Bits Bucket for April 2, 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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I just woke up from a nightmare that the Fed bailed out the Central Bank of Qaddafi.
WTF!? I guess I wasn’t dreaming, after all:
Fed loaned money to Libya during 2008 and now is at war to topple that same bank
April 1st, 2011 2:13 pm ET
Kenneth Schortgen Jr
Finance Examiner
The Fed has finally been forced to release information on institutions and banks that borrowed money during the height of the credit crisis, and the public now finds that Libya of all places, along with many other foreign banks, borrowed more money from the United States Federal Reserve than US banks and institutions did. Yet, the US government is now providing money and manpower to topple the same bank that they loaned money to in 2008.
The United States Federal Reserve undertook a program that extended far beyond their Congressional charter during the credit crisis when they allowed foreign banks, businesses, and governments to borrow US currency from our own central bank. The Fed’s charter is quite clear, and in no place within that charter does it say they can or are allowed to perform monetary lending to international institutions, organizations, businesses, or government entities. While they have the power to provide settlements between international central banks regarding US currency, any programs that allow borrowing to private foreign institutions could be considered ‘high crimes’ against the law of the United States.
…
Interesting. This type of news story tends to gain traction; remember Dubai Ports World?
The new Dodd-Frank financial law requires that this data be released after two years. Methinks that somebody is going to revisit that two-year delay.
This story should cause public and Congressional outrage, but instead, the slack-jaws who constitute 95% of the American public will blink incomprehensively, then go back to watching Teen Mom or DWTS. Ron Paul, predictably, is the only Republican who has issued a scathing denunciation of the Fed, which he is trying to audit.
When the price of gas, Big Macs, and cheap Chinese crap the sheeple buy at Wall Mart starts to soar, then and only then will they start to get riled up, and as usual they’ll blame the most convenient scapegoats, not the correct ones. But then Obama Rebranded or whatever neo-con stooge “captures” the Republican Presidential nomination will lull them back into complacency with new promises of “hope ‘n change,” and they’ll gratefully go back to watching tee vee and waiting for the new Prez to make everything all right.
A good way to sum it up. Unfortunately the next Republican to get the nomination could likely be a loon, same way we got Obummer. The two party system sponsored by corporate and individual blood money needs to stop.
Andy,
My guess is that Wall Street, realizing the current White House incumbent is totally subservient to their interests, has no real desire to see an Establishment GOP candidate replace him. Granted, the GOP marionette would be equally pliant, but all that turnover is bad for looting, er, business. So the GOP wing of the Republicrats will be “urged” to run someone like Michelle Bachmann, along with an even more polarizing (read: lunatic) VP. Kind of like McCrazy and Palin, but stepping it up a notch. The trouble being, of course, Wall Street may underestimate the sheer magnitude of the ignorance and gullibility of the US electorate - on vivid display in 2008 - and we may well end up with the “wrong” gruesome twosome in the White House. The horrors of the subsequent four years can only be imagined.
The two party system sponsored by corporate and individual blood money needs to stop.
I agree. And I’ve been doing a bit of thinking on this subject. To the point where I believe that the United States would be better served with four major parties:
1. Liberal Democratic or Progressive. This would encompass the far left wing of the current Democratic Party and at least some of the Greens. I think that a significant chunk of the Greens would still like to have their own party. But, IMHO, said Green Party would continue to be a minor player, much like the Libertarians.
2. Democratic. This would be the same as the current Democratic Party.
3. Some sort of party to embrace those who aren’t quite liberal enough to join the Democrats, but don’t feel a part of where the current Republican Party is going.
4. Conservative Party. For those who are satisfied with where the current Republican Party is going and want to see more of.
Worse than four more years of The One? Hard to imagine.
IMO the Conservative Party should be for those who AREN’T happy with the Republicans and corporate rule in general. But none if this matters because the people who do this stuff for a living are so good at co-opting movements that threaten the status quo. You could set this all up and within a few years it would be back to two groups at each other’s throats while both were being robbed blind.
Azslim, last time I checked, the U.S. Does have all those parties, and the entire spectrum is usually on the ballot in each state, including Arizona. I wrote in Ron Paul for POTUS in Arizona. If your candidate is not on the ballot, you can write their name in!
I am disappointed you obviously left out the libertarian-oriented folks, as if they don’t count.
I also cast my freedom to not sanction the election system (which boils down to two wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for lunch). In all late stages of republics, they become democracies. In all late stages of democracies, they become mobocracies. We are in a mobocracy, so I refuse to sanction it any longer, and did not vote in 2010.
“Worse than four more years of The One? Hard to imagine.”
Lower living standards and more religion, dead ahead.
So my choices are Socialism or religious nuttery?
We are in a mobocracy, so I refuse to sanction it any longer, and did not vote in 2010.
Bill,
I understand the sentiment. Obviously a lot of Americans, especially of the thinking variety, share your disgust with the corporate-owned Republicrat puppet show. However, not voting signals apathy to TPTB, whereas a write-in vote for Ron Paul or any other candidate who is standing up against big money-corrupted politics sends a message, futile though it may be (for now).
If Ron Paul had gained the active support of ten percent of the electorate, rather than five percent, it would’ve been a clear warning shot across the bow of the Vampire Squid and their Republicrat hirelings. Instead, the 30% of the electorate who actually voted gave the Wall Street financial pirates a green light to step up their economic warfare and swindles against the bottom 99.5% of the population, with all liabilities to be laid to the account of taxpayers (a dying breed) and unborn generations. Thank you, Obama and McCain supporters.
Since the zombie majority will always vote Establishment Republican or Democrat, it is even more paramount that the tiny minority still capable of independent thought, who are fed up with the co-option of America’s political process, make their voices heard.
what is a bummer is Obama is brilliant. he had a great public option plan of O-care, but it all changed once he got in office. What happened, what scared him into giving up the plan?
I’m open to the idea that Obama is brilliant, but I have yet to see evidence of it. He’s a good speaker, he can push lefty buttons pretty well with the semi-Clintonian “feel your pain” thing, but in the end…is he really brilliant? He seems like a nice guy and it would be fun to be able to hang out with him for a while and try to find out.
“Lower living standards and more religion, dead ahead.”
Seeing how the progressives are teaming up with the Islamic jihadists, I think we are already well on our way. Not sure how sharia law jives with any value system in this country, and I can’t understand this partnership unless it’s the whole “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” thing, where the enemy would be the western way of life.
So yeah, it appears we will be regressing quite rapidly…you will wish you only had to worry about bible thumpers.
“progressives are teaming up with the Islamic jihadists”
Evidence? Are there any Muslims that are not Islamic Jihadists?
Answer:
Max Baucus
“Evidence? Are there any Muslims that are not Islamic Jihadists?”
Fox News.
What if we have NO political parties, and instead, we vote for PEOPLE, not parties.
I think the whole “party” system, no matter how many “choices we are given, is designed specifically to herd people into groups so the PTB are better able to control us.
I’d rather have publicly-sponsored campaigns and debates, with full transparency of all candidates — their political history, any influence they’ve had, their current and past political and business affiliations, etc.
That was back when we were allies with Brittania. Now we are at war with them. (from the official Ministry of Truth press release by the Newspeak MSM agency)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/02/usa-fed-paul-idUSN0214517620110402?feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews&rpc=22&sp=true
Ron Paul plans to hold hearings on the Fed “loans” to foreign banks. Of course the Establishment Republicrats will bloviate, then quiety ensure the Federal Reserve-Wall Street looting syndicate is allowed to carry on unmolested.
Oh ,you mean those bogus kangaroo Courts that Congress or the Senate hold to make it look like they are doing their job .
Yeah, how’s that globalization workin out for ya?
February construction activity drops 1.4 percent
Construction spending falls for third month, pushing activity to lowest level since 1999
WASHINGTON (AP) — Builders started work on fewer homes, apartments and government projects in February, pushing construction activity down to the lowest level in more than a decade.
Construction spending tumbled for a third straight month, dropping 1.4 percent in February, the Commerce Department said Friday. The weakness pushed total activity down to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $760.6 billion, the smallest total since October 1999. That was below the previous recession low set back in August.
Activity at the February level is about half the $1.5 trillion pace that economists believe would signal a healthy construction sector. They think it could take up to four years for construction to fully recover from the bursting of a housing bubble that pushed the country into a deep recession.
The recession depressed demand for office buildings, hotels and shopping centers, further deepening the problems in construction. In addition, banks tightened lending standards, making it harder for builders to get financing for projects.
For February, private construction activity dropped 1.4 percent to an annual rate of $468 billion, the slowest pace for non-government building since April 1997.
This article came out on the eave of April 1, so it is hard to determine whether the bit about “improvements in home construction” is a joke. At the risk of befalling Barry Minkow’s fate for making negative remarks about the home building industry,
at least in my part of the county (known as North County), I’m missing it. Perhaps they are using invisible earth moving equipment?
I have noticed some newish-looking bubble-era pricing signs around new home construction areas early this year — the ones that say “From the $700s” on them.
San Diego econ index jumps record 1.9%
Improvements in home construction and employment indicate recovery is picking up steam
By Dean Calbreath, UNION-TRIBUNE
Originally published March 31, 2011 at 12:39 p.m., updated March 31, 2011 at 5:23 p.m.
San Diego’s leading economic indicators jumped by their highest level on record last month, driven by an improving job market and a pickup in home construction, the University of San Diego reported today.
“February’s record gain suggests a pickup in the pace of the local economic recovery, which has been slow,” said USD economist Alan Gin, who compiles the local index of economic indicators for the university’s Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate.
…
Surprisingly, even shockingly, there are three new starts in our community. First housing starts here in over a year.
Where we live, mountains of monstrous mansions are being erected from scratch. While others fall into delapidation; Stones falling off of stonework on a one time 2.6 million dollar shack. Others offered for rent ($5000/month; chasing it down now to $3200), some more to be had out of foreclosure or for short sale. Who would rent a mansion for 5000 per month in the Central Oregon Desert. If you have 60k(well I guess it is down to 37k but still not renting) to throw at housing per year, you may just want to buy cuz you can!
How many new starts? at least a dozen.
Admittedly; we live in “attached” product; not two blocks away are the where the new mansions are going up right next to and looking very similar to the next door unloved ones are.
in other news, Recontrust/BofA is starting to reschedule auctions at the courthouse steps. Remember they were down to zero due to a glitch caused by using MERS. They have 110 or so newly scheduled auctions for August.
30 auctions newly scheduled for 8-15; 10:00 A.M. sharp!
Have not seen my wife’s on the list. We were planning on leaving last November; since the bank has been sitting on its heels; scheduling 30x per day now; maybe we won’t have to leave in August either. But we are not planning on fighting, wife has not made a payment in 1 year…so it is only fair that we give this unpaid-for home back to the bank.
Problem is, there are 20 homes exactly like ours on the market now as folks try to get out from their vacation home “investments”. Guy next door brags that his unit(avail. for only 365k) has been used only 10x since 2007, a bald face lie as we have seen them come and go at least twice that much, but whatever. His real problem is price. They are moving very slowly at 200k; 365k for a lightly used one is no great deal! So it will take the bank awhile to unload wife’s unit even after it is left empty and undamaged. We would be happy to rent it back at about $1000 per month; but doubt the bank would see the sense of that. Empty homes show better, I guess. Empty communities?? we shall see.
I find it hysterical that builders and developers continue to build in the most distressed markets while a plethora of new and used homes sit on the market, with no buyers. The reasoning I continue to hear is “that’s what builders do, build,” but I can’t help but think their money would be better spent just about anywhere else. Heck, just shutting down operations might make more sense.
Gotta “stay in the game”. They all think that if they can just hang in there, all their competitors will disappear, and they will make bank, once the economy improves. Whenever that is.
Their problem is, all you need to be a “contractor” in the housing business, is a line of credit, and a hammer.
I find it hysterical that builders and developers continue to build in the most distressed markets while a plethora of new and used homes sit on the market, with no buyers.
I suppose it would be one thing to recognize that the wrong type of housing was built in the wrong place and to then build something different in a different location. But building more of the same in a market that’s already oversaturated with supply?
The fact that the condo has been left mostly empty does not make it “gently used”. It more likely makes it “exposed to the elements”. No one there to notice the leak in the roof that morphs into an indoor mold garden. A few coats of paint oughta cover that up long enough to get it sold.
US Fed loaned Libya-backed bank billions
(AFP) – 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve lent a Libyan state-backed bank billions of dollars during the financial crisis, documents made public on Thursday have revealed.
The Arab Bank Corporation, which is today 59.3 percent owned by the Libyan government, borrowed in slices as big as $1.175 billion from the US central bank.
At the time the bank was not majority owned by the Tripoli government; other shareholders included the Kuwait Investment Authority and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
The Bahrain-headquartered firm appears frequently in the Fed’s records of its emergency short-term lending facilities between March 2009 and March 2010.
Since then the United States has slapped sanctions on the Libyan regime and sought to isolate Moamer Kadhafi and his top lieutenants.
The Arab Bank Corporation, which is chaired by the head of Libya’s state investment fund, however is not subject to Libyan sanctions.
But some US lawmakers were incredulous about the Fed lending to the Libyan-government backed banks.
Democrat-allied Senator Bernie Sanders said the Fed made “46 emergency, low-interest loans” to the bank, providing a total of $26 billion in credit, though not at one time.
“It is incomprehensible to me that while creditworthy small businesses in Vermont and throughout the country could not receive affordable loans, the Federal Reserve was providing tens of billions of dollars in credit to a bank that is substantially owned by the Central Bank of Libya.”
…
And on a second note, I find it incomprehensible that a country awash in oil has to borrow money from anyone. Do we have any idea what the Libyans bought with the money they borrowed? Certainly not better living conditions for the citizens, as is now supremely evident. Perchance they were lending that money back to other entity at higher interest rates?
“I find it incomprehensible that a country awash in oil has to borrow money from anyone. Do we have any idea what the Libyans bought with the money they borrowed?”
Fed loans must be paid back the very next day, don’t they? So the Libyan bank probably didn’t “buy” anything tangible… just used the money for a little liquidity or arbitrage.
I think most of that money went into Gadhafi’s pockets.
“Ben Bernanke first achieved prominence through his academic work on the Great Depression that expanded on the work of Milton Friedman found in his Monetary History of the United States.[1] He remarked in a speech on his work:
“Let me end my talk by abusing slightly my status as an official representative of the Federal Reserve. I would like to say to Milton [Friedman] and Anna: Regarding the Great Depression. You’re right, we did it. We’re very sorry. But thanks to you, we won’t do it again. ”
Helicopter drops to anyone and everyone rich was Bernanke making sure the FED didn’t ‘do it again’, since monetarism basically holds that the Great Depression was caused by a contraction in the money supply.
oops, the above quote is from rationalwiki
“Let me end my talk by abusing slightly my status as an official representative of the Federal Reserve.”
It’s interesting to learn he openly admits to doing this.
Yeah, it’s probably not a good idea to tell the financial world, in advance, that if they really blow it you’ll flood their system with money.
I’m pretty sure it’s the other way around. The financial elites told their Republicrat hirelings to cover Wall Street’s bad bets by flooding the system with Bernanke Bucks.
Time and again the self-professed socialist Bernie Sanders speaks up in the public interest, while Establishment (read, Wall Street marionettes) Republicans and Democrats maintain a conspicuous, cowardly silence on the Fed’s misdeeds.
Bernie beilieves what he says. Unfortunately government has proven time and time again that they can’t be trusted and he wants more of it.
I like the guy on the other side of the aisle, Ron Paul. Unfortunately guys who believe what they say and intend to keep promises are few and far between.
“Bernie believes what he says.”
I share that problem with Bernie. It must be my scientific background.
I like Ron Paul as well, although I do not necessarily share his view that big business can largely be self-regulating - especially when they use their money, power, and influence to corrupt the political system and unload their liabilities onto a public that is clearly too dimwitted to look out for itself (with the vegetables who voted for hope ‘n change being a prime example). I don’t share Saunder’s politics, but respect his sincerity in trying to look out for the public interest & the general welfare, and hold the banksters and corporate cartels accountable for at least some of their depredations.
do not necessarily share his view that big business can largely be self-regulating - especially when they use their money, power, and influence to corrupt the political system and unload their liabilities onto a public
What a dream, knot!:
(Hwy50, presiding judge):
So, GoldenmanSucks Inc. this is now your 186th violation of various trading laws (that we’re aware of anywho) in the last year & 9 months. And you say: “we’re sorry, we won’t do it again, we didn’t mean to hurt anyone…”(think of the senator at the end of the Inside Job) And you want to plea and pay yet again another fine.
Wells eyes told you that anything AFTER your 185th plea, there would be a different, um….consequences… for your…repeated…bad behavior.
So, as of today, I’m… revoking…. your Corporate Inc. Charter. You can not renew it,… ever. Everyone listed in your senior management brochures is branded & banded from the MegaBankInc. Industry. Have a good day, be well, try to do good things from now on, but really, don’t bother to stay in touch.
(Snoopy hands Judge Hwy50 a giant rubber stamp):
(loud noise): SLAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!
(in red ink): REVOKED!
Bailiff Snoopy: BWAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Hwy50: “Bailiff Snoopy bring in the next “bidness”
contestantvictimcon-artistswindlergrifterum,…defendant.”Corporate defense lairyer Lucy Van Pelt: “Hwy50! you’re such a BLOCKHEAD!” …and your stupid beagle rolled in cat Sh#t!”
“In the United States, state law determines whether, and under what circumstances, a defendant may plead no contest. The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure only allow a nolo contendere plea to be entered with the court’s consent; before accepting the plea, the court is required to “consider the parties’ views and the public interest in the effective administration of justice.”
a conviction arising from a nolo contendere plea is subject to any and all penalties, fines, and forfeitures of a conviction from a guilty plea in the same case, and can be considered as an aggravating factor in future criminal actions. However, unlike a guilty plea, a defendant in a nolo contendere plea may not be required to allocute the charges. This means that a nolo contendere conviction typically may not be used to establish either negligence per se, malice, or whether the acts were committed at all in later civil proceedings related to the same set of facts as the criminal prosecution”
He was rehired to the same job a month later:
AS it focuses on patterns of behavior
IT focuses on patterns of behavior
FOCUSES on patterns of behavior
ON patterns of behavior
PATTERNS of behavior
patterns of behavior
patterns of behavior
patterns of behavior
patterns
OF
BEHAVIOR
Corruption is as corruption does.
On the other hand, perhaps it’s enough if only one Senator executes his duties with persistence and integrity?
Senator Grills Fed in Letter on Libyan Bank Bailout
Published April 01, 2011
A U.S. senator says he wants answers to why the Federal Reserve provided more than $26 billion in credit to an Arab intermediary for the Central Bank of Libya.
Sen. Bernie Sanders , D-Vt., sent a letter to the Federal Reserve that also demands to know why the Libyan-owned bank and two of its branches in New York were exempted from sanctions that the U.S. slapped on other Libyan businesses to isolate Col. Muammar Qaddafi.
“It is incomprehensible to me that while credit-worthy small businesses in Vermont and throughout the country could not receive affordable loans, the Federal Reserve was providing tens of billions of dollars in credit to a bank that is substantially owned by the Central Bank of Libya,” Sanders said in a written statement.
A Federal Reserve spokeswoman told FoxNews dot com that the central bank has received the letter and will respond. She declined to comment further.
In the letter to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and others, Sanders asked why the central bank made at least 46 emergency, low-interest loans to the Arab Banking Corp., in which the Central Bank of Libya owns a 59 percent stake.
…
On the other hand, perhaps it’s enough if only one Senator executes his duties with persistence and integrity?
http://www.dailypaul.com/160750/rand-paul-on-the-senate-floor-denouncing-obamas-unconstitutional-invasion-of-libya-video-at-link
There is at least one other Senator executing his duties with persistence & dignity. Dr. Rand Paul (Ron’s son) is almost alone in questioning the US military action against Libya, while the usual neo-con cheerleaders are trying to open up yet another quagmire.
Why do I think Cheney was involved, oh yeah, oil!
That was back when Ghadaffi and Obama were buddies sharing prawns and white-people jokes over dinner.
Or, the neo-cons wanted to reward him for his good behaviors after 911.
Khadaffi’s (however you spell it) “good behavior” started when he gave US and UK oil companies prime concessions on the Libyan oil patch. That covered a lot of previous sins. Until now.
“Khadaffi’s (however you spell it)”
You have hit on a problem with today’s technology.
One of the problems with accessing data bases (especially foreign data bases) is knowing how a term is spelled in the data base. According to accepted transliteration rules, his Arabic name, when transliterated into English, is Qathafi. All the variations make it hard, if not impossible, to get all the up-to-date info. (I get a lot of my information about what is happening in Libya from the live streaming of Libyan TV. Of course, you have to be able to understand Arabic (which I do) to understand what the commentators are saying.)
Forgive me, but that’s the least of our problems.
Yeah, so why does everyone keep stating that we are only bombing Libyan military bases as a way to get their oil? We already get their oil under Gadhafi. If Libya manages to form a truly free society with a democratic government, etc, then we will likely be paying more for their oil. We are certainly not doing this for the oil.
Too funny Liz.
Probably true as well.
(I take the Mel Brooks approach in that everybody is fair game)
Dark Forces Rising In Ireland
April 01, 2011 8:09 Source: What Is That Whistling Sound
The dark forces of Socialism are at it again in Ireland.
The Irish are going to regret getting tricked into joining the Euro along with the accompanying loss of sovereignty.
Property Tax To Be Imposed
THE Government has been ordered by the EU/IMF to impose a property tax on all homeowners within a year.
The controversial annual tax is expected to be announced in December’s Budget — even though it was not in the Programme for Government.
The imposition of the tax and the precise timeline for its roll-out are key requirements for Ireland to avail of the EU/IMF €85bn bailout package.
And the Department of the Environment confirmed that the tax will rise within a year of being introduced.
So if the IMF (International Monetary Fascists) provide funding to help Ireland “save” their irresponsible banks, everyone who is a property owner in Ireland will pay for it.
Where is the liberty in this?
Isn’t Socialism supposed to be the “caring” system of government?
Today it appears to be the “robbing the poor to give to the wealthy banker” type of government.
Before you cue the scary socialism music, wmbz, let’s remember that it was the average dumb Mick who threw caution to the wind and jumped head-first into Irelands massive ten-year housing bubble levitated on borrowed money. Yeah, the politicians were owned by the banks (per usual), and the banks were incredibly reckless in their borrowing and fraudulent in their accounting, but it was millions of irresponsible and greedy borrowers that blew up the bubble - not just sinister “socialist” schemers.
Just like it was on our side of the pond.
So…first the author says socialism is ‘rising’ in Ireland, then he ridicules the government’s actions by saying they’re not very ’socialist’. The logic, if there is any, puzzles me.
I think the author was eluding to the fact that so called socialists like so called conservatives generally don’t act on what they’re elected to do. Government rarely does anything well.
Government (liberal democracies, anyway) are only as good or bad as the people allow them to be. When a society devolves into IDIOCRACY, the political class tends to reflect that.
The current government of Ireland is center-right, so the author’s elusions to its socialism, and then the lack thereof, alludes me.
I see what you did there.
I appreciated that one, too.
Isn’t Socialism supposed to be the “caring” system of government?
Oversimplification, but what is happening in Ireland
IS NOT SOCIALISM. Corporate America/Wall Street have won when they get people talking about it in these terms.
It’s facism - Corporations and Banks controlling gov for their benefit. The same thing that is happening here.
‘The current government…is center-right, so…’
This is what I mean about labels being used to confuse and divide, to the point of being meaningless. Center or right of what? What the center was yesterday, or 2 years ago, or 20? Aren’t we perpetually conditioned as to what is “moderate?”
Here’s one example; what is left or right on foreign policy and the use of force in the US? “the September 25, 2001, War Powers memo by John Yoo…; “no statute can place any limits on the President’s determinations” as “these decisions, under our Constitution, are for the President alone to make.”
“Yesterday, Hillary Clinton told the House of Representatives that “the White House would forge ahead with military action in Libya even if Congress passed a resolution constraining the mission.”…”the administration would ignore any and all attempts by Congress to shackle President Obama’s power as commander in chief to make military and wartime decisions,” as such attempts would constitute “an unconstitutional encroachment on executive power.”
I don’t see any left or right here. How about the TARP thing; Was there really a left or right involved? Or globalism? Or central bank policy? Have you ever heard anyone say they were a “moderate” on Fed policy?
What really matters is what a person does, not what they call themselves or what others call them. People get so wore out by all this BS, you end up with the attitude Carl made here today:
“But none if this matters because the people who do this stuff for a living are so good at co-opting movements that threaten the status quo. You could set this all up and within a few years it would be back to two groups at each other’s throats while both were being robbed blind.”
IMO, all this is why we have such a hard time making positive change in this country.
Testify, Brother Ben. The RINO McCain and the “socialist” Obama both supported the Wall Street bailout. McCain promised FBs he’d “pay your mortgage.” Old labels have become meaningless, and are only used to mislead the sheeple.
Today’s “Right” and “Left” in the Establishment Democrat & Republican parties are nothing more than two hairy ass cheeks on either side of the same bunghole: predatory capitalism. Both parties are on the make and on the take. The sooner the clueless voters figure that out, the better.
TARP was sold as having anti-armageddonist appeal and marketed in a srong-arm extortionist type of fashion.
Yes, socialism has always been about gaining control over people in need. Still is.
Goldman Sachs Almost Doubles Blankfein Pay Package to $19 Million for 2010(AP)
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. awarded Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein $19 million in compensation for 2010, almost double the prior year, and granted him the first cash bonus in three years.
I’m sure they’ve got even richer conpensation lined up for their “former” employees who serve as the current Administrations economic “advisors,” and who arranged the Bernanke Put under the Ponzi stock market.
Interesting. My local newspaper reported it as only $5 million.
I thought that was a little low.
He should be drawn and quartered.
What’s the diff? Once you get past 5 mil in one year, is there really a way to spend it any faster?
Big boats, fast airplanes, nice helicopters, full time staff. 5 mil is chump change.
OK all you “yard dogs”, watch out for poison ivy; Im on my 3rd week of dealing with its effects. Its getting better but it takes a long time to ga away.
Be advised.
Spookwaffe- Continue to heal.What a bummer. Being an Ex-Girl Scout (until 16 yo), I’ve had the “pleasure” myself.
This isn’t April Fools:
Housing Prices Rise In Response to Reduced Supply, Higher Employment
http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/lee-adler/housing-prices-rise-in-response-to-reduced-supply-higher-employment
(Listing price is one thing, selling price is another.)
BS data. They are comparing the last three months. Well no $hit Sherlock, house listings and prices rise in Spring; I don’t recall getting flyers in the mail during the Janurary snowstorm.
However, I’m still afraid that housing at 4.5x income will be the new normal. All it took was a few precious jobs to start prime the propaganda pump.
But let’s see if those houses sell. Duration duration duration…. I hope.
oxide
Thanks for the calming effect. As inflation continues to kick in, what worries me as a buyer, is the effect it will have on housing. On the other hand, if people are dealing with double food, energy, etc… where’s the money to buy a home?
Your 4.5x income comment, has crossed my mind, too.
The UE stats have the life/death model in it, and other shenanigans, yet few in the media bring that point up. I guess that’s corporate owned media for you.
I need more coffee!
Well no $hit Sherlock, house listings and prices rise in Spring;
Well listings may rise, but prices needed to get a sale appear to be falling.
The condo above the one I was in a few years ago was listed in January for around $285k. Over the past few months I’ve watched a series of reductions that now have the listing price down to $230k. It would’ve gone for about $425k at the peak of the bubble in mid-2005 and a little over $100k in the late 1990’s.
It does appear prices are falling again rather substantially after a very modest rise in 2010, that is if one needs or wants to make a sale.
From the article:
“Case Shiller is the Alpo of housing market indicators. It just has that horribly stale smell all the time. Its current reading effectively represents pricing conditions as of mid to late October. Other measures like the NAR’s medium sales price and the FHFA index, as well as the Commerce Department’s new homes sale survey, all show prices hitting new lows.”
“Its current reading effectively represents pricing conditions as of mid to late October.”
But this is a desirable feature from a housing bubble sitter standpoint. By the time the Case-Shiller/S&P index announces that prices have declined for six straight periods, you know they have probably actually already declined for a full year running.
I haven’t seen any poison ivy from my third floor screened in balcony. Man I am a spoiled fat cat! Suburban modern apartment living can be so very carefree!
Sounds absolutely dreadful. You can have it.
Prednisone, my friend. Get yourself a prescription and it will clear up in short order.
Thanks for the tip. BTW– is it normal to lose your resistance to it as you get older? I never bothered to figure out what it looks like because I never had it growing up or in my 30s; now Ive had it twice in the last 5 years?
I filled about 5 trash bags with weeds and vines I cut down from the backyard driveway of a house a client bought. The next day the insides of my forearms started itching. I scratched and they turned red. then they got puffy and some were “weeping”. calamine lotion kinda works, but this stuff takes a long time to go away.
While searching for info I came across some pictures of people who had real bad reactions to it; some of them looked like gangreen (sp?)
yikes!
I don’t know about poison ivy specifically, but it is possible to develop allergies to items that did not affect you strongly when you were younger. My dad has to keep an epi pen on him for bee stings now and he sure didn’t have that reaction when he was younger.
It is also possible to get over allergies to some extent as you get older.
Spooky,
I will let you and everybody else in on a little poison oak/ivy rash prevention technique. If you think you’ve come in contact with the stuff get some vinegar (I use white vinegar for this task) and wipe down the area in question. If you get to it before it develops into a rash you are home free. Once the rash develops you’re in for the duration.
I used to get some serious cases when I was younger. Serious enough to have my eyes swollen shut for multiple days. Miserable experience for sure. I tried many so called remedies and the vinegar trick was the only one that worked.
I believe that any good organic solvent will work for the same purpose that SV guy mentions. The key is to remove the plant oils that are the irritant.
In other words, isopropyl alcohol, ethanol, methanol, acetone, etc will all work well. Commercially-available degreasers meant for skin contact like Fast Orange and similar products also would work well.
If you don’t get the oils off your skin, they continue to cause irritation.
Spookster,
Poison oak professional here. California hills are full of the stuff and when I get it, it goes systemic. As in have-to-go-to-hospital-to-avoid-going-blind, systemic.
At the first sign of tingling (do not wait until your evening shower,) wash thoroughly with TechnuOak/Ivy. (Available online. USFS uses it.) Get the urushiol OFF YOUR SKIN. It is the same stuff they made mustard gas out of, one TABLESPOON of which is enough to infect the entire planet.
Continue to wash following the directions on the bottle to a “t”, every time you feel an itching– it may take a week. Or two.
Second: Track down the source and get rid of it. Clothing? Pets? Steering wheel of your car? Get the oil off. Dump the clothes. Wipe down the tools. Shave the cat. Even dust can carry the oil.
Whatever you do, do NOT burn anything with the oil on it, or your lungs will not work.
Three:
This is weird, but it worked for me. Locate the plant in early spring just as it starts to bud. Eat ONE leaf. Wait for GI issues to subside. Next week eat another. And so on for at least a month until the plant is mature and leafy. As the plant develops, so will your resistance to the allergen. Supposedly.
Four:
Do what I did. Move to a higher, drier elevation and let someone who isn’t allergic do the brush clearance. If you must, use RoundUP in the early spring and let someone else pull the accursed stuff up and dispose of it.
If you do start to get blisters, get to a dermatologist ASAP! Prednisone MAY work for you, but you’ll have ‘roid rage for a month–although your abs may thank you. Best to stay away away away.
You’ve my sincere sympathies, hon. It will pass, but it may seem like an eternity, and you’ll look like a reptile for awhile. Hope this helps. Good luck!
I pulled weeds today. Gonna pull some more next weekend. Sorry about the ivy. I hate weeds.
Realtors Are Liars
So are drunks. Are REALTORS drunks?
Reminder: Lawrence Yun will be LIVE on C-SPAN Washington Journal tomorrow Sunday 4/3 at 8:30 ET taking calls, e-mails, tweets
I think you should change it to “All realtoRs are liars”.
My original range was in the low 200s. New strategy: lowball a solid 3/2 in the 120-140 range in a reasonable school district and plan on staying there for a long time. Budget cuts all over the country and legislation that grandfathers our professional services contracts pretty much guarantee we can’t move.
I am 99% certain my LL is going to jack our rent. Houses here are renting out at about 1,500/mo. and we pay 1,100.
I don’t know… I am starting to get crazy again. I am so tired of moving, especially with kids. My l’il guy is old enough to remember people and make friends and we’re getting close to throwing down stakes. Ugh.
Combo, again, tell me to go lie down somewhere.
Muggy,
I don’t know that I wouldn’t advise purchasing, especially if renting will cost you in the $1,500 range. Just know you’re likely to be underwater and there will be no real recovery anytime soon. If you’re OK with that and you’re nearly certain you don’t need to move, go for it.
I agree with Andy. Do the best you can on price and worst case, you have roots for the kids. We’re looking to buy, and know the house (in So Ca) will slowly still be leaking value, and we’re cash.
Sometimes, you make the best decision you can at the time. Life, like children, doesn’t come with a manual.
Take off all your clothes and roll around a bit in some poison ivy. It will help take your mind off your housing woes.
“Take off all your clothes and roll around a bit in some poison ivy. It will help take your mind off your housing woes.”
Belly laugh!
Muggy, I thought you were looking for a job in Rochester, then it was the ugly job, then it was Delaware or Pittsburgh. Shouldn’t you straighten out the job situation first before the house?
Sounds like he is making a decision that losing seniority is too risky given the current climate all over the country toward public education. I have to agree. People in my department are actually talking about the possibility of rifs (reduction in force) also called layoffs. It is sad to make decisions like that defensively, but a rational choice.
I feel really bad for the kids who just graduated in the past year or two.
Polly nailed it.
The jobs I have mentioned in previous weeks would be a promotion and increase in pay, but typically when you go from teacher to admin. you go on annual contract. As it is now, my wife and I are both settled/stable in our current district. Once both kids are out of daycare we’ll be saving again, but right now we’re month to month.
The job in Philly was filled while the job in Pittsburgh will not be filled, but I am still in the running for Wilmington. If I get the offer, I’m not sure I can afford to take it. Combined with the “tenure” situation, it looks like we’ll be here for a very long time. It’s either two teacher incomes, of one administrator income. In my district two board health care is crazy cheap, plus my wife really enjoys teaching and would go crazy if she stayed at home.
Off to find some poison ivy…
Muggy,
Sounds like a pretty decent plan. It sounds like there should be some relatively cheap inventory in your area, no?
Sucks about the rents going up; we’re seeing the same here.
BTW, we’re also in the same position, and have had to accept the fact that we will NOT be able to move for many years.
Best of luck to you!
Weird about rents going up. I have only seen them go down. That really sux.
I don’t know why anyone would buy a house right now, except the wealthy or those with the utmost job security. I’m not sold on this “recovery” one bit. If I were a relatively new teacher, the last thing I’d do is buy a house given the budget crises in so many states.
Muggy,
Renting forever is a guaranteed loser. I know about the added mobility, flexibility, blah, blah, blah of renting. Not condemning people who rent just pointing out the obvious.
If you find a place you can afford relatively easily and would be happy to reside there for a long time then go for it. Just think of the joy you will experience when you are screaming at little muggy to ‘watch out!’ while you are cleaning up dog$hit in your very own yard. These are priceless family moments that just can’t be recreated in a rental environment. Seriously though, the way I see it is I would rather pay off a primary residence and coast through my retirement years as opposed to casting my fate to the four winds.
Property taxes are the wildcard here so be forewarned.
‘just pointing out the obvious’
The person I mentioned here before with the VA loan just bought a house. It was a foreclosure, priced about $30k less than the surrounding houses, of which many are for sale. It’s very comparable to the house I rent, except I have acreage, and this house is priced about $150k higher. My rent is under $1300, his payment is over $2500, plus insurance, taxes, HOA and maintenance.
“Renting forever is a guaranteed loser.”
Renting is NOT a guaranteed loser.
You are ALWAYS going to be spending something on housing, even if you live in a paid-off house—think property taxes, maintainence, etc.
You have to compare the costs of renting with the costs of owning.
I do not believe the analysis is as clear-cut as you suggest.
In a place where renting is cheap, and buying is expensive, it might well cost less over your total lifetime to rent.
SV guy
I like your long term thinking/advice for a family guy like Muggy, and I can balance your opinion with Ben’s below.
The reason we are buying (mind you, we’re cash), is that we want to get rid of our housing nut for retirement, which we are closer too than most folks on the HBB. Our tax liability on a monthly basis should run $350-, plus other things. I agree about paying the house off, and having a roof over your head eventually. Long term planning in this very deep economic contraction is wise. There is more than one right answer, depending….
“Rent now, or be priced out forever…….”
Wouldn’t surprise me if the same people that screwed up the house-buying market didn’t transfer the game plan to the renter’s market.
Buy a house that is cheap and a good deal!
a buddy of mine is on vacation in Clearwater,Fl, said EVERYTHING is for sale. Made special note of the “ocean” of condo inventory below $75k…
I keep thinking it would be a smart move to get property along the Phoenix light rail. The easternmost part ends in Mesa. In that neighborhood you van buy a house for $55k, but it is a meth nest. How high would gas prices go up to before people look to mass transport?
Gilbert is one of the lowest crime communities in the U.S. but the light rail does not go that far east. One can take the light rail, go downtown to a pro baseball or basketball game, or to Sun Devil stadium for an ASU game. There are a few good resturants at some of the stops. So many possibilities!
Condos at $75K on the ocean still are no deal unless you’re wealthy. There are some condos by me that have $1,500 association dues. It boggles the mind why people would pay that in addition to taxes and interior insurance.
Are there $75k condos on the ocean?
On Singer Island you can do them around $100K to start. Move north or west and I’m sure $75K would be an option.
I’m asking if there are $75k condos actually on the ocean anywhere. I think the original post was that there was an ‘ocean’ of $75k and cheaper condos, but not that they were on the ocean.
I misread the post too!!
Wouldn’t it get wet?
There are condos on the ocean under $100k in Clearwater Beach. But, you get about 400 square feet and you are on a low floor facing the parking lot, not the ocean. And these “bargains ” are snapped up quick.
That being said, the above condos were over $200K 5 years ago.
Umm…”Bill near Tampa” is not me. I might have to call my name “Bill in Phoenix and Tampa.”
Reminds me of a book I read about the development of the M-1 Abrams.
Something like, “You could give the tank’s main gun away, if it meant you got a lifetime contract to supply ammunition.”
Reading stories like this one about Fl condo prices or the one yesterday about one out of seven Las Vegas homes lying vacant and those on the market selling for just over $100K makes me wonder if Coastal Cali will turn out to be the only part of the country which gets passed over by the return of affordable home prices?
You will not be passed over. Promise.
Anybody thinking about Clearwater needs to be VERY careful about which neighborhoods they buy/rent in. There are some serious crime problems in a few of them, and by day you’d have no idea…
Outer suburbs of DC are also starting to drop.
This one is back to 2002 pricing, but it would be a long way from the city. And it needs major work.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/26905-Howard-Chapel-Dr-Damascus-MD-20872/37270652_zpid/#{scid=hdp-site-map-bubble-details}
I’m still waiting a bit on duration duration duration for more selection. There were only about 5 listings for similar houses at similar pricing in this area. I’m not so familiar with this ares, but there should be more than that.
Yeah, needs work but has charm potential. Should be $120,000. $20,000 worth of fixes will get it to the right salable price of $140,000.
More importantly it’s got the sunny half-acre. Good homesteading potential.
It would be at least a half hour drive to the end of the Red Line, then another half hour train time downtown. But that’s for downtown. If you work in the outer burbs, it many not be too bad.
Bill, I think you’re right, the price should be somewhat lower, but it’s already lowballed as it is, for DC. I’m not eyeing this particular place, but if this bubble keeps popping, I expect to see about 50 of these types of properties to come online within 12-18 months, the time I’m looking to buy.
Awesome news, oxide (finally)!
I really hope it starts coming together there for you.
We’re still waiting here in San Diego.
Prices have been falling in San Diego for a long time, guys. They still haven’t gotten to the “affordable” mark yet, but they will, they will.
How far is that from DC? What’s the commuting time?
Way far. Damascus is almost in Frederick County. However, you’d only have to drive to Gaithersburg to hop on the Metro Red Line if your job was near a Metro stop. I can’t imagine what it would be like commuting by car all the way into DC or another destination inside the Beltway.
I did some work with a builder in some of the more fun areas of DC proper and I had to drive in just from Arlington. I never wish to do that again! If I could make it in an hour I was lucky.
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=183433
ROTFLMAO! The first (non-official) Obama campaign ad of 2012.
The sad thing is, the hope ‘n change lemmings from 2008 will be just as easily beguiled by Madison Avenue’s Obama Rebranded in 2012. There is nothing new under the sun.
I can’t help but think that we’re going to see something like the Reagan ‘84 “Morning in America” ads.
And, in Slim’s hometown of Pittsburgh, those ads became the target of some rather vicious satire. Too bad we didn’t have YouTube back then, because my friends and I would have had a field day.
Mope and exact change (minus a handling fee, Barney will provide the handling).
I’m moving to Toronto:
http://www.windsorstar.com/Toronto+Slutwalk+Sunday/4544917/story.html
Isn’t that every day in LA?
Haven’t been here lately, have you? Most gals carry a sack around their middle these days. Bikini town, my arse. Cover it up fellow females. Your flab and tattoos are fugly.
Oh, let them do it. They make the rest of us look better by comparison.
I’ve been going round and round with my two youngest about this.
They believe they should be able to dress and act like skanks, and yet, be treated with courtesy and respect by all men.
(OTOH, they both have this idea that their boyfriends shouldn’t even be LOOKING at other girls/women out in public, no matter how provocatively they may act or dress. The reality is that if a gal is going to hang stuff out in public, guys are GOING TO LOOK. And any guy who says he doesn’t is lying)
In a perfect, politically correct, western-liberal, no-testostrone world, this might be possible. We might even get there, a few hundred years from now.
The reality, ladies, is that we ain’t there yet. At best, it displays a poor sense of judgement on the female’s part. Too many pervs out there running around, to take a chance drawing attention to yourself.
Yeah, that’s the part a lot of girls don’t get. They don’t realize that some men are really just not_very_nice_guys. And the girls also don’t realize that they can not defend themselves. Too many action movies where some skinny chick is running around kicking asce against like 5 guys, and she’s wearing high heels too!
I just wish their parents would be a little more honest with them about that.
Came across a scam I was unfamiliar with while nosing around Massachusetts non-profits: Guaranty Agencies. The Massachusetts version is called American Student Assistance:
http://www.asa.org/
It’s 2008 IRS 990 lists revenues of 100,938,969 and salaries of 73,746,535. Twenty executives are listed as receiving over 150k in compensation, many in the 300k-400k range. Curiously a Google search of these executives returns little in the way of past employment, these folks keep a low profile, SOP for other student loan guarantors as well. I did however find some interesting information on the New Hampshire version.
“On May 21, René Drouin, the president and chief executive officer of the New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation (NHHEAF) Network Organizations, appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor to discuss reforms to the federal student aid programs. Drouin and the New Hampshire guaranty agency received heaps of praise from Representatives, who lauded them for fulfilling their charitable mission by establishing an educational foundation and providing a college planning center for Granite State students.
But no mention was given to the other ways guaranty agencies like NHHEAF spend their taxpayer subsidies, including how much they compensate top officials. Curious, we looked up the New Hampshire agency’s latest 990 tax form and found that Drouin had earned a salary in 2007 of $550,072, an amount that seemed high to us considering the agency’s size. So we decided to dig further and see how Drouin’s compensation compared to the leaders of the 34 other guaranty agencies. Using Guidestar, a repository of nonprofit tax filings, and assorted state and newspaper databases, we found compensation information for the highest paid employee at every agency except the Oklahoma Guaranteed Student Loan Program. That information is presented in the table below. ”
http://www.newamerica.net/blog/higher-ed-watch/2009/guaranty-agency-compensation-12515
Perhaps they keep a low profile for good reason:
René A. Drouin, a student-loan official in New Hampshire, came under scrutiny last month when it was revealed that he earned his bachelor’s from Kensington and his law degree from LaSalle University (a name that is easily confused with the venerable La Salle University in Philadelphia). The Louisiana institution made $36-million in seven years by offering degrees through the mail. Its owner was later sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud and tax-evasion charges.
A spokeswoman for Mr. Drouin, who is a member of an advisory committee to the U.S. Department of Education, says he had no way to know that the universities he attended were not legitimate. Besides, his spokeswoman says, his degrees didn’t help him get hired or promoted. He would have achieved just as much with only a high-school diploma, she says.
Why bother with college when a GED gets you 500 large ?
http://chronicle.com/article/Psst-Wanna-Buy-a-PhD-/24239
Here in AZ, the uproar is over the Fiesta Bowl buying off our politicians. Mind you, this game is about getting out of state students to come here to play a football game. Wish our legislators would feel the same level of concern for Arizona’s college students.
“Mind you, this game is about getting out of state students to come her to play a football game.”
Do these students spend any money while they are there? If so then the students from California to go home and take their money back with them.
Not a football fan, but I know the Alumni come out here in droves and spend quite a bit of cash on Food, Lodging and Entertainment.
Student loan official who scammed by on a fake degree.
Why am I not surprised?
Good find Hard rain.
his spokeswoman says
I reckon she can spell “Professional” & “Ethical” without any help whatsoever.
Okay?…Now its a “Jobs Boom”:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/04/02/2190707/jobs-boom-gives-hope-for-lasting.html
~170,000 new jobs a month must be created just to keep up with the regular growth in new workers.
So only about 10 more years to go just to replace the jobs that were lost in this last recession.
Are Realtors Liars?
Tomorrow, Sunday April 3, 8:30am ET, Lawrence Yun from the NAR will be LIVE on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal and taking calls, e-mails, tweets.
Let’s let him know what the HBB thinks…
Paging Exeter: This is your moment.
I’m open to ideas as far as questions for (fun)Yun.
50:1 says:
1. he doesn’t have a clue what the National Family income currently is.
2. Iffin’ he gives a number, any number (A.) it’ll be wrong (B.) it’ll be grossly OVER-guesstimated
Yun will do what experienced BS-artists do: When presented with numbers, he’ll simply present numbers of his own, from NAR research.
When faced with semi-complex arguments about how the current system is encouraging people to devastate their personal wealth, and funneling money to Wall Street (and NAR), he’ll respond with emotional appeals, about the American Dream and how every person should have the opportunity to own a home.
Plus, there will be a lot of shills calling in with softballs.
I’d be very, very surprised if the pattern diverges from what I’ve stated above.
Important detail which nobody should overlook: The emergency Fed discount window loans to the Central Bank of Libya have been repaid with interest. And no banker was left behind…
Bloomberg
Libya-Owned Bank Got 73 Loans From Fed Window After Lehman
April 01, 2011, 12:53 PM EDT
More From Businessweek
Foreign Banks Used Fed Secret Lifeline Most at Crisis Peak
JPMorgan Borrowed at Least $5.9 Billion From Fed Window
Dexia Drew Most From Discount Window in Record Week in 2008
BofA Kept Tapping Fed Loans After 2007 Show of ‘Leadership’
Fed Releases Discount-Window Loan Records Under Court Order
By Donal Griffin and Bob Ivry
(Updates with statement from Arab Banking Corp. starting in seventh paragraph. See EXT5 for stories on discount-window data.)
April 1 (Bloomberg) — Arab Banking Corp., the lender part- owned by the Central Bank of Libya, used a New York branch to get 73 loans from the U.S. Federal Reserve in the 18 months after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed.
The bank, then 29 percent-owned by the Libyan state, had aggregate borrowings in that period of $35 billion — while the largest single loan amount outstanding was $1.2 billion in July 2009, according to Fed data released yesterday. In October 2008, when lending to financial institutions by the central bank’s so-called discount window peaked at $111 billion, Arab Banking took repeated loans totaling more than $2 billion.
Fed officials say all the discount window loans made during the worst financial crisis since the 1930s have been repaid with interest.
…
With interest paid to whom?
The Fed’s profits (AFTER they get done spending as much as they care to spend) are returned to the US Treasury. So I guess the interest is paid to the taxpayers, sort of.
Except for that portion that they decided to spend, or lose/spend on manipulation of the markets.
The alternative was to NOT make the loans, which would have sparked all kinds of financial unpleasantries.
And if all those foreigners got fooked by their Wall Street investments, they wouldn’t screw around for a decade wading thru the US court system for redress. They would have latched onto any US owned investment they could lay their hands on, either by using local courts, or at gunpoint. All those billions/trillions that the banksters invested in overseas markets because of “better ROI” would have gone poof.
The short version: Another CYA plan for the banksters/multi-nationals/Top 5%ers.
The simplest answer is usually the right answer.
Bloomberg
JPMorgan Borrowed at Least $5.9 Billion From Fed Window
March 31, 2011, 6:13 PM EDT
More From Businessweek
By Dawn Kopecki
(Updates with comment from JPMorgan spokesman in the fourth paragraph. See EX5 for stories on Fed discount window data.)
March 31 (Bloomberg) — JPMorgan Chase & Co., the second- largest U.S. bank by assets, borrowed at least $5.9 billion from the Federal Reserve’s discount window over six months during the height of the financial crisis.
…
Foreign Banks Used Fed Secret Lifeline Most at Crisis Peak
April 01, 2011, 1:58 PM EDT
More From Businessweek
By Bradley Keoun and Craig Torres
April 1 (Bloomberg) — U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s two-year fight to shield crisis-squeezed banks from the stigma of revealing their public loans protected a lender to local governments in Belgium, a Japanese fishing-cooperative financier and a company part-owned by the Central Bank of Libya.
…
Looks like it’s time for USUncut to pick up this ball and run with it.
Poor, poor overtaxed and oppressed corporations!
I can’t speak past this lump in my throat. How they’ve suffered.
Stop it, that’s making me sad
I wonder if that Japanese fishing-cooperative financier could use a few emergency loans right about now?
Fed Let Brokers Turn Junk to Cash at Height of Financial Crisis
April 01, 2011, 12:04 AM EDT
By Matthew Leising
April 1 (Bloomberg) — At the height of the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve allowed the world’s largest banks to turn more than $118 billion in junk bonds, defaulted debt, securities of unknown ratings and stocks into cash.
Collateral of those asset types made up 72 percent of the total $164.3 billion in market-rate securities pledged to the Fed on Sept. 29, 2008, two weeks after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., according to documents released yesterday. The collateral backed $155.7 billion in loans on the largest day of borrowing from the Primary Dealer Credit Facility, which was created in March 2008 to provide loans to brokers as Bear Stearns Cos. collapsed.
…
Now THAT’S a yard sale!
This is the danger of selling debt:
1) I create a loan. I don’t care whether the borrower can pay it back.
2) I sell that loan.
3) Profit!
When the loan goes bad, the US government buys it off of the purchaser, giving said purchaser cash for its face value.
My God, it’s like being able to get actual cash for monopoly money I printed on my inkjet.
What an amazingly effective system for sucking wealth from the public treasury and funneling it to Wall Street.
Blame your politicians for it. They wrote the rules that allow it to exist.
BofA Kept Tapping Fed Loans After 2007 Show of ‘Leadership’
March 31, 2011, 3:59 PM EDT
More From Businessweek
By Hugh Son and Dakin Campbell
March 31 (Bloomberg) — Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. bank, tapped the Federal Reserve’s discount window two more times in August 2007 than previously disclosed, after saying it used the program only to help stabilize the financial system.
…
Wachovia Held $29 Billion in Fed’s Discount-Window Borrowing
March 31, 2011, 5:16 PM EDT
More From Businessweek
By Dakin Campbell
March 31 (Bloomberg) — Wachovia Corp., the bank later acquired by Wells Fargo & Co., carried a $29 billion balance at the Federal Reserve’s discount window over two days in October 2008 as the industry’s use of the program hit a record.
…
Hi. Everyone. I have not posted in over a year but have read occassionally. Yesterday’s commment about taxing “the rich” makes me write. I think the rich are fantasy like the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and Great Pumkin. My guess is that people who want to tax the rich mean everyone who has more than themselves. But what is rich? A couple making $250K but living in a high cost market say NY where they probably pay close to 50% of their income in city, state, and federal taxes? How about taxing everyone whose income is over $1 million per year? My guess is that there simply are not enough of them. You could tax them all at 90% and still come up short. How about taxing those mean nasty coroporations? GE is a favorite target since the news came out that it paid no income tax and got credits or refunds. GE pays millions in excise, property taxes, employment taxes, etc… GE shareholders (many of whom are pension funds) pay taxes on the dividents. Shareholdes who sell stock pay capital gains taxes. Additionally taxes are a business expense that get added to the price of every gallon of gas, loaf of bread, pair of shoes. I don’t feel better paying taxes even if they’re hidden in the prices of necessites. (Though free spending politicians like this method.) So I think the idea of transfering taxes to others like the rich or urber rich or corporations is just wishful thinking.
That’s why I never believed when Warren Buffet says he wants to pay higher taxes. What he really means that he wants everybody (including you and me) to pay higher taxes as well. Like you said there are far fewer millionaires than the middle-class and their incomes will conveniently disappear if you tax them at much higher rates.
Disclaimer. I am not uber rich or even rich. Income less than $100K and I live in a high cost market. My biggest expense? Not food, not clothing, not housing - TAXES.
I think the rich are fantasy like the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and Great Pumkin.
But just yesterday eco was claiming that there’s a strict definition for the “rich” in use by the BLS, IRS, and US Census Bureau!
I agree with you - it’s a nebulous term with subjective definitions. But it would appear there are some here who believe their definition is the one true definition. Perhaps they’d be kind enough to put it out there for us all to agree on?
How about the official definition? Would that do?
The IRS, Census and Bureau of Labor all have guidelines that constitute what is rich.
This is not a philosophical question.
Less than 10% of our population makes over 1 million a year. But it’s not the number of people, but the AMOUNT they make. An amount that dwarfs what the other 90% make… combined.
And it’s not just the rich, it’s large corporations that don’t pay their fair share either. http://www.usuncut.org
Heck, they don’t pay anything! And still get refunds!
Damn overpaid union janitors!
The IRS, Census and Bureau of Labor all have guidelines that constitute what is rich.
So you said yesterday, but didn’t back up with links. Please do so here, rather than asserting your opinions as if they were facts.
Note: “this is not a philosophical question” is an opinion, not a fact.
Links? Can you really not type .gov after each one?
Would you like a link to the weather websites so you can tell if it’s raining?
Links? Can you really not type .gov after each one?
Clearly I can. And I’ve looked. And I see no such definition. So, since you claim to have such information, perhaps you’d be kind enough to share?
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Rich
http://www.dictionary.reference.com/browse/poor
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wealthy
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rich
http://search.census.gov/search?q=wealthiest+americans&spell=1&output=xml_no_dtd&ie=UTF-8&client=default_frontend&proxystylesheet=default_frontend&site=census&access=p
http://search.irs.gov/web/query.html?col=allirs&charset=utf-8&qp=&qs=-Wct%3A%22Internal+Revenue+Manual%22&qc=&qm=0&rf=0&oq=&qt=+wealthiest+americans&search.x=0&search.y=0
http://www.bls.gov/search/?cx=011405714443654768953%3Abtgxl8qv780&cof=FORID%3A10%3BNB%3A1&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=wealthiest+americans&term.x=0&term.y=0&filter=0&sa=Search#179
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&safe=off&site=&source=hp&q=definition+of+wealthy&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=c4f9bf7f64efb33f
Shall I continue?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States
http://www.mybudget360.com/how-much-does-the-average-american-make-in-2010-household-income-new-data-100-million-make-less-than-40000/
forgive my lack of reading between the lines, eco, but nowhere in there do i see a definition of “rich”. I see stats on the wealthiest americans…but i fail to see how that leads to a clear-cut definition of “rich”.
Perhaps you (or someone else) can fill me in? You stated that the BLS, IRS, and Census Bureau had a definition of “rich.” I would love to see that. As far as I can see, these links do not support that, nor define rich in any way.
As it stands, your assertion appears to have no merit. Perhaps you shouldn’t present something as fact if you can’t back it up?
ecofeco,
Maybe I am not making my point clearly. Corporations / businesses don’t pay taxes. The corporations and businesses just act as tax collectors for the government. Taxes like all overhead (salaries, rent, raw materials) get passed along to the consumers whether individuals or other businesses or government / non profits. Saying let the corporations pay is like realtors saying it cost the buyer nothing to use a RE agents. Who brings the money to the table?
Corporations / businesses don’t pay taxes. The corporations and businesses just act as tax collectors for the government.
You are incorrect. There are corporate income taxes above and beyond transaction taxes. But if they are collecting them from their customers, but not paying it to government, isn’t there something wrong with that picture?
But why are they even collecting in the first place if they aren’t having to pay?
Of course there are corporate income taxes. They are figured into the business model. Corporations can’t print money out of thin air like the government.
Sure they can! And Enron proved it!
1. I’ll lump anyone who gets paid in stock and dividends into the rich catagory. Why because they get taxed at capital gains and dividend tax rates even though they receive the money for working, ie income. Why this issue alone doesn’t cause riots is beyond me.
2. The idea that all corporate taxes get passed onto the customer is pure BS. Prices are determined by supply and demand right. Profit is determined by Sales minus production costs and management. If Sales are fixed by the market then taxes will come out of management and profits.
3. Cutting corporate taxes is just another way of shifting the tax burden to the poor and middle class.
1. I’ll lump anyone who gets paid in stock and dividends into the rich catagory.
I appreciate this honesty. At least you are demonstrating that “rich” is a subjective term. I agree that it’s not right to tax passive income at a lower rate than income from labor.
2. The idea that all corporate taxes get passed onto the customer is pure BS. Prices are determined by supply and demand right. Profit is determined by Sales minus production costs and management. If Sales are fixed by the market then taxes will come out of management and profits.
3. Cutting corporate taxes is just another way of shifting the tax burden to the poor and middle class.
——————–
Bingo!
“Taxes like all overhead (salaries, rent, raw materials) get passed along to the consumers whether individuals or other businesses or government / non profits.”
When will the ignorant realize how ignorant this lie is?
Wow. Who is being ignorant here?
Anyone who believe the lie.
I think the rich are fantasy like the … and Great Pumkin.
Don’t mean to shatter your illu$ion, $pecially if it makes you feel all warm & cozy in$ide your mind.
(Hwy50 glances at the xmas calender sent by his millionaire tax expert brother, the one sportin’ his mug front & center)
(Hwy50 reflecting):
(There’s something reveling in that $h#t happy smirk of hi$, I first noticed it when he was teaching his lil’ brother how to play chess, neglecting to inform Hwy50 that once a pawn gets all the way across the board yous can turn it into a queen or rook or bishop. Hwy always seemed to lose $omehow. One day our BIL was watching and informed Hwy that his big brother hadn’t $xplained ALL…“The Rules”, yeah… I think that is when I first noticed that smirk of his, the one he’s still $portin’ today, earning hi$ income from fanta$y wealthy people & Corp’$ Inc. who don’t do their own low-income simple IR$ filing$)
THE GREAT PUMPKIN IS REAL!
I think over $250,000 per year for an individual, $500,000 for a couple, is a reasonable definition of rich*. At that point there should be an increase in the tax rate, maxing out at 50% of everything over $500,000 for an individual, $1,000,000 for a couple. That’s still way lower than the rates during most of the last half of the 20th century. And we still had rich people then.
Oh, and capital gains should be taxed at the same rate.
*If the area you live in makes that not much money, then make like a free market libertarian, and move.
250k annual income is generally the point at which one is considered rich in this country.
I don’t care how rich someone is long as they pay what they really owe in taxes, and don’t get out of their fair share with a multitude of creative loop holes.
That is the crux of the argument, fine be rich…as rich as you want, but everyone should shoulder the burden equally. I have a problem with you, if I’m paying more percentage or otherwise and I make less.
In my book that makes you a freeloader.
Exactly.
How can someone making a BILLION dollars pay only 15%?
What’s wrong with this picture?
“Oh, and capital gains should be taxed at the same rate.”
I agree that capital gains should be taxed at the same rate, but they should also be indexed to inflation.
If I put $100 in cash under my mattress, and take it back out in 10yrs, I still have $100 in cash even if some of its purchasing power has been stolen from me by the Fed.
If I put a stock worth $100 under my bed, and 10yrs later it is worth $150, but inflation makes it a wash in terms of purchasing power, why should I pay tax on the $50 “profit”? There is no real profit.
Taxing these phantom gains is essentially a property-tax when the gains are less than or equal to the rate of inflation.
How about stopping corruption? No more off shore tax shelters? No more subsidies for corporations? Are you OK with that?
Hey buddy…can ‘ya spare a trillion?
“The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an impressive aircraft: a fifth generation multirole fighter plane with stealth technology. It’s also a symbol of everything that’s wrong with defense spending in America.”
The F-35: A Weapon That Costs More Than Australia
http://tinyurl.com/4du5ftc
What’s the plan here?
How many more yet to be born brown kids do we plan to kill with these?
Lockheed as often been called the shadow government.
Google the DC-X Delta Clipper project if you really want to be depressed.
I googled it as suggested. While it certainly cost a lot more than I have in my bank account, the total sum pales in comparison to a single day’s worth of spending on bank bailouts. It sounds like they dropped a few hundred million on it, as opposed to 10 - 20 trillion on bank/RE/insurance “industry” welfare payments. IMHO, money spent on space flight research may eventually result in a handsome payback. The banking/RE/insurance welfare payments are a total waste of resources.
Yep. For a trillion dollars, we could have built a very nice moon base.
As for spaceflight ROI, it is currently at 13 to 1. For every dollar spent, 13 are created.
The example of the DC-X project was to illustrate that the smaller company had the superior solution AND an operational prototype, but Lockheed had nether yet still won the contract, and as not produced anything to date.
I think we could have built another moon for that price. With ocean-top condos.
Yeah, there’s always money for stuff like this.
Damn overpaid union janitors!
A trillion dollars? Think of all the teachers you could fire!!
Seriously though, here is another one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Independence_%28LCS-2%29
I have to say though, I’ve seen it in person, and it is $704 million dollars of cool.
Ah! The new littoral combat ships. I haven’t seen one personally, but have been following the different builds and they are pretty cool.
My Realtor buddy here in FL just told me that he thinks things are turning around. When asked why he replied that the number of short-sales and foreclosures available on the MLS in his area were way down from where they have recently been. I tried to explain that the phenomenon was merely the Robo-signing freeze hitting the pipe and that the backlog is actually increasing every week on top of the gigantic shadow that just keeps on growing. He had no idea what I was talking about and said “Well, I hope you are wrong”. I told him it wasn’t my prediction, it was REAL. I am sure he did not believe me. That is the type of individual we are dealing with here in the middle of “the Recovery”.
People are smart.
No, no, no.
That’s “People is be smart!”
Realize that the commission junkies usually have limited opportunities. Residential realty sales have typically been the province of housewives with kids in school helping out with the bills, so when I see a man (as the family breadwinner) filling these slots my warning lights flash.
“My Realtor buddy here in FL just told me that he thinks things are turning around. When asked why he replied that the number of short-sales and foreclosures available on the MLS in his area were way down from where they have recently been.”
I’d have to say they are UP in my area. So maybe the banks just refocused their attention temporarily. I’m still seeing 1-5 new listings each day in the two towns of interest to me. If that many are closing - which I doubt - its got to be mostly townhouses or condos (I don’t follow those nearly as closely as the SFRs).
Obviously, he hasn’t heard about the MERS fiasco, and the fact that the banks aren’t entirely certain that they can go to court, and show a chain of ownership.
Sometimes the storm passes, other times, it’s the eye of the hurricane.
Here’s a chart showing percent job losses in post WW2 recessions, aligned at maximum job losses:
http://cr4re.com/charts/charts.html#category=Employment&chart=JobLossesPercentAlignMar2011.jpg
Good find.
I notice each one since 1980 has been longer. If they do manage to print their way out of this one, the next one should really be a doozy.
+1 With globalism unemployment becomes an issue.
Exactly Carl. That’s exactly what will happen.
It is what happens when you have a 75% consumer driven economy, but continue to drive wages down at the same time.
Without bubbles to placate J6P, you will have serious trouble on your hands.
Many Tankxs! (Hwy was 17 in 1974,…eyes tryin’ to remember how much sexwax was then.)
(Hwy50’s
vehicle’ssleeping quarters: 1955 Studebaker & 1971 VW Bus)“Back in the early 1970’s, Zog began sporadically publishing an offbeat newspaper filled with humorous, fictional news articles and stories. Known as The Zog Newsletter, the tabloid was a mixture of political satire, zany social commentary, parody, and just plain ridiculous stuff. This was back before the era of Political Correctness, and any topic was fair game. Whether it was an ad for “The Silent Majority Toilet”, thrilling suspense stories, such as “Surf-Crazed Virgins of Deathtrap Reef”, and “I Was A Teenage Communist Nymphomaniac,” or medical (mis)advice from Nurse Nancy, the Newsletter had something to amuse and offend just about everyone.
Written entirely by Zog and his friends, the Newsletter was (as its banner proclaimed) “Distributed Free For the Benefit of Mankind”. The first few issues reached only a local readership, but later, when Zog started making sales runs to sell Sex Wax, the Newsletter made its way into surf shops up and down the California coast.”
Just passed through the town of Adelante, CA — “Land of Unlimited Possibilities.”
Nothing to see out here but Joshua trees, horned toads and thousands upon thousands of recently-built tract homes,
“…and thousands upon thousands of recently-built tract homes,”
Sounds like a great place to house the section-8 folks.
I’ve been advocating stringing up the razor wire around these developments, and turning them into minimum security prisons. Preferably to house all of the House bubble fraudsters/crooks, all the way up the food chain.
Make Angelo Mozilo Inmate #1.
No, his orangeness will rub off on all the houses like a virus. Better keep him contained.
So…you could say…each house comes with its own Joshua Tree?
So, suppose you are looking at a house to buy…….
Any way for a prospective buyer to find out if the place has a clear title/deed/note? I’m just a simple caveman, and all these real estate terms are confusing and scary, but I do know enough to know you don’t want to buy anything that high-dollar without clear “title”. Do you hire a Title Company to check it?
Or should I/we/they just assume anything financed post-2000 or thereabouts is screwed up, unless proven otherwise?
Great question that I’ve never seen addressed. Could that mean that I still legally own the house I sold in 2005?
* Document Number: 00000XXXXX
* Auction Date: Friday, February 18, 2011
* Auction Price: $383,400
* Buyer: BEAR STEARNS TRUST 2005-8
* Filing Date: Wednesday, February 9, 2011
I am looking at housing online, and I found this on a home in an area I am targeting. I left out the doc number due to legal paranoia.
Interesting.
Good Op-Ed in the WSJ about this issue. I’d really hate being a teen these days, it was hard enough being flat-chested in 7th grade (heck, today!) without the slut-wear:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703899704576204580623018562.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read
Ooops, this was in response to X-GSfixr comment way above…
SaladSD
I use to dress like a slut in HS, and quite frankly, I regret it. If you had the brains to bypass slut-wear, rejoice!
My mother was worthless and still is.
“Facts do not cease to exist just because they are ignored.” ~T.H. Huxley
“Opinions are not facts, no matter how strongly you believe them” - drumminj
Oh, I just realized I’ve been posting on the wrong date. Silly me.