Bits Bucket for January 13, 2011
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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.
January 13, 2011
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Banks repossess 1 million homes in 2010
Lenders take back 1 million homes last year despite slowdown in foreclosures in December
NEW YORK (AP) — The bleakest year in foreclosure crisis has only just begun.
Lenders are poised to take back more homes this year than any other since the U.S. housing meltdown began in 2006. About 5 million borrowers are at least two months behind on their mortgages and more will miss payments as they struggle with job losses and loans worth more than their home’s value, industry analysts forecast.
“2011 is going to be the peak,” said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac Inc.
The outlook comes after banks repossessed more than 1 million homes in 2010, RealtyTrac said Thursday. That marked the highest annual tally of properties lost to foreclosure on records dating back to 2005.
“2011 is going to be the peak,” Still no dearth of bottom calling, I see.
Technically, wasn’t that top calling?
Don’t peak at his bottom.
Good thing the recesssion ended in 2009 or this could be a real problem for the economy.
Well that implies that we should look for a Γ (gamma rather than L) shaped recovery, ’cause the way foreclosure are being dragged out, we won’t see a significant lowering of foreclosures for years.
Yes — it will be a gamma shaped recovery in the rate of foreclosures, once the robo-signing fiasco gets squared away.
I know 3 people who received the 8k tax credit that are waiting out their three years in order to sell.
They can’t be alone in thinking this.
How much more than $8K below their purchase price will they be underwater by the end of three years?
“Still no dearth of bottom calling, I see.”
At least they didn’t claim that 2010 was the bottom. I expect to see this prediction repeated at the the end of 2011 (”2012 is going to be the peak”)
If 2011 is going to be the peak year for foreclosures, it is pretty safe to say it will not be the trough year for prices?
2011 car of the year - Chevy Volt
2011 house of the year - Foreclosure
2011 job of the year - None
2011 bad plan of the year - QE3
it is pretty safe to say it will not be the trough year for prices ??
Depends on the job market & income levels…Even with a job, take home pay is under massive attack from every angle…People are earning less and paying more…Sometimes, a lot more…
I believe PEAK antifreeze is on sale at Target, oh I’m sorry forgive my rhetoric, I meant Walmarts I think, better to be safe than sorry
“and loans worth more than their home’s value”
Sorry Mr. Analyst, the loan is not worth more than the house.
Except in bankster accounting.
If you are a TBTF megabank and you can sell the worthless paper to the FED for real money, the loan is indeed worth more than the house. Sorry, but that is where we are right now - that is the sad reality of it.
Everybody else as excited as I am about the huge AIG offering that is supposed to be a bigger deal than the GM ipo? The megabanks are going to make a killing and the excitement is just enormous. Jamie D has a woody!
From ZH: Today’s POMO closed, with Frost Sack playing the F-E-D chime and not only buying up $8.412 billion in bonds, but paying Primary Dealers about $50 million in commissions. Not a bad deal for 45 minutes worth of work. We have already discussed that issue extensively and at this point it is up to Congress to deal with it. And while they are at it, perhaps they can also address the flipping churn of recent issuance that is just getting ridiculous. As the chart below shows, of the $8.4 billion in bonds, a whopping $3.8 billion was represented by just one issue: the 2.750s of 12/31/2017. This is the bond that was issued two short weeks ago, on December 29, 2010. Nobody even pretends not to be throwing the Treasury’s feces right back at Ben Bernanke. And if the PDs can pocket billions in the process courtesy of a bunch of NYU students, and an “algorithm” running the whole process (in the absence of Bloombergs), so be it. It is not like anyone will ever make a fuss. After all the US is now just one Mutually Assured Destruction threat away from a complete and total dictatorship.
Arguably, if the FBs can be convinced to continue paying, it is. But people are discovering that that is a big “if.”
” About 5 million borrowers are at least two months behind on their mortgages”
But…
January 5, 2011
Holiday sales up from last year
Businesses boast good sales and lots of shoppers this season
By Sophie Pappas/Times Sentinel reporter
Times Sentinel Wed Jan 05, 2011, 11:47 AM EST
This year, local business vendors saw an overall increase in holiday sales, trending with reports nationwide.
Retail sales growth increased by nearly six percent according to a study done by Master Card Spending Pulse. This comes after a three year general seasonal low.
According to the retail research firm ShopperTrak, the Midwest benefited from an increase of 38.6 percent in shopper foot traffic.
Where did they get the money?
Where did they get the money? Easy. They stopped paying their mortgages and are living rent-free. That frees up a lot of green for iPhones and iPads.
Or they just charged it.
Where did they get the money? Easy. They stopped paying their mortgages and are living rent-free. That frees up a lot of green for iPhones and iPads.
There is anecdotal evidence that this is happening. I even read a mid-2010 Business Week article that said as much. Sorry I can’t remember the exact title and date.
I have a friend who managed a good Christmas for her family this year, despite a less than stellar employment situtation. Seems their van died and they didn’t have the money to fix it. It leaves them with one vehicle and her husband unable to transport much in the way of building materials for his clients, but he can get around that since the home stores are willing to deliver for a very small fee these days. Before they got rid of the van, they cleaned it out. She had a spot where she often left change (bills as well as actual change). It was several years worth of cash and came out to a few hundred dollars - instant Christmas cheer for the two young boys and a nicer holiday meal than she had previously planned.
It practically belongs in an O. Henry story.
Cheers! (for the telling)
(It reinforces some “habits” I seem to be unable to rationalize…)
60 days late on a mortgage is pretty much death to you credit rating, add that to underwater on loan and the additional fact they will no longer be able to refinance to better terms, I would not be surprised to see a lot of these properties end up in foreclosure.
IF jobs come back this year, and I really do not see this happening, then 2011 could put a ceiling on foreclosures. If not, millions more foreclosures on the market = lower prices, higher unemployment, MORE BAILOUTS and of course that means more foreclosures in 2012, which is an election year, so we do indeed live in interesting times!
Do a Google search for “LPS Mortgage Monitor”, click on the “Industry Data” link (http://www.lpsvcs.com/NewsRoom/IndustryData/Pages/default.aspx) and study their report as of November 2010. If you really have time, listen to the commentary.
Of note:
1) 90+ day delinquencies + Homes in Foreclosure are at 6.9MM, down from 8.1MM at the beginning of 2010;
2) Almost all of the decrease is coming from fewer homes in the 90+ category prior to starting the foreclosure process;
3) The foreclosure process is starting sooner and sooner in the delinquency timeframe (banks are acting incrementally sooner to foreclosure.
I think you can definitely say that the number of distressed loans peaked already.
Any conclusion you wish to draw further (about home prices, peak foreclosure activity, etc.) is going to be based partially on extrapolating the numbers, or conclusions on what is actually happening based on the data, or estimations of job growth, etc.
I personally believe that based on the decline in distressed loans and the length of time it takes to conclude a foreclosure process, that it is quite likely that the number of foreclosures completed in 2011 will be the peak of this cycle.
The fun will really start when interest rates go back up to “normal” or beyond.
US Banks Report Phantom Income on $1.4 Trillion Delinquent Mortgages; Purposeful Delays to Inflate Earnings?
Robert Lenzner at Forbes writes US Banks Reporting Phantom Income on $1.4 Trillion Delinquent Mortgages
The giant US banks have been bailed out again from huge potential writeoffs by loosey-goosey accounting accepted by the accounting profession and the regulators. They are allowed to accrue interest on non-performing mortgages ” until the actual foreclosure takes place, which on average takes about 16 months.
All the phantom interest that is not actually collected is booked as income until the actual act of foreclosure. As a result, many bank financial statements actually look much better than they actually are. At foreclosure all the phantom income comes off the books of the banks.
This means that Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan and Wells Fargo, among hundreds of other smaller institutions, can report interest due them, but not paid, on an estimated $1.4 trillion of face value mortgages on the 7 million homes that are in the process of being foreclosed.
Ultimately, these banks face a potential loss of $1 trillion on nonperforming loans, suggests Madeleine Schnapp, director of macro-economic research at Trim-Tabs, an economic consulting firm 24.5% owned by Goldman Sachs.
“They are allowed to accrue interest on non-performing mortgages ‘until the actual foreclosure takes place, which on average takes about sixteen months’”.
Oh, so it’s the BANKS that benifit from the halting of foreclosures, not the FBs. Who would have ever thought this would be the case?
(snort)
Plus, sixteen months of accrued interest owed to the banks by the FBs, along with all the rest of the money owed, is a ripe and jucy target for bill collectors to go after.
(another snort)
No FB dollar shall be allowed to escape!
+1, combo.
The level of systemic fraud, aided and abetted by so-called auditors, regulators and enforcers, is absolutely staggering.
Enron-style accounting has been encouraged by regulators. It is just plain criminal.
I think we discussed this here 2-3 years ago……how the banks can “Mark to Fantasy” both the mortgage, and the theoretical interest (whether it’s paid or not) until the cows come home, until and unless a foreclosure is completed. Any why the banks would want to delay foreclosures as long as possible.
There’s evidently some banking/accounting regulation that requires that foreclosures be processed in a timely manner, but, as we all have seen:
Unenforced regulation = No regulation.
The level of systemic fraud, aided and abetted by so-called auditors, regulators and enforcers, is absolutely staggering.
You can say that again, Sammy. And, on this issue, control fraud expert William K. Black has been ringing the warning sirens for several months. I recommend his article series on the Huffington Post.
How do they get away with accounting fraud in perpetuity?
If you voted for pro-bailout Obama or McCain, point the finger at yourself. You sanctioned this fraud, and encouraged Wall Street to escalate it.
If you voted for pro-bailout Obama or McCain, point the finger at yourself ??
I looked when I completed the ballot before I mailed it…There was not any box for “None of the above”….
Really? ‘Cause every ballot I’ve ever seen had a write in block. And in my state, there were several third party candidates on the ballot. Now we can argue endlessly about whether a write in, or third party vote is a good idea, but it IS an option. Heck, look Murkowski’s write in success in Alaska. Of course you can also look at Florida in the 2000 election, where the margin of victory was smaller than the number of votes that the Communist* candidtate got.
*not being used here as an insult, but the actual, card carrying member of the communist party
“There was not any box for “None of the above”….”
In my state, there was a line where I could write in a candidate. And I did: Ron Paul.
It seemed very close to “None of the Above” to me.
line where I could write in a candidate ??
Okay guys…Yeah after 40 years of voting I know that you can write a candidate in but can they win ?? So, in my view, a write in vote is a vote for the ultimate winner in a National election…So, when I vote, at least for now, I will vote for one of the two major parties albeit, sometimes reluctantly….
Well they definitely can’t win if you don’t vote for them. Point being, at least don’t screw them by voting for the two main parties. If the write in guy gets enough votes it pushes him higher in the spotlight for the next election. You are *NOT* just throwing your vote away, you are sending a message for exactly what you want, not some poor compromise of “not being the devil”.
I wrote in Ron Paul. It would have been an unthinkable abdication of my duty as a concerned citizen of the Republic to write in either Hollow Man candidate for the Republicrat duopoly, whose singular purpose has been to enrich the corporate cartels and Wall Street at the expense of Main Street and future generations.
Stop acting like sheep, and start taking responsibility for the fate & future of your beloved (I hope) country.
I mean, to vote for either Hollow Man candidate (not write them in).
You are *NOT* just throwing your vote away, you are sending a message for exactly what you want ??
Well, of the two major parties, lets just say that one candidate was “in your opinion” a War Monger, advocating taking out Iran & North Korea & and his VP was a 4 star General…The other candidate was as passivist that had the president of Green Peace as their VP….
A write in candidate got 7% of the vote and the War Monger President won the election by 2 percentage points….
Still happy that you voted for the write in ? You sent your message but the person that is going to start world war-III won…
Kind of extreme I know, but at least you can understand my take on it….I would support Ron Paul and did send him money but I did not vote for him….
I also wrote in RP.
I will no longer participate in the two part charade.
The sad thing is, the same dupes who were conned by “hope ‘n change” in 2008, or worse, voted for “McSame,” will be conned again by whatever Republicrat standard-bearer for “change” emerges in 2012. Such is the nature of sheep. Then they’ll wonder, through the throbbing of their lobotomy scars, while things only change for the worse.
It matters not. I also refuse to take part in the Republicrat puppet show. I will only vote for principled, pro-liberty candidates, even if they don’t have a hope in hell of actually winning. I’d rather be part of the thinking 5% than the zombified 95%.
We eased FASB 157 so they could mark to fantasy instead of having to mark to market.
When your economy is a lie, it becomes in everyone’s best interest to give the lie a nod and a wink.
We call this being “business friendly”.
Insolvency is the new black.
“Insolvency is the new black.”
That’s hilarious. Are seeing the double entendre here?
Red ink is the new black.
Ding!
Red ink is the new black.
pressboardbox, … you’re truly in a “Zone” these days, good for you!
How do they get away with accounting fraud in perpetuity?
In a larger view of Macro-economy, my sense is that, in a way, the fake system can be rigged to work for a long time. There are productive and useful assets (food, shelter, factories, cars etc.) produced by fiat money, BS accounting, deficit spending and excessive debt. It’s just a question of who the “fake” system should most benefit.
IMO, the greatest flaw in the “fake” system is that it became corrupted by too much greed, fraud and intense wealth-concentration. Think about it. What is the biggest complaint now of the middle-class? Jobs and going broke. All this while the rich get richer. Now if the middle-class were given let’s say 2/3s of the “wealth” created and it was not just concentrated into the top 1%, there would be even better growth because there would have been more small businesses started which create the most jobs and wealth. But who gets “hurt” in this scenario? It’s the American billionaire who wants to double his money by outsourcing and cutting American wages. But it is this guy who is controlling the system so the system remains.
Now let’s say all the “fake” debt was defaulted on. Who would it hurt? Everyone at first but it would hurt the super-rich the most and in the long run it would benefit the middle-class. So why is the debt is being passed on to the taxpayers of many countries? The only reason is to keep the fake system going and to protect the super-rich.
However, it is my opinion that in the long-run, for us in the middle, we would be better off defaulting on all this debt and yes, “redistributing” the productive assets to the middle and working class but not by a Communist type event but by restructuring laws and actually enforcing existing laws to eliminate monopolies and corrupt crony-capitalism BS, erecting tariffs and trade barriers and investing in US manufacturing and services.
And you know what? If we wouldn’t have had all the bailouts, many of these type things might have happened but the “fake” system was jury-rigged to last a couple more decades at the expense of us in the middle. It can and will go on for a long time and nothing will change until it collapses but it is being engineered into a multi-decade “collapse” that only transfers the remaining middle-class wealth to the super rich.
Europe and other countries protest this but Americans do not. In fact Americans being most hurt and who will be most hurt give aid and comfort to our looters. We march for our looters and wave American flags and vote for our looters. We enable our destroyers.
This is partially why our looters get away with this in perpetuity.
Another excellent post, Rio. Thank you.
Remember the Businessweek article from 2005?
FB took out an option ARM with WaMu, paid the minimum (less than interest) payment. WaMu books it as if FB has paid the full amort amount, and books profit, calling it “deferred interest.” Moody’s sees the profit, gives WaMu a AAA rating, Golden Sacks buys loan. Rinse and repeat.
In other words, banks were accruing profit for payment NOT received for years. This isn’t much different.
Why can’t they just change the accounting rules to “tell me what is in your checking account NOW,” which is what they do to J6P? (let me guess, “the banks own the place.”)
In other words, banks were accruing profit for payment NOT received for years. This isn’t much different.
In my little biz, there are two types of revenue: Orders and Sales.
An Order is something that takes time to complete. The most common example around here is a website development project. Which reminds me: This afternoon, I need to make call #458 to that client about getting me the rest of the content that’s needed for completing his project’s website.
A Sale is something that happens pretty much on the spot. Say you’re interested in buying one of my stock photos. You go to my stock site, click to buy, download it, and viola, that’s a sale.
In most cases, Orders are completed within six months. Reason for that long period of time: I have a lot of university clients, and some of them are world-class foot-draggers.
I couldn’t possibly book payments that I won’t be getting until 2013 or beyond.
“How do they get away with accounting fraud in perpetuity?”
By changing the laws that define fraud.
Brilliant summary!
What now passes for acceptable accounting standards can only be described as laughable. It’s pure fantasy.
Considering FASB is bought and paid for with corporate cash, this should be no surprise. But where is the outrage from all the law and order types?
Rio ….you just told the true untold story of what they are doing .
I call it the “Grand Bagholder Transfer.”In every way, shape, and form they are making the Majority take the pain .
When you hear these calls for unity as a Nation its pretty hallow because it’s a call to be cheerful about all this looting .
China’s Currency Reserves Rise to Record, Domestic Lending Exceeds Target
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-11/china-s-currency-reserves-rise-to-record-domestic-lending-exceeds-target.html
“What,” you may say “does China have to do with US RE?”
In my little city (4th largest in the nation) the Chinese were buying up entire subdivisions. In my little city, an average subdivision is about 4,000 houses. No, that’s not a typo.
So despite them taking a bath on their US investments, it’s doesn’t seem to be hurting them too much.
It’s also another good indicator that their domestic consumption is just fine.
So are you saying that they are buying swaths of 4000 houses and moving their citizens into them? Or are they “investment properties”?
Am I correct that you are saying they are making these purchases in the USA?
Perhaps it’s a way to get money out of their home country.
If I were a rich Chinese, I’d want things that were hard for the govt to confiscate next time they decide on some capitalist re-education.
If Chinese citizens and businesses will be allowed to invest overseas, maybe that’s part of the expectation that is keeping the markets up? All that money has to go somewhere, and if they keep it all in China, they’ll have monster inflation. From the article:
“The currency regulator is seeking to curb inflows of cash from investors attracted by China’s growth and the prospects for higher rates and a stronger currency. Officials are also testing measures to encourage Chinese businesses and investors to have more money offshore.
A program to allow exporters to park revenue in overseas accounts was expanded nationwide from Jan. 1. The government has also allowed citizens in the eastern city of Wenzhou to make direct investments overseas, according to a Jan. 7 local government statement.”
When we sent to China trillions of worthless unbacked fiat dollars we were sending to them CLAIMS on assets.
Now the Chineese are executing these claims.
Surprise, surprise.
which is inflationary no?
Let them catch the falling knives.
Bet they aren’t buying in divisions that have Chinese dry wall ,
Yes. They are being bought as investment properties actually IN this country. Rentals, flips, and long term investments.
Yes, we’ve had the same here in San Diego and L.A.
I’ve been saying for awhile that the Chinese have been buying up a lot of these “foreclosed” homes for the past couple of years.
A program to allow exporters to park revenue in overseas accounts was expanded nationwide from Jan. 1. The government has also allowed citizens in the eastern city of Wenzhou to make direct investments overseas, according to a Jan. 7 local government statement.
Normally authoritarian places like China don’t want their citizens to “park” their money overseas….it’s too easy then for them to later defect. Say you are some mid-management engineering type and have a big mortgage on a condo in Wenzhou. If you could park some money in the form of a few houses in Houston, you could do a walk-away on the condo and seek permanent residence status as a political refugee in the US.
Would a successful Chinese engineer want to move to the US as a political refugee? Some might, but I bet the vast majority are happy as they are. From what I see, their citizens seem more interested in making money than in gaining more civil liberties. And most seem to think, probably correctly, that China is the best place for them to make big money.
Maybe this whole Communism thing isn’t so bad after all.
Most people don’t prioritize freedom. Heck, most American’s seem to be willing to trade some of their freedom for the illusion of safety.
Heck, most American’s seem to be willing to trade some of their freedom for the illusion of safety.
”
yes pretty sad
Order has been #1 all along. We’re just so accustomed to it we don’t remember what chaos is really like.
Just wait until the stuff hits the fan and the day of reckoning comes for China & the US.
Nobody is going to be very happy.
Exactly alpha sloth. Government structure or not, who in their right might would leave someplace where their standard of living is rising?
“…right mind…”
Can you link a story showing Chinese buying vast swaths of single family homes in the US? I have never found a single one.
Maybe you confused oversea Chinese (with H-1B and green cards or ABC) with people living in China.
Chinese are savers no matter where they live. Many of them have deep feelings of insecurity on any other investments with the exception of $, gold, and real estate. They would be happy to pay a shitload of money to live in a good school district, the house itself is irrelevant.
Since many of them waited too long to see the market finally going down. Some of them even pay cashes.
Similar arguments also goes to Koran and Indians.
No. Chinese investors living in China.
Sorry, no Grizzly. Just some RE bird dogs I know.
However, Googling “chinese real estate investment in the US” brings up plenty.
Local business news in my city tends to border on top secret. (no exaggeration) There is only one newspaper in my city that has in-depth business news and it has a very expensive subscription rate.
The Graying of American Housing Continues ~ USNEWS
Senior housing decisions remain in a “back to basics” mode, according to a new report from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the MetLife Mature Market Institute (NYSE: MMI - News). Based on U.S. Census Bureau data, the report found that proximity to family has become a stronger reason for seniors to relocate in recent years. And because of the slow pace of home sales, seniors have become much more likely to fund new-home down payments from cash and savings than with proceeds from the sale of their prior homes.
“Only 55 percent of the new age-qualified active adult home buyers who made a down payment reported that it came from the sale of a previous home, significantly down from 92 percent in 2007,” the report said. “Other 55+ home buyers registered similar difficulties selling their previous residences in 2009.”
“…much more likely to fund new-home down payments from cash and savings than with proceeds from the sale of their prior homes.”
More good news for price normalization. Sure there are some prodigious savers amongst the Boomers, but what’s their average retirement fund balance? There was a story just the other week, IIRC it was in the mid-fifties (thousands).
So much for the trade UP market. At least my hole-in-the-wall is well positioned for the emerging trade DOWN market.
“… but what’s their average retirement fund balance? There was a story just the other week, IIRC, it was in the mid-fifties (thousands).”
And there it is. Thousands of soon-to-be retirees - tens of thousands - each with an average savings of fifty-something thousand dollars. This, plus their penisons and Social Security, is supposed to last them for the rest of their lives.
But wait! Their pensions may be cut! And their Social Security may also be cut! Then what?
It looks as if these thousands of pensioners may become SELLERS of what possessions that they may have collected during their working years. Sellers of their stocks bought at the dot-com peak and held all these years because hope springs eternal. Sellers of all their gold and silver they bought because hyper-inflation was about to hit at any moment and destroy the value of what little savings they had.
Sell? But sell to whom? And at what price? Who would be in a position to know?
(Hint: The guys with the cash just may be the ones in the position to know.)
Pensions? We ain’t got no stinkin’ pensions…
“Sell? But sell to whom? ”
A billion newly-wealthy Chinese/Indians?
Probably, it’s not as if we didn’t send to them enough money for them to do it with.
Cash = worthless, unbacked fiat pieces of paper?
If US dollars are so worthless, ask these harpies if they’ve traded them for yen/yuan/pesos or space duckets for that matter.
There are a billion Chinese, but not a billion wealthy Chinese.
“There are a billion Chinese, but not a billion wealthy Chinese.”
Not yet. But both India and China have a rising middle class, as well as more and more rich and mega-rich people. And huge populations. Combine these and you may well have a market for your stocks etc. A darn big one.
My 16 year-old son has a 17 year-old lady friend who is interested in majoring in economics. She knows I like to dabble in the dismal arts so she lent me one of her favorite books on the subject on New Year’s Eve. I was now in that unenviable, awkward social situation of needing to read and give a favorable review of this book regardless of how I felt about it.
I’m now three chapters into P.J. O’Rourke’s “Eat the Rich,” 1998, which, I think was probably a pretty fun read when he first wrote it but it’s a real hoot now. O’Rourke decided he’d going to go to economically successful societies and unsuccessful ones and ask people directly why their societies work or don’t.
I was amazed to learn that Albania, according to O’Rourke, “has the distinction of being the only country ever destroyed by a chain letter- a nation devastated by a Ponzi racket, a land ruined by the pyramid scheme.” This apparently happened between 1992 and 1997. I’m thinking Albania hasn’t been given it’s proper due for being on the leading edge of modern economic theory. I plan to do a little research and see how it has all worked out for them.
After telling us about the two economists who won the nobel prize in economics in 1997 for creating the mathematical formula for pricing derivatives (It really does look good on paper. I don’t know what went wrong…) O’Rourke tells us what we should do with our own money:
“What you should do with your money is watch me. That is, watch what the baby boom does. We baby boomers have caused everything since 1946. We’ll keep buying stocks until we retire. But when we hit 65, we’re going to sell stocks. And the stock market is going to go down. And were going to wet ourselves. The math is simple: 1946+65=2011. Buy stocks until 2011, and then by Depends.)” O”Rourke seem to be supporting Combotechie’s Cash is King mantra but I thought it was pretty fun to hear this from a voice coming from 1998.
Good old P.J. That man has REAL talent for making doom and human folly, palatable.
Good old P.J. That man has REAL talent for making doom and human folly, palatable.
My favorite PJ O’Rourke line: “A guitar in the corner threatened folk music.”
Albania was the only European Communist state backed by the Chi Coms rather than the USSR. For this reason its history is a little odd.
They have a HUGE arms industry, way out of proportion to any need for the Albanians themselves. Factories were funded and built by the ChiComs. This was presumably done to give the ChiComs an entry into European power struggles.
After the Cold War, the Albanians have flooded the market with cheap ammo. You can buy the 7.62 x 54R ammo for the Mosin-Nagant made in Albania for little more than .22lr ammo - neatly packed in thin metal “spam cans”.
Spot on, combo. This notion of Baby Boomers buying everything in sight **after** they retire is ludicrous.
Baby Boomers are about to become net **sellers.**
My in-laws bought a house on northern edge of Phoenix 35 years ago. When civilization reached them(20 years ago) and the kids moved out, they sold for a huge profit (like $100K) which they used as a down payment on a “upscale” house on the south edge of town on a private man made lake.
When civilization again surrounded them, they again sold for another $100K profit. They used the $200K as a down on a REALLY high scale house on the far south edge of town, granite, 20-inch diagonally laid tile, 3000+ sqft, 4-bedroom, with a master suite with a walk in closet bigger than a couple apartments I’ve lived in. Did I mention that it is in a 50 y/o+, gated community with private golf course, community pool, community rec center… HOA fees (which include membership in the golf course whether you golf or not) are almost $1000 a month.
Of course, what is a super high end house without the additions to the back patio including synthetic material patio cover, gas fireplace, built in BBQ with sink and fridge. Then there was the pond, which turned into a full stream with waterfall needed to keep the PH normalized for the $1000 a piece Koi that they egrits like to eat. Oh, and one of the bedrooms had to be transformed into a billiards room complete with high end pool table. All these little upgrades were funded off home equity, but were really investments as they’d be more than recouped when they sell, right? Yep, they were only in their 50s, but they’d really reached the golden years… the good life.
Well, jump ahead a decade. They are now in their 60s. Home price has dropped 50% and they have lost all the equity they spent a lifetime building up. Turns out, a 4-bedroom house in a neighborhood that doesn’t allow any resident to be under 50 years old, with HOA fees close to the median house’s full PITI payment, close to an hour from downtown with rush hour traffic, with a monthly utility bill that is about double mine… isn’t so popular anymore.
Turns out, a 4-bedroom house in a neighborhood that doesn’t allow any resident to be under 50 years old,
LOL - what is the logic in that?
Other people’s children are annoying.
I am other people! (Chalk it up to two teenagers in the home…)
LOL, Bear. When my sons were teenagers I couldn’t stand them anymore than other peoples’ kids. OTOH, adult children are wonderful.
I lived in a rental townhouse/apartment complex once. Some people decided that they didn’t like the rootless teenagers hanging out by the basketball court. So they took the hoops down. GREAT, I thought I wonder what they’ll keep themselves busy with now?
Hey it at least keeps your kids from moving back in.
IIRC some grandparents in Florida who had custody of their orphaned grandchild had problems with their adult community about having the kid live with them.
The logic in being 50+ was that they were in an unincorporated area that needed no public schools and shielded them from school taxes and kept their property taxes artifically low.
The problem is that the school district next to them launched an effort to annex them. And, it was everyoen in the school district that got to vote to annex, not just the people in the unincorporated area… and guess what. They got annexxed and their property taxes doubled anyway.
As for “why 4 bedrooms”? The more you spent, the more you were gonig to make on equity increase due to rising prices. Besides, one is the billiards room, one a home office(though neither work from home), a guest room, and the master where they actually live.
The problem is that the school district next to them launched an effort to annex them. And, it was everyoen in the school district that got to vote to annex, not just the people in the unincorporated area… and guess what. They got annexxed and their property taxes doubled anyway.
This happened to me in Austin…I got annexed into the district for a community college. I don’t get how the heck it’s legal for a municipality to get to vote to annex an unincorporated area.
Stories similar abound everywhere. Representative of the portion of homeowners who are actually not walking away from mortgages but are bitterly committed to their mistake.
Well, jump ahead a decade. They are now in their 60s. Home price has dropped 50% and they have lost all the equity they spent a lifetime building up.
How are they dealing with all of this?
Crying in their geritol? Wiping tears with Depends?
Ouch…You are Merciless exeter…
lmao…. I couldn’t help it.
MIL worked for US West for 20+ years. When they were bought out by Quest during the 90s tech bubble, the ended the pension and offered her a huge buy-out on her existing pension claim(few hundred K). It went into an anuity. Assume that is still pretty much intact.
He sells cargo trucks (as opposed to pickups) almost entirely on comission. Business tanked and he didn’t have single sale for almost 2 years. Income dropped from $100K+ in 2006 to under $10K in 2007-2009. He said that the only reason he bothered going in every day was for the health coverage. Business has picked up a little, but he thought he gave himself a second heart attack stressing over a single $5K comission that got lost in paperwork in the corp headquarters.
They still have a couple years to 65, but when they get there, 2 Social Security checks plus the payout on the anuity won’t cover their house payment, HOA and utility bills, let alone anything else. They’ve looked at selling. Even thought of moving out of state…. But they can’t get out from under the current house, can’t find somewhere they can pay cash (with no cash) for a nice home…
How are they coping?
Well, they are no longer worried about hitting 10 cruises on Royal Caribbean so they can qualify for the crown and anchor club.
Much like the nation as a whole…. delay and pray.
This is the generation that’s supposed to have a paid-off house by the time they retire. And they KNOW it.
“This is the generation that’s supposed to have a paid-off house by the time they retire. And they KNOW it.”</I.
I would like to slap the moron who came up with this idea, back-to-the-stoneage-silly.
Life IS NOT linear. Sh$t happens beyond anyone’s controls and 5 recessions in 35 years doesn’t help.
At least they dont have to drive to go golfing and I am sure the Koi can be tasty with some Old Bay on em’!
“and I am sure the Koi can be tasty with some Old Bay on em’!”
Hey, now there’s a use for all those koi ponds! FB fish farming.
Oh, an update…. So,l they bought the house in 2000 for $230K. It seems they didn’t put down as much as I was lead to beleive, as the initial loan was $96K. So, not $200K down. Just $134K down.
2002 they added a $240K HELOC, and the upgrades started.
2003 they refi-ed to a $250K primary and added a $75K HELOC.
2007 they refi-ed again to a single $240K low interest rate loan. They will have that paid off in 2037… if he reaches 91.
Now, I was wrong when I said that all the equity is gone. Comps from late last year say the house may be worth about $300K. Assuming 10% for REIC and other closing costs, they should be able to take a good $30K down payment into their next house, if they are able to sell.
I have 20″ inch tile. They work out to about the same price as 12″, but they are quicker to lay and there less grousing.
They work out to about the same price as 12″, but they are quicker to lay and there less grousing.
Grousing. Spoken like a true tiling job veteran.
But generate a lot more waste when laid diagonally. But seriosly, the tile is cheap when compared to the rest of the 2900 sqft house.
Amen to less grousing!
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/americas/2011/01/13/287512/Banks-repossess.htm
US Banks repossessed 1 million homes in 2010 - 2011 set to be worse. How much longer can they keep up “extend and pretend”?
“In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency and mobilized the National Guard. He said the storm brought more snow and a wetter kind of snow than officials expected, leaving more than 100,000 people without power or heat by noon.
Maria Rivera, 60, slept overnight in a food court booth at a travel plaza on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Natick. She said the person providing her ride home to Worcester could not make it in the storm, and she had to be back for her Wednesday shift.
“I have to work,” she said. “I have to pay my bills.”"
Another layabout, no doubt used her SNAP card to buy crackers on the taxpayers dime. When is it going to end….
“In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency and mobilized the National Guard.
Someone explain this to me.
Your state gets dumped on with lots and lots of snow and loses power. Roads are closed and impassable.
THEN you call out the National Guard? How are they supposed to get to their armory and to where they are needed? The roads are closed and impassible.
It is too late.
From an interview this morning on our local NPR, he called them out before the snow. He said they were not used but ready.
My understanding, not from the interview, is that they go to their “base” and wait for orders.
“How are they supposed to get to their armory and to where they are needed? ”
I’m guessing that macho National Guardsmen have big azz 4×4s in their garages with big nobby tires. They do out here.
Yeah, their personal vehicles are usually just about as good at getting through snow the the military vehicles…except that the military Hummers (~H1s) have independent suspensions and the axles and diffs are REALLY tucked in high so their ground clearance is better down the middle. The good thing about getting stick in the Army’s vehicle is that they’ll send something even bigger to pull you out if you manage to bury it. (Insert Tim Allen grunting sounds here) And you’re getting paid the whole time at the rate of about one day active duty pay for every 4 hours of “drill”.
A friend of mine tells this long and involved story about getting his jeep jammed in the mud, the wrecker they sent to pull him out got jammed repeat this sevaral times and they ended up with a pair of M88s http://www.olive-drab.com/idphoto/id_photos_recovery_m88.php trying to pull everybody out.
My parents had 18 inches. They stayed in yesterday. Went out today for their normal volunteer work in the Honda Civic. Never lost power.
MA is dealing with the snow just fine. Now, around here we had 2 hour school opening delays for a scant inch of snow. I think they wanted to make sure the teacher’s parking lots were shoveled out or something like that.
I hope they have blizzards non-stop this winter. That state needs divine punishment for inflicting Barney “Fannie Mae” Frank on the nation.
A special thanks goes out to Rio who was a great asset in this rewrite.
Dancing Queen lyrics
Friday night and the lights are low
Looking out for a place to go
Where they play the right music, getting in the swing
You come in to look for a king
Anybody could be that guy
Night is young and the music’s high
With a bit of rock music, everything is fine
You’re in the mood for a dance
And when you get the chance
You are the congress queen
He`s so sweet, only seventeen
Congress queen, feel the beat
From the tambourine, oh yeah
You can dance, you can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh see that boy, watch that scene
Dig in the congress queen
You’re a teaser, you turn ‘em on
Leave ‘em burning and then you’re gone
Looking out for another, anyone will do
You’re in the mood for a dance
And when you get the chance
You are the congress queen
He`s so sweet, only seventeen
Congress queen, feel the beat
From the tambourine, oh yeah
You can dance, you can jive
Having the time of your life
Ooh see that boy, watch that scene
Dig in the congress queen
Dig in the congress queen
A special thanks goes out to Rio who was a great asset in this rewrite.
You’re welcome but why? Is it because the first time you wrote “Senate Queen” and I told you he was a Congressman?
“You’re welcome but why? Is it because the first time you wrote “Senate Queen” and I told you he was a Congressman?”
I knew he was a Congressman but for some Congressman Queen didn`t pop into my head that night. But thanks anyway, I hope we can work together again.
Wait, it SNOWED in the NORTHEAST? NO Way!!! What an unexpected emergency! Who could predict a natural disaster of this nature? A bailout is in order.
You sound like my mother, press. She’s from Buffalo, NY. Where the local reaction to snow goes like this: “Snow? So what? Shovel your walk! Now!”
Gov. Deval Patrick declared a state of emergency and mobilized the National Guard ??
Gee’s….Won’t the snow already be gone by the time he gets them back from Iraq & Afghanistan ??
Hard
BOSTON — After a seven-year run, Robert Culver will soon be out as president and CEO of MassDevelopment, the quasi-public agency that runs Devens.
Both Culver and Kelley were holdovers from Republican administrations. Administration officials were angry that Culver’s agency commissioned a study about pay levels at the agency, potentially setting the stage for raises, a move reported by the Boston Herald last month. Culver earns $299,000 a year
Culver was appointed president and CEO in 2004 and charged with, among other projects, the continued build-out of the 4,400-acre Devens redevelopment project.
Here we go again, forcing out the “talent” responsible for bringing jobs to Massachusetts while Maria the deadbeat receives free heat courtesy of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.
Nevermind…
Evergreen Solar Inc. will eliminate 800 jobs in Massachusetts and shut its new factory at the former military base in Devens, just two years after it opened the massive facility to great fanfare and with about $58 million in taxpayer subsidies .Evergreen yesterday requested that the State Police provide four troopers for security at the Devens plant until it closes, two Massachusetts officials said.
Evergreen itself has a factory in Wuhan, China, built in collaboration with a Chinese company, Jiawei Solarchina Co. Ltd., and with money from a Chinese government investment fund. The company had previously said it would shift some production from Devens to the Wuhan plant but yesterday was the first time it said Devens would be closed.
Let them build their silly solar power companies in China! We have ethanol! All you do is fertilize your corn with petroleum-based fertilizer, and after a water-intensive growing season- presto! Unlimited renewable fuel! Oh, wait a minute…
Unfortunately, the Solar cell has a similar fuel economy.
ISTR that the very best solar cell’s efficiency is 18-20%. Feel free to correct me on this point.
What I meant Slim is that they have a negative return on energy investment, similar to Ethanol. Just a complex and wasteful government money grab.
“Just a complex and wasteful government money grab.”
No future in solar energy, eh? We’ll see. Germany, China and other countries that actually think ahead sure seem to feel otherwise. But I’m sure your scientific knowledge is ahead of theirs.
And how is Chinese solar development ‘a complex and wasteful government money grab’? Not everything is reducible to US political thinking (or the lack thereof).
alpha,
I’m not trying to be snarky. I do work in the solar industry and am just passing on the distilled perception of the engineers that I interface with there. China, I think that they mostly expected to get rich selling solar cells to the rest of the world. Germany, yes very smart people and one of the few places that did not get caught up in the housing mania, still…Germany is special because they work in lock step. If the government says we will recycle, then everybody instantly recycles and they will keep on doing that until everybody stops at once. They do the same with “sustainable” technology, not because it makes sense (irrelevant) but because that is what the program is. I have worked for German companies for 20 years and I think my statement about them is pretty accurate. Mass movements do not prove the logic.
In Europe, the whole solar industry is based on impressive feedin tarrifs. When Spain and later France stopped or reduce these, the program collapsed. It is collapsing in the US.
It takes more energy to manufacture and install solar cells than they will produce. That is pretty simple. It only pencils out as a hedge against future oil shortage, kind of like getting yours now and screw the future.
The Danes have stopped all their wind power
projects for the same reason. Energy returned do not equal energy invested.
Blue Skye,
I haven’t looked into the fab for solar cells recently. Are they still made of single-crystal silicon, or the cheaper polysilicon? To make integrated circuits they have to grow huge “sausages” of single crystal silicon, called boules, which are then sliced into wafers. Growing these boules are incredibly energy consuming. The cost isn’t so bad when you make a few dozen microprocessors per wafer, but you use up the entire wafer making solar cells.
Is this what you are getting at?
For more info google “EROEI” Energy returned on energy invested. If it calculates to less than 1.0 you have yourself a losing proposition in the long run.
Nothing comes even close to fossil fuels, nothing.
On PB’s recommendation in a previous thread, we saw the movie, “Inside Job” the other night.
Most of the material in the movie will not be news to any HBB’er, but I highly recommend it to anyone who believes the “financial crisis” was an accident or surprise to anyone who should have known.
One nit, though, and so many in the media tend to do this, but Lehman Brothers’ failure is so often referred to as the trigger or cause of the “crisis,” when, in fact, it was the **result** of the crisis. This movie was better than most, because it did describe what was going on before the LB collapse, but it still made a big deal of the collapse, as if saving Lehman would have somehow enabled us to avoid the “crisis.”
Financial firms had already begun to fail, and Lehman was just one in a series of dominoes that were bound to fall. The real crisis was happening between 2001 and 2007. The failure of the financial firms, after the bubble burst, was the market trying to correct the damage done by the bubble — the bubble being the real “crisis,” not the burst that happened as a result.
‘One nit, though, and so many in the media tend to do this, but Lehman Brothers’ failure is so often referred to as the trigger or cause of the “crisis,” when, in fact, it was the **result** of the crisis’
Some of us who were posting here at the time spotted the onset of crisis in this December 13, 2006 Economist article regarding the Markit ABX indexes of the value of mortgage backed securities, which began selling off in late 2006. They all started at levels around 100, so if they currently remain at a level below 5, that signifies a 95% collapse in value.
In the early months of 2007, the subprime mortgage lending industry went up in smoke; by mid-year, an industry which essentially was the private U.S. mortgage market simply ceased to exist. Please correct me if I have the timing wrong, but I believe it was in August 2007 that Ben Bernanke assured everyone that “subprime will be contained to $200 bn.”
To pretend that Lehman’s collapse “caused” the crisis is about as dumb as pretending the Fall 2007 Witch Creek Fire began when buildings in San Pasqual Valley began burning on Monday Morning of October 22, 2007, even though a large cloud of smoke from the fire was rising from the growing conflagration, already clearly visible from a distance of thirty miles early in the afternoon of October 21, 2007 (we noticed it around 1p). Just because the Fed didn’t claim to see any smoke doesn’t mean the financial crisis was not already a raging inferno by mid-2007.
Some of us who were posting here at the time spotted the onset of crisis in this December 13, 2006 Economist article regarding the Markit ABX indexes of the value of mortgage backed securities, which began selling off in late 2006. They all started at levels around 100, so if they currently remain at a level below 5, that signifies a 95% collapse in value.
——————
Yes, exactly!
I remember watching that fairly regularly throughout 2006. One night, sometime in November (IIRC), I pulled it up and it looked like everything had fallen off a cliff. Called Mr. CA renter (the skeptic) in and told him “it” was finally about to begin.
You nailed it, PB. This is why it’s so frustrating to hear about the “Lehman collapse” as if that was the most relevant part of the “financial crisis.” It (and the freezing up of the credit market) was an expected and logical result of the financial “magic” that was going on since 2001.
Here’s the thing…back in 2004/2005, we bears were talking about the credit market seizing up as a result of all the defaults that were coming. In the meantime, the very well-paid “experts” and “talent” in the financial industry were busy creating ever more “exotic” ways to lure people from the very bottom of the borrower pool — giving them hundreds of thousands of dollars with which they could “snap up” expensive real estate.
And we always have to hear about how, “nobody could have seen it coming.”
I suspect Lehman was what ignited the pressurized bomb beneath.
My belief is that the crash was timed for political reasons to maximize the benefits to Wall Street. The bomb was going to go off no matter what but I think the ignition was timed to maximize benefit.
All we need to prove this is investment records for the wall Street Elite, and to find out who was in Paulson’s and others Hedge Funds that did well.
A job for Wikileaks?? We know the MSM ain’t going to tell us.
I believe Lehman was what triggered the realization at the Fed that subprime was not contained. In that sense, Lehman’s collapse was indeed what triggered the panic.
That, or that the Feds might actually wipe out some of the banksters.
Remember, at the time there was the assumption that all the banksters were “too big to fail”. That would have signaled loud and clear to the serfs that the banksters own the country. Needing a sacraficial lamb, they let Lehman die. Panic ensues, because suddenly, the banksters have to start worrying about what their paper was worth, and what everybody else’s paper was worth…….hence the SHTF.
The Feds let it happen because they (supposedly) had no idea how interconnected all of these banks were. Hence, the panic to pass TARP, to stabilize the markets, aka bailing out the banksters with taxpayer money.
Have I missed anything?
That’s it, Grizzly. The Lehman collapse was a trigger…the trigger that ignited all the bailouts for bankers, because the sheeple were convinced that the world would end if we didn’t fork over trillions of dollars in give-aways and guarantees to the financial industry. After all, didn’t you see what happened after Lehman Brothers collapsed?!?!?! (Quick! Send us another hundred billion, before we all sink into the ocean!!!)
Ok I lost my post so Im going to start from scratch .
I believe the Loan Changers were aware of the problem with loans as
early as 2004 . By 2005 the loan peddlers started creating more creative
toxic loan product to keep the Mania going and relaxed their loan standards even more .Fraud was also increasing by 2004 and it went
off the charts during 2005-2007. Mozillo was going for a pump up the stock and dump plan by early 2005 and the 80% foreclosure rates of
that junk is evidence of the intent of that CEO criminal .
You had places like GS starting to bet against their own clients they were selling this junk to and they were covering their junk peddled
by Credit Default Swaps with AIG ( the sucker ) .At the same time
foreclosures were being prevented by bogus refinances .Hit the mark appraisals and no underwriting and give anybody a loan became
the name of the game .
It’s important to note that a crash in the real estate market would affect all the casino games that were being played with leverage
like they duplicated mortgages instruments in the unregulated world of the shadow leverage using MBS as the backing .
The rah rah cheer-leading for real estate going up continued and became absurd with it even going to a big campaign by the REIC
with slogans like ‘Great Time To Buy ‘,You had builders in bed with
Lenders and a big increase in cash back fraud and incentives to try to
unload inventory and keep the illusion going .
But like all good Ponzi schemes eventually it started to crash . The problem with GS was that the Insurance Company they used would go BK if they paid the claims on the CDS . Countrywide just got caught holding the bag on billions in loans because when Mozillo went to sell that toxic junk there wan’t any buyers .Mozillo was trying to pawn it off on F&F ,but they didn’t take loans that high for starters ,so he was stuck holding the bag on the junk he planned to offload .
One of the first moves of Congress was to raise the F&F limits ,which was a clear sign to me what the plan was . F&F was to become the
dumping ground entity ,covered by the tax-payers .
You have to realize that these criminals were leading the Politicians
around by the nose to get what they wanted because the house of cards was coming down . Congress didn’t conduct any meaningful
investigations and they weren’t put off by the new Treasury Sec .
Hank Paulson being one of the most conflict of interest parties in history asking for 700 billion without proof of his claims .Just think about that one .
The culprits got bailed out and from that day forward its been a
bagholder transfer to the majority of all the pain and the corrupt institutions and players and their casino games are alive and kicking by this
Obstruction of Justice .
One of the first moves of Congress was to raise the F&F limits ,which was a clear sign to me what the plan was . F&F was to become the
dumping ground entity ,covered by the tax-payers .
You have to realize that these criminals were leading the Politicians
around by the nose to get what they wanted because the house of cards was coming down . Congress didn’t conduct any meaningful
investigations and they weren’t put off by the new Treasury Sec .
Hank Paulson being one of the most conflict of interest parties in history asking for 700 billion without proof of his claims .Just think about that one .
The culprits got bailed out and from that day forward its been a
bagholder transfer to the majority of all the pain and the corrupt institutions and players and their casino games are alive and kicking by this
Obstruction of Justice .
———————
DING! DING! DING!!!
One of the first moves of Congress was to raise the F&F limits ,which was a clear sign to me what the plan was . F&F was to become the
dumping ground entity ,covered by the tax-payers .
You have to realize that these criminals were leading the Politicians
around by the nose to get what they wanted because the house of cards was coming down . Congress didn’t conduct any meaningful
investigations and they weren’t put off by the new Treasury Sec .
Hank Paulson being one of the most conflict of interest parties in history asking for 700 billion without proof of his claims .Just think about that one .
The culprits got bailed out and from that day forward its been a
bagholder transfer to the majority of all the pain and the corrupt institutions and players and their casino games are alive and kicking by this
Obstruction of Justice .
————————
DING! DING! DING!!!
You nailed it, Wiz!
I think they tried to hold off the crash just long enough to elect John McCain. Then Lehman just couldn’t hang on, and McCain had the bright idea to state directly that he didn’t know much about econ, and to state indirectly that he didn’t know much about how to pick vice presidents.
Lucky 13th first…nah
Societal Influences on the Creation of Wealth
Bill Bonner ~ The Daily Reckoning
Posted Jan 13, 2011
Paris, France – There are some activities that are positive sum activities. That is, they are productive. They increase the total of real wealth in a society.
There are other activities that are zero sum activities… or even negative sum activities. War, for example. Excess legal wrangling. Paperwork. Too much time spent in schools. Too much support for the unemployed, the malingerers and the loafers. These things decrease the total of real wealth in a society.
Sometimes people are bright, honest and hardworking. Sometimes they are lazy, shiftless and cunning. They always prefer to get wealth and status by the easiest means possible. In some societies, the best way is by working hard. In others, it is by being clever… becoming a lawyer… a banker… or a government hack.
A new society, or a fresh economy (such as one that has just been flattened by war or hyperinflation), or a new model for an economy, is generally a wealth-creating society.
A free society is also generally a wealth creating society. People do what they want. If they want wealth, they are free to create it.
But as societies (or economies) age, they become decadent, arthritic, and backward-looking. They shift from wealth creating to wealth shuffling, and then to wealth destroying. They evolve into societies that are more concerned with redistributing wealth than with creating it… more focused on the appearance of wealth creation than with the real thing.
People shift with their societies. When hard work and creativity pays off, they become hardworking and creative. When connections and corruption pays, they are up to the job.
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/bonner/bonner011311.html
Sometimes they are lazy, shiftless and cunning. They always prefer to get wealth and status by the easiest means possible….by being clever… becoming a lawyer…
Hey, I resemble that remark!
Thoughtful planning and maintaining and A average to get into a good law school, seven years of college, a 60 hour plus work week, always being on call and having to cancel plans over 50% of the time, making work a number one priority, and extreme stress and time deadlines is the easy way out? Ensuring compliance with the law and that people are not being taken advantage of is a zero sum game? This guy appears to be schizophrenic and seeing demons that do not actually exist. He appears to speak from a standpoint of resentment and delusion rather than wisdom and knowledge.
Natalie, the value of a service is not determined by how much time or effort you put into creating it. It is determined by what people will pay for it. Notice I said people, not corporations.
So are you saying you are against globalization, regulation and taxes? The only way legal compliance can be established is to hire bright workers willing to dedicate their life to understanding it.
The only way legal compliance can be established is to hire bright workers willing to dedicate their life to understanding it.
Exactly. The more regulations, the more talent gets diverted from productive to un-productive uses. And then law-breaking becomes even more rampant, because the talent pool can never keep up with the demands for more regulation.
Tacitus figured this out two millennia ago: “The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the republic.”. Eventually you reach a police state where everyone just watches everyone else and no one does anything useful.
Well said
well done, LehighValley
Excellent LehighValley !! Thats worth a cut-&-paste and a forwarding to some friends…Well Done….
Well yes. It is also the case that situations where a task is highly valued and easy tend to draw many would be participants, which depresses the average* wage. The jobs that pay well over the long term tend to involve some combination of hard work, and difficult entrance requirements along with being highly values for whatever reason.
*Sometimes individuals are still highly compensated, but if there isn’t enough work to go around, most people won’t be working much. Think movie stars and the fact that the median compensation for SAG members is less than 10k/yr.
“The more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the republic.”
You know what I like, I like the way “they” sit up there in their swell leather chairs “a-way-up-high” above their citizen’s gaze, and pat themselves on each others back, shake hands gleefully, tender hugs & smiles & gift each other with little gold pins of “job well done!” “congratulations on that new law enactment” and then glance at the clock hangin’ on the wall, and then quietly whispering among themselves about where they’re all going for lunch.
Ask me how I know…
Thoughtful planning and maintaining and A average to get into a good law school, seven years of college, a 60 hour plus work week, always being on call and having to cancel plans over 50% of the time, making work a number one priority, and extreme stress and time deadlines
Can you cook?
Damn straight I can cook, but due to time constraints it is a hobby usually reserved for Sundays.
The HBB is much kinder to lawyers than the public at large. Did you read the NYT article about law schools? Very depressing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/business/09law.html
That’s because so many posters at HBB ARE lawyers.
“That’s because so many posters at HBB ARE lawyers”
idle hands make the devil’s work
Lawyers are the same as Realtors with less makeup.
Sorry,…….can’t………….resist
The difference between a porcupine, and a lawyer with a Porsche?
On the porcupine, the pricks are on the outside.
Without attorneys, no societal rule of law is possible. Even with them, it may be quite difficult.
Just where do we find this “rule of law…”?!?
Many on here bitch about the rule of law breaking down, and try to make it sound like the rich have a high disregard for the law and do not suffer the consequences of their crimes. Of course no statistics or any other evidence is offered to show signficiant deviations among time periods or classes. And what is this rule of law you are talking about? Throughout most of recorded history slavery and treating other people as property was common. Are you just referring to strict law enforcement without regard to what the law actually said? I’d rather pay too much for a security based on crappy underwriting than be tortured and executed being Jewish. Why do people just assume that actions that are likely to result in harm are per se illegal, or that those that do the most harm simply because of the fact they have the most power and wealth are somehow more blameworthy than similar actions taken by those with less power and wealth and thus having a smaller micro impact? Sometimes I think people need to understand history before they speak about current events as suggesting a deviation.
Natalie,
Forging someone’s name on a mortgage or foreclosure document is forgery, a crime. Signing a document attesting you have reviewed it and found no problems, when you’ve done no such thing because you’re a robo-signer, is perjury. When these acts are viewed as “cutting corners,” instead of crimes that undermine the integrity of the foreclosure or lending process, and result in no real consequences for the wrong-doers, it adds to the systemic fraud in the financial system. Ditto for when banks use creative accounting to hide their losses and pad their earnings, i.e. REPO 105, and auditors then sign off on these fraudulent documents.
When crimes are committed with impunity, whether by Wall Street kleptocrats or street thugs, it sends a clear message: there is great reward, and no risk, in committing crime. It isn’t just the breakdown in the rule of law that concerns me; it’s the disintegration of public and private ethics and morality as lying and stealing become viewed as necessary and desireable business practices. That, to me, as someone who does his best to play by the rules, respect society’s laws and conventions, and set a moral example for my children, is deeply troubling and does not bode well for our future.
Natalie, slavery is common today, in large part thanks to lawyers. To take just one example, ex-husbands who have done nothing wrong are forced into a lifetime of indentured servitude to pay alimony to support the indolent lifestyles of their ex-wives.
And there were plenty of lawyers in Nazi Germany, I don’( know what your point is there,
Many on here bitch about the rule of law breaking down, and try to make it sound like the rich have a high disregard for the law and do not suffer the consequences of their crimes.
Because they don’t suffer consequences like the proles.
Of course no statistics or any other evidence is offered to show signficiant deviations among time periods or classes
GONG, (remember the Gong show?) Wrong. I and many have posted such studies and stats. Google it.
And what is this rule of law you are talking about? Throughout most of recorded history slavery and treating other people as property was common.
Why do you always have to bring up the “good ol’ days”?
I’d rather pay too much for a security based on crappy underwriting than be tortured and executed being Jewish.
OMG You’re Jewish? (Then sorry, I guess you’re right then.)
Yeah that honest German lawyer Hans Frank certainly established the rule of law in the General Government of Poland.
“And there were plenty of lawyers in Nazi Germany, I don’( know what your point is there” The topic was whether the rule of law is breaking down, not the # of lawyers at various times. In terms of crime and human rights, I cannot think of a better time period to live in, nor do I believe that crime is on the rise, albeit I am offended by people like Obama that are willing to reward bad behavior in exchange for votes and agree he has to go as quickly as possible on ethical grounds.
As far as not thoroughly reading affidavits or document modification, still no evidence was provided to show that the occurrence of such actions or response thereto evidences a substantial deviation from prior behavior. Most of the buzz relates to isolated facts blown out of proportion by those trying to profit or gain media attention by keeping people that do not pay their mortgage in their homes.
Here are some new “Rules of Law”…..
California needs money, so pay close attention to the rules of the road!
Traffic Ticket Fines (Effective 01/06/2011)
VC 12814.6 $214 Failure to obey license provisions.
VC 14600(A) $214 Failure to notify DMV of address change within 10 days
Note: The fine may be reduced with valid proof of correction.
VC 16028(A) $796 Failure to provide evidence of financial responsibility (insurance)
Note: This fine may be reduced with proof of insurance on or after the violation date.
VC 21453(A) $436 Failure to stop at a red signal.
VC 22349 $214 Unsafe speed, 1 to 15 miles over the limit.
VC 22350 $328 Unsafe speed, 16 to 25 miles over the limit.
VC 22450 $214 Failure to stop at a stop sign.
VC 22454(A) $616 Passing a school bus with flashing red signals.
VC 23123(A) $148 Driving while using a wireless phone not hands free, first offense .
VC 23123(B) $256 Driving while using a wireless phone not hands free, each subsequent offense.
VC 23123.5 $148 Driving while using a wireless device to send, read or write text.
VC 23124 $148 Minor driving while using a wireless phone.
VC 22500 $976 Parking in a bus loading area.
VC 22507(A) $976 Violation of disabled parking provisions, first offense.
VC 22507(B) $1876 Violation of disabled parking provisions, second offense.
VC 26708 $178 Unlawful material on vehicle windows.
VC 27150 $178 Adequate muffler required.
VC 27315 $148 Mandatory use of seat belts.
VC 27360 $436 Mandatory use of passenger child restraints.
Note: This fine may be reduced by completing a court authorized child seat diversion program .
VC 27400 $178 Headsets or Earplugs covering both ears.
VC 27803 $178 Violation of motorcycle safety helmet requirements.
VC 34506 $616 Commercial Driver - Log book violation.
VC 4000 $256 No evidence of current registration.
Note: The fine may be reduced with valid proof of correction.
VC 4159 $178 Notify DMV of change of address within 10 days.
Note: The fine may be reduced with valid proof of correction.
VC 5200 $178 Proper display of license plates.
Note: The fine may be reduced with valid proof of correction.
VC 9400 $178 Commercial weight fees due.
Just look at our prisons. Far more people are rotting there for a lesser crime than many people in WallStreet and Government.
Exactly butters….Its about money my friend….Money, Money and more MONEY….It has little to do with keeping anyone safe….
Here are some new “Rules of Law”…..
Yikes! scdave…I’m happy not to be in my 20’s “Head-out-on-the-hwy-lookin’-for-adventure!” driving method days…Yikes!
VC 26708 $178 Unlawful material on vehicle windows.
(Looks like Hwy’s gonna have to remove his Snoopy / Woodstock / Charlie Brown window ornament…dang-it-all) :-/
the rich have a high disregard for the law
– only when they don’t lobby to have their choice loopholes written into them. If they can’t do that, then they ask Bush to issue a “signing statement.”
Throughout most of recorded history slavery and treating other people as property was common.
– so a thousand years of precedent makes this OK with you?
“so a thousand years of precedent makes this OK with you?” Ummmm, the point was times have been worse, not that times are great. The example was to show how bad they were in the past.
“To take just one example, ex-husbands who have done nothing wrong are forced into a lifetime of indentured servitude to pay alimony to support the indolent lifestyles of their ex-wives.”
Are all ex-husbands innocent? Or should only those who have done wrong be forced to pay alimony?
Being the breadwinner in my family, I would expect to provide support to my husband, who is old and infirm (but don’t tell him I said that
), if I could no longer tolerate his presence.
Just where do we find this “rule of law…”?!?
In Sweden of course.
Lawyers are okay in my book. Remember why they are here. To negotiate settlements without people turning to beating each other over the heads with rocks.
I’d vouch for my divorce lawyer. He let me know that the ex- was pi$$ed at me, by who she hired as her attorney. Warned me about all the chicken$hit stuff I’d probably see happen. Gave me the “big picture” view to just let things go and move forward, when the ex- set herself up for some payback. Repeatedly cautioned me about getting hung up over “stuff”, because most of it wasn’t worth arguing over.
I’ve been involved in negotiating contracts for aircraft sales……..believe me, a well written sales contract, agreed to by both parties, saves a lot of time, money and aggravation in the long run.
In fact, you could say a lot of these bubble purchases never would have happened, had people gone out and had a good lawyer review the contract
“A free society is also generally a wealth creating society. People do what they want. If they want wealth, they are free to create it.”
You’d think the banksters, and the ueber-bright economists who serve them, would get this: Cleptocracy sinks all boats. It’s not rocket science, folks!
“Cleptocracy sinks all boats”…but it takes 50 years. The trick is to get in the cycle early, live lavishly, and die before the boats sink.
“There are other activities that are zero sum activities… or even negative sum activities. War, for example”
Ah! So even Bill Bonner rejects the idea that WW2 was what made America so economically successful in the second half of the 20th century. I guess he agrees that FDR’s reforms, and those of his followers, were the key. You know- reasonable wealth equality, basic economic rights for all, rational banking control, security in old age- precisely what created a booming economy that everyone shared in. Other countries, also untouched by the war, but without these reforms, were not much more successful in the second half of the century than they were in the first half, despite the fact that the rest of the world lay in ruins.
+1
I’ve always thought this way. The same is true of companies.
The company is started by a smart hard working individual who risks everything and inspires his workers. This individual eventually retires or is baught out he or she may appoint some like minded individual but evantually the paracites come in. The company changes it’s focus from producing a great product to producing it as cheaply as possible to maximize the CEO’s pay check.
The founding fathers did a heck of a job starting this country out on the right foot. Educated and inspired men and women have kept it running but the new management elite have finally gained control (courts, politicians, MSM etc) and now the country is run for their benefit.
We have become the very thing they fought against.
Now, my comment here is NOT, I repeat NOT, in defense of banksters. But in 2008 I met a young finance person employed by Morgan Stanley who worked crazy hours. She was essentially on call 24/7. Her life was not her own. She was making good money but had no time to spend any of it. Her friends had to practically kidnap her to get her to take a vacation, which is where I met her.
Remember the good old days on the Lending Tree commercial when Stanley Johnson showed us his family and his big house and his country club and his new car and at the end he was riding that big lawn mower on that tiny lawn saying, “Somebody help me.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn5EP9StlVA - 123k -
I loved that commercial! That’s when it dawned on me that something is terribly wrong in fantasy land. Do you know when this commercial was aired? Maybe 2004?
“How do I do it? I am in debt up to my eyeballs, I can barely pay my finance charges.”
What really bothered me was that anybody was willing to loan even more money to people like that. It would have been great on a comedy show but they were serious, they wanted to lend more money, totally sureal.
I think it was the end of 2004 into 2005. That was around the time when my wife was constantly on me about “why can`t we buy a bigger house, everybody else is, we make as much money as them”. I believe shortly after that Suzanne and that poor FB`ers wife brow beat that poor guy into making the worst financial decision of his life.
“I believe shortly after that Suzanne and that poor FB`ers wife brow beat that poor guy into making the worst financial decision of his life.”
Well…it was quite a garage.
“….why can’t we buy a bigger house……”
Sounds like we were married to the same woman.
One of the reasons there is an EX- X-GSfixr……..
We still don`t have the house. That`s one of the reasons there is still a Mrs. saturday.
Oh, I thought you guys were responsible for your own decisions.
Suzanne Researched This Commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubsd-tWYmZw - 129k -
Century 21 yanked that commercial very soon after it came out. It remains my favorite, unintentionally truthful and ironic piece of NAR propaganda.
Seeign the goofus expression on the face of the guy in that commercial while his honey pot explains the Used Home Seller facts of life to him makes me want to hurl every time I watch it.
“DId you see that garage?”
Here’s another one of my favorites from the same era, “Susan researched this”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubsd-tWYmZw
I wonder if they will show these commercials 100 years from now when this will be in the history books right up the with the tulip mania and the South Sea bubble. Too bad we don’t have any footage back from those days.
No, but there ARE South Sea Bubble Playing cards http://www.pimpernelclothing.com/engine/shop/product/C001/South+Sea+Bubble+Playing+Cards
More recently, we have Burn Rate, the dot com bust card playing game. http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3341/burn-rate
Cool finds, thank you.
I scrolled down to the….
Highest Rated Comments
“Suzanne went back to stripping.”
rtrumble
1 year ago 38 thumbs up
We do have some great quotes, though:
And people wonder where I get my bad attitude.
Oh, I dunno, great minds of history who repeatedly point out the insanity that is the human race?
The Stan Johnson commercial was my all time favorite. The spineless JellyFish/Suzanne commercial still gives me an ill feeling.
One bubble commercial I remember but can’t find was a home-equity one where the soon-to-be FB was peeling sheets of rows and rows of $100 bill wallpaper off his walls as symbolism of him “extracting equity”.
Anyone else remember that one? Man, that was a doozie.
People point a finger at the banksters and mortgage originators for their role in the housing bubble meltdown, and rightfully so, but it was mass greed and “popular delusions” on the part of tens of millions of Americans that truly created the bubble. I mean, who signed all those mortgage contracts? And where does it say the bank has to give you more favorable payment terms if your home value sinks or your earning ability changes for the worse?
The people were doing what people have always done throughout history whenever credit was easy- borrowing irresponsibly. Since this is a historical constant, rules were enacted by wiser administrations to put a lid on this activity. Stupider administrations removed these rules, and here we are.
but it was mass greed and “popular delusions” on the part of tens of millions of Americans that truly created the bubble.
It was mostly the banks fault because mass greed is as old as mankind.
However banks enabling mass greed, fraudulently promoting it mass greed, securitizing mass greed and fraud while betting against it at the scale it was done, was never EVER done in history.
Now the banks get bailed out. It was a setup and the dupes are left holding the bag while there is an attempt to totally blame the dupes so the bailed out parties at fault can collect their 30 million dollar bonuses. That is the big picture.
Those previous administrations weren’t stupid - they were venal. In 1999 the Republicrats did away with Glass-Steagall, which had been put in place following the massive Wall Street fraud that led to the (first) Great Depression. Once those protections were done away with, Wall Street went on a greed-fueled orgy of fraud and piling up systemic risks in return for short-term gains (and bonuses). We shouldn’t have to learn the same lessons all over again.
Everybody need to remember:
All of the enablers of this mess (mortgage originators, investment banks, ratings agencies) DIDN’T CARE about anyone’s investment.
They got cash up front.
“The spineless JellyFish/Suzanne commercial still gives me an ill feeling.”
The sad thing is that a lot of guys still get hoodwinked by this social pressure.
Not to split hairs, but that was wifey brow-beating due to her overblown sense of entitlement, not societal pressure.
Agreed, but it happens a lot. Her attitude is not an isolated case.
I like the wife’s rattlesnake twitch, “What?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubsd-tWYmZw
Um, guys…
In many cases, it was the **wife** who was holding back the husband during the housing bubble (raises hand). And there are many more just like me.
I actually enjoyed the one where the guy turns on all the lights, then opens the front and stands on his porch with the cell-phone in his hand saying “Mom, tell Dad I’m air-conditioning the whole outside.” Sometimes there’s a bit of an anti-ownership bias here. Heck for most of a year after purchasing my home, I’d just be walking through the house smiling and tickeled pink because I was walking through MY house. Like just about any other purchase, whether it is a good idea depends on how much you paid for it. But just because we rightfully throw scorn at the idea that “It’s always the best time to buy,” or “You should spend as much as you can on buying a house,” or even “You deserve this,” we shouldn’t fall into the idea that buying is always a sucker game.
Anytime I hear someone tell me I deserve it, I think about the woman I met who was cleaning the office after hours at a large corporation in Fort Worth. She had 3 jobs to make ends meet and a teenage son who was out of control because she had no time to supervise him. She deserved better. I haven’t put in near that effort, so I figure I don’t really deserve it.
I remember the Wachovia ones where they brag about their low doc loans. 2-pieces of paper, no veirfication, and get any amount of money you want…
The true face of evil.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei5OrV-CmHg&feature=related
I think what Mr. Greenhill is saying (in code), is that the financial & business elite need to be able to rape and pillage faster than mere nano-seconds and have better cover from fall out in the future.
Financial Crisis Has ‘Drained’ the World: WEF Report ~ CNBC
Over three years of financial crisis has “drained the world’s capacity” to deal with further shocks, according to the World Economic Forum’s closely-watched Global Risks Report.
“The frequency and severity of risks to global stability have amplified, while the ability of global governance systems to deal with them has not,” the report said.
As the political and business elite prepare for five days of meetings at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, the message from the forum is clear.
“Twentieth century systems are failing to manage 21st century risks; we need new networked systems to identify and address global risks before they become global crises,” Robert Greenhill, Managing Director and Chief Business Officer at the World Economic Forum, said.
“The interconnectedness and complexity of issues mean that unintended consequences abound, and traditional risk response mechanisms often simply shift risk to other stakeholders or parts of society,” Greenhill said.
Empty house, lot enabled child rapist, neighbors say
By Cynthia Roldan Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 9:33 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011
Weymouth Street in suburban Lake Worth has yet to settle down. Weary neighbors stand in their driveways, speculating about the unthinkable.
A 4-year-old girl was raped here on Sunday. And the assault has angered residents, not only for its heinousness, but because they say that it has tainted the reputation of their quiet street.
Some expressed anger Wednesday that an abandoned house and adjacent undeveloped lot frequented by addicts and homeless people likely aided the girl’s attacker.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/empty-house-lot-enabled-child-rapist-neighbors-say-1181622.html - -
“Empty house, lot enabled child rapist, neighbors say”
So long as keeping homes vacant and off the market helps banks hide their losses, it’s all good, isn’t it?
I bet none of these neighbors has lifted a finger to push for local ordinances imposing stiff fines on mortgage-holders of vacant properties who let their properties fall into disrepair and attract vagrants. Instead, they act like typical Americans, sitting around bitching but expecting somebody else to “do something.”
Not all of us, Sammy. Last year, I raised the roof about a vacant property down the street. Crummy tenants moved out, but left their vicious dogs there.
And some sketchy guy was coming around, under cover of darkness, to tend to them and do who knows what else. BTW, sketchy guy had not been living at this property, but he was a buddy of the tenants.
Dogs did quite a bit of barking, and you know how I feel about that. I called the cops more than once. I distinctly remember one officer driving off while the dogs were in full barking frenzy.
What really got me going was the night that Mr. Sketchy took a bunch of neighborhood kids into that property. He wasn’t their dad, and what the heck was he doing with those kids at close to midnight?
I made contact with someone I know in the county attorney’s office. Dogs were removed (by Mr. Sketchy and one of the former tenants) in less than a week. Right after the dogs were gone, Mr. Absentee Landlord swooped in and started cleaning and fixing the property. That job took him four and a half months.
Place is now being rented to students. First loud party they threw got me on the phone to 911, the police came out, and they now have a noise ordinance violation tag on the house’s front window.
That’s not the only property I watch around here. I’m a veritable one-woman neighborhood watch.
Good for you, AZ Slim. Neighbors need to start acting like neighbors and stop putting up with things like nusiance barking (a pet peeve of mine as well) and unkempt, vacant houses.
“First loud party they threw got me on the phone to 911, the police came out, and they now have a noise ordinance violation tag on the house’s front window.”
You are my younger self’s nightmare neighbor.
Exactly. The neighbors COULD have joined together and kept that vacant property and lot looking half-decent and formed a community watch program to keep vagrants away.
I am living amongst similar people, ones who will not lift a finger to help their neighbor or even bother to say “hello,” but will call the city code enforcement or police to complain about the smallest perceived infraction in their neighbor’s yard.
“The neighbors COULD have joined together and kept that vacant property and lot looking half-decent…”
Actually, no they couldn’t. Liability and trespassing, you see.
And why is it the neighbors fault at all? (rhetorical question. It isn’t their fault)
This story rips my heart out. How can anyone do that to a 4 year-old child?????? I just can’t imagine.
And the person who found the poor child wandering around at 5:00 a.m. said she would not respond to him when he tried to talk to her.
Forgive me, but may they find the m**ther f***er who did this and skin him alive, then burn him alive. Beasts like this should NEVER be allowed to walk on this earth.
Ah who cares, it’s only money!
Panel: GM stock sale may trim taxpayer recovery
WASHINGTON (AP) – By selling a block of its shares in General Motors Co. for $33 each — a price far below the “break-even” point — the government sharply reduced the chances of taxpayers fully recovering their $50 billion investment in the auto giant, a new report from a congressional watchdog says.
But obama saved the UAW pensions and near free health care - so all is good.
FWIW a lot of factories were closed and thousands of autoworkers workers were terminated without vested pensions and were replaced by new hires making $14/hr.
Do you feel better now?
I wonder what percentage of GM cars sold in the USA are built in either Mexico or Canada? I wouldn’t be surprised if it was 50% these days.
Also, unknown to most, Mexico helped bail out GM to prevent any plant closures in Mexico.
“I wonder what percentage of GM cars sold in the USA are built in either Mexico or Canada? I wouldn’t be surprised if it was 50% these days. ”
And of course the fact that a company doesn’t have to worry about paying their workers’ health care in Canada and Mexico makes them a much more attractive place to build cars.
Between 2000 and 2008, the United Auto Workers (UAW) union gave $23,675,562 to the Democratic Party and its candidates. In 2008 alone, the UAW gave $4,161,567 to the Democratic Party, including Barack Obama.
The Obama bailout of GM (really the UAW) cost taxpayers over $60 billion.
Quite th ROI. Do you feel better now?
As Rio pointed out below, having a domestic auto industry that creates a tangible good and provides a middle class lifestyle, not only to UAW members but to all the non union white collar workers who are employed by the big three and its suppliers is a good thing.
BTW, the net cost of the bailout was 19 billion, not 60, which is a pretty good ROI considering that millions of jobs were saved. The foodstamp and section 8 savings alone more than paid for it. And had the suppliers gone under with GM and Chrysler it would have affected more than the big 3. It would have affected foreign manufacturers with US plants as well.
And compared to the mortgage and bank bailouts, it was small potatoes.
So yes, I do feel better. But you never answered my question: Do you feel better knowing that new hires at the big 3 are paid close to a menial wage?
One problem, though. IMO they desperately need to radically change, and that change was once again put off thanks to the bailout.
The UAW wasn’t the only people saved. A whole $hitload of salaried exempts in Design, Engineering, etc. etc. are still working at the Big 2.5, who wouldn’t be if they had gone down the crapper.
To say nothing of all the subcontractors; who wouldn’t be in business to support a lot of other industries, if they didn’t have the volume of sales to the Big 2.5 that help pay to keep the lights on and doors open.
Thank you, Colorado.
You’d think more people could grasp this by now.
Not really. With high unemploment would it not make sense to replace ALL of them with $14/hour workers?
Better yet, why not establish a “Maximum Wage” law for non executives so that no one makes more than $14/hr? That should “Make America Strong!”
It already exists, Colorado.
“Do you feel better now?”
No.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVmKyJXHXRE - 135k -
Wow- some union guys are drinking beer and smoking pot on their lunch break. That proves unions are bad!
Because, of course, non-union guys never drink beer and smoke pot on their lunch breaks. But if some were shown to do so, what would that say about non-union workers? That they, too, are all bad? Then where are we? Once we’ve all proven to be unworthy of our jobs and benefits.
It is for the children…don’t cha know.
————————–
Big Payout for Ex-Union Chief
The Wall Street Journal - January 12, 2011
Randi Weingarten, the former head of the New York City teachers’ union, received $194,188 last year from the United Federation of Teachers for unused sick days and vacation time accrued before she left to become president of the American Federation of Teachers, boosting her total compensation to more than $600,000 for 2010.
So Randy Weingarten didn’t deserve to be paid for her unused sick and vacation time she accumulated over 20 years of service?
Your answer please…
Did she not earn that sick and vacation time?
Your answer please…
Are you willing to forfeit all your sick and vacation time at the end of every year?
Your answer please…
Do you even earn sick and vacation time?
Your answer please…
2Banana, I believe you’re engaging in class warfare against us peons because you have an even lower wage, no benefit job.
Please confirm or deny this.
Thank you.
DoubleBanana won’t feel better until he’s demagogue’ed himself into the soup line.
““First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Excellent quote In CO!
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
A name seldom mentioned on “TrueSquealShout&HollerRadio™”
+ eleventy billion
I just finished reading an outstanding biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas. In times like these, when stand-up idealists willing to lay it all on the line for the sake of principle seem like a vanished breed, this pastor, who was executed by the Nazis in 1944, is a true moral inspiration. I highly recommend this book.
”In Hitler’s Germany, a Lutheran pastor chooses resistance and pays with his life. . . Eric Metaxas tells Bonhoeffer’s story with passion and theological sophistication, often challenging revisionist accounts that make Bonhoeffer out to be a ‘humanist’ or ethicist for whom religious doctrine was easily disposable. . . Metaxas reminds us that there are forms of religion — respectable, domesticated, timid — that may end up doing the devil’s work for him. –Wall Street Journal
”In this weighty, riveting analysis of the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Metaxas offers a comprehensive review of one of history’s darkest eras, along with a fascinating exploration of the familial, cultural, and religious influences that formed one of the world’s greatest contemporary theologians. A passionate narrative voice combines with meticulous research. . . Abundant source documentation brings to life the personalities and experiences that shaped Bonhoeffer…Insightful and illuminating, this tome makes a powerful contribution to biography, history, and theology.” –Publishers Weekly
Hold on- “then they came for the socialists”? But I’ve been told here by many that the Nazis were socialists.
They came after themselves?
Thanks! It just seemed to fit the situation.
But I keep hearing the nazi’s where communists so how can they be nazi socialists??…. but then the nazi’s jailed all the communists before the war…. errr. well… then they waged war on the communists to the east…. but…. the nazi’s *were* communists….. ummm…..
right? errrr…..
There has always been much discord on the left. Usually lefties go after each other more vigorously than they go after the right.
Usually lefties go after each other more vigorously than they go after the right.
Case in point: Take a quick look at the comments on DailyKos, Crooks and Liars, Huffington Post, and FireDogLake. They will provide all the proof you need. They make the HBB look genteel by comparison.
But obama saved the UAW pensions and near free health care - so all is good.
Why would you be so hostile to any American being able to make an honorable, legal, middle-class living? Who has taught you to hate the American worker- the American middle-class? Who?
Good god man, we salvaged the American auto-industry. Unlike the parasitical Wall Street, our auto industry produces something important and the big three had been exposed to unfair and highly subsidized foreign competition for decades. Just the fact the Euro and Asian auto-makers get subsidized health-care is a huge advantage for them over us. But there is far more to their subsidies.
Are you aware of the limiting quotas some countries have for American made cars? And don’t tell me because American cars are crap because because our UAW products now rate higher than Euro cars and some are even better than Asian cars.
Labor unions in the United States National trade union organization(s)
AFL-CIO, CtW, IWW
National government agency(ies)
United States Department of Labor
National Labor Relations Board
Primary trade union legislation
National Labor Relations Act
Taft-Hartley Act
————————————————————-
Trade union membership
16.1 million[1]
————————————————————–
Percentage of workforce
▪ Total: 12.4%
▪ Public sector: 36.8%
▪ Private sector: 7.6%
Demographics
▪ Age 16–24: 5.0%
▪ 25–34: 10.7%
▪ 35–44: 13.4%
▪ 45–54: 16.0%
▪ 55–64: 16.6%
▪ 65 and over: 9.0%
▪ Women: 11.4%
▪ Men: 13.4%
They came first for the Panama Canal,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t Panamanian.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Social Security recipients,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t on Social Security.
Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
+1, Rio. Thank you. IMHO, the PTB and right-wing talk radio/TV have been instrumental in turning workers with good pay and benefits into The Enemy, in order to distract people from what’s really going on.
I agreed 100%. It seems that some on this board won’t be happy until no one is making more than minumum wage.
Not true at all. In my small city of 50K people during this latest downturn, the four different city workers’ unions have gotten 5-8% annual raises at a cost of millions of dollars per year to taxpayers while thousands of private-industry workers in the very same city have either lost their jobs or had pay and benefits CUT.
And of course they raised property taxes to help pay for it.
City workers aren’t the enemy - all I’m asking for is for them to share in the pain along with the taxpayers that are footing the bill. Some GED-educated city truck driver does not DESERVE to make 80K per year while my master’s degreed teacher wife makes significantly less than that.
” Some GED-educated city truck driver does not DESERVE to make 80K per year while my master’s degreed teacher wife makes significantly less than that.”
DESERVE…DESERVE!?!
It suddenly appears that the unidentified and mysterious GED-educated city truck driver that you suddenly noticed in this nasty economic downturn and now point to is now the SMART one.
I have never noticed the DESERVE Entitlement of 80k in the fine print of a ANY master’s degree.
It seems that some in
on this boardGOPOFC&CC = “The Grand Old Pimp of Fiscal Conservatives & Compassionate Conservatives” won’t be happy until no one is making more than minumum wage.80k/yr for a city driver on a 40hr week?
You’re so completely full of $hit it’s no wonder you’re not using your real user name.
“Not true at all. In my small city of 50K people during this latest downturn, the four different city workers’ unions have gotten 5-8% annual raises at a cost of millions of dollars per year to taxpayers ”
Then fire the people who agreed to the contract - your local politicians. There are two sides to the negotiation. Evidently, your town hired/voted in a bunch of nincompoops to represent your side of the deal.
” Evidently, your town hired/voted in a bunch of nincompoops to represent your side of the deal.”
He should move out here. City truck drivers aren’t paid anything close to 80K. In fact there is but a handful of non cops who make that kind of dough working for city hall and most of them are in management.
Meanwhile, the glut of unsold GM cars on dealer lots continues to swell despite credit being extended to “challenged” buyers. We know how this will end. Car repossessions are up sharply.
“We know how this will end.”
More affordable used car prices?
The return of big azz rebates?
I don’t know anyone in the market for a new car these days. The guy I carpool with has an 11 year old, 150K mile vehicle and he has no intention of replacing it. The thought of a monthly payment scares him.
The thought of a monthly payment doesn’t scare me….
The thought of an $800 MONTHLY PAYMENT, for 5-6 years, scares me.
LOL! I hear you. That’s about what you’d pay for the “typical” 35-40K new vehicle. Smalll wonder KIA is doing OK (even though they are trying to climn the price ladder too)
I bought a 2009 Pontiac G5 for 12K (when Pontiac was shutting down), a 7K discount from MSRP. My monthly is about $220. The thought of paying 40K+ for an SUV seems insane, even the lease payments are huge.
Local Chevy Dealer had a Hybrid 4×4 Suburban on the lot a while back.
MSRP…….about $68K (say it slow……siiiiiixty eight thoooooousand bucks).
They must sell good crack in Motown.
That’s about 20 grand more than I paid for my first little house in Wichita back in 1981…..new build, around 1600sf, 3br, 2 car garage.
There’s an awful lot of 8-10 year old, relatively low mileage, high end cars you can buy for under $15-20K……and I could buy my own oil well for less than what that Suburban costs.
You can buy several cars fo r 68k
Buy a used fuel guzzling SUV to pull the boat and a fuel efficient car for the other 95% of your driving. You’ll burn less gas and save about 38 thousand plus tax and financing.
I don’t know anyone in the market for a new car these days.
Just a couple of years ago, I used to see new-car temporary-plates almost every day.
Now it seems like I see about one a week.
My experience as well. I’d walk the dog and it seemed that every 10th house had a new car in the driveway. Now? Sometimes its months between seeing a temporary tag during the walk.
I have a car with 130K miles on it right now, and I am not planning to get another. I get nearly 50mpg in the thing, and with what I have saved on fuel I have covered about half what I spent to buy the thing used about 7 years ago.
taxpayer bail out of GM?
You can’t buy a new car making $14hr.
Unless you’re living with your parents or otherwise have your food and shelter covered.
Boca home once valued at $460K bought by HOA for $1,900
Non-payment of maintenance fees can lead to foreclosure, eviction
By Daniel Vasquez
Sun Sentinel
Posted: 9:57 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011
Mark Michaelson has learned the hard way that a community association may take away your home for not paying maintenance fees. Florida foreclosure laws and court-ordered auctions give homeowner and condo associations the opportunity to strip titles of delinquent owners and take possession of their properties.
Because of personal financial problems, Michaelson said he stopped paying maintenance fees and the mortgage on his three-bedroom home with a lake view in Boca Raton in 2006, racking up more than $18,000 in overdue assessments and attorneys’ fees. Late in 2009, the Boca Greens Homeowners Association, which operates the 500-plus home community Michaelson lives in, filed for foreclosure against the home. Florida law allows associations to file for foreclosure against an owner when they reach delinquency of 90 days. Eventually a Palm Beach County Court ordered the home to be auctioned on Dec. 20, 2010, and Boca Greens was the winning bidder.
“It happened to me, it could happen to you,” Michaelson said. “In the end, I think it’s better for an association to work something out with owners like me who are behind in payments rather than take over the property for themselves.”
Public records show Michaelson purchased his home in 1999 for about $167,000 and he said it was worth as much as $460,000 four years ago. It was auctioned and bought by the association for $1,900. “Now I am just waiting to be evicted,” he said.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/real-estate/boca-home-once-valued-at-460k-bought-by-1181608.html - -
No mortgage?
“No mortgage?”
I can`t find it, but I have a hard time believing that this guy made it from 1999 knowing it was worth as much as $460,000 four years ago, without doing a cash out refi. That end of the story never makes it to print.
Aren’t their usually a bunch of vultures hanging around the courthouse waiting for just this sort of opportunity? This makes me think that their still IS a mortgage, and that the title that they got for $1,900 isn’t any more free and clear than when he owned it. So the question is how much equity did he have?
Wow - no nobody really cared about the taxpayers and citizens of their fair state.
——————-
How Democrats wrangled the tax votes in Springfield
Pork, remap, post-legislative jobs were all dangled before lawmakers
January 12, 2011| Chicago Tribune
SPRINGFIELD — — Twenty-four hours before state lawmakers sent Gov. Pat Quinn the first income tax increase in two decades, the votes weren’t there.
Though negotiations among House Speaker Michael Madigan, Senate President John Cullerton and fellow Democrat Quinn had begun shortly after the governor’s election in November, time was running out to take advantage of a lame-duck session before new lawmakers were sworn in.
For some lame-duck lawmakers who were either retiring or defeated in November, consideration of a post-legislative career in a Quinn administration was under discussion for votes. For others, a second round of construction bonding offered prospects for new pork projects to bring home to their districts. Still others wanted assurances that new political maps being drawn to reflect the federal 2010 census would protect them from an election challenge.
Yeah, that’s pretty much politics - esepcially at the state and local level. Barefaced horsetrading. Now it’s on to the future…
By CHRISTOPHER WILLS Associated Press – Thu Jan 13, 8:42 am ET
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Neighboring states gleefully plotted Wednesday to take advantage of what they consider a major economic blunder and lure business away from Illinois.
“It’s like living next door to `The Simpsons’ — you know, the dysfunctional family down the block,” Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said in an interview on Chicago’s WLS-AM.
The article from which this humorous quote was clipped goes on to say that some economists say that states competing against one another using tax rates as a weapon is hopelessly out of date. Well, if that’s the case then what replaced it? NATIONS competing against one another using wage/tax/regulatory weapons? Like that’s an improvement?!
The big guy has a way of dropping hints from time to time about areas where developers should avoid building. (Same sort of problems happen around LA every so often…)
Floods in Brazil and Colombia
Jan 13th 2011 | from PRINT EDITION
When the mountains move in Rio
IN THE state of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil this week the rains were sudden and torrential. In Colombia they have been relentless, lasting months. In both countries they been far more lethal than the more publicised flooding in Australia see article). They have left survivors and authorities with an expensive job of rebuilding—and the more elusive one of trying to prevent such tragedies from happening again.
…
a way of dropping hints from time to time about areas where developers should avoid building
San Fransisco / Lost Angeles / San Diego and all areas in between that are subject to the “Big Mama’s” rap music of Shake, Rattle, Rock & Roll!
Reaching the top of the Richter scale charts @ 8.1:
“How I lost my
homeinvestment!…in 30 seconds”How many more times do we have to see the MSM recirculate this St Joseph statue burial story before the housing bust is finally over?
Top tricks to sell your home if all else fails
You might bury St. Joseph in the backyard but maybe you would attract more buyers using some of these other ideas.
Top tricks to sell your home if all else fails
I noticed “lower the price” was not one of the tricks…
AFAIK this practice is unique to the USA. I never heard of anyone doing this (the St. Joseph thing) in Mexico.
I am building a house that looks like a giant upside-down St Joseph statue just in case I ever want to sell it.
Just the gift for the FB on your list. Plastic burial bag is extra.
Our Basic St. Joseph Statue Home Sellers Kit = $4.75 or less
Standard Shipping Is Only $2.00 Per Order, Any Size, Any Quantity, Period.
Basic St. Joseph Home Sellers Kit
Only $4.75
Includes the Sand Colored 3.75″ St. Joseph Statue & A Custom Designed Booklet That Includes Detailed Instructions, Prayers & History
( NOTE: The Basic kit does not include the cloth tote bag or plastic burial bag so it is the least expensive - it is not appropriate as a gift or for real estate professionals )
Is the burial bag for the statue or the FB…or the real estate professional?
Metro Boise (Ada and Canyon counties) had the dubious distinction of the largest price drops in 2010. Prices had fallen later than in many bubble places but we’ve now caught up. Ada county prices are back to 2003 levels.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2011/01/13/1486520/good-year-for-sales-bad-year-for.html
Hubble said one reason for an increase in permits in some cities was that builders wanted to get requests authorized before new International Building Code requirements mandating insulation in ceilings and higher glass standards took effect this year.
“That’s going to add about $800 to the cost of a home,” Hubble said.
This doesn’t make any sense. Why would a paultry sum like $800 extra cost spur building now rather than later?
Building Code requirements mandating insulation in ceilings and higher glass standards took effect this year ??
And in California, our geniuses in Sacramento decided starting 1/1/11 to require fire sprinklers in “ALL” new residential construction…Average house equals an extra $3,000….Just stupid legislation…
“Average house equals an extra $3,000….Just stupid legislation…”
I would think you would get quite a break on your home insurance if you have sprinklers in your house. Perhaps enough to pay back the extra $3,000 cost?
in this town that $3,000 seems to be closer to $30,000.
Perhaps enough to pay back the extra $3,000 cost ??
Insurance cost for a average size house is $800. per year…
interesting distinction between the energy code and the new green code is:
energy code requires cost effectiveness
green code does not
We saw the new claims figure dip below 400K and we heard the self-confident MSM pundits crow about the labor market recovery. SOL that it is back near 450K this morning…
I have to wonder what comment said anonymous “official” might have to offer regarding the “administrative backlog” of housing market shadow inventory?
U.S. jobless claims climb
The number of U.S. workers who filed new applications for jobless benefits jumped to 445,000, the highest level in more than two months, but an official attributes that largely to administrative backlogs.
If unemployment reached 100% the stock market would still rise steadily. The jobless recovery is right on track.
Wall Strret & the stock market can do very well without jobs. All they need is consumption. This consumption is coming in large part from the federal government that borrows at around 11% GDP right now.
Also accounting fraud appears (mark to fantasy) to be the new business model in financials. This can go on for years. Look at Madoff, that was just one guy that ran a $50 billion Ponzi scheme for years if not decades. Now think about what is possible when government, the FED, regulators and every major Wall Street firm come together to commit legally sanctioned fraud. This can continue for decades until something like a bank run triggered by some unforseen event will bring it down.
Nobody mentioned the administrative backlogs when that was artificially depressing the number of claims in the last two weeks of the year.
Oh, except us.
Yupper, you especially pointed it out the other week.
Plus, some articles pointed to post-holiday layoffs. Yet, isn’t it a little early for that? Most of the companies we deal with are just coming out of inventory/audits for which they retained extra staff.
Last week in JAN and first week in FEB should provide a better indication.
I wasn’t aware of the inventory issue until we had that discussion the other week but it makes sense. I would have thought that a lot of businesses use the rfid tags and other computer based systems to keep track of inventory, but I suppose that you need to count every once in a while to kep track of employee theft and have something solid for the auditor to compare to.
Oddly enough, layoffs require staff to be around. Except in the smallest of businesses you need HR to be around to do exit interviews and process paperwork to let people sign up for COBRA, etc. State and local government especially don’t have the staff around at the end of the year to do layoffs. They do now.
“The number of U.S. workers who filed new applications for jobless benefits jumped to 445,000, the highest level in more than two months, but an official attributes that largely to
administrative backlogsit being the new normal.How did we go from “real estate will bottom out by the end of this year” to “no recovery until after 2030″ so fast? My head is spinning!
Foreclosure Fiasco
Vegas home prices: On the skid until 2032
By Les Christie, staff writerJanuary 7, 2011: 5:14 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Move over, Cleveland. Make room, Detroit. Beat it, Buffalo. There are some competitors for the title of America’s most depressed real estate market.
These are not old Rust Belt post-industrial cities, where the manufacturing economy vanished years ago; these cities were flourishing as recently as 2005. But they got crushed by the housing bubble, and most won’t recover from the damage until at least 2030.
“The bubble caused a lot of over-investment in these markets,” said Celia Chen, a housing market analyst for Moody’s Analytics.. “It’s all collapsing because of the recession and over-valuation.”
So, bring on the contenders.
…
I suspect what they mean is that it will take this long for prices to reach the same levels they were at the top of the peak.
Correct. And that’s just in nominal dollars. In inflation-adjusted dollars, they’ll have to wait for the next monster RE bubble to match their previous bubble prices.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703583404576079311379009904.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection
Rating agencies S&P & Moody’s warn US that its profligate spending and racking up unpayable debts could put our AAA rating in jeopardy. What a joke. Both of these companies should’ve been sued out of existence for their role in abetting the MBS fraud with their AAA ratings on toxic waste bundled mortgage-backed securities. No honest rating agency would EVER give this country a AAA rating.
You are only jealous because if you were insolvent like the USA, you couldn’t get a AAA rating.
As individuals we aren’t too big to fail!
I wonder if the dinosaurs thought they were too big to fail?
I can’t think of a safer investment in dollar terms. They can print to cover their treasuries. The problem is that you might not be able to buy much with your return in 30 years.
Jan. 13, 2011, 8:26 a.m. EST
S&P, Moody’s caution on U.S. debt
Agencies cite deteriorating fiscal situation in the country
By Mark Brown and Nathalie Boschat
LONDON(MarketWatch) — Two leading credit rating agencies Thursday warned the U.S. on its credit rating, expressing concern over a deteriorating fiscal situation that needs correcting.
Moody’s Investors Service Inc. said in a report Thursday that the U.S. will need to reverse an upward trajectory in its debt ratios to support its Aaa rating.
“We have become increasingly clear about the fact that if there are not offsetting measures to reverse the deterioration in negative fundamentals in the U.S., the likelihood of a negative outlook over the next two years will increase,” Sarah Carlson, senior analyst at Moody’s, told Dow Jones Newswires.
Standard & Poor’s Corp. Thursday also didn’t rule out changing the outlook for its U.S. sovereign debt rating because of the recent deterioration of the country’s fiscal situation.
The U.S. currently has a triple A rating with a stable outlook at both agencies.
“The view of markets is that the U.S. will continue to benefit from the exorbitant privilege linked to the U.S. dollar” to fund its deficits, Carol Sirou, head of S&P France, said at a Paris conference Thursday.
“But that may change. We can’t rule out changing the outlook” on the U.S. sovereign debt rating in the future, she warned.
She added the jobless nature of the U.S. recovery was one of the biggest threats to the U.S. economy. “No triple-A rating is forever,” she said.
…
She added the jobless nature of the U.S. recovery was one of the biggest threats to the U.S. economy. “No triple-A rating is forever,” she said.
But Citibank said middle class jobs don’t matter, that the super rich will do enough consuming to keep the economy humming (Maybe the can buy a new car everyday and give the old ones away!)
“No triple-A rating is forever,” she said.
(FPSS laugh)
Yeah, right - maybe not in 2011 but before 2008 they sure were!
BWAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! (fpss™)
S&P, Moody’s caution on U.S. debt:
Now, …now we should believe the “TrueFinancialCult™” “TrueEnablers™”
Hey Moody’s and S&P, STFU. When was the last time you provided timely, predictive warning that a financial house of cards was getting ready to go down?
These rating agencies have one purpose only: to act as adjuncts to the TBTF banks who pay for their services, and to threaten countries with rating downgrades if they don’t sign up for new loans on the banksters’ terms.
Has anyone else here at HBB ever seen the 1937 movie of Pearl Buck’s book The Good Earth? It was on TCM last night. Although highly sanitized–I mean, those actors playing Chinese peasants looked awfully clean–it was a striking portrayal of desperate famine and poverty in pre-Communist China. With no social safety net whatsoever, apart from free train transport to cities in the south of China, people had to resort to begging and stealing to survive. The usual villains were on hand to fleece the poor of their land and money. In short, not much different from much of the world today. And yet, how far China has come!
I could only stand about ten minutes before turning to more light-hearted fare: reading a Bill Moyers interview with Noam Chomsky from 1989.
If I remember correctly one of the promises of the revolution was that everyone would have a pair of shoes. (So that’s why you see those canvas Mary Jane style shoes in all the Chinese import shops.)
I once met an older immigrant Chinese woman who told me when she was a kid her mother handmade their shoes out of fabric, making the soles out of 20 or so quilted layers.
A pair of shoes. That makes Hoover’s campaign promise of a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage sound like pie-in-the-sky.
So that’s why you see those canvas Mary Jane style shoes in all the Chinese import shops.
When I was bicycling around the USA, I carried a pair of those shoes with me. They were light and folded flat. Pretty durable, too.
Wow. I forgot about those. I used to have several pair of different color in the 70s.
I now have a pair of Skechers flats that a friend gave me almost three years ago. Reason for this gift: They were too hard on her bunions.
Well, those free shoes go all over the place. Including Tucson’s weekly Meet Me at Maynards walk/run around Downtown. You should see some of the other footwear that comes to this thing. Running and walking shoes that go well into the three figures.
And then there’s Slim in a pair of castoff Skechers flats. I’m trying very hard to wear them out, but so far, I’m not succeeding.
I have read some Buck but never seen that film adaptation. I’m mostly familiar with her book on Korea, The Living Reed, since it would appear a character in it was modeled on my great-grandfather A D Drew. Drew, like Buck a missionary for the Presbyterians, was an MD hired by the Presbyterians to establish Western-style hospitals in Korea circa 1890. My grandmother was born in Kunsan back in 1893.
What a fascinating piece of family history!
Drew was chased out of Korea in the late 1890’s when Japan took Korea as a colony - and proceeded to loot it. Drew then moved to San Francisco where he took the job as head doctor at the immigration station on Angel Island - the west coast version of Ellis Island.
My mother was born in China to Methodist missionaries. She remembers seeing heads of “bandits” displayed in public, and finding a dead baby in a field wrapped in newspapers.
During the ten minutes of the film I could bear to watch, the mother gives birth to a lustily crying baby who dies off-screen within minutes. The clear implication is that the baby was smothered by its mother, who already had two children to feed. Very very sad.
1937…With no social safety net whatsoever (fast forward to 2011): And yet, how far China has come!
So, you’re implying the Chinese have developed a system of Social Security for their current 1.3 Billion citizens?
(people had to resort to begging and stealing to survive. does this imply: “some did not survive?” how many?)
America: 308 million citizens, Gov’t ready to implode.
China: 1.3 Billion citizens, no-problems-what-so-ever, it’s a Miracle!
Place your bets…
Hwy, according to my extensive research, which consisted of Googling “Chinese famine 1930s”, the famine of 1936 is estimated to have resulted in the deaths of 5 million people.
And yes, I know that China is still not big on social services for its 1.3 billion people (especially the little guys). That comment was more a comparison with the state of affairs in the U.S. under FDR.
Nothing at you Elanor…
Eyes was just throwing a “made-in-the-USA” shovel of American sand on the ragin’ “TrueChinaMiracle™”/“TrueBambooLie™”
Kindest Regards, Hwy50
(Hwy’s a reckless/throwback sort of American Patriot. :-/)
Moody’s, S&P warn on US credit rating.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703583404576079311379009904.html
“The view of markets is that the U.S. will continue to benefit from the exorbitant privilege linked to the U.S. dollar” to fund its deficits, Carol Sirou, head of S&P France, said at a Paris conference Thursday. “But that may change. We can’t rule out changing the outlook” on the U.S. sovereign debt rating in the future, she warned. She added the jobless nature of the U.S. recovery was one of the biggest threats to the U.S. economy. “No triple-A rating is forever,” she said.
Geez we’ve got three posts on this - danged “time lag” for posts to appear.
Great minds post alike.
The Cult of Sanctified Violence by Will Grigg
Another outstanding essay by Will.
http://tinyurl.com/45znb5u
Explains so much about why America is where it is.
Terrorism is the poor man’s war. War is the rich man’s terrorism.
As long as the lower classes have foodstamps and mindless TV, and while the managerial class have their luxury cars, Mc Mansions and other toys no one will give a rat’s azz about the gradual but steady loss of our civil liberties. The managerial class puts up with groping at the airport while the working class signs their sons and daughters to fight in wars.
Actually, the managerial class doesn’t worry about being groped. They fly their own airplanes.
I know an airplane sales guy that always keeps a box of business card with him when he flies commercial. When he sees a pi$$ed off guy wearing a suit in an airport terminal, he introduces himself and gives him his card.
I was thinking more of the mid 100K earning middle managers and their also middle management spouses. Not wealthy enough to fly on a private jet, but they have his and hers $50K vehicles, a McMansion with a conventional mortgage, etc.
WBBR Bloomberg reported this morning;
“Homeowners receiving foreclosure notices will jump 20% in 2011.”
We were right then and we’re right now. They couldn’t afford it then and they can’t afford it now.
As a side note, Mrs. Exeter started watching these goofball HGTV shows like “property virgins”. What strikes me about these people is they have no sense of value…… none whatsoever. The show really lives up to it’s name.
We’ve got a couple foreclosures in the nearby neighborhoods. One marked at a “I want it gone today” price and another that was marked as under contract that I didn’t think was priced as any bargain. I suppose that particular SFH is the perfect target for the heavily populated age niche of downsizing boomers coming down the track which means something twice its size/price probably just went on the market. And I say that because we’ve had quite the inventory pop in those middle high to upper price level ranges in the last week.
There are so many more listings around here that have languished at the original crazy high list price that I’ve mentally pegged them as shadow inventory. Many have sat over a year. There are also several listings id’d as sold w/in the last 2 years coming back on. Some were rented out and are now coming up for sale again. Some really had been sold because I checked the tax records. Perhaps now that the tax increase rumors are making the rounds people are worrying they spent too much? OTOH, I have heard of a lot of outbound transfers lately. All anecdotal I know but the burst in inventory isn’t. January’s usually dead.
If only we could get the sellers to realize last year’s pre tax credit prices aren’t going to be cutting it this season and also that they might be soon faced w/an explosion of inventory onto the scene. An inventory jump perhaps so steep it might just convince buyers to wait longer.
My wife watches those things. This morning I got up early and when I came back to take a shower she jokingly told me that “our bathroom is boring”. I jokingly responded that she needed to change the channel.
When I got out of the shower I come back out to see what she is watching and the screen is black. She had just changed the channel. After a few seconds it came back to ESPN, but I knew she had been watching H&G and had changed it because she knew I would give her crap for watching H&G. I jokingly told her that I might need to put a block on that channel :-).
I suppose there will come a day when all of this mania about property ownership dies out, and then H&G will return to something more sensible. Where is the “G” in H&G, for example - there aren’t any gardening shows that I ever see.
There are a handful of shows on there that deal with repairing defects of one sort or another - those I find more interesting.
“My wife watches those things. This morning I got up early and when I came back to take a shower she jokingly told me that “our bathroom is boring”. I jokingly responded that she needed to change the channel.”
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I vaguely remember used to HAVING a wife who used to joke like that.
Nah…my kid says it must just be one of those weird reoccuring nightmares from the House Special pizza’s and beer.
“Gold is the money of kings, silver is the money of gentlemen, barter is the money of peasants – but debt is the money of slaves.”
–Norm Franz, Money and Wealth in the New Millenium
America home of the slave unawares.
“Gold is the money of kings, silver is the money of gentlemen, barter is the money of peasants – but debt is the money of slaves.”
Where do food-stamps fall in this money categorization?
Food stamps are the money of slaves who can not service debt.
Food stamps are the money of politicians, who are paying the slaves not to revolt because they want to maintain the status quo that is lining their pockets.
How to know if you are a slave? A slave is unable to verbalize the word “no” to the government , worse, is unwilling to conceive of such resistance.
India, Iran mull over gold-for-oil for now
NEW DELHI: India is determined to ensure steady crude oil supplies from Iran and is even considering settling payments with gold in the short term before the two countries agree on a mutually accepted currency and a bank to clear the transactions.
“We have written a letter to NIOC ( National Iranian Oil Company )) asking it to suggest a bank where US sanctions are not applicable,” a government official involved in the matter said requesting anonymity.
Another official said India could settle crude oil import transaction using gold in the short term, while efforts to resolve the deadlock continue. An Indian delegation, including officials from ministries of external affairs, finance and petroleum, will visit Tehran next week to thrash out the payment issue, officials said.
http://tinyurl.com/6bhp3dl
What will happen when Iran has all the gold and the rest of the World still needs oil?
We give them out virgin daughters?
Why not have the Iranians open a dollar based account at an Indian bank? Or do they not trust our friends in the subcontinent?
We give them out virgin daughters?
Maybe there’s something to that “72 Virgins” thing after all.
We offer them food for the gold and oil. That or nukes.
I have often wondered why we, along with the other food exporting nations, don’t set up “OFEC” - the organization of food exporting countries.
OFEC would include the US, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and other worthy food exporting nations.
We don’t like your oil prices. OK, you can now buy our wheat for $100 a bushel - take it or starve Buckwheat.
Oh, you sell rockets to Palestinian terrorists? Sorry NO FOOD FOR YOU. Go ahead and choke on sand and crude oil.
I sense a “Free-for-all” Market oppoortunity for
dictator/”entrepreneur” Chavez.Go Hugo!,…GO!
What the Vampire Squid wands the Vampire Squid gets
Although most Americans may think that the financial crisis and Wall Street bailouts are now just an embarrassing and regrettable moment in the country’s history, this is far from the case, MIT Sloan School of Management professor Simon Johnson says.
In fact, the taxpayer subsidies for the major Wall Street banks continue to this day.
These subsidies, professor Johnson says, take the form of special access to the Fed’s “discount window” and ongoing, unwritten “Too Big To Fail” guarantees that the US taxpayers will cover any major losses the banks incur–by bailing them out all over again.
These subsidies allow the big banks to borrow money at a lower cost than their smaller competitors, and, thereby, win market share and produce higher profits.
Bizarrely, professor Johnson adds, the subsidies mean that the US taxpayer is even subsidizing Goldman Sachs’ recent $450 million investment in Facebook, one of the hottest tech companies on the planet.
the subsidies mean that the US taxpayer is even subsidizing Goldman Sachs’ recent $450 million investment in Facebook,…taxpayer subsidies for the major Wall Street banks continue to this day….Too Big To Fail” guarantees that the US taxpayers will cover any major losses the banks incur–by bailing them out all over again.
Does this mean we now have Single-Payer Wall Street Care system?
It’s funny how things where “money is no problem” usually benefit the very wealthy.
Yes, isn’t it?
Yet, there is never any money for national/universal healthcare for our citizens. Plenty of money for banks, though, because they are #1!
Banana Republic.
Interesting connection: BB is a graduate of the school where Simon Johnson teaches. It seems like their philosophies of banking are miles apart, though.
If you want to see the future of the US Health Care bill take a look at what’s happening in Wi. Dem Gov pushes through bill that mandates people buy car insurance, but extracts some concesions from the insurance industry. Fast forward to GOP take over and the concesions that hurt the insurance companies bottom line are repealed but the mandate that everyone pay insurance is kept. A mandate that has been proven to increase the cost of insurance.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature plan to introduce a bill on Wednesday that would repeal most of the auto insurance coverage increases mandated by Democrats, which industry and state regulators blame for higher premiums.
Drivers would still be required to carry car insurance, a change that took effect last year. However, the bill by Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, and Sen. Frank Lasee, R-De Pere, would repeal almost everything else
Don’t a lot of states already mandate car insurance?
Nearly all of them do. Wisconsin was unique in allowing drunk driving by the uninsured.
No wonder insurance rates went up then.
Indeed most states mandate car insurance.
My response:
I no longer own autos rather control them via llc’s.
No longer have any assets in my names rather llc’s
Absolute minimum in auto insurance and maximum deductibles.
Autos owned by the llc are all under $2000 in value yet are well maintained.
Attorneys seeking a judgment against me will quickly see that I have nothing.
Oh yes, I rent a home so what is not mine cannot be used against me.
This is my non-violent revolution against third parties who would seek to shake me down.
How much does this approach cost you every year in legal and tax services?
All of those LLCs have to file returns, right?
I’m not saying it is a bad strategy, though—just one with some additional costs (which ironically, you could view as insurance against lawsuits).
It costs me and my llc’s nothing in terms of yearly fees.
I do my own tax related work.
Don’t a lot of states already mandate car insurance?
Yes but you can opt out in one of two ways.
1) Post a big bond if you are rich enough.
2) Choose NOT to drive a car.
There must be a #3. Lots of people drive without insurance.
If you want to see the future of the US Health Care bill take a look at what’s happening in Wi….the mandate that everyone pay insurance (auto) is kept.
But isn’t the health-care mandate itself the thing Republicans are “most against”.
It is what they were for until the Democrats adopted it. They preferred it to a system in which the government took in money and paid for insurance, because forcing people to buy insurance is more regressive.
It is what they were for until the Democrats adopted it. They preferred it to a system in which the government took in money and paid for insurance, because forcing people to buy insurance is more regressive.
I remember that. It is when Clinton tried to do universal health-care. (Almost a lifetime ago)
Trust me
They are using this to anger the rank and file but when the doors close they will get rid of all that angers the insurance companies and leave the mandate
Every time.
I apologize if this is a duplicate post:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/11/business/economy/11fed.html?_r=2
“Mr. Frost and his team work out of a small, beige corner office with arched windows that used to be a library. There, at about 10:15 most workday mornings, one of them pushes a button on a computer. Across Wall Street, three musical notes — an F, an E and a D — sound on trading terminals, alerting traders that the Fed is in the market.
On one recent Tuesday morning, what Mr. Frost and his five young colleagues did over a 45-minute period might have unsettled even a seasoned Wall Street hand: they bought $7.8 billion of Treasuries. “
“Across Wall Street, three musical notes — an F, an E and a D — sound on trading terminals, alerting traders that the Fed is in the market.”
Kind of like the five note alien greeting in ‘Close Encounters’. (G-A-F-F-C, right? With the second F and C an octave lower?) Just as creepy.
‘Superior life forms have begun trading.’
Three notes in a descending minor scale (3,2,1) makes me think of the mwah, mwah, mwah sound. Makes sense, I guess.
And much more efficient than the “presence of Darth Vader” music.
What is the most appropriate response to QE?
Buy the precious metals.
Watch those who do not become mere serfs.
And those who are already serfs?
I don’t disagree with you, but buying PMs in any adequate quantity just isn’t possible for most (about 80% of the population).
For those people might I suggest buying extra dry goods, growing a garden, and learning in general how to live a higher quality of life without depending so much on the Federal Reserve Note?
From the article:
Mr. Frost, and his boss, Brian P. Sack, insist the program has succeeded. Mr. Sack, 40, joined the Fed 18 months ago to run the entire markets group. He has a Ph.D. from M.I.T. and worked most recently for a Washington consulting firm. In 2004, he wrote a paper with Ben S. Bernanke, the future chairman of the Federal Reserve, and another economist about unconventional measures for stimulating the economy in extraordinary times — just like large-scale purchases of Treasuries.
“We didn’t know then that the Fed would be putting it to the test,” he said.
———————–
But, “nobody could have seen it coming,” right?
This is such a lie. The entire reason Bernanke was appointed to head the Fed was because he “specialized” in deflations and depressions. The game was rigged from the start, and everybody knew it.
The magic of QE.
From zerohedge.
Today’s POMO closed, with Frost Sack playing the F-E-D chime and not only buying up $8.412 billion in bonds, but paying Primary Dealers about $50 million in commissions. Not a bad deal for 45 minutes worth of work.
“It is nothing short of cruel and criminal for Congress to stand idly by while the life savings of Americans are inflated away to nothing.”
~Rep. Ron Paul
Oh, lighten up Ron. They are saving us from ourselves.
Life savings? Never heard of them.
Joe 6 Pack
Is that something like secure jobs, regular raises and low inflation?
Guy on CNBC right now putting together a bond fund for retail investors. Wants to raise money to buy up sub-prime MBS.
His argument is these are high interest rate loans and the suckers that took them out can’t refi… so they are simply stuck paying out the nose… or default. Even with a very high default rate, he thinks they’ll make more than enough off the people that do keep paying to cover a good return on the low price they are paying.
The only issue is that there is a low volume of these MBS available to buy because the current holders can’t afford to sell them at current market price.
Darn those accounting rules.
Run.
Away.
Closings were only a start; CMS to slash 1,500 jobs
DavidsonNews.net
(N.C.)The planned closing of schools such as Davidson IB Middle was just the beginning of the budget-cutting for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for next school year. The district now says it must cut $100 million, and it plans to do so in part with more than 1,500 layoffs and bus and bell schedule changes.
I like the way “they” dealt with killer kooks back in FDR’s day! I know, I am a cold heartless bastard!
Item: Pat Buchanan reminds us how we used to treat people who murdered public figures:
“On Feb. 15, 1933, Giuseppe Zangara, delusional and a loner, fired his .32-caliber pistol at FDR in the Bayfront Park area of Miami.
“Five feet tall, Zangara could not aim over the crowd. So, he stood on a folding chair and was piled on after the first of five shots. He wounded four people, including Mayor Anton Cermak of Chicago.
“In two weeks, Zangara, who pleaded guilty, had been sentenced to 80 years. When Cermak died on March 6, Zangara was retried for murder and sentenced to the electric chair, where he died on March 20, 1933.”
> Imagine - this man was accused, tried, convicted, and executed only one month and five days after he pulled the trigger! That would be unconscionable today. First of all, he wouldn’t be to blame. “Society” would take the heat for creating an “atmosphere” that led him to his dastardly deed.
Can anyone, in his/her wildest imaginings, picture Jared Loughner going to trial before the end of January? Of course not. This is the enlightened 21st century, not 1933.
The other way they dealt with “kooks” was to institutionalize them, until Raygun let them loose with no provision to make sure they kept taking their meds.
Do not spend collected Society money on defective people. period. it’s-a-waste-of-tax-payer-money! Besides, private “bidness” will readily step forward and can solve their “health” problems for a profit.
+1 Hwy, the great society war on poverty has obviously just not been done right yet.
Well the story has gotten garbled over the years.
What actually happened is a little more complicated. During the 1950s several civil liberties organizations, including the ACLU, challenged the very concept of “involuntary committment” in court in many lawsuits. The result was that the bar was set very high for such committments. IIUC Reagan when Governor merely obeyed a court order to release almost all those involutarily committed until they had a “full blown court trial”. The ACLU and others pressed for “local governments” to take over and monitor these patients. Sadly this path was followed and the local governments dropped the ball.
I don’t have access to LEXIS since I’m retired, but maybe some others can dredge up the relevant opinions. I’d hate to see the 5th Amd. “due process” extended from covering those criminally accused to covering those who are simply insane.
California police could involuntarily commit anyone to a mental institute until the 1930’s.
How’s that fer quick justice!
During the 1980s and 90s, thousands of public mental clinics and hospitals were closed as cost cutting policy.
Thousands.
And that’s a shame.
As mentioned before, I used one of those clinics when I lived in Pittsburgh during the 1980s. It was part of a Catholic hospital that operated under the belief that all must be ministered to. Even those who were, ahem, a bit off.
Any-hoo, what I needed more than anything else was someone to talk to. Both individually and in groups. I was in individual therapy and in community support groups. I’m here today because of the people I met back then.
Great story, AZ Slim. Glad to hear you were able to find solace and helpful people there.
It’s a shame that we don’t help people who are in need (physically, mentally, emotionally) better than we do now. I think we’d all be better off for it.
This is the enlightened 21st century, not 1933.
American Justice still works on occasion wmbz, cut with the negative waves Kelly!
Keep ‘em comin’ wmbz,…keep ‘em comin’
Riddle me this Batman:
America June 11, 2001 / Oklahoma / Army Veteran / Timothy McVeigh
The day isn’t complete without a “Kelly’s Heroes” reference.
“To a New Yorker like you, a Hero is some kind of weird sandwich, not a nut who takes on three Tigers”.
And Big Joe could be talking about the USA, circa 2020: “Loot what? There’s nothing here to loot!!!!”
Movie Trivia du Jour: Kelly & Co. wear the shoulder patch of the 35th Infantry Division, a division formed primarily from the Kansas National Guard.
Kansas National Guard
Explains some of their behavior.
Nothing like a Kelly’s Heroes reference to lighten the day.
“To you New Yorkers, a Hero is some kind of weird sandwich, not a nut who takes on three Tigers”.
Or Big Joe, who could just be as easily talking about the USA, circa 2020:
“Loot? Loot what? There’s nothing here to loot!!!! “
Buchanan’s version of history isn’t trustworthy. But that shouldn’t detract from his superior, finely honed skills at dividing and conquering. He is the pro of pros.
“We can pretend that the current recession is temporary, and not a manifestation of dying opulence, just as a fading beauty can pile on the make-up and hope that men don’t notice. We can spend while others grow, buy their goods on credit – for a little while longer. And any who say that we ought to put our house in order and come to terms with reality? They will be said to Hate America. Well and good, until the bill comes due.”
~ Fred Reed
Surely there is a difference between Hate vs Anger, between talking to rather than talking at…what radio station should America dial in?… oh yeah, “TrueSquealShout&HollerRadio™” ?
2000 -2008 = ALL America politically managed by “Fiscal Conservatives”
Jan 20th 2009 to Jan 14th 2011 = “Now, now they are filled with “TrueAnger!™”
That’s an appropriate metaphor to be sure.
By far the thorniest, and most viscerally resisted, notion out there is that the conventions and assumptions of the Pax Americana are no longer valid. Namely, the standards of living are on the decline - for those unwilling or unable to adapt that is.
This realization for the general public will come much slower than the realization that houses don’t only go up in value, if it ever comes at all.
I’m convinced that this decline in standard of living is inevitable barring some game changing new technology like zero point energy or workable fusion.
The game for me is all about staying in the top 10%.
“…just as a fading beauty can pile on the make-up and hope that men don’t notice.”
That old trick of painting lipstick on a pig never fools me.
Mantra of the early 21st century hate radio neocons when Bush Jr was elected:
“Why do you hate America?”
Tip for Ben: You may want to consider hiring an exorcist to scare away evil foreclosure spirits before returning rehabbed homes to the market.
* THE A-HED
* JANUARY 13, 2011
The Housing Slump Has Salem On a Witch Hunt Again
Buyers Worried About Bad Vibes From Foreclosed Homes Seek a Cleansing
By S. MITRA KALITA
SALEM, Mass.—There’s a certain look and feel to a foreclosed home, and 31 Arbella St. has it: fraying carpet, missing appliances, foam insulation poking through cracked walls.
That doesn’t faze buyer Tony Barletta since he plans a gut renovation anyway. It’s the bad vibes that bother him.
So two weeks before closing, Mr. Barletta followed witch Lori Bruno and warlock Christian Day through the three-story home. They clanged bells and sprayed holy water, poured kosher salt on doorways and raised iron swords at windows.
Lori Bruno, right, who claims to be a descendant of 16th-century Italian witches, performed a blessing on a home in Salem, as warlock Christian Day, left, assisted.
“Residue, residue, residue is in this house. It has to come out,” shouted Ms. Bruno, a 70-year-old who claims to be a descendant of 16th-century Italian witches. “Lord of fire, lord flame, blessed be thy holy name…All negativity must be gone!”
…
“Residue, residue, residue is in this BANK. It has to come out,”
I’d imagine her services cost a bit more than a St. Joseph’s statue.
With about the same effect…
Hmmm - wasn’t that a joke or sumthing…
A warlock, a realtor and a banker walk into a FB house…
The banker is the one that can make the equity go “poof!”
“She looks like one.”
http://www.spiritualsoundhealing.com/singing_bowls_of_tibet%20B.htm
“The tones from the bowls balance the chakras, bring the subtle bodies into alignment, and create a balance between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. They can shatter accumulating negative energy within the chakras and the aura. They resonate with every cell in the body to release blockages and restore balance. They restore the circular flow of energy within the aura. The bowls and their unique tones have been used to restore blood pressure, correct asthma and emphysema, and even rebuild adrenal function after failure from steroid intake. They open and balance the meridians of the body and they improve the synapse response in the brain. They have been used with hyperactive children and they can stimulate the immune system.”
I have extreme doubts over most of those claims but some of these make the most beautiful sounds and do seem to change something in the air in a way that makes you feel almost lighter.
“You can keep looking for deals in distressed properties,” Ms. Mainini recalls telling her client. “But they all have an energy that is very weak for money.”
Just another way of saying the prices are too dang high.
The RENT is too DAMN high!
What is it Eco??!!!!! Lemme here it now!!!!!
Cost to Make Penny and Nickel Rises for US Mint
For the fifth year in a row, it cost the United States Mint more than face value to produce and distribute the cent and nickel. For the fiscal year ending, September 30, 2010, the unit cost for the cent was 1.79 cents and the cost of the nickel was 9.22 cents.
For the one cent coin, this represents the highest unit cost on record. Each penny has a composition of 2.5% copper and 97.5% zinc. Although the metal value of each newly minted cent remains below face value, the process of manufacture and distribution push costs higher. For the fiscal year, production of the smallest denomination generated a loss of $27.4 million.
the unit cost for the cent was 1.79 cents and the cost of the nickel was 9.22 cents.
mabe they can make it up on volume
“We make change. It’s what we do”
Maybe they ought to have the Franklin Mint make their coins?
NJ Politician Proposes License Plates For Bicycles
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – If a proposed bill becomes law in New Jersey, bicyclists will have to pay to register bikes or face a fine.
The bill, introduced by Democratic New Jersey assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker of Essex, requires owners to register bikes with the Motor Vehicle Commission for $10 dollars a piece or face fines up to $100. A license plate would be issued and will have to be displayed when riding on public roads. Plates would be valid for two years.
John Boyle with the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is against the proposed bill.
he he
Like I said - democrats will tax everything to infinity before they touch ONE public union salary/benefit or pension.
It is for the children - don’t cha know.
Actually this one was for the old people.
“Tucker told the Star-Ledger of Newark that she proposed the bill because senior citizens called her to complain about children on bikes. The seniors told her they had been knocked down but had no way to register a complaint because they couldn’t identify the rider.
She withdrew the measure Thursday, saying she would instead look for other ways to protect older pedestrians.”
Soon to come……
“NJ proposes Shoe Registration……wearers of work boots required to have “Commercial Walker’s License”…….Sandals/Crocs/Athletic shoes considered “Recreational Vehicles”…….Wingtips to get “Handicapped” plates……”
I’m Buster Brown thats my dog tide he lives in a shoe, he has a license so should you! For those over 65.
I wonder if she intends they use the revenue for obesity counseling?
When I was a kid in LA I had to get a plate for my bike.
Yep, I remember that!
Always wondered why we don’t have to register our bikes now. I guess they did away with that law some time ago.
Wow, looks like none of the blogs knee jerk libs want to step in and defend Ms. Tucker’s scheme.
There is yet hope I think.
Lawmaker backs off plan to mandate bicycle registrations in New Jersey
The Associated Press
A New Jersey lawmaker has withdrawn a hastily introduced bill to require all bicycles in the state to display a license plate.
Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker was getting deep criticism for her proposed law that would have required riders or their parents to pay $10 per year to register their bikes with the Motor Vehicle Commission - or be subject to fines of $100. The plan was to require license plates for bicyclists that would have to be displayed while riding on any public road or land in New Jersey.
Tucker told the Star-Ledger of Newark that she proposed the bill because senior citizens called her to complain about children on bikes. The seniors told her they had been knocked down but had no way to register a complaint because they couldn’t identify the rider.
She withdrew the measure Thursday, saying she would instead look for other ways to protect older pedestrians.
Tax refunds on prepaid cards coming
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Thousands of Americans will get tax refunds on a prepaid card instead of a paper check as the government looks to cut costs and give people without bank accounts an easier way to get their money.
The Treasury Department launched the pilot program Thursday, saying it will mail letters next week to 600,000 taxpayers with annual income under $35,000.
The letters will give taxpayers the option of activating a MyAccountCard Visa Prepaid Debit Card, on which their 2010 federal tax refund would be direct deposited.
“This pilot program will provide low- and moderate-income Americans with a low-cost option for faster delivery of their federal tax refund,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Neal Wolin.
Once taxpayers open a prepaid debit card, they can reload it with their own money and use it just as they would a regular debit card, but without opening a traditional bank account.
And how many bank fees will that generate?
Better than paying 10% at a check cashing place.
“And how many bank fees will that generate?”
EXACTLY.
It’s all bullcrap. Many tempo agencies now pay with prepaid cards. Who is this convenient for, exactly? Sure as hell isn’t the employee.
In my state, Chase handles the UE debit cards. Nobody is saying what they’re getting paid.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110113/ap_on_re_af/af_tunisia_riots
Miracle of miracles, the MSM blackout on the Tunisia food riots is starting to be breached, now that protests have reached the capital and morphed into broader anger over unemployment and bad governance. Few in this administration seem to acknowledge or comprehend the forces that can be unleashed when soaring commodity prices, especially basic foodstuffs, push masses of poor people past the breaking point. While weather is partly to blame for crop shortfalls this year, Zimbabwe Ben’s $3.3 trillion dollar gift to Wall Street has encouraged an orgy of speculation (NOT lending for productive enterprizes) that is behind the rush into commodities and hard assets. This has the potential to create widespread instability and social unrest among already struggling populations.
Hey, as long as the speculators (who’ve been driving up all the asset prices) manage to escape on their yachts, it’s all good.
The bubbling muni-bond crisis just took a lurch for the worse. Insolvent Illinois is have trouble finding any “investor” stupid enough to buy its bonds, which means any day now Ben Bernanke will be announcing QE3.
From Dow Jones: A New Jersey agency shrank the size of a $1.2 billion refinancing offering by roughly 40% and hiked yields on the sale as it struggled to market the bonds to institutional investors Thursday.
A term sheet with preliminary pricing for the deal showed the agency–the New Jersey Economic Development Authority–sliced the size of an originally $1.2 billion sale to roughly $712 million Thursday.
Meanwhile, the yield on the longest maturity–a $78 million tranche maturing in 2024 with a 5.25% coupon–offered a 5.37% yield. That’s 39 basis points higher than the yield offered on a similar maturity on Tuesday, the first day the bonds were sold to individual investors.
The move comes as the EDA sale appeared to have mediocre demand from individual investors Tuesday and Wednesday.
Andy Pratt, spokesman for state Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff, said individuals ordered a total of less than $300 million of the bonds on those two days.
The bonds being refinanced are school construction bonds, backed by anticipated contract payments from the state, which are subject to legislative appropriation. Despite Gov. Chris Christie’s recent budget cutting, New Jersey still faces budget challenges, and its pension is still significantly underfunded, with a 62% funded ratio as of June 2009, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-13/new-jersey-slashes-bond-sale-51-after-christie-s-bankrupt-comments.html
Uh oh. New Jersey governor Christie made a “rookie mistake” by telling the truth about just how dire the state’s finances are - now they had to cancel their bond sale since they knew even the dumbest of the suckers would be scared off.
Morale of the story: lie like the TBTF banks, then get a crooked accounting firm to sign off on your cooked books, then have your Republicrat errand boys bail you out with taxpayer money when the fraud blows up in the bagholders’ faces.
Dex One to trim 65 workers in Colorado
The Denver Post
Dex One plans to cut as many as 65 workers in Colorado, or nearly 10 percent of its workforce in the state, as part of a second round of layoffs in the past month.
The yellow-pages publisher, which shed less than 15 percent of its workforce in December, is outsourcing its internal graphics work to the Pacific Rim.
The company has already decided to eliminate those operations in the East but cannot immediately implement cuts in the West because employees in the region, which includes Colorado, are represented by the Communications Workers of America Local 7777 union.
“We have made the decision to eliminate internal graphics functions in the East,” said Chris Hardman, a Dex spokesman.
In the Denver area, the CWA represents 157 Dex One members, 65 of whom are in the graphics department, said Local 7777 president Lisa Bolton.
“That’s a huge hit for our Dex workforce,” Bolton said. “This is going to hurt a lot of people and add to the economic hardship that we have in Denver right now.”
Dex is one of the many phone books that lands on my doorstep. And I’ve kept just the Dex version of this pile of paper. Don’t use it that often, but it’s good to have around in case I don’t have the computer on.
On the business side of my life, I dropped Qwest in favor of a VoIP phone three years ago. However, the Dex people don’t seem to have gotten the message. I’m still listed in their directory, even though I haven’t paid one red cent for the listing in, well, three years.
In short, I’m part of the problem.
In other news, sleepless removed the plastic bag from around his Dex copy, immediately threw both it and the book into the recycle pile, and logged into Google.
The iPhone hasn’t helped the land-line companies.
I did *not* get the crazy job. In a way it’s a relief. Now, if housing prices could just go down some more I wouldn’t have to worry about how much I make, dammit!
I felt the same way when I didn’t get a job at Long Term Capital back in the day. Something just didn’t feel right about that office…
So, I’m going to say congratulations. You have been stressing out about this decision for way too long. Give the kids extra stories tonight, just because.
“Give the kids extra stories tonight, just because.”
No doubt. The crazy job would have come at a price to my personal life. I suspect my interviewers sensed my indifference…
I did *not* get the crazy job. In a way it’s a relief.
That’s too bad. But Congrats! Polly’s right.
I don’t think you really wanted it but you tried and didn’t get it so you won’t beat yourself up in 10 years for “not taking the job”.
So it’s golden.
I wrote a comment that got swallowed, so this time around I will just echo Polly. Best wishes to you, Muggy.
Dang, Muggy. I had hoped you would at least have a choice. Maybe a blessing in disguise, though. Best wishes.
“Dang, Muggy. I had hoped you would at least have a choice.”
Lol… yeah, then we could have volleyed it here at the HBB. I love presenting dilemmas to this crowd. I was actually thinking the other day that Carl’s purchase of a doublewide was a great financial move.
This is a great place to bounce life-altering options around.
In Colorado maybe so, in Florida, not so much.
Yeah, it happens to work in this one situation but I can imagine a million where it wouldn’t. I just super happy I got settled into this situation before I got laid off. It would feel too weird and stressful to do it now.
Got all my severance pay today…holy cow do they withhold a lot of tax. All my taxes for the year (assuming I don’t get a job that pays way more than my last one) are now paid.
Best of luck with your job search, BTW.
Thanks. I got Linked In updated, but am still trying to decide whether I need to convert my resume to a newer format or stick with the traditional one. I need to hurry up and decide because people keep asking for it. Meanwhile at least I had plenty of time this week to get ready for Cub Scout Klondike day camp on Saturday :-).
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/geithner-warns-of-future-bailouts-2011-01-13
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned that the U.S. government may have to bail out major financial institutions again if there’s a crisis as big as the last one, according to a report released Thursday by a group overseeing the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
“We may have to do exceptional things again if we face a shock that large,” Geithner told the Office of the Special Inspector General for TARP in December.
In other words, the banks can be as reckless as they want with all the Fed’s QE 1, QE Lite, QE 2, and soon to be QE 14, since the US taxpayers will cover any and all losses.
Hey, Timmae, what’s say we try this:
-Instead of baling the dipchits out, let them go down the tubes.
-Announce that the government will form state/regional Federal owned “BANKS of the USA”, that will take up the slack, and which will be auctioned off to the highest bidder 2-3-4 years down the road. Make sure that the Wall street banksters can’t be hired for management positions (We’d let them be tellers).
-Or if that solution is too “socialist”, extend the same terms to about 400-500 local banks or credit unions that managed to avoid the gambling tables.
-If we’re lucky, everybody gets their credit cards balances written off/renegotiated, or free cars…….after all, how do we know they did any better job of transferring those loans, than they did on home mortgages?
Of course, opening the banks books might lead to all kinds of unpleasant surprises. Like maybe all their CDOs have nothing but air in them.
He’s already floating the idea, desensitizing the masses, because he knows how f***ed these big banks still are. B of A is insolvent. The biggest bank in the country is nothing but a behemoth zombie, propped up by the very taxpayers it has repeatedly raped.
The raped taxpayers have repeatedly voted for the Republicrats who held them down so the TBTF banks could bugger them. I have no sympathy.
“We may have to do exceptional things again if we face a shock that large,” Geithner told the Office of the Special Inspector General for TARP in December.
And he is going to get the votes for that where? Serioulsy. Power of the purse is in the House.
They’ll cave. Just like they will when the debt ceiling question comes up (in March, I believe).
They are already talking terms about the debt ceiling. The negotiations started weeks ago. Going to do it but some large budget cuts will be required. That is what inspired the lists of hypothetical cuts I was throwing out last week or the week before.
Nobody has talked about this one yet - it doesn’t fit in with the steady improvement in the economy messaging we had all this fall. It requires legislation - can’t be done without it. You need a majority in the House. They are essentially always running for re-election. And it will require 60 in the Senate to get past the fillibuster. It isn’t impossible, but it is not a done deal at all.
C’mon, you know those posturing, hypocritical empty suit Republican special interest bank whores will bow down to their masters.
As will those posturing, hypocritical, empty suit Democrats.
Finest Hearth files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy
PORTLAND — The company that ran the Finest Hearth and Home stores is liquidating its business.
Finest Hearth Inc. filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Monday.
The business recently closed its stores in Portland, Yarmouth and Topsham. Their offerings included woodstoves, fireplace inserts, patio furniture and grills.
The company’s gross sales plummeted from $5 million in 2009 to $3.2 million in 2010, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The company’s assets were estimated at $1.3 million and its liabilities at $2.2 million.
Why are so many furniture stores (you’ve posted about a lot in the last few months) going out of business now? Have they lost faith in the promise of the upcoming spring house trading season?
Silent Spring V*: Revenge of the Particle Board Furniture
*sequel number may vary on your locale/region
Deflation in things you want - new furniture
Inflation in food fuel, increased taxes, more fee’s etc. No money for furniture.
Unless you go for the particle board stuff which will self-destruct and require replacement, I think it’s a lot harder for most people to justify redecorating.
“Real” well made furniture is expensive and more of an investment than a t-shirt, so harder to rationalize.
Plus I think a lot of furniture purchases are made at the time of a move, and we know how many are moving up these days…
136 mental health workers may lose job.
A new round of budget cuts might prompt the state to lay off 136 workers at mental health institutions and reduce the number of troubled children and adults it can care for.
Iowa Department of Human Services Director Charlie Krogmeier said in an e-mail to staff Wednesday that one option is to eliminate 129 beds and lay off 136 staff members at three of the four state-run mental health facilities.
As it stands, psychiatric patients often face long delays or must travel for hours to find a mental health bed at a community hospital.
The other option is to shut down the substance abuse treatment program and lay off workers at the Mount Pleasant Mental Health Institute, close the adult psychiatric program at Clarinda, and move money from two facilities for people with mental retardation to other facilities, Krogmeier said.
“As it stands, psychiatric patients often face long delays or must travel for hours to find a mental health bed at a community hospital.”
Really sorry ’bout that Yossarian, but you are not a paying customer.
As always, plenty of money for the bankers (see Geithner’s threat, above), but none for the sick or the poor.
Glad to see it’s, “business as usual.”
Foreclosure prevention event in Wellington
by Kim Miller
Wellington residents facing foreclosure will be able to meet with representatives from major lenders on Jan. 29 at the Wellington Community Center, 12165 West Forest Hill Blvd.
The event, which is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., is free and open to the public.
Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, SunTrust, PNC, Ocwen and Housing Partnership, Inc., will be at the event to provide information and assistance regarding home loan modifications, home loan refinancing and government assistance programs. HUD-certified counselors will also be available to help residents who do not have their mortgage lender represented at the event or are having problems communicating with their lender.
Residents must bring two months of their most current pay stubs and two months of bank statements, recent mortgage statements, recent W-2 forms, a list of household expenses and a hardship letter.
To schedule an appointment with an attending mortgage lender or counselor, call Wellington’s Helping Residents With Needs line at 561-791-4796.
Tags: foreclosure
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6 Responses to “Foreclosure prevention event in Wellington”
1. mike Says:
January 13th, 2011 at 11:15 am
Dear JPM Chase…please reduce my mortgage..I was dumb(and greedy)..I paid 600k for a 2600 sq ft house to live in the crime pit of Olympia.I came from NY..thought housing would go up forever..at least that is what Lorri Friedman the realtor said..OH..and i needed that pool and hot tub and entertainment center and new car..so i took out 200k in home equity loans..even though i only make 75k a yr. NOW i spent(stole) that money..cant pay it back..get to keep all my stuff and dont want to pay my mortgage anymore as i now realize this house is worth crap.So let me off..just reduce my obligations..I am OK being a deadbeat..everyone else is doing it..This is South FL
Thanks,
Deadbeat homeowner who spends above his means to keep up with the Joneses..
2. ForeclosureHamlet.org Says:
January 13th, 2011 at 1:08 pm
Dear JPM Chase,
Thank you for accepting my payments for the past three months but for some reason you did not post them until after the grace period despite the fact I sent then to arrive by the due date, before the start of the grace period. Now that your system shows me as late for three months with incurring late fees, you have refused my check this month and have served me with foreclosure papers.
I find it frustrating, if not impossible, to find someone at your offices or call centers who can help me get this fixed.
Thanks,
ForeclosureHamlet.org
3. ForeclosureHamlet.org Says:
January 13th, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Dear Ally/GMAC,
Thank you for accepting my modification application and sending me a contract for a trial period modification. I have made 18 payments under this trial period, all on time, all for the full monthly amount due.
Today, I received a letter that my modification was canceled and that I owe $12,234.00 (difference between modified payments and original mortgage payment x 18 months + lots of fees) in 3 weeks or else foreclosure proceedings will begin.
Please help work this out with me.
ForeclosureHamlet.org
4. ForeclosureHamlet.org Says:
January 13th, 2011 at 1:15 pm
Dear Citimortgage,
Thank you for adding a $750/month forced place insurance policy on my monthly mortgage payment six months ago. I have been working with your customer service representatives trying to explain, and often faxed proof, that I have adequate insurance on the property and am paying the premium in full monthly in addition to my original mortgage payment amount.
Why did you return my check this month and serve me with foreclosure papers? I was just trying to get the second insurance policy you force-placed onto my account resolved because I don’t need it, don’t want it, never agreed to it, and won’t pay for it.
Thanks!
ForeclosureHamlet.org
5. ForeclosureHamlet.org Says:
January 13th, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Dear US Bank,
Why did you serve me with foreclosure papers last month? I have a mortgage with Chase and am in their hardship program due to my child’s serious medical issues and the impact on our family’s finances.
US Bank, who are you in regards to the mortgage I have with Chase?
Thanks,
ForeclosureHamlet.org
6. mike Says:
January 13th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Dear JPM Chase,
Dont worry i have a list of excuses to use just in case i dont want to pay my mortgage anymore.I realize we all have to plan for the worst(except me!) in case of illness,financial difficulty or plain old stupdity(ME)..but dont u worry….we all know if my house was still going up in value..i would not be whining like a baby..blaming everyone else but myself. I understand how “mean” you are by not modifying that 200k home equity loan that i spent on adding a pool,jewelry for the wife, and a new car(thanks for the BMW)..but as u know..i want u to modify my mortgage(eliminate my debt!) but the great part is i still get to KEEP all my stuff.
So Dont WORRY…cause i have more excuses to come..wont be paying anytime soon while driving my BMW to CityPlace for sushi..OH tell my neighbor who pays his bills..”good luck Sucker!”
Thanks,
A HAPPY DEADBEAT
What a cluster-fluck this whole redo scheme has turned out to be! No end in site, as far as I can tell.
I wonder how many “Stanley Johnson’s” they had as members?
The Dominion Club files for bankruptcy protection
The Dominion Club blamed the economy and the overall erosion of the golf club industry for its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
The Dominion Club, a private country club in the heart of the Wyndham residential community in western Henrico County, Va. has filed for bankruptcy reorganization.
The club, which has 787 members, blamed the economy and the overall erosion of the golf club industry for its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.
An increasing number of members were resigning because of the economy, but the club wasn’t adding new members to keep pace with the ones it was losing, the club said in a statement issued Tuesday night. It was an unsustainable refund process.
“The club simply has not been able to generate adequate resources through the sale of new memberships or additional borrowings to continue to refund membership fees totaling $11.7 million owed to both current and former members and other debt of $10.7 million,” the statement said.
The only way to deal with the situation was to file for bankruptcy, said Vernon Inge Jr. with the LeClairRyan law firm, who is representing The Dominion Club.
“The club simply has not been able to generate adequate resources through the sale of new memberships or additional borrowings to continue to refund membership fees totaling $11.7 million”
Does this mean Stanley Johnson will not be refunded his membership dues he payed with part of his cash out refi from Lending Tree? Somebody help him!
A local CC in South Bend, IN that had been around since the 1920s came within a hair of being foreclosed upon last year and survived only after some local gentry pumped in enough emergency funds to keep the doors open.
Country clubs seem to be having a tough time in all but the toniest of locales. For one thing, the average age of a member (at least around here) is probably pushing 70 if not higher. They claim to want younger members and families with kids, but the attitude once they get you in seems to be one of ‘wait your turn’ or ‘we’re the grownups here, so we get to make the rules.’ And of course, there is the scam in which they act like they’re doing you a big favor by waiving the initiation fee only to stick you with a share of the bill when the clubhouse roof needs to be replaced six months later.
Maybe Rodney Dangerfield was right when he said in “Caddyshack”: “Golf courses and cemeteries are the biggest wastes of prime real estate.”
If you own a radio, don’t miss this (on today’s Marketplace radio show):
Thursday, January 13, 2011
PREVIEW: Lot 354
…
STEVE CHIOTAKIS: The number of homes seized by banks topped 1 million last year, according to real estate data firm RealtyTrac. More foreclosures means less stability in the housing market.
Marketplace worked with Los Angeles public TV station KCET and its show, SoCal Connected, to tell the story of a single home. And that home’s place in the American economy.
Marketplace Host Kai Ryssdal gives us a sneak peek inside “Lot 354.”
KAI RYSSDAL: If you’ve been listening to this program over the past couple of years, you’re familiar with our coverage of the housing market. The extreme highs, and the lows. Terms that’ve probably become part of your regular vocabulary like subprime loans, adjustable rate mortgages, short sales, loan modifications. But now I want you to forget all that and remember what used to drive residential real estate in this country.
A house. A tangible bit of real property that’s yours.
Eric and Alison Feinberg moved in just before Thanksgiving last year. It is their first home.
RYSSDAL: So when you first came in here it didn’t look like this. Describe it for me.
ALICE FEINBERG: No, the was all bricks.
RYSSDAL: The fireplace.
ALICE: Yes, it wasn’t very pretty and –
ERIC: There was a big hulking mass of bricks there.
RYSSDAL: Literally when you walk through the door.
ERIC: Yeah, so one guy had a suggestion. Maybe we just mortar it over and it’ll kind of mute itself into the wall.
It’s a 1927 Spanish bungalow, about 1,800 square feet, three bedrooms, three baths.
Eric and Alison saved their money biding their time until four years after they got married they found this house. It’s tract number 7603 in the county map books: Lot 354 — on Point View Street in Los Angeles.
The Feinbergs are the third couple to own Lot 354 in the past eight years. They’re the last link in a chain of transactions that help tell the story of the rise and fall of the American housing market. There were the former owners — the ones with perfect timing, who saw the house triple in value during the four years they owned it.
SHAWNA PHELAN: It was, it’s probably ridiculous at the price that we did sell it for in hindsight. But, at the time, you know, it was like, hey we did all this work, and you know we loved the house. I mean, we weren’t, you know doing the work, to flip it at the time we did it.
There were the real-estate agents who were swamped with eager buyers. Buyers who knew they could get an easy loan with almost no proof of income
EITAN: You just put a number on the application. It could be your brother or your mother and they call and say hey do you work there? And that was that.
And there were the banks, swimming with money, pushing loans out to get more people into more houses.
CHIOTAKIS: To hear the full story of “Lot 354,” check out Marketplace later today.
SHAWNA’S words prove it took brains and financial savvy to make money in the housing market back then…
“But, at the time, you know, it was like, hey we did all this work”
the ones with perfect timing, who saw the house triple in value during the four years they owned it.
heheheeheee…in a nutshell.
The single transaction deposit,…see ya! (honey, don’t look back, it’s just former stucco!)
I was a bit disappointed with Kai Ryssdal and company early on in the post-bubble collapse period, because they seemed to be a bit clueless on what was going down, but this story has reversed my prior opinion completely. Kudos on serving up a Schadenfreude banquet!
SPECIAL REPORT: Anatomy of the Housing Crisis
Follow the rise and fall of the U.S. housing market through the story of one Spanish bungalow in Los Angeles that fell into foreclosure. Explore our interactive graphic and watch the full-length documentary produced in cooperation with public television’s SoCal Connected.
Man, I thought 2008 was bleak… I’m sensing the wheels are about to come off this mother.
So do I.
Return your seat to it`s upright position, put your head between your knees and prepare for a “soft landing”.
I’ve been on one of those “heads between the knees” landings. Was a flight into Cincy, and trust me, there was a whole lotta prayin’ on that flight.
After we landed safely, a huge round of applause and cheers filled the cabin. Everyone, and I do mean everyone, thanked the pilot on the way out. He said “Thank you,” but did not change his poker faced expression.
In my job interview/search, I got caught up with a lot of former colleagues, and many are very open about the value of their homes, and how lucky I am because I am not stuck. Some of them even seemed to be looking for me to say, “walk away, it’s o.k.”
And some people that I respect because they were steady, confident, and well-spoken, seem hollow and shaky now. The anticipation is building for the next shoe.
You can bet our friends at the Fed are trying their hardest to figure out how to prevent the next shoe from dropping. The big question is whether they have any possible means of doing so. Their situation is made all the more dire by the news that the shoe is already slowly but steadily dropping (e.g. Zillow just reported the 53rd straight drop in their U.S. housing price index as of last November, at an accelerating rate, no less!).
“Man, I thought 2008 was bleak… I’m sensing the wheels are about to come off this mother.”
So do I. The BLS Civilian Employment-Population Ratio is at the lowest level since the depths of the early 1980’s recession and had been bouncing along near the current level since late 2009. But on top of those job losses, there’s been erosion for wages and hours of those still working.
But with upcoming cuts in local/state/fed government spending and the effects of the stimulus spending beginning to run out, more contraction appears not too far ahead. Not only will things likely not be getting better for those that have been most severely impacted the past few years, they could be getting worse for many more.
Totally agree with all of you. IMHO, 2011 will see the resumption of the downturn that should have been allowed to continue until it reached a *real* bottom. Now, we’ve spent trillions of dollars on give-aways and govt guarantees. The private market has shed its risks, and we, the taxpayers, are now on the hook.
Just wait and see how the losses will stack up from all the GSE and FHA loans (refis and new purchases) made over the past couple of years.
I believe anything that offends anyone in anyway at anytime should be banned forever! Problem solved!
Dire Straits’ ‘Money for Nothing’ Deemed Offensive In Canada, Can’t Air.
Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing” can no longer be played in Canada in its original form since the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council has deemed the song offensive.
Watch the “Money for Nothing” music video
The decision stems from a listener’s complaint last year calling the lyrics — which contain the word “f—-t” — extremely offensive to gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gender people.
The song, which has been a classic rock staple for 25 years, earned the band a Grammy for best rock performance. The then state-of-the-art computer-animation video was also the first music video to air on MTV Europe.
I thought that’s what the British called cigarettes?
Indeed it is!
It’s also what the Italians call a bassoon. Originally the word meant a “bundle of sticks”, which is how a bassoon is made - from staves of wood bound together like a barrel.
You will see the word in orchestral scores, which are annotated in Italian.
There they stood, stooping in a circle around the little dancing and blowing flames. A red light was on their tired and anxious faces; behind them the night was like a black wall.
But the wood was burning fast, and the snow still fell.
The fire burned low, and the last faggot was thrown on.
- JRR Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, book two, III The Ring Goes South.
So is Canada going to ban Tolkien next?
if you’re in a situation like that there’s only one thing you can do, and that’s walk into the shrink wherever you are ,just walk in say “Shrink, You can get anything you want, at Alice’s restaurant.”. And walk out. You know, if one person, just one person does it they may think he’s really sick and they won’t take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, they may think they’re both faggots and they won’t take either of them.
- Arlo Guthrie, Woody Guthrie’s son, Alice’s Restaurant.
I guess Arlo won’t be going to Canada any time soon either.
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s embattled coalition government failed to announce major policy decisions on Thursday to tackle soaring food prices after days of wrangling, taking only minor measures seen as unlikely to make a major impact.
The government announced a review of the import and export of essential commodities, dashing expectations it could ban the export of wheat products or futures trading in some commodities to tame food prices that rose 16.91 percent in 2010.
It was the latest case of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government avoiding unpopular but potentially necessary steps.
Governments around the world have been taking measures to tackle soaring grain prices and head off social unrest, with north African countries Libya, Algeria and Morocco cutting taxes on foods or regulating prices and stepping up supplies.
India has the highest food inflation of any major Asian economy, but other emerging markets such as China and Brazil are also battling double-digit food price rises.
Governments around the world have been taking measures to tackle soaring grain prices and head off social unrest, with north African countries Libya, Algeria and Morocco cutting taxes on foods
Dear Gawd - have they lost their minds?
That is not the enlightened path…
The Bernake sez…
Bernanke Sees US Growing 3% to 4% in 2011- Reuters
The U.S. economy should grow around 3 percent to 4 percent this year, a healthier clip than 2010, but not enough to bring down unemployment as much as policymakers would like, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Thursday.
“but not enough to …” cut my buddies off?
Looks like some of these windmill manufactures are running out of breeze unless mo gubmint money is pumped their way…
LM Wind Power to lay off 150 workers at GF facility
Company: Reduction in wind turbine installations, government uncertainty behind the decision
Randy Fox, vice president of LM Wind Power in North America, said in a written statement that the company remains “strongly committed” to its North American operations, including the Grand Forks plant.
LM Wind Power will lay off about 150 workers at its Grand Forks manufacturing facility, the company announced Wednesday.
According to a news release, the company is responding to the “dramatic reduction” in wind turbine installations in the U.S. in 2010 and “prolonged uncertainty” around government support for the renewable energy sector.
Interesting … our local windmill maker, Vestas, is crowing about getting lots of orders.
And ours, also Vestas, is about to renovate and move to new digs after they purchased the building using “blighted neighborhood” status to get an interest free loan from the city of Portland, even though the building rests among the most expensive RE in Portland.
Seniors may have to pay for Medicare home health
January 13, 2011 | Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Congressional advisers are calling for a new out-of-pocket charge for Medicare home health care, a service that until now has been free of charge to patients.
The recommendation Thursday from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission comes as lawmakers look for health care spending cuts to help get control of federal deficits. The advisory panel did not prescribe an amount, but its staff has suggested the charge be $150 for a series of related visits.
More than 3 million seniors got home health care last year, including visits from nurses, therapists and personal care attendants.
The service was once seen as a cost saver, since it’s much cheaper than putting patients in the hospital, but costs are approaching $20 billion a year and rising.
The AARP seniors lobby opposes the plan.
Tort reform to cut malpractice insurance.
Collective bargaining for drug prices.
Non-profit funds to replace the for profit health insurance companies.
We need to cut costs, not figure someone else to pay those costs.
Hong Kong ranked world’s freest economy: report
HONG KONG (AFP) - – Hong Kong remained the world’s freest place to do business for the 17th year in a row in an annual US league table published Wednesday.
The United States lost ground and mainland China came 135th in the table compiled by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington-based think tank, and The Wall Street Journal.
Hong Kong, a former British colony which was returned to China in 1997, edged out regional rival Singapore to claim top spot in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom.
After Hong Kong and Singapore, Australia and New Zealand took third and fourth spots respectively.
Switzerland, Canada, Ireland, Denmark, the United States and Bahrain rounded out the top ten, which is based on criteria including economic openness, trade, the efficiency of domestic regulators, and the rule of law.
Mainland China was ranked 135 in the list of 179 economies, with Cuba, Zimbabwe and North Korea rounding out the bottom of the list.
“While the global average score for the 2011 Index has improved since last year, progress has not been uniform across the regions”, the report said.
“Sub-Saharan Africa achieved the largest score improvement”, it said, adding that “economic freedom held steady in Europe and actually declined in North America.”
Postal rates going up, but not for basic letters.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Postal rates will go up in April, but the cost of sending the basic letter will remain the same.
The Postal Service said Thursday that most rates will go up on April 17 under a formula that allows the agency to increase prices within the rate of inflation.
The post office said the 44-cent price of a first-class stamp will remain unchanged, but heavier letters will cost more. The basic rate is for the first ounce, and the price for each extra ounce will rise from 17 cents to 20 cents.
“While changing prices is always a difficult decision, we have made every effort to keep the impact minimal for consumers and customers doing business with us at retail lobbies,” Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe said in a statement.
S.F. milks drivers with pricey parking tickets
San Francisco Chronicle
Drivers in San Francisco have long seen themselves as the city’s cash cow.
Now they have validation of that. This week a Municipal Transportation Agency official frankly said that parking revenues are down, which means more tickets will need to be issued to help balance the agency’s budget.
In a city that likes to push transit over driving, this clearly isn’t the news drivers want. Usually just a $65 ticket on their car ($55 outside downtown ) gets them sputtering. They think they are being singled out because they own a car, drive in the city, and reliably pay their bills. And they are tired of being treated as the city’s cash cow.
So it was probably not the best public relations move Tuesday for Joy Houlihan, deputy director of enforcement for the Municipal Transportation Agency, to say publicly that revenues are down, so parking officers should issue more citations and bring in more money.
From the “truth is stranger than fiction” department, we have banks walking away from their foreclosed houses.
Permit me to coin a new slogan:
Walking Away: It’s Not Just for Homeowners Anymore
Wow.
Time for a new Homestead Act, to move would-be responsible end-users into those vacant homes that nobody seems to want, even the banks which own them?
Now THAT is change I can believe in!
The giveaways could even work for banks trying to hide housing-related losses from appearing on their balance sheets, as there would be no need to report a sunken sale price for homes that were given away for free. Hence the comps would not be screwed up…
Time for a new Homestead Act
Plagiarism Mr. Bear, …not that I mind in the least.
Back in the late 70’s I knew guy who got a (formerly abandoned) house for $1 from an “urban homesteading” program…
He had to invest in fixing it up and live in it a number of years (7 or more I think) before he got full ownership. (You had to be an owner occupier and couldn’t resell until you’d completed the years of occupation.)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/china-business/8258348/Europe-fears-motives-of-Chinese-super-creditor.html
And here I thought China was being altruistic buying all that Euro-trash debt.
The question is whether the Communist regime is hoping to extract strategic concessions in exchange.
They’re not that clever, nor able to exhibit patience.
Another sign of the decline of the United States as a global economic power:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jan/13/san-diego-to-lose-yet-another-cruise-ship/
“In a major blow to San Diego’s cruise ship business, Carnival Cruise Lines has announced that it will be pulling the last of its ships out of the area after April 2012 and relocating the 2,500-passenger vessel to Australia.”
“At its peak, in 2008, the Port of San Diego saw 255 ships dock at the Embarcadero, but that number is expected to fall to 103 this year. By 2013, the number of cruise ship calls could be as few as 76.”
“Our decision to deploy the Carnival Spirit to Australia was based on the weaker relative financial performance for our San Diego program at present,” said Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen. “Only about 1.5 percent of Australians have ever taken a cruise, meaning that there is huge potential for growth.”
Rebound in housing prices right around the corner?, maybe not so much.
The problem with SoCal cruises is the limited port options. You can do a 3 day to Catalina, San Diago, Ensanada. You can do a 7 day to Cabo, Mazatalan, and Puerta Vallarta. And that is about it. Doesn’t matter which crusie line, the trips are all those ports. Once you’ve done those ports a couple times, it becomes more than worth the cost of air to Florida to get to go somewhere else.
True enough, and increasing crime from the ongoing drug war probably doesn’t help either.
Second 500+ post day in a row. Natives must be getting restless.
Folks are impatient for the start of the red hot spring sales season!
I keep hearing experts quoted as saying residential real estate is at the bottom, but the data suggest otherwise; for instance, Zillow just reported its 53rd straight month of declines in its housing price index, as of last November.
Which would you trust in this case: ‘Expert’ opinion, or empirical evidence to the contrary?
I’ll check with our realtor and let you know what he says.