Bits Bucket for April 29, 2011
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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The metals markets are up sharply again today, but a word of caution major short positions are being built in the silver market. Could be that the PTB are going to try to manipulate a crash very shortly. Protect yourself against a sharp correction. Still think a year from now we will see higher prices but not a time in my opinion to throw caution to the wind. BTW, for years J.P. Morgan has been accused of forcing silver lower. For RMS just saw your post. I am able to take full advantage of the interest write-off because my other deductions, mainly charitable deduction were so high that the standard deduction was not more favorable.
Cashed up and waiting for the correction - getting out of dollars as fast as we can. No need to hang onto that depreciating asset any longer.
Where are you hearing about the silver shorts building up? I’ll probably just go heavier in gold for the time being.
IMO, JPM and the FED have too many enemies to try and jury rig the PM markets to their benefit. We are in an economic war and trump is right on one thing. Our leaders are too f*cking stupid to understand this or are else acquiescing in the internal overthrow of this country and should be marched out to the nearest tree and hung.
Everybody and their brother is pursuing that trade as well. I wonder who is buying the dollars on the other side of that trade?
I am in all cash too, how do you “get out of the US dollar?”
You can buy FXE, FXF, FXY, FXA, FXC, FXB. They are all ETF’s managed by Rydex which give you a short term cash position in different currencies, or set up an Everbank account. Look at my post above though. If everybody is convinced that its time to sell dollars, who are the idiots that are buying it now. Why has the dollar not cratered here instead of declining in a more orderly fashion when everyone is a seller. Whoever is buying must have really deep pockets to continue taking all the sellers out of their dollars. I’d rather be on the side of the strong handed, deep pocketed investor versus “the crowd”.
how do you “get out of the US dollar?”
buy gold, silver, foreign currencies, houses, guns, ammo, food, clothing…
For Muggy…..
I know you’ll enjoy the taxes as well as the location. Perhaps you already know this property.
http://cnyhomes.com/Listing/Search/info.cgi?mlnum=S251762
Architectural blight.
I just want to know why there is a pair of blue jeans on a bottom only mannequin above the kitchen.
Beyond that yeah, the compilation of concepts was such an odd mix.
It’s the high-art version of those over-the-stove faucets that fill stockpots?
I don’t know that house, the owners, or the story behind it. Skan was completely invaded buy out of town investors in the last few years. I can’t remember the last time I was on the lake, but it was years ago and hideous mcmansions like that were already littering the view. Also, what happened to Mo’s is criminal!
In related news, my wife’s parents closed on the house (they sold) on Monday. I am sad that I no longer have any official connection to Skaneateles. Most of my wife’s friends and their parents are all long gone, too, so we really have no reason to pass through other than nostalgia.
My wife still knows all of the school people, so maybe we’ll slowly get NYS creds and try to get back in 5-8 years… I think we’re in a holding pattern until then.
I’ve been watching your posts as you consider different possibilities for your future. This is a time when just treading water may be the best thing you can do. But you have a good level head. I suspect you’ll chose well when the time is right.
“I suspect you’ll chose well when the time is right.”
Patience is key, although sometimes frustrating, as we all know since the strangeness can last a long time.
I know you’ll enjoy the taxes as well as the location. Perhaps you already know this property.
It looks like a bubble-era strip mall.
The taxes, at just over 1%, actually seem low by New York standards.
Yet another reason to rent: If a killer tornado destroys the home you live in, you don’t lose any home equity investment value.
Survivors Pick Up From Ravaging Twisters
by The Associated Press
April 29, 2011
It was bad enough that a tornado obliterated Derrick Keef’s house. Worse still was the heartbreaking scavenger hunt for his most priceless possessions strewn across the devastated neighborhood.
His guns were in the ruins of a neighbor’s home. A Christmas heirloom shared space in a ditch with broken glass and jagged nails. And his 7-year-old son’s bike — one of the few toys he could salvage — was pinned under a car a block away.
“I’ve been going from lot to lot finding stuff,” he said as he rifled through debris in Concord, Ala., in search of a family photo album. “It’s like CSI.”
As crews combed the remains of houses and neighborhoods pulverized by the nation’s deadliest tornado outbreak in nearly four decades, survivors were left trying to figure out how to put their lives back together.
At least 297 were killed across six states in Wednesday’s outbreak.
…
A powerful tornado ripped through the area of my farm in PA in May 1985. I found documents from several hundred miles away among the litter on my pasture. Good luck on finding that picture album.
I heard a second hand story about county death records falling at various places in the financial district after 9/11. Friend of friend said he found them on the roof of his building. Seems unlikely given the way the towers fell, but I suppose almost anything is possible when that much energy is getting tossed around.
I imagined the banks salivating at funding the rebuilding.
I would think insurance payouts will fund the rebuilding, or most of it anyway.
The house is only part of the loss but there’s also all the contents. And does everyone update their policies every year to cover improvements in value, new items? I don’t.
And does everyone update their policies every year to cover improvements in value, new items? I don’t.
I was just thinking about this the other day. I don’t even recall what my coverage limit is, but I should probably re-evaluate it.
It seems like one of those things that should be on the annual “to do” list
When are Americans going to learn to build homes with brick / mortar / cement / concrete? I wager the fire department will have a lot less work were that to happen and wooden frame use was reduced.
The one that went through downtown Fort Worth ten years ago did plenty of damage to the steel skyscrapers.
Is the point of this story, stated in the last sentence below, historically factual?
Debt Crisis Hangs Over Washington Politics
by Mara Liasson
April 29, 2011
Vice President Joe Biden begins negotiations with House and Senate leaders on a deficit reduction framework next week. The White House hopes the negotiations will persuade Congress to raise the ceiling on the federal debt. If the debt limit isn’t raised by early July, the U.S. will default on its financial obligations for the first time in history.
…
The decision to default is not automatic. The government could choose to live within its revenue and pay the interest. It would involve draconian cuts to the other programs but people do not seem to understand that default is a choice.
I understand; but it’s a choice which involves agreement between very disagreeable parties.
Realtors Are Liars.
Testify!
So who is going to step up and end the monopoly?
Hurry up and get your government-guaranteed $729,750 affordable housing mortgage now, while they last!
When the mortgage market goes private
By Anne Kates Smith
Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
4:02 p.m. CDT, April 27, 2011
In a rare instance of like-mindedness across the political spectrum, most everyone agrees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the infamous failed mortgage giants now in conservatorship, have to go. It will take years to wind down Fannie and Freddie, but we’re already getting a taste of what life will be like without them.
For decades, Fannie and Freddie formed a vast, secondary market for mortgage loans by standardizing terms, then packaging loans into securities that carried a payment guarantee. Investors who bought the securities provided cash for new mortgages. It worked well until home prices collapsed and Fannie and Freddie were undone by loans that turned out to have been too risky. So far, the government has provided over $130 billion to honor their debt and loan guarantees.
For now, the aim is to shrink the market in government-backed loans by making them less attractive relative to still-scarce private-label loans. To that end, the limits on loans that Fannie and Freddie will guarantee are slated to fall to a maximum of $625,500 as of October 1, from $729,750 now. Down-payment minimums are headed toward 10 percent (minimums are officially 3 percent now, although in practice today’s borrowers pay more). Recently, Fannie and Freddie raised fees for most loans with terms longer than 15 years, even for borrowers with perfect credit scores and 25-percent equity.
The debate on how to restructure the mortgage market for the long term has just begun, and a number of proposals are on the table, including a trio from the Obama administration.
…
One of yesterday’s articles state that “without a willing secondary market (ie Fannie/Freddie), the banks are reluctant to lend to homebuyers.” It’s pretty obvious that the banks have no desire to make money off of interest, instead opting for the quick bucks from sales and fees.
IMO, take out the government guarantee, all the way up the food chain so that there is NO secondary market to speak of. Make those banks earn their money the old-fashioned way by holding mortgages and collecting interest. We’ll see 20% down payment within 30 days. House prices will crash within 35 days.
“It’s pretty obvious that the banks have no desire to make money off of interest, instead opting for the quick bucks from sales and fees.”
That’s one of the conundrums of a low rate environment for an extended period, no? Banks (and retirees) can’t earn enough interest to make ends meet…
Make those banks earn their money the old-fashioned way by holding mortgages and collecting interest.
My aunt’s mortgage is with such a bank.
That reduction would create huge problems on the coasts but would not be important elsewhere. Interesting though the banksters will still have access to unlimited credit at .25%. I think that if you loaned most of us on this board ten billion dollars at .25% we would be billionaires very shortly. Thus, I give banksters no credit for making “billions for their banks”.
I want a more limited role for government so I support the reduction. By why just target the upper middle class? These low interest rates are a war on the small saver.
P.S. what liar does not understand in his posts is that I have no problem making more 4 7/8% return on my money thus selling stock to buy a house cash was a dumb idea. Unfortunately, unlike the banksters I do not have access to an unlimited amount of credit because even at around 5% I could do quite well.
“That reduction would create huge
problemsaffordability improvements on the coasts but would not be important elsewhere.”I’m not so sure. Many coastal markets are well beyond the $730k limit for low down payments. Most are already in the zone of requiring 20-25% down… Those farther inland have crashed so hard that they are still conforming.
The odd zone is going to be the secondary coastal markets, the B- neighborhood in the A+ city, or the A neighborhoods in the B- cities. Unclear what will happen there. Even today, a common practice in the A+ cities is for people to buy those homes and fix them up (ie. put a lot of cash into the home). There are a fair number of buyers even there with cash. In the B- cities, all bets are off…
Overall, I think sentiment is a bigger drag on housing than the math.
the limits on loans that Fannie and Freddie will guarantee are slated to fall to a maximum of $625,500 as of October 1, from $729,750 now
I expect this to have a salutary downward effect on house prices in coastal California and other grossly overpriced locales.
I have to wonder if the billboards around new McMansion tract home developments will show, “From the
$700s$600s”?What new McMansion tract home developments? Building is at a standstill…
Hopefully, this is just the attack on Ft. Sumter. Gettysburg is yet to come.
Today’s off-topic ideas:
I turned on the TV at 6 am looking for the weather forecast and was instead beseiged by Kate Middleton’s much-anticipated wedding dress. Well I hope it has nicer detail in person, because on TV it was pretty darn plain except for that ugly out-of-proportion plunge neckline. Even the newspapers called it “timeless” and “classic” and “won’t age in photographs.” In other words, it was forgettable.
Sarah Palin Mocks Katie couric:
——–
Appearing on Fox News Tuesday, Palin mocked the CBS newswoman who told People Magazine she is looking forward to a new position that will facilitate “multi-dimensional storytelling.”
“Yeah, and I hear that she wants to now engage in more ‘multi-dimensional story telling’ versus I guess just the ’straight on, read into the, that teleprompter screen story telling,’” Palin said. “More power to her. I wish her well in her - ‘multi-dimensional story telling.’”
——–
I suggest that Couric’s first storytelling subject be Sarah Palin, with lots of interviews.
The fact that a candidate for VP of the US couldn’t answer a simple question like “what do you read” is someone elses problem in what way?
$arah the “TrueBarracuda™”
$arah the “TrueMaverick™”
$arah the “TrueRogue™”
$arah the “TruePurity™”
$arah the “TruePathtoProsperity™”
ChaChing!…ChaChing!…ChaChing!
“Money for the nothin’ and her word$ for fee$!”
That ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do it
Money for nothin’ and her word$ for fee$
Now that ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do it
Lemme tell ya, guys $he ain’t dumb
Maybe get a blister on her little lip
Maybe get a blister on her little tongue
The woman was totally unprepared and yet won’t take responsibility and then she blames for Couric for the hoardes that refuse to show her any respect?
Remind me again Sarah how clueless and self centered you are. I’d almost forgotten.
Re Kate Middleton’s choices: I think she just signalled to her countrywomen that minimalism is once again chic and accepted. I see it as responsible leadership in a time when we see so little of it. I had a smallish wedding and I think my bouquet was twice the size of hers.
Kate Middleton is not a leader. She is a chick who just married a really rich guy who doesn’t have to work. Lucky Duck.
She is in the context of the role many women play in household financial decisions.
No she’s not.
V,
You are being enormously dense. She has no particular qualifications for being a leader of a nation or of society. But, qualified or not, a lot of people, mostly girls and young women will look at her decisions when making decisions of their own and conform their own actions, to the extent possible, to what they perceive her to have done. That is one definition of a leader, though hardly the only one.
The fact that you don’t like something doesn’t make it false.
Polly:
Get off your high horse and stop calling me names. Just because she is going to be a figure-head (partially maligned and partially loved), doesn’t mean that her “countrywomen” are going to make different financial decisions.
Or is she “considered” a princess?
Kate’s qualifications were that she landed a royal prince, that she is reasonably good looking, and that she is presumably fertile. Both Kate and her designer knew full well that every young girl in England will want a bridal dress like that. Her fashions will be closely watched. One PBS documentary showed British women at the Ascot racetrack straining for a glimpse of the queen’s costume, because they knew that Her Majesty’s hat would set the fashions for the season. It’s not “leadership” in the American sense, but it still has value in England.
However minimalist the dress was, the train on the dress was NOT minimalist.
There’s also the possibility that the designer made the dress a little plain because they didn’t want to outdo Diana’s dress.
Kate strikes me being a better choice as a leader and role model than Princess Di ever was.
They are both someone’s wife. That someone being, like I said, a really rich guy who doesn’t have to work. Don’t see why anyone thinks that makes them role models or leaders. There was a time when the queen of England was actually a queen, but not any more.
And she is going to earn every penny.
This couple is reportedly going to live w/o servants prior to the time when he may assume the throne. Has any other royal with as direct a lineage to the throne done that? They’ve asked for gifts to be donations to charity. I think they are quite thoughtful in how they’ve handled this.
I think it has more to do with books by former servants revealing behind the scenes details than anything else.
Ye, I agree with Steve J.
“live w/o servants”
What kind of person would want servant? Blecch.
Evidently, in New York, a lot of people did. All those pre-war buildings include a maid’s rooms right next to the kitchen. My brother and sister-in-law use it as an office, and to store the bikes, but eventually they are going to have to move one of the kids in there. A girl and a boy can share at 4 and almost 2. I don’t think that will work as well at 14 and almost 12.
Hey Polly:
I think the maid’s room used to be “considered” a granny flat.
Evidently, in New York, a lot of people did. All those pre-war buildings include a maid’s rooms right next to the kitchen.
In the originally Miracle on 34th St. the bitter mom has a servant (a cook), who is working on Thanksgiving.
When I lived in Pittsburgh, I rented a room in an old apartment building. The lady I was subletting from rented the room just off the kitchen.
In the olden days, it had been the maid’s room, and it was so small I could barely turn around. Roomiest place was the bathroom, which was only slightly larger. Must’ve been some tiny maids a way back when.
The one thing I noticed immediately was the size of the bouquet. I think my sister-in-law’s was 4 or 5 times as large. Heck mine was 2 to 3 times that size and I was just a bridesmaid. It was a good choice. Those things are heavy.
Sarah Palin is a moose.
I’ve seen moose. As in, close enough for her (the moose) to be annoyed at my presence. And my fastest bicycle pedaling would not have been enough to outrun that moose.
So, don’t mess with moose.
Speaking of close encounters with wild animals, I’ve also come quite close to buffalo, bears, and a wolf. In all cases, I kept a very quiet demeanor. And nothing bad happened.
However, as we know from one of our fellow HBB-ers, if an animal is going to attack you, there’s not much you can do except hope that you survive.
if an animal is going to attack you, there’s not much you can do except hope that you survive.
I think the same thing applies to politicians and big headed attention whores. Wait, that was redundant.
Tune in next Tuesday to see the next episode of that new hit series….
The Hapless Homeloaner
See what wild and wacky expensive financed adventures Harry, Mary, Bob from Mortgage World and the whole gang have in store.
…. and in the next episode, watch Larry the local lying realtor slithering from shack to shack posting sale signs and defrauding deluded debtors.
The first episode happened in Anywhere USA July 2004. But I have heard rumors on the set that Harry might be catching a flight down to Florida to camp out in line to buy a few pre-construction priced condos on a future show.
Harry and Larry “What lead paint” Laidlow, Realtors At Large.
Livin’ large, two Mercedes(leased) in the garage
Got three houses, only paid for two
Livin’ any smaller just wont do!
Please tell me “Harry Mary” will be wearing clothes in this one.
Here’s a chart that gives a hint of what has happened, what is happening, and what is about to happen:
http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/28/suapload_real_gdp_vs_3.1_2525_trend.jpg
Ooooops, let’s try that again:
http://static.seekingalpha.com/uploads/2011/4/28/saupload_real_gdp_vs_3.1_2525_trend.jpg
Interesting graph and it points out what I have been saying. Notice how strongly we recovered from a recession in the early 80’s but how weak the “recovery” is today. Normally, the deeper the recession the stronger the recovery, this time not so much. I will be on travel the rest of the day and will be unable to respond so if you really want a reply save your attacks for tomorrow. BTW, only Avocado seem to understand and respond to the wisdom of a mortgage. Thanks for the support Avocado. However, I know plenty others did understand as I said in the above post and I understand not wanting to be attacked for stating the obvious.
Link did not work.
As regular readers of this blog may know, I am not a globalist. Quite the opposite. Through the years, I have commented on the deleterious effects of globalism (aka “corporatism”), and have argued with person after person, attempting to illuminate the darkness and to air the dankness of the corporatist path.
I have always been frustrated by those who declare that globalism is inevitable, so we would do best to adjust ourselves to the new paradigm. I have made several points in opposition to this cynical view, but have felt these points have fallen short in getting to the heart of the issue. I haven’t been able to grasp the language necessary to clarify my feeling and my understanding. That is, until now. This is the thing:
Of all the souls lucky enough to experience life on this warm, wet planet, I was blessed not only to be born, but to be born human. If you are reading this comment, then you may be human too. Like all other organisms (OOs), humans are faced with troubles from time to time. The OOs, being victims of nature, are tasked to either adapt or die. If the weather is cold, then the OOs have to either grow a coat or consign themselves to life in a cave or underground, or whatever they can find.
But humans are different.
Humans were graced with the luxury of stubbornness. That’s because we can decide to adapt our environment to ourselves. We don’t have to consign ourselves to life in a cave or underground because we can make coats of vegetable fibers or animal skin, we can burn fuel for heat, and we can even build our own houses wherever we go. The same concept applies to socio-political anomalies such as globalism.
The United States is currently faced with a challenge, and we have to decide what we are going to do. Will we simply adapt to the new paradigm of corporate domination and human bondage, or will we use our initiative to change our environment in our own favor? It disappoints me when I see other humans consigning themselves to the former, but I will be doing the latter, thank you very much.
That’s because I’m a real human, not some hydrogenated version.
Having dominion over self and nature, I do not intend to mourn or measure the ineptitude of fools. My path is clear – To cast my vote in the manner of free people, to the benefit of my nation, myself, and my convictions. Because when the worm turns, I do not think it will turn on me. And if it does, well, at least I’ll make a juicy corpse. Not some worn-out shell of a meat sack who never even looked at the sky and wondered what the sun was.
There is no reason for the nonhydrogenated to adapt to globilization, to the tacit defeatist acceptance of currency wars, to the helpless cow-towing towards offshoring, or to the vapid refusual to understand the fundamentals of tarrifs and trade-related tax policies. I would like to build a house of sticks and stones because these cards are not going to hold. So, what say you all, are you humans or not? (Reply with “+1” if you’re a human).
I have always been frustrated by those who declare that globalism is inevitable, so we would do best to adjust ourselves to the new paradigm.
That canard, along with “you won’t get a penny from Social Security” had been drilled into the under 30’s heads, to the point that they repeat it like parrots.
Shouldn’t globalism collapse at some point if peak oil is reality?
Only if you assume that using oil is the only way to transport goods and people. Wind worked for a long time, though much less efficiently. Coal is also worked for a time. I would not want to rely on solar for an ocean going vessel or an airplane.
“Efficiently” is the key word here. If Peak Oil makes long-distance transport too expensive, I think a lot of the trade-related aspects of globalization will start to unwind in a major way.
Do the 30-year-olds also understand what “no social security means”? They probably didn’t know care 10 years ago, but now that they are out of college, living at home without jobs or pensions, calculating that “we’re gonna have a baby” really means “half-mil down the chute,” and starting to pay premiums into the privatized health system, I think those under-30’s now know, and they are going to start caring right quick.
Will we simply adapt to the new paradigm of corporate domination and human bondage, or will we use our initiative to change our environment in our own favor?
(Reply with “+1” if you’re a human).
+1
And that is where the question lies. I fear that we will continue the slide into bondage to corporations, until it becomes unbearable. The real question is how will the corporations react? Will their response be to simply exterminate the rebellious serfs? They will have the fire power on their side.
My money is on the corporations to win.
+1 Paramahansa Yogananda: “Be of the world, not a part of it”
(Hwy reads Big V’s post, gently smiling)
For further amusement:
something to look at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViJH5nHpn_c&NR=1
something to read:
http://profy.com/2008/08/30/web-20-industry-as-a-perfect-example-of-crowd-thinking/
“Because when the worm turns, I do not think it will turn on me. And if it does, well, at least I’ll make a juicy corpse. Not some worn-out shell of a meat sack who never even looked at the sky and wondered what the sun was.”
I just want to be able to tell my son that I didn’t actively and wantonly take a dump on our planet.
+1.5 (I’m a man and a half)
MrBubble
I just want to be able to tell my son that I didn’t actively and wantonly take a dump on our planet.
Man, I TOTALLY just failed at that.
I live right near you! Please tell me where you did your dirty business so that I don’t step in it. It’s like walking in SOMA…
Fortunately I was the leader in that ‘photo finish’, so your loafers don’t have to worry about being loaf free.
Offshoring, to me, has 2 sides. On one hand, people that are already rich beyond comprehension are using it to become even more rich. On the other hand, people that lived in abject poverty are getting opportunities to improve their lot. The term ’slave wages’ is often used to describe the pay for these foreign workers, but it’s still the best income many of them have ever had.
There are 2 possible tactics to counter this, which aren’t mutually exclusive. One is to limit the ability of the rich to become even richer, thus forcing a more balanced distribution of wealth. This ultimately has to happen, but any step to do so will be called ’socialism.’
The other approach is to used tariffs and other protectionist measures. The stronger the measures, the more jobs will be protected or repatriated, but at the same time the cost of living will go up that much more. Hard to say the net effect; I don’t believe that protectionism = utopia.
But Al, don’t you remember the good ol times, back before America went global? The cost of living was high, but the standard of living was high-ER. It only stands to reason that a return to the level-headed days of production should benefit us here. It also stands to reason that you can not consume more than you produce for very long.
Agreed. I’d rather have a job and pay $5/gallon for gas than have no job and pay $1.50/gallon for gas.
Big V, the US went global well before outsourcing. The US was the one exporting to the world. Other nations simply didn’t have the expertise to produce at the same level. Now they do. So while manufacturing could make a partial recovery it still wouldn’t return to the heady days of the past as it would mostly be producing for internal markets. At the same time, counter-protectionism would increase the cost of imputs including raw materials and energy. If the cost of many goods were forced to high (due to energy, material and labour costs), there wouldn’t be demand for the product. Not producing something doesn’t generate many jobs.
So in my opinion protectionism might better than status quo, but there are clear risks involved. It could well produce a higher level of employment, but it might not be that much higher. At the same time the standard of living for most could fall with rising costs.
I wish I could say I have the answer. We were living high based on our strategic advantage of manufacturing expertise and now that advantage is gone.
I don’t think other countries have miraculously gained the ability to manufacture things. That ability has always been there, but it didn’t happen as much because their social systems are not compatible with industriousness. They are only doing it now because US corporations are at the helm. US corporations are using the American system to get started to begin with, but then failing to contribute to the American system by hiring US labor and paying US taxes.
That’s what I meant when I said that America had gone global. We used to produce it here and sell it wherever we could. Now we produce it wherever we can and try to sell it here, which doesn’t work too well.
Big V,
The newfound ability wasn’t miraculous gained. It was learned from US and other industrialised nations. But it was learned. US corps could pull out, but competent managers and staff and equipment would remain behind. Your statement on a lack of industriousness is without merit. Many people in the world work much harder than we do for a marginal existence.
And real estate always goes up.
Adapt or die.
-C.R. Darwin
Globalism was ok as long it was the white guys “discovering” parts of the world where there had always been black/brown/red/yellow people. Corporatism was ok when the company was the East India Company. Listen, if anyone suffered from globalism, it is the 3rd world, who were reduced to beggars.
Anyway much water has flowed under the bridge. Now we are in Globalism part 2. I believe it is inevitable. But I also believe it’s being done (i) too fast, (ii) for the wrong reasons, (iii) by the wrong people and (iv) without buy off from the populations at large.
It’s going too fast and not giving enough time for people to adjust to the new reality, mainly because governments aren’t being upfront with their populations about how things are going to pan out. It’s driven by selfish interests that are already powerful/rich beyond imagination only for the reason that they want even more wealth/power than they have.
There are some parts of globalism that should have happened first - like (i) appreciation that we all belong to the same human species, (ii) appreciation of the fact that we have to share one earth, (iii) understanding that we need to collectively move beyond wars and famines, (iv) therefore ensuring that we have mechanisms in place that will prevent wars and famines from happening.
Instead the prime movers behind globalism are brands like Coca Cola, Apple, Nintendo and China Inc. These work for their selfish interests and look at the globe as their playground rather than a treasure that must be responsibly guarded.
Yes Yensoy, that’s why I call it corporatism. Today’s globalism is really just the latest corporatist ploy. It’s nonsense to think that “the world is flat”, as long as there are people who are not free.
This attorney sounds like quite the interesting character.
Foreclosure attorney suspended from law practice
Judge says the Carlsbad attorney can’t distinguish between “zealous advocacy and lawlessness”
By Roger Showley
Thursday, April 28, 2011 at 3:28 p.m.
Carlsbad attorney Michael T. Pines’ license to practice law was suspended Thursday by the State Bar Court, which said his actions actions on behalf of foreclosed homeowners “tarnished the reputation of other attorneys and the legal community as a whole.”
Pines, 59, who earned his law degree at the University of San Diego, was arrested by Simi Valley police for trespassing at a client’s home in Ventura County earlier this year. He claimed the home had been “stolen” by a bank through a faulty foreclosure. Pines readily admits to advising about 70 of his clients to illegally reenter their homes after foreclosure.
State Bar Court Judge Richard Honn found that Pines had “lost his ability to distinguish between zealous advocacy and lawlessness.”
“Legal decisions are to be made by the courts, not the litigants,” Honn said in his ruling. “(Pines’) unwillingness or inability to obey court orders and follow the law of this state has tarnished the reputation of other attorneys and the legal community as a whole.”
The technical decision by Honn was to declare Pines’ license “involuntarily inactive” pending a hearing on disciplinary charges.
“The state bar is very gratified that the court has agreed with us that Pines poses an imminent threat of harm to the public, and therefore has removed him from active practice,” said chief trial counsel Jim Towery. “Lawyers have an obligation to follow the law, not to break it. There are proper ways and improper ways for a lawyer to protect a court order. Taking the law into one’s own hands is an improper way, and will subject the lawyer to discipline.”
Pines said in an interview that he expected the verdict, but plans to continue advising clients but not participate in any break-ins that could result in his arrest.
“I’m giving the same advice I always have, and I will continue to do so,” he said.
Currently, he said, he is working on a case in Carlsbad where an armed guard might be hired to accompany a locksmith and open a house lost to foreclosure by a client. An alternative approach is being proposed by the Carlsbad city attorney, he said.
In the meantime, Pines said he is urging his fellow attorneys to stop paying their dues to the bar association — he has not paid his bill of about $700 — and is working with authorities on what he describes as a conspiracy to implicate him in a murder plot.
Earlier this month, Pines told the Union-Tribune he typically alerts real estate agents and the media about a given foreclosed property.
“And when that doesn’t work, we break in,” he said.
…
I’d like to see more on why he thinks the bank “stole” the house through foreclosure. I bet it has something to do with the bank not granting a re-fi.
Isn’t Realtor.com the NAR’s propaganda outlet? Take whatever their report says with a ginormous pillar of salt.
The logic that the first place to crash will be the first to recover does not necessarily hold water, especially given that the high-end ARM resets (Alt-A, prime, etc), which are generally scheduled to occur long after the peak wave of subprime resets, will disproportionately impact high-end housing markets like San Diego. But I suppose it offers the advantage of being simple enough for a Realtor™ to grasp.
San Diego leading “turnaround” site for housing
Realty firm predicts county will be among top 10 metros to rebound from housing bust
By Dean Calbreath
Originally published April 27, 2011 at 2:05 p.m., updated April 27, 2011 at 3 p.m.
According to Realtor.com, San Diego has been on the comeback trail for more than a year.
San Diego is one of the top metro areas in the country where a housing recovery is either imminent or underway, according to a report by Realtor.com, which tracks real estate markets across the nation.
Based on online real estate searches, price stability and the number of days that homes are listed for sale, Realtor.com, which released the report on Wednesday, developed a list of the 10 likeliest sites for an early rebound, ranging from Dallas, which largely avoided the real estate crash, to Fort Myers, Fla., which - like San Diego - was one of the earliest epicenters of the decline.
According to Realtor.com, San Diego has been on the comeback trail for more than a year. Among other things, the report noted that:
–The median age of inventory for San Diego listings on the market in March was 79 days, about half the national median of 160 days, and almost 16 percent lower than in February.
–San Diego was the 15th most searched market in the nation in February and March.
–The median list price rose 1.4 percent between February and March, although it is still down 1.4 percent from March 2010.
Some other measures suggest that San Diego’s real estate market is still shaky. DataQuick Information Systems in La Jolla, for instance, reports that sales volume in March was 5 percent lower than a year ago.
On the other hand, foreclosures have dropped 6 percent in San Diego County over the past year and defaults are down 23 percent, putting less downward pressure on prices.
…
Corporatism gone Wild!
Big Brothers: Thought Control at Koch
http://news.yahoo.com/s/thenation/20110420/cm_thenation/160062_1
The Nation — On the eve of the November midterm elections, Koch Industries sent an urgent letter to most of its 50,000 employees advising them on whom to vote for and warning them about the dire consequences to their families, their jobs and their country should they choose to vote otherwise.
….full of alarmist right-wing propaganda.
Legal experts interviewed for this story called the blatant corporate politicking highly unusual, although no longer skirting the edge of legality, thanks to last year’s Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which granted free speech rights to corporations.
“Before Citizens United, federal election law allowed a company like Koch Industries to talk to officers and shareholders about whom to vote for, but not to talk with employees about whom to vote for,”…“Now, companies like Koch Industries are free to send out newsletters persuading their employees how to vote. They can even intimidate their employees into voting for their candidates.” Secunda adds, “It’s a very troubling situation.”
The Kochs were major supporters of the Citizens United case; they were also chief sponsors of the Tea Party and major backers of the anti-“Obamacare” campaign. Through their network of libertarian think tanks and policy institutes, they have been major drivers of unionbusting campaigns in Wisconsin, Michigan and elsewhere.
“This sort of election propaganda seems like a new development,”….“Until Citizens United, this sort of political propaganda was probably not permitted. But after the Citizens United decision, I can imagine it’ll be a lot more common, with restrictions on corporations now lifted.”
I wonder how this will affect the free speech of employees. If your employer tells you how to vote, then will you really be willing to publicly state your own views if they differ from your boss’s?
I think this is how Sadam used to get 90% of the vote.
I worked for a company (defense industry) that had 100% employee participation in United Way.
Around my workplace, it’s also quietly known as The United Way Extortion Fund. Every September, the company makes a huge splash with games, auctions, mandatory meetings, and various less-than-subtle coersion tactics to get people to participate and donate, the goal is always 100% participation, 75%+ is typical. While not publicly recognized, I know my United Way (or lack thereof) support is somewhere in my employee file and will be used against me in some way eventually. It really gets my goat…
I have been heavily involved in at least a few local non-profit orgs, including fundraising and being on boards of directors. I donate decent amounts of $$$ to these organizations that I believe in, am involved in, and completely support. One or more of these organizations have been given moneys by UW, but I’ve seen UW also take a cut to pay their personnel, CEO, Etc. The best way to give to non-profits is to simply write a check directly - 100% of your donation goes directly to the cause with no middleman.
While I agree that UW helps people who wouldn’t normally give, and I understand no decent-sized corporation is going to support a charity that is not huge and incredibly diverse in its support, for those of us that give more directly, no credit is given.
“I worked for a company (defense industry) that had 100% employee participation in United Way.”
I worked for an organization that CLAIMED to have 100% employee participation in United Way. I never donated. I was given the form, but never filled it out/returned it. No one ever said anything about it either, and I worked there about four years. There were fewer than 100 employees, so that 100% rate couldn’t happen by rounding.
When discussing it with a co-worker one day (soon after first hearing about management bragging about the 100% rate) I was told that if I didn’t donate, the organization would donate on my behalf so they could claim 100% participation.
Whatever.
I worked for a company (defense industry) that had 100% employee participation in United Way.
I once worked for a place like that. And one of my coworkers refused to participate. She was known as a real barracuda around the office and guess what? The big boys and girls respected her decision not to participate.
BTW, in a previous job, the ‘Cuda decided to express her distaste for United Way by signing up for payroll deduction of something like a penny from each paycheck. And that was exactly what happened during each pay period.
The big muckety mucks want to be able to brag that their “leadership” led to 100% participation. Plus they get invited to the parties.
For us bottom feeder foreman shmucks, failure to browbeat all your guys into “participating” meant that you weren’t showing “leadership” and you weren’t a “team player”.
That’s the one nice thing about knowing your job is so crappy, they won’t be able to find a replacement for you. You can pretty much ignore BS like this.
I wonder how this will affect the free speech of employees. If your employer tells you how to vote, then will you really be willing to publicly state your own views if they differ from your boss’s?
It’s only a matter of time until the Supremes officially rule that only the super wealthy and corporations are “people”.
Note to self: get EU passport.
Wait until it becomes illegal to ‘resist organ harvesting from officially approved organ reassignment corporations’.
If your employer tells you how to vote, then will you really be willing to publicly state your own views if they differ from your boss’s?
Get back to work, serf!
thanks to last year’s Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which granted free speech rights to corporations.
Chief John Roberts = Roger B Tanney
heheeeheeeheehaahaaahaaheeehaahaaa… (Hwy50™)
Chief John Roberts = Roger B Tan
neyA century ago the robber baron captains of industry told their employees not to bother coming to work if William Jennings Bryan beat McKinley for President…
Let me see if I can get a couple of responses from yesterday fixed up.
Comment by Realtors Are Liars:
Soros isKoch brothers are exclusively aCONservativeLIBELral media outlet hobgoblin.We’ll believe you when you toss hobgoblins that cross all ideologies.
Comment by oxide:
I conclude you’ve been listening to
am talk radioNPR and watchingFoxCNN News? Genearally therightleft-wing media is the only entity that paintsSorosKoch brothers asaconsprirator boogeyman.I just reached into yesterday’s well to get these.
Actually, other than here, I’ve never heard of anyone badmouthing the Koch bros. Certainly not in the broadcast media.
CNN is left wing? Get with it boy!
Furthermore, I only learned about the Koch Krime Klan right here on this blog.
Yeah, the Corporate owned MSM never talks about them.
Then again, Pravda never bad mouthed Stalin while he was alive.
Michael, you are correct. I almost brought it up yesterday, but couldn’t think of a way to phrase it. I guess you can’t beat the conservatives for lockstep organization. They have a whole network of media and think tanks. The liberals, meanwhile, can’t keep a single radio station together.
So I guess Soros and the Koch brothers can fight it out amongst themselves.
The liberals, meanwhile, can’t keep a single radio station together.
I beg to differ.
I volunteer at KXCI-FM right here in Tucson, and oh-boy-oh-boy are we out there on the left end of the dial. As are many American FM stations that have call numbers to the west of 92.0. (We’re 91.3 on your FM dial and kxci-dot-org on the Interwebs.)
There were times in its 27-year history when KXCI seemed like it would dissolve into a giant sandbox squabble, but don’t worry. The adults are in charge now.
BTW, if you’re tuning in this weekend, KXCI will be broadcasting the Tucson Folk Festival. I’ll be the official photographer for the festival. If you’re in town, I hope to see you there!
I guess you can’t beat the conservatives for lockstep organization.
Ha, that’s a radiant feature of “TrueBeliever’s™ / “TrueHypocrite’s™” & also “TruePurity™” “cult’s”
So laying off employees reduces their clout. Hmmm… When we are all self-employed sub-contractors, they lose control. Seems like the outsourcing may backfire on them.
Deferments Helped Trump Dodge Vietnam
How the presidential aspirant avoided fighting for his country
APRIL 28–Despite Donald Trump’s claim this week that he avoided serving in the Vietnam War solely due to a high draft number, Selective Service records show that the purported presidential aspirant actually received a series of student deferments while in college and then topped those off with a medical deferment after graduation that helped spare him from fighting for his country, The Smoking Gun has learned.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/celebrity/deferments-helped-trump-dodge-vietnam
Deferments Helped Trump Dodge Vietnam
1st the “Shrub”, now…”The sT
rump!”heheeeheeeheehaahaaahaaheeehaahaaa… (Hwy50™)
“Deferments Helped Trump Dodge Vietnam”
He could have been Hanoi’s version of King Rat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTQnarzmTOc
Keynes vs. Hayek Round Two
This is the smartest rap song you will ever listen to.
$o, all eyes really needs to knows is: “who’s Don King backing?”
heheeeheeeheehaahaaahaaheeehaahaaa… (Hwy50™)
Wow, very interesting approach - the music video to present information. Very well done. It’s still geeky… how many chavs are going to actually to look at something like this… but a much better percentage than are going to open The Economist or Wall Street Journal, or this blog.
“It would be easier to pay off our national debt overnight than to neutralize the long-range effects of our national stupidity.”
~Frank Zappa
“Politics is the entertainment branch of Industry.”
~Frank Zappa
“Poodle bites, poodle chews it”
-Frank Zappa
Fergit it.
S. Creamcheeze
Personal Spending in U.S. Increases 0.6%; Incomes Up 0.5%
(Bloomberg)
Consumer spending in the U.S. climbed in March as Americans spent more on food and fuel, indicating further income gains are needed to boost the biggest part of the economy.
Purchases rose 0.6 percent after a revised 0.9 percent gain the prior month that was higher than previously estimated, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The increase compared with the 0.5 percent median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Incomes climbed 0.5 percent, more than projected.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke signaled this week that the central bank would maintain record monetary stimulus after ending large-scale bond purchases in June, as part of an effort to bolster the expansion. Even with job gains and rising incomes, further increases in food and energy costs pose a risk to growth.
“The higher food and energy prices function like a tax in the short term, and discretionary spending is going to bear the brunt of that,” said Guy LeBas, chief fixed-income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Philadelphia. “Anything that increases consumer income will increase consumer spending, be that more jobs or higher wages. We do expect the rebound in the labor market to continue.”
Personal Spending in U.S. Increases 0.6%; Incomes Up 0.5%
Looks like we have a negative savings rate, doesn’t it?
In theory, not really. Could be a tax cut.
In practice, you are probably correct.
On the other hand, could be that folks are working more under the table and economists’ models are looking at tax receipts and not accounting for that correctly.
Local real estate mogul “not satisfied with auction results”
http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20110429/BUSINESS/104290336/Lind-not-satisfied-auction-results
“On March 17, Lind hosted a public auction at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Loveland with a portfolio of more than 50 parcels totaling 1,500 acres of land worth more than $100 million four years ago.
The auction produced a lot of lookers but few bidders, and Lind said the true impact would not be felt for 30 days. He estimated it brought in $10 million and spurred some interest in the market at the time.”
This guy used to be considered a local god, he could do nothing wrong. Now it sounds like he’s running out of money. To bad for him that knife catchers these days are few and far between.
U.S. Home Prices, Sung As Opera
Categories: Radio, Housing
04:38 pm
April 26, 2011
by Jacob Goldstein and David Kestenbaum
Source: Case-Shiller Home Price Index, via Standard & Poors
Credit: Alyson Hurt
The Case-Shiller home price index is a powerful way to look at the story of housing in America. You can see the boom and bust all in one simple graph.
But when we go on the radio to talk about home prices, a graph isn’t much good to us — nobody can see it.
So we converted the Case-Shiller graph into musical notes.
We gave the sheet music to Timothy McDevitt, a baritone who’s getting a master’s degree at Juilliard. Then we got Karl Case and Robert Shiller — the economists who created the index — to listen to the music weigh in.
Here’s what the past decade of housing in America sounds like:
…
If you’re not going to span octaves, why bother?
Still awaiting the resolve….
New Home Sales: Still Super Low. Foreclosures: Still Super High.
Categories: Housing
12:27 pm
April 25, 2011
by Jacob Goldstein
New Home Sales
The state U.S. housing market, summed up in one rhetorical question:
Why buy a brand new house when you can pick up a foreclosure on the cheap?
In other words:
1. Sales of newly built homes remained super-low in March, according to government figures released this morning. It would take more than seven months to sell all the new homes on the market; in a healthy market, it’s typically less than six months.
2. Distressed sales (foreclosures and short sales) accounted for nearly half of overall home sales in March, according to today’s results from a monthly survey published by Campbell and Inside Mortgage Finance. This was the second-highest reading from the survey in the past year.
…
Another day, another reason to smile:
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/04/bike-built-of-wood-could-set-speed-record/
(this would have made my (carpenter/woodworker) pa smile, that certain happy smile he had for: “Don’t let life’s woes keep bashing at ya, lookie here…”)
“TrueReducetheDeficitNow!™” + “TruePathtoProsperity™” + “TrueAnger™” =
“TrueAlternatives™”
Drillsuckitout Here!,…Drill$ellit Now!A New U.S. Energy Plan: Sell Oil Reserves, Use Profits to Invest in Clean Tech:
By Chris Nichols | Daily Ticker / Yahoo
Weiss has also recommended that the White House consider selling up to 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and then invest the proceeds in public transportation and energy alternatives.
“It would generate over $3 billion,” he says. “We could invest that money in making transit much more accessible and affordable for people.”
The U.S., he contends, is behind what other nations like China and Germany are doing, and that needs to change. “This is going to be a $2 trillion worldwide market,” he says of clean energy.
I posted this late in the day yesterday, but not many responses.
Should I buy a 3/3, 1900 sq ft home in Temecula, CA? Avocados grow there. It is currently about 60% off the peak and about $100 per sq ft on 5000 sq ft lots with good schools. Sure beats Texas and Arizona! 1 hr from warm, summer surf and has a Trader Joes. $200k gets you a nice place. No snow and nice weather (a little hot in summer but dry). Not a lot of jobs there, but 30-45 mins to San Diego. PITI would be $1100 or so with $50k down. It would rent for $1500 easily.
Reading about it wikipedia, it sounds exactly like Arizona (13 inches of rain per year and an average high of 90+F in summer). I’d bet everyone’s lawn is beatiful.
At your $1500 rent with $50k down, it would take 10 years to recover your $50k, assuming the $50k would earn 0% (i’m being generous) if kept. If I were doing it to rent out, I’d rather have the money, but hey whatever floats your boat.
I am doing it to live in. Gotta live somewhere. Not nearly as hot as Phoenix. $50k earns 1.5% in the bank.
Sure, some idiots live there with green grass, not my problem. 50% of the US is filled with them.
Or $50k could return 5% with a few different dividend producing stocks.
To live there involves different questions, with the primary ones being:
1) Is your spouse going to be pissed?
Is it safe?
2) Does your family want to move there?
3) Do you have employment lined up?
4) Do you want to? sounds like yes.
5) Can you afford it? sounds like yes
6) Can you afford to move there?
7) Do you know the area well enough to buy a house, or would you be better suited to 6 months of renting, then make a purchase?
We can’t really help you with most of those questions.
No spouse, just an ex.
no one really wants to live in Temecula. I lived in Santa Barbara for 8 yrs, I know better.
no job, but i cashed out at the peak of the bubble, i could pay all cash for the house.
Yes, Temecula used to be nicer, you can say that about every where. We all have to live somewhere, got any better locations/ideas? If I move to any nice city in CA, renting a 2 bedroom is about $1600 a mo.
Hey, maybe Professor Bear will allow you to audit one of his classes!
“but 30-45 mins to San Diego.”
I know a few people who work at HP in Rancho Bernardo. During rush hour it can take that long to get from Escondido to RB. I have been told that it can be as bad as 1.5 to 2 hours from Temecula.
I don’t plan on commuting. Maybe I can sweep floors at one of the bio-techs in town. I need to move, no work at all in my current town, 100’s of resumes sent out….nada!! The only jobs are $9 an hr. I just want $18, used to make $35hr.
“Maybe I can sweep floors”
“I just want $18, used to make $35hr”
You’ll have a lot competition, and they aren’t Americans.
If you need a job/$ and can’t find one, buying any big ticket item - especially a house, is idiocy. Cash in hand and freedom to move is way more important at this point in the economic cycle.
Temecula used to be ok, way too much building, traffic and pollution in that area now. $18 an hour would require commute to San Diego, IF you have some skills and can find a job.
Not a bad price at $100 PSF. If the house is reasonably well located and reasonably new, it should be a decent buy.
In CA, in addition to the difficulty in getting land approved for development, there was a recent ruling that will drive up costs of construction for new homes. Specifically, if you are a developer, and you obtain a bond backed by a CFD (community facilities district), historically, you were required to pay prevailing wages on the work done with the essentially public money. Developers historically used the money for infrastructure work, which is less labor intensive than, say landscaping. As such, the hit to cost was only about 10%. However, the new ruling says that the builders need to use prevailing wage for ALL public improvements (parks, landscaping, etc.), which is more labor intensive (a 30% hit to those cost items), and thus will drive up the cost of infrastructure (to a relatively small extent, but up, not down).
Overall, lack of supply will work in your favor. If you can afford to live in the house, and won’t need to sell in the next 12-24 months, you’ll probably look back 5 years from now and be happy with your basis. IMHO…
Dear Avocado,
No. Not even if they pay you.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/04/27/how_goldman_sachs_created_the_food_crisis?sms_ss=twitter&at_xt=4dbac976ca5c4cd7,0
How Goldman Sachs created soaring food inflation.
“from 2003 to 2008, the volume of index fund speculation increased by 1,900 percent. “What we are experiencing is a demand shock coming from a new category of participant in the commodities futures markets,” hedge fund Michael Masters testified before Congress in the midst of the 2008 food crisis.
The result of Wall Street’s venture into grain and feed and livestock has been a shock to the global food production and delivery system. Not only does the world’s food supply have to contend with constricted supply and increased demand for real grain, but investment bankers have engineered an artificial upward pull on the price of grain futures. The result: Imaginary wheat dominates the price of real wheat, as speculators (traditionally one-fifth of the market) now outnumber bona-fide hedgers four-to-one.
Today, bankers and traders sit at the top of the food chain — the carnivores of the system, devouring everyone and everything below. Near the bottom toils the farmer. For him, the rising price of grain should have been a windfall, but speculation has also created spikes in everything the farmer must buy to grow his grain — from seed to fertilizer to diesel fuel. At the very bottom lies the consumer. The average American, who spends roughly 8 to 12 percent of her weekly paycheck on food, did not immediately feel the crunch of rising costs. But for the roughly 2-billion people across the world who spend more than 50 percent of their income on food, the effects have been staggering: 250 million people joined the ranks of the hungry in 2008, bringing the total of the world’s “food insecure” to a peak of 1 billion — a number never seen before.
What’s the solution? The last time I visited the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, I asked a handful of wheat brokers what would happen if the U.S. government simply outlawed long-only trading in food commodities for investment banks. Their reaction: laughter. One phone call to a bona-fide hedger like Cargill or Archer Daniels Midland and one secret swap of assets, and a bank’s stake in the futures market is indistinguishable from that of an international wheat buyer. What if the government outlawed all long-only derivative products, I asked? Once again, laughter. Problem solved with another phone call, this time to a trading office in London or Hong Kong; the new food derivative markets have reached supranational proportions, beyond the reach of sovereign law.
Volatility in the food markets has also trashed what might have been a great opportunity for global cooperation. The higher the cost of corn, soy, rice, and wheat, the more the grain producing-nations of the world should cooperate in order to ensure that panicked (and generally poorer) grain-importing nations do not spark ever more dramatic contagions of food inflation and political upheaval. Instead, nervous countries have responded instead with me-first policies, from export bans to grain hoarding to neo-mercantilist land grabs in Africa. And efforts by concerned activists or international agencies to curb grain speculation have gone nowhere. All the while, the index funds continue to prosper, the bankers pocket the profits, and the world’s poor teeter on the brink of starvation.
“
If God’s work is Armageddon, maybe they really are doing God’s work.
“These f@!king Guys!,” Jon Stewart.
GoldenmanSucks Inc. (SCOTUS person) = “TrueFinancialCult™” / “TrueSerialLiquiditist™”
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/realestate/chase-offers-mortgage-holders-a-way-out/1166880
“JP Morgan Chase has a deal for some homeowners behind on their payments: If they’ll accept a quick sale of their home, the bank will give them $10,000 to $20,000 and forgive what it loses on the mortgage.”
“After a home is sold, the settlement is reported to credit bureaus, Bean said. Sellers must also pay taxes on the money forgiven by Chase since it is considered income.”
I sure hope the IRS dogs these flaky debtors.