Bits Bucket for February 19, 2011
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Scott Wolstein will exit Developers Diversified Realty Corp. with $16 million severance package
After an investor on a conference call criticized the size of his $16 million severance package after exiting as executive chairman of Developers Diversified Realty Corp., Scott Wolstein had a short answer in a phone interview this afternoon.
“My contract speaks for itself,” Mr. Wolstein said. “Whatever my package is, it is what it is, and I earned it.”
Of course he did, talent needs to be rewarded….
“We think it’s appalling that (Mr. Wolstein) is being paid such an excessive amount of money,” Mr. Williams said, “given that he almost drove the company into bankruptcy.”
None of the Developers Diversified executives on the conference call responded to the remark before the conference call was ended.
Asked if he had been listening to the call directly or listened to a replay of the call since the media began reporting it this afternoon, Mr. Wolstein said he is “not interested in listening to negative comments about my compensation.”
Good for him, these critics know nothing about business…
http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20110218/FREE/110219839
Here’s another version of the same story:
http://tinyurl.com/4tevrvg
“Concerns about the company’s performance during the recession and a dramatic slide in the company’s stock price could have hastened a planned leadership change, Moore said. Shares of Developers Diversified’s stock fell to less than $2 in March, about two years after they peaked around $71.”
Word to the sheeple:
Don’t invest in these companies, don’t consume these companies products, and don’t work for these companies, and they will fail to exist.
You would need a home database to keep track of them all.
Despite the fact that our economy is 75% consumer driven, many companies consider the consumer a nuisance. Of course, many consumers want something for nothing. But that’s how many of them get that attitude.
You - too many days sick = fired
Him - Almost destroys company = rewarded
…I earned it. At some level THAT’S the amazing thing. These people really DO think that they have earned and deserve their huge payouts. I actually do have some ammount of sympathy with the idea that it the board of directors was dumb enough to make this sort of agreement, than the company SHOULD go down and the shareholders end up shafted. But I can find NO real economic, let alone moral justification for these outsize compensation packages. There’s very little correlation between the ammount of CEO compensation and the performance of the companies that they manage.
They all “earn it” - and they lay off the rest of us to “save money.” Right… soulless monsters, one and all. I hope that they someday receive what they deserve - what they have really “earned.”
Comment by Hard Rain
2011-02-19 05:22:09
Scott Wolstein will exit Developers Diversified Realty Corp. with $16 million severance package
After an investor on a conference call criticized the size of his $16 million severance package after exiting as executive chairman of Developers Diversified Realty Corp., Scott Wolstein had a short answer in a phone interview this afternoon.
“My contract speaks for itself,” Mr. Wolstein said. “Whatever my package is, it is what it is, and I earned it.”
Of course he did, talent needs to be rewarded….
“We think it’s appalling that (Mr. Wolstein) is being paid such an excessive amount of money,” Mr. Williams said, “given that he almost drove the company into bankruptcy.”
None of the Developers Diversified executives on the conference call responded to the remark before the conference call was ended.
Asked if he had been listening to the call directly or listened to a replay of the call since the media began reporting it this afternoon, Mr. Wolstein said he is “not interested in listening to negative comments about my compensation.”
Good for him, these critics know nothing about business…
http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20110218
—————
Funny, you don’t seem to feel the same way about public employees’ contracts. And at least they WORK for a living!
Florida leads nation with 1 in 5 behind on their mortgage
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 12:09 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011
Florida’s inventory of home loans in foreclosure hit 14 percent during the end of last year as lenders backed off repossessions and a mountainous backlog of bad mortgages crawled through the courts.
According to a Mortgage Bankers Association report released Thursday, Florida tops the nation for the percentage of home loans in some stage of foreclosure, greatly surpassing the national average of 4.6 percent.
Florida’s average rate of loans in foreclosure from 1980 to 2006 was about 1 percent, said Alistair Bentley, an economist with TD Bank. The 14 percent seen in the fourth quarter was about half a percentage point higher than in the previous quarter
“The reasons we saw foreclosure inventory increase is we are not seeing them exit as sales,” Alistair said. “And that’s a problem because when those homes ultimately hit the market, they will sell at a discount, lowering prices
15 COMMENTS
We have not paid our mortgage in 8 months and the bank is doing nothing about it. When they do we will just walk away. In the meantime we are saving the cash. This is the last thing we wanted to do but when all the neighbors were doing it and mocking us, we threw in the towel. If everybody stops paying what are the banks going to do?
No intention to pay
12:15 AM, 2/18/2011
Those of us who pay our bills are tired of the dead beats who are not being responsible. In our HOA there are many people not paying their assessments-our past due assessments are over $300,000. These people are enjoying the water, cable and extras with no payment. I want to see more foreclosures so the houses can be occupied by paying owners.
cj
4:49 AM, 2/18/2011
90% of people in foreclosure WANT to stay in the house through a modification, but banks do not know who owns the Note as they typical service the loan, investors usually refuse to modify homeowners as they rather take the houses as they will make more money then risking another default. If the Government was serious about this, the problem would have been solved, but instead we bailed out the banks instead of the people who need it. Hows that hope and change working for you?
The Truth
6:27 AM, 2/18/2011
We’re one of the ones who bought during the frenzy, not foreseeing the housing crash. 10% down, 30 year fixed at 5%, manageable monthly payment. However, we’re so underwater, we’re bottom feeders. We make our payment every month and have intention of continuing to do so because we made a financial commitment. Where’s help for us? I agree with the other posters. What about those of us who have honored our contractual agreements? Where’s relief for us? Oh wait…there is none. What a crock of ..
yeppers
6:50 AM, 2/18/2011
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/foreclosures/florida-leads-nation-with-1-in-5-behind-1262080.html - 83k -
In Miami, Ron Shuffield, president of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors, predicted that a limited supply of land coupled with demand from baby boomers and foreigners would prolong the boom indefinitely.
“South Florida,” he said, “is working off of a totally new economic model than any of us have ever experienced in the past.”
It never gets old, never!
BWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Now it seems South Florida is working off a NEW new model:
‘Stop making payments until the bank takes your home away, then complain bitterly about your victimhood.’
“It never gets old, never!”
With you on that, FPSS!!! This is one of my absolute favoritest quotes of the housing bubble.
Anyone in Miami want to follow up with old Ron and see what his current opinion is on their new economic model?
“We have not paid our mortgage in 8 months and the bank is doing nothing about it. When they do we will just walk away. In the meantime we are saving the cash.”
Are the defaulted Florida ‘homeowners’ unusually enlightened, or is this approach pretty much the standard now across the U.S.?
“This is the last thing we wanted to do but when all the neighbors were doing it and mocking us, we threw in the towel. If everybody stops paying what are the banks going to do?”
It certainly would be highly embarrassing to keep paying your mortgage if all your neighbors stopped paying theirs and turned you into a laughing stock for continuing.
It’s rapidly becoming the standard. We’re not there yet.
Bernanke, the Spankey Monkey’s models are gonna fail one more time.
“Who could’ve seen that one coming?”
“…models are gonna fail one more time.”
In the long run, it won’t matter, as he has revisionist history on his side.
The tragedy is that my grandchildren’s children are likely to suffer beneath the heel of the same economic fallacies under which we suffer, thanks to the miserable ineptitude of the economics profession at weeding out failed macroeconomic theories from its torture garden.
Prof:
Your grand-kids will have only 1 choice to move into your home after you go….it will probably be the only house they will ever own.
I see this on the street i grew up on…3 families moved back in with their parents the last 2 years and kept living in the house after they moved to FloorRiddah..or died.
“…it will probably be the only house they will ever own.”
I’m not buying it, for many reasons:
1) We don’t currently own a home, and given what I know now about the government’s efforts to keep housing unaffordably priced (or at least to slow the crash to a glacial pace), I seriously question whether it will ever be financially prudent for us to buy one.
2) I am in the camp which believes that efforts to keep housing unaffordably priced will eventually fail, even in coastal California. If this seems outlandish, just look to the many places in America where prices have already fallen to earth with a thud (Detroit, Cleveland, South Florida, Phoenix, etc).
As a very current case in point, my wife was at my BIL’s house last night in a relatively desirable area of the Wasatch Front. He pays $1100/monthly on a mortgage for a 3600 square foot house that he bought at a fire-sale price after the crash. I number this BIL among the few family members who actually paid attention to what I have been saying about housing since 2004 or so. If we ever reach the stage when only Coastal Cali is unaffordably priced, then everyone will move away from here to cheaper environs; I know plenty of well-educated, multi-talented young people who have already thrown in the towel on laying down roots here.
3) At this point, even top federal government officials have openly recognized the folly of housing policy (dating back to Herbert Hoover, 90 years or so) which discriminates against renting in favor of owning; this is a huge paradigm shift which will trigger a long-term downward adjustment to the cost of home-ownership relative to renting.
4) There is a huge glut of vacant housing in the U.S. — at or near the all-time record level. And housing construction has already turned the corner (at least according to Wall Street’s brigade of porcine beauticians), even though the demand side of the market has not yet worked through the mountain of shadow inventory, including all those South Floridians working off the new ‘nonpayment model’ of home ownership. Every house needs someone to live in it, as without an owner-occupant to maintain them, houses have a rather strong tendency to quickly deteriorate into a state of dilapidation.
All told, I don’t believe my grandkids will lack choices of where to either buy a home or rent.
Oh, you pessimist, you!
I don’t believe YOU (and your lovely clueless wife) will lack choices of where to either buy a home or rent.
Eff your grandkids. They hardly matter.
Sometimes I just wanna smack some of the participants on this blog around for their severe lack of perspective.
All good points Prof…..except the huge glut is sometimes not where you really want to live.
“..except the huge glut is sometimes not where you really want to live.”
That is true, and a bit of a conundrum (who wants to live anywhere within a short drive away from Barstow?). But I am quite sure that with 10 pct unemployment for several years running around SoCal, the shadow inventory is eventually destined to prove ‘larger than anticipated.’
P.S. My wife is not clueless; I am blessed in that regard. She is far smarter than me in most areas of life, and has the wisdom to recognize and defer to me in the few areas where this is not the case (e.g. seeing housing crashes that are invisible to the masses).
To be fair, you portrayed her as clueless. We are not not psychic.
“… you portrayed her as clueless.”
Like most other humans, I probably tend to avoid comparisons in areas where I am relatively weak, which is most areas compared to my wife…
I’m not buying it, for many reasons:
1) We don’t currently own a home, and given what I know now about the government’s efforts to keep housing unaffordably priced (or at least to slow the crash to a glacial pace), I seriously question whether it will ever be financially prudent for us to buy one.”
I agree, I can always buy NLY if I really want RE diversification
“I can always buy NLY if I really want RE diversification”
I’m trickling some dough into a REIT for real estate diversification. Don’t want to overcommit while the crash is still in progress, though…
Does this mean the banks top men don’t get their hard earned bonus for 2011?
Until they no longer run the country they will get it one way or another.
All these whiners have one thing in common: they overpaid for their houses and condos. Now they either justify their deadbeatism or wail that the gub’mint should give them “relief.” Under the mortgage contracts they signed with the banks they have the right to walk away and let the property go back to the bank - which might give banks some incentives to only deal with creditworthy people and demand 20% down going forward. Let the irresponsible FBs and banks pay for their own stupidity and greed.
Well yes. And if the lender’s want to discourage this sort of behavior they can get a deficiency judgement since this is Florida. But since they’ve been so careless with their paperwork that they have difficulty pursuing a simple foreclosure action, I’m not sure that they’d be successful.
Of course it occurs to me that it might be EASIER to assemble sufficient proof for a deficiency judgement than for a foreclosure. You don’t need to prove that the house was properly put up as collateral for the loan, just that the FB agreed to pay the money back and is not now doing so.
I just moved into a two bedroom apartment, with “all the works.” interesting thing is that the complex partially went condo in the expansion part of the bubble. I was told there is a vacant condo next to my apartment. I hope it stays vacant! This is in New Tampa. Friday night was my first night and it was delightfully boring (q-u-I-et)!
There is a lot of good in real estate depressions, and we renters are reaping the rewards. I have a seven month lease, through September 30, but thank goodness, Florida law requires lease agreements to notify renter that he can break the lease for at most a two month rent payment penalty. I wish I knew that sooner.
This part of Tampa is clean suburbia, condos, apartments, strip malls, a well-hidden super Wal-Mart, and far enough from the USF party life. There is a Fridays, and that is about the only real bar for miles. Everything else caters to families. Boring suits a silence-freak like me.
Dammm I am just the opposite Boring drives me up a wall…silence is Hell for me. Music laughter talk excitement…being in the middle of things..Like working at Court TV all during the OJ trial…
this is one of the main reasons i vent…. sometimes too much…quiet should be in libraries and movie theaters.
————–
Boring suits a silence-freak like me
I have been living a regimented life of going to bed early and waking up before dawn and focus on workouts involving interval training. My dad influenced me on this lifestyle. He was worried that if I stay out I would get with a bad element. Maybe he was wrong, maybe he was right. I could have been stabbed by a jealous guy at a bar. But I am alive and kicking, enjoying the simple, low stress things in life, and aim to simplify much more in a few years!
I really think you need to go out some night and get laid in a multi-person orgy some night.
Might do your (very boring) an_l-retentive personality a world of good!
Oly would agree on this one.
Oh I did have a few wild times with women , and got scared enough a few times to get blood tested a few weeks afterward, based on some of their backgrounds. I ain’t like that no more!
One has the feeling that BiT’s nights alone ARE a multi-person orgy….
STOP! Please! My gut is hurting! Coffee on
my display and I still can’t stop laughing!!!
You might want to invest in a few condoms before hand. They are cheaper than blood tests.
Guarateed, I had more fun than any of you.
STOP! Please! My gut is hurting! Coffee on
my display and I still can’t stop laughing!!!
He’s been with women? I was talking about the kind where his mouth is stuffed and the women are doing him with a strap-on.
You can’t buy those kinda memories with mere T-bills.
“Oh I did have a few wild times with women , and got scared enough a few times to get blood tested a few weeks afterward,”
A man is not feeling well so he goes to the doctor who runs some tests. The doctor comes back in and tells the man, I`m sorry son but it looks like you`ve got HAGS. HAGS? What the hell is HAGS doc? The doctor answers, Herpes, AIDS, gonorrhea and syphilis. OH MY GOD! The man exclaims. Doctor, what can I do? The doctor says, I am going to have to prescribe fried eggs and pizza. Will that cure me? He asks. No says the doctor. That`s the only thing they can slide under a door.
Wuz dis …. we gotta DAWG fight goin on…
‘Now they either justify their deadbeatism or wail that the gub’mint should give them “relief.”’
So far most of them got a load of political sound bite and a head fake with no relief to show for it. The problem is that when wealth is destroyed in a financial mania, somebody inevitably gets left holding the bag. Who deserves bagholder status more than the greatest fools who bought at the mania peak, based on Suzanne’s research?
This real estate meltdown is far, far, far from over. While banks are certainly foreclosing on some properties, there are millions for which they are kicking the can down the road. They are riding the market down, perhaps believing inflation will bail them out. But, I see absolutely ZERO evidence of wage inflation which is needed for their plan to work, and I don’t anticipate an increase in wages for years to come. Wage destruction is more likely.
And necessity inflation is here and its effect is the same as decreasing wages.
Ah, but wages are ALSO decreasing as well.
NAR will spin that as a double-negative which means, of course, that there’s never been a better time to buy!
Mechanical engineer here… laid off by a sociopath corporation last June as part of a “get rid of the senior workers” plan. Lesson learned = better performance = higher pay = more likely to lose job. Result: do the bare minimum, like everyone else!
So, yeah, wage destruction is definitely the new normal.
I’d love to know how these Crackberry twiddling idiots who run this nation expect to sell houses at absurd prices and everything else at 1st world prices while ignoring staggering unemployment numbers and 3rd world wages. One might think there’s a flaw somewhere in their “brilliant” plan, but since they won’t suffer the consequences, I guess they shouldn’t care.
Marie Antoinette didn’t get it either.
Three years ago Forbes named my neighborhood, the Coronado historic district in central Phoenix, the 7th most overpriced ‘hood in the U.S.
http://www.forbes.com/2008/07/29/overpriced-zips-homes-forbeslife-cx_mw_0729realestate_slide_5.html?thisSpeed=undefined
Today it’s a different story- here are two recent examples of the collapse in home prices here, one received a 66% haircut.
http://www.azcentral.com/realestate/homes.php?pgAction=homedetail&address=2502+N+9TH+ST&city=PHOENIX&zip=85006
http://www.azcentral.com/realestate/homes.php?pgAction=homedetail&address=1408+E+MONTE+VISTA+RD&city=PHOENIX&zip=85006
man phx got hit hard. 70-80% haircuts not uncommon.
Coronado is still somewhat overpriced for what it is. I’m house shopping at the moment (long, frustrating story for another day), and, since I work in that area, checked out a few places. They’re very cute and historic and all, which has a certain appeal, but most of them are very tiny. I saw a few that had been nicely updated, but $130K or so for 1100 sf and no garage is still too high (and all of those “guest houses” shouldn’t count in the square footage–they’re essentially useless as practical living spaces). One place I’ve been watching (mls 4518902 10th St. and Thomas) has been sitting for over a month now, with a recent incremental price reduction. Nicely re-done (except for the boring exterior color—they should have left the original red brick), but very small rooms and it backs right onto North High School—not sure I’d want those kids hanging around behind my property.
I have the zillow app for this iPad and I am keeping an eye on Ahwatukee SFHs in the $200,000 to $300,000 range. I like the area around Sun Ray Park. One I like is for sale at $244k, has no pool, has a nice Arizona-style covered patio. I keep watching for For Sales on the south-western boundary of the park. But no one is budging. It is prime RE. Eventually, within three years I am betting there will be a house there for sale. I am patient. I could retire there and then. Or at least downsize my job and stay local and mothball my suitcases.
The county is considering a freeway to run by the S/W corner of Ahwatukee, Loop 202 extension.
http://www.azcentral.com/community/ahwatukee/articles/2009/10/21/20091021freeway1022.html
Ahwatukee is way down I see a house on Tano st. were I used to rent sold for 113K
85044 maybe I should move back ?
My take on Coronado house prices may be skewed because I paid $18k for 3/1 1100sq, bare brick in 1975, but I think $110k is high.
Thirty years ago I asked an long-time Coronado resident why some people painted their brick houses. She said that back in the day people thought the bare brick was “common”.
The kids at North H.S. are good kids, mostly; but very very loud. In addition, the marching band begins practice at 7:00 AM.! I can hear ‘em more than a half mile away.
Good luck!
My old boss still owes me a Diet Coke on a bet I made back in 2006 about Phoenix Home prices
I think he’s down about 300-400K on a Ahwatukee house near South Mountain’s telegraph pass
Ebay has no insertion fees and buy it now till the 28th…this slow grind on our life’s is really getting old.
Federal charges dropped against mozillo, no surprise here:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mozilo-20110219,0,2677739,full.story
Laws are for little people.
Was the orange man an overgrown oompa-loompah? That would make him a “little people”.
Methinks his “Friends of Angelo” program might have something to do with this sudden drop of charges.
So as it turns out, you really can buy friends! (of Angelo that is)
Did Tabbi call it or what?
Does he get a free copy of Tubo-Tax-Cheat Timmy’s version of Turbotax with that “get out of jail free” card?
Like you said, laws are for the little people.
It’s call malaise. It’s all so very 1970s.
And so very early 1980s in my city as well.
“He is “Officer Rich” to St. Petersburg’s downtrodden, armed with a cell phone that rings every five minutes and a take-charge attitude that values solutions over small-talk.
After hours, Linkiewicz, 46, has played a lesser-known role. For two years, he rented out bedrooms in adjacent Meadowlawn homes to people with small incomes and nowhere to go.
“For what I pay, it’s a great place. My goodness I can sleep at night,” renter Mark Ducharme, 51, said recently. Because Linkiewicz, himself, lives in one of the two houses, “everyone feels safe here,” Ducharme said. “I lucked out.”
Police officials were less comfortable recently, when they learned the details. Linkiewicz had not violated any policy, said Police Chief Chuck Harmon, “but if there is a perception he is making money off the backs people he working with, then that would be a problem.”
http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/st-petersburg-homeless-outreach-officer-faces-tough-choice/1152524
From yesterday (Ecofeco):
“Have you worked 3 jobs lately? Can you even find 3 jobs? This is tough enough for for any under 30. Over 30? Even harder. Over 40? Forget it. You won’t live to see 50.
And why should 3 jobs even be required? Do you have any idea how far that we means we’ve fallen as nation?”
Again, sorry for baiting you if that’s what I did. My point is that I do not believe education should be provided for free to anyone over 18.
“Do you have any idea how far that we means we’ve fallen as nation?”
Sounds like a wake up call to me. Nothing else seemed to work to wake up the nation, maybe this will do it.
Sorry, this is a buncha bollocks, to put it mildly.
I saw this first-hand way back in the hoary days of 1995. I had volunteered to coach math and science teachers — the teachers themselves NOT the students.
Well, I got me a big lumpa fatboy who basically told me that he was too tired to do any work because he was delivering pizza’s at night to put his daughter through Univ. of Michigan.
(It’s amazing how the specifics stick right to your brain!)
I knew public education was basically doomed at that point. And that was the beginning of the end for my budding volunteer act.
So sorry, it’s been going on forever — this 3-job monte.
“…the teachers themselves NOT the students.”
You are one ambitiously idealistic SOB!
P.S. My sister is a highly competent community college math teacher, due in no small part to big brother’s coaching…
Worse.
I offered to coach them in “probability theory” — arguably, the hardest of mathematical concepts with a link to reality.
Lord, forgive the young ‘un ’cause he had no freakin’ clue what he was up against!
LOL
I also have tried to coach math teachers in probability theory. Nowadays, I take the easier path and coach graduate students in other fields (e.g. biology); it is much more stimulating to train people who actually have the mental capacity to learn!
Read my comment below on education.
One needs drive as a given. I am hopeless as a motivator (= not my problem.)
Learn if you want, don’t if you don’t.
These days I only volunteer for the all-star programs. At least, the kids are hungry for knowledge!
Are there high schools that teach probability?
“Are there high schools that teach probability?”
It’s taught at my kid’s run down high school as an AP level class.
“Are there high schools that teach probability?”
Probably.
I saw the first signs in the 1980s.
“I do not believe education should be provided for free to anyone over 18.”
I basically agree with you, and have a personal anecdote from my past to back it up. I started school at an expensive private college which I was only able to attend due to a generous grant; my financial aid package made it affordable for me to attend without hopelessly miring myself in debt, but my attendance was not free — I had to work part time as part of the deal. Throughout the entire duration of the time I was in school, including later graduate studies, I always worked part time or even full time at points. This always seemed like a mighty struggle, but looking back, this effort at balancing work and school was what prepared me for everything else I had to do later in life, especially parenting.
By contrast, one of my best friends in college, whom I loved dearly then and still hold close at heart, attended on full scholarship including all living expenses (he was a member of an under-represented minority). He also was always looking for a loan from his friends, because he was perpetually out of money; I guess his drug and alcohol habits didn’t help much in that regard. Now I am not suggesting the absence of a need to work led directly to his drug habits, but rather that (1) he actually was brilliantly gifted in many respects and could have earned more money spending his drug-consuming and depressed-thinking time on income-producing activities than just collecting payment to cover all his expenses, including party-time costs, and (2) I could have easily gone down the path of least resistance he chose if someone else had paid my full tuition and cost of living.
The problem with education is shockingly simple.
Basically, learning is hard. VERY hard. It doesn’t really matter whether it’s engineering or Japanese literature but it’s hard.
You need a level of innate talent and an immense amount of drive if you are going to master a subject.
I don’t believe either of these two concepts have been brought up in “traditional education”.
It’s always been the fastest and cheapest for the masses like fast food. And it ends up being exactly as good for you.
Motivation is key.
So blow me like a two-bit wh*re!
I’m not here to motivate your loser kids.
Basically, the lack of motivation is the key problem in the “propagation” of poverty. The poor people have no motivation because they are just not clued into what makes the whole aspirational game tick.
I actually volunteer for a program where we clue in poor students into general boring stuff that is standard for educated people.
There is not a man or woman here alive that doesn’t know how a lawyer functions. Or a mathematician functions.
But the poor are actually genuinely lost. Shocking but true.
Incidentally, we require that they dress up when they show up for our one-to-one sessions. Business attire mandatory (which we pay for.)
Men in business suits, and ditto for women.
It’s the only modestfully successful program I have ever been involved in my entire life!
I found that school and the real world didn’t intersect very often.
The other part which is key, and which makes it hard for American students, is that it is not fun to face your ignorance head on and conquer it.
My oldest son offers a great example: He has a lousy geometry teacher (only presents from power point, never works a problem on the board, clearly has no aptitude for spatial relationships, etc etc etc). Rather than working hard to overcome the challenge of learning a difficult subject taught by a crappy teacher, he prefers to loaf around on the couch watching The Simpsons most of the time, then complain that “he’s dumb” rather than making the difficult and time-consuming effort to read his text book and to work problems until he understands the subject. The classic myth of American education that there are talented kids and everyone else has made it easy for him to conclude that he is not smart and that it is not worth the effort to try hard.
Basically, the lack of motivation is the key problem in the “propagation” of poverty. The poor people have no motivation because they are just not clued into what makes the whole aspirational game tick.
Different people have different time horizons. The type of people who tend to be poor also tend to be the type of people with shorter ones. But regardless of that, to motivate someone you have to be able to show them in why this matters within their time horizon. There’s no point in trying to teach calculus to someone who can’t see past tomorrow, regardless of the root cause of why they can’t see past tomorrow. If you really want help them you have to work on that problem first.
That’s why older non-traditional students succeed, even when they did poorly as a teenager. Their time horizon has finally lengthened to the point that education takes on relevance.
Basically, the lack of motivation is the key problem in the “propagation” of poverty.
It may be a problem, but I doubt that it’s the key problem. There was a time in this country, a number of decades ago, when kids who grew up in poverty could work themselves up to a decent standard of living through hard work and sensible living. It’s much less likely these days. A number of changes took place in the economy starting in the 1970s that help they rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. If you look all of the children in America today, the most important factor in predicting which will be poor adults is whether they are currently poor children.
I am in that boat of two jobs I am 37. Just finished my RN at a private school. Went from telecom to nursing. The loans suck but my goal is to pay them off in two to three years. The good news for me is there are jobs for nurses the bad news is there a nursing bubble building in California.
I must say that going back to school was one of the hardest thing I have done, but the education I received is of great worth.
“The good news for me is there are jobs for nurses the bad news is there a nursing bubble building in California.”
This, combined with the importation of cheap nurses from the Philippines and beyond might do a little number on pay rates moving forward.
I know it’s easier said than done, but the first thing you should do is leave CA. You are on the front line/beach head of Fillipino nurse immigration.
Sorry Muggy, I also didn’t mean to go off you. I had to work 3 jobs earlier this last decade. It brought back very unpleasant memories.
I’m also currently struggling with collecting from difficult clients. It’s not like I’m some big corp and can just write them off.
“Sorry Muggy, I also didn’t mean to go off you. I had to work 3 jobs earlier this last decade. ”
We’re cool.
When we moved to Florida we lived in a 400 sq. ft. duplex. Instead of buying another car, we carpooled. At the time, my school hours were 8:45 - 4:15 and my wife’s were 7:05 - 2:45. I went to work 2 hours early, and she stayed late 2 hours EVERY day, so we could save on vehicle costs. The only thing we’ve ever had beyond, “need” is internet and eating out 1x a week. O.k., I guess we drink a lot of wine, too. But, the point is, we’ve been very, very disciplined with our finances. I paid CASH for grad school WITH a wife on leave and a newborn. I worked a full schedule and did work detail after school for extra loot. This meant that every single day, I had to supervise teenagers picking up garbage in the afternoon Florida sun. And let me tell you, when things die in Florida, it gets nasty real quick. Not to mention my school is close to the gulf, so the birds like to perch on the lights, chow down and discard their fish leftovers onto the field.
Anyway, I don’t mean this as a, “woe is me,” story. I love what I do. I just think that sometimes you have to decide what you want and make sacrifices and bust your ass to make it happen. I’m very glad I am through that phase of my life — it was a challenge.
A lot of my co-employees (uh, I think I have about 20,000) have acused me of being a player, or a “career guy” because I am moving up the ladder. F them, I am. Get out and get it.
While I was carpooling and picking up stank ass carcasses for $13/hr., they were refi-ing their crapshacks to buy new cars. My day is coming.
Wait, what are we talking about?
No indictments coming for the Orange Man.
www dot latimes dot com/business/la-fi-mozilo-20110219,0,3665171.story
The probability that the U.S. will be hit with a weapons of mass destruction attack at some point is 100 percent, Dr. Vahid Majidi, the FBI’s assistant director.
This is the kinda bogus statistic that really makes me wanna stick a fork in his eye. It has pseudo-science written all over it.
The probability that I will die at some point is also 100% but it’s not a very interesting statistic. What matters is what the probability of it happening within the year, within 5 years, within 10 years is.
It’s a lame effort to sound scientific when in fact there is absolutely no reasoning or science involved.
FBI’s assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate…………
Pseudo science is just a tool in the fear mongering SOP of pseudo leaders everywhere.
He’s just justifying his job. Now, that you can be sure of 100%.
No, you just need to understand what the FBI /Courts considers a WMD -
For the purposes of US Criminal law concerning terrorism, weapons of mass destruction are defined as:
* any destructive device defined as any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas bomb, grenade, rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces, missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce, mine, or device similar to any of the devices described in the preceding clauses
* any weapon that is designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors
* any weapon involving a biological agent, toxin, or vector
* any weapon that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life
I have seen those idiots on “Pawn Starts” fire a 200 year old mortar with enough powder to qualify as a WMD. I would wager that most fireworks shows operators shoot enough to powder into the air to spend a lifetime in Gitmo.
“* any destructive device defined as any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas bomb, grenade, rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces, missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce, mine, or device similar to any of the devices described in the preceding clauses”
Yikes ~~ mikey quickly and silently moves his 486 lbs of South Carolina assorted firecracker collection, one suplus slightly dented F-4 Phantom jet( in small parts) and his vintage Flash Gordon Ray Gun to an undisclosed location, carefully wipes of his little finger prints off and stencils “Property of Bill in Tampa” in red on all of the boxes.
Phew !!
Does QE2 qualify as wmd?
No, but CDOs, NINJA loans and Level 3 “assets” do.
In fairness, I do occasionally lose sleep over the thought of bioweapons, since this is a new thing. I think you could reasonably argue that the more time passes, the closer we get to an event like this.
Killing millions of people used to require millions of fists, swords, and rocks. Now? Just toss a vial out the window and run… but I get your point.
I used to lose sleep over this, but then I took a college course on the subject of nuclear proliferation; thinking about it and studying it got it out of my system.
Did you? I never did.
I did a simple back-of-the-envelope calculation. Given that I live in New York, I concluded that I was far more likely to get run over by speeding taxi-cab.
There are far more productive ways of passing the time. If you live in B_mf*ck, Ohio, you’re not gonna get gassed, dude!
Same goes for San Diego.
“Given that I live in New York, I concluded that I was far more likely to get run over by speeding taxi-cab.”
Exactly. There are far more likely, if mundane, ways to leave the planet than succumbing to bio-terrorism or nuclear attack.
You were just looking for an opportunity to apply your applied probability cipherin’ skills.
Keep away from the edge of the subway platform while you’re at it.
Yep, that stupid edge is far more dangerous than all the world combined!
Also, a chef’s knife if you are good at cooking.
Life is short. These predictions are not even useless.
San Diego would be a prime target for a terrorist nuke IMHO.
Terrorist nukes will not be delivered by missile or bomber. They will come in the mundane way via cargo ship. I laugh when DHS types talk about searching the cargos while they are being unloaded. They won’t HAVE to be unloaded. The nukes can be remotely detonated while still aboard ship, whose steel hull will form a dirty cloud of enhanced fallout. Major port cities such as NYC, Miami, Houston, Long Beach, Chicago, and Seattle would be my guess as primary targets, with Norfolk and San Diego making a secondary list due to their importance to the Navy.
“…mundane way via cargo ship.”
Wouldn’t that make Long Beach or Oakland much likelier targets than San Diego?
San Diego didn’t even make the cut to get on this list…and you can stick a fork in the U.S. as a global trade leader.
Here are a few interesting observations on the table (part of which I post below to make my points):
1) China is the undisputed leader in global trade.
2) The impact of the great credit bubble and bust shows up spectacularly in container traffic data:
a) Many trade centers saw a doubling in trade volumes from 2004-2008.
b) The vast majority of trade centers saw a substantial drop in traffic between 2008-2009; in particular, all the U.S. ports in the top 50.
List of world’s busiest container ports
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This is a list of the world’s busiest container seaports, total mass of actual TEU (in thousands) transported through the port.
Note: “TEU” stands for “Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit,” i.e. a 20-foot (6.1 m) long shipping container. Thus a 40-foot (12.2 m) container is 2 TEU.
…
Container Traffic (in thousands TEU):
Rank Port Country
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
1 Singapore Singapore
25,866 29,918 27,932 24,792 23,192 21,329
2 Shanghai People’s Republic of China
25,002 27,980 26,150 21,710 18,084 14,557
3 Hong Kong People’s Republic of China
20,983 24,248 23,881 23,539 22,427 21,984
4 Shenzhen People’s Republic of China
18,250 21,414 21,099 18,469 16,197 13,615
5 Busan South Korea
11,954 13,425 13,270 12,039 11,843 11,430
6 Guangzhou People’s Republic of China
11,190 11,001 9,200 6,600 4,685 3,308
7 Dubai United Arab Emirates
11,124 11,827 10,653 8,923 7,619 6,429
8 Ningbo People’s Republic of China
10,502 11,226 9,349 7,068 5,208 4,006
9 Qingdao People’s Republic of China
10,260 10,320 9,462 7,702 6,307 5,140
10 Rotterdam Netherlands Netherlands
9,743 10,784 10,791 9,655 9,287 8,281
11 Tianjin People’s Republic of China
8,700 8,500 7,103 5,950 4,801 3,814
12 Kaohsiung Republic of China Taiwan (Republic of China)
8,581 9,677 10,257 9,775 9,471
…
16 Los Angeles United States United States of America
6,748 7,850 8,355 8,470 7,485 7,321
…
18 Long Beach United States United States of America
5,067 6,350 7,316 7,289 6,710 5,780
…
22 New York United States United States of America
4,561 5,265 5,299 5,093 4,785
…
37 Savannah United States United States of America
2,356 2,616 2,604 2,160 1,902
…
45 Oakland United States United States of America
2,051 2,236 2,388 2,390 2,271
…
Faster Pussycat talks like Edddie.
We are all going to hurt from bioweapons.
In this case, the bioweapon involved is us. Yes, humans. We will all hurt because there are too many humans being produced.
Humans, the ultimate bioweapon.
Thank you, yensoy. It’s what happens when you have too many people on a life raft.
Just wondering when the US is going to switch from incentivizing reproduction to penalizing it, or incentivizing smaller families, like China. Oh, the horror…
Thank you, yensoy. It’s what happens when you have too many people on a life raft.
Maybe. When I hear that I think of the people safe in the lifeboats after Titanic sank who refused to even paddle toward those in the water still calling out. They just waited for the cries to stop and then told themselves nobody could have expected them to risk their own lives. At least if you believe the movie anyway :-).
It’s easy to forget that all bioweapons are not targetted towards homo sapiens.
There are many forms of blight and insect pest that could easily be launched on America’s farmlands. Recall the impact in Ireland of the potato blight famine.
The bomb — One click from Armageddon
Been there, done that. My best friends Dad and his USAF gang dropped 2 nukes on our heads. Well, 5-6 miles away isn’t exactly a ringer in horseshoes but it is close enough with a couple of Mark 39 nuclear bombs. My Dad also worked for that gang and those guys were supposed to be …real careful people.
Yeah~~Right Dad, sleep well tonight, your USAF is awake !!
http://tinyurl.com/6j7pola
If he’s so worried about WMDs, maybe he should start looking at Wall Street. That’s where the real terrorists are hiding in plain sight and they’ve already done terrible, terrible damage to this country.
+eleventybillion.
+1 Too many financial criminals remain at large.
Sounds like the guy is a Bayesian doomster. How can one even begin to infer the risk of nuclear attack from the two or so that ever occurred over the full exposure to the risk we have now enjoyed for over seventy years now? Of course, game theory was in its infancy at the time those two attacks occurred, but then we also did not have much nuclear proliferation back when the bomb was first developed, either…
The RAND corporation used to do excellent work. But like everything else, one must take these “probabilities” with a metric ton of salt.
You can’t really use statistics to infer much from rare events. It only took 1 accident to change the Concorde from the SAFEST commercial airliner to the CRASHIEST one because there are so few in service.
I like that word: “crashiest”.
seems like big brother’s control by fear campaign is bigger than ever…
“…control by fear campaign…”
Silver lining: That ought to help take your mind off the economic misery that surrounds you.
Ministry of Fear - a funny short cartoon with a point. This is old, but still valid.
http://www.markfiore.com/animation/fear.html
is it just me or does the govt. propaganda machine seem bigger than ever? Not attacking any party here, it just seems like the BS/smokescreening has reached unprecedented levels. Maybe I just didn’t pay as much attention to prior administrations over the last 15 years or so.
Any thoughts?
“Trust, but verify.”
Er, verify, then trust (maybe).
This is the Information Age: Information - Truth - about everything under the sun is available to those who care enough to search for it.
And once you find and accept this Truth you will be fully armed and able to ward off the propagandists.
Knowledge is power.
You need a really good crap detector to distill truth in the age of information overload.
I’ll offer an extreme example of what I mean: If you are armed with the knowledge of crack cocaine and what using it will do to you then your answer if offered the stuff is an automatic “No”. There is no furthur discussion that could be used to change your mind.
This holds true for many things. Example: If one knows what he can afford and what he can’t afford then no amount of pursuasion could convince him otherwise. But if he is not convinced of what he can or cannot afford then he is at the mercy of fast-talking salesmen.
Again, knowledge is power.
Obama took crack. He graduated from Harvard.
Bush took cocaine. He graduated from Harvard.
Timothy Leary took LSD. He taught at Harvard.
William S Burroughs took everything. He went to Harvard.
Education, it seems, is a gate way drug itself.
Never trust. Only verify.
And it’s been thus forever. You just woke up and realized it recently.
I mean Edward Bernays’s book “Propaganda” pretty much lays out the rules in plain prose.
Do you honestly believe that breakfast is the best meal of the day?
If so, I have news for you. Bernays hoodwinked you silly.
But of course he came up with a wonderful sauce used in eggs Benedict and often put on asparagus.
Case in point: Bottled water
That’s more recent.
Whenever the more grandma types tell me that “breakfast is the best meal of the day”, I ask them if they’ve ever heard of Edward Bernays?
That man was the great evil genius of all time. And nobody’s even heard of him. That’s what makes him a genius!
“…govt. propaganda machine seem bigger than ever?”
This has to number among the most valuable weapons in a politician’s arsenal, as people tend to not get upset about problems which they are led to believe do not exist.
Conversely, the populace is easily manipulated by propaganda into taking costly and futile political actions to remedy problems they don’t actually have the power to solve (e.g. small-scale unilateral local efforts by Californians to mitigate global warming).
Indeed.
For, as we are so often told, there is no problem.
Nope, unemployment is not a problem, houses are all perfectly priced, and your government is there to help you. Hahahaha!
You’re soaking in it.
One thing I find interesting is this housing mess is the value of shame.
None of the neighbors know each other in these stucco villages thus they are not worried about shame.They dont talk to each other so the other neighbor have no clue what is going on. You use to be laughed at by your neighbors but now no one cares.
The thing I find most interesting about it is the level of oblivion which continues among otherwise well-educated people. I was talking with a professional statistician a few days back about the CA coastal housing situation; she has a brilliant grasp of the fanciest new methods of statistical analysis, but not a clue about the statistical reality that surrounds her of falling CA home prices.
Yup, Bernanke and Summers were successful; little people are easy.
That is what kills me on SFH neighborhoods. It was not that way for my family in the 60s and 70s. We knew a lot of our neighbors and had get-togethers often. When I buy my house, I will not be traveling for work anymore, but stay in the area (except for vacations).
I have the urge to make new friends wherever I go. I am very nice to people at work, but know enough not to overdo it. I am no yes-man. Even nice to the persistantly grumpy young guy on our team. So I can be that way with neighbors no matter their color or background as long as they are not criminals or disturb the peace after 10pm.
“It was not that way for my family in the 60s and 70s. We knew a lot of our neighbors and had get-togethers often.”
Back then most moms where stay at home and they got the other neighborhood moms. Kids came home after school and played with each other.
Fast forward to today: Mom has 1 or more jobs. Kids are in daycare. At the end of the day the only thing mom-n-dad have energy for is watching TV.
When are you supposed to meet the neighbors?
That’s what I miss most about growing up versus now; dad almost always had time after work for barbecue, tennis, whatever, as did the neighbors. Nowadays most who are lucky enough to be employed find themselves pushing the afternoon schedule to keep it that way…
Dad grew up in a world which was destroyed by WW2 and the US was the only player, and hence dad had no competition.
Point taken — one that I have often contemplated.
On the other hand, I did not have to tend chickens at 4am or weed a garden after school growing up in order to survive the way dad did.
I will also point out that Dad had lowered expectations. No McMansion, no new iGadget every year, no vacations in Cambodia.
Tiny house, backyard grill, communal dinners with neighbors, etc.
I believe that’s still possible if you are suitably counter-cultural.
I subscribe to that partially myself but not fully. I like my expensive camera lenses and opera tickets and I’m under no illusion that it takes a lot of effort to get these things. You like your expensive viola, and you too should be under no illusion about what it takes to get one.
One can’t have everything. One must choose.
I think most people on this blog have chosen well. There’s a logic that throws people together.
Nowadays parents spend all their time carting junior and princess to and from their scheduled practices, events and playdates. When we were kids, we created our own fun and games, and hoofed it there or road bikes. Our parents were in the backyard grilling.
“I will also point out that Dad had lowered expectations.”
Mom too. One of her best stories ever was the fun she and her siblings poked at the ‘flour sack drawers’ (underware made from burlap flour sacks) their parents made them wear during GD1. And nobody back then would have tried to force a home buyer to feed the squirrels; in fact, squirrels were considered a cheap protein source. Mom cared little for eating the squirrels and rabbits her pa’ bagged on his hunting trips; she found squirrel a bit too gamy for her taste.
Yep ,big propaganda machine is alive and kicking and it’s bigger than
ever . It’s gets pretty bad when they say they are giving both sides of the argument and the opinion is the same .
Even worse, both sides of the political aisle govern of the wankers by the wankers for the bankers…
BankerWankers?
Bwankers?
It’s GOOD to be the Banksta!
Look up CorprateLand 1/26/2011 When you wish upon a court… I liked this one.
http://www.markfiore.com/
CorporateLand is the forth selection in the picture bar Jan 2011. Well said with a twist of humor.
Corporate Communist Capitalism©®™ can be such a special thing, don’t you think?
Good rule to go by is look to the other parties self interest in anything they say .
The Romans said it best:
Cui bono? - Who profits?
Today we say “Follow the money.”
News flash: Mortgage delinquencies fall to lowest level since 2008.
Footnote: The percentage of mortgage loans somewhere in the foreclosure process during Q4.2010 was 4.63%, for the highest percentage since 1972.
Feb. 17, 2011, 10:02 a.m. EST
Foreclosures tie record high in fourth quarter
Mortgage delinquencies fall to lowest level since 2008
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — The percentage of mortgages in foreclosure tied a record high in the fourth quarter of 2010 even though mortgage delinquencies hit their lowest level since the end of 2008, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported on Thursday.
“As we had predicted last quarter, the percent of loans in the foreclosure process increased in the fourth quarter, largely due to the foreclosure paperwork issues that were being addressed in September and October. These issues caused a temporary halt in foreclosure sales, particularly in states with judicial foreclosure regimes, such as New Jersey, Florida, and Illinois,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president for single family research, in a news release.
“With fewer loans exiting the foreclosure process through sales, the foreclosure inventory rate naturally increased, even as fewer foreclosure starts meant that fewer loans entered the foreclosure process in the fourth quarter,” he said.
The percentage of mortgage loans somewhere in the foreclosure process was 4.63%, up from 4.39% in the third quarter and 4.58% in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to the MBA’s quarterly national delinquency survey. That ties for the highest percentage since 1972.
…
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=180433
In America we have these things called elections. After the 2008 election Barack Obama was having a discussion with Republican lawmakers where they were objecting to some of his plans. They asked him why they should negotiate with a wall, effectively, and his answer was simple:
“I won.”
Ok. Fair enough. Elections have consequences, right, and one of the key points that Barack Obama himself has put forward time and time again as justification for his alleged “mandate” was that he won the 2008 election.
Never mind that he lied about virtually everything he said he was going to do. Among other things he said he did not come to Washington to favor the banksters, but in point of fact he has provided more Lewinskis to them than Monica ever did to Bill Clinton. His so-called Attorney General, Eric “Place” Holder, can’t even find a felony to indict and prosecute when they’re apparently admitted to under oath before the FCIC.
It is clear at this point that the game is to run the Statute of Limitations so that prosecution becomes impossible. That is, for those who elected Barack Obama, you by doing so - yes, this includes me - provided every bankster a “never go to jail” card for what they did.
In fact, Angelo Mozilo had the criminal probe against him dropped yesterday, if reports are correct.
Of course McStain was going to do the same thing. So it’s not like we really had a choice between “D” and “R” in this regard, right? Well, no.
Tabbi’s latest article nailed it.
The Political Class runs this fraudulent show. Need I say more?
The Corporate Class runs this fraudulent show. Need I say more?
NAR statistics flawed? Say it ain’t so
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052970204442204576144550120098490.html?mod=BOL_hps_mag
Here’s an excerpt:
By way of example, according to the Realtors’ reckoning, existing-home sales last year declined 5%, to 4.9 million. By CoreLogic’s count, however, existing-home sales totaled a meager 3.6 million, a drop of 12% from the ‘09 total. The disparity between the two is also graphically evident in their respective gauges of the size of the inventory of unsold houses. The Realtors figure the overhang is around nine months worth of supply, but CoreLogic counts the visible inventory of homes with a “for sale” out in the front yard at 16 months. Normal is six or seven months.
…If current trends persist, those already sharply lower prices, CoreLogic predicts, by spring will be down more than 10% from last year’s comparable stretch.
Imagine that.
Don’t know if this was posted yet:
Google Maps Kills Foreclosure and Real Estate Listings
http://tinyurl.com/6jdewjh
I saw that the other day. It was actually may favorite search method — since I am neighborhood oriented it’s more efficient to take a bird’s eye look.
WHOA! I did not see that!
Son. Of. A. Biscuit! What bullcrap!
And I’ll be damned, they’ve killed all the other options as well.
Ah. hotpads.com has the feature for free, now.
NAR concedes they’ve been lying about sales for years.
What else has lying realtors been lying about?
I think you had better start with - what have realtors not been lying about these past several years.
Is it also possible that they were lying when they said it was a “good time to buy or sell a house?”
Hahaha….
Professor Bear,
What’s the name of your list on Amazon? The local Borders is closing down and I’m thinking that there might be some good bargins.
Thanks.
Here is a greedy version; take careful note of the evident deflation between the initial (crossed-out) list price, the revised list price, and the used book price … it’s a Kindle-era buyer’s markets for books
Zombie Economics: How Dead Ideas Still Walk among Us
by John Quiggin (Hardcover)
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$16.47In Stock.Offered by Amazon.com
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Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance
by Nouriel Roubini (Hardcover)
$27.95$18.45
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Bailout Nation, with New Post-Crisis Update: How Greed and Easy Money Corrupted Wall Street and Shook the World Economy
by Barry Ritholtz (Paperback)
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13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown
by Simon Johnson (Hardcover)
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ECONned: How Unenlightened Self Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism
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Prices and Production and Other Works On Money, the Business Cycle, and the Gold Standard
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P.S. Our local Borders is still open; maybe I will check whether others in the area are going to clear their book inventories at fire sale prices.
The trustees in bankruptcy may have to return the books to the publishers who are owed millions of dollars. Then again maybe they won’t want them back.
Does Borders buy the books from the publisher, get them on payment terms from the publisher, or are they just on consignment from the publisher?
More blah blah blah Re: vanishing BofaTrustees sales in Deschutes County as scheduled by Recontrust.
Down 99 again today from 377 yesterday to 278 today. Guess they will be refiling those at some point; maybe they are doing some “RECON” and are proceeding on vacant units first. Or they are proceeding with the least underwater props first. My wife’s is 100k underwater; so far that we are feeding off the bottom and working by grabbing the low lying fruit(Sub teaching, tutoring afterschool for me, wife is lunch lady; backup checker at supermarket)
Those are our best guesses as to why her sale has gone missing and our TS # search yields nothing. We were ready to let the bank have it on 3/18. We are engaging in something of foreclosure roulette; but trying to sneak a peak into the chamber without calling too much attention to ourselves. Cuz we WILL be giving the house up at some point. Wife borrowed money and is not paying it back. Simple as that; but the keystone cops antics are becoming downright entertaining.
Imagine rescheduling a meeting with client 5 times; then cancelling on them completely, then rescheduling them at your leisure. Not a very good business model if you were trying to get a client; that client would have found someone else to do the job long since. But we cant exactly ask for a new Repo man; so we relish their lack of followthru as we month-by-month recoup our downpayment of 80k. if it takes three years of free living; at least our down will be recouped.
Oh well, as grandpa said, “Never look a gift horse in the mouth” Meaning we don’t exactly know the value of this “gift” but we sure aint gonna quibble or dig deeper into the issue. 375 and growing reprieves since Oct.
Clackamas county also was at around 600 Recontrust sales in Oct. Down to 232 today. Falling like a barometer before a big storm! 370 granted indefinite reprieve! WTF???
So Bofa re-expediting sales is creating more delays. Yeah, that makes sense. Sure, they are selling some at the steps, but can’t keep up with the numbers, new NOD’s and then Trustees Sales must surely piling up behind this bottleneck.
How are they planning on addressing all the new defaulters entering the already clogged system plus the current backlogs not even being reassigned new dates yet? Maybe some legislative Drano will be applied to allow banks to release these props at current market valuations, so equilibrium can occur and be done with this disincentive mark to fantasy accounting. Followed by the ever so evasive return to prosperity that we Americans demand. If foreclosures were released I could even get back at slum,er..landlording.
Barn door left open…
All the horses ran away.
Hurry — close the door!
Maroons should have read this blog instead of engaging in so much group think…
CalPERS approves shift to less-risky real estate investments
February 15, 2011|Marc Lifsher, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Sacramento — After losing 42% of the value of its extensive real estate portfolio during the recession, the state’s biggest public pension fund has approved a formal plan to pursue a less risky investment strategy.
Board members of the $229-billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System endorsed a plan to shift away from residential properties, raw land and highly leveraged real estate investment trusts to so-called core holdings, mainly commercial office buildings.
…
FPSS —
Did I leave you a wide enough opening on this story?
You sure did.
Not commercial offices, no, these suckers are just asking for a poundin’!!!
I bet you they are gonna lose at least 25% more on their “real-estate investments”.
BWAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Annandale civic association elects dog as president
For more than 20 years, candidates running for office in the Hillbrook-Tall Oaks Civic Association in Annandale have stood, waved and received polite applause at the annual meeting in June. Everyone votes, eats ice cream, chats with neighbors and goes home.
This past election, to make the meeting move faster, only the names and qualifications of the candidates were announced. Running for president, Ms. Beatha Lee was described as a relatively new resident, interested in neighborhood activities and the outdoors, and who had experience in Maine overseeing an estate of 26 acres.
Though unfamiliar with Lee’s name, the crowd of about 50 raised their hands, assuming that the candidate was a civic-minded newcomer. These days, it’s hard to get anyone to volunteer to devote the time needed to serve as an officer. The slate that Lee headed was unanimously elected. Everyone ate ice cream, watched a karate demonstration and went home.
Only weeks later did many discover that their new president was, in fact, a dog.
I guess that explains the new ban on squirrels
She’s probably a Border Collie. They have boundless energy and they’re always looking for something to get into.
local observation. just past a mall on the south western part of nassua.ny. the parking lot lot was over flowing . i guess old habits are hard to break or is bernanke’s take on the stock market effect correct? what do you see locally?
Koch bothers? Koch bothers? Hmmm. Where have we heard that name before?
Koch Brothers Behind Wisconsin Effort To Kill Public Unions
http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/02/18/koch-brothers-behind-wisconsin-effort-to-kill-public-unions/
Mother Jones is reporting that much of the funding behind the Walker for Governor campaign came from none other than uber-conservatives, the infamous Koch Brothers.
What’s more, the plan to kill the unions is right out of the Koch Brothers play book.
Koch-backed groups like Americans for Prosperity, the Cato Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Reason Foundation have long taken a very antagonistic view toward public-sector unions. Several of these groups have urged the eradication of these unions. The Kochs also invited Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, an anti-union outfit, to a June 2010 confab in Aspen, Colorado;
OMG we can’t have people spending money to promote political views. We must immediately repeal the First Amendment.
I’ll remember that the next time(tomorrow) you squeal about trade unions.