The Housing Bubble

Question:

Planning to buy a property at a discount of 20-30K (which will almost certainly be accepted), which will knock down the purchase price of the property to about 110-120K. Taxes on property are currently at about $1,300 dollars.

How much can I expect the tax bill to decrease?

Thanks!

From last night:

“I personally would not lock in to something that didn’t feel right, but it is certainly your call…”

That’s the thing, nothing feels right to me. There is too much oscillation in my state and no stability. I have no idea what the future will bring, and I don’t think buying a house does anything to help, in fact, it locks you into a certain set of assumptions, and right now I think we all assume (yes, even the doomers) that normal will be back before abnormal.

My gut tells me things will be abnormal for a while. So much so that I’ve already started my, “that’s why you gotta do what you love, with people you love” speech for my kiddos.

Counting on anything else to give you stability would be your own misallocation of resources, IMHO. I think renting and owning will both be a mistake. The Blue Skye plan, if you can do it, is going to be the only way out, I’m afraid.

GOP Blames Obama for Encouraging Anti-Wall Street “Mobs”

Cantor: “Believe it or not, some in this town have actually condoned the pitting of Americans against Americans.”
By Will Oremus
Slate

The debate over the Occupy Wall Street protests took on a harsh tenor Friday, with Republican leader Rep. Eric Cantor denouncing the demonstrators as “mobs” and slamming President Obama for allegedly encouraging them.

“This administration’s failed policies have resulted in an assault on many of our nation’s bedrock principles,” he said. “If you read the newspapers today, I for one am increasingly concerned about the growing mobs occupying Wall Street and the other cities across the country. And believe it or not, some in this town have actually condoned the pitting of Americans against Americans.”

Comment by scdave
2011-10-09 08:57:45
with well dressed firemen standing in line at Publix with there $200k fire ride in the lot, 2 days on 3 days off $100k salaries ??

Everybody please sit down for this one;

Just went to a wedding a few weeks ago…My youngest son was the best man for this firefighter…He is a 32 year old and has been on the force for 4 years…He knocks down around 130k..

But that’s nutten….He is now on his honeymoon…Through taking some paid vacation days and some shift swapping, he has 37 straight days off with pay…Life is good..

Inmates could staff fire stations in Ga. county

The Associated Press
Posted: 6:36 a.m. Monday, Oct. 10, 2011

ST MARYS, Ga. — Camden County officials are considering a money-saving program that would put inmates in fire stations.

The Florida Times-Union reports (http://bit.ly/nZbutT) that the program would put two inmates in each of three existing firehouses in the south Georgia county.

Officials say the inmates would respond to all emergencies — including residential fires — alongside traditional firefighters.

The inmates would have no guard, but would be monitored by a surveillance system and by the traditional firefighters, who would undergo training to guard the inmates. Authorities say one traditional firefighter with correctional training can supervise up to three inmates.

Authorities say the inmate firefighter program could save the county more than $500,000 a year by some estimates. Inmates charged with crimes such as drug offenses and thefts would be eligible.

October bailout season is in full swing over in the euro zone.

Dexia gets new bailout with €4bn Belgian deal

• Belgian arm bought by country’s government
• Belgium, France and Luxembourg in €90bn guarantee
• Belgium warned over credit rating
• Dexia brought down by Greek exposure

Jill Treanor
guardian.co.uk, Monday 10 October 2011 05.17 EDT

Slovak Coalition Seeks Deal to Back Bailout
By Radoslav Tomek - Oct 9, 2011 3:00 PM PT

Slovakia’s ruling coalition will make a final attempt today to bridge differences over the country’s participation in a bailout mechanism for the euro area to avoid a collapse of the government and further delays in shoring up budgets across Europe.

The leaders of four governing parties in the euro region’s second-poorest member will meet to discuss conditions demanded by Freedom and Solidarity, a junior coalition member, in return for its support of the bailout system. Party Chairman Richard Sulik has said repeatedly his lawmakers will reject the related legislation in a vote tomorrow if conditions aren’t met.

“We will negotiate until the last moment to find a solution,” Sulik, who is also parliamentary speaker, said in a debate on television station TA3 yesterday. “If we don’t reach an agreement, we will vote against.”

The euro has lost more than 5 percent in the past month as Europe struggles to contain the debt crisis that’s spread across the continent over the last year from Greece. Slovak approval of enhanced powers of the European Financial Stability Facility, the temporary bailout fund, is crucial for adopting the key element of Europe’s strategy. Malta is the only other country in the 17-member euro bloc that has yet to ratify the measures agreed by European Union leaders in July.

Sulik said his party, known also as SaS, is ready to make unspecified concessions in its demands, which were rejected earlier this week by Prime Minister Iveta Radicova.

Government Wobbles

Without votes from SaS lawmakers, the EFSF package is destined for rejection tomorrow as the two opposition parties have said they won’t support it. This would further deepen the row within the four-party coalition and may lead to a collapse of the government.
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Dexia bailout set as wider bank rescue mulled
By Philip Blenkinsop and Robert-Jan Bartunek
BRUSSELS | Sun Oct 9, 2011 6:01pm EDT

(Reuters) - Franco-Belgian bank Dexia was set to be broken up and partly nationalised after being slammed by a funding squeeze in the latest warning sign about the health of Europe’s struggling lenders.

The rescue of Dexia, which has global credit risk exposure of $700 billion — more than twice Greece’s GDP — came as the leaders of French and Germany agreed in a joint press conference that European banks needed to be recapitalised, but papered over differences on how that would happen.

Details of the rescue were not revealed while Dexia’s board met in Brussels to approve the plan, but it will call for the bank’s Belgian retail unit and French municipal finance operations to come under government control.

Dexia was forced to seek state help for the second time in three years after a liquidity crunch hobbled the lender and sent its shares down 42 percent over the past week.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, his Belgian counterpart Yves Leterme and Luc Frieden, the finance minister of Luxembourg, where Dexia has a large presence, had found a solution for the stricken Franco-Belgian bank, Leterme’s office said early Sunday afternoon.

“The three governments have agreed to put a proposal to the board which fits completely with the goals of the Belgian government, which means to take over Dexia Bank Belgium, secure it and turn it into a very safe bank,” Leterme said after two hours of talks at Egmont Palace in Brussels — also the site of negotiations for a previous Dexia rescue in 2008.

At stake in the talks is how much each government will have to contribute to help wind down Dexia, a thorny subject given that Belgium and France are already struggling to contain large deficits.
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Europe up a creek with no central bank
Oct 7, 2011 17:32 EDT
James Saft is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Europe is demonstrating that a sovereign nation without a true central bank is just an uninsured bank, liable to be tipped over by the markets.

While the ECB is a central bank in almost all respects, what it isn’t is a lender of last resort for individual euro zone nations, a role that is expressly ruled out by the European Treaty.

A lender of last resort is what stops a bank run on a solvent institution from bringing it down due to a lack of liquidity. In the case of a nation, a lender of last resort, usually the central bank, can simply print money to satisfy debts in its own currency. And though we’ve all become terribly cynical about the concept of liquidity crises in the past couple of years, not least because so many people in authority have used it as a place to hide when the real issue was solvency (Greece, Lehman Brothers), the fact is that markets take on their own momentum.

Just as no-one viewed euro zone debt as anything other than a safe haven for the currency area’s first decade, now investors are busy driving up the price of even German default insurance.

This is the terrible logic of markets when they view sovereign borrowers as credit risks; it is almost inevitable that they push, and in pushing weaken the un-backstopped borrower and ultimately bring it down. This is a process which needs a circuit breaker, and Europe has no adequate circuit breaker, unlike Britain or the U.S.

“Rather than viewing government bonds as risk-free, safe-haven assets, financial markets now view and trade euro area sovereigns mainly as credit risks. This has very profound consequences for the stability of financial markets,” economist Elga Bartsch of Morgan Stanley wrote in a note to clients.

“For it seems to me that some markets have lost their ability to find a new, stable equilibrium. This is because, instead of moving in sync with the business cycle, government bond yields now move against the cycle, ie, rising in a downturn. This seriously undermines the ability of the government sector to stabilise the economy and the financial sector.”
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Are you a good bank, or a bad bank?

Greece activates bailout fund to save Proton Bank
English.news.cn 2011-10-10 17:26:50

ATHENS, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) — Greece activated for first time the newly founded Greek Financial Stability Fund to save Greek Proton Bank, Greek authorities said on Monday.

According to the statements released by the Finance Ministry and the central bank of Greece, Proton Bank, which was founded in 2001 and is listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, will be nationalized, reorganized and renamed into “New Proton Bank.”

The only shareholder in the new entity will be the Greek Financial Stability Fund, which “provides the needed capital adequacy to establish a new “good bank,” said the press release issued by the Finance Ministry.

The Fund was set up last year with a 10-billion-euro (13.54 billion U.S. dollars) capital to support the local banking sector which has been affected, as Greece struggles to contain since 2009 a severe debt crisis that threatens the country with a default and the eurozone with instability.

The old Proton bank, with some 550 employees and 31 branches, had total assets of 3.8 billion euros (5.09 billion dollars) at the end of the first quarter.

“The new bank, free of the deficiencies of the previous bank, is financially sound and will continue normally its operations,” said the statement.
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Leaders ponder funding of £172bn bailout for banks
Published on Monday 10 October 2011 01:11

EUROPEAN leaders will meet this week in an effort to thrash out details of how to fund an expected 200bn euro (£172bn) bailout of Europe’s over-stretched banks.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will hold discussions over how to deal with the problems of sovereign debt exposure in European banks, brought sharply into focus last week with the collapse of Franco-Belgium lender Dexia.

After its collapse, a new set of bank stress tests are expected to be conducted by the European Banking Authority, a move that analysts say will heap added pressure on stretched balance sheets.

It was reported yesterday that some of Germany’s banks are already preparing to raise billions in new funds from private sources – an option said to be favoured by Chancellor Merkel.

President Sarkozy is said to want French banks to have access to the 440bn euro (£380bn) European Financial Stability Fund, originally set up to finance the rescues of Greece, Portugal and Ireland.

On Thursday, the European Central Bank (ECB) offered new emergency loans to banks to help to steady a eurozone financial system shaken by the deepening debt crisis, and Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King warned the UK was facing its “most serious financial crisis” ever.

A Treasury spokesman stressed today that instability in the eurozone showed how important it was the Government continued its deficit reduction programme.

It followed calls for a halt to spending cuts to stimulate economic growth and tackle rising unemployment, as it emerged public sector job losses in the UK have been far greater than expected.

“The Government has always said that recovering from a financial crisis with such a large debt overhang would be slow and choppy, but as the instability in the eurozone shows, it is vital that the Government sticks to its deficit reduction plan. This plan is supported by the IMF, OECD and CBI and is essential for sustainable growth, It has helped deliver record low interest rates for families, along with 500,000 private sector jobs created last year.”
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Germany and France Say Deal Near to Recapitalize Banks
By LIZ ALDERMAN and JUDY DEMPSEY
Published: October 9, 2011

Acknowledging that Europe’s banks still need billions of euros to cushion against a possible default by Greece, the leaders of Germany and France announced on Sunday that they would have a package of reforms by the time leaders of the Group of 20 nations meet in early November.

“We are determined to do everything necessary to ensure the recapitalization of Europe’s banks,” Chancellor Angela Merkel said in Berlin after meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy of France.

But beyond promising closer coordination of economic policies for the euro zone, the two leaders declined to provide specifics on how the recapitalization would work, or how much money they would commit. The continued uncertainty could unnerve investors who hoped to see the governments take more decisive action.

The announcement came on the same day that the governments of France, Belgium and Luxembourg agreed to nationalize part of Dexia, Belgium’s biggest bank, infusing it with billions of euros in taxpayer money after it became the first casualty of the Greek sovereign debt crisis. Government officials had raced to prop up Dexia before global financial markets opened on Monday.

Dexia, which had received a bailout in 2008, “is the biggest euro zone bank failure in quite some time,” said Peter Zeihan, vice president of analysis at Stratfor, a geopolitical risk analysis company based in Austin, Tex. “It will force investors and shareholders to take second look at what they thought was stable.”
…

I agree with some of these people and not with others. This guy looks about as disabled as the 2 Full SS disabled dudes in my last hood that worked on their boats and played football with their kids. 22 years? My 22 years was up 9 years ago I have had multiple injuries and I will be working until I die. Oh well, time to drag my Advil filled @ss out the door because if I don`t work, my kids might be living like people in a Third-World country. Having said that, please throw Angelo Mozzillo and his buddies in jail if you know how.

Voices: Six Wall Street protestersBy Daniel Nasaw
BBC News, Cleveland
7 October 2011 Last updated at 17:30 ET

Michael Parish, 52, disabled and retired Cleveland firefighter

The middle class of this country was built off of what has been demonised now as a ‘public employee’. If it was not for public employees in those positions - teachers, firefighters, police officers, EMS workers - we would be in a Third-World country.

I fought fires, saved lives, protected property for 22 years. I had multiple injuries.

We don’t ask for anything other than our fair share and our fair dues, and to be addressed in this manner from our so-called elected officials is a slap in the face.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15223695 - 68k

U.S. Stock Futures Rise on Merkel Bank Pledge
By Nikolaj Gammeltoft and Joanna Ossinger - Oct 10, 2011 3:10 AM PT

U.S. stock futures gained, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will extend last week’s rally, after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said European leaders will do “everything necessary” to ensure that banks have adequate capital.

General Electric Co. (GE), the world’s third-biggest supplier of wind turbines, increased 1.4 percent in Germany. Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP), the maker of programmable semiconductors, jumped 2.3 percent.

S&P 500 futures expiring in December advanced 15.1, or 1.3 percent, to 1,170 at 11:07 a.m. London time. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.3 percent to 11,212.

Merkel joined French President Nicolas Sarkozy to persuade investors they can stamp out the debt crisis roiling global markets. At a joint press conference in Berlin, Sarkozy set a Nov. 3 deadline to devise a plan to recapitalize banks, get Greece on the right track and fix Europe’s economic governance.

“We are focusing on major U.S. equities now, looking past the European stock markets because there’s too much volatility there,” Tim Hartzell, who oversees about $350 million as chief investment officer for Houston-based Sequent Asset Management, said in a telephone interview. “The Fed is still accommodative and we’re entering into an election year, when politicians are usually pulling various levers to make the economy grow.”
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Realtors Are Liars®

Stagnant economy biggest factor as foreclosures pile up
6:00 AM, Oct. 9, 2011
Written by Alex Morrell
Green Bay Press-Gazette

After a respite in late 2010 and early this year, foreclosures again are surging, and real estate experts don’t expect the numbers to improve in coming months.

With 528 foreclosures through September, Brown County is on pace to reach more than 700 foreclosures by the end of the year, eclipsing the 2010 total of 649. They have gone up every year since 2006, when there were 346 foreclosures in the county.

Experts say a lull — created in part by banking moratoriums on foreclosures and government assistance programs — is over and damage may worsen as the economy and job growth show no signs of revival.

“Even if they stall (a foreclosure) for a time period or put more time on it for a little while, eventually it’s probably going to hit the point where it has to go through the whole process,” said Greg Dallaire, owner of Dallaire Realty and a real estate broker in the Green Bay area for six years.

And the end isn’t in sight, Dallaire said.

“We’ve got an insane amount of actual foreclosure properties coming down the pipeline,” said Dallaire, who sells foreclosed properties, primarily to investors and first-time homebuyers.

“For the last three months, I’ve definitely seen an upturn in activity. … Were starting to see it come back to reality.”
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Atlanta Business News 5:04 a.m. Monday, October 10, 2011

Metro Atlanta foreclosures up again
By Christopher Quinn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

There were 8,845 foreclosure notices in the metro Atlanta area in October, up 16 percent from September’s 7,634, according to Equity Depot of Kennesaw.

That follows the up-and-down movement of the notices over the last seven months and reflects what is going on in the economy, said Barry Bramlett, the president of the number crunching firm.

Foreclosure notices are the first step in the process but do not always lead to a repossession. Property buyers can avoid foreclosure by paying loans or negotiating new deals with banks or lenders.

Bramlett said some of the businesses that one might expect a slow economy to affect are showing strains.

One example that showed up in Equity Depot’s numbers were notices for a $175 million blanket loan that secures 19 separate Jameson Inns in Georgia. The W Hotel in Buckhead on Peachtree Street has been advertised for several months on a $36.5 million deed, Bramlett said.

“The economic affect on [hotels and motels], gas stations, truck stops, et cetera is very evident. Don’t expect much of this to change until economic conditions do,” he said.

Among residential properties, about 70 percent of notices have run in a prior period, the numbers say.

“This indicates serious delinquencies remain very high,” Bramlett said.

“There’s no way to know how many new properties are becoming delinquent based on foreclosure notices here,” he said. “It may mean that lenders are simply running notices on the most serious delinquencies. I know [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] had instituted some one-year moratoriums for the unemployed. There may be too many factors to really know anymore. Delinquency rates on all mortgages, based on Mortgage Bankers Association figures, have minimally come down this year but are still very, very high.”
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R.I. homeowners ignoring effort to help prevent foreclosures
01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, October 9, 2011
By Christine Dunn
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE –– Efforts by three Rhode Island cities to ease the impact of the foreclosure crisis by requiring lenders to attempt mediation before proceeding with a foreclosure have helped only a small percentage of homeowners in trouble.

According to a report from Rhode Island Housing, which tabulated results from Providence, Cranston and Warwick through Aug. 31, many of the 4,676 homeowners targeted for assistance did not respond to letters offering help in negotiating with their lenders.

In 2,296 cases, certificates were issued to lenders allowing them to proceed with foreclosure because there was no response from the homeowner. In 1,477 cases, Rhode Island Housing was still in the initial stages of trying to contact the owners.

Sometimes, advocates follow up by going to a house to personally contact an owner, only to find they have left, according to Richard Godfrey, executive director of Rhode Island Housing.

“A lot of people aren’t putting up a fight,” Godfrey said.
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Plan falls short
Feds fail to dispense foreclosure aid
MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2011

The federal government had good intentions to help unemployed homeowners escape foreclosure, but fell short on executing the plan.

The feds disbursed only $432 million of $1 billion designated for the Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program because time ran out.

The program was supposed to provide forgivable loans up to $50,000 to temporarily assist unemployed or underemployed people in 32 states who were facing potential foreclosure. The HUD loans are to be forgiven if homeowners retain their home for five years.

Some 100,000 people applied. The government sought to help up to 30,000 people.

But only 11,832 were conditionally approved, according to USA Today.

Meanwhile, the money that was not used for the program will go back to the Treasury.

What happened?
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THE OUTLOOK
OCTOBER 10, 2011

U.S. Gambles With Mortgage Retreat
By NICK TIMIRAOS

Three years after virtually nationalizing the U.S. mortgage market, the government has embarked on a pullback to see whether private industry picks up the slack.

Some people in the housing industry worry that Washington’s move will cause fresh pain in many regions where demand has yet to recover amid the sluggish economy.

At issue are the loan limits that Congress expanded in 2008, allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy mortgages that exceeded the national cap of $417,000.

When the mortgage market melted down four years ago and sent private mortgage investors fleeing, interest rates rose sharply on “jumbo” mortgages—those too large for backing by Fannie, Freddie or agencies such as the Federal Housing Administration. That accelerated home-price declines in high-end markets throughout California and the Northeast, where many pricey homes couldn’t be bought with a government-backed loan.

To stem the fallout in prices, Congress raised the loan caps to as high as $729,750 in markets such as Los Angeles and New York. It then passed a series of one-year extensions to keep the higher limits in place. But this year, Congress and the Obama administration opted against an extension.

As a result, the limits in hundreds of counties fell by 10% or more on Oct. 1. For loans backed by Fannie and Freddie, the limits declined to between $417,000 and $625,500 in about 200 counties.

More worrisome to real-estate agents are declines in the FHA limits, which fell to between $271,050 and $625,500 in 600 counties. Those changes are causing heartburn because the FHA allows buyers to make down payments of just 3.5%, and it has financed as many as half of all home purchases in recent quarters.

Policy makers allowed the limits to fall because they want private companies to hold more mortgage risk, and dialing down loan limits is one way to carve out space for those investors. Fannie, Freddie, and the FHA currently back nine in 10 new mortgages. Taxpayers already are on the hook for $141 billion in losses at Fannie and Freddie, and the FHA’s reserves have plunged to razor-thin levels.

Mortgages that don’t qualify for government backing typically have higher borrowing costs, including interest rates around 0.75 percentage point above conforming loans. Mortgage rates currently are very low, but jumbo loans also require bigger down payments—at least 20%—and can have tougher qualification rules.

“The net-net here is that the available pool of credit for housing is shrinking. Prices will have to decline,” said Christopher Whalen, co-founder of risk-management consultant Institutional Risk Analytics.
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Published: Oct. 9, 2011 3:24 p.m.
Mortgage insurance can be pricey
By MAURINE POOL / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Randy Johnson, president of Independence Mortgage Co. in Newport Beach, author of “How to Save Thousands of Dollars on Your Home Mortgage” and a mortgage broker since 1983, answers questions…

Q. Is there a set rate at which PMI is calculated? I am working with the banker on my mortgage application. I am first-time home buyer applying for FHA loan with 3.5 percent down to purchase my first home in New York state. I was told that my PMI on $350,000 home would be around $350 (give or take) a month. Based on everything that I was able to research, I concluded that he is trying to rip me off by $100/month at the minimum.

A. Actually PMI is terminology used for insurance on non-FHA loans. There is still insurance for FHA loans but it’s a little different. There are two parts to FHA insurance. There is an upfront premium of 1 percent of the loan amount. This was reduced from 1.5 percent previously. You don’t have to pay cash for that as it is added to the loan amount. In addition there is a Monthly Insurance Premium, MIP, that is probably what you are talking about. It’s now 1.15 percent per year, increased by 0.25 percent in April from 0.8 percent previously. If you were using the previous numbers instead of current numbers, it would look as if you were getting ripped off. Much more information at http://www.hud.gov that I suggest you study.
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Today’s Houses:

House 1: Seafoam dream.

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3405-Norbeck-Rd-Silver-Spring-MD-20906/37200338_zpid/#{scid=hdp-site-map-list-photos}

1995 6/3 3800 sq ft on 0.43 acre. Giant kitchen. Vaulted ceilings. Seems like a very good house for entertaining, but it’s a little weird for me. The paint color (for you males, that bluish green is “seafoam”) is pretty, but for the entire house? Good large well-kept backyard with a large deck.

Jan 2002: Zestimated $365K
Dec 2004: Sold $560K
Oct 2011: Listed $575K <—- they’ll never get this. $400K, simply because of the huge size and the big lot.

House 2: The 60’s post-modern

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/13509-Collingwood-Ter-Silver-Spring-MD-20904/37134701_zpid/#{scid=hdp-site-map-list-address}

1965 3/2 contemporary 0.25 acre. This was built in 1965, and looks it. That staircase downstairs is squished. But I kinda like the layout, and it’s well kept. Cutie-pie kitchen. The back yard is good only for the deck.

Apr 2002: Zestimated $240K
Jun 2006: Zesitmated $460K
Oct 2011: Listed $300K <— a little high.

All the houses on Zillow seem to listed at 2004-era wishing prices. They won’t get those prices.

Why would a prospective buyer care if a seller is wealthy or not? It’s not as though there are not thousands of other homes currently on the market from which to choose if a stubborn seller won’t accept a lowball offer.

Ask The Agent: Watch what you’re advertising
October 8th, 2011, 12:00 pm
posted by J. GALLEGO

Leslie Sargent Eskildsen is a Realtor with Realty One Group in Mission Viejo. She blogs about what she thinks homebuyers and sellers need to hear about, without — as she puts it — any sugar coating. You can check out her blog at What Agents Fear Telling You.

While your house is on the market, remove all the flashing billboards announcing to buyers that you have more money than Bill Gates and Warren Buffett combined. Because those billboards tell buyers that for you, money is no object and you may actually accept a low ball offer just to wash your hands of your house so you can move on to the next mansion.

What’s that? You don’t have any flashing billboards in your home? That’s what you think. See if any of these ring a bell:

The framed photo of you on your luxury yacht moored off the coast of a sunny Greek island surrounded by lots of smiling sunbathers hoisting champagne classes;

The photo of you courtside at the Lakers game, Jack Nicholson on one side of you and Kobe on the other – while Kobe and Jack sign the Jersey hanging in the frame next to this photo;

The shoe racks in your master closet stacked neatly with all 30 pairs of Jimmy Choos in order of color and season;

The Aston Martin V12 Vantage in the garage parked next to the Rolls Royce Ghost;

The wine cellar full of neatly racked bottles and stacked to the rafters with unopened cases from Silver Oak, Neal, Nickle & Nickle, and Pine Ridge;

And the humidor chock full of Cohiba Esplendidos.

See if you have anything at all in your home that screams “I’m rich” – you might think about packing it or moving it to your summer home for the winter you’re on the market.

Even in Newport Beach, Shady Canyon, and Nellie Gail, there are some things you may want to keep to yourself. Don’t give buyers any more ammo than they already have to come at you with an offer you may have to laugh at to keep from crying.
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I gave a contract on a house and it is a short sale. Both buyer and seller have signed and is submitted to the bank. The RE agent doesn’t want to change the status as pending in the MLS listing till the bank approves. My argument is that it is legally binding now and the RE agent is just trying to get more offers to get inot a bidding war by prolonging the open period. Thoughts????

I have been trying to understand the appeal of credit card debt recently. Because honestly, I have never gotten it before. I find debt makes me itch when I look at my accounts. As some of you know I went on a vacation this year, and while I didn’t pay for the whole thing myself (my parents wanted to treat the family to celebrate their anniversary), I ended up spending a lot more than I ususally do for a yearly vacation. I decided to do this without going “off book” which is how I describe having to put more money in my checking account in a particular month than I usually do (paychecks go direcly to savings). I managed to build up quite a bit in my checking account in the months before the trip, but it wasn’t quite enough. So, here I am, a few months later. I just moved my “November” money into my checking account, about two weeks before I normally would. Without that, my checking account would have less than $10 in it. I have about $130 in my wallet, a little more than 1/2 a tank of gas and enough to last a while on my Metro cards. Next bill that is actually due is November’s rent.

I have the luxury of paying myself November’s money early because all I am really doing is moving money from savings to checking early. People living paycheck to paycheck don’t have that luxury. They have to wait for the paycheck or unemployment check or child support or whatever to show up before they can do that. They might be stuck with less than $10 in the checking account. It is not pretty. I think I just might be starting to “get” the temptation to not pay off the card every month. I have paid off the whole amount hroughout this little exercise, but it was tempting not to - to have a little extra in the checking account so I didn’t have to remember that I am not allowed to take out any cash at an ATM because there isn’t any money to take.

Oh, and my bank doesn’t have any checking account fees so I don’t have to worry about that, and my utilities are included in my rent so that cost is not variable (which it would be for most) which makes planning a lot easier. Several more huge advantages over the average person. Also, because I have the ability to go “off book,” the stress level is a lot less than if the exercise were my real life, not just a test of what being on the edge feels like.

I did have to go “off book” once this summer. I put extra money in checking to pay for some car repairs. Imagine if you didn’t have the ability to do that. The car could not be used without the repairs. I could get by without the car if I had to, but most people can’t. Maybe I am starting to get why people might decide to trade in a car for a new one that could be purchased for no money down instead of paying $1000 (actually less than that in my case) to get the old one fixed. It sounded dumb beyond all possible belief, but if you have no savings, no spare capacity on your credit card, no relatives who can loan you the money and no way to get to work without a car, it might just be a rational choice. Like jumping off a cliff might be a rational choice if it was the only way to get away from an avalanche. After all, there is a small chance there could be something soft at the bottom.

Recession Officially Over, U.S. Incomes Kept Falling
By ROBERT PEAR
Published: October 9, 2011

WASHINGTON — In a grim sign of the enduring nature of the economic slump, household income declined more in the two years after the recession ended than it did during the recession itself, new research has found.

Between June 2009, when the recession officially ended, and June 2011, inflation-adjusted median household income fell 6.7 percent, to $49,909, according to a study by two former Census Bureau officials. During the recession — from December 2007 to June 2009 — household income fell 3.2 percent.

The finding helps explain why Americans’ attitudes toward the economy, the country’s direction and its political leaders have continued to sour even as the economy has been growing. Unhappiness and anger have come to dominate the political scene, including the early stages of the 2012 presidential campaign.
…

Awful quarter for Wall Street may be only the beginning
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK | Fri Sep 30, 2011 4:50pm EDT

(Reuters) - This past quarter was miserable for bullish U.S. stock investors. The bad news is, things may get worse before they get better.

The S&P 500 fell about 14 percent in the third quarter — losing about $1.7 trillion in market cap, according to Thomson Reuters Datastream — as the U.S. economy struggled and a resolution to Europe’s sovereign debt woes proved elusive.

The quarter was the S&P’s weakest since the fourth quarter of 2008, the peak of the financial crisis. Many analysts say persistent uncertainty overshadows any near-term value created by share price declines.

“I don’t see great opportunities and wouldn’t encourage aggressiveness until we see some stabilization in Europe, China and here,” said Jerry Harris, president of asset management at Sterne Agee in Birmingham, Alabama.

“We may be approaching that point, but it’s too early to have a lot of conviction and there’s not much potential for prices until we start getting better economic numbers.”
…

Finally! Used-car prices are falling - USA TODAY
After rising much of last year, used car prices are finally sliding.

Manheim, a big used-car wholesaler, says not only are prices starting to fall, but they will continue to fall. Still, says Manheim economist Tom Webb, they remain high by historical standards, Automotive News reports. Reason: In this tough economy, many buyers just can’t afford new cars.

The monthly index was 122.9 in September, down from 123.7 in August but above its 118.9 reading in September 2010, the News says. The index peaked at 127.8 in May. The index began in January 1995 at 100.

SUV prices, in particular, fell when gas prices peaked in the past few months.

Another gubmint waste of time. They will have to set up a super-duper committee to meet up after this one flops.

ITEM: Debt “supercommittee” struggling to agree

(AP) WASHINGTON - After weeks of secret meetings, the 12-member deficit-cutting panel established under last summer’s budget and debt deal appears no closer to a breakthrough than when talks began last month.

While the panel members themselves aren’t doing much talking, other lawmakers, aides and lobbyists closely tracking the so-called “supercommittee” are increasingly skeptical, even pessimistic, that the panel will be able to meet its assigned goal of at least $1.2 trillion in deficit savings over the next 10 years.

The reason? A familiar deadlock over taxes and cuts to major programs like the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs for the elderly, poor and disabled.

Democrats won’t go for an agreement that doesn’t include lots of new tax revenue; Republicans are just as ardently anti-tax. The impasse over revenues means that Democrats won’t agree to cost curbs on popular entitlement programs like Medicare.

“Fairness has to be a prerequisite for it,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. “We have just come through passing a bill that was (all spending) cuts, no revenue.” Pelosi was referring to the August debt limit bill, which set tight “caps” on agency budgets but didn’t contain revenue increases supported by Democrats.

Gov’t records $1.3 trillion budget deficit again
Poll: Most want taxes on millionaires increased
Deficits still go up big in Obama’s deficit plan
Pressure mounts on supercommittee to cut big

Democrats are more insistent on revenues now.

“There’s been no movement on revenues and I’m not sure the Democrats will agree to anything without revenues,” added a Democratic lobbyist who required anonymity to speak candidly.

Asked last week whether she is confident that the panel can hit its $1.2 trillion goal, co-chairman Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington state Democrat, sidestepped the question.

“I am confident that the public is watching us very closely to see if we can show this country that this democracy can work,” Murray told reporters. “I carry that weight on my shoulders every day and so does every member of this committee.”

The two parties have equal strength on the panel, which has until the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November to come up with a plan to submit for up-or-down House and Senate votes in December. That means bipartisan compromise is a prerequisite for a successful result.

Thus far, say aides to panel members and other lawmakers, neither side has demonstrated the required flexibility in the super-secret talks.

Massive short squeeze underway on Wall Street…

“California Homeowners are Using This Ridiculously Easy Trick…”

The woman in that ad definitely brings to mind a different meaning of the word ‘trick’ than they intended…

I need to be careful here as I don’t want to be labeled as someone who’s attempting to start class warfare.

I see articles like this and wonder if the top 1% paid someone to write it. Consipiracy theory? Perhaps. Then again, I wonder if these folks “living well” on $20,000 a year are also receiving any benefits from the government. If they are, then that means they’re not really “living well” on $20,000 a year.

The Secret to Living Well on $20,000 a Year
USNews.com

Last week, we ran a story on living well on $40,000 a year, featuring a special education teacher who supports his family of four on that relatively modest salary. Fifty people commented on the article, many of whom argued that living on $40,000 a year was hardly an impressive feat.

“I could live like a king on $40,000 a year. Try living on $22,000 a year and see how that goes for you. And I have a family of three,” said Joyce of Maine.

[In Pictures: 10 Ways to Start Earning Extra Money Now]

Connie from Texas expressed a similar sentiment: “I would feel really rich if I made that kind of money… Why don’t you have an article on how to live on $17,000 or $20,000 a year?”

To do just that, we tracked down Joseph Fonseca, a writer currently living in Seattle who supports himself on $20,000 a year. Fonseca, 28, authored a first-person piece in the Washington Post over the weekend describing his “10 cities, 10 years” project, in which he moves every year and starts over in a new town. An aspiring novelist, he plans to eventually write a book about his quest. We spoke with him by phone to get more details about just how he makes ends meet.

Sex, drugs and hiding from the law at Wall Street protests
By LACHLAN CARTWRIGHT and BOB FREDERICKS -NY POST

The criminals are crashing the party.

Lured by cheap drugs and free food, creepy thugs have infiltrated the crowd of protesters camped out in Zuccotti Park for Occupy Wall Street, The Post has learned.

“I got warrants. I’m running from the law,” boasted Dave, 24, a scrawny, unshaven miscreant in filthy clothes from Stamford, Conn. “I’m not even supposed to be here, but it’s as good a spot as any to hide.”

Wanted for burglary, the drug-addled fugitive said some of his hard-partying pals clued him in that the protest was a good place to be fed, get wasted and crash.

“I’ve been smoking and drinking in here for eight days now,” said Dave, booze on his breath and his eyes bloodshot as he lay sprawled on a tattered sheet of cardboard. “I need to get some methadone. Every day, I wake up, and I’m f–ked up.”

Drugs can be easy to score — a Post reporter was offered pot for $15 and heroin for $10.

They’ve already fueled at least one violent incident, when a wasted nut job socked a medical volunteer in the face before others hauled the attacker away.

“We are trying to keep everything calm and work with the police, but there are some crazies in here,” said Paul, a security volunteer.

“The other day, there was a guy charging people $5 to use the McDonald’s bathroom. He was on LSD or high on something.”

But the creeps can’t give a bad name to the group’s overall anti-greed message, protesters said.

A coalition of religious leaders and their followers yesterday marched from Washington Square Park to the encampment with a makeshift golden calf in the shape of the Wall Street bull, leading protesters in such spirituals as “We Shall Overcome” and “Down by the Riverside.”

The crowd chanted, “We are the 99 percent!” — referring to the millions of Americans not among the top 1 percent of the country’s earners — along with priests, rabbis and imams.

“You are fulfilling the words of the prophet Isaiah. You have thrown off the yoke. Occupy, occupy, occupy!” shouted Warren Goldstein, chair of the history department at the University of Hartford in Connecticut.

The golden calf sat atop a brown platform that marchers carried on their shoulders. On the platform were the words “false idol.”

The clerics — some holding signs that read, “Jesus is with the 99%” — said they were there to support the movement.

“You have woken up all of us … We will stand with you in every city, every state and every country across this globe,” said Michael Ellick, minister at Judson Memorial Church near Washington Square.

Hundreds gathered around philosopher Slavoj Zizek as he gave a speech and answered questions.

“They tell us we are dreamers. The true dreamers are those who think things can go on indefinitely the way they are,” he said. “We are not destroying anything. We are only witnessing how the system is destroying itself.”

Some protesters have said that in addition to being against Wall Street greed, they also are for a withdrawal from Afghanistan and Iraq and more help for Haiti.

But as the protest ground on for a 23rd day, it was evident that there were challenges.

Zuccotti Park smelled like an open sewer — with people urinating and defecating in public.

And some couples have taken advantage of the free condoms distributed by organizers to do the nasty in full view of other protesters.

“It kinda makes me think of what Woodstock must have been like,” said one protester, Sarah, 19 from the Upper West Side.

“I haven’t hooked up with any guys … but one of my friends did have sex in a tarp with a guy last night.”

The free chow offered to protesters was boosting the crowd.

“People say they are here for the cause, but the real reason is the free food,” quipped Cameron, 26, of Jersey City.

“On my third day, they had smoked salmon with cream cheese. You know how much smoked salmon is a pound? Sixteen dollars. I eat better here than I do with my parents!”

Many of the protesters said they are here for the long haul — and predicted trouble if cops try to clear the park.

“When the weather starts getting cold, we’re already talking about bringing tents in here,” said Robert, 47, of Pennsylvania. “I’m not going anywhere.

“I lost my job of 22 years, and someone has gotta pay,’’ he said. “Civil disobedience is something we may need to keep this site occupied. If everyone does it at once, the cops won’t be able to do anything.”

http://www.alt-market.com/articles/299-sausage-the-riot-dog-coming-to-america

Sausage the Riot Dog coming to America?

Had to attend a family birthday dinner last night for my GF’s mom. Her sister was there bragging about here new “buy and bail” house which she says will close this month. I posted about it a couple of weeks ago- she has found a much lager, fancier house for less money than they owe on the FB one they currently are underwater on (they owe like $270k and the one next to it just sold (foreclosure) for $77k). I just stayed quiet and played dumb. How can this end well?

Bloomberg administration’s largest mass layoff includes 672 public school workers. BY Mike Jaccarino
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

The Bloomberg administration has orchestrated its largest mass layoff at a single city agency, axing 672 public school workers Friday.

No teachers were laid off, but the cuts included 410 school aides, 82 family workers and 66 parent coordinators, among others, according to the city Department of Education. The cuts were spread out over 350 schools, The New York Times reported.

The layoffs were expected - more than 700 public school workers already received pink slips, the Daily News had previously reported.

City officials blamed the union, District Council 37, for refusing to give the city access to its health care fund, The Times said. The union had instead offered to cap workers’ hours and use furlough days.

Next big thing? Shows about getting a damn job
By SEAN DALY - NY POST

The days of the Kardashians and the “Real Housewives” — shows about people with money, that is — may be coming to an end.

The new breed of reality shows is coming face to face with the hard, flat-broke truth of a country facing difficult economic times. The new shows teach the tricks of the trade about coupon clipping, furniture restoration, storage-locker auctions — and soon, even getting back to work.

“When we were in a nice, bustling economy, you saw lots of shows about flipping houses,” says Brent Montgomery, producer of “Pawn Stars” and Bravo’s new bargain-seeking series “Fashion Hunters.”

RECESSION TV: “Job Whisperer” is about people looking for work, while “Pawn Stars” and “Fashion Hunters” deal with current hard times as well.

“People were OK to watch fighting and bickering and more dramatic TV. Now, they are getting enough of that in their day-to-day lives just trying to find jobs.”

“Fashion Hunters” (Tuesdays, 9 p.m.) follows the daily drama at SoHo consignment shop Second Time Around.

Once-extravagant Wall Street wives sell off their extra Gucci and Prada items — and women on even tighter budgets line up to buy them for a fraction of the retail price.

“There is still a lot of fun and catty behavior when women are fighting over the price of a handbag,” Montgomery tells The Post. “You see people go in and get a $2,000 pair of shoes for under $100 and think, ‘That is a cool. I can still look like a million bucks on my unemployment check!’ ”

Getting people off unemployment and back on the payroll is the job of A&E’s “Job Whisperer” — a sort of cross between “Supernanny” and “Millionaire Matchmaker.”

“We’re a red-state show on a red-state network … but it’s more than just rednecks,” he says.

The pilot episode features a New Jersey mom looking for a job in publishing and a Connecticut soldier who has just returned from Afghanistan.

“I am not a career coach,” says veteran headhunter and star Stephen Viscusi, who helps guide the unemployed back into the workforce. “I tell people career coaches are for sissies.

“I teach the real, gutsy way to get in the door: Low-ball your salary. Look better. Don’t overdo your eyebrows. And clean up your Facebook. Nobody wants to see your shirtless picture or hire Blondie@aol.com.”

The takeaway, he hopes: “If this person that you just saw on TV can get a job, get off your ass and get a job, too.”

“The Job Whisperer” is expected to premiere as a one-off special in the next few weeks — with a chance at becoming a regular series if the ratings are good, according to producers.

Montgomery and his team at Leftfield Productions have made a specialty of developing shows about new ways to cash in on the sluggish economy.

“We are focused on small businesses,” he says. “It is kind of the American dream told through one person’s eyes.

“So many people have started their own business or want to start their own business. And they can relate to these individuals, where it is them against the world.”

I see crudes back over $85.00. Most likely go back over $90.00 just in time for winter.

The bauble-heads are saying that the DOW is on a tear due to the fact the EU-PIGS will be saved/bailed out. What’s new about that?

http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/occupy-wall-street-news-debt-forgiveness/10/10/2011/id/37300?camp=syndication&medium=portals&from=yahoo

Lee Adler: Let’s Stop Playing Bernanke’s Ruinous Game.

Children to be banned from blowing up balloons, under EU safety rules. By Bruno Waterfield, Brussels. The Telegraph

Children are to be banned from taking part in traditional Christmas games, from blowing up balloons to blowing on party whistles, because of new EU safety rules that have just entered into force.

The EU toy safety directive, agreed and implemented by Government, states that balloons must not be blown up by unsupervised children under the age of eight, in case they accidentally swallow them and choke.

Despite having been popular favourites for generations of children, party games including whistles and magnetic fishing games are to be banned because their small parts or chemicals used in making them are decreed to be too risky.

Apparently harmless toys that children have enjoyed for decades are now regarded by EU regulators as posing an unacceptable safety risk.

Whistle blowers, that scroll out into a a long coloured paper tongue when sounded – a party favourite at family Christmas meals – are now classed as unsafe for all children under 14.

The new rules are designed to protect children from the chance that a piece of the whistle could be swallowed and cause choking.

The EU directive will also force manufacturers and retailers to attach safety warnings to toys hitherto regarded as harmless.

Official guidance notes: “For latex balloons there must be a warning that children under eight years must be supervised and broken balloons should be discarded.” Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at the University of Kent, warned that toy safety bans were part of a trend to micro-manage children’s lives at the expense of allowing them to explore, learn and have fun through play.

“Toys and activities, such as blowing up balloons, are part and parcel of the type of children’s play that helps them become independent and self-reliant,” he said.

“These bans diminish the experience, both of having fun and learning, by turning play into a danger zone with rules that stifle life and adventure for children.” Under the EU legislation, Britain will have to ensure that toys are not sold in shops unless they fully comply with the new safety requirements.

As well as new rules for balloons and party whistles, the EU legislation will impose restrictions on how noisy toys, including rattles or musical instruments, are allowed to be.

All teddie bears meant for children under the age of three will now have to be fully washable because EU regulators are concerned that dirty cuddly toys could spread disease and infection.

Paul Nuttall, a member of the European Parliament’s consumer safety committee, said the “kill joy” world of EU officialdom was being ill-equipped to understand the concept of children having fun.

“I would say that this is crackers but I sure children are banned from using them too. EU party poopers should not be telling families how to blow up balloons,” said the Ukip MEP.

British toy manufacturers are concerned that the new rules, which include defining colouring books and anything played with by under-14s, could drive up the price of Christmas presents because of the cost of safety tests.

~ Economist Ken Rogoff (Harvard) went on National Public Radio to suggest that the Federal Reserve ought to pump up inflation to 5 percent or so to perk up the economy. He explained that it would help debtors to pay back their obligations in cheaper money.

A Mr. Hugh Everett responded to the Rogoff idea:

“We are witnessing the collapse of Global Socialism. The idea that governments can print monopoly money, punish achievement through progressive taxation, create a nation of government workers stamping each others’ documents, and reward sloth through transfer payment hand outs, is being proven a Great Lie in places like Greece, Portugal, Italy, Spain, California, and New York.”

Greeks pay for economic crisis with their health.
Helena Smith in Athens and Sarah Boseley
The Guardian

Rising demand and cost-cutting put services at breaking point, while drug addiction, HIV and suicide rates increase

It is 4am on the emergency ward of Evangelismos general hospital - the biggest in Greece - and the stream of patients is relentless. Dr Michalis Samarkos has not stopped working since he started his shift some 14 hours earlier, and he has been besieged by patients unable to afford the tests or the drugs they need.

Many, like the unemployed diabetic man he has just examined, have gone without treatment for several days. “When you see a diabetic unable to afford his insulin you know he is going to die,” says Samarkos. “There is no infrastructure to help these people. On every front the system has failed the people it was meant to serve.”

Greeks are paying for their economic disaster with their health, according to a new study.

In a letter to the Lancet medical journal, a team lead by Dr Alexander Kentikelenis and Dr David Stuckler from Cambridge University and Professor Martin McKee from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine warns of a potential “Greek tragedy”. They point to signs of a dramatic decline in the health of the population and a deterioration of services at hospitals under financial pressure.

Many Greeks have lost access to healthcare coverage through work and social security plans, and rising poverty levels mean growing numbers who would previously have used the private sector are now flocking to state hospitals. Alongside savage spending cuts, the rise has put an immense strain on a chaotic and corrupt system that was already in decline.

Hospital budgets dropped by 40% between 2007 and 2009, say the Lancet authors. There are reports of understaffing, shortages of medical supplies and patients paying bribes to medical staff to jump queues.

“There are signs that health outcomes have worsened, especially in vulnerable groups,” write the experts. There was a 14% rise in the number of Greeks reporting their health as “bad” or “very bad” between 2007 and 2009.

Suicides rose by 17% during the same period, and unofficial 2010 data quoted in parliament mention a 25% rise compared with 2009. The health minister reported a 40% rise in the first half of 2011 compared with the same period in 2010.

“The national suicide helpline reported that 25% of callers faced financial difficulties in 2010 and reports in the media indicate that the inability to repay high levels of personal debt might be a key factor in the increase in suicides,” the Lancet authors write. “Violence has also risen, and homicide and theft rates nearly doubled between 2007 and 2009.”

Today, California invests in the dreams of talented undocumented students and in the economic future of our state. I applaud Governor Brown for signing AB 131 into law and affirming the students’ role in creating a bright and prosperous future for California. With California facing a deficit of one million college graduates by 2025, this law makes the most sense for our economy and society.The Mexican Mafia strkes again..turning calif into a 3rd world state. read victor david hansen article 2 californias,just google it ( amazing read)

Another plant heading south of the boarder…

ITEM: Manitowoc plant closing begins in December

TWO RIVERS, Wis. (AP) — Thermo Fisher Scientific will begin shutting down its Two River plant beginning Dec. 5.

The company has notified the state Department of Workforce Development that the closure is expected to take a couple months. The move will affect approximately 140 employees.

The plant makes steel lab equipment. WLUK-TV says the production will be moved to a facility in Mexico. The company also has a wood manufacturing plant in Two Rivers. It says no decision has been made on the future of that plant.

Surprise! Who’s not paying federal income tax?

The lowest-income Americans — those who make less than $25,000 a year — account for the largest number of those not paying any federal income tax: 76% as of 2009. But that share has been decreasing for years. Meanwhile, the percentage of nontaxable returns has been growing for people with higher incomes. As of 2009, more than 20,000 filers making more than $200,000 a year — 1,470 of whom had adjusted gross income of more than $1 million — owed no income tax

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2011-10-06/income-tax-nonpayment/50676912/1

Filed under: “Take the money and,…RUN!” (back to Iceland…)

Whitey Bulger Undone by a Former Miss Iceland, and His Own Kindness:

By David Stout | October 10, 2011 / Main Justice

The former Miss Iceland recognized “Charlie” and “Carole” at once and called the FBI. After 16 years, Whitey’s days on the run from a variety of charges back in Boston were over, and Anna Bjornsdottir was about to be $2 million richer, thanks to the reward for Bulger’s capture

Anna Bjornsdottir, a former actress and Miss Iceland of 1974, was living in Santa Monica, Calif., when she noticed her neighbors Charlie and Carole Gasko feeding a stray cat a couple times a day. So Anna would stop and chat with Charlie and Carole. Anna learned that the Gaskos even took the tiger-striped cat to the veterinarian when it got sick.

Anyhow, maybe the kindness toward the cat shows that Bulger, who just turned 82, is mellowing after decades in which he robbed people, beat up people and allegedly had a role in a score of murders. Or maybe not.

RE: my landlord’s name is Fannie!

Fannie Mae’s rep(a lying realtor; making buck managing props for Fannie) just came by and I am home(no sub job today) to receive her notice. Not bad as I was expecting a sheriff with an eviction notice.

She asked if I was the owner. I said no. She assumed I was a renter, so as such I am going to be given the opportunity to lease this property from Fannie Mae(at a price she said would be less than I pay now; there she goes assuming again. I did not feel the need to correct her that I don’t pay rent per se; I just live here with my wife) The opportunity to lease also extends to former borrowers as well according to the paperwork, just being an occupant like my wife actually is may gives one the same opportunity to make Fannie your landlord.

I have ten days to indicate my desire for continuing to rent from Fannie (her assumption that I was leasing, that I may just run with) or take cash for keys (which I thought they had discontinued). Not sure if being a “tenant” or being the ex-borrower gets one a better offer from Fannie.
The lying realtor has given me a glaringly enticing, obvious chance to become an accidental tenant.

The end result being that Fannie rakes in a little dough for the property and we don’t have to move just yet; is that a good thing? I suppose coming clean regarding the ex-owner, my wife, being the occupant of record, will be the best unless I want to become a realtor, then I would be required to lie as much as possible anyway, and becoming an accidental tenant would be no brainer.

But I suppose I will tell the realtor that I have no lease, I pay no rent, my wife is the occupant; even if it results in our eviction, and no cash for keys….sigh.

Being a “tenant” would allow me to:

A. rent from Fannie on a 12 month lease, with cash assistance at the end
B. rent from Fannie on a month to month
C. go for cash for keys, max amt. given upon clean vacancy within 14 days; less if you take 30 days, etc.

It would likely require me to conjure up a retroactive rental agreement dating back to before my wife stopped paying; I don’t think I want to go there; could have tax implications(as wife did not declare any rental income on taxes) or worse, I suppose.

Fun times of uncertainty; we actually have a rental closer to school we are looking at, but it’s not a done deal yet. I sure am glad my wife likes me or this would be hell to compete in the foreclosure hokey pokey game.

Print,baby print…Pump, baby pump! Won’t be much longer until we get another big dose of the money magic, from BB.

U.S. Stocks Rise Nearly 3% on Merkel Pledge ~ Bloomberg

Stocks rallied and the euro surged the most since July 2010 versus the dollar after the leaders of France and Germany pledged to deliver a plan to stem the debt crisis. Commodities gained for a fourth day.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index surged 2.8 percent to 1,187.54 at 2:16 p.m. New York time. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 1.7 percent to cap a four-day rally of 8.5 percent, its largest over that stretch of time since November 2008. The 17- nation euro currency appreciated 2.1 percent versus the dollar as it strengthened against 11 of 16 major peers. The S&P GSCI gauge of raw materials increased 2.1 percent. Costs to protect against a European sovereign default decreased.

The S&P 500 has rebounded more than 8 percent from a 13- month low on Oct. 3 amid optimism that European leaders will succeed in taming the debt crisis and as U.S. economic data topped estimates. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said yesterday they will deliver a plan to recapitalize European banks and address the Greek debt crisis by the Nov. 3 Group of 20 summit. Reports this week may show U.S. retail sales increased in September at the fastest pace in six months, adding to evidence that growth is rebounding.

REPORT: The Major Banks Are About To Strike A Big, $20 Billion Foreclosure Settlement. Joe Weisenthal|Oct. 10, 2011

California AG Kamala Harris is not on board

The big banks are all up nicely, in part, perhaps, because of a Fox Business report about how they’re about to sign a foreclosure-gate settlement with the DoJ and most states attorneys general.

A $20 billion settlement, which would go in part to some kind of victim “fund” could be hammered out in a matter of days.

Here’s the thing though: The last news from this front was that California had dropped out of talks, and so without California, it’s hard to imagine that any deal would involve the finality.

It’s also not clear that New York would be on board.

And of course, this is only one slice of the legal problems facing the banks: Notably this has nothing to do with the FHFA lawsuits on behalf of Fannie and Freddy.

CTA to cut more than 200 jobs to save $22 million
Associated Press, 10.10.11

CHICAGO — The Chicago Transit Authority said Monday that it’s going to eliminate more than 200 jobs.

The CTA said the cuts will include layoffs and eliminating vacant positions. Many of the job cuts include senior-level positions, like vice presidents and directors. The cuts will save the CTA about $22 million a year. Last week CTA president Forrest Claypool said the agency faces a $277 million budget shortfall for 2012. Claypool said Monday the agency has “to find ways to do more with less.”

CTA officials said they’ve pared management and the agency has the fewest employeees in its history. The CTA has 25 percent fewer employees than it did a decade ago.

Agency officials also said they’re revising sick and vacation policies. That will save about $15 million over six years.

Public Debt closing in on $15 trillion.

As of October 6th Congress had put the nation in hock for $14.837 trillion. That’s only the Public Debt, not the un-funded liabilities dangling over the head of tomorrow’s taxpayers.

The federal government only has to borrow another $163 billion to reach the staggering level of $15 trillion. It won’t take long.

← From 1792 through 1862 the national debt was calculated only in the millions of dollars. In 1863 it bumped into the billions for the first time. . .the expense of the Civil War being the chief cause.

The debt remained under $2 billion until World War 1. It climbed to $72 billion in 1942 and stayed in the billions through 1980.

In 1982 the debt level hit a trillion dollars for the first time! A trillion dollars is 1,000 billion! And today the debt is nearly 15 times greater than it was barely 30 years ago.

Online banks booming as angry customers flee financial giants
More and more bank fees are nudging some customers to switch
~MSNBC

PerkStreet, which launched in late 2009, is part of a new breed of online-only bank — all aiming to capture consumers looking to escape fee increases at more established banks.

Bank of America isn’t the only institution to come under fire after raising fees. In a recent mailing to its customers Citibank said it would double the monthly service charge on EZ Checking accounts from $7.50 to $15, in November.

Citibank said it has been encouraged by the response of its customers and is using the opportunity to help them understand the diversity of account options, including no fees on debit cards or online services, said Citibank spokesperson Catherine Pulley. On Wednesday, Bank of America’s CEO defended the bank’s new $5 fee saying the bank has a right “to make a profit.”

Freebies offered
In contrast, a PerkStreet’s no-fee checking account is free to open with a $25 minimum and earns debit-card rewards, including free coffee, music or cash. Online-only ING Direct’s free Electric Orange Account earns 0.24 percent interest on accounts of up to $49,999. Free interest checking accounts at online Ally Bank have variable interest rates based on monthly balance, and no monthly fees.

Big banks defend the new fees and hikes as necessary to recoup revenues lost due to recently enacted consumer protection laws, but the consumer zeitgeist is quickly changing, as evidenced by the Occupy Wall Street protests. O’Malley said he thinks this moment will be remembered as a turning point for consumer banking. The American Bankers Association is pointing the finger at government regulations as being a root cause of its fee increases, even as the general perception on Main Street is that the new fees are just revenue grabs by greedy bankers.

Brick-and-mortar banks are seeing large numbers of customers shift to online banking, which has had an effect on the popularity of branch banking. For the first time since 1995, the number of branch storefronts in the United States dropped last year, according to the American Bankers Association. A recent ABA survey showed that 62 percent of banking customers prefer online transactions — a huge increase from the 32 percent who felt that way in 2009. Spokespeople at Bank of America and Citibank couldn’t be reached immediately for comment for this article.

Brick and mortar has advantages
Online banks like PerkStreet, ING Direct and Ally Bank, all face certain common challenges, such as how to deal with actual paper checks, and how to give a human touch to customer service. Customer reviews on MyBankTracker, an open forum for customers to review financial products, showed that deposit turnaround and customer service are two of the biggest sources of complaints for online banks in general.

(Way) off topic question……

Can anyone tell me why pillows (you know, the kind that goes on a bed) are so crazy-expensive???? Even the Chinese ones?

It’s just a cloth bag, with feathers or artificial stuffing, fer chrissakes….. not a whole lot of high tech engineering involved. My six year old nephew could design one……

Lots of very good news today!

DOW 13,OOO here we come. The U.S. will not slip back into recession, according to many super smart experts.

Germany will fire up the money pumps even more.

We (U.S.) will be loading the IMF to the gills with new money.
Althought it will be done without the chumps/taxpayers knowing or being told.

The euro-zone and it’s pigs may only need $6.5 trillion more to fix their “problems”. According to euro-zone experts.

The great Bernake stands at the ready to load the banks pockets/tills again and again!

Looks like a very Merry Christmas to be sure, for the 1%.

The OWS crowd is sh!t out of luck.

I’ve been hearing over and over that the breakup of the Eurozone would be ‘horrific’ (the Economist), catastrophic and would cost many countries 40-50% of their GDP in the first year after it.

How?

I remember hearing the voodoo fear rattles shaken at us during the runup to the Iraq War. I keep hearing about how No Banker Left Behind is essential to keeping our economy from sinking further, and now I hear what I perceive to be hyperbole about the breakup of the Eurozone.

What are the possible scenarios, best case to worst case?

Spoken like one of us

http://tinyurl.com/3vj9axf

See bankster die. (Note: figuratively)

Die bankster die…..

Got a call for a TV show theme… working on a demo. We used to get paid for these things. Now it’s all or nothing if you lose. Luckily, I play all of my own instruments so I am not out cash if I lose.

Thousands in Chicago:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/11/us-wallstreet-protests-chicago-idUSTRE79946S20111011

Oct. 10, 2011, 10:55 a.m. EDT
A Greater Depression is coming
By Thomas H. Kee Jr.

Amazing as it sounds, the degree of uncertainty has actually increased on the heels of last week’s rebound, and the debates running through the Streets, from “Occupy Wall Street” to “My Big Fat Greek Default,” have investors at odds with each other. Quelling such emotional behavior takes time, but the emotions that run high at the tail end of market drubbings are almost always the same. We have all probably read the Book, “The Tipping Point,” and the Market seems to be at a trough - based emotional tipping point right now. Everyone wants answers, but no one is getting the answers they are looking for, at least not yet, and therefore volatility and debate run rabid through the Streets. In every respect, my reference to The Street is to Wall Street, and to Pennsylvania Avenue. Unfortunately, I find these joined at the hip in the debate that has now gone viral.

“Occupy Wall Street” is something that will grow, and in the years to come I expect this to be a very serious campaign. Now is not the time, but eventually this campaign might become the face of the Greater Depression I have warned about. The U.S. economy, and probably the global economy, as a result are headed towards a Greater Depression, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it now, as far as I can see. This is inevitable based on simple demographics, and the only saving grace may be China, but China seems to have gotten so far ahead of itself that eventually it too will fall.
…

Oct. 11, 2011, 12:36 a.m. EDT
The inflation balloon is rapidly losing air
By Irwin Kellner, MarketWatch

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. (MarketWatch) — Don’t look now but in just a few months, inflation fears have suddenly taken a back seat to other, more pressing concerns.

Five months ago, the concern du jour in the financial markets was inflation. This was not unreasonable, in view of all the liquidity that the Federal Reserve had pumped into the banking system.

Many participants remembered vividly the admonition of the great economist Milton Friedman, who said that inflation was first and foremost a monetary phenomenon.

But that was then, this is now.

Revised data for the first half of this year show that growth in our gross domestic product slowed to a crawl – an average annual rate of less than 1%. Monthly figures since then suggest that this sluggish pace continued well into the third quarter.

On top of this, economic policy has tightened during the year and is likely to get even tighter in the months ahead, given the current climate in Washington.

You can best see this in the employment stats that the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases every month. While private sector employment has been growing for almost two years – albeit at a lethargic clip – government payrolls have been shrinking steadily, making the overall payroll data look even worse.
…

Oct. 10, 2011, 7:08 p.m. EDT
China selloff reflects lower credibility: analysts
By Dinny McMahon

BEIJING (MarketWatch) — China’s sovereign-wealth fund stepped in Monday to buy shares of the country’s battered banks, which have been caught in a selloff that analysts say partly reflects a loss of trust in the integrity of government statistics and corporate earnings.

The skepticism of investors comes as China has become increasingly exposed to global markets, largely through stock listings of its state-owned enterprises and other companies, but more recently through its currency and bonds, which are now traded in Hong Kong.

The market rout began among a group of small U.S.-listed companies accused of fraud and quickly has spread to other Chinese assets available to overseas investors. Stock investors are fleeing China’s state banking giants partly on fears that they aren’t coming clean about their bad-debt problems after several years of blow-out lending.

Investors also are selling high-flying Internet companies such as Baidu Inc. (BIDU, K3SD.SG) as there are questions about hidden ownership risks. And they are fleeing property stocks on fear that Beijing’s inflation-fighting efforts have left developers and buyers in hock to illegitimate financiers.

Sentiment has even turned more cautious on China’s currency, the yuan. It faced rare downward pressure in recent weeks as some investors bought the safe-haven U.S. dollar and others worried about potential for a slowing Chinese economy. On Monday, though, the yuan rose to a high, which traders attributed to easing concerns about a shortage of dollars in the market.

Enthusiasm is waning for Chinese bonds issued in Hong Kong–so-called dim sum bonds–that Western bankers have been touting to their corporate customers as the next big financial investment story.

Analysts say that after years of downplaying risk, many investors now appear to be fearful that other aspects of China’s economy may also not be as they seem. They are questioning the credibility of official numbers that show continued rapid growth in China’s economy, one of the last remaining major engines of the global economy.

Pessimism about China’s prospects has grown so deep that some investors are betting against not only its stocks but its government debt, which by all accounts is safe. The net value of outstanding credit-default swaps on debt issued by the Chinese government nearly doubled, to $8.34 billion at the end of September from a year earlier, according to data from the New York-based Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.

“People don’t trust the government statistics, they don’t trust corporate earnings, they don’t trust [comments] from government officials,” said Daiwa Securities Ltd. economist Sun Mingchun. “Investors are saying, I don’t know who I should listen to.”
…

Oct. 11, 2011, 12:01 a.m. EDT
Why Jim Rogers is right about commodities
Commentary: Heeding advice from a U.S. market bear and China bull
By John Prestbo

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Jim Rogers, a former partner of George Soros in the hedge fund game, has been vociferously bullish on commodities for going on 15 years. Except for getting older, married and becoming a parent, he has not changed.

I ran into him in late September at a commodities conference in Frankfurt. He told the assembled burghers that in 10 years the conference would have to be held in a stadium rather than a hotel meeting room, because commodities by then would be a red hot asset class and investors would be flocking to it.

Here are some of Rogers’s comments. Even after applying the true-believer discount, they offer a feast for thought:

“The 19th Century was the age of Britain, the 20th Century was the age of America, and the 21st Century will be the age of China,” Rogers said. He has moved from New York to Singapore with his wife and two young daughters, who he says are now fluent in Mandarin.
Down on dollar-based investments

“The U.S. dollar has started fading as the world’s reserve currency,” Rogers said, assailing what he called the U.S. government’s de facto policy of devaluation.

“However, the dollar could get a temporary boost if the government allows U.S. companies to repatriate their overseas cash without onerous taxation,” he said.

“The 30-year bull market in bonds is about to come to an end,” Rogers said. “Bond portfolio managers should start looking for a different line of work.”
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