’m told
Too Big to Jail? We’ll see…
WSJ
LAW
APRIL 13, 2010
Goldman Director in Probe
Prosecutors Examine Trades by Galleon in Bank’s Shares as Investigation Widens
BY SUSAN PULLIAM
Wall Street’s most powerful firm is being drawn into the government’s sprawling insider-trading investigation.
…
“Government investigation.” Not likely this investigators will be allowed to step on any “too big to fail” toes.
Rand just might win this one, he outpolls his opponent in the primary, and also beats either likely dem candidate he may face.
Bunning endorses Tea Party favorite Rand Paul for Senate
Ryan Alessi - McClatchy Newspapers
Kentucky Republican Sen. Jim Bunning issued a surprise endorsement Wednesday of Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul, calling him the one “strong, principled conservative” and best choice to fill the seat Bunning will vacate later this year.
Riding an anti-establishment wave that’s swept through other GOP primaries, Paul, the son of Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas and a favored candidate of the Tea Party movement, has built double-digit leads in most public polls heading toward the May 18 vote. Paul also has the backing of former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
Bunning, who last month blocked an extension of unemployment federal benefits, said Kentucky “needs a conservative who will say no to bailouts, stop the government takeover of our economy, end wasteful spending, and bring down our national debt.”
“In 2010, there is only one such conservative running for the United States Senate — Dr. Rand Paul…”
Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/04/14/1224392/bunning-endorses-tea-party-favorite.html#ixzz0lAtsYzy0
Well you can color me floored.
(Not about the article, but who posted it)
Ditto. I’m floored for the same reason. I thought A.S. loves big spending and would not pay attention to fiscal conservative politicans.
I see alpha’s reasoning. It’s not as if Kentucky is going to elect a Dem anytime soon. Since Repubs are all in lockstep anyway, one is no different from another. I think the libs are going to enjoy watching anti-gov Rand take on the corporatists. Corporatists only say they are anti-government, when they are secretly the most pro-gov people around. After all, they bought it.
I live in KY, so I’ll do my best to keep everyone apprised of what’s going on in this race. Oxide’s right, I’d prefer to see a dem pick up the seat, but that ain’t gonna happen. I’d much rather see a Paulist pick up the seat than a mainstream repub. (Someone’s gotta keep us entertained since Bunning’s retiring.)
I prefer Ron Paul’s brand of conservatism (and I suspect his son’s) far more than I like the corporatist repubs, who comprise the rest of the party, and who, in my opinion, are a complete bunch of frauds. Although I’ve joked otherwise, I do think both Pauls are sincere in their beliefs. If it wasn’t for their ‘libertarian’ views on environmental regulation (ie they want none), I might even vote for one. We’ll see…
Oh, and BiLA, I don’t ‘love big spending’. But I keep finding that the so-called fiscal conservatives end up spending more of our money than the other guys. Throw in the fact that I (like you) would prefer not to live in a theocratic police state, and I end up voting dem. Maybe one day I’ll grow up and boycott everything like yourself.
That’s why I’ve been promoting the Paul/Kucinich ticket. Yin/Yang. Both considered crackpots.
However, we get fiscal conservatism, no wars, base level of public education and healthcare, and environmental regs. Which is what the majority of Americans want, is my best guess.
Stand back, folks — this MoFo is gonna blow…
Data flurry heightens worry
Weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rise to 484,000
U.S. stock futures cower in the face of economic releases.
And the Great American Layoff Machine keeps rolling on.
Pessimistic pig. You’re probably a capitalist too.
A Happy Tax Day to all!
April 15, 2010, 3:47 a.m. EDT
Foreclosures up in 1st quarter; real-estate owned at record
By Robert Daniel, MarketWatch
TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) — U.S. properties subject to foreclosure action in the first quarter rose 16% from the year-earlier quarter and 7% from fourth-quarter 2009, consultant RealtyTrac reported Thursday.
Real estate owned by lenders is at the highest level RealtyTrac has seen since it began reporting the data, Chief Executive James J. Saccacio said in a statement.
The report “may be further evidence that lenders are starting to make a dent in the backlog of distressed inventory that has built up over the last year as foreclosure-prevention programs and processing delays slowed down the normal foreclosure timeline,” he said.
Foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on more than 932,000 properties in the quarter. That means one in every 138 U.S. housing units received such a filing, the Irvine Calif., firm said.
In March, 367,000 properties were subject to foreclosure filings, up 8% from March 2009 and up 19% from February 2010.
Nevada for 13 quarters has been the state with the highest foreclosure rate, RealtyTrac reported. In first-quarter 2010, 1 in every 33 housing units in the state was subject to a foreclosure filing.
That’s more than four times the national average and is up nearly 15% from fourth-quarter 2009. More than 34,500 properties in the state received a filing in the first quarter, down 16% from first-quarter 2009.
Arizona was second with 1 in every 49 properties subject to a filing in Florida was third with one in every 57.
Ten states account for more than 70% of the foreclosure filings in the first quarter, RealtyTrac reported.
In absolute numbers, California’s more than 216,000 properties subject to a foreclosure notice accounted for 23% of the nation’s total. Florida was second with more than 153,500 and Arizona was third, with nearly 55,700.
Ben to pressboard: “Your posts suck today.”
No worse than ususal. Trying to maintain the value of my comments as “close to zero for an extended period of time.”
Biggest failures of the Democratic Party the past 30 years?
1. Went along with outsourcing/globalization myth.
2. Did not seek tort reform in many areas.
3. Did not seek to lessen the role of lobbyists.
4. Became the party of the rich and abandoned the middle class.
5. Didn’t fight crony-monopolistic capitalism’s formation.
6 Incurred too much public debt.
7. 8. 9. ??????
Biggest failures of the Republican Party the past 30 years???
1. Became the party of Big-Businesses instead of all Business.
2. Let the extreme right wing take over the party.
3. Let the military industrial and oil companies affect policy.
4. Promoted the outsourcing/globalization myth.
5. Instigated crony-monopolistic capitalism’s formation.
6. Incurred too much public debt.
7. 8. 9. ??????
Another Democratic failure: Letting the Republicans co-opt them on the issues of personal responsibility and family values.
Another Democratic failure: Letting the Republicans co-opt them on the issues of personal responsibility and family values.
I agree. But how could Democrats have battled this co-opt more effectively?
Stressing the importance of jobs and how their decline relates to outsourcing is one way they could have killed 2 birds with one stone I imagine. Others?
They embraced a lot of atheistic kind of values and didn’t do things like a charity tax credit. Would have shown that aside from government provided aid, they embrace church based services too.
Also, allowed themselves to get backed into a corner with extremist stance from NOW on late term abortions and public funded abortions. A choice.
Both parties abandoned the Ford principle as well in favor of globalism. Still remember talking with my brother, now laid off, about competing for jobs with third world countries with dictators, no environmental standards, no wage standards and a really really low standard of living; this was going to be a bad thing.
This from a libertarian who considered sending all that industry overseas would be an assault on our freedoms. Not to mention decaying border security.
Now our rivals are much stronger.
The strategy now needs to be different. It is impossible to unscramble the egg. Once technology has shifted elsewhere it’s a long term job getting it back. Not to mention, doing this with out causing another employment shock.
Yep. But the Republicans took “family values” a little too far too, selling out to the religious right and straying from their message of fiscal responsibility.
(Note: maybe I am dating myself on that one. The Rebublicans haven’t been known as the party of fiscal responsibility in decades.)
The Rebublicans haven’t been known as the party of fiscal responsibility in decades.
Well, they’ve been the self-proclaimed party of fiscal responsibility for decades, whether or not the facts show otherwise.
Those are factors in my decision to leave the Republican Party. Now, I’m a political atheist and I’ve mellowed. Must be age. Less time in front of me, then behind.
Biggest boost to America’s IQ.
Rio moved to Brazil.
Sorry if I get to you Bill and I know I do. How couldn’t I?
But that was funny!
Ignore it, Rio. I may not always agree with you myself, but I find myself agreeing with you more often than not. I very much value your posts and your perspective, plus the intelligence with which you frame your points of view. Now, get the hell out of Brazil and come back here. We need you. Although I know it’s a bitch coming back to the US and gaining 12 pounds.
get the hell out of Brazil and come back here.
Hey thanks a lot Palmetto! And I am going to come back. I want to come back in a few. But this has been a real eye opener too.
Rio,
I applaud your sense of humor!
And it was funny.
don’t agree
Under Dems.
8. Don’t forget the promoting identity politics and letting the minority interest groups dominate party policies.
Under Reps.
8. All talks no action on fiscal matters.
Don’t look now, but Straight White Anglo-Saxon Protestant males are fast becoming a minority themselves. And it’s not all because of illegal immigration.
Sure. And when everyone is a minority what will the Dem talking point be? It’s easy to keep all the minority groups in line focused on hating the white man. But when the white man is a minority himself, then what?
It’s already happened. Can’t really blame racism/sexism for your troubles when a black man is president and woman is speaker of the house. Well, you can, but you’d be a fool.
California became a polyglot state a few years ago. Hawaii’s been one for decades. As has the city of New York.
So much for hatin’ on that white majority.
City of New York: practically bankrupt
California: bankrupt and then some
Hatin’ on the white man gets Dem votes and does wonders to the economy.
Hawaii….whole different creature and I would imagibe the state has always been majority minority.
Not sure why does it matter that the straight WASPs are becoming minitorities themseleves . I am not a WASP so I can’t speak for them. You can not deny the fact that DEMS are the worst when it comes to pandering to minority interest groups, setting bars lower for them and cutting backroom deals to the detriment to the majority and the society as a whole.
You can not deny the fact that DEMS are the worst when it comes to pandering to minority interest groups, setting bars lower for them and cutting backroom deals to the detriment to the majority and the society as a whole.
But what are some specific examples of the pandering and policy?
Oooh oooh i know i know!
Acorn? CRA? Open borders? minimum wage? Welfare moms? Food stamps? Affirmative action? Medicaid?
I mean, even *I’m* a little tired of all the handouts. But there are even larger handouts to banks.
You can not deny the fact that DEMS are the worst when it comes to pandering to minority interest groups…
Do the repubs ever pander to the wealthy elite, or the evangelicals? Because they’re both minorities.
8. Don’t forget the promoting identity politics and letting the minority interest groups dominate party policies.
Which has turned more than a few of us off to the Democrats.
Dems 10. Acting like illegal immigration was a good thing, and anyone who opposed it was racist.
11. Deregulating Wall Street.
Repubs 10. Making energy efficiency seem un-American.
11. Encouraging armed rebellion after losing elections.
12. Opposing campaign finance reform.
13. Mocking science.
14. Opposing health care reform.
15. Encouraging homophobia.
16. Combining religion and state.
17. Deregulating Wall Street.
Awesome news for those of us who think San Diego’s water front is already plenty beautiful and who like to leave well enough alone; hopefully Sanders will be gone from office before this plan ever resurfaces…
Coast panel rejects waterfront overhaul
Lack of public park space sticking point
By Steve Schmidt, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 12:14 a.m.
The state Coastal Commission late Wednesday rejected the first phase of a long-planned, $228 million overhaul of the downtown waterfront, saying it would cheat the public of prime park space. The decision is a crushing setback for San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and port officials.
The panel deadlocked 5-5, one vote short of what was needed to allow construction to go forward.
The commissioner who might have tipped the project in the port’s favor recused himself. Pat Kruer of La Jolla, who had been an enthusiastic supporter of the revamp, announced before the hearing in Ventura that he would not participate to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. Kruer’s brother has business ties with the port.
Kruer could not be reached by phone or e-mail Wednesday night.
The San Diego Unified Port District began developing the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan 12 years ago, saying it would revitalize the bayfront and turn an asphalt corridor along Harbor Drive into a gleaming showcase of open space and maritime activities.
“I’m disappointed by the Coastal Commission’s action today, which will delay for several years — if not longer — a project that would greatly enhance public enjoyment of our downtown waterfront,” Sanders said in a statement Wednesday night. “While I’m disappointed, I’m hopeful that the plan can be modified and ultimately approved in some fashion.”
…
I’m having such a wonderful time looking for a rental. OK, that was sarcasm. There’s actually no shortage of them out there. But here’s the thing — if they accept pets, then for the most part they are dumps.
It never ceases to amaze me that LLs think you actually want to rent their piece of sh*t that has never once been upgraded. I actually told one property management — if the LL won’t put any pride into his property, why the hell would you expect the tenant to.
One more observation/question — what possesses an architect to build condos/apts. with teeny little living rooms and large(r) bedrooms? You sleep in the bedroom, not entertain!
“But here’s the thing — if they accept pets, then for the most part they are dumps.”
Keep looking. Initially we weren’t our landlord’s first choice either due to us having a pet. Then he met with other potential tenants. Let’s just say our credit scores literally won him over AND we were able to negotiate a little off his asking price.
Big part of the problem with landlords and pets is that many pet owners are irresponsible. As in, they let the pets trash the residence — inside and outside — and they don’t clean up the mess. Instead, they leave it for the landlord.
Then there are renters who get a dog, then realize that it’s way too much to handle, so it gets dumped in the yard. Where it proceeds to bark and bark and bark. Late last year, I had a wonderful time dealing with a neighboring landlord on that issue. Fat lotta good that did.
What ultimately worked was seeing the tenants in city court. Where they lied their way out of any responsibility for their dogs’ noise, and the judge let them off. To the judge’s credit, he did give them a stern warning, and the tenants have done a pretty good job of controlling the dogs since then.
In my experience, most pet owners are very responsible. There are always ‘bad’ ones though.
On the FICO front, mine came back as 801, so lo and behold, I can now babysit my daughter’s cat at the one and only rental I ended up liking (that didn’t allow pets).
“You sleep in the bedroom, not entertain!”
I don’t know, I’ve spent some very entertaining time in my and other ladies bedrooms!
You’re gay? Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
He’s a she? Dang, another gender miscalculation on the hbb for me.
Is it time for a “HBB Late Night” forum?
Oh me too - the antics on the bed!
However — I really prefer to have all my visitors have room to move in the living room……….:-)
Our recent experience was horrible too, and no pets. It took forever and we were astounded that LLs wouldn’t come down a hundred bucks when there places had been on CL for a month or more. Do the math, ‘tards.
But we found something cheap (for Marin Co.) and nice, albeit small. Can’t wait for the weekend to spend an afternoon on the deck.
The tiny living rooms are for young hipsters who spend all their time at bars and coffee shops with their laptops and wifi connections. All they need room for at home is a place to sit, possibly with one other person, and a flat panel TV. Since they don’t cook, why entertain at home?
I didn’t find that many places with huge bedrooms, though the one you saw may be meant for the people who think anyone over 5 foot 6 can’t be comfortable without a king sized bed.
My biggest gripe was the ones with very little space overall, but the walk in closet was nearly as large as the bedroom. Maybe they expected people to build little shrines for worshipping their shoes?
Maybe they expected people to build little shrines for worshipping their shoes?
You’ve met my ex-girlfriends?
McMansions are like that too. Huge “dressing room” and a master bath that’s as bigger than the kids’ bedrooms.
I would agree Polly, except these were built in the 60s!
As a renter with pets I feel your pain.
But at the same time were I a landlord I would have a 100% no pet policy myself. Too little reward for the risk IMO.
Seems like some of the newer apt buildings here have desperate management, advertising that they take pets. Nice places, too. I’d hate to be a stay-at-home or retiree in one of those places because you know the tenants go off and leave the dogs locked up to bark all day.
My GF’s place is like that. I think it’s a failed condo development. Brand new everything. She claims most tenants have dogs. I take mine there as visitor, no problem.
My GF’s place is like that. I think it’s a failed condo development.
Your GF live in West Seattle? B/c that’s what my old place was like. Except most all the dogs were well-behaved. Well, except for the small ones. The beagle barked non-stop, as did the little lhasa apso. So did the weiner dog.
For those who are bedeviled by barking, you’re not alone. We’re creating quite a lively Quiet Homes movement. Join with us via BarkingDogs.net.
Hang tuff. There are pet friendly rentals out there. I’ve been on both sides of the equation.
Look for private owners who have had long term vacancy. Be careful, as they may be nearing foreclure. However, it took me almost two years, but I found one. Decent deposit etc. High deposits: you likely won’t get your money back.
Miconception: Using a rental property management company ensures you won’t be evicted due to foreclosure. It’s not guaranteed no matter what they say.
Good luck. Scour, drive around. Be diligent.
Best wishes. I love my [ets.
Renters miss out on the chance to sock away home improvement ’savings’ with the help of tax-deductible financing. Go right ahead and keep enjoying those 0 percent returns on your savings accounts if it floats your boat.
CNBC News
‘Green Shoots’ and ‘Animal Spirits’ Signal Economic Growth
Published: Monday, 12 Apr 2010 | 11:42 AM ET
By: Reported by Steve Liesman, written by Michelle Lodge
Better data and a brightening outlook have Wall Street economists increasing their forecasts even though the official committee that dates recessions said in a statement Monday they are reluctant to declare the downturn over.
Phrases like “green shoots,” “animal spirits” and “real consumer spending” are dominating some economists’ weekend reports as they track recovery. Yet, economists with National Bureau of Economic Research won’t say the recession is over, even though they tracked growth in 2009 and project more this year.
The National Bureau’s economists expect a 2.9 percent growth in the first quarter with a slight acceleration this quarter to 3.4 percent. They tracked 5.5 percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Meanwhile, economists are taking a rosier view of the economy. “Real consumer spending continues to outrun our projections,” wrote Goldman Sachs economists wrote in its weekend report. The result is that consumers are putting funds into home renovations again—effectively using it as the equivalent of savings.
…
“Meanwhile, economists are taking a rosier view of the economy. ”
Meanwhile, first time claims for unemployment benefits rose “unexpectedly”, again.
A rallying down in conjunction with collapsing housing prices?
I’ll take it.
errr…. rallying DOW. (I got confused with housing rally down ;))
Can I call it or what?
We have a new troll, people!
Keep going on and on with the gloom and doom talk. In a couple of years from now, we should compare my stock portfolio to your passbook savings account to see which approach worked better during the economic recovery.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Bullard: Look to Wall Street as Economic Recovery Indicator
By Peter Barnes, Senior Washington Correspondent
FOXBusiness
A top Federal Reserve official said Thursday he believes the recent jump in stock prices reflects fundamental improvements in economic conditions and is not sign of an “asset bubble,” as some economists fear.
With major stock indices up more than 70% since their lows in March 2009, they are “getting closer to the level (they were) at, say, in January of 2007, before we really got going in the crisis,” said James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, in an interview with FOX Business Network. “And I think that is an encouraging sign because it suggests that what we got was a temporary dip and not a permanent decline.”
…
Hey Folks -
Looking for help, here. I’m getting called out on redfin for my prediction to wait until values adjust to ‘98-’00 levels, adjusted for inflation.
I was asked, ‘where do we find these comps, and how do we adjust for inflation?’
Does anyone know what the best answer to this question is? Thanks.
Histories of specific properties can be found at the local Recorder of Deeds office (or equivilent). Once you’ve got that, google up any old inflation calculator. Thats not the kind of homework you can do for these folks, however. Case Schiller’s graph ought to be enough of an overview to make your point.
Case Schiller’s graph ought to be enough of an overview to make your point.
This one for instance is a good one.
Packman - your Case-Shiller Graph has ignited much debate on the RedFin Los Angeles forums.
I post as ‘vfxdrummer’ there, and I used it to start one my threads, here :
http://forums.redfin.com/t5/Los-Angeles/Case-Shiller-Historic-Housing-Price-Graph/td-p/97820
LOL. Unfortunately I don’t have time to follow up on the discussion, and I’m out on vacation for a couple of days starting now. Maybe later…
CS Graph is showing the deadcat / fed intervention quite nicely.
CS Graph is showing the deadcat / fed intervention quite nicely.
Yes. Therefore since the intervention is ending, the next logical direction would be…
“Therefore since the intervention is ending, the next logical direction would be…”
another as yet unannounced intervention.
Go by how many gallons of gas they are worth at that time. That way you can always pour the gas on the houses and light ‘em if they come up short. Hope that helps.
REagents have access to those data online in the archives. Can your Redfin agent do it for you? Whenever I look at a listing I check its sales history. If none exists I look at sales histories of the neighboring houses.
Why would you adjust for inflation if the wages for jobs in that area have not similarly adjusted for inflation?
A repeat from yesterday for the benefit of the East Coast/A.M. HBBers -
Why A Consumer-Led Recovery is Not In The Cards:
While the market cheers on the fantastic job “growth” of March 2010, the more astute of us are concerned with a growing tide of personal bankruptcies. March 2010 saw 158,000 bankruptcy filings. David Rosenberg of Gluskin-Sheff notes that this is an astounding 6,900 filings per day.
This latest filing is up 19% from March 2009’s number which occurred at the absolute nadir of the economic decline, when everyone thought the world was ending. It’s also up 35% from last month’s (February 2010) number.
Given the significance of this, I thought today we’d spend some time delving into numbers for the “median” American’s experience in the US today. Regrettably, much of the data is not up to date so we’ve got to go by 2008 numbers.
In 2008, the median US household income was $50,300. Assuming that the person filing is the “head of household” and has two children (dependents), this means a 1040 tax bill of $4,100, which leaves about $45K in income after taxes (we’re not bothering with state taxes). I realize this is a simplistic calculation, but it’s a decent proxy for income in the US in 2008.
Now, $45K in income spread out over 26 pay periods (every two weeks), means a bi-weekly paycheck of $1,730 and monthly income of $3,460. This is the money “Joe America” and his family to live off of in 2008.
Now, in 2008, the median home value was roughly $225K. Assuming our “median” household put down 20% on their home (unlikely, but it used to be considered the norm), this means a $180K mortgage. Using a 5.5% fixed rate 30-year mortgage, this means Joe America’s 2008 monthly mortgage payments were roughly $1,022.
So, right off the bat, Joe’s monthly income is cut to $2,438.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, the average 2008 monthly food bill for a family of four ranged from $512-$986 depending on how “liberal” you are with your purchases. For simplicity’s sake we’ll take the mid-point of this range ($750) as a monthly food bill.
This brings Joe’s monthly income to $1,688.
Now, Joe needs light, energy, heat, and air conditioning to run his home. According to the Energy Information Administration, the average US household used about 920 kilowatt-hours per month in 2008. At a national average price of 11 cents per kilowatt-hour this comes to a monthly electrical bill of $101.20.
Joe’s now down to $1,587.
Now Joe needs to drive to work to make a living. Similarly, he needs to be able to drive to the grocery store, doctor, etc. According to AAA, the average cost per mile of driving a minivan (Joe’s a family man) in 2008 was 57 cents per mile. This cost is based on average fuel consumption, tires, maintenance, insurance, license and registration, and average loan finance charges.
Multiply this cost by 15,000 miles per year and you’ve got an annual driving bill of $8,550. Divide this into months (by 12) and you’ve got a monthly driving bill of $712.
Joe’s now down to $877 (I’m also assuming Joe’s family only has ONE car). Indeed, if Joe’s family has two cars (one minivan and one sedan) he’s already run out of money for the month.
Now, assuming Joe’s family is one of the lucky ones (depending on your perspective) they’ve got medical insurance. Trying to find an average monthly medical insurance premium for a family in the US is extremely difficult because insurance plans have a wide range in deductibles, premiums, and co-pays. But according to eHealth Insurance, the average monthly premium for family policies in February 2008 was $369.
So if Joe has medical insurance on his family, he’s now down to $508. Throw in cell phone bills, cable TV and Internet bills, and the like, and he’s maybe got $100-200 discretionary income left at the end of the month.
This analysis covers all of the basic necessities of the average American household: mortgage payments, food, energy, gas, driving expenses, and medical insurance. It also assumes that Joe:
1.Didn’t overpay for his house
2.Made a 20% down-payment of $45K on his home purchase
3.Has no debt aside from his mortgage (so no credit card debt, student loans, etc)
4.Only has one car in the family and drives 15,000 miles per year
5.Keeps his energy bill reasonable
6.Does not eat out at restaurants ever/ keeps food expenses moderate
7.Has no pets
8.Pays for health insurance but has no monthly medical expenses (unlikely with two kids)
9.Keeps his personal budget under control regarding cable TV, Internet, and the like
10.Doesn’t spoil his kids with toys, gadgets, trips to the movies, etc.
11.Doesn’t take vacations.
(From Graham Summers)
FWIW - it’s getting really depressing seeing article after article about how the recovery “isn’t real”, but all the while the stock market keeps rising, home prices flat/rising, manufacturing index data is rising, etc. This has been going on for over a year now.
Most of us on this board know that the recovery isn’t real, in that it’s debt-fed - but the fact that we haven’t crashed again seems to just further and further invalid these articles, along with guys like Schiff, Shiller, etc., and it seems to further validate Geithner, Bernanke, etc.
Guess I’m just getting impatient, and frustrated with how false everything is. It’s like the saying - repeat a lie often enough and eventually it becomes the truth. In this case all the lies about the economy recovering are in fact causing the economy to recover; however all it really is is just applying an ever-thicker layer of lipstick on the pig.
When - if ever - will the pig actually be seen?
Be careful of what you wish for.
It may be an exploding pig.
PS are you sure you didn’t mean PIIGS?
It took the Soviet Union over 70 years to implode despite gross mismanagement. The current “extend and pretend” or “pray and delay” paradigm might blow up tomorrow but it also might continue for a lot longer than any of us think.
“The market can stay irrational longer then you can stay solvent”, or something like that.
Borrowing money from the FED @ 0% and loaning to back to the gubernmint @ 4% can be rather profitable. As long as the big banks are happy non of our politicians cares what happens to the rest of the country. This can go on for some time. The government can spend as much as they like and care less about the bond market while banks make a tidy profit to compensate for losses related to real estate. When will the game stop? Hard to say. Some valve will blow and set of some chain reaction. Default of the PIIGS, bubble busting in China, 2nd round of bailouts for Megabank Inc., war in the middle East, etc.
Go vote out the incumbent, do you think the next guy gives a damn about you or your problems?
“Most of us on this board know that the recovery isn’t real, in that it’s debt-fed - but the fact that we haven’t crashed again seems to just further and further invalid these articles”
We were saying exactly the same thing in 2006 about housing. But at least in 2006-2007, there was one thing TPTB couldn’t control — the number of buyers. The bubble popped when we simply ran out of buyers, despite eliminating every lending standard in the book. What’s going to pop this bubble recovery? We can’t just run out of dollars.
Yeah - that’s my fear. We’ll just keep printing and printing, to keep the “recovery” going, and the PTB will keep fudging the inflation numbers, to make it look like it’s really working.
“This analysis covers all of the basic necessities of the average American household: mortgage payments, food, energy, gas, driving expenses, and medical insurance. It also assumes that Joe:
1.Didn’t overpay for his house
2.Made a 20% down-payment of $45K on his home purchase
3.Has no debt aside from his mortgage (so no credit card debt, student loans, etc)
4.Only has one car in the family and drives 15,000 miles per year
5.Keeps his energy bill reasonable
6.Does not eat out at restaurants ever/ keeps food expenses moderate
7.Has no pets
8.Pays for health insurance but has no monthly medical expenses (unlikely with two kids)
9.Keeps his personal budget under control regarding cable TV, Internet, and the like
10.Doesn’t spoil his kids with toys, gadgets, trips to the movies, etc.
11.Doesn’t take vacations.
(From Graham Summers)
Reply to this comment ”
I am one of the despised Joe Six Packs, even worse yet, a boomer ( “generation Greed” ).
1. I don’t own a house ( or rather a mortgage debt ).
2. See 1
3. No debts.
4. No car. We ride bicycles for about 80% of our transportation needs, walk for about 15%, use public transportation and an occasional car rental for the rest. I am a Zipcar member. Total transportation costs for a year: usually about $500 - $700.
5. Small rental house doesn’t need much energy.
6. Eat out occasionally, but my wife and I both love to cook. Since we bicycle and walk so much ( see 4. ) we also are able to eat as much as we want.
7. No pets.
8. No health problems so no expenses ( item 4 is a big contributer ).
9. No TV or cable. Low speed internet is $20/mo. Mostly read, talk, bike, hike, garden for entertainment.
10. Kids are gone a long time ago.
11. We do go on vacations. We have lots of family in various countries of Europe and South America so we can travel a lot and pay only airfare. Of course we have to reciprocate when the family comes here which they often do, but they are mostly enjoyable.
I like being a J6P.
Kudos for that. And there is car, rent, home owners, flood, hurricane, earthquake, tornado insurance et al. Plus,Plus,Plus. Savings?
Reading all this stuff over the years I’ve come to despise most of us.
We bitch about oil while driving SUVs.
We bitch about healthcare costs while asking for medicare.
We bitch about govt spending while sending back the incumbents to do the spending.
We bitch about bailouts while making all those speculative purchases.
Oh…. we are a bunch of bitches and deserve what’s headed our way. Not bailouts, not hope and change. Just getting bent over by the rest of the world.
Iceland Sends Balloon Payment to Europe:
Some comments form the minister of finance of Iceland:
“They only way we know how… if you squint, it kind of looks like currency”. “What the hell, it can’t be worth any less than them there ‘merican dollars they’re printin’ like a volcano spewing ash.”
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Main-Paris-airport-closing-apf-1135739435.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=2&asset=178459ae2e780fc39707821e99eb50a3&ccode=rd
Just got back from my buddies import repair shop, had to replace the drive belt and tensioner on my wife’s car.
A 2004 Mercedes S-500 was on one lift getting an oil change and having some light problems checked out. The tech is getting ready to plug in the computer when Bob (the boss) comes out and says don’t bother. The cars owner just called and said if the bill is going to be more than $170.00 he can’t afford it.
Turns out the car belongs to a local loud mouthed real-a-tor, looks like he’s all flash &no cash. Now mister big shot will be tooling around town in a big black Benz with one headlight flashing like a strobe light.
Will he be able to afford the ticket he gets when he’s pulled over? I don’t think it’s legal to drive around with one strobe-headlight flashing.
SCHWEEEET!!!!
A Real-Turd who made the mistake of buying a pretentious piece of eurotrash-waste-of-metal can’t afford to get it fixed.
Priceless
When I bought my Volvo, I knew the repairs would be costly, but I saw family members keep them for a long time. (Mind you, my car was built in Sweden, not a Ford one.) I don’t think I’ll repeat my purchase, but “Vixen” has 300,000+ on her, and has been a good car. No payments in 12 yrs.
Vixen the Volvo. I like the name.
I kept my ‘86 Volvo 245 for 23 years. Both kids drove it when in high school. Biggest maintenance item was a timing belt.
Swedish built Volvo’s were far superior to the Ford-Volvo. In fact I don’t think China/Geely motors can screw it up worse than Ford.
Az Slim-
Thanks. I’ll tell Vixen that. She’s my gal!
Cowtown-
They are boxy, boring, slow (if non-turbos),but they are a dependable, long lasting vehicle. Sexy, they are not.
wmbz
I was thinking about the Geely purchase of Volvo from Ford the other day. It should be interesting.
I wish electric cars had the battery issues resolved already. I would love to be an early adapter (only if the technology was really there).
Georgia foreclosures soar 40% in first quarter
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia’s foreclosure rate spiked nearly 40 percent in the first quarter, making it the state with the seventh-highest foreclosure rate, according to RealtyTrac’s U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for Q1 2010.
The Peach State had 39,911 foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — in the first quarter. This marked a 30.5 percent jump over the fourth quarter of 2009 and 39.5 percent jump from the first quarter of 2009.
One in every 101 Georgia home received a foreclosure filing in the first quarter.
Nationally, foreclosure were reported on 932,234 properties in the first quarter — a 7 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2009 and a 16 percent rise from the first quarter of 2009. One in every 138 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing during the quarter.
Business as Usual in Corrupt Capitol.
Obama insider slapped on wrist for blatant bribery:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Firm-founded-by-Obama-exaide-apf-3219817889.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=7c1d3f22401fc9459d2dd8e81bbbaa7d&ccode=rd
Risk of 30-40% Drop in Stocks: Strategist
15 Apr 2010
The market is in a Goldilocks rally — conditions not too hot or cold — but the bears will come out in the medium term, Kirby Daley, strategist at Newedge Group told CNBC Thursday.
The exiting of stimulus packages, sovereign debt problems and China’s revaluation of the yuan, are all working against a continuation of the rally, Daley said.
“We’re in a sweet spot right now. We will not be in one six to twelve months from now,” Daley said. “I don’t believe we have 30 percent upside from here, I certainly believe we are at risk of 30 to 40 percent downside from here.”
“Every economic statistic that we’re seeing now in the world … has been bought,” Daley added. “The difference in the past is when we buy the economic statistics this time, we’re buying them largely on credit and that credit has to be paid back. It’s not leading to a self-sustaining cycle of recovery which is key.”
“Right now we’re enjoying the confluence of the implementation of massive stimulus, massive monetary stimulus as well as fiscal, around the world,” he added. “We’re enjoying it right now. But when we have to pay the piper, starting next year in the US … and around the rest of the world as the debt problems continue to come out, that will weigh on growth, that will weigh on earnings and markets will adjust.”
“Risk of 30-40% Drop in Stocks: Strategist”
The economic recovery is underway. The market is far more likely to go up 30-40% before it drops by that amount.
So what does this kind of work pay, anyway? I couldn’t do your job here, but it would be enjoyable if I could work in an area where I believed what I was saying.
“The market is far more likely to go up 30-40% before it drops by that amount”.
Great, I’m sure your all in, ready to ride up to 14,000.
“Goldilocks…”
arghhh that word sure brings back memories.
one of my sister-in-law who used to own 6-7 homes in LV, and now has short saled down to one where she currently lives in. She hasn’t been paying her mortgage for this home for more than a year, and the bank hasn’t done anything either. She’s planning to file bk. Meanwhile, she’s been stashing the cash.
She called last week to ask my wife to help her purchase a home in cash. Wife rejected her and told her that it’s an IRS red flag. Where the hell did we suddenly come up with $100K cash. She then offered to go in as partnership. Wife again rejected it.
We’ve learned the hard way from past experience that never to partner with relative on joint venture/business.
By the way, this same sil also went into a joint business with her brother a few years back due to funding. This brother lent her the money and also went in 50-50. So, he put up the money to get the place going, just before opening, she was able to scrounge the cash to pay him back, and also kicked him to the curb.
It’s all happening in sin city….
“…..kicked him to the curb.”
Sounds like he dodged a bullet to me.
You are correct that he did dodge a bullet because the biz went downhill since.
She’s one of those still squatting in her home while waiting for the lender to foreclose or short sale. In the meantime, she’s contributing quite a bit to the consumer spending since she doesn’t pay a dime for her housing. Every month, she spends a chunk of money buying Louis Vuitton purse, and vacationing and still drives a beamer.
“She’s one of those still squatting in her home while waiting for the lender to foreclose or short sale. In the meantime, she’s contributing quite a bit to the consumer spending since she doesn’t pay a dime for her housing. Every month, she spends a chunk of money buying Louis Vuitton purse, and vacationing and still drives a beamer.”
The ladies really know how to auger-in.
I have a friend who works with drug-rehab peeps in California. They come from all levels of socioeconomic strata. When the ladies are plumb out of cash and credit they’re far from finished.
I believe that would be what is known as “gaming the system”. Your SIL appears to be quite good at it. Not that it’s that hard lately.
TALLAHASSEE — After weeks of protest and a deluge of messages, Gov. Charlie Crist on Thursday vetoed a bill that would link teacher pay to student test scores and wipe out tenure for new teachers.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/article1087675.ece
My lumbar vertebrae and wallet thank you, Gov. Crist.
I’ve been following that issue Muggy. Good news for the students. I also read Jeb Bush was one of the main pushers for this bill. His company would be the one to supply the state with the tests.
More evidence here the housing recovery is underway. It is about time for the bears to throw in the towel…
market pulse
April 15, 2010, 1:18 p.m. EDT · Recommend · Post:
Dollar, Treasurys stay up after NAHB index
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices and the dollar held onto earlier gains on Thursday after the National Association of Home Builders’ housing market index rose 4 points to 19 in April, reversing a fall in March.
With prices falling 50% or more, did you not know that sales would increase?
It’s really that straightforward…… my friend.;)
Green Shoots / PBear’s behavior here reminds me of the time DMX posed as a federal agent and crashed a gate to avoid paying a few dollars in parking fees. Childish and irrational, but mostly just plain stupid.
How are you and the little woman coming along on the rent-vrs-own decision?
The Buzz
Buy vs. rent: The great debate
By Paul R. La Monica, editor at large April 15, 2010: 3:20 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney dot com) — It seems that many of you don’t own a home and have absolutely no problem with that, thank you very much.
I received a ton of reader feedback for yesterday’s column about whether renting may be the new American dream. Thanks to all who sent e-mails and apologies to those of you that I did not have a chance to reply to.
Although the results of our admittedly unscientific poll showed that nearly half of the respondents are homeowners not looking to go anywhere, many readers e-mailed with stories about why they were happy to not be stuck with a mortgage.
Full disclosure. I’m an owner. Kind of. My wife and I bought a co-op apartment in the spring of 2007. So I guess I technically own shares of a company as opposed to actual property.
Still, we get to paint the walls whatever color we like and we’re actually building equity. That makes us happy. But many of you wrote in to say that owning isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Rent equals greater freedom
Jayson in Denver said that he and his wife now rent after selling their house in the Northeast. And he’s not regretting it at all.
“Home ownership was good to us, but we’re cautious in this economy … having the cash from our house sitting in the bank adds to our rainy day fund giving even greater security. I’m really happy to be renting after 10 years of home ownership.”
Paul Stoube in Muscatine, Iowa, also wrote in to explain why he’s loving life as a tenant as opposed to an owner.
“Not only do I not miss mowing grass, shoveling snow or tending to the many other numerous joys of home ownership, but I surely enjoy the nearly one third lower monthly payment too.”
That’s a great point that was shared by some other readers. There’s a notion that a reason to buy is that a monthly mortgage should be cheaper than rent. But for many, like Tom in Tucson, Ariz., it’s less expensive to rent.
“I was just dumb lucky I guess, and sold my Tucson, Ariz., home in October 2007. I missed the top, but missed most of the drop also. We’ve rented since, in a much nicer house and nicer neighborhood for less money. Net worth continues to rise, for us.”
Those who bought with little-to-no money down (even without an exploding ARM) may find that mortgage payments are more suffocating than monthly rent. Plus, when you add up all the costs that an owner has to deal with that a tenant does not, home ownership can turn out to be a costly investment.
…
llking
Great tale. I bet she is well dressed, has her acting job polished, and people think she’s neat-o. My bil (sister’s hubby) is a Trust baby (rich musical family legacy), and he’s another pos. Nice guy acting job, but a narcissistic pos on the inside.
I’m not religious person, but no one is getting out of this alive. Or as Robert Louis Stevenson said
“Sooner or later, everyone sits down to a banquet of consequenses.”
yes, she’s getting her manicures and massages weekly plus buying Louis Vuitton bag monthly.
“Sooner or later, everyone sits down to a banquet of consequenses.”
Oh how I wish I believed that were true.
Why is my computer using 100% of it’s resources, my browser dreadfully slow, with Firefox memory usage at nearly 400k? I am learning to HATE Firefox. It automatically updated to the new version, and my browser has now crashed no fewer than 200 times over the past week. Joke.
Uninstall it then.
Something else is going on. Mine is sitting at 104K mem usage and has always been rock solid. Do you have add-ons installed? Turn off all of them, restart, and see what happens. If it looks good then turn them back on, one at a time.
Also, sweep for malware. I use Spybot and Microsoft Security Essentials, both free.
Give Google Chrome a try and see if you like it as well. By far the safest browser, though not appealing to everyone.
but you can’t use the JoshuaTree extension with Chrome!!!
Mine does that too. Firefox mem leak. Mine goes to 1,200,000k then I have to close and reopen Firefox. Never happens on IE. I gave up trying to fix it.
Few things can make investors run to the exits faster than the threat of higher interest rates. But there is little of that fear this time around.
Rates have been edging higher in recent weeks-and are expected to keep climbing-as the economy recovers, deficits soar and other factors push up borrowing costs.
Most analysts, though, think the move will largely be taken in stride by the markets. There’s even sentiment that investors will greet rate hikes as a sign that the economy is safely on a stronger path.
“The economic recovery is boosting rates, and that is a positive,” says Brad Sorensen, director of market and sector analysis at Charles Schwab. “We see no evidence that there are inflationary pushes other than the economy improving. That’s not a bad thing for stocks or companies or corporate profits.”
Yes don’t fear the higher rates sheeple.
A little-mentioned part of the illegal immigrant transportation system is under (IMHO, much-needed) scrutiny. This just in from Tucson:
Federal agents raid Tucson shuttle businesses
While I applaud the efforts, the beast needs to be cut off at the head. As long as companies and individuals continue hiring illegal alien labor, the swarm will continue. Going after those who are employing these people in a ruthless fashion (oppressive fines, business license revocation, incarceration, etc.) will go much further in rooting it out. Unfortunately, there is no interest amongst the PTB to acknowledge the fundamental cause of rampant illegal immigration.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/7593639/Euro-slides-as-investors-turn-against-Greece.html
Euro slides on Greek fears - this “contained” crisis just keeps bubbling back up despite the US MSM’s attempts convince the sheeple the “rescue” is a done deal and it’s glory days for markets again. The troubles in the Eurozone are going to accelerate and start cascading once it becomes apparent that the German people and Bundsbank are not going to go along with their globalist prime minister’s empty promises to the EU and Greeks.
Anyone who isn’t selling off the DOW, S&P and Nasdaq right now is a fool. This party car is about to go off a cliff.
do you think so? most sheeple still buying it, claiming this is the real recovery…I laugh so hard. They are having the laugh now but I will have the last laugh. Just keep buying shorts ETF.
Back from Vegas! Was there Mon-Wed for the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) tradeshow.
Show was better than last year, but still not what it was. They used to have spillover at the Sands.
I get the impression that people are spending less on merch at hotel malls, from talking to store owners, and seeing a few vacancies. And, of course, there are all sorts of various construction projects in various half-finished states around town.
Been a luddite for awhile. Good to see your post and your views.
AEP to cut up to 10 percent of its workers
American Electric Power offers buyouts to employees in cost-cutting move.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — American Electric Power Co. Inc., one of the nation’s largest power generators, will trim its work force by as much as 10 percent and take other cost-saving steps to cope with sluggish demand.
The utility is hoping between 1,000 and 2,000 of its nearly 22,000 employees will accept buyout offers, spokeswoman Melissa McHenry said Thursday. It also will look at cutting operations and maintenance costs.
If the utility does not get enough volunteers or achieve the necessary cuts through other measures, they may have to look at additional cuts, which could mean layoffs, she said.
In letter sent to employees on Wednesday, CEO Mike Morris said the measures are necessary to keep the company successful.
“We must realign our cost structure to the new economic realities we now face and find significant savings this year that are sustainable,” he stated.
But I thought we were having a manufacturing led recovery. Hard to have that type of a recovery and not use power.
Uptick in Joblessness
The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless aid soared last week, adding to worries about the economic recovery. To add to the gloom U.S. industrial output rose less than expected in March. The increase of people applying for unemployment rose 24,000 — the largest increase in two months — to a seasonally adjusted 484,000. the Labor Department said on Thursday. Markets had expected a dip to 440,000.
When a huge economic bubble bursts it causes hardships. No question about that. A shrinking job market adds to the problem, but it’s a natural reaction to the imploding economy.
“The idea that you should get your loan principal reduced just because your home price didn’t go the direction you wanted it to is just comical. ”
~ Sherman McCoy
Uh, wasn’t that a character in Bonfire of the Vanities?
Made me smile.
Supreme Court wants more money for security concerns
THE HILL - 04/15/10
The Supreme Court is asking for more federal security funds, citing as one reason the “volume” of threats it receives.
Justice Clarence Thomas told a House appropriations subcommittee on Thursday that the court wants money for 12 additional police officers, although security personnel want 24 ideally. Thomas said the court was considering the nation’s broader fiscal difficulties in asking for only 12.
He said the court has only one person dedicated to threat assessment.
“We are going to upgrade that because of the volume,” Thomas said in testimony on the Supreme Court’s annual budget request. The justice was responding to a question from Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.), who cited recent incidents in which individuals have targeted federal buildings, including IRS offices.
Members of Congress have also come under threats since President Barack Obama signed the healthcare bill into law. Members of both parties, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Republican House Whip Eric Cantor (Va.), have been targeted.
Thomas said the court was making the request “with some reluctance” but that the court’s security personnel felt a strong need after conducting a review. The review came after the justices were asked specifically about security needs at last year’s funding hearing.
Most of the new officers would be used to secure areas of the court building and grounds that will be newly opened to the public following completion of its renovation.
“We understand this is a period of austerity,” Thomas said in outlining the court’s $77 million overall budget request, which included an increase of 5 percent from the previous year.
“I emphasize the word ‘needs,’” he said. “We do not look at this as wants or a wish list.”
Just got an up date from our friendly real-a-tor, one house we had looked it increased it’s asking price. One is under contract, and the other is holding firm. I asked him if business was getting better? He said defiantly more people out house shopping, a few more buyers, and an uptick in listings.
Report: 77 percent of Americans expect stable or rising home prices
South Florida Business Journal -
Seventy-seven percent of Americans expect home prices in their area to rise or stay the same in the next 12 months, according to a Gallup survey released Thursday.
The survey showed that 34 percent of Americans expect the average price of houses around them to increase in the next year, a 12 percent jump from last year and a sign that confidence in the residential real estate market is on the rise.
Gallup reports that 43 percent of Americans expect housing prices to stay the same in the coming year, a small increase from 42 percent last year.
In April 2009, the same Gallup survey showed that 63 percent of Americans thought housing prices near them would rise or stay the same. Confidence that prices will rise is strongest on the East and West coasts where 39 percent of people in each area surveyed predicted an increase in housing prices, compared to 34 percent of people in the South and 24 percent of people in the Midwest.
That confidence combined with low interest rates on government loans will mean more home sales in the short-term, Gallup said. Those sales, in turn, will stimulate the real estate market and larger economy.
Gallup’s survey found that 72 percent of Americans think it’s a good time to buy a new home, slightly more than last year — 71 percent— but 19 percent more than in 2008. Still the report highlighted the lingering issue of job creation as an obstacle to Americans feeling financially secure enough to buy a new home.
defiantly= definitely
Well, that pretty much answers it. Mentality. Sheeps’ mentality.
Game on!
Home prices are completely dependent on how much money a buyer can borrow. That’s the only limit.
“That’s the only limit.”
It might seem that way at a glance, but when you think about other alternatives to buying a home, you quickly realize this is not quite the case. For instance:
- What if landlords suddenly became excessively generous and dropped their rents by, say, 20 percent across the board; wouldn’t that limit what you would be willing to pay for a home?
- What if land prices suddenly became so cheap that many prospective used home buyers suddenly opted to purchase a tract of land and build their own homes? Wouldn’t this also set a limit on what people would pay?
- What if the market were suddenly mainly driven by cash offers (not constrained by borrowing)?
Ah, point taken.
Au&Ag have been holding very well, I have been expecting a pull back, but so far has not happened.
Au&Ag have been holding very well
Since 2001?
Fortune 500, 2010 Edition
April 15, 2010byFortuneonCNNMoney
The companies in this year’s 500 list slashed costs so fast and so deeply — especially labor — that even in a feeble recovery, their earnings soared.
The long-awaited recovery is now under way, but it’s a slow, painful slog that’s short on trust and confidence and long on a drumbeat of numbers that mostly shift from dreadful to less depressing. Twenty-seven months after the recession began, unemployment is stuck at 9.7%. Housing starts are dragging near half-century lows. Consumers are finally spending again, but they’re still too fearful about their jobs and homes to crowd malls and auto lots with the buoyant abandon that heralds a full-rigged revival, the kind Americans are used to.
Amazingly, as consumers struggle, U.S. corporations are staging a nearly unprecedented comeback that’s largely escaping notice. The gargantuan, dispiriting job cuts that seem to dominate the news have also been the spur for an epic resurgence in profits. For 2009, the Fortune 500 lifted earnings 335%, to $391 billion, a $301 billion jump that’s the second largest in the list’s 56-year history, approaching the increase in the robust recovery of 2003. For last year the 500 raised their return on sales from less than 1% to 4%. That’s close to the list’s 4.7% historical average.
Ron Paul Grills Bernanke On The Massive Expansion To The IMF’s New Arrangement To Borrow.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/ron-paul-grills-bernanke-massive-expansion-imfs-new-arrangement-borrow
I was wondering if anyone was going to comment on that. We just got $500 Billion newly committed to future bailouts ($100B from the U.S.) - internationally-coordinated no less (i.e. not under our control), and it went completely under the radar!
was congress not involved in this? How can the Fed possibly do this without congressional oversight?
Ugh….
RealtyTrac: Colorado foreclosure filings up 9% in Q1
Denver Business Journal
Colorado saw 16,023 foreclosure filings in the first quarter of the year, an increase of 8.99 percent from the previous quarter and up 27.12 percent from the first quarter of 2009, according to a report from RealtyTrac Inc.
Colorado ranked No. 10 among the states for its rate of foreclosure filings for the first quarter, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based private marketer of foreclosure properties.
Colorado’s rate of foreclosure filings for the first quarter of 2010 was one out of every 134 housing units, slightly higher than the national rate of one in 138, RealtyTrac said.
Nationwide, RealtyTrac counted 932,234 foreclosure filings in the first quarter, up 7.23 percent from the fourth quarter and up 16.02 percent from a year earlier.
Nationally, “foreclosure activity in the first quarter of 2010 followed a very similar pattern to what we saw in the first quarter of 2009: a shallow trough in January and February followed by a substantial spike in March,” James Saccacio, RealtyTrac CEO, said in a statement Thursday.
Today from a Realturd in Los Osos, CA:
If you have good credit, a good job, and some savings, it’s a great time to buy. Los Osos is a beautiful small California coastal town. Prices will not stay down for long, and interest rates are starting to go up. Can our office help you with that?
Here’s an example of Los Osos (The Bear), CA prices:
http://slo.craigslist.org/reb/1681319228.html
I used to live about five blocks from this listing. No mention of the near future sewer system that’s going to cost about $400/month for twenty years or more! Unincorporated county property, no sidewalks, no master plan. Any GOOD job is a serious commute from here. But hey, only $250/sqft! The kool aid is still strong on the Central Coast.
On the plus side: I loved the ocean air, and the area fell silent in the evening; we could hear the ocean waves crashing a half mile away.
I was listening to some sob stories about overextended debtors and it occurred to me that everyone seems to be getting f–ked but the lending institutions.
People who drank the Kool Aid and went into massive debt are suffering to service that debt and facing the consequences of not being able to. People who didn’t drink the Kool Aid and saved are constantly having more wealth extracted from them due to higher prices caused by people taking out loans to buy products (and just wait till the inflation to mitigate the debt).
The only group that consistently makes out like bandits are the lending institutions. All with the full backing and support of the US government.
Ben, I don’t know why you’re letting GS turd all over the board here by deliberately misleading/baiting readers. Perhaps you don’t see it, but he’s not trying to hide it.
“Childish and irrational, but mostly just plain stupid.”
Black pot, meet black kettle…
Muggy,
Green shoots is a mouse and all the cats are just playing until they go in for the kill. Ben knows we will go for the jugular.
I sure have stirred up a lot of maternal instinct with my recent posts. And I really didn’t mean to do so…
I think (in this case):
GS = Green Shoots, not (the artist formerly known as) Get Stucco.
Thanks for the clarification.
Observation: It seems like some posters here are suffering from a severe case of thin skin any more these days…
Love it.
“…cats are just playing until they go in for the kill.”
One of the main differences between men and women:
- Women love cats.
- Men pretend to love cats, but when women aren’t looking, men kick cats.
Not so. They even secretly clean the litter boxes. And unobserved (they think) have quaint arguments and talks with said felines.
Cats that is. Oh sorry, I meant men. The real kind.
Cats that is. Oh sorry, I meant men. The real kind.
“They even secretly clean the litter boxes.”
Sounds to me like a sneaky way to get on the little woman’s good side. Not that there is anything wrong with that…
And speaking of baiting people, you recently accused me of making too many unjustified assertions about renting versus owning, so I posted my own rent plus a detailed analysis of local MLS list prices, plus recent SFR sale prices in my zip code (92127). To refresh your memory, the March 2010 median SFR sale price in our zip code was $720,000, which is a high multiple of our rent ($720,000/$2300 = 313), quite a bit higher than the traditional ratio at the bottom on the range from 100-120. The take home message of my post was that it is not a good time to buy.
I don’t recall you ever acknowledging my post. It seems like you are so wrapped up in narcissistic hand wringing that you can’t see very far past the frustrations of your own immediate situation.
“I don’t recall you ever acknowledging my post. It seems like you are so wrapped up in narcissistic hand wringing that you can’t see very far past the frustrations of your own immediate situation.”
I meant to call you out on that.
Here’s my theory: you’re crazy angry because you sold in San Diego in 2004, and now that it’s 2010, and you still live in SD, you realize you made the wrong decision.
(Zing)
Rant on, dude.
Hey Hey Hey!
Up Vancouver Way!
It’s Time to Play!
Crack Shack, or Mansion?
It’s the Online Rage…
http://crackshackormansion.com/
You’d have to be on crack to buy any of those houses.
BTW, I got 10 out of 16, I’m a certified realtor.
“I’m a certified realtor.”
Do you follow Suzanne?
I got 15 out of 16, and I’m certifiable.
After 21/2 years of writing this column, James Thorner has accepted another job in journalism. This is his last column for the St. Petersburg Times
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/realestate/another-case-of-home-loans-gone-awry/1087768
Financial Times
FT’s rolling global market overview
Breadcrumb trail navigation:
Greek bond plunge stalls China-inspired risk rally
By Jamie Chisholm, Global Markets Commentator
Published: April 15 2010 08:52 | Last updated: April 15 2010 21:20
21:15 BST:
A roaring Chinese economy was heard across global trading desks on Thursday, boosting risk appetite and pushing stocks to cyclical highs.
However, exuberance was tempered by an initial sharp sell-off in longer-term Greek debt and a plunge in the euro – as news that Athens had asked the EU and IMF to discuss aid reminded traders about the unsustainable level of many developed nations’ debt burdens.
In addition, US weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rose for the second consecutive week, calling into question the strength of the US recovery.
The FTSE All-World index rose 0.2 per cent after it had earlier in the session hit its best level since mid-September 2008, as investors welcomed the Chinese addition to a slew of positive macro and micro-economic data over recent days.
News that China’s gross domestic product expanded by nearly 12 per cent in the first quarter, comes after a strong showing from US retail sales on Wednesday and better-than-expected results from tech and banking giants Intel and JPMorgan Chase this week.
All this while consumer price inflation in the US and China has come in below forecasts, prompting many to hope that the Federal Reserve, for one, will not need to tighten policy aggressively any time soon.
This “sweet-spot” for stocks requires the improving growth and earnings theme to be maintained, of course, and news that the labour market continues to struggle is a blemish on that rosy scenario.
…
The Financial Times
Mathematicians must get out of their ivory towers
By Gillian Tett
Published: April 15 2010 19:21 | Last updated: April 15 2010 19:21
A few years ago, Tim Johnson, a British academic at Herriot Watt university, was appointed to act as an official public “champion” for financial mathematics. It initially seemed an easy job.
After all, before 2007, politicians were not very interested in things such as probability theory. So Dr Johnson mostly used his huge grant to conduct his research in peace.
No longer. In the three years since the financial crisis exploded, financial mathematics has come in the line of fire, with “quants” and models blamed for fuelling the banking woes. Hence Dr Johnson now has his work cut out, as he tries to defend the world of maths. Or as he told a conference this week: “There [is] a sense of bewilderment amongst mathematicians [about] the view that mathematics was responsible for the crisis.”
Is this sense of indignation fair? Up to a point, yes. During the past couple of decades, the world of finance has certainly borrowed heavily from disciplines such as maths and science, and some of this plagiarism has produced disastrous results. Just look at all those crazy investment decisions inspired by ultra complex – and flawed – models to assess subprime risk.
But if you peer closely at all this plagiarism, it is dogged by a bitter irony. In public, banks like to boast of their ability to buy the “brightest and best”; in practice, though, the specific ideas that banks have been importing from disciplines such as maths or economics in recent years have not always been “cutting edge”. On the contrary, many of the imports that have been widely used – or abused – were distinctly out of date.
Take the field of economics. About 15 years ago, the financial industry became almost religiously converted to the Efficient Market Hypothesis. But by the time that happened, the idea was already fairly old hat – and many academic economists had already become disenchanted with this crude vision of human behaviour.
Similarly, when finance has borrowed ideas from physics, it has been an old-fashioned Newtonian branch of physics, not the Theory of Relativity. And insofar as bankers have used maths in the past two decades, they – like 18th century scientists – have typically treated maths as a “mere” tool.
Most academic mathematicians, however, prefer to view their discipline as a form of intellectual inquiry. Many also feel uncomfortable about assuming that maths offers crude “absolutes”. So, just as the Theory of Relativity has forced scientists to recognise that space and time can expand or shrink in a relativist manner, so too men such as Dr Johnson tend to think that calculations of “probability” can shift according to context.
Money and statistics, in other words, are not crude, fixed entities (as bankers have tended to assume); instead, Dr Johnson’s vision of “maths” sounds more akin to the financial version of quantum mechanics.
…
“Just look at all those crazy investment decisions inspired by ultra complex – and flawed – models to assess subprime risk.”
This seems to me like jumping to conclusions. Suppose a Senate panel blew the lid off Megabank, Inc’s vow of silence and probed whether those supposedly-flawed models factored in the probability of a Working Group bailout in the event of a major financial crisis. If that was the case, then I would say their models performed flawlessly in predicting a perfectly-predictable bailout (which, according to many commentators, nobody could have seen coming).
April 16 (Bloomberg) — Malaysia’s Senai-Desaru Expressway Bhd. plans to restructure 1.46 billion ringgit ($456 million) of Shariah-compliant bonds to avoid becoming the country’s biggest Islamic-debt defaulter in more than two years.
“…Islamic-debt…”
I thought going into debt was against their religion (literally)?
Just paying interest I think.
As it is in the Jewish religion, incidentally. (Technically, at least. They seem to have… found ways around it.)
Leasing is OK, right?
But isn’t taking a house with a mortgage on it for, say, ten years, then selling the home and settling the mortgage the same as a taking a ten year lease in every respect except for name?
With apologies to Shakespeare, What’s in a name? A loan by another name would still bear interest.
The law suits are starting in San Diego:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/around-town/real-estate/First_Foreclosure__Then_a_Lawsuit_San_Diego.html
“A woman whose home was foreclosed last year is reportedly being sued for the money she took out in a second mortgage.”
I hope they go after my last LL. He took 40k out on a second, rented the place to me, pocketed 2 years of rent ( about 40 grand ) and walked on a short sale hanging the tax payers for about $190,000.00
I propose a class action lawsuit by all home owners who are facing foreclosure by Wall Street Megabanks (e.g. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, J P Morgan Chase, etc) which received TARP funds and which were supposed to participate in the HAMP program but aren’t. Why should the nation’s largest banks get summarily made whole by Uncle Sam while Main Street home owners shown the street?
Polly, feel free to tell me why I am off base on this suggestion (and it is, I add, just a suggestion)…
I see nothing here a period of “higher than expected” inflation can’t cure?
The Wall Street Journal
* MARKETS
* APRIL 16, 2010
ECB Worries About U.S. Debt
By BRIAN BLACKSTONE
The European Central Bank widened its focus beyond Greece, warning that major economies such as the U.S. and Japan which recently emerged from a severe financial crisis already face a new one in government debt markets.
Officials also warned that imbalances between trade deficits and surpluses in key regions lsuch as the US and Asia haven’t been sufficiently addressed, posing another threat to the global economic recovery.
“We may already have entered into the next phase of the crisis: a sovereign-debt crisis following on the financial and economic crisis,” ECB executive board member Jürgen Stark, from Germany, said Thursday.
Mr. Stark noted that many European countries didn’t take advantage of strong economic growth over the past decade to get their finances in order. That charge has been made frequently with regard to Greece—where the deficit last year was nearly 13% of gross domestic product—as well as Ireland, Spain and Portugal. All four countries have to slash their deficits in the face of feeble economic growth.
In a speech in the U.S., Mr. Stark extended those concerns beyond Europe to include the U.S. and Japan. While debt-to-GDP ratios in the euro zone and U.K. will approach 90% next year, they will hit 100% in the U.S. and 200% in Japan, Mr. Stark said.
“High levels of government budget deficits and debt may push up inflation expectations and place an additional burden on the monetary policy of central banks and their task of maintaining price stability,” he added.
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This article seems to maintain the fantasy that Megabank, Inc still has toxic assets on its books. Surely the writers realize the $700 bn TARP eliminated the toxic asset problem once and for all?
* The Wall Street Journal
* HEARD ON THE STREET
* APRIL 16, 2010
Banks Still Paying Bubble Bill
By DAVID REILLY
The earnings bounce-back has given banks the confidence to fight hard against reform in Washington. But not all the sins of the bubble will be forgotten quickly.
Take J.P. Morgan Chase’s strong first-quarter results. Among the upbeat numbers, there was a $2.3 billion charge for litigation reserves, mostly attributable to mortgage-related legal fights. There was also a $432 million charge related to repurchases of securitized mortgages with possible underwriting problems from the likes of Fannie Mae.
The litigation expense is notable because J.P. Morgan has mostly been ahead of the curve when it comes to building robust reserves. This raises the prospect that other big banks with huge mortgage exposure will have to eventually follow suit.
When or if they will is difficult to gauge since litigation reserves are more art than science. They depend on management’s view of whether potential losses from lawsuits can be estimated and are probable.
Granted, there is the chance that J.P. Morgan’s hit, equal to 36 cents a share, is due largely to action related to its takeover of Washington Mutual. Yet rivals such as Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo also have legal exposures due to takeovers, or securitizations of mortgages and exotic financial instruments.
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I thunk the old adage was “Buy low, sell high.” Isn’t CA selling at a fire sale? Is Megabank, Inc on hand with cash in hand to snap up the scorched goods with TARP monies or other zero-percent Fed-funded financing?
Lawmakers to review Calif. sale of state buildings
By JUDY LIN (AP) – 6 hours ago
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lawmakers said Thursday they will examine Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to sell state office buildings after revelations that it might be a bad deal for taxpayers.
The Associated Press reported this week that California will pay about $5.2 billion to rent the buildings over the next 20 years after they are sold to private investors. The administration hopes to net just $660 million from the sale, after paying off $1.1 billion in construction bonds, as a way to help close the state’s budget deficit.
The development prompted a state legislative committee to announce it would look into the matter.
The Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review Committee will scrutinize the sale of two dozen state office buildings during its April 28 meeting. In a statement issued Thursday, the committee also said it will examine the Schwarzenegger administration’s sudden removal of members of two oversight boards who questioned the long-term feasibility of the plan, a development reported last week by the AP.
Schwarzenegger persuaded the Legislature to authorize the sale last summer as a way to get upfront cash to help close California’s deficit, now projected at $20 billion. Just three of the 120 lawmakers voted against the plan, which was never heard in committee.
Lawmakers were made aware that the state likely would pay more rent than it would if it continued to own and maintain the buildings, but there was no fiscal review to determine whether California ultimately would make or lose money on the deal.
Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, said Thursday that it would be unconscionable to sell state property at fire-sale prices only to have to rent them back at market rates. Bids from prospective buyers were due Wednesday.
Perez said the governor was able to get the Legislature to authorize the sale last summer because of California’s budget system, which requires a two-thirds vote. Vote-trading is common among lawmakers in order to reach that threshold, which is rare among state legislatures nationwide.
“It’s another example of budget elements that are bootstrapped in where there’s a two-thirds majority requirement,” Perez said in a statement.
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