Bits Bucket for February 5, 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.
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5 bucks for cheese-it’s….7.50 for bacon…food inflation up 3% last MONTH!
Monetary inflating by the Fed (with the blessing of Congress) usually results in future price increases. “Price inflation” is a common term for it. Below is a six-month average of price increases.
• Cotton = +125.7%
• Sugar = +82.6%
• Corn = +59.0%
• Coffee = +41.4%
• Rice = +40.5%
• Oats = +36.6%
• Copper = +36.1%
• Lumber = +33.8%
• Oil = +25.1% .
While no episode of inflation can be everlasting, the attempt to flood the economy with purchasing power will continue as long as people will put up with it. The overhang of un-payable private and public debt remains a deflationary counter-balance, but if the Federal Reserve continues with “quantitative easing” (inflating) we’re more apt to see prices scoot upward than crash.
I do not believe this is your ordinary “inflation”. The Fed is not flooding the street economy with purchasing power. Consumers have less money to compete for the staples of life, not more. Witness North Africa and my own town in NY. The Fed is pinpoint streaming dollars to “investment houses”. Rather than use the free money to clear stink off balance sheets, they are gambling it in the commodities casino. “Buy commodities” seems to be the universal investment advice of the day. So cotton and oil and corn skyrocket while we tighten our belts.
There is an intersection ahead on this road where collapsed demand for consumption meets speculative greed.
“I do not believe this is your ordinary “inflation”. The Fed is not flooding the street economy with purchasing power. Consumers have less money to compete for the staples of life, not more.”
Stagflation. Haven’t seen ‘ya since the seventies, but I clearly remember your presence.
I know Obama is trying to channel Reagen, but I think he is accidentally channeling Jerry Ford.
I do not believe this is your ordinary “inflation”. The Fed is not flooding the street economy with purchasing power. Consumers have less money to compete for the staples of life, not more…..
You have just provided the perfect definition of “inflation”.
Inflation is a monetary phenomena which is basically an increase in the supply of money. That money goes first to the BANKS who use it, since they are also in the businesses of trading on their own account, to BUY commodities, stocks, bonds and other assets from which to profit. They are the first buyers with the “new money”.
This creates price increases in commodities, stocks, bonds, real estate, or whatever “asset” the BANKS are buying. (you haven’t forgotten the real estate boom, when all the money was going into real estate, have you?)
Bernanke has made Bonds a bad investment. Real Estate is overbought and overpriced.
What does this leave? STOCKS and COMMODITIES. Period.
This is what the game of the FEDERAL RESERVE System is about.
They create “inflation”, the current targeted rate is 2%, which translates into higher prices for specific assets. (the current goal is to raise stock prices to refund the lost 401ks and pensions). That funnels its way into the consumer prices and we have a loss of purchasing power of the average guy. All the data they pass to us is a lie.
We have steady high inflation in commodities. This is also why the 3rd world is experiencing uprisings. It’s not so much about the government in power, its that the price of basic food stuffs has increased alarmingly for people who spend half their income on food. Riots are inevitable.
However, the new guys to take over won’t be able to solve the problems, unless, of course, we provide lots of “aid” to supplement their costs of food and energy…..More inflation, because we don’t have any savings to provide any aid. The FED will simply print more money, thereby increasing the supply.
The FED must be Abolished and we need to round up a few of the players and try them for treason….. End the Fed.
It’s a start.
I am very much looking forward to RP’s sub-committee meeting this Monday.
The Fed is mainlining more than $100 billion a month via POMO to the Primary Dealers, a.k.a. the too big to fail banks. Bernanke is making no pretense whatsoever of doing anything other than the Fed’s newly announced “third mandate”: pumping up stock prices - in other words, giving Wall Street nearly free (.25% interest rate) gambling money that they can then use to speculate in the markets, with any losses to be borne by taxpayers - who signalled, with their votes for pro-bailout Obama and McCain that they are exactly the saps that Wall Street needs to perpetuate its looting and fraud with impunity and guarenteed obscene profits. The total brazenness of the Fed’s undisguised complicity with Wall Street came after Ron Paul, fighting virtually alone against the Fed, got the support of only 5% of the electorate. The sheeple in effect gave the Fed and Wall Street banks a green light to ream not just them, but their children and future generations.
Thank you, Obama voters. Thank you, McCain voters. This is what you voted for. The country will pay a terrible price for your failure to stand up for the disappearing middle class.
Ron Paul’s biggest problem is his supporters. Alot of them are nuts. Hopefully they’ll take a different approach in ‘12.
“Thank you, Obama voters. Thank you, McCain voters. This is what you voted for. The country will pay a terrible price for your failure to stand up for the disappearing middle class.”
+one. A terrible price.
Ron Paul’s supporters are not nuts. They are portrayed that way in the media to break up any support. You can find kooks in any group. They could find a lot of kooks in the Democrat camp, the Republican camp, and anywhere else. Whenever one of their guys says ridiculous things, it just gets glossed over in a short flash, and then passed along as “old news”, nothing to write about.
The mainstream media outlets who support the current group in the Whitehouse will work tirelessly to discredit Ron Paul, the Tea Party candidates, Constitutionalists, Libertarians, and anyone else that would propose pushing the entrenched FED supported players out of their tax-payer funding grifting ways.
Remind me again who creates and passes the laws in our government?
The Congress critters from whom we drafted the two above mentioned candidates for titular head?
Ru Paul isn’t going to do $hit. Nor will Ru Paul Jr.
I’ve been to the Ron Paul for Pres campaign meetings. They is nuts.
Rand Paul’s supporters here in Kentucky had a pretty high nut quotient. Lot of overlap with TeaKoch party wackos. Militia guys ‘patrolling the perimeter’ in military fashion at their rallies.
Hmm.. 3% in a month. No inflation here; move along!
I think I’m going to go buy a chest cooler and fill it with bacon. If we continue at 3% a month, that’s a 40+% annualized gain. And, worse case; I’ll just eat it.
Got a bunch of bacon last week for $1.25 a 16oz rasher. At the scratch and dent grocery store.
I only paid $2.50 for a pound for Farmer Johns a week ago and
$2.80 for a pound of no-name cheddar cheese . Where do you live elvis that it’s $7.50 a pound for bacon?
North Texas bacon is $6.50 to $7.50.
Just got back from Safeway. Name brand bacon (Oscar Meyer, Hormel) was $7/lb.
The cheapest thing they had was a brand call “Smithfield” which as 6.99, but was on sale (BOGO), so it was $3.50 /lb (but yo had to buy 2 lbs.)
My wife purchased a brisket for the smoker at one of our local stores. It was angus beef but still a brisket cut. $6.99 a pound. Brisket used to be damn near to a throw away cut years ago.
Isn’t this deflation great.
Safeway is unionized. Perhaps that’s why bacon is so expensive there.
I bought bacon at safeway. $7 for a 3 lb value pack.
Food and energy inflation don’t count; just ask the Fed!
The new QE diet could be a good thing for the millions of obese Amerikans.
are Slim jims and Doritos jumping in price????
The new QE diet could be a good thing for the millions of obese Amerikans.
Unfortunately, the food industry makes it easier and cheaper for the average person to consume empty calories and processed food rather than say, rice & beans. Some of that falls on consumers as well, of course, as they are often unable or unwilling to do more than use the microwave in their granite & stainless show kitchens — following the path of least resistance/high caloric intake neatly laid out by the food industry.
Canned beans and packaged (precooked) rice are nutritious and affordable, but not marketed the way potato chips and other junk food are. It is possible to eat a well-rounded diet for cheap in America, but it takes knowledge, effort and a willingness to ignore advertisements which sex up junk food (easier if you don’t watch tee-vee, of course ;-)).
White rice is not all that nutritious, and both rice and beans have high glycemic loads, depending on type, which is not good for the millions of diabetic and pre-diabetic poor.
Thank god for chicken thighs- cheap, tasty, no carbs, pure protein. Now Russia has banned our chicken, and they were buying up all our thighs (since Amurcans like their chicken white and boneless), so prices should go down even more.
Chicken livers are good too, and full of vitamins. And they’re dirt cheap.
Turkey’s awfully cheap too. I spent about 25$ on Thanksgiving dinner, and got at least a dozen meals out of it.
Yikes. Where do you live? Those prices are high.
One thing is for certain: As inflation continually heats up over the next few years, you can be sure nobody at the Fed will have seen it coming.
* The Wall Street Journal
* WEEKEND INVESTOR
* FEBRUARY 5, 2011
How to Profit From Inflation
The Scourge of Rising Prices Hasn’t Hit Home Yet, but the Underlying Signs Point to Trouble Ahead. Here’s What You Should Do Now
By BEN LEVISOHN and JANE J. KIM
Inflation,long a sleeping giant, is finally awakening. And that could present problems—along with opportunities—for investors.
A quick glance at the overall inflation numbers might suggest there is little reason to worry. The most recent U.S. Consumer Price Index was up just 1.5% over the past year. Not only was that lower than the historical average of about 3%, but it was uncomfortably low for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who prefers to see inflation at about 2%.
Yet it is a much different situation overseas, particularly in the developing world. In South Korea, the CPI rose at a 4.1% clip in January from a year earlier, higher than the 3.8% estimate. In Brazil, analysts expect prices to rise 5.6% this year, exceeding the central-bank target of 4.5%. China, meanwhile, has been boosting interest rates and raising bank capital requirements to keep inflation, which rose to 4.6% in December, in check.
“Emerging market economies are overheating,” says Julia Coronado, chief economist for North America at BNP Paribas in New York. “They need to slow growth or inflation will become destabilizing.”
Even some developed economies are seeing rising prices. Inflation in the U.K. surged to 3.7% in December, while the euro zone’s rate climbed to 2.4% in January, the fastest rise since 2008.
…
And, when they see the inflatuin coming, the government ‘workers’ in their basement cubicles will bitch, and they will get a COLA. Bend over Hbbrs and get the lube ready. No COLA for you !
I… oh hell I’m gonna say it any way:
Told you so.
200 Cummins workers to be laid off April 8
North Iowa Media Group
LAKE MILLS - Some 200 full-time Cummins Filtration employees will be laid off Friday, April 8, the company said.
Cummins is moving most of its filter assembly operations to San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
“This was anticipated, so most were relieved to know what the last day was, to make plans,” Human Relations Director Beth Nyguard said Friday. “However, it’s still a very difficult situation.”
Hard for Corporate America to resist being able to pay only $1/hr. Another nail in the coffin of middle class America.
Not even $1/hr. One of my classmates is a foreign student from Mexico. He says that the minimum wage is a scale of money that is sometimes paid by the day, not always by the hour. For example, he worked as a cook in Mexico. His pay was $5 (USD) for working a shift from 8 AM to 8 PM. This shift included one free meal, although there was no official “meal break,” or any other type of break. He did mention that tips are very helpful, so I am assuming that the tips where pooled and shared by all of the restaurant staff.
THe work week in Mexico is a 6 day, 48 hour work week. Shifts are 8 hours. Minimum wage is defined by 8 hour day, and not by the hour, but OT is paid for working over 8 hours a day (and over 48 hours a week). Also, you get paid for the seventh day of the week if you put in your 48 hours, so you get paid 7 days for 6 days work.
Minimum wage is about $4-6/day (it varies by where you work in Mexico, its higher in Mexico City.), but like here in the US, most people earn more than the minimum wage, which is why I tossed out the $1/hr number.
But they will all be hired as sign twilers, so it’ll be a wash on the next fudged jobs report.
Well, Cummins should be commended for doing the Job our Department of “Homeland Security” won’t do.
Since they won’t keep Mexicans from coming here by droves to take away our jobs, I guess the solution is to pack up our factories and send them across the border. This should slow down the illegal aliens and make it easier for Janet Napolitano and everyone else to not worry much about Border issues.
I’m guessing that 99% of the Cummins workers voted for the Repubicrats who are in the pockets of the corporate cartels who are off-shoring American jobs that pay living wages.
Repub voted against ending tax breaks for offshoring jobs last Sept.
A proposal initiated by the Dems.
I’m no fan of Dems, but this is the only real distinction that matters anyway.
Mexico.
So let me get his straight: the illegals come here and take our low paying jobs while we SEND our high paying back to their home country.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Nothing new. Its ways things have been going. This is a global trend not just here. Business conditions are changing rapidly and the innovation curve has increased and the only way for companies to remain in business is to cut costs, they have to find that dollar somewhere. While no one likes to layoff people, perhaps they found themselves unable to push costs to the consumer and had to rejig the workers cost to stay in business. It sucks.
Only way out, pull all global operations, like sales and services and focus local and kick everyone who is not local back. Its the only way out. Its mathematics.
Danger is its a terrible idea, if our companies are selling more overseas than within the US. In that case to make up the lost markets they will still fire workers.
Layoffs are whats for dinner if 2 computers do the work of 20 people.
And WHY can’t they pass costs on to the consumer…?
(trick question)
Because they fired their customer.
They needed to make the shareholders happy, their bonus + 401(k) depends on it. The irony is that if people are fired there is less aggregate money in the stock market going towards those 401(k)’s and the share price of the companies deflate, so now the company needs to produce more profit to justify a higher stock price to please the shareholders, so they fire more and the cycle continues. This is probably why some companies sit on billions of dollars in cash but fire anyway. Its a circle jerk.
Companies ready to spend big again at Super Bowl
Party on: Companies spend big on sky-boxes, steaks at Super Bowl after recession (AP)
This Super Bowl is shaping up to be a blowout — for corporate America.
Spending on hotel rooms, dining and entertainment during Super Bowl week is expected to top $200 million, beating the record from 2007 — before the recession made it taboo to throw lavish parties and treat clients to sky-boxes. Much of the tab will be put on corporate cards.
Companies have started throwing money around again now that their finances are improving, fears of a double-dip have subsided, and memories of bailouts and mass layoffs are fading. Last quarter, large businesses spent 10 percent more on entertainment — think rounds of golf, New York Yankees games and the opera — than a year earlier, according to American Express. They also spent more for airfare, food, drinks and hotels.
The return of the expense account is welcome news for the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Taxpayers in nearby Arlington, Texas, helped subsidize the construction of the $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium, which was completed in 2009.
“After a big drop-off the past couple of years, companies appear less hesitant to invite their customers to Dallas,” says PricewaterhouseCoopers sports and tourism analyst Robert Canton. “You see that in the luxury suites, which completely sold out.”
One 15-person partial suite went for $73,000, according to StubHub spokeswoman Joellen Ferrer. Individual tickets to Sunday’s game between Green Bay and Pittsburgh are fetching an average of $3,600 on the secondary market, compared with $2,500 for the last three Super Bowls. A surprising 13 percent of ticket buyers have been located in California and New York; that signals a healthy amount of corporate purchasing, Ferrer said.
If you really want to mess with NFL fans minds, tell them that you don’t watch NFL because it’s boring.
College games are much more fun. The playbook isn’t “corporate”. They may actually “go for it” on 4th down.
I think I watch 35 minutes of pro or college football at a time. Usually when I’m at a bar. I don’t know most of the players’ names. I find my internet addiction trumps spectator sports for stealing my time.
I am at home in Phoenix for a brief weekend. I think I might go to my Tampa wine bar haunt tomorrow night whether or not I catch some of the game. I will get to my Tampa hotel Sunday night after eating and drinkin’ and use the game as background noise, but take a closer look when the commercials are on.
you don’t watch NFL because it’s boring ??
I am not some football nut but I do enjoy watching good football match-ups “On T/V”….
Boring ?? I would actually call it painful if you actually go to a game…Between the cost, the hassle, time outs, commercial breaks, half time and then trying to leave, I would prefer going to the dentist….
If find American Football boring. They stand around for 30-60 seconds until the play starts, which only lasts a few seconds. Most plays are short runs or incomplete passes. And since the NFL levels the playing field so much most of the teams are indistinguishable from each other. And it doesn’t help that many of the players would be inarticulate gang bangers if not for their “talent”.
I’m with you Colorado. I don’t even know who’s playing in the “big game” tomorrow. I think it’s a big reflection on the country we live in that masses of people are constantly obsessed with childhood games. You would think that when a person grew into adulthood, they would focus on more important matters, but, just look around, grown adults dressed in costumes to act like idiots, hootin’ and hollerin’ for the ‘big play’……………….with lots of bad food and beer to make the most of it. Really.
I guess the good part of it, is that it gives people something to talk about, rather than what’s going on with larger issues. For some folks, this is like the biggest day of the year. It’s a complete obsession.
I have no problem with sports as entertainment, I just find American Football to be boring.
We do focus on important matters. Sports are a nice diversion. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
Well, instead of the Green Bay city/state attacking the Pittsburgh city/state like in the old, old, old, OLD days, we have sports. It lets “our favorite” compete with the “other” without massive loss of life and land.
Damn near all sports is boring as hell.
The snow and ice (it is supposed to rain/snow with temps in the 30’s tomorrow in Arlington) has put a *huge* damper on the spending.
Prince didn’t even show up at his own Super Bowl party last night. Tickets were $1,500.
The ESPN guys had to flee inside because of the cold and abandoned their own outdoor pavilion in downtown Fort Worth. In fact, most of the businesses in downtown Fort Worth were closed most of the week.
Word is that even some of the 100,000 prostitutes estimated by the Dallas Police Department expected in town did not show up.
Word is that even some of the 100,000 prostitutes estimated by the Dallas Police Department expected in town did not show up
Wow, that many K Street lobbyists winged their way down to Texas?
Now this is getting out of control.
Foreclosure forces bartending school to sober up
by Kim Miller
The ABC Bartending School in West Palm Beach was forced to send students home today when its water was turned off following a Jan. 25 foreclosure judgment against the building’s owner.
http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/realtime/2011/02/04/foreclosure-forces-bartending-school-to-sober-up/ - -
No more hair-of-the-dog stimulus going forward?
What bartender uses water??
I guess they had to skip the lesson where they water down the drinks
America’s housing market
Feb 3rd 2011 | Washington, dc | from PRINT EDITION
WHEN the federal government took control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two teetering mortgage-finance agencies, in September 2008 it was meant to be temporary. Yet their surreal existence as shareholder-owned prisoners of the state looks likely to drag on for years.
…
When Barack Obama first unveiled the Home Affordable Modification Programme (HAMP) in March 2009, the hope was to modify 3m-4m mortgages by subsidising payment reductions through the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP), a bail-out fund. But by the end of last year, only 522,000 loans had been permanently modified. Of the $50 billion originally allocated to the programme, just $1 billion had been spent, according to Neil Barofsky, the TARP’s watchdog. “It’s remarkably dispiriting,” he told Congress on January 26th.
The Treasury argues that many borrowers it thought were eligible for help turned out not to be because they earned too much, their homes were too expensive or were not their primary residence, or because they couldn’t meet documentation requirements. Many who were eligible, it says, got a private modification instead.
Still, the lack of progress means foreclosures are likely to be higher this year than last. That will maintain downward pressure on home prices, which have resumed their fall after the expiry of a tax credit last year. The home-ownership rate fell to 66.5% at the end of 2010, its lowest level since 1998, as many former and would-be home-owners rent (see chart). Long after the crisis and the recession, the housing bust that caused them lingers on.
from PRINT EDITION | Finance and Economics
I’ve read that house prices have now fallen farther %’wise than in the Great Depression. We’re making history.
Possibly due to the meteoric house price increase?
The laws of economic gravity suggest that what goes up like a rocket must come down like a rocket.
P.S. The only reason prices did not come down like a rocket all the way to the ground is the govt’s hair-of-the-dog housing market cure.
There have been many numbers and stats similar to or greater than the Depression in this “Not a Depression Recession©®™”
Breaking News! From TMZ: J-Lo & Jay-Z will be partying at Barry’s crib for the Super Bowl. J-Lo will be wearing white.
We now return you to regular programing.
Huh? Can you repreat? I am too busy watching American Idol!
Good time for the Taliban to attack America or its soldiers…I always envisioned a super bowl 9-11 type attack…
I always thought while heavy security forces were focused on the Superbowl it’d be a great time for them to hit somewhere else.
The EPA has had a plane circling the Dallas/Fort Worth area for the last week. I did not even know the EPA had airplanes until last week.
Looking for cigarette smokers I bet
terrists don’t think like that, apparently, as smart alecks have suggesting it for a decade now.
It’s not possible for the “taliban” to attack anyone here. they don’t have any transport, no carriers, no jets, no tanks. they live in the deserted regions of the world. the only way they can get here is to take a commercial flight. what kind of army do you think they can amass?
The only reason for 9-11 is that we let people who never should have been given entrance to this country a free pass on some do-gooder concept of “multiculturalism”. None of those worthless turds should have been in the US of A. All of them were Muslim foreigners.
With our great Dept. of Homeland Security working hard to investigate American Citizens and infiltrate our daily lives, I don’t see how any Taliban guys are going to get over here to do anything.
What was the movie with Bruce Dern and Moses, I mean Charlton Heston where they were going to blow up the Super Bowl ? Charlton got the bad guys , of course. Who is the new Charlton? How about Bruce Willis?
Finally some real news from hollywood. I found myself gettting distracted by the blown-up pipeline in Egypt.
Natural gas pipeline exploded in Egypt’s El-Arish
English.news.cn 2011-02-05 15:37:00
Flames are seen at the site of a pipeline blast in North Sinai February 5, 2011. A natural gas pipeline exploded on Saturday in El Arish in Egypt’s North Sinai, after mass protests broke out in the country more than a week ago. (Xinhua/Reuters)
EL-ARISH, Egypt, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) — A natural gas pipeline exploded on Saturday in El Arish in Egypt’s North Sinai, after mass protests broke out in the country more than a week ago.
The gas pipelines for exportation has been affected after the blast in El Arish city, but all the petroleum supplies are sufficient, the Minister of Petroleum Sameih Fahmy told a press conference after meeting between Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his economic ministers.
He said there is a coordination with the Ministry of Defense to secure the production and oil supplies. There is no intention to raise the oil prices.
The blast occurred at around 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Saturday at a gas terminal, three km from the Arish airport, North Sinai governor Abdel Wahab Mabrouk told Xinhua.
The supply has been cut and will resume as early as possible, he said.
The blast was probably a sabotage, the governor said, adding that no casualties have been reported so far.
…
So it’s the J-Loze?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txfqWzGMgmY
Sarah Palin, the ignoramus dispatched by the corrupt GOP Establishment to hijack the Tea Party movement (or at least the more clueless, mindless elements in its ranks) just gave a speech in honor of Ronnie Reagan’s 100th birthday, blasting Obama’s policies of out-of-control spending and bailouts as a road to ruin. In that, she is correct. However, she conveniently glosses over her role, as would-be VP to the uber-RINO McCain - Sammy suppresses shudder - in advocating TARP, in a rambling, incoherent statement that says much about her manifest unfitness for any public office above that of dogcatcher.
Yeah yeah, but she still looks pretty good behind the podium
She probably looked pretty good under Jamie Dimon’s and Lloyd Blankfein’s desks, too.
Some local was on the news last week, saying that she liked Palin because “she is one of us”.
And that pretty well sums up the problem.
For starters, you have no freaking clue as to whether she is “one of us” or not. All you have is the Fox/MSM/Republican spin machine generated “image” of Sarah Palin.
You fear her because she just may be the country’s first woman president. If the election was next Tuesday, a Republican dogcatcher could run against the kenyan and win.
I fear for our country is this imbecile and Wall Street marionette ever occupies the Oval Office. Gender has nothing to do with it. Any country stupid enough to vote this charlatan into its highest office deserves the fiasco that would ensue.
What? Did you miss the results of the last election? We are already that stupid.
Correct. Woody Allen was right on when he said The One should be allowed to be dictator.
That would eliminate stupid people being able to swing elections.
Remember that Movie that Woody Allen produced where he was walking with the other peasants in the middle of a Revolution and he said words something like ….
“Does it really matter who takes over ,it isn’t going to change our lives as peasants ?”
I never forgot that line from that movie and if you watch a lot of the events that have played out on the World stage it appears to be very difficult to change the lot in life for Billions of people that are oppressed and suppressed . In the USA a
strong middle class formed which is now under attack .
Sammy just like David Dinkins here in da beeg apple they got their one chance and screwed up…
We will have an asian and indian a hispanic and an American Indian before we elect another black president…maybe 40 years down the road..
I hope you are incorrect. I canot speak for all WASPs, but being black or not is not even on my list.
+1 +1 Blue Skye….
“I canot speak for all WASPs, but being black or not is not even on my list.”
But being white is. You speak for many whites but not this one.
“I fear for our country is this imbecile and Wall Street marionette ever occupies the Oval Office.”
Seems like Wall Street is doing just fine with Obama.
There may not be any middle class left to loot by the time Obama leaves office. I guess pension funds will be the next Wall Street looting orgy.
You fear her because she just may be the country’s first woman president ??
Carlos…At least take a break from the crack pipe on weekends okay…
“You fear her because she just may be the country’s first woman president.”
Fear not! The American presidency is little more than a Charlie McCarthy act brought to you by the International Business Party.
If Sarah was my other half I’d buy her a Vatamix juicer and a nice road bicycle.
Sarah Palin is what the students at Sarah Lawrence College need a good swift kick in the pants none of those Wussie women studies types will get their pretty dainty hands dirty.
Sorry I may not like her politics but I also don’t like helpless women.
none of those Wussie women studies types will get their pretty dainty hands dirty ??
Yeah…I think Palin has only one thing left to do to “galvanize” the electorate thereby paving her way to the oval office…
She needs to have a nice “campfire” chat with the American people….She can pop a 24 ounce PBR, chug it, let out belch, roll over on one cheek and let out a big Ole fart…That should just about wrap it up for the she/he for 2012…
The same electorate that went for Obama and McCain as our Tweedle Dee/Tweedle Dum choices, is more than stupid enough to install Sarah Palin as President.
“…rambling, incoherent statement…”
If she ever makes it into the WH, she will make W’s speaking ability look like that of a Shakespearean actor by comparison…
Too bee or not too bee, where are my DRONES?
I was channel surfing last night and I happened to be watching Fox News. I can’t remember who I was watching, it might have been Laura Ingraham. Anyway, Fox interrupted the show that was on with “breaking news”. I thought maybe it was some big news from Egypt. No, it was Sarah Palin giving her speech at the Reagan. That Fox News is simply amazing.
I happened to be watching Fox News ??
And therein lies the mistake….I admit I do watch a tinny bit but “only” on Saturday mornings from 7:00-9:00 PT…The four financial programs…
Although its tuff to get through sometimes because they are bent so far to the right and talk anger & fear more than economics, I do come away with some tiny morsels of information from some of the panel….Other than these programs, FOX does not even exist in my channel surfing…
How does one take the broad public ridicule of this idiotic woman Sara Palin and turn it into “the public fears her”?
This is WindowLicker Logic.
She forgot to mention that Alaska gets about the highest per capita federal assistance/subsidies in the US. Not to mention their little Meth problem. Reagan would be so proud!
Shll Oil sent their drill ships last week to New Zealand from Alaska. Obama and Co. are also in contempt of Fed court over their drilling moritorium in the Gulf. Get ready for$5 gasoline. It serves the sheeple right to voted for the fraud. The environmental wingnuts and RFKjr are happy as they drive their little electric cars that YOU paid for.
Whatever, not sure what this has to do with Palin. And YOU’ve been paying for lardass Hummers and Denalis, with their “i’m a business vehicle” write-offs.
And I’m still befuddled as to why these things are allowed to be registered with DMV.
Sammy, you know you love her.
We dun lyke Sara in thees parts. Shees smart!
Another sufferer of PDS.
This could be big, really big…
—————————-
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704843304576125510103424894.html
An Egyptian gas pipeline in the Sinai peninsula was attacked Saturday, cutting off supplies to Jordan and Israel.
The pipeline was attacked by “subversive elements,” Egyptian state TV reported. There were no further details on those responsible, but the attack was the latest sign of deteriorating security in the key buffer between the Egyptian mainland and Israel.
Conditions on the Sinai have been unsettled by the power vacuum created by nearly two weeks of massive demonstrations against the rule of President Hosni Mubarak.
In a sign of the rising tensions, Bedouin in the northern Sinai on Friday used rocket-propelled grenades to attack the headquarters of Egypt’s state security in El Arish, a town close to Egypt’s border crossing into Gaza, according to witnesses. The pipeline attack occurred in the same general area.
Earlier in the week, Mohammed Abu Ras, the leader of a Bedouin tribe who enjoyed friendly relations with the Egyptian forces, was gunned down outside a meeting between tribal leaders and Egyptian army generals, in a vendetta killing that fed fears of rising conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week agreed to let Egypt deploy 800 additional troops to the Sinai to replace the police and stabilize the area, though the two countries’ peace accords stipulate the peninsula should be demilitarized.
Egypt supplies almost all of Jordan’s gas needs, amounting to some 240 million cubic feet a day used to fuel power plants as well as for heating and cooking. Egypt is also a major supplier of gas to Israel.
State TV showed a jet of flame rising out of the desert. It appeared the attack affected the Jordan-Syria branch of the pipeline.
Interesting The pipeline has to cross Israel at some point unless the pipeline goes under the red sea its only a few miles there
or do the tanker it to Syria?
The Grey Swan maybe be getting a little closer to Black….
Looked at the mls today. It seems as if properties in my area that I know have been vacant for some time that are hled by lenders have all of a sudden all posted to the mls. Is anyone else seeing things similar in their neighborhood? Is this the start of the big dump? LOL
Where are you located ylekiot? I saw a small burst of activity after the holidays were over but now its pretty quiet here again as far as new inventory coming on. We’re in the burbs of Syracuse.
95050-95054….The lenders have been letting out inventory since the first week in January…October through December was very quiet…I would not call it a wave by any measure but it is a consistent flow of new inventory…I also see a lot of highly leveraged property coming on the market that is not yet in default…I would say four out of five properties that are coming on are in some degree of stress…
I’ve seen a couple new REOs come to market, but I can’t really call it “a big dump”. The favorite game of the ‘turds around here seems to be removing a listing and immediately putting it back up so it shows as a new listing.
I have my eye on three REO’s that are in foreclosure purgatory. None are on MLS, none are listed on REO or short sale rosters.
Also, the REO/short sale lists are shrinking. I’m not suggesting they’re selling but the lists are getting smaller for what ever reason.
Kentucky’s U.S. Senator Rand Paul wants to cut federal spending by $500 billion this year, and steps on some mighty big toes to achieve it. His budget cutting suggestions include an end to all foreign aid and a dramatic reduction to the U.S. Department of Education. Supporters of the multi-billion dollar subsidy of Israel are aghast.
“I’m not singling out Israel. I support Israel. I want to be known as a friend of Israel, but not with money you don’t have,” he said. “We can’t just borrow from our kids’ future and give it to countries, even if they are our friends.”
And, he said, giving money to the country is especially unwise considering Israel’s relative wealth. “I think they’re an important ally, but I also think that their per capita income is greater than probably three-fourths of the rest of the world,” he said. “Should we be giving free money or welfare to a wealthy nation? I don’t think so.”
~ Story : End ‘Welfare’ to Israel?
But he barely touches war and “security” spending, the parts that should be cut first and deepest.
Eliminate the Dept of Education and Dept of Agriculture. NO ETHANOL subsidies !!! Stop First Time Buyer boondogle.
I want to be known as a friend of Israel, but not with money you don’t have,” he said. “We can’t just borrow from our kids’ future and give it to countries, even if they are our friends.” ??
What a nice breath of fresh air……
We have been paying both Egypt and Israel to keep the peace.
Remember, a single dam buster bomb sent into the middle of the Aswan Dam would also prevent a Egypt/Israel war for at least a generation.
They have us over an oil barrel.
B of A spins off “bad bank.” Sorry if this was posted prior to today.
www dot heraldtribune do com/article/20110205/ARTICLE/102051020/2416/NEWS?Title=Bank-of-America-spins-off-bad-bank-
My neighbors just put their house on the market in the city of oceanside and it’s at 425K party on!
Good thing they set it so high. Otherwise they might be inconvenienced by actually having to show it.
Your neighbors have lots of company, as the MLS shows 455 single-family homes currently for sale in Oceanside, at a median list price of $365,000 (Redfin dot com). I suspect this year will be the one when San Diego prices decisively resume their crash downwards, puncturing through the long-term steady-state equilibrium level, with overshooting to the post-crash bottom. There is way too much inventory to move it without a lot more price competition. The hair-of-the-dog cure has clearly failed, and the PTB have bigger fish to fry now than propping up housing prices, and holding millions of units indefinitely vacant in the process, any longer.
Hopefully for your neighbor, his home is spacious and luxurious, as the median-listed home is plenty big, far more affordable and offered at far below the last sale price (in 2004). Even at this deeply discounted offer price, it has not sold in over two months on the market, which suggests the list price is above the market value
:
3978 Aliento Way
Oceanside, CA 92057
Beds: 4 On Redfin: 63 days
Baths: 2.5 Year Built: 2004
Sq.Ft.: 2,204 Lot Size: -
$/Sq.Ft.: $166 MLS#: 100069886
Status: Active
Listing: Progressive Realty
Last Sale: $444,500 (09/28/2004)
This house is going to sell by Dutch auction, and will sell fast at the rate they are reducing the list price. Ya gotta love a $3,900 reduction in wishing price over a three-day time horizon!
3978 Aliento Way
Oceanside, CA 92057
Property History for 3978 Aliento Way
Date Event Price Appreciation Source
Jan 23, 2011 Price Changed $365,000 – SANDICOR #100069886
Jan 20, 2011 Price Changed $368,900 – SANDICOR #100069886
Dec 05, 2010 Listed (Active) $399,000 – SANDICOR #100069886
Sep 28, 2004 Sold (Public Records) $444,500 – Public Records
$365,000 / 2204 sq ft = $166 / sq ft; hard to find listings that low around San Diego County within 10 miles of the beach!
wow, i’ve been following some homes and they don’t budge from 499.000. Say when!
I am a bit of a snob and that area is a little too inland.
my area is fire mt. it’s a poor mans version of encinitas!
send me any gems, mr bear.
I have a friend that just put their house up for over $600k. We’re outside of Syracuse and they’re getting showings. One couple who looked at it was from the east coast. I think when people come here from more expensive areas, they might start off thinking they’ll save money and buy a similar home but then find they’re looking at homes they never thought they could afford before w/a mortgage the size they’ve been paying all along and soon find themselves being drawn in.
Many miss that whole NY tax thing and only start whining about it when the glow of the larger home starts to wear thin.
600k around Syracuse is even more delusional than 300k in VT.
GALLUP: Unemployment actually at 9.9%…
‘Under-employment’ at 19.2%…
But the stock market’s up and the luxury boxes are sold out at the Super Bowl, never mind your 40+ year old neighbor that’s been out of work for 3 years and might never work again.
It it’s good at the top it’s got to be great at the bottom. Right, right?
Before the crash, there were people saying the economy could cruise along well as long as the top 30% crowd were doing well and apparently that’s the paradigm they’re attempting to bring back from the edge.
I hear that kind of talk from people involved in the REIC - everyone from realtors to house painters. “At least the people with big money are still spending. If the rich people stop spending then the economy would really be in trouble.”
This kind of talk, this obsession with the wealthy, especially from people who have no money themselves, has annoyed me for nearly my entire life. Whenever I hear such statements, I immediately lose some respect for speaker.
“this obsession with the wealthy, especially from people who have no money themselves, has annoyed me for nearly my entire life.”
Actually it baffling. The only answer for it is that these peons(who are just like us) are just plain ignorant and have bought into the corporate narrative written expressly for ignorant peons.
That’s because fawning sycophants don’t deserve respect.
economy could cruise along well as long as the top 30% crowd were doing well ??
Yep….The set up is in place….8%-9% unemployment is probably the new normal…
And it’s only a matter of time before the stats get juggled, and this 8-9% unemployment magically turns into a 4-5% rate.
It’s been the new “normal” for decades” if you use the old formula.
It’s the 19% you need to worry about. That’s the real numbers by the old formula.
Banana Republics run this way for decades, between street riots, revolutions and coups. I guess our experiment in democratically elected government has been overcome by Central Banking intervention.
Since the day the Federal Reserve was created.
It got worse when the Business Roundtable was created in 1972.
“This kind of talk, this obsession with the wealthy, especially from people who have no money themselves,”
Yeah, and with celebrities..sadly, common in the music business, where the losers suck up to the winners, as if they’d throw them a scrap, or fame and fortune will just rub off on them if the hang around long enough. I say, master your craft, play to your audience, hold your head up. To hell with the celebs.
Too much aggregation! (F. Hayek)
“‘Under-employment’ at 19.2%…”
More like *chronic* underemployment. And it’s easy to spot these folks. They’re the 44-55 year old guys who say “I’m semi-retired”.
Hey! I resemble that remark!
Sorry to hear that Gonzo and I wish you luck. You’re certainly not alone.
The “Not a Depression Recession©®™” is doing just fine.
O.k., here’s one: my prop mgr. just notified me that their office has closed and to mail rent checks directly to her house (still made out to real estate company). Through property records/lease I have the owner’s address in NY. Do you think I should write them a letter to inform/verify?
“Do you think I should write them a letter to inform/verify?”
Absolutely.
Is a bear catholic?
“Is a bear catholic?”
Good point, this isn’t rocket surgery.
Hayek vs. Keynes Sequel Sneak Peek at The Economist Buttonwood Gathering
On October 25th, an audience of financial managers and CEOs, politicians, central bankers and nobel prize winning economists at The Economist Magazine’s Buttonwood Gathering were treated to an unusual experience: a live rap battle between John Maynard Keynes and F. A. Hayek.
Following a presentation by Nassim Taleb, the lights went down in the auditorium and Fear the Boom and Bust blasted onto the screen. This video picks up at the end of that special presentation, where Keynes and Hayek stepped onto the stage to give a preview of the next EconStories music video.
In the final new video, which will be completed in the months ahead, expect many more lyrics and an all new beat.
Lastly, Russ Roberts and John Papola took the stage with John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of The Economist for a brief Q&A about the origins of FTBB and the resurgence of Hayek in the global debate over the economy.
The complete set of presentations are available at http://buttonwood.economist.com
A quick search on RedFin for homes listed at $700,000 or above in San Diego County returns 2,122 homes listed between $700K to $61m, at an average list price of $2m. That implies there is 2,122 X $2,000,000 = $4,244,000,000 ($4.2 billion) dollars worth of single family homes on the San Diego market, valued by wishing price, when only including the highest priced single-family homes in the calculation.
How long would it take to move over $4 billion in inventory in San Diego County alone, given the sluggish economy and tight lending standards? I’m guessing over a decade, but then I am a professed bear…
$6.5m = 2 1/2 high-end ($700K+) San Diego houses of the 2,122 for sale, at the average current wishing price. This is supposed to help how many of whom?
$6.5M Countrywide settlement could help homebuyers
By Lily Leung
Friday, February 4, 2011 at 10:38 a.m.
The California Attorney General’s Office has established a statewide foreclosure-relief fund with settlement money from former Countrywide executives. The fund could potentially help troubled San Diego homeowners.
San Diego and other California cities heavily hit by the housing crisis may get some financial relief this year from a statewide foreclosure fund created this week by the state Attorney General’s Office.
The money comes from a $6.5 million settlement of a case against Angelo Mozilo and David Sambol, two former Countrywide executives accused of predatory-lending practices. Mozilo, who was the company’s CEO, and Sambol, its president, left Countrywide when it was acquired by Bank of America in July 2008.
…
The money comes from a $6.5 million settlement of a case against Angelo Mozilo and David Sambol, two former Countrywide executives accused of predatory-lending practices.
Steal billions, get fined millions (with no prison time). What an indictment of our so-called justice system.
Sorry Sammy,
“Predatory Lending” is an oxymoron. No one “preyed” on people and forced them into ridiculous loans. Do you recall the lines of people at Condos begging for loans, under any terms? I do.
Most of the Lenders were forced by government agents to provide loans to people who should not have qualified. The whole lending business was a sham. But it was done with a FREE WILL of the borrower. They could have said “no”.
Nonetheless, I do believe these scumbags are guilty of misrepresenting the soundness of their businesses, while they were unloading their stocks. Remember Enron? Same deal.
Also, they are probably guilty of misrepresenting the soundness of the Loans they were passing off to Fannie, Freddie and other banks, but as I recall, most of the banks were begging for more crappy high-yield loans. Still I think there’s a case of deception here.
But making “predatory” loans is, to me, like “loaning” any other product or money……unless the borrower can be forced to take the cash, I think the role of predator is really on the other side.
People with no income were predators on the Lenders. It is the Lenders who went bankrupt and lost their businesses, after all.
I believe taking advantage of the desperation of the poor with increased fees, terrible terms and hidden costs is indeed predatory lending.
I am not arguing these people are credit worthy, and indeed most should probably never be given a loan to begin with.
Debt is not a right, it is a responsibility!
Gain a 100 million, lose 10 million - heck, I’d take that deal all day long.
Feb. 4, 2011, 5:47 p.m. EST
Bank shouldn’t protect execs from losses on their homes, CtW says
By Alistair Barr, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — In December 2008, at the height of the housing meltdown and global financial crisis, Bank of America Corp. executive Barbara Desoer sold her house in Charlotte, N.C., and moved to California to oversee the integration of the company’s Countrywide Financial acquisition.
Bank of America (BAC 14.29, -0.14, -0.97%) arranged for an independent relocation company to buy the home and agreed to cover any loss when the property was resold.
The bank chipped in another $1,411,962 to help Desoer buy a new house. It also ponied up more than $1 million in a so-called tax gross-up, which covers tax due on such benefits.
This home-loss protection came under fire this week from CtW Investment Group, which advises union pension funds on corporate governance and shareholder activism.
…
Many large corporations give perks like this to their BOD execs all the time.
They also pay their personal taxes for them.
Plus expense accounts. Plus “personal” services. Plus backdated options. Plus insider info. Plus…. well, you get the idea.
You have problem with Corporate Communist Capitalism©®™, comrade?
“They also pay their personal taxes for them.”
Too bad for TTT they (apparently) don’t follow that practice at the NY Fed.
Rep. Issa: San Diegans need jobs, not foreclosure-relief program
By Lily Leung
Thursday, February 3, 2011 at 10:28 a.m.
Rep. Darrell Issa ’s message to San Diegans: We need more jobs and economic development, not a mortgage-relief program led by the U.S. government.
Issa, a Republican from Vista, has joined two other U.S. congressmen in proposing a bill to repeal the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which modifies first-lien mortgages to make payments more manageable for troubled homeowners.
Issa, a long-time HAMP opponent, recently bashed the program at the first meeting of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which Issa leads. He said the program is wasteful and has fallen below expectations by helping 522,000 homeowners, instead of the promised 3 million to 4 million people.
…
I don’t disagree with Rep Issa, I just wish he would stipulate how we’re going to create and retain jobs in this country, especially after his party fought tooth and nail to save the offshoring tax credits.
I have YET to have a Repub address that issue.
But I find it makes for one hell of an effective “STFU” to neocons.
Eco,
All it takes is a few facts to shutdown GOP stupid talk.
I wish it were that easy. I’ve found they quickly resort to lies and fantasy.
Conspiracy theories, fear and lies is where they start.
I would argue that HAMP hasn’t “helped” any FBs. It has just delayed the day of reckoning, at a huge cost to taxpayers.
Obama gives $40 BLLION TO GE (NBC, MSNBC) GE moves wind turbine mfg to China and lays off 6500. But, tells announcers and talking heads to suck up to Obama and the Dems.
Remember when tourism was the industry that was going to buoy San Diego’s economy after the housing bubble burst? There ain’t any more cruise ships relocating to San Diego harbor…
San Diego trying to resurrect cruise ship business
By Lori Weisberg and Sandra Dibble
Originally published January 29, 2011 at 3 p.m., updated February 4, 2011 at 4:17 p.m.
John R. McCutchen
The Carnival Spirit, which makes regular cruises to the Mexican Riviera from San Diego, will relocate to Australia in 2012
Comfortably ensconced on today’s luxury liners, cruise ship passengers can while away the hours dining on gourmet fare, climbing rock walls, navigating water slides, even ice skating.
But when it comes time to venture on shore, vacationers are still demanding captivating visits to exotic ports and a safe environment, travel prerequisites the cruise lines say are increasingly lacking in San Diego’s principal cruising destination — the Mexican Riviera.
…
The appeal of riding around on a boat with 5000 other people, “dining on gourmet fare, climbing rock walls, navigating water slides and even ice skating” has always eluded me.
Other than (maybe) the food, it sound like an afternoon at Chuck-E-Cheese to me.
Agreed. I don’t get the appeal, and would never spend my hard earned money on this unnecessary experience.
I would have to be paid to endure such hell.
They could even cruise to Somalia and shoot pirates !
The Baltic Dry Index is flashing a crash signal. Don’t get caught unprepared.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
C.R.B. vs. B.D.I.
Below is a rather curious chart of the CRB Commodity Index vs the Baltic Dry Index. It’s interesting to note, that as commodity prices continued to trend upwards in recent weeks, the Baltic Dry Index has continued to drift downwards.
The ongoing activities of global Central bankers are once again boosting asset prices, including prices of USD denominated commodities. As speculators and hedge funds latch on to rising prices, it’s quite possible that prices could rise still further. Longer term however, this diversion in the CRB & the BDI will have to correct itself.
…
Interesting.
I was just perusing a website that specializes in intermodal shipping containers and they said there is a serious shortage of containers and mfgs are having to reopen plants.
This is hilarious - see if you can spot the bouquet of flowers:
http://swamplot.com/old-braeswood-house-of-bouquet/2011-02-04/
That Realtor is as smooth as Bahgdad Bob.
“I SELL YOU!”
“JUST LOOKING? INFIDEL!!”
Where Will Housing Bounce Back Most?
If you live in a city like San Diego or Pittsburgh and own your home, you can probably count on a rise in its value this year. That’s the conclusion of a new study from Veros Real Estate Solutions, which found that 40% of major metro markets will see a bounceback in home values in 2011
See the following chart for Vero’s top five and bottom five housing markets:
5 Strongest U.S. Housing Markets: Dec. 2010-Dec. 2011
San Diego, Calif. +3.5%
Kennewick, Wash. +3.4%
Pittsburgh, Pa. +2.7%
Fargo, N.D. +2.6%
Washington, D.C. +2.5%
http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/111989/where-will-housing-bounce-back-most?mod=realestate-buy
————————————————-
San Diego lol
A great comment from the Yahoo article:
“Dream on with your speculations… housing prices will not rise again until the bloody revolution in this country has been concluded. Considering it hasn’t started yet I say there is a good chance it will happen long before the scumbag capitalists begin making jobs available once again! Hold on to your trillions… see how much comfort it gives you when we the people slit your throats!”
Poetic right there. Took the words out of my mouth.
That Yahoo comment brought a tear to my eye.
I would actually buy tickets to watch Lloyd Blankfein and the like suffer such a fate.
I got the honing stones oiled up. Draft up the list Grizzly. Don’t forget a single thug. Not a one.
“San Diego, Calif. +3.5%”
Click!
Foreclosed Homeowners Go to Court on Their Own
By DAVID STREITFELD
Published: February 2, 2011
ALBUQUERQUE — Saving your home from foreclosure is increasingly a do-it-yourself project.
Young and old, solo and in couples, the homeowners in Ms. Anaya Allen’s class were all in breach, clutching special-delivery packages from their lenders announcing that the machinery was now engaged to evict them. They took notes, asked questions — is the courthouse the building on Fourth Street with the blue roof? — and were resolute if not quite eager for battle.
“I’m not sure where I stand, but I just don’t want to let the house go,” said Ms. Perea.
The legal challenges that she and the other students will make are slowing the foreclosure process. Over the last year, the average delinquency for a foreclosed loan rose to 499 days from 406 days, according to the data firm LPS Applied Analytics. But they are also straining the courts and often encouraging unreal expectations.
Louis McDonald, the chief judge for New Mexico’s 13th Judicial District, welcomes the influx of homeowners defending themselves, known as pro se defendants.
“They really want to stay in their houses,” he said. “Some of them have fairly legitimate defenses.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/business/economy/03class.html - -
“fairly legitimate”
Well, you can kinda pay your note, or kinda not.
X-GS, I thought you’d find this interesting: a guy I know is making a TON of money selling timeshares for corporate jets. Perhaps you already know this, but that has been a booming sector since corps are scaling back.
Owning a company aircraft is like kryptonite to some companies.
That doesn’t mean that any of the suits are flying less.
The formula used to be:
Fly more than 200-250hours/year = Cheaper to own your own airplane
250-150 hours = Fractional
Less than 150 = Charter
Now, if you are a publicly held company, the PR disadvantages seem to be vastly outweighed by any actual cost savings compared to the alternate means of air transport.
Some reverse mortgage borrowers risk going into default
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 5:05 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4, 2011
Pressure to collect unpaid taxes and insurance from homeowners with reverse mortgages could lead to an increase in foreclosures on senior citizens.
In a letter last month to lenders and loan servicers, the Federal Housing Administration said the unpaid debts and advances made by lenders to cover the delinquencies could put the FHA insurance fund at risk.
The FHA oversees the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program, which backs nearly all reverse mortgages made in the United States. It is conducting an audit of reverse mortgages nationally that will include a detailed tally of delinquent payments.
Nationwide, there are about 670,520 reverse mortgages including 68,660 in Florida, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD.
Preliminary delinquency numbers provided by the non-profit credit counseling group CredAbility found that about 5 percent, or nearly 30,000, reverse mortgages nationwide are delinquent. In Florida, about 8 percent are delinquent. Reverse mortgages allow seniors to convert their home equity into cash. Instead of paying the bank each month, the senior gets paid, either in a lump sum, a line of credit or monthly payments. Homeowners must be 62 years old or older to qualify.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/some-reverse-mortgage-borrowers-risk-going-into-default-1233751.html - -
I81B4U
“I ate one before you.”
Are you trying to tell us you bought a foreclosure home?
OU812?
I8A4RE
Viper tag I saw.
Hot off the press:
http://www.luxist.com/2011/02/04/lenny-dykstras-home-finally-sold/
Been halfway following this story since the bubble burst. If there ever were a spokesman for FBs, here he is.
You’re right: He’s the poster child for FB-erdom.
“The magazine was created to show the pros not just how to spend the massive amounts of money they earn but also how to keep their wealth and make smart decisions so they don’t join the ranks of players who earn millions and wind up in financial trouble just a few years later. Sadly, Dykstra’s own fortunes soon quickly unravelled amid lawsuits and feuds as he was chased by creditors and writers alike. The magazine folded and Dykstra’s home hit the market in June 2008 for $24.95 million.
…
Jeff Smith of Index Investors, the second lienholder, bought the country club estate out of foreclosure last fall and now he has finally sold the home. It had been most recently on the market for $10.5 million.”