Bits Bucket For July 28, 2010
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The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Floridians’ confidence in their own finances hits record low, UF survey shows.
A growing number of Floridians are feeling glum about where their bank accounts are headed.
In fact, expectations about personal finances a year from now sank to a record low in the monthly consumer confidence survey released Tuesday by the University of Florida.
Overall consumer confidence statewide for July continued to retract, falling 2 points to 65, the lowest level in 16 months. But the survey component tracking personal finances stuck out, falling 4 points to 72.
Chris McCarty, director of UF’s Survey Research Center in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research, said personal finance expectations have never been so low since the state began tracking consumer sentiment in February 1985.
Housing recovery is about timing and location
By J.W. ELPHINSTONE The Associated Press
Posted: 5:40 p.m. Tuesday, July 27, 2010
And prices could drop quickly in Miami over the next year. Nearly 23 percent of those homeowners with a mortgage in the area have either missed three consecutive payments or were in foreclosure, according to Moody’s Analytics. That compares with 10 percent in Phoenix and 15 percent in Las Vegas.
“Every market’s different”. “Call a Realtor today”.
BWHAHHAAHAHAHAH…HHAHAHAHAHAHA.
“A growing number of Floridians are feeling glum about where their bank accounts are headed.”
So much for the false theory that you can spend yourself to prosperity.
Virginians feeling that way too. Prob won’t have much to use for a down payment by the time the market bottoms. Heh.
Which Virginians?
Maybe those in Norfolk.
But, considering that the three wealthiest counties in the USA (as related to income) are in the D.C. area., I doubt that that feeling extends throughout the state.
First time in U.S. history that that has happened. Never before have the three wealthiest counties been immediately outside D.C.
Not that any of us should be surprised.
Yea, I keep thinking maybe I should move up that way.
Nothing like having a negative net worth of greater magnitude than you yearly income to shake your “confidence.” ‘Cause lots of FBs are in that position.
We’re still playing a great game of “blame” in the contest FB v. Bank v. Gov. Other culprits so far:
Investors who wanted a too-good-to-be-true returns on CDO’s and the ratings agencies (Moody’s et al) who threw integrity to the wind to cater to the investors.
The total lack of regulation, especially for securitization.
The flipper TV shows.
The Maestro and his low interest rates.
Or the alternate view: the blame game is moot because all the players walked away without much damage.
—–
I’ll agree that low interest rates played a part, but I believe that it was a much smaller part than people think. Without the securitization, low interest rates wouldn’t raise house prices too much because banks would still have required that down payment.
I don’t think allowing the banks to fail would even have helped. Say Obama DID allow the banks to fail (without killing the system). Main Street would still be unable to pay the mortgages. I’m not sure it would even have acted as a deterrent, say 15-20 years from now. Banks would still have their bonuses today and tomorrow they can go hang.*
I guess the blame game is moot now with the blanket bailouts, but it sure helps me to daydream about what should happen to these *$#^*%@.
————
*Treasure Island reference.
Face it Oxide. You are to blame.
You and me and the others on this blog and a million other honest people that were just too sleepy to keep the thieves from breaking in.
Face it Oxide. It’s your fault.
Your and mine and those on this blog and a million other honest folk who were asleep when the thieves broke in.
Guess one should wait a few hours before doing the second post.
You’re more correct that you think.
I’ll agree that low interest rates played a part, but I believe that it was a much smaller part than people think. Without the securitization, low interest rates wouldn’t raise house prices too much because banks would still have required that down payment.
I would agree with this, but:
- Banks were already making no-down-payment loans a lot by the early 90’s, vis a vis second loans to cover the last 20%, to get around mortgage insurance.
- Securitization was in full swing by the early and mid-1990’s. However home prices didn’t start up until the late 1990’s, and didn’t really get moving until after 2002, long after; but coinciding with interest rates being lower.
I do agree that securitization played a hand. Without it the bubble would have been far less. However the same is true of the interest rates - without it we also would have had far less of a bubble. How often did we hear people use low interest rates as justification for buying more house than they could afford - i.e. the “affordability index”? I know I did - a lot.
In the end - there are many, many causes of the bubble (by my count about 25 actually - most direct, some indirect - I’ve posted a list here before). The lack of any one of these would have lessened the bubble to some extent; in some cases the lack of a given cause would have made the bubble be very benign or even not exist.
P.S. back to the whole securitization thing - not sure if everyone realizes but MBS have been around for quite a long time - back to the 1960’s, and they started with GSEs. So just the existence of MBS obviously didn’t cause this bubble - other things had to be added in order to make it happen.
However home prices didn’t start up until the late 1990’s, and didn’t really get moving until after 2002,
I don’t know if this counts but home prices in the Bay Area of California really got moving around 1997-98. I think the Bay Area was ground zero for the housing bubble but it also had the Tech-Boom.
I remember in around 2000 hearing a So Cal realtor telling his clients that Southern Cal was going to catch the Northern Cal house rising disease.
That factoid points to the capital gains exemption as the prime mover.
Definitely in the bay area tech was the prime mover in the late 1990’s. I lived there then - moved there in 1997. People were moving into the area like crazy due to the dot-com / telecom boom. Then when the boom crashed in 2001 housing prices stalled, while housing prices in the rest of the country were still going up a lot. Then housing there took off again in 2002 (with the rest of the country) when interest rates went down and the tech crash was mostly done.
Cap gains exemption was a factor in the bubble almost certainly, though that was nationwide, not just for CA.
To answer what played the greatest roll in this just ask what is different now than before the collapse.
1. Interest rates - Nope they are at historic lows.
2. Securitization- Yep
Securitization may have got it’s start a bit before the bubble started expanding, but
1. In any snake oil operation you want to show the sheep that what you are selling them works. Initially securitized loans were likely of good quality and it was only later that the quality started to slide.
2. Many of the securitized loans were created so that they wouldn’t immediately explode. A snake oil salesman wants time to get out of town with his money before the crowd gets angry.
Also
I believe the GSE’s initially had quality standards.
Securitization of garbage began when they could off load to the public. GSE standards have been progressively dismantled.
The GSE’s mission was flawed from the outset. Take a quick look at who are lobbying for the GSE’s survival. Of course they say the poor areas are under-served by the financial services — no cred’ick [sic] fo us po folks. Home ownership simply isn’t the province of the poor. Those who claim to be interested in helping the poor are really out to help themselves at the public’s expense.
FWIW, being poor isn’t about a lack of money.
The GSE’s always sold the bonds to the public, but if a loan went bad, they required the originator to buy it back and if the originator had too many loans go bad they weren’t allowed to sell to the GSE’s anymore. This had the same effect as requiring the banks to keep the risk of the loans on their books. They kept the risk, so they had to keep the standards up.
GSE’s started to relax their standards because they were trying to maintain market share against investment banks that didn’t require any standards and didn’t require repurchase of bad loans. Also, as the private securitizers relaxed standards and interest rates shrank causing the “value” of the house to go up, no one ever defaulted - they just refinanced. So there were no repurchasing of bad loans because there were no bad loans. Only ones that got paid off with a new loan.
FWIW, being poor isn’t about a lack of money.
Agreed. It’s about decision making when it comes to your life.
Quite often, this comes down to personal things like spending hours and hours in front of the TV set, eating too much junk food, and abusing drugs and alcohol. Not to mention having a lack of respect for education.
I might add that the last paragraph isn’t just Slim talking here on this blog. I’m paraphrasing what Barack Obama said in his second book, The Audacity of Hope.
And, while I’m on the topic of black authors, here’s what Juan Williams recommends as a way out of poverty:
1. At the very least, graduate from high school.
2. Don’t have kids until you’re married.
3. Don’t get married until at least age 20.
4. Get a job and hold it.
His recommendations are derived from academic research on moving up from poverty.
I believe the GSE’s initially had quality standards.
Securitization of garbage began when they could off load to the public. GSE standards have been progressively dismantled.
Bingo. It was the dismantling of those standards that contributed - not the mere existence of the securities.
Let’s see - what government actions might have caused them to lower their quality standards….
… maybe something to do with a certain long-time lover of a certain Fannie Mae executive, all through the 90’s when said standards were dismantled?
polly:
GSE’s started to relax their standards because they were trying to maintain market share against investment banks that didn’t require any standards and didn’t require repurchase of bad loans. Also, as the private securitizers relaxed standards and interest rates shrank causing the “value” of the house to go up, no one ever defaulted - they just refinanced. So there were no repurchasing of bad loans because there were no bad loans. Only ones that got paid off with a new loan.
You don’t think the 1992 GSE Act, which mandated that HUD set specific higher goals for GSE subprime lending, was a significant contributor to the lessened GSE standards early on?
I definitely agree that market share competition played a hand, but moreso later on after the standards had already been lowered significantly. The GSE’s didn’t have significant MBS competition until about 1998 (e.g. in 1997 they issued $535B vs. only $69B non-agency), and never lost dominant market share. Even in the heyday of 2005 the GSEs still had 60% market share of MBS issuance.
Yes Barnie Frank is a Pig who feeds at the trough of the banking cartel. His lover is only part of it.
I posted the other day about Feingold putting forward an amendment with the current banking bill that would require those issueing securities to get a rating agency randomly selected to rate their securities.
Dodd and Frank’s response - There could be unintended consequences and we should study it for a few years before making a decision.
Feingold asked for one example of what might be a bad effect.
Crickets.
Bingo. It was the dismantling of those standards that contributed - not the mere existence of the securities.
Agree 1000%
Banks used multiple avenues to offload their gold painted dog crap.
GSE’s were one major route
Securitization was the other.
They got the gov and rating agencies to lower standards and lie.
In my mind GSE’s fall into the catagory of securitization. They are one of the main factors for the bubble.
GSE’s were one major route
Securitization and sale to pensions, mutual funds, and concervative investors was the other.
Slim he forgot the most important one
Learn to read, write and speak English……not ghetto
Then the rest should follow.
And, while I’m on the topic of black authors, here’s what Juan Williams recommends as a way out of poverty:
Congress can pass all the laws it wants “mandating” increased lending in the subprime area. The executives at the GSE’s made millions of dollars, much of it in the form of stock options. If they really thought the lending they were doing was going to cost them money in the near term, they would not have done it. And when you completely dominate a market, losing any market share sounds like a bad idea. Means you are “worse” than any of the previous leaders of the company. The idea that it never occured to them that they NEEDED to lose market share when everyone else was making stupid loans makes me a little nauseated.
I hope the GSEs spend the next decade forcing the loan originators that are not already out of business to take back the loans they bought. Every last one of them. The next head of each of the GSEs needs to be a combination of Elliot Spitzer (without the indicretions but with the desire to make bankers remember what the rules are actually for) and a rampaging elephant (trampling or uprooting anything that gets in his or her way). I hope they end up with leaders like that. Or they could be dismantled and the responsibility for forcing the bad loans back on the originators could be shoved into a subdepartment at the DOJ.
“investment banks that didn’t require any standards and didn’t require repurchase of bad loans.”
I think you would be hard pressed to find any CDO that didn’t have a repurchase provision. The collapse was triggered by those provisions because they used up all the reserves in one swell foop, no waiting for foreclosure, once the loan goes into default the CDO holder asks for their money back, all of it.
To answer what played the greatest roll in this just ask what is different now than before the collapse.
1. Interest rates - Nope they are at historic lows.
You have zero understanding of sequential cause-and-effect relationships, and latent effects.
I”m just saying that if interest rates were the cause of this bubble then we should have seen a sharp rise right before the collapse and lowering interest rates would fix the proble.
Currently with record low rates, people can’t and won’t take out loans.
Currently with record low rates, people can’t and won’t take out loans.
That’s because the banks are in full-on hunker down mode still. In 2005 (when rates were relatively high) the foreclosure rate was only 70,000 per month; generally only people who had extraneous causes of divorce, health bills, etc. Now the banks are having to deal with 300,000+ foreclosures per month; and with a still bleak outlook for housing and the economy in general. The housing picture - and by extension the banks lending willingness - were all roses back the last time interest rates were low 2001-2004.
Banks have been forced to tighten standards because they can’t offload risk and bad debt. They can’t off load risk and bad debt because securitization for the private market is dead.
I’d qualify that some. The actually did manage to offload about $1.25 Trillion worth of risk and bad debt - to the Fed (and by extension everyone, via inflation).
Problem is - they had (and still have) a number that is significantly greater than that that needed be offloaded, and as you say the private market is dead. Thus they remain puckered.
“Banks have been forced to tighten standards”
They’ve only tightened enough to meet the GSE standards, which isn’t enough in a declining market. My problem with this is that we the taxpayers and our children are now on the hook for these bad loans the GSEs continue to buy, even in the era of hope and change.
After the theft via TARP and FED you need to distract the masses with hope and change. I still say the banks timed this. They piled all the shit on the lame duck president and then brought in a new inspiring guy. Just the way BP has gone about getting rid of it’s CEO just as the well is being capped and plugged.
Measton, we don’t agree on much as you well know, but I agree 100% on this.
In BP’s case, it makes no sense to oust a CEO during a crisis, no matter how inept. Much better to sideline the guy until the immediate crisis passes - no matter who actually commandeers the process.
Greek Villas Marked Down 45% as Crisis Hits Island Homes.
Greek island homes, long coveted by millionaires and Hollywood stars such as Tom Hanks, are being marked down by as much as 45 percent as the country’s debt crisis destroys demand for holiday getaways.
A half-built villa on Mykonos, an island in the Aegean Sea known for its all-night beach parties, is being offered by brokers at Athens-based Ploumis Sotiropoulos OE for 2 million euros ($2.6 million) after the price was reduced by 500,000 euros. The same firm is seeking a buyer for a three-bedroom home on Corfu for 750,000 euros, down from an original asking price of 1.4 million euros. So far, no bidders have emerged.
“It’s a scary place to invest right now,” said Mike Braunholtz, a broker at Prestige Property Group, which markets properties on the Greek islands. “Things aren’t going to improve until the economic picture becomes clearer.”
“They own or guarantee about half of all U.S. mortgages, or nearly 31 million home loans worth more than $5 trillion” or 2 1/2 trillion
By ALAN ZIBEL The Associated Press
Posted: 10:09 a.m. Tuesday, July 27, 2010
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, which has been under fire for not developing a concrete plan for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, says it will hold a conference next month to discuss their future.
The administration said Tuesday the event will be held Aug. 17 at the Treasury Department.
The financial overhaul signed by President Barack Obama didn’t address their future, despite protests from Republicans that it was incomplete without a plan for the two companies. The Obama administration has said it wants to wait until next year to determine their future.
So far stabilizing the pair of mortgage buyers has cost taxpayers $145 billion.
The government created the two companies as a hybrid of a private company and a federal agency to help make mortgages available. They buy home loans from lenders, package them into bonds with a guarantee against default and sell them to investors.
They own or guarantee about half of all U.S. mortgages, or nearly 31 million home loans worth more than $5 trillion.
The Obama administration says it will hold a conference next month to discuss their future. Another “conference”. It’s amazing to me that this guy can run roughshod over the country with horrible legislative initiatives, but things that really need attention get put off.
I can’t wait to hear what the Blue ribbon panel on the budget comes up with. Oh, yea, we need to stop spending so much money. We’ll get right on that, sometime after the next election cycle.
Who says too much money is being spent?
There is NO FEDERAL BUDGET in place. Therefore, let the spending continue! Tra la, Tra la!
My guess is a big part of the solution to the GSE issue will involve paying Banks to buy up the assets at distress sale prices and then giving them a guarantee that they will get bailed out if the investment goes bad.
This is how the banks will end up owning everything.
Sheriffs Roam Ireland Seizing Cars From Debtors After Collapse.
Sheriffs in Ireland, who collect debts rather than police small towns, are chasing luxury cars, motorbikes and art as creditors try to recoup money they lent before the economy collapsed.
“We’re getting orders worth millions,” said John Fitzpatrick, a sheriff in Dublin who has confiscated Jaguars, Range Rovers and Mercedes from indebted businessmen. “Those people are owned body and soul by the banks.”
Statistics show Ireland is beginning to recover from its worst recession in 89 years as an independent country. At the same time, court documents suggest the mountain of debt accumulated in what was the euro region’s most dynamic economy five years ago will take longer to overcome.
Fitzpatrick, 66, is one of 16 sheriffs appointed by the Justice Ministry to pursue unpaid taxes. In the High Court in Dublin, debt recovery claims rose 48 percent to 5,653 cases in 2009, according to the Courts Service.
““Those people are owned body and soul by the banks.””
The bank owning your soul isn’t a problem, because the banks are doing God’s work.
I felt bad about the couple that bought my place in 2005. Not anymore. They didn`t pay the mortgage for about 3 years and finally it was sold at auction. Turns out someone paid $52k sold it right back to the guy for $72k ( lady bought it from me and they are not married ) They paid me $192,500 in 05 but you take out the 3 years they didn`t pay anything and what they got it for in the end and they came out way better than I did.
Yeah, except you and I get to pay the difference.
My Realtard friend (who is a self-proclaimed big-time property investor extrodannaire) just told me yesterday that his short-sale finally went through on an oceanfront parcel that he was underwater on. Get this: The loan amount was over $950k and the bank short-sold the property for $205k with no deficiency recourse to my Trump-wannabe friend. He told me he had champange that night and got pretty drunk.
“Yeah, except you and I get to pay the difference.”
We also get to pay the difference for the 2 scumbags I have been paying $1,700 a month for the last 3 years combined who have not been paying their mortgage. Actually, they should change the name of Help for Homeowners to Help for Scumbags.
‘they came out way better than I did’
I discovered over the years in blogging that there is something in some peoples nature that yearns to believe they’ve been taken advantage of. I just did a whirl-wind trip through a bunch of foreclosed houses all over N AZ. If you think this avalanche of torn up, abandoned houses is some bonanza to anybody, you’re not paying attention.
‘you and I get to pay the difference’
But you don’t. Yesterday the house passed some billions of $ for the current wars. Did your taxes go up? Did your bank account get tapped? Or is it borrowed by some corporation whose debt you have no intention of paying off?
As I watch people whine and point fingers over the housing bubble and its fall-out, I am still amazed that the most important problem is not being addressed; that is what our economy will be like in the post-bubble reality. All this turn-back-the-clock, what are we gonna do to sell houses crap is doing nothing to sort out how this country is going to go to work in the future.
how this country is going to go to work in the future…..
For 80% of the people in this country, that is not really a concern. They see what’s happening around them, but it hasn’t really had an impact.
There are only about 20% of us that are not working, with no jobs that we were trained for in the near future. It’s easy to say go back to school, but at 55, that’s really not much of an option. And,
there’s really no driver for new jobs. What’s the future?
The problem is that without the FED flooding money into another sector, to start another mania, there is no driver for “growth” or “expansion” or whatever you want to call the fantasy of creating things people don’t want and can’t pay for. I don’t think they can make it work. The “stimulus” is a failure.
We have a Socialist/Statist administration that thinks we can “create” jobs the same way that the Soviet Union and China create jobs. It always ends up with production of things people don’t want and shortage of things they do want, ending in a collapsed economic system. I don’t see a viable future that is not filled with austerity to pay off all the bad debts that were accumulated during the past few “bubbles”.
I see us as Japan……….headed for a “lost” decade or 2.
Ah Negative thinking Dio…….I have a dj friend who is 73 and still dj’s because it gets him out of the house and supplements his SS and small pension…his house is paid for…
The New way is forcing all of us to be almost freelancers maybe Slim can teach us how to be better at it.
I agree getting another college piece of paper is probably not going to pay off at 55 unless the company is going to pay for some of it.
But short courses…turn your hobby into a business, seems like we all are going to have to be MLM marketers of our services.
Its been hard for me because the last say 15 years i never had to do much prospecting for clients…..I was tied in with reunion planners, and other dj companies who would toss me jobs year round…..I would get jobs because i can drive into Manhattan in less then 10 minutes, and the Long Island dj companies had dj’s that didn’t want to drive an hour+ each way so I got the gigs…
But all that has changed…and not for the better.
———————-
with no jobs that we were trained for in the near future. It’s easy to say go back to school, but at 55, that’s really not much of an option.
‘There are only about 20% of us that are not working’
Only? Even if you accept the official unemployment numbers, it’s staggering.
I’m not saying the government creates jobs, but that we are headed in the wrong direction. Consider this; with all the jaw flapping we get about global warming and carbon emissions, we are still pouring billions into wars over oil. What if we instead had spent all that money building solar farms that actually produce clean energy, reduce pollution, create ongoing jobs, etc? That’s just one example.
This is all at a time when DC is getting ready to cut back on social security. Not because they finally have the guts to tackle the ponzi scheme, but because they have no choice. Does anyone think the people in the US are going to start paying off the govt. debt when their ‘entitlements’ are getting slashed and retirement is looming?
A lot of this can be chalked up to a failure to acknowledge what actually happened. We had twin manias; stocks and real estate. It ain’t coming back, so we better find another way to pay the bills other than selling each other stocks or houses. But instead we’ve spent a couple of years pretending to ‘fix’ health care, ‘reform’ wall street, ‘nation building’ in places none of us will ever visit and propping up house prices. IMO, our real problem is how we function in the post-bubble economy.
IMO, our real problem is how we function in the post-bubble economy.
So true, unfortunately we have millions of folks who won’t any sort of role or place in the Brave New World.
The New way is forcing all of us to be almost freelancers maybe Slim can teach us how to be better at it.
In addition to doing websites and photography, I’m a staff writer for FreelanceSwitch. I’ve written 60 articles on the business side of creativity, and you can read ‘em all here.
Hope they’re helpful!
I’m not saying the government creates jobs, but that we are headed in the wrong direction.
Heading in the wrong direction for whom? If you qualify who benefits from maintaining the status quo with regards to global-wage arbitrage, than I’m sure you’ll find that the top 2%’ers in this country are doing just fine. The concentration of wealth and power in that top 2% increases every year. Who suffers by maintaining this charade? It isn’t the global Fortune 500 companies and their senior executives. It isn’t the TBTF banks and Wall St. firms.
Until the majority of citizens decide to take back government from the corporations, until we decide that de facto financial serfdom for the vast majority of citizens to the government, financial firms, and corporate elite of this country is not in our or our children’s best interests, we will continue to lose.
I’ve said it before, but Germany is the best example I have seen of an advanced, 1st-world economy balancing the economic interests of it’s citizens with the economic interests of the corporations. It isn’t a given that wages and living standards must reach parity globally… protectionism is patriotic.
Not top 2%
Top 0.1%.
The number of winners will continue to shrink.
How the economy will work?
That’s easy. Americans will toil making what they can no longer afford to import.
Between having higher wages than the Chinese, and lower wages than they used to (and no ability to borrow), they will have less of them, and may need to fix what they have.
And they will be working for foreign-owned companies, because part of the adjustment is the dollar falling low enough that U.S operations and companies can be bought.
As you reach age 70, and struggle to stay employed, your future boss on the assembly line may be a bitter young Chinese immigrant, who previously emmigrated from rural China to a prison-like factor on the Chinese coast, where she toiled 80 hours per week for low wages and saw some of her friends commit suicide.
That’s why people like us can get by with a lot less $$$ we learned from our parents and grandparents how to fix things until you really had to buy new…but not before the yard sales.
they will have less of them, and may need to fix what they have.
Agreed guys. I was looking at an ad yesterday at how the new Jeep Grand Cherokee cost about $40k and thinking to myself why someone would (or could) hang that noose around their neck. Then got in my own Jeep (250k miles; replaced the shocks and exhaust myself) and thought how nice it would be to not have a car payment for another 150k miles.
“Did your bank account get tapped?”
No, it already did. 0.4% liquid CD
1. We will pay in terms of inflation and higher taxes and lower services.
2. In terms of the economy. Globilization is a race to the bottom. Americans can’t compete with slave labor, or labor that is willing to work for a bowl of rice and a cardboard house. There is no way manufacturing will return until US wages are in line with world wages. Globilization advocates say that a rising tide lifts all boats. The problem of course is limited natural resources. There isn’t much of a tide when the ocean is only 6 inches deep and boats will not rise. Without limitless natural resources you can’t have everyones standard of living increase. Wealth will increasingly be controlled by those that control natural resources, and thus those that influence gov. The value of labor (physical intellectual etc) will continue to fall as will standards of living. Governments around the globe will rightly try to maintain employment by creating jobs. They will tax and print as long as possible.
In my mind the gov should focus all job creation on improving the efficiency of our country. Take distributive electrical generation. Currently the utilities have central plants operated by a handful of people that transmit energy over a grid that requires little maintenance. Distributed generation would put energy generation close to it’s use. Microturbines, fuel cells, etc can be used to generate electricity on site. The waste heat can be used to heat or even cool the buildings. This more than doubles the efficiency of such systems over current methods. It requires a lot of labor to set up such systems and maintain such systems, but overall there is a cost savings. If you tax energy and gave tax breaks for such systems and forced utilities to accept such systems you could create a large # of jobs and cut our energy dependance. Certainly solar and windpower could play a roll as well but fewer long term jobs are created with these. The idea that energy will be cheap going into the future is rediculous. We need massive investment in mass transit and higher density living. Greg Mankew a former Bush economist has recommended an energy tax that is returned in the form of tax cuts. Say payroll taxes. With this you increase the price of energy and cut the price of labor. We need to get off the globilization bandwagon. We could institute a tax on total energy that goes into the production and shipping of any good. This would make local manufacturing more economic and decrease energy consumption.
This is the only way out for the US in my book. I suspect however that our country will begin to look more and more like third world countries with the rich using gov and the media and political infighting over devisive issues and eventually security companies to keep the proles in line.
“We could institute a tax”
Why is that the solution to all of man’s problems?
Interesting comments measton….
“We could institute a tax”
Why is that the solution to all of man’s problems?
Answer - In my mind it would be a revenue neutral tax, not an increase but a change in who pays the taxes. Taxes on energy instead of taxes on labor.
Where is your solution?
NOT if we can get a breakthrough so that $10,000 or less of panels on houses and $1000 on cars will generate say 90% of the electrical needs for the year.
Think how long it would take to retrofit 100,000,000 homes…Years and Years
——————————
Certainly solar and windpower could play a roll as well but fewer long term jobs are created with these
Where is your solution?
Cut taxes on the rich?
Tax H1-b & L1 visas at 30,000 dollars per year. Also increase cap on those visas to 1 Million per annum with limited path to green card.
I was speaking with my 80 year-old father last week about where our economy is heading. He came to the US in the 1950s from New Zealand and studied engineering at Princeton. He told me he thought we should make more of an effort to attract creative and innovative people from around the world to help rebuild our economy. I was intrigued because these days one hears so much about getting rid of illegal immigrants (an idea my father is very much in favor of since both of my parents came to this country legally with all the expense, wait times, etc. involved) but I don’t ussually hear any folks speaking of immigration in a positive light. I thought he was making a good point. China and India are very unlikely to attract great minds from around the world because of their cultures. The US has always been able to attract creative and innovative people. It’s an asset we can probably take much better advantage of. My father and I both agreed we need tariffs back to prevent us from all ending up working for a bowl of rice and a cardboard box. All in all, and interesting discussion with “the old man.”
Patz:
My take is American businesses fired a lot of smart people the last few years and we are left with people who have no ability to think outside the box and revitalize this country.
The US has always been able to attract creative and innovative people.
“Currently the utilities have central plants operated by a handful of people that transmit energy over a grid that requires little maintenance. Distributed generation would put energy generation close to it’s use…
It requires a lot of labor to set up such systems and maintain such systems, but overall there is a cost savings.”
I call BS. If there were an overall cost savings the utilities would have done that already. Without federal prodding or tax breaks.
Utilities have a monopoly. They sell power.
They hate anything that competes with their hold on power. Net metering laws which allow people with solar to sell power back to the utilities when they are not using the solar power. These laws are usually the result of government mandates.
So call BS if you want, or you could try doing some research.
Here I’ll start you off
powergenworldwide.com/index/display/articledisplay/6187502232/articles/cogeneration-and-on-site-power-production/volume-11/Issue_2/Project_Profile/University_data_centre_uses_Microturbine_trigeneration_technology.html
You can search using the terms syracuse university data center microturbine and trigeneration.
You also eliminate transmission losses when you generate on site.
According to wikipedia
Transmission and distribution losses in the USA were estimated at 7.2% in 1995 [13] and 6.5% in 2007
So when you compare generation efficiencies you need to tack on energy losses due to transmission for central power plants.
All this turn-back-the-clock, what are we gonna do to sell houses crap is doing nothing to sort out how this country is going to go to work in the future.
Good point, Ben. One that would be well worth discussing on this-here blog.
Slim:
I have noticed while cat sitting, how little the amount of stuff people have compared to me.
And it just not because all nyc apartments are small, some places are almost spartan, yet i see the latest Imac G5 with a huge lcd on the desktop. The ipod etc…..
So are you the future for 10,000,000 of us? I’ve been happy going to an “intern” job at the radio staion and actually getting a lot done at home. But we are taking a hiatus…for a few weeks getting new shows and I really dont like being home all day with things i need to do but cant get motivated like i did when i had a job to goto everyday.
I have noticed while cat sitting, how little the amount of stuff people have compared to me.
Funny you should mention that. This past Saturday, I was part of a volunteer weatherization crew working on sealing the leaks on an older couple’s house.
I was amazed at how crammed-full of stuff their house was. It wasn’t ancient stuff by any means. But it was everywhere that stuff could be.
We had quite the challenge while doing our work — we didn’t want to knock anything over. Or break something. Fortunately, no such calamities happened.
Ben, if someone’s been taken advantage of, he or she doesn’t have to blame themselves for stupid decisions.
It’s really that simple.
It’s the mirror image of the entitlement mindset.
China’s Environment Accidents Double as Growth Takes Toll.
China, the world’s largest polluter, said the number of environmental accidents rose 98 percent in the first six months of the year, as demand for energy and minerals lead to poisoned rivers and oil spills.
“Fast economic development is leading to increasing conflicts with the capacity of the environment to absorb” demands, the environmental protection ministry said in a faxed statement in response to Bloomberg questions.
An acid leak at Zijin Mining Group Co.’s copper and gold mine this month poisoned enough fish in the Ting River to feed 72,000 for a year, and Dalian’s beaches and port were closed by an oil spill at the nation’s largest crude terminal. The accidents underscore the toll from two decades of growth averaging 10.1 percent that made China the third-largest economy.
I have said it a hundred times before and I will say it again, “I do not buy the China Miracle story”. The shortcuts they have taken will surely catch up to them. So what if they build 2 or 3 trillion dollars in currency reserves if they pollute their entire nation to achieve it.
I have always hated the debate of Global Warming. I think it gets downright silly sometimes. I still think the discussion should be focused on the real, quantifiable subject of pollution. Dumping mercury in a river may not heat up the planet but it sure as heck will poison a lot of creatures. The Chinese are going to find that out.
We should be happy that China has allowed us to export our pollution. Our waterways are probably much cleaner than they were 40 years ago. One day the Chinese are going to wake up and realize they sold their soul to keep the yuan pegged to the dollar and ship off junk to Walmart. That should be a fun day.
I miss the crying Indian from the 1970s. Bring him back, only place him in Shenzhen Province.
Kind of going back to a comment I made about regulation. When you have short term profits to be made but substantial long term consequences, you need regulation.
I’m sure China is going to see the results of shoddy construction and poisoned environment for a long long time.
We are fortunate in the US to have better water reserves and a better chance for recovery. China is going to have some serious issues.
‘We are fortunate in the US to have better water reserves and a better chance for recovery. China is going to have some serious issues.”
And then they are going to look to their military, which they’ve been building up like crazy over the years.
They aren’t gonna come after the U.S. for clean water.
Russia and the dozen tiny countries surrounding China, watch out!
China is under an authoritarian communist regime. How can you get any more regulated than that?
I have said it a hundred times before and I will say it again, “I do not buy the China Miracle story”. The shortcuts they have taken will surely catch up to them
I buy it (mostly). However the Chinese miracle is because of the shortcuts, not in spite of them.
Without these shortcuts, the costs of production in China would have been much higher, and thus precluded the tipping of the produce vs. import equation in their favor.
As it is - they took our production primarily because they have much fewer environmental and labor regulations, not because they’re magically just more productive than us.
(Not saying we shouldn’t have environmental and labor regulations - just saying that if we’re going to have them, they should be applied universally.)
with you there 100%
here’s the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R-FZsysQNw
We should be happy that China has allowed us to export our pollution and our jobs.
There, fixed it for ya.
But should we be happy?
China, the world’s largest polluter, said the number of environmental accidents rose 98 percent in the first six months of the year, as demand for energy and minerals lead to poisoned rivers and oil spills. “Fast economic development is leading to increasing conflicts with the capacity of the environment to absorb”
Ayn Rand would be very proud. This proves that the profit motive will always lead man to do what is in his best long term interest.
Ain’t nobody needin’ to go Galt in China.
Rio:
People are disposable…when you have a Billion who need jobs
China is the biggest polluter and yet the left insists that we suffocate our economy by adopting Cap & Tax. We adopt Cap & Tax, what little manufacturing we have left dies and it all goes to China where there are no standards whatsoever.
Brilliant plan, boys, absolutely brilliant!
Cap and Tax is not about sustainable environments, it’s about creating a trading system that Goldman Suchs and the other insiders can use to collect FEES and commissions.
This is a multi-billion dollar business plan. The American public will get soaked and the same crowd that robbed the Treasury for the bailout funds will be collecting fees in perpetuity. Along with their political cronies.
I’m still waiting for the Party of Change to start the prosecutions of all the criminals on Wallstreet who wrote insurance without the funds to pay it off……FRAUD. Where are the prosecutions?
At least under Bush, Bernie Ebbers, the ENRON, WorldCom, etc, groups of crooks were prosecuted and sent to prison.
Obama’s too busy planning his next vacation.
Cap and Tax is not about sustainable environments, it’s about creating a trading system that Goldman Suchs and the other insiders can use to collect FEES and commissions.
You’re right about this.
As for prosecutions, the biggest problem is that there are so MANY. Back around 2001-2002, the FBI issued an official warning that mortgage lending fraud was increasing at double digit rates, but was directed by the Justice Dept to ignore it.
The other problem was that securitization, derivatives and hedge fund were not regulated. So they, Wall St., could play fast and loose with no consequences.
And last but not least, the SEC was busy watching porn instead of busting chops on Wall St.
This all means there is such a BACKLOG of prosecutions, it will take YEARS to get around to everybody.
Wow I agree with Eddie
Cap and Trade is a horrible idea designed to enrich energy traders at the expense of the people. It would reduce energy consumption which is great.
As stated above I favor a straight energy tax without the trade issues. The money generated from the tax should be used to eliminate payroll taxes, as suggested by Greg Mankew a former Bush economist. This would increase the price of energy and decrease the price of labor in this country which is exactly what we need. We should tax any product imported or created in this country on it’s total energy consumption. This would favor local manufacturing over say China and would reward companies that use energy efficient manufacturing over inefficient practices.
“This would increase the price of energy and decrease the price of labor in this country which is exactly what we need.”
Wow, workers are already seeing their paychecks shrink. Meason wants the trend to continue.
Bill you really aren’t very smart are you.
It would decrease the price of labor for employers. It would not decrease the pay check.
I take measton to be saying that the cost of labor (to companies) because of decreased payroll taxes would decrease while their energy costs would increase. If they want to cut costs, they would reduce energy consumption rather than continuing the never ending downward pressure on wages.
Nothing to do with shrinking paychecks with his idea. Then again, they’ll probably cut both to get another mansion.
what little manufacturing we have left dies and it all goes to China ??
Not if we tax the crap out of everything they send us…
How to Make an American Job Before It’s Too Late: Andy Grove …
We can’t implement an import tax as that would set off trade wars and would be rejected.
If you tax the energy content and cost of shipping that could not be disputed.
Measton:
What does a trade war look like, anyway? There was a time when the US was the bread basket of the world. Do you think we could all manage to live off what this country has to offer? After all, I don’t think we have to worry about oil-producing countries getting pi$$ed because we’re re-imposing tariffs on Chinese goods, and China imposes tariffs on our stuff anyway.
I’m not saying I”m against an import tax, but as long as we are trading and using the world trade organization to mediate trade disputes, a tax on imports would get rejected and a tax on fuel used in production and shipping would be more likely to get a pass.
what little manufacturing we have left dies…
As of 2007, we were still the world’s largest manufacturer. We just don’t make things that you and I buy. We make the things that corporations and governments buy - manufacturing and medical equipment, weapons, locomotives, etc.
Wall Street Pit
That chart is really confusing. They have separated China’s output from BRIC’s output, even though China is a member of BRIC. I wonder how much of the BRIC bar is due to China, and I wonder if China’s output isn’t actually greater than the US’s.
That chart is really confusing.
Seems straightforward to me.
They broke all the BRIC a brac down, is all.
You know, if I see a guy earning 20 bucks a spin playing russian roulette, I’m not going to try earning money the same way.
That being said, I might give him 20 bucks just to see what happens.
Ayn Rand would be very proud. This proves that the profit motive will always lead man to do what is in his best long term interest.
Ain’t nobody needin’ to go Galt in China.
Are you saying Ayn Rand’s philosophy and the profit motive have predominated in Communist China??
Are you saying Ayn Rand’s philosophy and the profit motive have predominated in Communist China??
Would you not say that Rand’s profit motive, “no regulation”, hack “philosophy” in regard to few environmental regulations have predominated in Communist China?
No, I would not say that. The Chinese government massacres peaceful protesters, tortures dissidents, arrests foreign journalists for failing to toe the party line, outlaws non-government-controlled churches, forcibly relocates people based on ethnicity, and forces abortion and contraception on women. Even on economic freedom they are only ranked 140th in the world. That’s about as far from a libertarian world as you can get.
No, I would not say that. The Chinese government massacres peaceful protesters, tortures dissidents,
I know all that and it’s true but I asked a certain question your answer does not address:
Would you not say that Rand’s profit motive, “no regulation”, hack “philosophy” in regard to few environmental regulations has predominated in Communist China?
The Chinese government runs the press, and therefore can easily squelch any environmental movement in its tracks.
Not that I don’t believe that the government shouldn’t at least have some role in environmental protection. But in China not only does the government have no role - but it doesn’t even allow public opinion to have a role. At least in a Rand-ian world the latter would have a chance.
An acid leak at Zijin Mining Group Co.’s copper and gold mine this month poisoned enough fish in the Ting River to feed 72,000 for a year
Not long ago they thought they were only going to have enough poisoned fish for a few months.
AWWWWW!
Roidy
” lending standards remain tight ” B.S. FHA 3 1/2% Down w/ 500 FICO
Mortgage demand dips on rising rates
July 28, 2010 7:37 AM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. home loan demand cooled last week as rising mortgage rates curbed refinancing requests that had soared to a 14-month high, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.
Loan requests to buy homes rose for the second straight week to the highest level since the end of June, but hovered just above 13-year lows. Refinancing still represents nearly 8 out of every 10 mortgage applications.
Many consumers doubt that job market improvement is around the bend, and lending standards remain tight, putting home buying out of reach even with borrowing costs near record lows.
The industry group’s mortgage market index fell by a seasonally adjusted 4.4 percent in the week ended July 23. A 5.9 percent refinancing applications drop overshadowed a 2.0 percent rise in home purchase loan demand.
Average 30-year mortgage rates climbed to 4.69 percent, up 0.10 percentage point in the week from the lowest level since the group starting tracking rates weekly in 1990.
Low borrowing costs and high affordability drove the slight pick-up in home buying demand from extremely depressed levels in the wake of now-expired federal tax credits.
I will bet 5 one dollar federal reserve notes that the mortgage rate hits 4.0% at some point before 2012.
Treasury to hold conference on Fannie, Freddie
By ALAN ZIBEL The Associated Press
Posted: 10:09 a.m. Tuesday, July 27, 2010
They own or guarantee about half of all U.S. mortgages, or nearly 31 million home loans worth more than $5 trillion.
Now if that was coupled to a nice 2 bedroom condoze here in queens for say $125K. (1999 prices) …even I could afford that.
But, but, but … if the mortgage rates are too low then that means the tax deductions for interest expenses are diminished and hence a major selling point for buying a house disappears once the standard deduction becomes greater than if taxes are itemized.
But are mortgage rates all that low? Measured in an inflationary environment mortgage rates of today are very low. But (alas) we are not in an inflationary environment. In constant dollar terms mortgage rates are somewhat high.
But don’t tell anybody.
Incorrect combo.
Inflation right now is running at around 2%. A 30 year note is around 4.5%. So that’s a 2.5% spread over inflation for a mortgage. In the 1980s and 1990s the spread was between 4% and 5% on average.
Historically speaking mortgages today are pretty damn cheap relative to inflation.
“Inflation right now is running at around 2%.”
The millions who have had cuts in their incomes need be told of this immediately!
They are painfully aware of this. Their paychecks are indeed smaller yet they are paying more for food, education, healthcare, taxes, etc.
A double whammy
Their paychecks are indeed smaller yet they are paying more for food, education, healthcare, taxes, etc
= Stagflation….CIRCA 1974-5
They are painfully aware of this. Their paychecks are indeed smaller yet they are paying more for food, education, healthcare, taxes, etc.
nflation in needs, deflation in wants
The core inflation rate excluding food and energy was at a 44 year low of 0.9%. Some of the manufactured goods are needs, some are wants. My guess is the wants continue to fall.
Historically speaking mortgages today are pretty damn cheap relative to inflation
Don’t forget to factor in the falling value of the house.
2%? Uh… nope.
“But, but, but … if the mortgage rates are too low then that means the tax deductions for interest expenses are diminished and hence a major selling point for buying a house disappears once the standard deduction becomes greater than if taxes are itemized.”
Of course, that was true for most folks even at higher rates, but few do the math ahead of time.
I wrote yesterday on the absurdity of indefinitely extended UE benefits and there were some comments about how the weekly benefit amount was just too small to live on and the effect will not prevent the recipient from actively seeking employment. To which I respond: If the benefits are so measly certainly there would be no problem with them being removed entirely.
In Mass the maximum benefit is $629 a week. That’s $15.75 an hour or $32K a year. And it’s actually more than $32K a year because UE benefits are not subject to SS and Medicare tax. Which means in Mass you can live off unemployment and be as well off as someone working at a job making $34,448 a year and who has to pay medicare and ss taxes.
Add to that the costs saved in not having to pay for gas/public transportation, child care and all the other expenses involved with working a full time job and it’s in the neighborhood of a $40K a year job.
So essentially anyone with a job earning $40K or less that gets laid off has 0 incentive to look for another job.
Sorry I missed yesterday’s post. I don’t get online everyday.
Concerning Ma., it’s not typical and doesn’t make a good comparison.
In Florida the MAXIMUM is $275 per week. That’s about $1000 per month. It helps pay for basic needs. Because the Congress also added supplementary COBRA benefits, my health cost went from about $100 per month(employer supplemented) to $200. When the supplements end, it will go up to about $550. That’s half the “benefit”. I will probably become uninsured at that point.
However, as I have posted before, now being on the dole with so many others, the “extended benefits” for 2 years is misleading. I got my State 26 weeks with NO extensions, just in time for the extensions to end. There are 4 TIERS. People who were getting each extension, got the extension, whether they were ending their 1st, 2nd or 3rd extension. When the extension period ended,
Everyone got stopped out. I never got a single extension.
I have been without any income, living on savings for just over 2 months. I have been trying to get back onto the new benefits since they were again extended, without success. I have applied 3 times and have yet to get a letter or e-mail to acknowledge my “confirmations” of applications. Most likely I will be without any income for at least another month.
The unemployment check is about 1/8th the amount I previously earned. I spent 10 years with education, internship, and State Board exams to become a professional engineer. I don’t feel that I should be forced to take a job as a store clerk while something similar becomes available. Eventually, I may need to find some other trade or skill, as i don’t see construction picking up over the next 5 years, and my area of expertise is structural design.
I agree that indefinite benefits is a bad idea, all around. If someone hasn’t found work in 2 years, they probably aren’t going to find something. They should get whatever they can find. I may be there soon. But at age 55, there isn’t much demand for just any job. There are lots of younger workers, although many of them are so ill-educated they couldn’t do most simple work.
I think for everyone, the environment is varies. But I can tell you, personally, that the $275 benefit in Florida is enough to keep from depleting my savings by $1000 more per month.
I paid $15,000 last year in Federal taxes, and the year before, and the year before. I have been a NET PAYER for over 30 years. I have never tried to game the system or file a claim for “disability” or cheat on my taxes.
To date, I have collected $7200 in “benefits”, having lost my job in late October of 2009. I must be living like a king. Yesterday, I was seated by an overweight man who was having lunch at a cafeteria. He was about my age. He finished lunch and went out to his Mercedes sport coupe with the “disability” tag on the bumper. He didn’t seem to have any trouble at all eating, drinking and walking to his car. I couldn’t help but wonder what his “disability” was. Whatever it was, I am sure he is collecting a good government “benefit”, and will do so for the rest of his life, at my expense, because he got on the “right” government program.
I suspect he is getting more in a couple of months than i have collected all year.
What amazes me here is the rabid view that people getting “unemployment” checks with a MAXIMUM of $275 per week are getting a free ride. You need to read more about Government Employees who get early retirement and disability checks that amount to HUNDREDS Of THOUSANDS of dollars a year, every year, until they die!!………because they had a contract that said they were “entitled” to it!!
Give me a break.
Because the Congress also added supplementary COBRA benefits, my health cost went from about $100 per month(employer supplemented) to $200. When the supplements end, it will go up to about $550. That’s half the “benefit”. I will probably become uninsured at that point.
You’re not the only one.
And, if I may be permitted to voice a heretical thought, there are probably more than a few people who are saying, “What’s the worst thing that could happen if I dropped my health insurance? Well, I might get sick and be wiped out. But that’s already happening to people with insurance, so, buh-bye health insurance policy.”
After all, even health insurance companies have limits to what they can charge.
What amazes me here is the rabid view that people getting “unemployment” checks with a MAXIMUM of $275 per week are getting a free ride.
I too am perplexed by this. Jobs remain scarce. I’s seeing SW Engineer jobs posted, asking for people with experience and the offered pay is “60,000-70,000″. That used to be entry level pay at a good company. I’ve seen C++ and VB contractor jobs that pay as little as $15/hr (yes, that low).
Except you don’t get the maximum benefit if you earned $40K a year. From MA’s website:
1. Weekly Benefits
Claimants receive a weekly benefit of approximately 50 percent of their average weekly wage, up to the maximum set by law. The current maximum benefit rate is $629 a week.
So, you have to have earned over $65K a year to get the $629 a week. How many people who earned $65K a year and up are going to be happy with the equivalent of $40K? That is a 38% reduction. Not too many people are going to just shrug off that sort of pay cut.
People have mentioned the UE maximum is no more than half of income many times here. How hard it is to understand?
Press:
Its not the Dollar amount that is the problem, Its taking ANY job that is the problem.
Hear me out, why take ANY job and then have your benefits reduced, you can make usually 1/3 or 1/4 of your weekly benefits before they reduce them dollar for dollar.
But this also subjects you to the original rules, like a recourse loan. If you get fired and the new employer fights it, you cant collect until its been decided or if they find you were fired for cause then you get disqualified for 8-12 weeks….you dont lose any money it gets tacked on at the end
But how many will take ANY job, and risk getting a psychotic employer who will fire you and lie to the unemployment office?
Its not that people are lazy its the rules that make it scary to take ANY JOB when there is high unemployment.
Or, you can get an unofficial low-paying underground job - one paid in undeclared cash - and have the low wages subsidized by unemployment payments.
The employer wins because he doesn’t have to pay you much and doesn’t have to fill out stacks of paperwork, and you win because you get to skip out on paying taxes and SS and Medicare.
Hey its almost a given….just send out 5 resumes a week to companies that will never hire you …like car washes parking lot attendant…..and a least 1 or 2 in your field…..and they wont bother you.
There is a big difference between “too small to live on” and “not useful at all.” When I was on unemployment, I could pay my rent and COBRA health insurance on the unemployment. Nothing was withheld since enough income taxes had been withheld in the months I was employed to more than cover the rest of the year. That meant that only utilities, phone, dial up internet, food, job hunting costs and a few other incidentals came out of savings. Savings went down every month, but the bleeding was controlled. I can’t speak to the inner musings of a person on UE who has no or low savings, but watching the savings bleed away was more than enough motive to look for work agressively. Not to the point of applying for absolutely anything, but I wasn’t sitting around on my behind either.
“there were some comments about how the weekly benefit amount was just too small to live on and the effect will not prevent the recipient from actively seeking employment.”
The benefit may not be enough to “live on”, but it certainly does help supplement the cash-only off-the-books work that both of the guys I know on UE are doing. It disturbs me to learn how common this really is.
That said, both of them are also “actively seeking employment.” They definitely still want to find FT work.
Many moons ago people on unemployment had to report to the office to get benefits. They had to meet with a person weekly and show the list of resumes they sent out and what other actions they were taking to seek work. If they were not “actively seeking” work, they didn’t get benefits for that week. However, the people who met with the job seekers were horrible, awful government employees who were leeches on society (also known as enforcing the law). So they were all fired and now all you have to do to get benefits is press a button on a phone or check a box on a website saying you were actively looking for work and not doing other work. And so there is cheating, because it is easy to cheat. Making cheating harder requires hiring people to make it harder. Funny thing about that.
Only one flaw in that premise, pressboardbox…. there are not enough jobs.
Home Vacancies Rise as U.S. Ownership Falls to Lowest in Decade
(Bloomberg) — Karl Case, an economics professor at Wellesley College and co-creator of the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index, discusses the U.S. housing market. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values increased 4.6 percent in May from the same month a year ago, marking the biggest year-over-year gain since August 2006, the group said today in New York.
About 18.9 million homes in the U.S. stood empty during the second quarter as surging foreclosures helped push ownership to the lowest level in a decade.
The number of vacant properties, including foreclosures, residences for sale and vacation homes, rose from 18.6 million in the year-earlier quarter, the U.S. Census Bureau said in a report today. The ownership rate, meaning households that own their own residence, was 66.9 percent, the lowest since 1999.
Lenders are accelerating foreclosures as borrowers fall behind in mortgage payments after the worst housing crash since the Great Depression. A record 269,962 U.S. homes were seized in the second quarter, according to RealtyTrac Inc. Foreclosures probably will top 1 million this year, the Irvine, California- based data company said in a July 15 report.
“Lenders are accelerating foreclosures as borrowers fall behind in mortgage payments”
I have seen no evidence of this in NW Phoenix (85310 & 85383). We still have about 95% of the MLS listed as “Short Sales” even with some of the homes being vacant for months.
IMO they are hopelessly behind in processing the foreclosures and they don’t seem to be any hurry to catch up. The time for buying should be close (next 1-2 years) as there are simply not enough prople buying, the interest rates are the lowest ever (4.5%, no points) and the inventory will be high.
Localities, states scramble to spend foreclosure relief aid. ~ USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Local governments are at risk of losing more than $1 billion in foreclosure relief funds they can’t spend quickly enough.
With use-it-or-lose-it spending deadlines weeks away, cities and counties are scrambling to shore up neighborhoods by buying foreclosed and abandoned properties — but are often stymied by market forces, federal regulations and a lack of staffing.
The $3.9 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), passed in 2008, was intended to help areas hardest hit by the housing crisis buy foreclosed homes and residential properties. In 2009, Congress added $2 billion via the stimulus bill. Last week, President Obama signed into law another $1 billion for a third round of spending, for a total of $6.9 billion.
Can you just imagine the corruption when local governments are in a rush to spend it or lose it? The stories will be sickening.
Chances are, in a lot of these places the connected ones - cronies of the mayors and alder/councilmen might wind up owning half the town! Talk about wealth redistribution and concentration, oh yeah, and FBs will see firsthand how much their beloved leaders helped them - NOT.
Doomsday shelters making a comeback ~ USA TODAY
Jason Hodge, father of four children from Barstow, Calif., says he’s “not paranoid” but he is concerned, and that’s why he bought space in what might be labeled a doomsday shelter.
Hodge bought into the first of a proposed nationwide group of 20 fortified, underground shelters — the Vivos shelter network — that are intended to protect those inside for up to a year from catastrophes such as a nuclear attack, killer asteroids or tsunamis, according to the project’s developers.
“It’s an investment in life,” says Hodge, a Teamsters union representative. “I want to make sure I have a place I can take me and my family if that worst-case scenario were to happen.”
There are signs that underground shelters, almost-forgotten relics of the Cold War era, are making a comeback.
Doomsday shelters in Barstow. Lol, it figures.
Doomsday has already visited Barstow.
LOL! +1
Hilarious…+1 +1 combo…
He’ll show up there on Doomsday and be greeted by a large group of men with guns who will tell him that his investment has been forfeited to some mititant group. They will then liberate him of his car and food.
Why is it now Pah-kee-stawn ever since Obama started saying it? What happened to Pack-is-tan?
Same thing with Cope-in-hogen
I guess it’s cool to copy Barry. Also remember he pronounces corpsmen, corps-men not core-men.
Feed your Obama Derangement Syndrome.
:) 
It went the way of Veee-et-na-a-m.
Why is it now Pah-kee-stawn ever since Obama started saying it? What happened to Pack-is-tan?
Is it still cool to say “nucular”?
I dare ya to say it while chewing a pretzel!
Gawd I’m glad he’s gone but what a enormous mess he’s left.
From my 1985 dictionary regarding “nucular”: Though disapproved by many, this pronunciation is in widespread use among educated speakers including scientists, lawyers, professors, congressmen, U.S. cabinet members and at least one U.S. president and one vice-president. While most common in the U.S., this pronunciation has also been heard from British and Canadian speakers.
Oddly enough, this dictionary has nothing regarding “corpse”-man or “Pockistan”.
Though disapproved by many, this pronunciation is in widespread use among
Poor language skills know no bounds… just axe anyone in my new neighborhood.
I never had any animosity towards Bush. But, “nukular” makes one sound like a yokel. It’s purely idiocratic.
The word “nuclear” is not complicated. “noo-clear”. “Of the nucleus.”
I just hate to see the language degraded. A language should become richer and more complex to express more ideas and more subtle nuances and more complex thought. It shouldn’t degrade and become more primitive.
“Nukular”, “libary”, “axe”, “pasghetti”, turning verbs into nouns (”disrespect”) - it’s not earth shattering, but I’d hate to see the dictionaries accept these things as new standards. It just smacks of idiocracy. A step in the wrong direction.
But the Nixon/Paline idiocracy and their leaders celebrate ignorance. It’s cool to be stupid, vote for me!!!
For months all we heard was how the eeeeevil oil companies had ruined the gulf. No more beaches in Florida. No more shrimp from Louisiana. We must ban off shore drilling! BP’’s CEO must be put in jail!!
And now….
“For 86 days, oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico from BP’s damaged well, dumping some 200 million gallons of crude into sensitive ecosystems. BP and the federal government have amassed an army to clean the oil up, but there’s one problem — they’re having trouble finding it.
Today, ABC News surveyed a marsh area and found none, and even on a flight out to the rig site Sunday with the Coast Guard, there was no oil to be seen. ”
Once again a media-made non-story trying to push a left wing agenda. At least this time to its credit the lame stream media is acknowledging the lies.
I found this report interesting as well. I thought the most interesting part was why this might be the case. Apparently with the natural oil seeps in the gulf, there is oil eating bacteria around. And we all know from high school biology, that if you give bacteria lots of food, they will grow like crazy until the food runs out.
The open questions are:
1. Due to the increased bacterial activity, will there be decreased levels of oxygen in parts of the gulf? How long will it take to get back to normal–and what will the effect be in the meantime?
2. How much of the oil wasn’t eaten by bacteria, but instead ingested by parts of the food chain? How long will that take to work its way out of the system? And does it matter?
3. Is there any effect on the ecosystem from the dispersients (sp?) used?
4. And most importantly–regardless of the real answers to #1, #2 and #3, how long will it take for the rest of the country to choose to visit the gulf or buy seafood that is caught there?
I don’t subscribe to the “corporations are evil and the gulf has been permanently destroyed” view, but I also don’t subscribe to the “the oil magically disappeared with no consequences” view. The truth lies somewhere in between, with #4 above being a major factor in the economic recovery of the area…and this factor can be dramatically influenced by media.
I’m just hoping that we get some public science out there so people can make rational judgments about when it’s OK to get back into the water.
I for one won’t be buying gulf shrimp anytime soon. My mind will be changed only with factual information.
Shrimp are disgusting to begin with. They’re scavengers and likely to be the most laden with whatever bad stuff is dumped in their livingroom.
I agree with you on the somewhere in between stance. It’s the problem we get with anything politicians touch in this country. Either global warming is going to destroy us all next week, or it’s completely fictional and mankind has zero impact on the ecosystem. (Okay, that might be pushed to even more extreme ends in a fit of hyberbole, but still…)
I suspect we will see oxygen depleted dead spots that will take awhile to clear up. Oil clumps turn into oxygen dead clumps turn back into viable ocean.
It remains to be seen how tough this is going to be on the area. If people would leave it alone for a few years, it would probably spring back fairly well. But millions of people will continue to extract or attempt to extract their livelihoods from the area, which will prolong any recovery of stock/etc.
Read page 14 of this month’s SciAm for more edification on where a lot of the oil is. Or my synopsis in yesterday’s Bits.
“media-made non-story trying to push a left wing agenda”
Caring for the environment is a left wing agenda? What color is the sky in your world.
Oh, yeah. Black.
It’s doubtful they were pushing an agenda. I think the disappearance of the oil surprised everyone.
. I think the disappearance of the oil surprised everyone.
It was skimmed in the middle of the night by Chinese trawlers. They’re busy refining it and they’ll be selling it back to us as gasoline in Wal Mart gas stations next month.
Picture this: $45 garage sale purchase worth $200 million?
BEVERLY HILLS (AP) — A lawyer says a trove of old glass negatives bought in California for $45 has been authenticated as the work of iconic photographer Ansel Adams, worth at least $200 million.
Attorney Arnold Peter says a team of experts has concluded the 65 negatives are from the early work of Adams. It was believed the work had been destroyed in a fire decades ago.
The negatives were bought 10 years ago at a garage sale in Fresno by painter Rick Norsigian, who noticed they resembled Adams’ famed photographs of Yosemite National Park and hired Peter to assemble a team of experts.
Love that show ‘American Pickers’
I just the idea of buying something for nothing. Imagine, $200,000,000 for $45.
I can just picture all the former house flippers scouring over yard sales looking for their next free lunch.
The Adams family’s disputing the claim that the photos were created by Ansel.
Who said that? Gomez or Morticia?
BEVERLY HILLS (AP) — A lawyer says a trove of old glass negatives bought in California for $45 has been authenticated as the work of iconic photographer Ansel Adams, worth at least $200 million.
LOL.
Just goes to show - the adage “what something is worth is what someone is willing to pay for it” has to be qualified with “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.
Although I like some things about them, one thing I can’t understand about the Tea-Party is how they think it is the poor who made them poorer and took their jobs and not the rich globalists “capitalists without borders”. I think the super-rich are trying to take their eye of the ball and doing it in a dangerous and dishonest way.
Lessons From the Shirley Sherrod Saga
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/07/27/opinion/main6718942.shtml
It goes without saying that Andrew Breitbart did not viciously smear Shirley Sherrod because of her all-powerful role as a mid-level appointee in the US Department of Agriculture.
Sure, in the Tea Party universe the caricature of “Shirley Sherrod, Racist” stands in for the quasi-Black Panther, secretly-communist president. She’s Obama’s willing bureaucrat, an ordinary black civil servant who uses an arm of the mighty federal leviathan to discriminate against white farmers and to redistribute taxpayer wealth to fellow blacks
But for the Tea Party crowd, it proved irresistible. “She too perfectly personifies the bureaucracy staffing the federal behemoth not to have a brilliant future in ‘government service’ ahead of her,” wrote one Tea Party blogger. “Next stop, Zimbabwe,” concluded another.
In a way, we should be grateful to Breitbart. His hack job provided us with a perfect visual condensation of the racial paranoia that has animated the Tea Party since its inception.
It’s the logic behind the equally fabricated Breitbart smear against ACORN; it’s what drives Glenn Beck to say that healthcare reform amounts to the “beginning of reparations” and what Rush Limbaugh signals when he accuses Obama of inflicting economic pain as a form of “payback.” And it’s the sentiment found in polls of Tea Party activists, 52 percent of whom say that “too much has been made of the problems facing black people.”
But this story is older than the Tea Party, older than the current drove of right-wing demagogues. It’s the story that has been told to white middle- and working-class voters by the right since the Reagan administration in order to explain their dwindling paychecks and prospects: racism is over; it is minorities who now have too much power; they are stealing your jobs, your future.
And with that insidious whisper (now a shout), the specter of reverse racism chases away the all-too-real and yet all-too-abstract forces of neoliberal economic policy. Who can focus on the workings of contemporary global capitalism when the Zimbabwe-fication of America is nigh!
But black man in White House aside, what we still don’t want to have is an honest discussion about race, race and class together. In doing so, we only give oxygen to the Breitbarts of the world-those who would use race as a wedge issue to split white working-class and minority voters. And perhaps that’s the ultimate takeaway of the Sherrod story: our silence will not protect us.
Rio:
This is a good reason why I am promoting Zydeco music…click on my handle…All over the country you see blacks whites dancing together being nice…there are almost no security or metal detectors because that is not needed
If music can change people attitudes then I will give it a shot
——————————–
But black man in White House aside, what we still don’t want to have is an honest discussion about race, race and class together.
Do click on the deejay’s handle, people. That is some tasty Zydeco music there!
I am promoting Zydeco music
It sounds good too DJ! Thanks.
Sounds like those raver kids, without them licking each other from drugs. Good vibes, maaan.
(I actually listen to my fair share of dance/house stuff.)
I think it’s coming home to roost for the left. All its propaganda, tactics and strategies have been copied and replayed well by zealots like Breitbart and FoxNews.
The left started this kind of politics to begin with. You philosophically oppose any of the left’s position, well guess what you must be a racist. Oppose Obama, well you must be a racist. Oppose healthcare, you must be a racist. Oppose affirmative action, you must be a racist. Oppose illegal immigration, you must be a racist. On and on….
Nobody likes to be called racist. Unfortunately, this is the right’s feeble attempt to give left its own medicine. And sadly, it’s working. The goal of the propaganda is not to get it correct. The goal is just to plant some seeds of doubts and I am sad to say the Sherrod saga succeeded on that. Expect more to come as this financial mess continues.
I think it’s coming home to roost for the left. All its propaganda, tactics and strategies have been copied and replayed well by zealots like Breitbart and FoxNews.
The left started this kind of politics to begin with.
So the left started the politics of racism? Like before the Civil War?
Ahansen, is that you?
What? Where have you been for the last 30 years? Fear mongering is the neocons stock and trade and has been since Raygun.
I was there. I lived. And every time the Repubs had control, Wall St. got richer and EVERYONE else got poorer, only they thought it was J6P fault.
And people STILL believe this crap.
SUCKERS!
So if you love this “not-depression,” wait until the next one. Because with that mindset, I can guarantee the next one.
Honest dialog on race? Here you go… I think from watching black merica up close and personal and mexican-americans up close and personal they are just fine. However the culture that gets dropped on blacks of dependence, victimhood and entitlement back fires on them badly. Black people freely discriminate against white people with little fear of legal consequences as well. Also does more damage to blacks as well because it causes people to naturally segregate.
Mexican-mericans.. I married to one. Again don’t like a lot of the pop culture junk or any of the machismo. Also the anti-gringo laws of mexico and discrimination again work against them. I would say it isn’t as bad as with black people as the culture isn’t as anti-intellectual and pro-dependence.
Anyhow, you will never see this cause you and the rest of the socialists refuse to see it; the social policies other than civil rights legislation have had some large net negative effect on blacks.
I wished it wasn’t, but it’s all true.
Good post James…until you predictably went nutjob/name calling at the end.
Unfortunately, conservatives have a legit beef against the far left, who have given a bad name to progressive policies just as the neocons have given a bad name to conservatives.
And it’s this polarization that is desirable by the PTB.
Machiavelli, anyone?
This accused socialist would do away with unemployment and welfare.
I would however use gov to put people to work in exchange for food stamps and shelter.
Guido and Tony might not like you horning in on their government contracts.
How the Gulf became the nation’s toilet bowl.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/27/gulf.history.environment.toilet/
When the Gulf oil spill was in the early stages, one of my comments was that it takes the food out of people’s mouths, literally, when you can’t fish or crab or shrimp. People may be poor, they may get laid off, but at least they could eat, before. Not now. Now they must beg their living from the enemy, BP.
Burn in hell (or freeze in Siberia, I don’t care) Tony Hayward.
I’m really amazed at the frenzy worked up over BP.
Did you read the article you posted? It talks at length about how the Mississippi river has been channelized to prevent flooding and has been altering the bayou for decades. The OIL spill is just the last of a long line of environmental declines from re-directing natural processes of replenishment.
While I am not a defender of BP, I am also not a rabid hater of business operators, in particular the oil industry. There are a lot of things that probably need to be corrected, however, the spill should have been contained by the Blowout preventer, which had been thought of as the safety net. There’s a long story, with blame and finger-pointing all around.
But, and here’s were I differ with most on this issue. The SPILL should have been contained by oil skimmers, LONG before it got anywhere near the shoreline. The didn’t happen because the OBAMA administration, with it’s oversight on the EPA, the CoastGuard and all the other “agencies” that were screwing up the works, did NOT allow it to be done. There were WEEKS to get skimmers from around the world to fix this. The UNION fellowship, in cooperation with the Administration, kept the Jones Act in place, and OBAMA failed to issue an executive order allowing foreign vessels to assist in the cleanup. (Amazing, since Obama signs executive orders just about daily when it comes to ridiculous desires he may have).
But it would have made him responsible if anything went wrong.
Additionally, the US has about 2000 skimmers at various ports around the country which could have been diverted to the Gulf for the cleanup. Almost none were sent because, “then the areas that have them wouldn’t have them if they have a spill”. Logic that defies comprehension to reasonably minded people.
And finally, when they did get the world’s biggest skimmer, we didn’t immediately go and start sucking up oil. NO. We needed to do EPA testing to see if the “Discharge” met EPA’s current standard for oil discharge, which is in parts per million. A ridiculous fiasco, all at the hands of an incompetent Administration.
This MESS should have been fixed a long, long, time ago. It was a National disaster, and the President should have treated as such and sent HELP. Instead, he sent the Attorney General to see who he could sue and how much he could get.
Forget BP. The focus should have been on marshaling the men and equipment to FIX this, before it was too late, and then worry about who to blame and how much it was going to cost. And who to sue.
It’s been shameful to watch!.
Can’t say I disagree, D.
The real culprit here was the government bureaucracy. There’s a good reason for the bureaucracy; the gov has to have a provision for every single situation so they don’t get sued for discrimination or what-have-you. Only the military seems to have the ability to act when time is pressing.
But you would think that there would be some mechanism to junk the rules, if temporarily, when the clock is ticking.
But, and here’s were I differ with most on this issue. The SPILL should have been contained by oil skimmers, LONG before it got anywhere near the shoreline. The didn’t happen because the OBAMA administration, with it’s oversight on the EPA, the CoastGuard and all the other “agencies” that were screwing up the works, did NOT allow it to be done. There were WEEKS to get skimmers from around the world to fix this. The UNION fellowship, in cooperation with the Administration, kept the Jones Act in place, and OBAMA failed to issue an executive order allowing foreign vessels to assist in the cleanup. (Amazing, since Obama signs executive orders just about daily when it comes to ridiculous desires he may have).
But it would have made him responsible if anything went wrong.
Didn’t BP initially say it was only spilling 5000 barrels a day? Obviously a lie. Might this have influenced the response.
According to sum the total amount of oil skimmed is under 3 million barrels. BP estimates 29million but this is seawater and oil, mostly sea water. It’s likely that 150 to 200million barrels have spilled. Skimmers are mostly for PR purposes. How many barrels of oil were consumed to skim the 3 million barrels of oil? Mother nature is handling the vast majority of this oil spill faster than I would have imagined. Note A lot of wildlife will die in the process, but I doubt skimmers saved any wild life. They probably killed as much as they saved.
Flippers live! Two months ago I looked at a house in Montgomery County, Md, outside DC. There are few properties available in my price range, so when they come up, I go see them. This was a foreclosure priced at $310. I toured it twice, once w a friend who pointed out deficiencies and estimated repair costs. The property had an ancient septic system along with an equally elderly well. We figured there would be significant repair/upgrade costs in that area in the near future. The house also had a wet basement. It hadn’t been raining recently when we visited, but there was an inch of standing water in much of the basement, along with signs of long-term, unsuccessful efforts to remedy the situation (house was about 50 years old). I passed on the property, but it was sold soon afterwards.
Less than a month later, lo and behold, the same house went back on the market for $499! The ad specifically mentioned that the kitchen had been outfitted with stainless appliances, and that the baths had been ‘upgraded’. (When I last saw them, the bathroom drywall was covered w black mold.)
Anyway, someone made some money, bc the property just sold, after having been back on the market for about 2 weeks.
I can see a real opportunity for a real estate lawyer. Whoever bought that place is going to need one.
For grins, you might want to contact the new owner, and ask whether the toxic mold in the BR was remedied properly…
There’s a property like that in the area I’m looking at. No one will touch it. It’s priced really low vis a vis comps and the workers did a good job, although their turnaround time couldn’t possibly have included mold mitigation. I guess enough people toured it before the flippers got ahold of it and word is out.
“Never before has the nation spent more to mint and issue a circulating coin than its legal value. This problem is needlessly wasting hundreds of millions of dollars.” ~Edmund Moy, Mint Dir.
Director Edmund Moy of the United States Mint recently complained, “With regard to the one-cent and five-cent coins, never before has the nation spent more to mint and issue a circulating coin than its legal value. This problem is needlessly wasting hundreds of millions of dollars.”
To which Dr. Ron Paul (R-TX) fired back: “We could not maintain the gold standard nor the silver standard. We could not maintain the copper standard, and now we cannot even maintain the zinc standard,” Paul noted. “Paper money inevitably breeds inflation and destroys the value of currency.”
~Failing Zinc Standard
Consider life without the one-cent coin. Or, even the NICKEL. Stopping production of these coins would put a stop to the mint manager’s problem of spending more taxpayer dollars to making these minor coins than their face value.
Hmmm…..
Remember the old grainy black and white footage of Germany during the 1920’s where people were carting around their worthless paper marks in wheelbarrows?
Maybe the nickel will become the poor man’s krugerrand.
As long as business keep the 19.99 sale prices so idiot consumers think it’s a deal, we’re going to have to keep the penny.
Or taxes are figured in multiples of fractions because your local government is the master of skimming.
Well - the non-existence of the 1/10 penny piece doesn’t prevent gas stations from selling gas at 259.9 cents.
…and rounding it up when you pay.
Mr. Moy needn’t worry. If the banks and credit card companies have their way, we wouldn’t have cash-money at all. You put everything on the card, and we can dispense with the pesky Mint altogether. Mastercard can take its their skim off of everything, and kill the underground economy too.
Bugs: “eh, how do ya like real estate now doc?”
Daffy: “Consequences, Schmonsequences, as long as I’m rich.”
Ho ho, hah hah, hehehehehehe, BwaHaHaAhHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb-thrower™)
By COURTENAY EDELHART, Californian staff writerbakersfield| Monday, Jul 26 2010
A Bakersfield real estate agent wanted on a $1 million arrest warrant in connection with an alleged mortgage fraud scheme was arrested Thursday in Las Vegas.
Guadalupe Ramirez and her father had both been charged in connection with the alleged scheme, accused of getting kickbacks from $4.1 million in fraudulent mortgage loans that almost immediately went into default, according to legal filings.
Las Vegas police declined to offer specifics on where the younger Ramirez was arrested, other than to say they apprehended her on a public street about 9:30 a.m. Thursday. They also wouldn’t reveal details on how they found her.
“Just good old-fashioned police work,” said spokesman Bill Cassel. “We find a lot of your rejects here. We’ve had a very good run recently of returning your wayward citizens to you.”
The daughter had taken a job about two weeks ago with Exit United Realty in Las Vegas.
Exit broker Pablo Covarrubias said Monday he had no idea she was wanted by authorities here.
“My God that’s crazy,” he said when a reporter told him about the case. “She didn’t tell me any of that. I just knew she had moved here from California.”
Covarrubias said the younger Ramirez had very recently obtained a Nevada real estate license. The website of the Real Estate Division of the Nevada Department of Business and Industry does not list her as having a license. The agency did not return telephone calls requesting an interview.
Wow! A whole 40 miles on batteries, these things will be snapped up by savvy buyers,to be sure.
GM Volt’s price induces some sticker shock
July 28, 2010
The long-anticipated Chevrolet Volt, General Motors’ electric car, will cost $41,000, the company announced Tuesday, leaving consumers to decide whether its environmental appeal is worth a price far above that of similarly sized conventional autos.
Electric-car technology has been around for years, but the high cost to make the vehicles has prevented automakers from producing them for the mass market. The price announcements for the Volt and its electric rival, the Nissan Leaf, have been highly anticipated as a result. Nissan, the only other major manufacturer expected to bring such a vehicle to market this year, said the Leaf will cost $32,780.
GM and Nissan are relying on a $7,500 federal tax credit for buyers of electric vehicles to offset some of the added cost, and they’re hoping that the allure of their novel power source will make up the rest.
“The Volt is a game-changing product,” said Tony Posawatz, GM’s vehicle line director for the Volt, which is expected to hit showrooms in November 2011.
Although the prices are high, enthusiasts say that electric cars can reach a large, untapped market for vehicles with little or no tailpipe emissions.
The Volt can travel 40 miles on its battery charge and an additional 340 miles on a gasoline-powered generator. The all-electric Leaf has a range of 100 miles.
And the Tesla does 300.
GM. Still a day late and a dollar short to the party. It’s why the Japanese ate their lunch… DESPITE the import tarrifs.
And the Tesla does 300.
I don’t think so!
Sorry. Your right. It’s 250.
And the Tesla does 300.
And costs 100K+
They are making a sedan that retails for +/-60K.
Yeah, just $60K. That’s all. Just $60K.
Think I’ll buy me a fleet!
The Model S is still vaporware. The final version will cost more and have less range. 100 miles/charge is already stretching it with current battery technology. I don’t believe Tesla’s 250 mile claim at all.
“GM and Nissan are relying on a $7,500 federal tax credit for buyers of electric vehicles…”
So this is the new business model, huh? Bring an overpriced POS to market and count on Uncle Sugar to make it “affordable”. Seems like the auto boys learned a thing or two from the REIC.
“So this is the new business model, huh? Bring an overpriced POS to market and count on Uncle Sugar to make it “affordable”. Seems like the auto boys learned a thing or two from the REIC”.
Also for the first 4500 nuts that buy this POS they get a “free” charging station for their garage. It uses 240 volts and takes 3 hours to fully charge. What about the people that don’t have a garage?
GM is counting on the lease price of $350.00 a month to move the Volt. So they are targeting the ‘how-much-a-month’ crowd.
$350 can buy you a pretty decent get-around-town bicycle. For just one easy monthly payment — if you’re putting 100% down in cash.
Good point about the garage. I wouldn’t want to plug in my car in the rain. And not everyone has a driveway either. I live in an apartment with a parking lot. How do you hook up an electric car to that? Nor do I like the BS about using “off-peak” power. Yeah, it’s off-peak until everyone plugs in their car at night. Then we’ll have 24/7 peak.
Actually the big demand during the day is from HVAC units in the summer. So no biggie charging cars at night.
Nothing like a long huge thick 220v extension cord running out to recharge the car all night.
I live in an apartment with a parking lot. How do you hook up an electric car to that?
My old apt here in Seattle actually had charging stations/plugs. Part of the renovation the owners did when they gutted and redid the place.
So, it’s doable.
Well Wmbz:
If you were in NYC i can tell you the last time was a month ago to see my mom that i drove over 40 miles in one day….Now you in Columbia SC that’s very easy to do…..but its still too expensive for that little range..
Wow! A whole 40 miles on batteries, these things will be snapped up by savvy buyers,to be sure.
Right aNYCdj, I know in certain places a short range vehicle would work just fine.
$41,000.00 is a butt load for it though, the Volt will be a failure, unless the gubmint keeps subsidizing them, even then they fail.
A niece of mine in NYC, has been there for about 6 years doesn’t have a car.
The Volt will be the darling of the Hollywood crowd. They’re gonna dump their Priuses and buy Chevy Volts to park in their driveways … while they’re out and about in the Jag.
when i lived in Manhattan i parked at my parents house in CT for 5 years. But in December i paid $200mo back then to park it in a garage when i had lots of holiday parties & NYE then on new years day drove it back and it usually sat for 3-4 months
Why get a car if you’re only going to make short trips?
$41,000 - $7,500 buys quite a few cab rides, no? Plus, you’re reducing your “carbon footprint” by reducing the energy used to make the car in the first place.
Numbnuts are the people at GM and the people who buy such overpriced crap.
Good thing that electricity is essentially free and grows on trees.
Just as bad an idea as ethanol. Once you figure in:
1. efficiency of the power generation (usually coal fired plants ranging from 25%-45%)
2. Loss in transmission, typically around 6-7%
3. Loss in charging and discharging the battery
you are just as efficient if you run a hybrid or turbo diesel. The only thing you’re getting away with for now is that you cheat Uncle Sam out of the gasoline tax. I am sure they’ll find a way to “fix” that if the idea catches on.
I’m mystified as to why they are so expensive to produce. I used to work as a technician on electric vehicles ( not cars, but locomotives, light rail, and trolley buses ), and the machinery is very simple and reliable compared to an internal combustion engine. Three phase AC motor have been around almost one hundred years, and the control electronics are now very well developed and mass-produced.
Count me as mystified too.
I mean, come on. $40k for four wheels and a motor? Does it come with a mortgage? Can I live in it? Comfortably?
We have a irrigation pump system here in our subdivision of 400 homes. A 3 phase 25 hp pump motor is run from a small solid-state variable-frequency drive (VFD). I’m sure this would be enough to power an urban micro-car (e.g. smart car). But IIUC a VFD and motor run about $10K.
I take it you folks don’t buy batteries very often.
The volt has big honkin’ expensive batteries, and lots of them.
It’s the battery pack. Much larger size, and therefore much more expensive, than the one in the Prius.
There was an article in the WSJ today where the automobile columnist got to try out an electric-only car that won’t be sold here. Yes, he had range anxiety, as in “do I have enough charge to make it home?” Also the range indicator dropped significantly when he turned on the A/C. It will also drop when you turn on the heater in the winter. However, lights and radio use won’t diminish the range much at all.
Hey, plastic trim and fake leather aren’t cheap, you know! And the cup holders! Think of the cup holders!
Something else to think about: people bitch about the autoworkers union, but the labor cost for ANY American mass prod car is about $2000 (maybe 3k these days) and I think that includes bennies and pensions.
Where the hell is the remaining $20,000+ going?
Where the hell is the remaining $20,000+ going?
Umm..pensions and benefits for retired workers, perhaps?
Where the hell is the remaining $20,000+ going?
Umm..pensions and benefits for retired workers, perhaps?
I don’t think so.
June durable-goods orders fall sharply.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Orders for U.S.-made durable goods sank in June, falling 1.0% on weaker demand for airplanes, electronics, and machinery, steel and other long-lasting manufactured products, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. The decrease far exceeded the expected 1.0% rise forecast by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. It was the largest drop in total orders since August 2009. Excluding transportation, orders fell 0.6%. Shipments fell 0.3% in June and were down 1.3% excluding transportation goods. Inventories rose 0.9% for the sixth straight monthly gain.
They’re making the boyz in the financial press dizzy!
It’s a consumer led recovery, no wait, it’s a manufacturing led recovery, no, it’s consumer led recovery, hold it, manufacturing, no it’s the consumer….
Yet many big corporations are making fat profits.
We got screwed again. Just like the last 6 recessions.
Question Re: Rising Homebuilder costs
I have been chatting with a guy who bought a foreclosed home in my neighborhood (western connecticut). (He couldn’t get a mortgage on the place unless he had a contract to sell it before he started to remodel it, which is what he did- He has had to gut about 90% of it)
Anyway, he has been stunned at the higher costs of everything from material s to his team of Mexican laborers ($5 more per hour compared to 18 months ago).
IS this consistent with what the bloggers here are seeing?
I thought we were in a deflationary environment?
For the umpteenth time, there is NO deflation.
The only things dropping are RE prices and wages and event those are not consistent.
For the umpteenth time, there is NO deflation.
The only things dropping are RE prices and wages
Isn’t that sorta like saying “we don’t have an air quality problem, the only thing dropping is oxygen levels”?
Some people I know have seen prices drop a little in their region. Most people I know, haven’t.
In my region inflation was running 20-50% earlier this year and last. Yes, you read that right. It’s no typo. And it’s put a serious hurt on life.
Eco, where the heck do you live?
I see very little inflation here. There are usually more things that are on sale in the grocery stores than a couple of years ago. Our weekly grocery bill has been flat for over a year now. Gasoline is about the same. Electric rates went up a bit. Contract cell phone rates have been coming down, although we use a prepaid plan at $10/month. Used to be $15 until about two years ago.
We’re in the second year of flat SS payments, and of course the (small) pension checks I get will be flat until I die. Since we own our house we can live on that. And that income is just as adequate now as it was two years ago. The Medicare supplemental and Part D insurance go up each year but that’s ‘cuz we’re older each year.
Sorry guys, I just don’t see much inflation at all right now.
4th largest city in the nation. You’ll have to look it up because it’s never mentioned and isn’t common knowledge.
Weird ain’t it?
You mean Houston?
Everyone knows its NY, LA, Chicago, then Houston.
+1
My checkbook keeps telling my that everything is still going up in price.
I’ve also noticed that the specials at the grocery store aren’t as special as they used to be. Once upon a time you could get sirloin steak on sale under $3/lb, now it’s rare to see it below $4/lb. Produce is more expensive too, diary has been creeping back up as well.
two words…printing press.
One word: TARP
I’m right near Western CT on the NY side, between Kent and New Milford and also in the construction biz.(not houses nor do we use day labor). I’m aware that many of the day laborers have moved on elsewhere(back to their home country?), materials prices are pretty much static at this point but I find it laughable that your friend found a buyer for that dump of his. There is inventory everywhere and it’s growing.
It’s unfortunate that your friend found a sucker.
I wonder of Kissenger still has a house in Kent? went there quite a few times during gulf war 1 with the WTNH tv satellite truck
Retailers Pay More to Get Cargo (No Guarantee)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/business/global/27shipping.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=general
Mortgage demand dips on rising rates
Loan requests up second straight week, but just above 13-year lows
NEW YORK — U.S. home loan demand cooled last week as rising mortgage rates curbed refinancing requests that had soared to a 14-month high, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday.
Loan requests to buy homes rose for the second straight week to the highest level since the end of June, but hovered just above 13-year lows. Refinancing still represents nearly 8 out of every 10 mortgage applications.
Many consumers doubt that job market improvement is around the bend, and lending standards remain tight, putting home buying out of reach even with borrowing costs near record lows.
Many consumers doubt that job market improvement is around the bend, and lending standards remain tight, putting home buying out of reach even with borrowing costs near record lows.
Uh-oh. Looks like real estate’s going back to being based on real-world things like the growth of jobs and incomes.
“Uh-oh. Looks like real estate’s going back to being based on real-world things like the growth of jobs and incomes”.
Funny how that works, after the candy crapping unicorn get it’s brains blown out!
Record High Apartment Building Defaults=CHECK
Record High Defaults=CHECK
Record High Foreclosures=CHECK
Record Low Sales=CHECK
Record Price Declines=CHECK
Folks,
DO NOT buy any housing right now.
There is no stabilization in housing until we get back to early 1990’s prices, possibly even early 1980’s.
Let housing prices and rents collapse and don’t get in the way.
*One of my favorites from marketwatch
Americans Tap $8.3 Billion in Home Equity, Least in a Decade
Americans in the second quarter tapped the smallest amount of home equity in a decade, showing households are focused on repairing tattered finances.
Owners took out $8.3 billion while refinancing prime home loans as borrowing costs dropped from April through June, down from $8.4 billion in the previous three months and the least in 10 years, according to a report today by McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac. Twenty-two percent chose to reduce loan principal, matching the third-highest rate since records began in 1985.
Instead of extracting cash to binge on everything from cars to vacations as in previous recoveries, owners are refinancing to improve terms and reduce mortgage payments. The mending of household balance sheets means consumers will be in a better position to join the recovery once employment picks up.
Instead of extracting cash to binge on everything from cars to vacations as in previous recoveries, owners are refinancing to improve terms and reduce mortgage payments. The mending of household balance sheets means consumers will be in a better position to join the recovery once employment picks up.
What the above doesn’t mention is the thousands of dollars in fees per refi.
Last time we refinanced a mortgage (before our renting years), it took us seven months to break even on those fees. Rates were higher then.
The mending of household balance sheets means consumers will be in a better position to join the recovery once employment picks up.
Don’t count on employment picking up anytime soon, and remember that these savings are being offset by salary cuts and increased taxes and fees.
On my daily commute I pass by a battered bus stop bench (the kind made of concrete). It’s definitely seen better days and has been moved from its original position, leaving it aske. But what makes it stand out is a fading advert on it’s backrest: “Put your home equity to work for you. XYZ Bank.”
The mending of household balance sheets means consumers will be in a better position to join the recovery once employment picks up.
“A better position” being relative, of course.
Moody’s cuts outlook on banks’ supported ratings.
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday lowered the outlook on Bank of America supported ratings to negative from stable. Supported ratings are those assigned with the assumption of government bailouts if banks get into trouble again in the future. “The outlook change is prompted by the recent passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act–a law that, over time, is expected to result in lower levels of government support for U.S. banks,” said the ratings agency. Moody’s also affirmed the three banks’ long-term and short-term ratings.
Brick maker to close.
The ailing housing market has claimed another casualty in the Triangle with the planned closure of a brick manufacturing plant in Moncure.
General Shale Brick, based in Tennessee, plans to close its two manufacturing facilities in the Chatham County town and furlough 117 people in September.
But in its letter to the N.C. Department of Commerce, the company described the plant closure as temporary.
“As soon as we get our inventory in line with demand, we will call back the workers and get them back into production,” Bob Propes, the company’s director of promotions and national accounts, said in a phone interview. “Hopefully this is a short-term event.”
Propes said the workers could be recalled as soon as six months from now.
“People are still building, just not at the same pace,” he said.
Around 2006 my brother took a management position in with Kitchen cabinet maker in the Raleigh area. I told him he would be unemployed within a year and was right. 6 months after he was let go the business folded.
Judge blocks parts of Arizona immigration law.
PHOENIX (AP) – A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the most controversial parts of Arizona’s immigration law from taking effect, delivering a last-minute victory to opponents of the crackdown.
The overall law will still take effect Thursday, but without the provisions that angered opponents — including sections that required officers to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws.
The judge also put on hold parts of the law that required immigrants to carry their papers at all times, and made it illegal for undocumented workers to solicit employment in public places. In addition, the judge blocked officers from making warrant-less arrests of suspected illegal immigrants.
“Requiring Arizona law enforcement officials and agencies to determine the immigration status of every person who is arrested burdens lawfully-present aliens because their liberty will be restricted while their status is checked,” U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton ruled.
Cash-Strapped Towns Turn to Plan B While Fighting Challenges to Illegal Immigration Laws.
A Nebraska city’s decision to suspend its illegal immigration policy under threat of lawsuit is just the latest sign that civil rights groups may be able to force local governments to back down from immigration restrictions because they don’t have the cash to defend them in court.
Cities across the country have faced court challenges over the past several years from groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mexican American Legal Defense & Education Fund. Some have rescinded their policies; others have pressed forward in court.
But for how long? Fremont, Neb., facing suit from both those groups, on Tuesday suspended its ban on hiring or renting property to illegal immigrants — a policy approved by ballot measure just five weeks ago. City officials were concerned about the cost of implementing the law, including legal fees, overtime and other expenses.
“They try to deter cities,” said Lou Barletta, mayor of Hazleton, Pa. “It’s a legitimate worry.”
There is only ONE reason to allow illegal immigration. To drive down wages.
Does anyone need any further proof we’ve been sold out by the gov to the corporations? As if offshoring apparently wasn’t enough.
There is only ONE reason to allow illegal immigration. To drive down wages.
United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez was of the same mind.
Cesar Chavez was an American born in Texas, who didn’t like illegal immigration, yet the pro-lobby ignores this truth.
+10 for a good memory! Correcto!
Thanks. I almost forgot.
“To drive down wages AND foster unsafe work conditions where no one can complain.”
There is only ONE reason to allow illegal immigration. To drive down wages.
I think it’s a fair argument that cost of enforcement is a concern.
Whether that’s supported by the facts is a different issue.
Just you watch. The other states that are interested in the outcome of this SB1070 ruling will sally forth with their own laws.
In the meantime, the illegals are heading out of here. The local sentiment seems to be of the “Don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya!” variety.
Methinks that the United States is becoming a less hospitable place for illegal immigrants. As it should be. Compared to other countries, we’ve been real pushovers.
“Compared to other countries, we’ve been real pushovers”
The following information is compiled from Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security reports:
* 83% of warrants for murder in Phoenix are for illegal aliens.
* 86% of warrants for murder in Albuquerque are for illegal aliens.
* 75% of those on the most wanted list in Los Angeles , Phoenix and Albuquerque are illegal aliens.
* 24.9% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals
* 40.1% of all inmates in Arizona detention centers are Mexican nationals
* 48.2% of all inmates in New Mexico detention centers are Mexican nationals
* 29% (630,000) convicted illegal alien felons fill our state and Federal prisons at a cost of $1.6 billion annually
* 53% plus of all investigated burglaries reported in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Texas are perpetrated by illegal aliens.
* 50% plus of all gang members in Los Angeles are illegal aliens
* 71% plus of all apprehended cars stolen in 2005 in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California were stolen by Illegal aliens or “transport coyotes”.
* 47% of cited/stopped drivers in California have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 47%, 92% are illegal aliens.
* 63% of cited/stopped drivers in Arizona have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 63%, 97% are illegal aliens
* 66% of cited/stopped drivers in New Mexico have no license, no insurance and no registration for the vehicle. Of that 66% 98% are illegal aliens.
* 380,000 plus “anchor babies” were born in the US to illegal alien parents in just one year, making 380,000 babies automatically US citizens (which is UN-constitutional; illegal).
* 97.2% of all costs incurred from those illegal births were paid by the American taxpayers.
Very sobering statistics…Thanks for posting.
Read the fine print and footnotes of the federal judge’s ruling on the AZ immigration law.
She struck down the provision that a LEO MUST check the status of a suspected illegal, but in a footnote, still allows LEOs to, at their discretion, check status.
This is a major victory for us, because it gives LEOs the opportunity, under law, to hold a suspect for violation of federal immigration law, until their status, legal or otherwise is verified by the feds.
It’s the LEOs call to check or not…. and I bet a large percentage will so check.
Like we always said, (regarding what liberals think is a victory in this case) the big print givith, the little print taketh away
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Mortgage loan originators will have to be fingerprinted and sign up to a central registry to do business in future, according to final rules issued on Wednesday by the Federal Reserve and other regulators.
The rules are part of the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008, also called the S.A.F.E. Act.
They were issued by the Fed, Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, Office of Thrift Supervision, Farm Credit Administration and National Credit Union Administration.
Mortgage brokers came under tough scrutiny in the wake of the 2007-09 financial crisis, with some lawmakers and regulators sharply critical of underwriting standards and practices that were seen as so loose they helped foster a housing price bubble.
The S.A.F.E. Act specifies that mortgage brokers who are employees of agency-regulated institutions must register with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry,
“As part of this registration process, residential mortgage loan originators must furnish to the registry information and fingerprints for background checks,” a joint release from regulators said.
The final rules take effect on October 1 and it is anticipated that the registry could start accepting registrations as early as January 28, 2011.
Well….
I’ve been fingerprinted for defense contractor jobs. I’ve been fingerprinted as part of California bar admissions. I’ve been fingerprinted getting a concealed carry license. What’s the big deal?
The Arizona CCW license (when I got it) required a background check and fingerprinting.
Slim- at midnight tonight we won’t need no stinkin’ permit!
but…you should still get the permit to enjoy the other privileges like reciprocity with other states and being able to carry into bars and restaurants (While not drinking of course).
They should also be required to have a mug shot taken with their license number on a little board being held up by said mortgage broker.
Mortgage brokers to be fingerprinted and registered
July 28, 2010
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mortgage loan originators will have to be fingerprinted and sign up to a central registry to do business in future, according to final rules issued on Wednesday by the Federal Reserve and other regulators.
The rules are part of the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008, also called the S.A.F.E. Act.
They were issued by the Fed, Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, Office of Thrift Supervision, Farm Credit Administration and National Credit Union Administration.
Mortgage brokers came under tough scrutiny in the wake of the 2007-09 financial crisis, with some lawmakers and regulators sharply critical of underwriting standards and practices that were seen as so loose they helped foster a housing price bubble.
The S.A.F.E. Act specifies that mortgage brokers who are employees of agency-regulated institutions must register with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry,
“As part of this registration process, residential mortgage loan originators must furnish to the registry information and fingerprints for background checks,” a joint release from regulators said.
One can only hope that the entire lying realtor crime syndicate, better known as NAR will be fingerprinted and their backgrounds checked closely.
Ditto all the labor union thugs.
Ditto Wall St. thieves.
Ditto corporate thugs and their apologists.
Ditto to all communists.
Ditto all fascists.
From Shadow Stats:
Meaningless Home Sales Numbers Serve as Fodder for Irrational Stock Market. The monthly new home sales data simply cannot be taken at face value. The numbers are of such poor quality and of such minimal statistical significance that one has to wonder why the Census Bureau even bothers to report them. Census might consider holding back the data six months, or so, until the regular and volatile revisions stabilize. The only value for the June new home sales numbers was in the realm of Wall Street hypesters trying to support irrationally high stock prices for a couple of hours.
Monday’s (July 26th) release of May new home sales (counted based on contract signings, Census Bureau) showed sales soaring by 23.6% (up just 10.0% net of prior-period revisions) +/- 17.9% (95% confidence interval). Such followed a revised 36.7% collapse (a 40.1% decline before prior-period revisions, and, as initially reported, a 32.7% drop).
Aside from rarely having any statistical significance at the 95% confidence level, the monthly new homes sales numbers tend to suffer extreme revisions. Consider that April 2010’s sales were revised downward from initial reporting of 504,000, to 446,000 with May’s report, and to 422,000 with the June report. May’s sales initially were reported at 300,000 (a record low) and were revised to 267,000 (a new record low) with the June report. June’s monthly “surge” was off the downwardly-revised May data. The June level of 330,000 annualized sales is the lowest on record, except for the current reporting on May.
Unemployment rises in 75 pct. of metro areas
Unemployment rises in three-quarters of largest metro areas, mostly due to seasonal trends
WASHINGTON (AP) — The unemployment rate in about three-quarters of the nation’s largest metro areas rose last month as seasonal factors boosted joblessness nationwide.
The Labor Department says the unemployment rate rose in 291 of 374 areas in June from May. It fell in 55 areas and was flat in 28.
Unlike other employment data, the figures aren’t adjusted to account for seasonal trends, such as college and high school students beginning job searches in the summer or retail clerks let go after the winter holiday shopping season. So the figures tend to be volatile from month to month.
Before June, joblessness fell in most metro areas for three straight months.
Some of the areas with the biggest increases in their unemployment rates are: Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Champaign-Urbana, Ill.; and Alexandria, La.
David Rosenberg: Investors’ Renewed Complacency “Could Get Shattered Pretty Quickly”
The Dow looks to keep its 5-day winning streak alive Wednesday after eking out a minuscule gain on Tuesday. The blue chip index and the S&P 500 both closed above their 200-day moving averages – a key bullish indicator for technical analysts.
Leave it to noted bear David Rosenberg to throw cold water on that fire. “There’s no question the technical position of the market is positive [but] I wouldn’t take that as a leading indicator,” Rosenberg says, noting stocks took a hit in April, the last time they breached the 200-day moving average. (Conversely, stocks rallied sharply after the presumably bearish “death cross” pattern was triggered in late June.)
“The market is overbought and there is a renewed sense of complacency in the marketplace that I think could get shattered pretty quickly,” says the chief economist and strategist at Gluskin Sheff in Toronto.
SUCKERS!
Bloomberg
Americans Tap $8.3 Billion in Home Equity, Least in a Decade
By Bob Willis - Jul 28, 2010 7:26 AM PDT Wed Jul 28 14:26:06 UTC 2010
Americans Tap $8.3 Billion in Home Equity, Least in a Decade
A home in the Golden Gate Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. Photographer: Ryan Anson/Bloomberg
Americans in the second quarter tapped the smallest amount of home equity in a decade, showing households are focused on repairing tattered finances.
Owners took out $8.3 billion while refinancing prime home loans as borrowing costs dropped from April through June, down from $8.4 billion in the previous three months and the least in 10 years, according to a report today by McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac. Twenty-two percent chose to reduce loan principal, matching the third-highest rate since records began in 1985.
Instead of extracting cash to binge on everything from cars to vacations as in previous recoveries, owners are refinancing to improve terms and reduce mortgage payments. The mending of household balance sheets means consumers will be in a better position to join the recovery once employment picks up.
“It’ll put consumers on firmer ground going forward,” said Michael Bratus, an economist at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “It’ll give consumers more confidence.”
A report yesterday from the Conference Board in New York showed confidence dropped in July to a five-month low on concern about jobs and wages. Americans may eventually become less pessimistic as they repair balance sheets and their financial situation improves.
So-called cash-out loans, in which borrowers increase their loan amounts by at least 5 percent, accounted for 27 percent of all refinanced loans in the three months to June, capping the lowest three-quarter share on record. Cash-out refinances peaked at 88 percent in mid 2006.
…
Last time a space alien screwed with me, I set my phaser on full power.
Man hit by six meteorites is being ‘targeted by aliens’
A Bosnian man who claims he is being targeted by extraterrestrials after a series of meteorite strikes on his house has now been hit by a sixth space rock in the space of a few years.
Radivoje Lajic first came to international attention in 2008, shortly after the fifth meteorite had crashed into the roof of his house in the northern village of Gornji Lajici.
And now, within the past month, another rock has hit the roof of his house, in defiance of all the odds - making it six strikes since the plague of meteorites began in 2007.
Experts at Belgrade University have confirmed that all the falling rocks he has handed over were meteorites. They are now trying to work out what exactly it is about his house that particularly attracts them. The strikes always happen when it is raining heavily, he says, never when there are clear skies.
Lajic has his own explanation, of course. After the fifth rock struck his house, he said: ‘I am obviously being targeted by extraterrestrials. I don’t know what I have done to annoy them but there is no other explanation that makes sense. The chance of being hit by a meteorite is so small that getting hit six times has to be deliberate.’
50-year-old Lajic has had a steel girder reinforced roof put on the house to protect it from the alien bombardment - which he funded by selling one of the meteorites to a university in the Netherlands.
‘I have no doubt I am being targeted by aliens,’ he adds. ‘They are playing games with me. I don’t know why they are doing this. When it rains I can’t sleep for worrying about another strike.’
This sounds like the basis of a future Oliver Stone movie!
GM Canada transmission plant to close (AP) – 1 hour ago
WINDSOR, Ontario — Workers at General Motors Canada in Windsor, Ontario, are rolling their final transmission off the line at its last plant in the former capital of Canada’s automotive industry.
The plant closing Wednesday afternoon builds transmissions for the Pontiac G5 and Chevy Cobalt. The closing will affect 500 employees.
GM was once one of the biggest employers in the city with more than 7,000 workers. But the recently struggling car manufacturer has dwindled over the years. The plant closing Wednesday is its last remaining transmission plant in Windsor, Ontario.
GM has been in Windsor for 90 years.
GM has been in Windsor for 90 years.
Darn. Remember?:
“351 Cleveland or Windsor”?
“351 Cleveland or Windsor”?
Yes I do, but I honestly didn’t know GM had been there for 90 years!
351’s were Fords.
351’s were Fords.
Hey! You’re right.
But 351 Cleveland/351 Windsor engines are FORDs.
But 351 Cleveland/351 Windsor engines are FORDs.
I remember now. But too bad for the GM workers in Canada too.
I’d hate to have one of those last transmissions in my new car.
Back in the ’50s my father bought a new car. It ran for less than a week before it started running poorly, then it wouldn’t run at all. The dealer towed it in and discovered the fuel line and gas tank had numerous little pieces of paper in them and fuel flow was ultimately blocked completely.
My father was told there had been other instances around the city, with that same brand of car (Chevy? Ford? Don’t remember.) but from different dealerships. Guess there were some disgruntled union thugs making mischief back at the factory.
Nice hobgoblin.
I went on a tour of the now disappeared GM plant near the Baltimore harbor. Fascinating stuff.
On the various cars coming around there were protective coverings on the fenders, and the hoods were open. On one was written “GM screws us, we screw the customer.”
Verbatim. It was eye-opening.
Navistar plant in West Point announces layoffs
Dispatch Staff
Navistar plans to cut approximately 340 employees from its West Point plant by next week, according to the manufacturer.
Navistar spokesperson Elissa Koc confirmed today the majority of the 500-employee staff would be released as an order for 1,050 MaxxPro Mine Resistant Ambush Protected, or MRAP, vehicles nears completion in the coming days.
“It’s likely all (layoffs) will occur this week and next week,” said Koc.
Looks like the wheels are coming off the TARP bus, and surprise abounds throughout the MSM along with a string of experts and advisers. What now?
Less than 100 days to the mid-term elections. Who calls for more “stimuli” first?
My buckos are on a $2-3000 reduction in credit card debt as a quick fix stimulus those with no debt would get a $2000 Katrina like debit card to spend….heck were dumping this on the next generation…right?
Any one else had enough of RE/Max flooding the teevee with their lying HELOC Ho Margaret Kelly trying to make ya’ll ignore the grossly inflated prices and ignore the criminal behaviour of her creepy realtor “coleagues”?
What a liar she is.
“DOVER, N.H. — A New Hampshire farm that has been in the same family since the 1630s and has been called the nation’s oldest family run farm is for sale.
The owners of Tuttle’s Red Barn in Dover have listed their entire property — a market, a farmhouse and 134 acres of land — through a real estate agent for $3.35 million.”
“The family says the farm has passed down through 11 generations since John Tuttle first cultivated the land in the 1630s.”
Now it can be yours for $3.35 million.
They’re going to really kick themselves if the survivalists turn out to be right. ; )
Given enough time, the survivalists will be right. Given enough time, any prediction will come true.
Given enough time, any prediction will come true.
I predict that’s not true.
New financial regulation reform bill exempts SEC from FOIA
posted at 10:55 am on July 28, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
When Barack Obama signed the new financial-regulation reform bill into law, its supporters claimed it as a victory for transparency and accountability. That may be true for Wall Street, although debatable, but it’s not true for government and the regulatory regime it enhanced. The SEC now claims that the bill has given them an exemption from Freedom of Information Act requests, the very device by which citizens and media force transparency in the halls of power:
Under a little-noticed provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases from the public, including those filed under the Freedom of Information Act.
The law, signed last week by President Obama, exempts the SEC from disclosing records or information derived from “surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities.” Given that the SEC is a regulatory body, the provision covers almost every action by the agency, lawyers say. Congress and federal agencies can request information, but the public cannot.
That argument comes despite the President saying that one of the cornerstones of the sweeping new legislation was more transparent financial markets. Indeed, in touting the new law, Obama specifically said it would “increase transparency in financial dealings.”
The SEC cited the new law Tuesday in a FOIA action brought by FOX Business Network. Steven Mintz, founding partner of law firm Mintz & Gold LLC in New York, lamented what he described as “the backroom deal that was cut between Congress and the SEC to keep the SEC’s failures secret. The only losers here are the American public.”
The Dodd-Frank bill had a lot of bad ideas rolled into it, but this may be the worst. As Mintz notes, the next time a Bernie Madoff-type scam occurs, the American public won’t have any idea about it, or about the SEC’s efforts to prevent it. The use of FOIA has uncovered many problems at the SEC, which is undoubtedly why Chris Dodd and Barney Frank wanted the exemption. Among the cases listed by Fox Business as having been boosted by FOIA requests are:
•March 2009 – Fox used FOIA to discover that the SEC had investigated Madoff and R. Allen Stanford, but failed to follow through on prosecution in time to save investors.
•2009 – Fox again used FOIA to get records showing that the Fed knew AIG execs would get their bonuses under the bailout legislation proposed by Congress.
•SEC whistleblower Gary Aguirre forced the SEC to release documents through FOIA requests that showed he was correct in accusing the agency of interfering in an investigation of Pequot Asset Management — and allowed him to get a settlement for wrongful termination.
None of these would have happened without FOIA. Government has only one purpose in issuing FOIA exemptions — opacity. Some functions in government require secrecy, but those should be limited to acute national security operations and other such public-safety tasks (such as raw FBI files, for instance).
“New financial regulation reform bill exempts SEC from FOIA”
Always nice to have a place to hide bodies which is above public scrutiny…
Charles Gasparino’s book, The Sellout, recommends that the SEC be abolished and that its enforcement role be transferred to the FBI’s white collar crimes division.
It’s as if the Republicans wrote the bill.
How’s that hope and change working out for you?
Hows that Hooked On Phonics working out for you?
Callaway Announces Job Cuts, Mexican Factory Plans
July 28, 2010
Carlsbad-based Callaway Golf Co. said July 27 it is restructuring its manufacturing and distribution operations over the next 18 months in a move designed to reduce its costs. While manufacturing and distribution capabilities will remain at its Carlsbad and Toronto centers, “a gradual reduction in work force will impact each location over the next 18 months,” the company said.
Callaway, which reports its second quarter financial results July 28, did not say how many positions would be cut at the two key locations. The company said it is outsourcing some of the manufacturing and distribution to third-party providers in Dallas and Toronto, and establishing a new production plant in Monterrey, Mexico.
BY STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporter CHICAGO SUN TIMES
The National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame in Little Italy is facing foreclosure.
Brigeview Bank Group, which holds the $8.3 million mortgage on the hall of fame on the 1400 block of West Taylor Street, filed foreclosure papers this week in Cook County Circuit Court.
The hall of fame’s more than 200 inductees include baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, NFL quarterback Joe Montana, Packers legendary coach Vince Lombardi and gymnast Mary Lou Retton.
According to documents filed this week, the owners of the hall of fame, owe Bridgeview Bank Group about $8.3 million in interest and principal on a loan that matured in early July.
The suit names Jerry Colangelo, the Chicago Heights-born former owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who is an inductee and served as chairman of the effort to build the museum.
Officials from the Hall of Fame could not immediately be reached for comment.
I wonder how those “made in Mexico” golf clubs will work out for them.
Mexico? Try China. All brands except Ping.
American Safety Razor Files for Bankruptcy With Plan for Sale to Lenders
Jul 28, 2010.
American Safety Razor Co., a maker of surgical blades and discount shavers, filed for bankruptcy with plans to sell itself to lenders unless a better offer comes out of a September auction.
Lenders owed $244 million signed a contract with American Safety yesterday promising to act as the stalking horse, or initial bid, at the proposed auction, according to court documents. Terms of the offer weren’t immediately disclosed.
“We are pleased to have a firm purchase offer from our primary lenders,” J. Andrew Bolt, the company’s chief financial officer and executive vice president, said today in a statement. “Their offer represents a vote of confidence for the future of our business.”
The company today blamed its bankruptcy on increased competition for inexpensive shavers and the loss of its biggest customer, which wasn’t identified, according to Chapter 11 documents in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. The company listed assets of more than $100 million and debt from $500 million to $1 billion.
Based in Cedar Knolls, New Jersey, American Safety was acquired for $658 million in cash and debt in 2006 by London- based Lion Capital LLP, Bolt said in court papers filed today.
American Safety was founded in 1875 and manufactured the first safety razor for shaving in the U.S. It was a public company from 1993 until 1999, when it was bought by private equity firm J.W. Childs Associates, L.P.
Subprime state of emergency
California governor declares state of fiscal emergency
SAN FRANCISCO | Wed Jul 28, 2010 4:23pm EDT
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Increasing pressure on lawmakers to negotiate a state budget that closes a $19 billion shortfall, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency over the state’s finances on Wednesday.
In the declaration, Schwarzenegger ordered three furlough days per month beginning in August for thousands of state employees to preserve the state’s cash to pay the state’s debt obligations and for essential services.
California’s budget is several weeks overdue and Schwarzenegger and top lawmakers are at impasse over how to balance the state’s books. Analysts say it could be several more weeks before the Republican governor and leaders of the Democrat-led legislature reach an agreement, a delay that may threaten to lower the state’s already weak credit rating, now hovering just a few notches above “junk” status.
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Bah! How much of an emergency can it be if they’re offering their own version of the housebuying tax credit? Click!
Rupert Murdoch to White House: No free news.
It looks like Rupert Murdoch has finally figured out a way to make the White House pay — literally.
The Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal has jacked up the rate it charges the administration’s news clipping service by a jaw-dropping $600,000 per year — and is steering the White House towards a direct deal with News Corp., according to an administration official.
“Obviously, we’re not paying $500,000. This is taxpayer money,” the official said. “We have no idea how we’re going to handle this. We may have to drop [The Journal].”
It’s unclear how News Corp. arrived at the $600,000 figure. But copyright laws would prevent the news-clipping service from widely disseminating Wall Street Journal articles without the parent company’’s permission.
For the past decade, Democratic and Republican administrations alike have paid a small Virginia-based media company $100,000 or more each year to prepare customized packages of excerpts from print, TV, radio and blog outlets. Bulletin News of Reston performs the labor-intensive searches, which would otherwise require the hiring of government staff, every night starting at 9 p.m., delivering a package of article extracts and Web links to the West Wing by 5 a.m. each morning.
Our Corporate sponsor : MUrDoch’s “TrueProvoker ™” Faux News
Faux News & WSJ = MUrDoch’s “True Chupacabra™”
OMG, this is just a mile away from here:
Medical helicopter crashes on Tucson’s north side
There’s some vacant land just north of the intersection mentioned in the story. I’m wondering if the copter ditched there.
Alas, the copter couldn’t make it to the vacant land. Here’s an update.
I’m pretty rattled by this whole thing — I know a lot of people who live over that way. Hope they’re okay.
Update: One person was killed and two were critically injured in a helicopter crash on Tucson’s north side Wednesday afternoon.
They’re not saying if the deceased was part of the copter crew, but I imagine so. And, after looking at the video taken right after the crash, I’m not hopeful that the other two will survive. That copter burned ferociously.
Happened in Maryland earlier this year. The entire crew and the patient died.
Medevac choppers and shock trauma centers will be early victims of nationalized health care, and I for one will not complain. The old 80/20 rule will be the excuse for doing it. If you’re so far gone that an ambulance can’t get you there in time, too bad.
Live healthy and safely, or die.
Only problem is, out here in the West, there are huge stretches of country standing between accident victims and trauma centers.
Let’s take, for example, Pima County, Arizona, where I live. If you should happen to get into a bad car wreck out by Ajo, there’s no way an ambulance can get you to the University Medical Center’s trauma unit during the Golden Hour. That’s because Ajo is 120 miles away from Tucson.
For the most part I agree with you, but there are plenty of circumstances beyond one’s control.
If some psycho broke into a school and shot your kid, or some drunk, drugged up person caused rammed into your kid’s car, would you sing a different tune about life flight? It’s quite possible to live healthy and safely and still have bad things happen to you. Unfortunately those drunk, drugged up guys and psycho killers also get the usage of Medevac choppers. In an ideal world, they’d be left for the birds.
Fed’s Beige Book Says Economic Recovery Slowed in Some Areas
Wed Jul 28
Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said in congressional testimony that the central bank expects “continued moderate growth” and noted that the economic outlook remains “unusually uncertain.”Photographer: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg
The Federal Reserve said U.S. economic growth slowed in some areas over the past two months, dragged down by commercial real estate and the expiration of a tax credit for homebuyers.
“Economic activity has continued to increase, on balance, since the previous survey,” the central bank said today in its Beige Book business survey, while noting that two of the Fed’s 12 districts reported the economy “held steady” and two said the pace of expansion slowed.
Record number of fake £1 coins could force reissue.
There are now so many fake £1 coins in circulation the Royal Mint could be forced to scrap all of the coins and reissue the entire denomination.
Their warning came as new figures indicated there were £41 million fake £1 coins in Britain – one in every 36 in circulation. This is a record level and suggests that the proportion of counterfeit coins had tripled in the last decade.
The situation has worsened since last year, when one in 40 £1 coins were fake. Experts and MPs said the level of fakes were so high there was now a serious risk that consumer confidence in Britain’s most popular coin was becoming compromised.
Monkey see, monkey do, eh?
monkey doo doo
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-27/obama-to-hold-aug-17-housing-conference-on-ways-to-repair-fannie-freddie.html
Obama to Hold Aug. 17 Housing Conference on Ways to Repair Fannie, Freddie
The Obama administration plans an Aug. 17 conference to discuss ways to fix the country’s “broken” housing-finance system and intends to submit a proposal by January to overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
“The future of our housing-finance system is critical not only to our economic recovery, but also to millions of American homeowners in every corner of our country,” Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said today in a statement released in Washington.
Falling home prices, together with easy availability of credit and government policies promoting homeownership, pushed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the brink of collapse in 2008. The Treasury seized them in September of that year and has spent $145 billion so far to keep them solvent.
The administration wants a “comprehensive reform proposal that protects taxpayers, institutes tough oversight, restores the long-term health of our housing market, and strengthens our nation’s economic recovery,” he said.
Shall we invite ourselves to this conference?
Hmmmm…..so what’s going to be put on hold until people hear the details of this overhaul? Can’t wait for the leaks and floated concepts to begin!
Invited guests to include the MBA, NAHB, and the NAR.
Who says the wealthy don’t pay taxes?
“According to city assessment records, the real estate remains owned by the Helen Garvey Living Trust and is assessed at $6.5 million. Taxes are $111,484 a year and are paid up to date, according to the city tax office.”
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20100728-NEWS-100729801
On another note, assessed at $6.5 but for sale for $8.5 mil? Those Tyco execs are always working some angle.