Bits Bucket for April 27, 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.
About Me
Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
To donate by mail, or to otherwise contact this blogger, please send emails to: thehousingbubble@gmail.com
PayPal is a secure online payment method which accepts ALL major credit cards.
Links
-
April 2024 M T W T F S S « Sep 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Photo Submission: hbbphotos@gmail.com
View the HBB Photo Gallery *updated 4/13/2008
Bargain prices help reduce glut of foreclosures
WASHINGTON (AP) — A wave of foreclosures is forcing down home prices in most major U.S. cities. But economists and real estate agents are noticing what they call a key first step for any housing recovery: a drop in the glut of homes for sale in markets hit hardest by foreclosures.
Low prices are leading investors to snap up foreclosed homes in Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix and Tampa. Those cut-rate sales are reducing prices in the short run. Yet they’re also thinning the supply of homes — clearing the way for higher prices in the long run.
For some buyers, the deals are now too good to pass up. A studio apartment on the Las Vegas strip that cost $500,000 at the height of the housing boom is now selling for roughly one-third that price. Half the homes listed in the Tampa Bay area are selling for less than $100,000, not far from some of Florida’s top Gulf Coast beaches.
Such sales have helped shrink the combined supply of unsold homes in those five cities by 13 percent over the past year, according to local listing data analyzed by The Associated Press. Home prices in each of those markets are at or below 2002 levels, according to the latest reading of the Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller 20-city home price index.
“If we were to see several consecutive months of supply getting smaller, it would point to an improving housing market,” said Celia Chen, senior director at Moody’s Analytics. “Even if it is investors buying them, they are renting them out in hopes that prices in the next several years will rise.”
Economists caution that a second wave of foreclosures, those that have been delayed by banks and backlogged courts, could throw the housing market back into turmoil. And few see home prices rebounding before the end of this year.
“If we were to see several consecutive months of supply getting smaller, it would point to an improving housing market,” said Celia Chen, senior director at Moody’s Analytics. “Even if it is investors buying them, they are renting them out in hopes that prices in the next several years will rise.”
———————
Ah, yes…the “investors” who always signal the beginning of a healthy market.
What happens to these investors when prices do NOT go up in a few years, and when the renters decide not to pay (or can’t pay) their inflated rents? What if the renters destroy their precious “investments” so that they get a negative return on their investments?
Right now, buying rentals with cash is very tempting because people cannot earn enough on their savings/fixed income investments. Getting a 4-5% return on a rental looks good when you’re getting sub-1% in savings, but what happens if rates go to 7%? How many cash-laden investors will be “snapping up” those rentals with all the headaches of landlording for a mere 4-5% return?
ISTR predicting years ago that in the face of a decline of credit availability* the bottom would be set by semi-professional landlords (NOT failed flippers) once prices fell to a level to a price/rental return level that would cashflow. Of course to some extant, any investment is a speculative bet on the future, but like dividends, betting on future rents seems more likely to be successful than betting on future appreciation. And specuvestors are a part of the price finding mechanism. Although plenty who are betting on future appreciation are likely to end up as “moat fillers,” at some point there will be a bunch of small-medium landlords who pick up property at prices that will enable them to make solid returns.
*which due to unprecidented levels of intervention has been much slower than I anticipated.
Yes, buying RE makes more sense than almost anything else today. But that’s largely because of these low rates, which force investors to take on riskier bets for lower returns.
I agree that in some areas, rentals look like a good deal, but even in the lower-end areas, new landlords are asking for a premium, compared to historical (and affordable) rents in these areas. It’s only a matter of time before these renters decide not to pay the rent and/or destroy the properties. Also, the turn-over will be much higher, because renters will keep moving in order to find cheaper rent. IMHO, this will not end well for these “investors.”
And of course in many of the bubbliest areas, the huge oversupply of housing will eventually* depress rents. Especially as owner/occupied housing is converted to rentals. Look I know that I wouldn’t want to be a landlord, and that I don’t know enough to figure out whether housing would be a good investment. But watch what experienced small to medium landlords are doing, especially those who were smart enough to get out before the market tanked. When THEY start buying, the market is probably near bottom.
*That too, has been slower to occur than I would have thought, since much of the excess is still stuck in the “shadow” inventory of one form or another.
Your analysis assumes that the investors mentioned are acutally people who expect to be (and have the ability to be) long term landlords. They may be private equity funds hoping to find the next 20% annual returns investment. If so, they can’t meet the limited partners’ expectations off the “dividend” equivalent of basic rental income. They need the speculative end or they lose investors and go belly up.
Speculators betting on runaway appreciation will just end up being another round of moat fillers IMHO. I don’t have any idea whether todays cash buyers are speculators or prospective landlords. I just think that prices at the bottom is likely to be set by prospective landlords, and not owner occupiers. So figuring out which camp dominates today’s cash buyers will say alot about how near we are to bottom.
And the question remains: Is there enough shadow cash to buy up all the shadow inventory? My guess says: probably. How much you want to bet that, after unloading their original toxic loans on Fannie/Freddie, the likes of BoA and Wells Fargo will snap up their own former inventory — with clear title this time — for pennies on the dollar? Maybe they’ll use TARP money, thus adding irony to insult to injury. IMO this is economic treason, but hey, as long as its legal…
Big corporations really aren’t suited to being landlords for a bunch of individual properties. Yeah, they can probably invest in large apartment buildings, but renting out a bunch of SFHs really requires being a bit of a handyman, to save big money on maintenance, and being a good judge of character, to get tenants that don’t stiff you.
Big biz wants to control everything. Witness how they’ve made inroads over the past few decades into businesses that used to be mom-n-pop by nature: hair cut places, ice cream parlors, donut shops, restaurants, used car lots, art supplies, stationary, specialty auto repair, florists, pawn shops, etc.
I could see big biz setting up local “business units” to manage rental properties they own, with full time handymen and other employees on the payroll.
The trick is if they can buy the properties for cheap enough to get an acceptable ROI. I’m thinking that in some markets it might be possible. The real kicker is if they can find sufficient numbers of reliable renters.
The real kicker is if they can find sufficient numbers of reliable renters.
That is indeed a kicker.
I’m not meaning to disparage anyone here who rents, but there are quite a number of renters who are flakes. And, because they’re flakes, they’re always going to be renting here for a short while, falling behind on the rent, getting kicked out, and off to another place they go. Where the cycle repeats.
In short, they’re the folks who just can’t seem to get ahead in life. Quite often, this trait accompanies another one that can be labeled “I can’t get ahead, and it’s everyone else’s fault except mine.”
On sporadic trips to Manhattan over the last few years I have noticed that street food vendors seem to have accumulated under a few company umbrellas (pun intended) rather than all sole operator vendors. They also seem to be selling the same stuff at all locations. Perhaps a NYC type can elaborate.
Yeah, they can probably invest in large apartment buildings, but renting out a bunch of SFHs really requires being a bit of a handyman, to save big money on maintenance, and being a good judge of character, to get tenants that don’t stiff you.
My former landlady was of the handy variety. Gal could build or fix just about anything.
Her downfall was on the judgement of character. She was too easily swayed by people who would go on at great length about their faith.
Unfortunately, she was too slow to realize that people of that sort were often con artists. And her properties suffered for it. She really had to draw on her repair skills to bring them back up to snuff.
As for me, I’d be of the type to run every credit check, background check, and employer check that the law would allow. And I’d be of the mind to charge the maximum security deposit that AZ law permits.
But, hey, that’s just me. When it comes to business, I like to make money, not lose it. And, yes, landlording is a business.
“Maybe they’ll use TARP money, thus adding irony to insult to injury. IMO this is economic treason, but hey, as long as its legal…”
That’s what I have been expecting all along. Why else would Megabank, Inc be sitting on such a huge pile of cash, borrowed at rock-bottom, discriminatory interest rates from the Federal Reserve, instead of lending it out, if not to go on a fire-sale shopping spree once prices have bottomed out in a few years?
Ditto, PB. That’s been the plan all along, IMHO.
Real Estate Homeowners Solution Suggestion:
Save our Homes and Help the American Economy:
Foreclosures are continuing and those who were trying to hold on are losing their grip.
The common current scenario goes like this. People, who purchased homes as primary residences, from 2002 to 2007 in regional areas like Nevada and Florida, are in trouble through no fault of their own. They put down their savings and have a conservative 80% or lower loan to value, with a 15 or 30 year conventional mortgage, based on the purchase price market value at the time of purchase. This buyer profile consists of first time buyers, families, empty nesters, and retirees and soon to be retirees. Most did not take additional home equity loans and are now current in their payments and most all of these folks are upside down and after paying their mortgage for two to eight years. (They owe more on their mortgage then their home is worth today.) They are faced with not only losing their savings, (the initial down-payment and paid in principal) they are now faced with paying a mortgage that is not worth the value of their home and know that they can not sell their home in today’s market and recoup anything and lose everything. These are not folks that were irresponsible, they have good credit ratings and are caught in the middle even if they have a job and can afford a mortgage. So what do they do? They see foreclosures, short sales and even rentals for less then their mortgage payments. The home next door or down the street was sold by the bank for $100,000 less then their mortgage. It doesn’t make sense for them to keep paying. Their choice is to sell at the lower current market value get out from under the debt burden so that their home can be sold to a new purchaser at a much reduced price and the purchaser getting a bank loan at a new low interest rate with no money down. Great break if you are a first time home buyer with a job and you can wait six plus months for bank processing. But what about the current owners? They did all the right things and would love to weather out the storm based on hope, not of current value but future value. They can’t — risk is high and prices can go lower. Most cases the choice is Sell. Let someone else enjoy the fruits of their labors and we all lose.
Take a ride in any retirement community and count the”for sale” signs. These people planned, and very possibly could afford to hold on—but what for? They see their carefully planned savings flying out the window on eroded property values and start to prepare for public housing.
The Gen X and Y’s just starting out with a home and family. Even with a job and good credit know that their home values are not there. What to do now that they are starting out behind the eight ball.
OK. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Lending Banks are getting huge bail outs, plus government guarantees and urged to make new loans for new residential purchases most likely on foreclosed or short sale purchase since these are the homes that are the best indicators of current fair market value. Our small city figures indicated that 97% of the sales are either foreclosure or short sale. This sales process takes 6 to 12 months. As we all know the real estate market is Slow. This forebodes more and more foreclosures, lower property values and a continuing depression. The middle class gets squeezed again. Help!
The government should consider mandating Fannie, Freddie and current loan lenders lending the current homeowners and a new mort age at 1.5% interest, (the current inter-bank lending rate is close to zero) making 1% + .5% for administration (closing fees) for 5 years then adjust to current market rate 5 years hence, based on the future market value at that time. This would stop the foreclosure trend and give the housing market a chance to recuperate. Home prices would stabilize and hope would return to the economy. American homeowners would have faith and hope and the government and banks would be putting money where it really counts. Plus the cash up-front outlay would be far less then current remedy options.
Many statistics are available to back this up. Has anyone given this idea any serious thought?
Contrary to your claim, the buyers who bought during the bubble are indeed responsible for their own financial problems. It was clear that there was a housing bubble, and that people were out-bidding each other in the hopes that some other fool would later come along and pay even more than the bubble buyers did for their houses.
Sorry, they should have factored in the possibility of falling prices and unemployment, and they should have allocated money in their budget toward savings, etc. If they stretched their finances so they could profit from real estate, then they have to accept the risks that come with their decisions.
Taxpayers should NOT have to bail anyone out — not banks, and not foolish buyers who thought they would be “priced out forever.”
“Even if it is investors buying them, they are renting them out in hopes that prices in the next several years will rise.”
Good luck with that, investors. And, as they say in the military, hope is not a strategy unless you’re the chaplain.
“A studio apartment on the Las Vegas strip that cost $500,000 at the height of the housing boom is now selling for roughly one-third that price.”
A studio apartment in the desert? Call when when they are 50K.
Actually, don’t even bother.
Housing Crash 2.0 Is Accelerating ~ CNBC.com
House prices are falling again—and the decline is accelerating.
Today’s big housing numbers comes from the Case-Shiller home price indexes. The indexes, which measure how prices have changed over the previous three months, show prices falling in every major metropolitan area (except, weirdly, Detroit). The 20-city average declined 3.3 percent from a year ago, and 1.1 percent from the previous three-month average.
This is the seventh successive month of widespread price declines.
The housing recovery began to stall last spring, after the government’s home-buyer tax credit expired. The three-month moving average of the Case-Shiller 20-city index showed that gains in home pricing slowing to a crawl in early summer and actually reversing in July and August. By September, it was clear that home prices were going into a serious decline.
The November numbers (which are actually the three-month average of September, October and November) showed a 1 percent decline over the previous month. Prices kept dropping by 1 percent in December and January.
February’s data shows that the decline is actually accelerating a bit.
This is the opposite of a recovery—it’s a crash building steam.
“The indexes, which measure how prices have changed over the previous three months, show prices falling in every major metropolitian area (execept weirdly) Detroit.
Except weirdly, Detroit?
Lol, isn’t Detroit a city where one can buy a house for a dollar? Should one really expect a house that is priced for a dollar to experience a price collapse?
I’ll bet Bodie, CA is another place where the price of houses is not collapsing.
“Except weirdly, Detroit?”
Not really that weird:
1. The price of decent SFRs dipped below $20K — a steal so long as employment opportunities are available.
2. The bailed-out automotive industry offers at least some the prospect of employment in Motor City.
Yeah, you can’t limbo much lower than that.
“Yeah, you can’t limbo much lower than that.”
Technically, the market value of a home can drop below zero, if the cost of bringing it up to livable condition exceeds the market value for which it would sell after rehabilitation. I’m guessing that Ben Jones could offer myriad examples of homes in this status.
From my childhood, I recall driving through inner-city neighborhoods in St. Louis with countless homes in this kind of condition. The neighborhoods were in a kind of housing market black hole with respect to the condition of the homes and the desirability of the neighborhoods as places to live or raise families. Because of high crime rates, drug lords ruling the streets with gang warfare, a high percentage of area residents with substance abuse and criminal history issues, etc, the homes would not have sold for much even if they were in pristine condition. Hence there was no financial incentive to maintain them to livable standards. The only people who would be willing to live in these homes were those with no better choices they could afford; these unfortunate souls had to cope with dangerous surroundings, slumlords and substandard housing in exchange for affordable prices.
Later, when I studied Russian in college, I had a professor who was, shall we say, “just off the boat.” She was duly impressed with the inner city housing stock compared to what was available back in Russia, but puzzled by why so many homes were in such a decrepit condition.
Yeah, but the above post talked about “decent SFRs” being 20k, not marginally liveable cr@pboxes. Of course what constitutes “decent” is in the eye of the beholder. But 20k is a range where anybody who has a stable job and no serious health problems should be able to save up enough to be a cash buyer.
“But 20k is a range where anybody who has a stable job and no serious health problems should be able to save up enough to be a cash buyer.”
How many of your average paycheck-to paycheck Joe’s have 20K saved?
The $20k houses may be in decent condition, but what are the neighborhoods like? Crime rates, etc.
As evidenced by the numerous “no money down” auto lots around town - probably not very many. Another indicator is your local cell phone store - watch people haggle over every charge to keep their phone on.
(some cable channel needs to plant cameras at a busy cell phone store for a new reality show)
I doubt the under $500/wk crowd even have a savings account.
“Later, when I studied Russian in college, I had a professor who was, shall we say, “just off the boat.” She was duly impressed with the inner city housing stock compared to what was available back in Russia, but puzzled by why so many homes were in such a decrepit condition.”
I once had to explain to a russian girl who used to come visit me in the “hood” why the police stopped her a few times for questioning. She didn’t understand that they thought she was a prostitute. I had to explain to her that a white girl walking in the hood at night, not carrying anything fit the profile. She was pissed because the cops were very vague and never accused her of being one; they just asked her a bunch of question and made it clear she “looked suspicious”. I tired not to laugh. she said: “this is ilegalKGBonmeinAmerica!”
So that’s what’s been going on at the cell phone store. Lots of people at the counter standing there for a ages, it seems. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why I had to wait so long. I can’t see how they are haggling so much.
“The $20k houses may be in decent condition, but what are the neighborhoods like? Crime rates, etc.”
Insurance rates are higher where losses are expected.
A $20K house with $4K down payment is $106 a month. Easily afforded even with a McJob. Of course, the $4k down payment will be sticky.
Looks like we have hit bottom once again.
I remember very well moving from NC to Miami in late 2006 due to a large scale job relocation. I warned my colleagues at the time to stay clear of the Miami real estate market. Only one other guy was with me on that. Everybody else bought homes in the $700+K range. Real Estate only goes up. The bigger house I’ll buy the more money I will make when I sell it. Now is the time to buy or be priced out forever. Housing is the only way to achieve enough leverage to make a fortune….and the beat went on and on.
Fast forward to 2011. Nobody talks about housing anymore. Those $1 million homes have dropped maybe 35-45% with no relief in sight. The lower end (ghetto) has dropped about 80%. Your typical slum shack was $250, now its about $50K. Investors are buying those wholesale. Not sure what they will do with them. Ever tried to collect rent in the ghetto? I think most of those investors will be in for a rude awakening. The law in Miami is such that it takes about 6 month to evict a deadbeat. That’s what the deadbeats count on, then they sucker the next investor for 6 month free rent. Usually the deabeats also destroy their dwelling before moving out, so it takes 2 month and $10K to fix the place before letting the next deadbeat move in. I know 2 people here in Miami that were “real estate investors”. They’ve been belly aching many of times about their latest batch of tenants. My buddy rents the place to one elderly couple, next thing you know 3 grandkids and their families have moved in for a total of 16 people in a 3/2 house.
“Looks like we have hit bottom once again.”
How many more times will the serial bottom callers have to call a bottom before a bottom actually materializes?
I fully expect this nonsense to continue for years to come.
“Investors are buying those wholesale. Not sure what they will do with them.”
Slumlordering is the new black.
Investors don’t seem to take the negative household formation trend very seriously, do they?
I can see it now - Catch the new season of “Miami Landlord” tonight on HGTV!
This is the opposite of a recovery—it’s a crash building steam.
Relax, the market will get better after the Super Bowl.
Are Brasileiros familiar with the Super Bowl, or American Football for that matter?
Are Brasileiros familiar with the Super Bowl, or American Football for that matter?
Not too much but somewhat. They play two or three games on Sunday/Monday Night Football and some college games on cable.
I watched the Super Bowl at a Gringo tourist bar.
(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve kicked off a two-day meeting on Tuesday that will probably show that it is in no hurry to scale back its massive support for the economic recovery.
The central bank is expected to confirm that it will complete its $600 billion bond-buying program by the end of June and renew its commitment to maintain rock-bottom borrowing costs for “an extended period.”
Investors are now waiting to hear what the Fed will do after June. Signs from policymakers so far have mostly suggested it will wait and see how the fragile U.S. economic recovery develops before tightening monetary conditions.
All they have to do is engineer a little “crash” to scare the peeps and grease the skids for QE3. Gee whiz, why do they have to get all dramatic about it?
So far, the stock market is behaving as though QE3 is in the bag.
Well you can’t maintain “rock bottom interest rates” without a QE III. I think just like we did not call the tax cuts this year a stimulus program we will not use the terminology QE III. The Fed will just buy up all the treasury offerings it needs to maintain rock bottom interest rates. P.S don’t forget neither program is monetizing the debt. I know this because that is what the FED tells us. I can’t explain why it is not and the gold market seems confused too. Maybe that should be a question for the next news conference.
Along those lines, do you recall Henry Paulson’s toxic mortgage superfund site that he worked tirelessly to set up, to no avail (I believe it was referred to as an SIV). My Bernanke press conference question is, “Did the Fed decide to appropriate the role of toxic mortgage superfund site to its balance sheet, as a consequence of Henry Paulson’s failure to get his SIV up and running?”
Marsh Launches First-of-its Kind Dodd-Frank/FDIC Receivership Endorsement
To provide additional cover to executives and directors at financial companies, whose personal assets are now at greater risk as a result of expanded Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation authority, Marsh has created a new form of insurance protection that is designed to cover the costs associated with an FDIC receivership action.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Marsh-Launches-Firstofits-bw-2733912803.html?x=0&.v=1
Some how I don’t think the Banksters are too worried about the FDIC…
http://www.youtube.com/user/fiercefreeleancer
From the link:
“While the full ramifications of Dodd-Frank may not be known for years, it is clear that the FDIC’s dramatically expanded authority represents significant personal risks to executives, directors, and general partners of financial companies,” said Mark Cuoco, a managing director in Marsh’s FINPRO practice. “Marsh’s endorsement allows executives to protect their personal assets in an environment of increasing scrutiny of executive decision-making and compensation.”
Marsh’s new endorsement is designed to be part of a financial company’s existing directors and officers liability (D&O) policy and is underwritten and provided by two leading global insurers.
————————-
These filthy rodents can’t even take responsibility for their actions and behavior. If they can’t handle the responsibilities and liabilities, why are they being paid so much? Isn’t there supposed to be some kind of tie between risk and reward?
“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and money system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.”
~ Henry Ford
Maybe after Ben Bernanke meets the press today, some of the confusion about what the Fed is up to will be alleviated.
Most people can’t even understand rebates or comparison shopping.
Realtors Are Liars.
Phoenix Underwater Mortgages Show Housing’s Threat to Recovery
Bloomberg - Apr 27, 2011
Christine Johnson has reduced her spending on clothes, travel and home improvements — all so she can stay current on the house she bought in Phoenix at the peak of the housing bubble.
Johnson, 44, a professional photographer, owes $330,000 on a ranch home that she says might fetch $270,000 in today’s market. She’s also about $70,000 underwater on a rental property. “I’m nervous now. How am I going to make enough money to pay everything on time?” the single mother said in an interview. “I used to be able to spend money on clothes. I don’t buy anything anymore.”
One year ago, there were signs that housing was healing; new home sales were up and prices rising. Now, new home sales are below levels hit at the depth of the recession two years ago, and 23 percent of all borrowers — more than 11 million homeowners — owe lenders more than their homes are worth. The renewed weakness is keeping a lid on consumer confidence, consumption and growth.
“It keeps the recovery from being all that strong,” says Mark Vitner, senior economist for Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina. “We don’t see how the economy can get above 3 percent growth, except for a short period of time, with housing being so deeply underwater,” he said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-27/phoenix-underwater-mortgages-show-housing-s-threat-to-recovery.html
The ability of the woman to make her payments is the factor that determines whether she can keep her home or not, not the home’s value.
Does a person stop making payments on his car if the car’s value drops below what is stated in the Blue Book? No?
Q: Then why does a person stop making payments on his car?
A: It’s probably because he cannot afford to make the payments. It doesn’t matter what the VALUE of the car is, it only matters if he can make the payments or not.
Same with a house. Same with most anything.
Totally agree, combo.
The “rising housing prices are the key to a recovery” myth is getting old. Nothing would help our economy more than LOW housing prices. This would free up money that could be spent in the REAL economy.
Buying/selling houses for ever-higher prices is not productive. Whatever “wealth” is gained by the seller is offset by the debt taken on by the buyer. There is nothing good about rising housing prices. Nothing.
“This would free up money that could be spent in the REAL economy.”
It would also mobilize new entrants to the labor force, who could go to wherever the demand for their skills are most needed and afford to lay down roots there. Apparently our top economic genius leaders are unaware that there is a labor market out there which is effectively immobilized by high housing prices.
Lower house prices would benefit only renters and primary homeowners. People who bought more than 10 years ago already have payments low enough to spend other money in the real economy. People who bought or refi’d in the last 10 years would have to go through a foreclosure/BK and years of no credit before they could re-buy at the lower prices. The general population would benefit more from a crash in some other big expense like college tuition or health care costs.
Not that I think house prices should recover; they shouldn’t. In fact, I believe that HAMP should have helped FB’s to get out of their homes, not stay in. (Somebody mentioned this the other day. I agree. Perhaps some temporary change in BK law?)
But today’s buyers are the ones who are affected by the high prices. Yesterday’s buyers (or those from over 10 years ago) should not concern themselves with housing prices unless they want to sell, and if they’ve been responsible and not increased their mortgage burdens over the years (maybe paid the houses off?), then they are still going to be okay if housing prices don’t go up.
I think high housing prices hurt new entrants far more than they help long-time owners.
Agreed. But how far underwater she is affects whether it makes sense from an economic point of view to continue payments, or to go through foreclosure and possible bankruptcy. Of course the root problem is that it appears that she never had any reasonable prospect of paying her mortgages UNLESS housing appreciation continued. And it is protecting the lenders from recognizing huge losses on these loans that should never have been made that is at the root of the “house prices must go up to save the economy” meme.
Ms. Johnson “used to” afford clothes but now she can’t? That’s a telltale sign of an ARM reset and a jump in monthly nut, perhaps on both properties. They blame it on falling prices, but really, they waited too late to sell.
So many victim stories, so few victims.
Or that she can no longer use a HELOC as a substitute for income. Just another in a long list of “questions that didn’t get asked” stories.
Or that her income has tumbled. Or a combination of all the above.
Or that she can no longer use a HELOC as a substitute for income. Just another in a long list of “questions that didn’t get asked” stories.
One of my mentors in the business realm of photography is named Leslie Burns. (Go check out her Burns Auto Parts website — it’s a gas.)
Any-hoo, Leslie is very much against borrowing against the house. Doesn’t matter if it’s to start a photo biz or keep one going. You don’t borrow against your house.
A: It’s probably because he cannot afford to make the payments. It doesn’t matter what the VALUE of the car is, it only matters if he can make the payments or not.
There are a few big differences between an underwater house and an “upside down” car.
1) The amount of the negative equity. In the case of a car its proably just a few thousand dollars, as opposed to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars with a house.
2) Unless it’s brand new, the average car has only a few years left on its loan. Which means that the amortization will catch up with the car in a year or two, and in a couple of more years it will be paid for. Most underwater houses will still be underwater in 10 years and wil still have 10-20 years of payments left on the mortgage.
And the ammount of negative equity also distinguishes this RE bust from most earlier RE busts. In most earlier busts people were underwater a few thousand, not more than a years gross earnings, as is common now. If it weren’t for all the fools who think that double digit appreciation is just around the corner, we’d see alot more jingle mail.
Exactly. I’ve always asserted that these people will never recover financially unless they walk away. Remember…. these people paid double and triple what the houses are and were worth. Conversely, those who bought pre-bubble will always be able to fund retirement savings, etc.
Eventually, when reality penetrates their thick empty skulls, they will realize they’re nothing more than a hound dog chasing a Cadillac and give up. Capitulation.
~Realtors Are Liars
“We don’t see how the economy can get above 3 percent growth, except for a short period of time, with housing being so deeply underwater,”
Hint:
I’m sorry, I wanted to edit this down, but it’s too darn juicy. From the Bloomberg article:
========
Tom LeTendre, 47, a food services warehouse operations manager, and his wife Diane, 50, lived well in the years after their 1998 purchase of a $98,000 home on the west side of Phoenix. “We were very comfortable. We went to dinner when we felt like it. We bought the things we needed to enjoy life,” he said in an interview.
Over the next few years, as home prices rose, the LeTendres repeatedly borrowed against their home. They refinanced into an adjustable-rate mortgage for the final time in 2006, a year that saw Phoenix prices jump more than 40 percent. Today, with an annual household income of about $80,000, they owe about $260,000 and have stopped paying their mortgage. Homes in their neighborhood have sold recently for $45,000 to $65,000, according to Zillow.com.
…As recently as 2007, the LeTendres used their housing equity to pay a $25,000 dental bill, fund a Caribbean cruise and cover thousands of dollars in home improvements. Tom LeTendre, now hoping his bank will permit him to dump the house for whatever the market will bear and walk away, was a regular customer at the local Home Depot, spending freely as he took down an interior wall, extended a carport roof and did some cabinet work. He rarely patronizes the store these days; on his last visit, he spent $8. ”
===========
Nope sorry, no pity for these folks:
1. If they were “very comfortable,” then why did they need to HELOC to death? Sounds like they caught the uncomfortable greed bug.
2. I don’t buy the sob story about the dental bill. Say in 2000 they had an income of $60K or so. A $98K house is a monthly payment of ~650 PITI. Over the next booming 5 years, they couldn’t save $25K cash some other way? No emergency fund? No dental insurance at all?
3. If they owe $260, then they must have taken out at least $160K in cash. $25K dental and say $5K for the cruise. What IDIOT evidently has no emergency fund for his teeth, but puts $120K or so into a $98K house? And no, extending a carport roof doesn’t cost that much. (Carport? Why not a garage?)
4. Even after their irresponsibility, they have an income of $80K and owe $260K. That’s still only 3x income, which is fully affordable by anybody’s standards. No bank will allow them a short sale. I know I wouldn’t.
“Today, with an annual household income of about $80,000, they owe about $260,000 and have stopped paying their mortgage.”
Is this one of the households that the Obamanomics team is trying to help, at the expense of taxpayers who did not serially refinance their way to a life of large living?
Well of course the Obamanomics team is really trying to help those who were dumb enough to lend them the money without regard for their ability to service the loan. So we’re supposed to ensure that house prices rebound so that people won’t walk away from their debts to the TBTF crew on Wall Street.
We all know that these people won’t be “helped”. The programs exist for PR purposes only.
Today, with an annual household income of about $80,000, they owe about $260,000 and have stopped paying their mortgage
LOL, people in the Bay Area bought $800k houses with the same income.
$25K is a huge dental bill. It indicates major work. Like 12 crowns or implants or TMJ surgery. Unless prices have skyrocketed, I think even complete extraction and dentures would not be that much.
If it happened all in one year, most of it would probably not have been covered by insurance. Most dental insurance policies cap out at $1,500 per year per person.
I could have been cosmetic. I am not certain about procedures and prices for cosmetic work. Crowns, implants, and TMJ surgery are probably medically necessary.
If it happened all in one year, most of it would probably not have been covered by insurance. Most dental insurance policies cap out at $1,500 per year per person.
Yep..that’s what I’m dealing with. Two implants, two crowns, a total of about $15k. My insurance cap is $2500 annually.
But there are cheaper solutions to the problem, which is what I’ve done up to this point. Figured it’s time to bite the bullet and go with the “permanent” solution
Two implants, two crowns, a total of about $15k. My insurance cap is $2500 annually.
Take a dental vacation to a major Central or South American city.
“Johnson, 44, a professional photographer”
“I’m nervous now. How am I going to make enough money to pay everything on time?”
Wedding Budget
Dress $1,500.00
Reception Hall $1,500.00
Food $2,500.00
Flowers $400.00
Limo $300.00
Photographer $15,000.00
Just put disposable cameras at each table - that’s how you get the best* wedding pics anyway.
*best as in laughable/memorable
I know people who shoot weddings. And, to a man and woman, they’re good. And not cheap.
Is there still a demand for what they do? You bet there is. Many of them book up early in the year, which means that if you’re trying to get them for your June wedding, you’re too late.
Part of the secret of their success isn’t the camera skill. It’s the ability to work with very stressed out people in such a way that they are calmed down. (After all, getting married can be pretty nerve-wracking.)
Moi? I don’t do weddings. I’m just not that good of a therapist. And, when I’m shooting, I am a real fade-into-the-background nerd, which isn’t what you want to have at your wedding.
Hey Slim –
We got “mates rates” for our wedding in AU from a old friend of my wive. “OUCH”, said I, when I saw the check that I had to cut. And now we have to buy the pictures beyond the small book that we are getting? I feel a rip off…
In other OT, yet sad news, the $300 commuter bike with light, rear rack and computer that I scored off Craigslist was stolen from outside work. It was locked with a cable and the camera showed the guy cutting it and riding it away in about 12 seconds. It was right by where the smokers hang out. Thanks a lot, puffers!
That’s two bikes stolen in as many months. Green shoots!!!
It took me a while to score that deal, but at least I have a backup bike.
MrBubble
We got “mates rates” for our wedding in AU from a old friend of my wive. “OUCH”, said I, when I saw the check that I had to cut. And now we have to buy the pictures beyond the small book that we are getting?
What you’re describing is standard operating procedure in the event photography business. Which includes wedding photography.
I was just surprised by size of the bill. Cutting a check or paying in cash is just so much harder than using the card. Which is probably what The Man wanted…
Great photos though. It was a “recommitment ceremony: because we had already gotten hitched here at city hall. Amazing sun dial just outside of Perth on the beach with my best friend/partner, already pregnant. Ha ha!
MrBubble
She’s more pissed about the bike theft than I am, especially when I mentioned a figure like $600!
I’m sorry MrBubble. The loss of two bikes in a short time is horrible. One more casualty of a moral code that rewards theft and punishes thrift. Best wishes in finding an even better Craigslist deal this time. And a cable with electricity running through it that will kill anyone cutting into it.
San Diego RE Bear
Are you surviving the nasty tornado season this year alright? You may have seen my posts about how the St. Louis Airport twister passed four blocks away from my parent’s home…
I saw the post about the video at the airport - pretty incredible! Hope your parents are doing ok. Seems like a very unusual event for St. Louis, but don’t know how often they historically have been hit. Of course, it does mess up my theory that tornadoes don’t hit big towns, because if they did they wouldn’t have become big!
We’ve had a couple sirens go off but no real touch downs here. Rarely do from what I understand. Nice to be in a part of Kansas that doesn’t look/act like something from The Wizard of Oz! Some great electrical storms and some good rain. (Not enough for me, but I’m still thinking Seattle for retirement. :D)
Nice change - earthquake last Easter and lightening this Easter. Next Easter maybe I’ll visit Florida and try for a hurricane.
If you ever come out this way to visit the folks keep in mind I am going to try and talk Ben into a Midwest meet-up. Also, may be home for Comic-Con if I can find a decent airfare (finally got tix after 4 months of trying! Talk about a messed up system.) If so, hope we can do another So. Cal. meet-up as I miss the pomegranate martinis! Oh, and the great bubble discussions of course.
We’d love to see you again, SD RE Bear!
Mr. Bubble,
I’m so sorry to hear that your bike was stolen.
Hopefully, they will manage to find the thief. Best of luck to you in the search for yet another new bike.
Criminals suck!
I would be embarrassed to let anyone know stories like those.
Wow.
Like I said, I often defend J6P, but that kind of stupidity is why the PTB have such contempt for them.
Johnson, 44, a professional photographer, owes $330,000 on a ranch home that she says might fetch $270,000 in today’s market. She’s also about $70,000 underwater on a rental property. “I’m nervous now. How am I going to make enough money to pay everything on time?” the single mother said in an interview. “I used to be able to spend money on clothes. I don’t buy anything anymore.”
Oh, for pete’s sake, lady. You are a photographer. Which isn’t the easiest way to make money.
And that’s why you keep your expense footprint as small as possible. Not just in your professional life, but in your personal life. Don’t spend the money unless it will make you money.
This free advice is brought to you by Slim down in Tucson. Don’t ever let us meet face to face, because I will give you an earful.
And what sort of clothes does a pro photographer “spend money” on? Manolo Blahniks?
Me? Manolo Blahniks? No way! Matter of fact, I need just the opposite. I need footwear that I can walk around in all day.
Not to mention sturdy pants and shirts, because I don’t just shoot standing up. I kneel, crawl, even lie down on the ground.
Russian pot calls American kettle black:
April 20, 2011, 11:34 AM ET
Putin: U.S. Monetary Policy Is ‘Hooliganism’
By Ira Iosebashvili
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin slammed expansionary U.S. monetary policy, calling it “hooliganism”, in remarks that followed more veiled criticism from China after Standard & Poor’s Corp. cut the outlook on its U.S. debt rating this week.
“We see that everything is not so good for our friends in the States,” Putin told lawmakers Wednesday.
“Look at their trade balance, their debt, and budget. They turn on the printing press and flood the entire dollar zone — in other words, the whole world — with government bonds. There is no way we will act this way anytime soon. We don’t have the luxury of such hooliganism,” he said.
Even as Putin blamed the U.S. for printing money — something for which Russia was criticized during periods of hyperinflation in the 1990s — other Russian officials said there is no alternative to the U.S. dollar and declined to discuss cutting the country’s dollar holdings.
Russia has the world’s third-largest international reserves after China and Japan, with the biggest part in U.S. government debt. However, Russia appears to have cut its direct Treasury holdings significantly in recent months, according to data from the U.S. Treasury.
Russia can be seen as benefiting from the recent policy of the U.S. Federal Reserve, linked to higher commodity prices. But an increase in dollar supply and low interest rates could also lead to a commodities bubble that could wreak havoc on Russia’s finances if oil prices later collapse.
Moscow is also battling inflation, which the International Monetary Fund sees hitting 9.3% in 2011. In remarks to the lower house of parliament Wednesday, Putin said he sees inflation remaining below 7.5% if the country has a good harvest, following last year’s severe drought.
China earlier this week called on Washington to adopt “responsible” measures to protect its bond holders, in a cautiously worded response to the S&P decision that reflects Beijing’s awkward position as the U.S.’s biggest creditor.
One thing Russia learned from the financial crisis was to be “self-reliant, independent, and strong” in order to resist outside pressure, the Russian prime minister said.
“The weakness of the economy and the state, a lack of immunity to outside shocks, inevitably become a threat for national sovereignty,” Putin said. “In the modern world, those who are weak will get unambiguous advice from foreign visitors [over] which way to go and what policy course to pursue.”
…
Metro Denver home prices near “double dip” territory
Metro Denver home prices edged closer to “double dip” territory in February, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.
The Denver home price index, out Tuesday, stood at 121.26 in February, down 1.2 percent from January and 2.6 percent from a year ago. A similar decline in March would push the Denver index below the recent low of 120.21, reached in February 2009.
A broader 20-city index showed a 1.1 percent decline in February from January and a 3.3 percent decline from a year earlier, within a whisper of the low hit in April 2009.
denverpost {dot} com/business/ci_17936100
Bring it on! The 2BD/1BA on .17 acres in my nabe need to realize they aren’t going to get $175K anytime soon. Meanwhile, I rent…
Wonder how the value of my sis’s penthouse condo is holding up. I advised her against buying a couple of years back, but given its proximity to the Governor’s mansion, perhaps she is doing OK. At any rate, she can easily afford the monthly payments, so there is no real long-term financial concern.
It my b’day today….
Even though i don’t go to any house of worship this is still not right:
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Oak_Cliff_Church_s_A_C_Units_Stolen_Dallas-Fort_Worth-120755929.html
Oh J&J has plenty of Billions to buy foreign companies…while laying off Americans
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/JJ-to-buy-Synthes-for-216-rb-1293613758.html
Wow…
http://www.dailyjobcuts.com/
Happy birthday, aNYCdj!
Stealing A/C units both large and small is pretty common in Texas.
My neighbor approached me just the other day about extending our joint fence to enclose our air conditioners.
May the turntables of happiness spin you a great birthday!
Thank slim that was funnniee…
Happy Birthday, aNYCdj!
Great find on the dailyjobcuts site. Wow, indeed! Lots of schools and government jobs there.
Happy Birthday NYCdj!
I wrote you a rap song to celebrate this momentous occasion!
Oh. Wait. Never mind.
(And happy belated b-day Big V!)
Comment by Big V
2011-04-26 07:56:25
Yeah, Yensoy, your comments are not related to my point. If people in other countries have marketable skills, then they can find employment at one of the many local companies over there, right? Good for them.
Overseas sales are a tiny percentage of profit for US companies. US companies rely on high-paid and high-paying US consumers to fund their R&D costs, reliable legal environment, etc. In my industry, foreign consumers pay 10-50% of US prices. As long as the Americans are there to cover the base costs, then the company can make a little extra money by selling a few more units to some foreigners, but those foreigners can not afford to pay enough to support the company on their own. Get rid of the US middle class, and the US corporation goes down too.
Now, back to our potential. China can take care of itself, right? Inda too? Brazil, etc? Well, so can we. Let’s do that. The American Dream is HUGE, let’s live it. Bring US jobs back to US workers and get back to the days of prosperity that our forefathers worked so hard to create.
—————————-
This (in bold) is key. What many people don’t acknowledge is that we are a net importer. By (hypothetically) stopping most international trade (except for oil?), we would be better off than we are today, IMHO.
Also, foreign corporations set up plants here because they want to sell to Americans. Our corporations set up plants in foreign countries because they *want to sell to Americans,* but they want to hire cheap labor so that their margins are fatter. They don’t want to pay us the kind of wages we need to continue paying their prices without going into debt. That’s why we’re in the mess we’re in.
I agree with the others. The amount of exporting we do does not make up for the importing we do. We are growing poorer by the day because of this. “International trade” is good when you are selling/exporting more than you are buying/importing.
I’d rather pay twice as much for a well-made, product made in the USA, that lasts three times longer than its Chinese counterpart. We’d all be much better off because of it.
BTW, I agree with having plants set up in countries where we want to SELL to people in those countries — using local labor to sell to local customers. I do NOT agree with setting up plants in countries just to use the *cheap* local labor, while attempting to sell to U.S. citizens whose jobs have been off-shored by these very same companies.
Many American companies are making good money outside the USA. GM would be bankrupt (again) if not for China. Food companies - Coca cola, McD, Yum, Kraft do great outside the country. But more importantly growth, which is the underpinning of stock performance, is in foreign markets and not the US.
On the point “employ abroad for sales abroad”, I generally agree. There has to be some overall parity otherwise it’s unsustainable in the long run. For say Starbucks or McD’s employment is roughly localized to their outlets so it works out fine. I believe the big problem is in manufacturing where it’s mostly a one way street.
Are the raw materials — for example, chicken for Yum stores — also locally sourced, like the employees? If so, then the only effect that these “foreign” sales has on Americans is to contribute to the price of YUM stock. IE, it favors the rich who own stock. Generally, J6P is not affected at all. For Main Sreet trade purposes, would it really matter if Yum de-multi-nationalized into different units for each country?
It’s the one-way manufacturing that’s the kicker.
“Overseas sales are a tiny percentage of profit for US companies.”
Well, if they weren’t would they really want to talk about it in front of us?
Comment by wmbz
2011-04-26 03:08:05
‘Optimism’ In Housing?
25 Apr 2011 | By: Diana Olick CNBC Real Estate Reporter
“Thanks to all the streaming feeds of constant news I’m subjected to, I just clicked on a CNBC story titled, Four Years Later, Housing Market Shows Signs of Life.” I was curious, seeing as I write about housing for CNBC, and I didn’t write that. It’s a Reuters piece, and I don’t buy it.
But wait, what about this morning’s report of an 11 percent jump in sales of newly built homes and last week’s report of a 4 percent jump in sales of existing homes; March was a great month, right? A little perspective, please.
Yes, the numbers are going in the right direction, but only after big, albeit partially revised, drops in February. We’re working off a bottom here, and we’re still bumping around it. My concern, as it has been for years now, is distressed properties. Foreclosures and short sales (where the home is sold for less than the value of the mortgage) are ruling the roost, and that is not good news for home prices, which are still dropping, despite this one month of rising sales. Sales are all well and good, but prices are key in so so many ways.“
———————–
Again, we see the lie that, “foreclosures and short sales” are somehow not indicative of “market prices.”
Let’s try that in the other direction: all sales to people who have less than 20% down, with a 30-year FRM and a 28/33% DTI ratio, are not “market priced.”
Or, we could get really extreme and say that any sale requiring a mortgage is not “market” priced and cannot be used as a comp.
I just think it’s funny how people don’t seem to understand that these “distressed” sales are simply the unwinding of sales (and prices) that never should have existed in the first place.
‘Again, we see the lie that, “foreclosures and short sales” are somehow not indicative of “market prices.”’
Let’s try our best to lay this bullsh!t to rest:
1. If a foreclosure or short sale home sells for much less than a comparable non-distress sale home, and these comprise a substantial majority of sales, then this is where current market value resides.
2. Individuals not in foreclosure wishing to make an arm’s length, non-distress sale can list their homes forever at prices where they will never sell, if that is what they want to do; otherwise, they will have to compete with the flood of foreclosure homes, short sales, REOs, etc etc etc in order to find a buyer.
3. If a foreclosure home sells for less than a comparable non-foreclosure home because of maintenance issues (e.g., the foreclosed former owner left pigs inside the home, which left behind a bad stench), then the sale price should be assumed to reflect a discount for the disamenity.
Does that clear things up for the clueless MSM financial writers who never seem to get it?
Yes. At a deeper level, why the assumption that “good news for home prices” be considerd equivalant to “higher prices.” I wouldn’t object if they’s said “good news for home sellers.” The assumption that high prices are good, and not just good for sellers should be challenged at every occurance IMHO. Just like stocks, just like oil, just like ANYTHING ELSE WE PUT A PRICE ON, higher prices are good for sellers and bad for buyers.
Exactly.
They’re also not getting the slow (painfully slow) shift in buyer psychology from a house being an investment to being just another mundane necessity. That’s a shift that will only reinforce the points enumerated.
A mundane necessity that’s VERY expensive.
Well yeah, but consumers have a funny habit of getting especially stingy over the price of “needs” as opposed to the price of their “wants”. As housing moves in the collective conscience from a want to a need - those buyers will get even more price sensitive and the prescence of distressed comp sales will carry even more weight in their decisions.
Billionaire buys Hamptons mansion for $43.5million… then tears it down because it’s not big enough:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1380803/Billionaire-David-Tepper-buys-Hamptons-mansion-43-5m-tears-down.html#ixzz1KjE4orEa
A big-name paleoanthropologist gave a talk yesterday at UCSD. I was greatly heartened by the analogy he made between the threat of hyenas to African shepherds’ livestock and the risk posed by Wall Street investment bankers to average American households’ bank accounts.
There seems to be a growing perception in the U.S. intellectual community that our Wall Street bankers run a crime syndicate rather than a service industry. Such awareness may represent the seeds which will eventually sprout into green shoots of systemic overhaul necessary to restore the integrity of our financial system.
Sorry about the link; it’s still early, and I have only had one cup of coffee.
Perception? More like a fact finally being recognized.
There is a simple progression to all organized crime, albeit with obstacles.
1. Street hustle, which eventually evolves to:
2. Neighborhood vice control, which evolves to:
3. Area vice control, loan sharking and petty extortion, which evolves to:
4. skip several steps of ever increasing sophistication of distribution and financial crime, which evolves to:
5. Finding ways to launder money, which evolves to:
6. Eventually going legit, which eventually evolves to:
7. Go where the money is and rule bending is ignored:
Which would be? Financial services.
Cool story, PB.
Glad to hear word is getting out about our financial masters.
Birth Certificate released.
why did they fake the background?
Does that clear it up, or make things worse? Just sayin’…
my ameture eyes sees a few places it was doctored.
that makes it worse in my eyes, why not just show what they got as is?
My thought, exactly.
That has got to be the most phony looking ‘document’ I have ever seen. It was 1961, the term “african” would not have been the one used. No address for the mother. Fake as hell.
Yes. My sentiments too. There is something very very suspicious about this.
“African” hmmmm
real or not at least its PC
there was no “pc” back then. Things were more black and white.
Robo signer?
You guys are making Trump look like a genius.
Comment by liz pendens
2011-04-27 07:32:35
That has got to be the most phony looking ‘document’ I have ever seen. It was 1961, the term “african” would not have been the one used. No address for the mother. Fake as hell.
Exactly.
“African?”
Oh hell no!
Colored?—-yes
Negro?—- yes
Black—– Yes
This is nonsense.
Come on Bammy, you can do better than that.
This is a true global conspiracy. Honestly….. It can’t get anymore evil than this.
You spent some of your life’s moments “studying” this? Interesting life you have there… :-/
This subject alone has most likely given dick_Cheney a bulge in his crouch longer & harder than any blue pill Rash Limpbaughs could give him.
Oh, the dears that have lost sleep dwelling on this, the poor dears…
lil’ Opie (non-Hawaiian) the Nobel Prize money $huck$ter…lovin’ it! (It’s right up there with native American’s Federal Gov’t $ocial $ecurity $lot machine casino’$)
heheeeheeeheehaahaaahaaheeehaahaaa… (Hwy50™)
Has ‘Mitt’ (if that is his real name) Romney released his birth certificate yet? Exactly.
Was Mitt’s father Kenyan? I think not.
Can you prove it? Because clearly something suspicious is going on…
No, but Mitt’s dad wasn’t born in the U.S.
Aha! The plot thickens…An entire family of foreigners…
Where the heck is his birth certificate?!! Has anybody seen it?
The city of Detroit won’t release it. Very fishy if you ask me. Maybe he was really born in nearby Windsor, CANADA!!!!!
I thought his name was Milt as in Milton Romney? I don’t care as long as he wasn’t born in Kenya to a space alien.
I don’t think the planet Miranda makes you a space alien.
Think? You?
For those who did not know about the sci-fi movie Serenity. It is about a government that maybe liar would like. They take a number of people from the planet earth and resettle them on the planet Miranda. Then they pump a gas into the air to turn them into docile sheep like humans. Unfortunately, the gas works too well and most of them cannot even make the decision to eat, they are so calm (think Obama) but some of them turn extremely violent (think Rice and Clinton bombing Libya). Throw in one hot women and it is a great movie
Think?
BWHAHAHAHAHA
I think Obama is making me some decent coin ruining the dollar as I have predicted for years.
Think?
Mitt is his middle name. His first name is Willard.
His father was supposedly born in Mexico. I say supposedly because he ran for President.
So he’s an illegal anchor baby who goes by an alias? Jeez, this guy is frightening…
There is something very strange about this birth cert.
Why is it Barak Hussein Obama II instead of Jr.? Because Jr. sounds less presidential?.. the post he was groomed for since a child? And by whom?
Look at line 11. Father’s birthplace Kenya, EAST Africa. But in 1961 Kenya was in fact West of Hawaii. And Kenya did not become independent from Britain until 1963 a full 2 years AFTER Obama was born, thus making Obama’s father at the time a British subject? Subject to SIS (MI6) handling? What is this “special relationship” we always hear about between USA and Britain?
Look at line 19A. “Attendant” box checked is MD but it looks like it was erased, smudged in the process and re-checked MD at least once. Was the attendant an MD or not? Or was he something else? CIA? And look at the date signed. A full day AFTER the “birth certificate” was “signed” by the parent. Why the delay?
Look at the stamp in Boxes 20 and 22. The first stamp in 20 is angling upwards but the SAME stamp in 22 is angling downward. Was this a common practice in 1961 OR could this indicate nervousness on behalf of the stamper? And who would be the one who would stamp a 1961 Hawaii birth certificate and what was he nervous about?
Look at box 5b and at the “P.M.” why is the “M” lower than the “P”? If the “P” stands alone could that be a code word and what p word could that be? Palestine? Palestinian? Phony?
Something is not quite right here.
If the signatures are a day apart, then that would explain yensoy’s observation of two passes through the typewriter. I guess they had the baby but didn’t name him until a day later? There’s any number of explanations. People didn’t take as much care in 1961 because people were more trusting back then.
And why is it that rural tea-party types pride themselves on “doing bizness with a handshake,” but demand that an old birth certificate be bulletproof?
I think Congress needs to do a penetrating expose of this man and his questionable background.
And Kenya did not become independent from Britain until 1963 a full 2 years AFTER Obama was born,
1963 Kenyan Independence……From Great Britain. As did USA before. I can’t say too much more on this blog but 1963 was also the year Kennedy was assassinated and many theorize it was because Kennedy had wanted to end the Federal Reserve.
Think Federal Reserve……..
April 27, 2011 The Federal Reserve gives its first press conference in history.
April 27, 2011 Pres. Barack Obama releases the long form of his birth certificate. The same day……
1963, 2011…….When we subtract 1963 from 2011 we get a number. But if we subtract 2011 from 1963 we get a negative number.
Coincidence?
To keep the story going. I am more and more convinced it is misdirection as in a magic trick. He has something to hide but it is probably not where he was born. It may be his school records or who paid for his eduction but it probably is not where he was born.
He’s a green blooded vulcan born on the planet uranus I declare!
Be skeeerd Martha!! Load yer weeepun joonyer!
I think that Trump is now going after the true weak spot:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/04/27/trump_to_obama_now_release_your_college_records.html
You think?
I sent the following “tip” to CNN:
I’m not a birther or anything, but found something strange in the birth certificate.
I am rather familiar with manual typewriters. I know and can show that this birth certificate went through the typewriter twice. The second line where it says “Male X August 4″ was typed in one pass and the rest of the certificate was typed in another pass.
This might or might not be anything suspicious. Was it normal practice to type things this way back in 1961 in Hawaii?
If you blow it up to about 400%, you can see that the larger spaces in the words (capital O’s in the type face and the larger loops in the signatures) do have the background showing through. Any place where it doesn’t show up must be related to the scanning process. I’ve certainly had many similar issues with photocopiers that use scanning technology - small details get lost as the computer in the machine decides what to reproduce to make a readable copy.
Real BC or not, trump pwnd obama and the media. Time to send all of them to the unemployment line, they’re out of their league. I’m thinking cleaning toilets, it would be karma for all the sewage they spew.
Cramer tries to get serious…
Next thing you know, Cramer will join Trump in a presidential bid…
I don’t know about that, but he might be more entertaining as a treasury secretery than TT Timmy.
Well doh’…but also not qualified.
More instability in Egypt.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13204754
Of course the blowing up of the natural gas pipeline with raise oil demand. As I said in February: Egypt is to Iran as Obama is to Carter. He can blame speculators just like Mugabe and Hugo but the inflation in this country is due to his policies both foreign and domestic.
“Egypt is to Iran as Obama is to Carter.”
That’s heavy, dude.
Thanks dude. While you ponder that maybe you can figure out which one of them should handle the power saw when they both our building houses for Habitat for Humanity in 2013.
our= are
While you ponder that maybe you can figure out which one of them should handle the power saw when they both our building houses for Habitat for Humanity in 2013.
I said that Obama did not have much of a chance on re-election unless the republicans won big in 2010.
Now that the GOP has some real power, Americans will start to see the contrasts. There is already a backlash starting building the House proposed GOP budget cuts to be born on the back of the old and poor.
Republicans are all tough individualists until you try to move their cheese.
At this point, I see Obama being re-elected. Too bad when we need a real populist in that office.
I’ve known people who’ve worked with Jimmy Carter on Habitat projects. Guy is a real taskmaster. He doesn’t tolerate slackers or goggle-eyed admirers on his crew. If you work alongside him, you’d better work until the job is done.
I personally feel that history will look more favorably on Carter than on the idol of the taint-licking Reagan worshipers who seem to be bursting from the woodwork here.
Carter tried to get us less dependent on foreign oil, tried to decrease general energy consumption through conservation and nascent (but not yet economic - true) renewable energy, tried to deal with very sensitive water-rights issues in the western US, tried to get us off of an antiquated measurement system, killed funding for wasteful military programs, helped to regulate strip mining, worked for the Camp David Accords, signed SALT II and after his presidency, he has been a tireless force for change (for the better) on the planet.
He kind of got boned by an Iran who was pissed at our constant meddling, an OPEC that didn’t yet understand that global prosperity, oil and the money coming into their countries were linked, congress-people who didn’t like he messed with water, image problems associated with “giving away” the Panama canal, “malaise”, high gas prices and other things.
But Carter has been pilloried for so long, and that denigration so parroted that no one stops to question it. He promised never to lie to us and hated back-room deals and for that, he was punished.
MrBubble
“Republicans are all tough individualists until you try to move their cheese.”
You mean like how the guys who work at the defense contracting firms shake their fists a runaway government spending, but howl at the mere suggestion of their pork barrel be cancelled.
You mean like how the guys who work at the defense contracting firms shake their fists a runaway government spending, but howl at the mere suggestion of their pork barrel be cancelled.
We have more than a few of them here in Tucson. And, surprise-surprise, they’re quite well represented out at the Raytheon plant. (Yup, Raytheon is a defense contractor.)
…he has been a tireless force for change (for the better) on the planet.
That was great MrBubble! Tankxs & Cheers!
(you think American’s have forgiven him for, … “lusting”?)
But Carter has been pilloried for so long, and that denigration so parroted that no one stops to question it. He promised never to lie to us and hated back-room deals and for that, he was punished.
MrBubble
————————
Thank you for that post, MrBubble. I could not agree with you more.
“but the inflation in this country is due to his policies both foreign and domestic.”
Is Obama in charge of the Fed’s monetary policy?
Good question — maybe one for someone to ask at the Bernanke press conference.
Is Obama in charge of the Fed’s monetary policy?
No but the people in charge of Obama are in charge of the FED monetary policy. They were also in charge of GW, Clinton etc.
The problem in this country is not the gov it’s the fact that our gov is a puppet to the corporate and financial elite.
Did he reappoint the FED Chairman? I guess he could not have known that someone nicknamed “helicopter Ben” and had bailed out the banks and had an easy money policy under Bush would continue easy money. I guess that would be hard to see Alpha. It is the darn speculators that are causing all the trouble anyway.
Did he reappoint the FED Chairman? I guess he could not have known that someone nicknamed “helicopter Ben” and had bailed out the banks and had an easy money policy under Bush would continue easy money.
Indeed he did.
And, after Obama re-appointed Bernanke, the Senate confirmation vote was 70 in favor and 30 opposed. That’s the highest number of opposing votes for any Fed chairman’s confirmation.
China-bashing Trump’s clothing line made in China
http://mobile.salon.com/politics/war_room/2011/04/27/trump_made_in_china
So it’s at least ironic — and at most an example of gro$$ hypocri$y — that sT
rump’s own line of men’s wear, the Donald J. sTrump $ignature Collection, is manufactured in China.“TrueDeceiver’$™” + “TrueHypocrite’$™” = “TruePathtoPro$perity™”
The spring buying season may be upon us, but it apparently wasn’t enough to save one local real estate company.
~Knoxnews
Kent Leadbetter, the principal broker at Rocky Top Realty Inc., told the Scope on Tuesday that the firm is closing. There is more than one Rocky Top Realty in Knoxville, but Leadbetter said his company, which is on Dutch Valley Drive, has around 60 agents.
“We’re at a point right now that we have no cash coming in, zilch,” he said.
Leadbetter said he’s never seen anything like the current market.
One of his agents, he said, consistently made $200,000 every year and sometimes more, but last year earned only $960.
A few weeks back, the Scope talked to some brokers who expressed optimism about residential activity levels, but so far that hasn’t translated into a flood of deals. According to the latest data from the Knoxville Area Association of Realtors, the number of single-family homes and condos sold in March was 792, down more than 15 percent from March of 2010.
Leadbetter, the principal broker at Rocky Top, said he will encourage his agents to go to another local firm, Realty Executives, and said he’ll probably do the same.
But he also owns another business that has gone in the opposite direction - that home health care business, he said, is “really doing well.”
One of his agents, he said, consistently made $200,000 every year and sometimes more, but last year earned only $960.
I can remember when real estate was something you did if your hubby had a nice job and you wanted some spending money of your own. One of my next door neighbors did that back in the seventies.
Then there were teachers who did real estate during the summer months. More than a few of my mother’s colleagues did that.
No problem, their central bank can just print their way back to positive.
S&P downgrades Japan’s outlook to ‘negative’
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Standard & Poor’s has revised Japan’s credit rating outlook to “negative,” blaming the crisis triggered by last month’s earthquake.
S&P said late Tuesday that its revision to the nation’s outlook, to “negative” from “stable,” reflects the possibility of a downgrade, as Japan grapples with the specter of increased deficits in the wake of a deadly earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant disaster.
“Standard & Poor’s expects costs related to the March 11, 2011, earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant disaster will increase Japan’s fiscal deficits above prior estimates by a cumulative 3.7% of GDP through 2013,” said the rating agency.
QE2 will continue right through June.
That’ll continue to fuel price inflation.
Federal Reserve policy makers say the economy is recovering at a “moderate pace” and a pickup in inflation is likely to be temporary. The Fed says it will finish $600 billion of bond purchases on schedule in June.
Then what?
Gold teeth trade filling Korean coffers
ABC News North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy
Apr 27, 2011
South Koreans are cashing in their gold teeth as the price of the precious metal continues to soar to record levels.
With gold topping $US1,500 an ounce for the first time, desperate South Koreans are cashing in.
Gold dealer Nam Seung-Woo says he has bought gold fillings, crowns and even whole teeth from more than 100 customers in the past month.
He says he is also getting at least 10 emailed pictures of gold dental work for appraisals every day.
A gold crown will reportedly fetch as much as $75 depending on condition and size.
The last time I had a gold crown replaced, I asked the dentist for the old one. I figured I had already paid for it.
Good thinking!
The DOW, PM’s,oil, commodities… Love King Bernake! As do I, go BB, go!
Cash is king!
In a first, women surpass men in advanced degrees
Apr 27, By HOPE YEN
WASHINGTON (AP) - For the first time, American women have passed men in gaining advanced college degrees as well as bachelor’s degrees, part of a trend that is helping redefine who goes off to work and who stays home with the kids.
Census figures released Tuesday highlight the latest education milestone for women, who began to exceed men in college enrollment in the early 1980s. The findings come amid record shares of women in the workplace and a steady decline in stay-at-home mothers.
The educational gains for women are giving them greater access to a wider range of jobs, contributing to a shift of traditional gender roles at home and work. Based on one demographer’s estimate, the number of stay-at-home dads who are the primary caregivers for their children reached nearly 2 million last year, or one in 15 fathers. The official census tally was 154,000, based on a narrower definition that excludes those working part-time or looking for jobs.
“The gaps we’re seeing in bachelor’s and advanced degrees mean that women will be better protected against the next recession,” said Mark Perry, an economics professor at the University of Michigan-Flint who is a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.
“Men now might be the ones more likely to be staying home, doing the more traditional child rearing,” he said.
“Men now might be the ones more likely to be staying home, doing the more traditional child rearing,” he said.”
Yuppers. I don’t know if any of you remember, but back when I worked from home (2008-2009) I would comment on how most kids at the playground during work hours were accompanied by men.
And the ones that weren’t soon would be.
At our local parks, at least half of the adults there are men.
FWIW, men have come a long, long way since the “olden days.” I, for one, think men, in general, are doing an awesome job as fathers, especially when compared to how uninvolved many men used to be, decades ago.
Gender discrimination in favor of females is starting to show up in the tally of advanced degrees, then?
The federal government released the oil statistics for last week today. It shows almost 20 million fewer barrels of gasoline in storage than last year. It also shows almost 40 million fewer barrels overall oil and products in storage. Just a couple of months ago we had tens of million more barrels in storage than last year. Seems like the “evil speculators” might be on to something. Since the cutoff of oil from Libya (1.6 million to around 300,000 barrels) the amount of oil in storage in this country has been dropping like a rock. Is Saudi Arabia really producing more or is it punishing Obama for pushing Mubarak out of office contrary to their wishes? Maybe Obama needs to bow further or hold hands like Bush or maybe he could just allow more domestic drilling. Of course, since he makes statements that domestic production has never been higher, which makes Palin seem like a Rhodes scholar, maybe he is not even aware of the problem.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/weekly_petroleum_status_report/current/pdf/highlights.pdf
The market’s reaction to the figures I quoted above was to raise the price of gas six cents a gallon:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/27/markets-energy-gasoline-rbob-idUSN2716405220110427
So if we drill more, will gasoline prices decrease? Or will other producers decide to limit their production?
Any thoughts on when the gold bubble will pop? I’m thinking maybe after the June end to QE2. As of now, the gold and stock markets are acting as though nobody believes QE will end; but time will tell.
The Financial Times
Gold hits record as Fed calls price rises ‘transitory’
By Telis Demos in New York and Richard Milne in London
Published: April 26 2011 05:07 | Last updated: April 27 2011 20:23
Wednesday 20.00 BST: US stocks are at a fresh post-crisis high, the dollar continues to fall and gold is at a new record even as the US Federal Reserve said it would end its $600bn “QE2” quantitative easing programme and Ben Bernanke suggested the pace of stimulus might slow.
The Fed held rates steady at 0 to 0.25 per cent but tweaked its statement on growth, reducing its outlook from a “firmer footing” for the recovery to a “moderate” pace of growth. It also said inflationary pressures were “subdued” and labelled pressures from energy and other commodities as “transitory”.
Gold, which many investors see as hedge to future inflation, saw a boost all the way to $1,522 an ounce, another all-time nominal high and a rise of 1.1 per cent on the session.
However, Mr Bernanke sounded a bit more hawkish at a later press conference. He said he was “not sure” the Fed could generate additional employment without creating more inflation risk. ”The trade-offs are getting less attractive at this point,” he said.
…
As I said above, I don’t think the FED will stop “printing money”. I also do not believe we are in a gold “bubble”. Too few people are buying it and the ones that are buying are too sophisticated to be a sign of a top. China is just starting to move from the dollar into hard assets and encouraging its people to do the same. There is no increase in the amount of gold being produced and production is occurring in lower and lower grades meaning it is more costly to produce. Of course, the PTB will do everything in their power to try to discredit gold since their power is largely based on control of the fiat currency but in the end gold and silver are like a compressed spring that is bouncing back to its normal condition and they cannot stop that in the long run but they can make like difficult for people that are using too much margin and not taking other steps to protect themselves from corrections.
“Any thoughts on when the gold bubble will pop”?
There is no bubble to pop.
So your answer is never, then?
CLICK!
We’ll compare notes this time next year; feel free to say ‘I told you so’ if the situation warrants it…
PB, No problem, surely by then the fed will have curbed debt stopped printing 24/7 along with buying it’s own debt. Interest rates will be rising. Gold will be back at $200.00, silver will be $3 where it belongs and all will be worshiping the mighty and strong U.S. dollar.
Home loans will be flying off the shelves and the lowly renter will be priced out forever. See you next year, same bat time, same bat channel.
I don’t expect a correction in gold prices to go as far as you suggest; just expect to see one when QE2 ends.
Given that many folks don’t believe QE2 will end without replacement, I could see how things could turn out favorably for gold once again going forward, except it appears this is already priced in.
So in short, I see gold having more near-term downside than upside potential.
We’ll compare notes this time next year; feel free to say ‘I told you so’ if the situation warrants it…
just because it’s not in a bubble now doesn’t mean in the next year it won’t end up in one and “pop”…so I’m not sure how comparing notes in a year would prove anything?
Any thoughts on when the gold bubble will pop?
No but gold is historically weak in the summer. Your summer.
True, until the India wedding season starts in September and then it takes off.
Check out the price in electronic trading:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/2011/04/27/gold-extends-gains-electronic-trading/
Treasury quietly plans for failure to raise debt ceiling
~ Washington Post
The White House is warning that catastrophe will strike if Congress fails to raise the limit on the national debt: With too little cash to pay creditors, the U.S. government would default. Interest rates would skyrocket. And the economic recovery would collapse.
But behind the scenes, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has already begun juggling the books to conserve cash, draining a special account at the Federal Reserve. And with the debt forecast to hit the legal limit of $14.3 trillion in just a few weeks, he has a range of tools at his disposal, including borrowing money from a pension fund for federal workers.
Geithner also has authority to pay investors first for interest they’re owed on the debt, according to a decades-old legal opinion. A growing number of conservatives argue that by making interest payments first, the government could avoid default and the Obama administration’s predictions of economic Armageddon.
But the nation could pay a substantial price in the form of higher interest rates if it relied for long on such evasive maneuvers, the Government Accountability Office said in a recent study. And financial analysts say market confidence could be shattered if Geithner had to cut off pay to combat troops or stop writing Social Security checks — even if he never missed an interest payment.
“I think the failure to meet any commitment would be viewed by the markets as default and would be deeply unnerving,” said Robert Rubin, who, as Treasury secretary in the mid-1990s, prevented the debt from breaching the limit during the longest battle over the issue on record.
“We don’t know” what would happen in the event of default, Rubin said. “But I think it is totally irresponsible to take the risk of trying to find out.”
“borrowing money from a pension fund for federal workers.”
I wonder if this includes Congress.
Nader may run in the democratic primaries. Maybe I will vote in my first democratic primary in a long time. Hate to give up my independent registration but might be worth it.
no turns out headline is misleading. Seems more like he wants to promote others to run.
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=185103
Bernanke: I’m not moving gas prices. (Of course not. Weimar Republic style money-printing couldn’t possibly lead to Weimar Republic style hyperinflation.)
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=185091
More Fed dissembling. Prepare for endless QE 3,4,5..to infinity and beyond!
WTF? The democraps are porking their own now!This is hilarious.
House votes to restrict unions
Measure would curb bargaining on health care
~ Boston.com
House lawmakers voted overwhelmingly last night to strip police officers, teachers, and other municipal employees of most of their rights to bargain over health care, saying the change would save millions of dollars for financially strapped cities and towns.
The 111-to-42 vote followed tougher measures to broadly eliminate collective bargaining rights for public employees in Ohio, Wisconsin, and other states. But unlike those efforts, the push in Massachusetts was led by Democrats who have traditionally stood with labor to oppose any reduction in workers’ rights.
Unions fought hard to stop the bill, launching a radio ad that assailed the plan and warning legislators that if they voted for the measure, they could lose their union backing in the next election. After the vote, labor leaders accused House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and other Democrats of turning their backs on public employees.
“It’s pretty stunning,’’ said Robert J. Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. “These are the same Democrats that all these labor unions elected. The same Democrats who we contributed to in their campaigns. The same Democrats who tell us over and over again that they’re with us, that they believe in collective bargaining, that they believe in unions. . . . It’s a done deal for our relationship with the people inside that chamber.’’
“We are going to fight this thing to the bitter end,’’ he added. “Massachusetts is not the place that takes collective bargaining away from public employees.’’
So they will support Republicans instead and risk the kind of legislation being passed in Republican-controlled states? Got popcorn?
You say nothing is being done on Wall St.?
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9MRH2NG0.htm
Authorities say the case involved the sale of nearly $400,000 in fraudulent oil and gas investments linked to Mack Diamond Energy LLC of Wolfe City.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-04-26/ex-galleon-trader-craig-drimal-pleads-guilty-to-fraud.html
Drimal is the 21st person to plead guilty in overlapping schemes.
(part of the Raj Rajaratnam trial)
The Hapless Homeloaner
Anywhere USA July 2004
Scene #1
Harry Hapless enters family room with a hand-full of refinance papers where Mary and the kids are watching the Plasma.
(Harry) Guess what gang, we`re going to Hawaii!
(Mary and Kids) Yeah!
(Mary) Oh Harry, I am so glad I found a man who knows how to handle finances. Poor Betty next door never goes anywhere and her awful husband makes her drive that old 1999 Toyota just because it`s paid for.
(Harry) laughing… That Dave, always saving for a rainy day.
(Billy) That`s because they don`t know how to make their house work for them, right Dad.
(Harry) That`s right son, well that and knowing how to juggle those 0% credit card offers. But there will be plenty of time to explain that on the flight to Hawaii.
Tune in next time when Harry, Mary and the kids visit the Mercedes dealership.
I heard a local radio host talking about “wasting votes” and “handing the election to the Democrats” if you vote for anyone other than the official Republican nominee.
It finally does really seem to me that voting for more of the same - either of the two party nominees - is the true waste of my vote. I won’t be calculating how to keep the Republicans or Democrats in power. They’ve both had back-to-back full control of the presidency and Congress, and shown how well they can get us out of wars, pay down the debt, stop bailing out Wall Street, and putting the malefactors behind the financial crisis in jail.
Social issues? Window dressing compared to the practical issues. Democrats will continue to funnel money to the big donors, and so will Republicans.
Yep.
From the Editors of American Banker
Servicing Wrongs Could Force Banks to Take Big Losses on FHA Loans
Billions of dollars of delinquent Federal Housing Administration-insured loans held on bank balance sheets are looking more and more like shadow nonperformers, and mortgage experts warn that banks are unlikely to be fully reimbursed for losses.
Though the largest banks said in their first-quarter results that they will eventually be reimbursed for all losses on FHA-insured loans, they will have to eat some of those losses if they violate servicing standards, the experts said.
How much will the American taxpayer get stuck with on the myriad federally-guaranteed loans made without their consent over the period since the Fall 2008 GSE collapses?
When this number is finally revealed years from now, I think most people will be shocked to learn how many guarantees the taxpayers took on, thanks to the puppets who control our financial system and policies.
What are peoples thoughts on HBB regarding Mr. Bernanke;s speech today.
I was disappointed, discouraged and dismayed. Punishment for the people who played by the rules will continue for an extended period of time was the clear message. Does he not care of the consequences of his schemes for the little Guy? How thick skinned is this guy?
The Dog That Didn’t Bark
Editorial of The New York Sun | April 27, 2011
Chairman Bernanke hadn’t even finished his press conference when an investor of our acquaintance who was watching on television sent over an email describing the event as the “illusion of transparency.” We’re not sure the blame attaches solely to Mr. Bernanke, in that the person holding a press conference is never the only player. There are also those who ask, or fail to ask, the questions. In any event, it’s hard to see much illumination in a press conference in which the chairman of a central bank whose currency is collapsing fails to utter even once the word gold.
…
Watch out what you wish for.
REVIEW & OUTLOOK
APRIL 26, 2011
Bernanke’s Inflation Paradox
The Fed said it wanted higher prices. Voila!
…
…the longer the Fed keeps the dollar flood going, the greater the risks of serious economic harm. We aren’t prescient enough to know what form that damage will take, but the danger signs are everywhere. In China, truckers are on strike to protest rising fees from that country’s inflation. In the Middle East, food price increases add to the sense of injustice driving political protests.
And around the world, investors reach for investments—gold, silver, Iowa farmland, emerging market stocks—to hedge against the decline in the value of dollar assets or to bet on booming commodity prices. This dollar flood can’t last forever, and when it stops the reckoning could be—for many it will be—harsh.
As for Mr. Bernanke’s confidence that inflation will be transitory, we hope he’s right. But we also recall his confidence in May 2007 when he declared that “Given the fundamental factors in place that should support the demand for housing, we believe the effect of the troubles in the subprime sector on the broader housing market will likely be limited.” We know how that turned out.
Foreclosure mediation program produces dismal results statewide
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 9:48 a.m. Wednesday, April 27, 2011
The first statewide report on the Supreme Court’s foreclosure mediation program is out, and at least one South Florida judge says the program is neither helping homeowners nor clearing caseloads .
About 4 percent of 57,909 foreclosure cases referred to mediation between March and November 2010 ended in agreement between the bank and borrower, according to the program evaluation, which included all 20 circuit courts.
The success rate is higher - 27 percent - if only mediations that actually occurred are considered.
The report, released Monday, was compiled by the Office of the State Courts Administrator.
Mediation was required by a 2009 state Supreme Court order as a way to lighten judicial caseloads, as well as aid borrowers - objectives Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey said have not been achieved.
“I think it’s fair to say the program has not met the case management goals we hoped to meet in terms of reducing the number of cases to be handled by the court, and, more importantly, it has not significantly helped Floridians stay in their houses,” said Bailey, who served as chairwoman of Florida’s Task Force on Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Cases. “It is incredibly disheartening.”
Florida requires that every foreclosure go through the courts, which had a backlog of 322,724 cases as of February.
Foreclosure mediation program produces dismal results statewide
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 9:48 a.m. Wednesday, April 27, 2011
16 COMMENTS
« previous page 1 | 2 .ANOTHER WELFARE PROGRAM GONE BAD!!!
larry
1:15 PM, 4/27/2011 REPORT ABUSE Shocker!
Dear Bank,.Thanks for trying mediation for my mortgage..I am really a strategic defaulter(arent we all!) i dont want to pay..wont pay,and u cant make me pay!Thanks for letting me take a 200k home equity loan..loved that trip to europe! My kids love that new pool with hot tub! Not paying it back,my house is down 40% and will never recover..so either u reduce my mortgage 50%..waive a deficiency judgement or i AINT paying! Now this is what i call Mediation!
Sincerely,
A Happy Deadbeat
steve
1:25 PM, 4/27/2011 REPORT ABUSE Hey all you Dead Beat haters.
I have not paid my loan since Jan 2008. Saved $76,000. Could not figure out why they never foreclosed on me. My lawyer and I found out that my loan doc’s were fraudulent. They took my payments for a year knowing the loan was fraudulent. Had I paid for the next 30 years, the house would NOT have been mine. My servicer doesn’t even know who legally owns my home.
Can’t sell it, but free as long as I want it.
Got my house for FREE!
Holy Cow
3:13 PM, 4/27/2011 REPORT ABUSE These mods are NOTHING but designed failures! Let us all get serious and give back the fraudulent securitizations, liquid funds, equity and other wealth stolen from the middle class! If we do not, our economy, will utterly and completely collapse!
housemanrob
3:54 PM, 4/27/2011
I’m guessing the discussion of the failure of foreclosure mediation programs did not come up at yesterday’s Bernanke press conference?