Bits Bucket for November 15, 2011
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The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Bailout banks, then cut public counseling funding.
Counselors helping homeowners avoid foreclosure scarce
http://www.kansascity.com/2011/11/11/3261922/counselors-who-help-homeowners.html
…the Kansas City area has been steadily losing housing counselors for two years. They’re disappearing even as their workload has shifted from a traditional role helping people become homeowners to helping them stay homeowners.
In February, for example,. HomeFree-USA closed its Kansas City office where eight housing counselors had worked. Affordable Housing Centers of America closed its foreclosure counseling office here two years ago. And El Centro in Kansas City, Kan., ended its foreclosure counseling effort last November.
…Executive director Mark Stalsworth explains why: “We’re not getting paid by anybody to do it.”
Federal funds aimed at pulling struggling homeowners out of the foreclosure crisis have dried up, a victim of Washington’s budget battles. Nonprofit agencies around the nation are closing offices, laying off counselors and referring desperate homeowners elsewhere.
Cutbacks are hitting even as the pace of foreclosure activity has begun to grow again after paperwork and processing problems had slowed lenders down over the past year.
Counseling groups nationwide are pressing Congress to restore funds in the next budget, but their expectations are lower than their hopes.
…Long before the housing crisis hit, homebuyers benefited from federally supported counseling.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development pumped millions of dollars into the budgets of nonprofit agencies that passed its extensive certification process
…Counselors’ caseloads shifted heavily toward foreclosure interventions.
“We originally got involved with new home ownership,” said Al Kayhill, executive director of the Kansas City, Kan.-based group. “You have to also take on foreclosure prevention, which took over everything. It just went crazy,”
Washington responded.
In addition to sending out $227 million in traditional housing counseling grants, HUD created the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program in 2008. Administered by NeighborWorks America, it has showered $483 million on counseling agencies specifically to quell the surge of foreclosures….
….Last winter, however, HUD announced that the counseling dollars would stop and completely closed the tap on Sept. 30. Congress has yet to provide any new money for the foreclosure prevention program either.
The loss of foreclosure prevention resources already has hurt.
…“There are lots of people who come to us who have viable defenses that we have to turn down,” said Gregg Lombardi, executive director at Legal Aid in Kansas City, which is triaging cases. “There are people who are being foreclosed upon who shouldn’t be foreclosed upon.”
Burnout
Saving homes from foreclosure is tough and frustrating work. Counselors juggle heavy caseloads and fight bureaucratic systems, lost documents and changing demands.
…About 15 percent to 20 percent of cases avoid foreclosure, though some of those end up defaulting again, said Steve Hermes, public affairs and communications adviser at NeighborWorks’ Kansas City district office.
A study by the Urban Institute found that counseled homeowners cured their foreclosures more frequently and avoided a return to default more often than their unaided counterparts.
And this just in yesterday…just when we need more job training funds in NYC…
Notice very few men are in these fields……
Important Notice
The Individual Training Grant (ITG) program is scheduled to resume December 1 with a limited number of available ITGs in the following occupations: Bookkeeping, Executive/Administrative Assistants, Medical Assistants, Legal Secretaries, and Paralegal/Legal Assistants. Jobseekers interested in these occupational trainings can visit their local Workforce1 Career Center after December 1 to complete a skills test and assess their training need. ITGs for a limited number of additional occupations will be issued in February. To see the complete list of eligible occupations and the release schedule, please view the FAQ on the search tab.
Why do you need counselors at all? The advice given is this:
PAY YOUR DEBTS. If you don’t, move.
Pretty simple and no need to thousands of govt bureaucrats.
Why do you need counselors at all? The advice given is this:
PAY YOUR DEBTS. If you don’t, move.
Thank you for illustrating why counselors are needed. Because with the reality of crooked banks taking years to kick out non-paying FB’s, your advice is financially dumb.
It might sound all sanctimoniousness and responsible and all but it’s dumb. Why should they move before being kicked out? Because you like B of A?
I agree with Rio.
The most shocking one is people liquidating the 401(k) to make the mortgage payment. About as irresponsible and *eyes closed* to the situation as the pratice five years ago of trading credit card debt for mortgage debt.
Been there, done that: Advice from a local Realtor post bankruptcy
http://www.9news.com/news/article/229750/188/Been-there-done-that-Advice-from-a-local-Realtor-post-bankruptcy-
DENVER - With millions of Americans falling into foreclosure and an estimated 1 million more yet to come, home ownership can seem more like a nightmare these days than living a dream.
Roxane Webster deals with this epidemic daily in our local housing market. She’s a Realtor with Keller Williams Your Home Team, which helps homeowners in financial trouble. She says she’s not only seeing the hardship, she’s lived through it.
“I went down the path that millions of Americans are on now,” Webster said….
…Webster asked, “What’s the first thing people blow through?”
“They’re going to blow through their savings,” Gienger said.
….Webster says she sees people making the same bad decision as they put their hopes in getting a loan modification to avoid bankruptcy. After blowing through their savings, they often take on credit card debt, maybe get a loan from a family member, and she says the biggest mistake of them all - cashing in the retirement fund.
“If you do end up doing bankruptcy and you’re pursued by the bank for deficiency, they can’t touch this [401k and IRA]. The bank can’t touch this. These are protected funds. But people are giving them up willingly because they think they are getting a loan modification and the whole time they are heading right over this cliff anyway,” Webster said.
With a marker in hand, Webster and Gienger have frequent brainstorming sessions to break down what’s happening into today’s housing market.
Webster asked, “What’s the first thing people blow through?”
“They’re going to blow through their savings,” Gienger said.
Wow … that’s some serious brainstorming there.
I can’t help but be amused by the fact that the phrase “The bank can’t touch this,” put’s the M.C. Hammer tune in my head and HE went through bankruptcy.
Hilarious. I’m guessing a lot of financial executives sing “Can’t touch this” when executing their shady deals. That and “It’s Good To Be A Gangsta [Banksta]“.
Soundtrack of the bubble.
No FB dollar will be allowed to escape. Not one.
You don’t have to steal money from FBs, all you have to do is grease the slids a bit and they’ll willingly hand over to you all the money they’ve got and then some.
Anything to keep the McMansion (and appearance of success) for another year.
I think that for most people a BK is unthinkable. Hence why they will burn first through everything and get into more debt before taking the plunge.
I think that for most people a BK is unthinkable. Hence why they will burn first through everything and get into more debt before taking the plunge.
A few years ago, I had a client who was a bankruptcy attorney. She said that people would come into her office with hangdog expressions. Because of the anti-bankruptcy stigma.
Well, almost invariably, they’d leave her office smiling. Why? Because bankruptcy doesn’t mean that you’re going to have a big “B” carved into your forehead. It is a real PITA for a few years, but then you move on and start anew.
Foreclosure, even bankruptcy are not the end of the world. They are important so that we don’t have a permanant class of debt peons. That is a bad thing whether the cause was misfortune or fecklessness. The ones that I am impatient with is those who want their debt’s forgiven but think that bankruptcy is for “other people.”
They created public sentiment side of this mess and now they’re coming to the rescue?
No thanks. I’d rather drown.
Jumbo mortgages may be next in line to default
By Kenneth R. Harney, Published: November 11
Do you have a big mortgage and good credit scores but not much equity — maybe you’re even underwater? Do you see little chance that your home’s market value will improve much during the coming three to seven years?
If you answered yes to both questions — and thousands of homeowners across the country could do so — new research suggests that you are in a category that lenders need to worry about most: prime jumbo borrowers who once were thought to be among the safest bets but who now are the most likely to opt for a strategic default and walk away from their homes.
“We’re trying to understand [the situation] from the consumer’s perspective,” she said. “How much have I lost on the value of my home? What is the velocity of change?” That is, how fast have I lost market value, and is my situation getting worse? And how long will it take to recapture what I’ve lost?
When the answers are grim and the prospects for equity recovery distant, the probability that the owners will plot a strategic departure — often characterized by halting mortgage payments while staying current on credit cards and car payments — goes up sharply.
What they often don’t know, however, are the penalties they face for walking away. These include triple-digit drops in their credit scores — which will hamper their ability to rent a house or obtain credit for years — plus the possibility that lenders will find a way to seek recovery of whatever they owe after foreclosure proceedings. About a dozen states, including California, restrict “deficiency” recoveries. But in most states, lenders are free to pursue whatever assets they can locate, and often do so if the amount of unrecovered debt is large enough to justify the legal expenses.
Ultimately, strategic default for many owners boils down to a calculation: Are the costs, financial and otherwise, worth the relief from an albatross house and mortgage? If the Moody’s study is accurate, thousands of jumbo borrowers are struggling with that very calculation right now, and a lot of them are likely to bail.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/jumbo-mortgages-may-be-next-in-line-to-default/2011/11/08/gIQAoLK9BN_story.html
“…the safest bets…”
meh
And how long will it take to recapture what I’ve
lost ??
Don’t even ask yourself that question…Its a trap that allows you to continue to feed the alligator until your finances are exhausted…
Never mind the trap, how the heck are you supposed to know? If it took 5 years to lose value, what does that tell you? Nothing. It could lose value for another 5. It could stay the same for a year or two and then start down. It could bounce up for a while, stay even for a while, then fall again. Do you know what is going to happen to the world economy over the next few years? To your local area? What the politicians are going to do and how effective they are going to be? If so, why aren’t you out making a killing in the stock market, not wondering how long it might take for your house’s value to climb?
This is not physics. There are almost no predicitive statistics. You can’t put together height, current velocity, gravitational constant and come up with the landing spot and time. You just can’t.
how the heck are you supposed to know ??
Which is exactly my point of it being a trap….
You thought those lower-than-whale-sheet subprime borrowers were deadbeats?
Wait until you see “Jumbo Prime” borrowers. Most of them can do math, and can recognize a lousy, money losing “investment” when they see one.
Or they are going to find a real attorney, who is going to find out if their loan was handled by MERS, and they are going to live for free for 10 years and wait for the system to get it’s stuff together.
These prime folks still have substantial income and goodies to target for judgments. They are worth the court costs, especially if it was a deliberate walkway with no hardship event like medical. Maybe those daytraders in Congress should invest in those collections companies who can wait 10-20 years to collect.
How many of these primes are refi-’s about to reset? Anything bought before 2004 is NOT underwater.
“Anything bought before 2004 is NOT underwater.”
Not underwater _yet_.
PLENTY of people rode that HELOC to hell on housese that they bought in 2004 and are underwater now. Or the serial ReFi’d until the value dropped. One reason that the various early “Homeowner assistance” plans were doomed from the outset was the comparatively large percentage of homewoners who simply couldn’t afford to pay anything even close to market rate interest on their loan ammounts. The thinkers in Washington had no real grasp of how stupid the entire mortgage market had gotten in during the bubble.
“Prime” defaults lead the pack right now.
Well many people are trying the “MERS screwups => I keep the house” argument without much success. At some level, the system usually does a pretty good job of crediting payments and sending them on to the ultimate lenders. What it does a piss-poor job of is keeping track of the mortgage/deed of trust and legally recording the assignments therto. But that isn’t an issue until the homeowner stops paying. THE massive ammount of title clouding fraud usually occurs AFTER the homeowner stops paying. So I don’t think that it is even REASONABLE for MERS screwups to imply that you should get to keep the house that you’ve pledged as security for a loan that you’re no longer paying. But to the extant that MERSs extreem carelessness clouding the title means that they have lowered the ultimate value that they can get for the property, I DO think that it should preclude getting a deficiency judgement.
But why would you continue to make payments on a house with a “clouded title”? If a dealer sold you a car with a bum/fake title, would you keep making the payments?
Thanks to THEIR system, your “property” is worth less.
How do you know that your payment is actually going where it’s supposed to go?
Well the title isn’t really clouded until after they foreclose. Until then there’s no question that somebody has a right to the property if you don’t make the payments agreed to. But if they foreclose in the name of a party that didn’t have the right to foreclose there might be sombody else along the broken chain of assignments who STILL has a right to foreclose from a future owner. There are going to be enough loosers in that chain that I wouldn’t want to bet the house that one of them might try and get their money back by foreclosing at some future date. THAT is the problem with MERS.
Thus the bill to give foreigners citizenship if they purchase a 500,000 dollar home.
It isn’t citizenship. It is a residence visa and it doesn’t give you permission to work.
As I understand it, they can purchase one house for up to 250K and use the rest for landlording purposes.
Newly-retired Chinese bureaucrats with multiple rental units don’t need to “work.”
But you have to pay US taxes and declare your Foriegn bank accounts.
Here in NYC, the political class cleared out some serfs who were getting organized on behalf of the executive class.
Let the retroactive pension enhancements for state and local governments raising taxes and cutting services, and the stock bonuses and large pay packages for companies being run into the ground and occasionally bailed out, continue!
Yes, I saw that, it came as no surprise. Apparently members of our occupation government can promote and support bloody revolution in the Middle East, and condemn the tactics of Assad in Syria, while using the same here.
After watching the Sixty Minutes program on congressional insider trading, I realize that OWS is targeting the wrong group anyway.
No, they have the right group.
It was getting cold any how.
Last week, I was reading an article, I think it was on DailyKos, about how the Occupiers will continue their outdoor ways in the north country. I’m talkin’ Minnesota. Wisconsin. Places like that.
Such places have lots of these things called lakes. Where the 1% crowd likes to own big, honking shoreline houses.
Well, guess what. The lake waters are considered public property. So, if a group of Occupiers went out and set up an ice-fishing camp that featured colorful “We are the 99%!” banners, well, there isn’t much that anyone can do to stop them.
After all, they could be catching some pretty tasty fish out there.
The lake waters are considered public property.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure the residents in a least of few of the more prestigious lake front properties have that covered…..same way they seem to keep people of certain skin color off “their” lake which by the way does receive state funds and somehow no one seems to notice.
The Wisconsin governor’s mansion sits on one of Madison’s two lakes. The Occupy folks there will have a splendid opportunity to provide Gov. Scott Walker with a view of their ice-shack city from his back windows.
ISTR seeing a video of summertime event in WI. I think it was the state fair.
Anyhoo, the video showed some sort of speech on a lakefront. The speaker was Scott Walker, and he was silently heckled by sailors out on the lake. Their sails had all sorts of anti-Walker slogans on them.
Ah, that’s wonderful, Slim. They were probably members of the university sailing club. No wonder the Republican Party in WI wants to cut funding for the Madison campus. Having a major university (those dirty commie hippies!) share a town with the state capital can lead to some uncomfortable moments for the PTB.
Maryland also has a school in the same city as the capital. But people rarely accuse the US Naval Academy of being full of “dirty commie hippies.”
Well…except for the army.
But aren’t these mainly summer homes for the 1%? Occupy would be protesting to empty houses.
Solution,
Take OWS indoors.
House Majority Whip and Big Oil, Big Ag, Big Water toady, Kevin McCarthy, just sent out an email announcing his….NEW APP! It links to a delightfully cheesy little vid starring none other than his well-oiled self.
“WhipCast,” as he calls it is on yew tube now, so if you’d like to leave a comment, maybe one of his underlings will get the idea that not everyone in his Congressional district is as docile or provincial as he might like to suppose. And that he has a national following….
Lawmakers Near Deal on Raising FHA Loan Limits
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204323904577038642586370380.html
The agreement being worked out between House and Senate negotiators wouldn’t include loans backed by Fannie and Freddie, which are the main source of funding for U.S. home loans. Instead, the deal would restore the FHA’s loan limits to as high as $729,750 in high-cost cities through 2013. FHA charges mortgage insurance premiums for its borrowers, which adds to the cost of obtaining a loan.
“This is just a subsidy for higher-income households,” said Joseph Gyourko, a real estate and finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
Isn’t the FHA supposedly an “affordable housing program”?
Is this latest measure some kind of program expansion, say to “affordable housing for millionaire home buyers program”?
I nearly forgot about all the recent articles indicating the FHA would be the next federal housing agency to get a bail out. What a peculiar time to raise the federal guarantee level. Won’t raising the limits now basically transfer greater losses to taxpayers just before a bailout go through?
The Wall Street Journal
U.S. NEWS
NOVEMBER 15, 2011.Loan Backer’s Cash Runs Low
Report Sees Nearly 50% Chance Federal Housing Administration Will Need Bailout
BY NICK TIMIRAOS
The Federal Housing Administration’s cash reserves have fallen so low that there is a “close to 50%” chance the agency could run out of money and require a taxpayer bailout in the next year, according to the annual independent audit of the FHA’s finances.
The audit, to be released Tuesday by the FHA, estimated that the value of the agency’s reserves stood at $2.6 billion as of Sept. 30, down 45% from an already low $4.7 billion last year. The drop reflects the impact of rising home-loan defaults amid falling home prices, which together generate greater losses on the sale …
Fannie/Freddie are getting too much flack so they are pushing some losses onto another entity. Geez, didn’t Andrew Fastow (Enron accountant) do EXACTLY this?
“Instead, the deal would restore the FHA’s loan limits to as high as $729,750 in high-cost cities through 2013.”
Since the are FHA loans, when they go bad the Republicans will claim that all the money is going to Black people on welfare.
wow…ummm…those “ninety niners” really got their point across. i bet ninety nine percent of the “ninety ningers” have no clue this is going on.
ningers = niners
I retract that…they have a “sense” it is going on…just not specific policies. They just see the income disparity. It is FIRE economy polices such as these that beget those disparities.
I’m sure that he Bolsheviks also didn’t really understand the exact measures the Russian 1%er’s used to amass all the wealth, but in the end that didn’t save the Czar or his family.
Hmmm…maybe the “ninety niners” should educate themselves on the specific policies that generate the outcomes to which they protest and work to amend those polices through the electoral process?
Nahhh…bloody revolution giving rise to some authoritarian dictatorship is much better for everybody. I mean…just look at history.
Who’s saying it’s better? Just because it isn’t better that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. And for some reason the 1%er’s are oblivious to that.
As for change via the ballot box, many don’t believe it can happen and don’t bother to vote.
And even if we could “throw out the bums” the Corporatist controlled Supreme Court could still block any reforms as “unconstitutional”. They already have the watered down and milktoast “Obamacare” in their crosshairs.
should educate themselves on the specific policies that generate the outcomes to which they protest and work to amend those polices through the electoral process?
Many think we’re a bit past specific policies amended through our electoral process.
i am just suggesting a rational alternative…i have zero faith that human nature will actually allow any rational solution.
should educate themselves on the specific policies that generate the outcomes to which they protest and work to amend those polices through the electoral process?
1. I suspect that a fairly high percentage of the OWS understand the basics of how WS has stripped wealth from this country. You have zero faith based on zero information.
2. Not only do they have to educate themselves they have to educate the masses, and they have to overcome the MEGAPHONE MSM , the elite think tanks and PR programs.
3. Not only do they have to vote new people into office they have to insure that these same people won’t be bought off like the last group.
With FHA you can buy a house with only 3% down, even with crappy credit. Good thing the govt learned its lesson about lending money to people who will obviously never pay it back.
But hey, who cares? It’s only a few billion tax dollars, nothing to worry about. Gotta buy those votes somehow.
Most of the 99% have no clue how Wall Street works.
“You have zero faith based on zero information.”
my faith in human nature is based on my 42 years of life experience which is hardly zero information.
I’ve been thinking about a central rating system, that rates companies based on how well their political agenda aligns with yours. For big stuff like cars, banking and houses, you’d log in to the site and it would use the questionnaire you’d filled out to rank the companies that offered what you were looking for.
For small stuff, there would be a phone app that scans barcodes and tells you which can of beans to buy.
I call it Back Door Democracy. Take control of the companies that control the government.
Most of the 99% have no clue how Wall Street works.
Most probably understand how the banks were bailed out against overwhelming popular opposition.
I’ve been thinking about a central rating system, that rates companies based on how well their political agenda aligns with yours.
I recall that the Southern Baptist Convention tried to boycott Disney. Apparently it had little effect. I’m sure many born again folks took the kiddies to the World and bought them all sorts of mechandise.
I’ve seen polls showing 70% agreement with OWS. If we could even get half of those people to remove themselves from BofA, we could probably take it down, and move on to Citi, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs.
Then instead of coming to message boards to argue, we could come to gloat at the destruction we had wrought.
In any case, we need to figure out something besides “armed revolution”, because I LIKE the nice comfy life that civilization affords me. I suspect most others do too.
What polls show 70% agreement?
I posted last week 4 national polls by Rasmussen, Quinnipiac, UMASS and NBC/WSJ that showed 33, 30, 35 and 41% approval of OWS respectively.
Released Today (NY STATE POLL)
The poll of 803 registered voters in the state found 45 percent viewed the protests, generally arranged around the theme of income inequality, compared to 44 percent who view them unfavorably. (There is a 3.5 percent margin of error. In October, Siena found 49 percent viewed the protests favorably compared to 38 percent who did not.
Siena also found in this poll that 66 percent of New Yorkers don’t feel the protesters represent “the 99 percent.” Says poll spokesman Steve Greenberg:”
And this is in NY State, one of the - if not the most - liberal states in the country. And even there, at best the people are split 50/50 on OWS.
70%? You’re dreaming.
70%? You’re dreaming.
GEG, You think too small and grasp at the less important issues. OWS is a symptom of the cause. Most Americans DO agree with the cause and agreeing with the cause is the most important thing. You can’t put this cat back into your proven-to-have-failed neo-con bag.
I have posted many polls of more than 70% Americans saying money has overly taken over our system, our bought congress sucks, corporations yield too much power, that wealth inequality is a problem in America and that the middle-class is getting shafted. These are the important issues that have brought about the OWS. And you and yours flat out know it.
Polls like this: Oct 15, 2011
Poll: Two-Thirds Of Americans Want Higher Taxes On Wealthy | More than two-thirds of Americans, including 53 percent of Republicans, want wealthier people to pay more in taxes to help pay down the deficit, according to a new Bloomberg-Washington Post poll. (The two news organizations are sponsoring tonight’s GOP debate.) “Even larger numbers think Medicare and Social Security benefits should be left alone.” As former Reagan official Bruce Bartlett has written, more than 20 recent polls show Americans favor raises taxes on the wealthy, despite conservative claims otherwise. think progress dot org
“my faith in human nature is based on my 42 years of life experience which is hardly zero information.”
Perhaps not to you, but statistically speaking, it is near zero. Unless you are a solopsist and are correct, of course. In which case, thanks for thinking of me!
70%?
Judicial Watch/Zogby Poll: 81.7% of Americans Say Political Corruption Played a “Major Role” in Financial Crisis. Judicial Watch dot org
Rasmussen: 85 percent “think most members of Congress are more interested in helping their own careers than in helping other people.” theatlanticwire dot com
Harvard/Duke Study: Most Americans want wealth distribution similar to Sweden. 92 percent prefer Swedish model to US model when given a choice….Americans generally underestimate the degree of income inequality in the United States, and if given a choice, would distribute wealth in a similar way to the social democracies of Scandinavia, a new study finds. rawstory dot com
Times/cbsThe economic grievances articulated by the Occupy Wall Street movement may represent the views of not just the fringe, but a large majority of Americans, a new poll suggests.
Two-thirds of Americans said they oppose tax cuts for corporations, support increasing income taxes for millionaires, and believe that wealth should be distributed more evenly across the country, according to New York Times/CBS poll results released on Tuesday.
“Unless you are a solopsist”
nope…just cynical assholistic.
FHA 3% down also came with PMI and some modicum of income requirements. Low income families almost always bought low-price houses (because even 3% was hard to save) and so defaults were not high.
It was the private banks who made FHA moot by giving out the irresponsible loans, not FHA.
Lemme see if I get the logic:
The private banks did what FHA does now.
Private banks were eeeeevil for doing it.
FHA was honorable for doing it then and doing it now.
I see.
92% want the Swedish model. Yeah I’d be in the 92%, I love Swedish models too. Gorgeous.
They’re going to keep doing what they’re doing until the system cannot sustain it.
The politicians benefit from the vast largesse of the FIRE sector. They spend other people’s money to get some blowback payment.
FHA could need taxpayer bailout next year, report says
The federal agency that insures more than $1 trillion in mortgages may need as much as $43 billion from the U.S. Treasury to stay afloat if the housing market fails to rebound next year.
By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times
November 16, 2011
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fha-funding-20111116,0,2638565.story
Syracuse, N.Y. — Destiny USA developer Robert Congel has lined up new financing that should allow him to complete his 1.3-million-square-foot expansion of the Carousel Center and escape $186 million in existing debt on the Syracuse shopping mall.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has agreed to lend the developer $110 million to complete the expansion and $310 million to refinance a Citigroup mortgage on the mall, William Ryan, chairman of the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency, said Monday.
Getting a new lender was crucial for Congel and his project. The loans from J.P. Morgan Chase will enable him to finish the expansion, which Congel calls Destiny USA. Congel’s previous lender, Citigroup, also agreed to forgive $186 million in debt Congel owed if the mall developer found a new bank to assume the mortgage on the existing mall.
Citigroup holds two mortgages on the mall — one for $310 million and another for $100 million — and has given Congel a $86 million construction loan for the addition
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/destiny_usa_gets_new_financing.html
It’s 2005 all over again! Not only is that commercial construction been resumed but he’s building a big megamansion in Manlius just around the block from his other top of the pecking order spread. You can see it from the road when you pass. It looks like a hotel.
Weird. One of our brand spanking new shopping centers (The Promenades at Centerra) was foreclosed. The developer had an expansion plan for it ready to go a few years ago and it was quietly shelved and remains that way. His automall across the freeway remains a ghost town with just 4 tenants (plus two defunct dealerships). There were supposed to be over 15 dealerships there IIRC (just who was supposed to buy all those cars?)
and yet REITs still outperform the stock market
Here in Tucson, the oh-so-upscale Plaza Palomino shopping center is in foreclosure. Seems that part of the problem comes from people like Yours Truly. We’re holding on to our money a lot more than we used to. Hence, less spending at the Plaza.
Syracuse isn’t known for its high-wage jobs. So who’s going to buy crap at this expanded mall? Oh, right, tourists from Toronto.
Yea, they always tout the thing as ‘attracting Canadians” but Syracuse is 60 miles south of the St. Lawrence and then there are a couple of hundred more miles to drive (westward) to get the the big Canadian populations. Seems Buffalo would be the place to draw Canadian crowds since it’s so much closer to the population centers. Heck, I think Toronto is about a 5 hour drive from Syracuse if you include border crossing time (I did it once about 15 years ago). And the A-bay border crossing is reputed to be a tough one, tougher than Buffalo or Detroit.
They were starting the expansion of the Carousel Mall about the time I left Syracuse. That was 7+ years ago.
People in NYC treat upstate NY similar to the way people in LA treat Arizona….. “hey, it’s not THAT far away and prices are so much lower. It’s a can’t loose investment.”
Will work as well in Syracuse as it did on Phoenix.
Yea, they always tout the thing as ‘attracting Canadians”
Too bad there are so few Canadians
With few exceptions, a tourist economy is a failed economy.
Which is something we Tucsonans know all too well.
The futures aren’t looking too bright these days.
Futures Tumble on Europe Worries
Published November 15, 2011
FoxNews.com
U.S. stock index futures fell Tuesday, extending a drop in global equities, as doubts about the ability of Europe to tackle its debt crisis sent Italy’s bond yields back into a perceived danger zone.
Prime Minister-designate Mario Monti is meeting the leaders of Italy’s biggest two parties to discuss the “many sacrifices” needed to reverse a collapse in market confidence as the yield on Italy’s 10-year benchmark bond leaped above 7 percent.
European stocks fell 1.1 percent in early trading, adding to the previous session’s drop, and following on from weakness in Asian markets overnight, where Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 closed down 0.7 percent.
“The danger is — and the markets are keenly aware of this — that this crisis, like most, turn on a dime and can blow up very, very quickly,” said Oliver Pursche, president of Gary Goldberg Financial Services in Suffern, New York.
…
The idea that 6% interest rates in one country will collapse the global economy is amazing to me. That isn’t that high!
I am guessing the important part of the story may be unreported: The ECB has been buying Italy’s debt to try to contain bond yields, but the effort does not seem to be working, as the yields keep punching up through the 7% level.
It isn’t that high, but when you owe well over 100% of GDP it can make servicing that debt very pricey.
This is why I believe that central banks will keep interest rates low throughout the rest of my life (good luck retiring). And they will continue to buy government debt at low interest rates if necessary, inflation be damned.
The whole world is becoming Zimbabwe.
Such a scenario implies a static geopolitical situation, assumptions that rely on static conditions over the long term sound like a losing bet.
I do agree that at some point mounting global inflation and unemployment could be the tipping point where everything comes crashing down. I just don’t see the banksters having the stones today to say: Let the debtor nations default on the trillions they owe. I think that they will kick the can as long as possible.
manufacturing america’s new middle class
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-15/manufacturing-america-s-new-middle-class-henry-r-nothhaft.html
That isn’t that high ??
When the cost of funds for the worlds reserve currency is .005% that interest rate is astronomical particularly for a country with debt in excess of 100% of GDP and a contracting economy…
“The idea that 6% interest rates in one country will collapse the global economy is amazing to me. That isn’t that high!”
When the rate has been 1-3% for the past 10 years, 6% is high.
Suck ‘em in, shake ‘em out.
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=197530
Honest judges?!
If real, that’s one awesome ruling! Thanks for posting. Love the Alice’s Restaurant credit.
Otter: But you can’t hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick twisted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn’t we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn’t this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg - isn’t this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we’re not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America. Gentlemen!
[Leads the Deltas out of the hearing, all humming the Star-Spangled Banner]
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?!
Average foreclosure wait grows 10 percent in Florida
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 8:03 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, 2011
13 COMMENTS (I am not Jim)
It is simple, you don’t pay you don’t stay. You signed a contract and still get away without paying your mortage, taxes, insurance and HOA for 3+ years and still whine. Quit blaming everyone and look in the mirror.
Jim
8:19 AM, 11/12/2011
Hey Jim, I did sign a contract and the contract states that the lienholder can file for foreclosure if I do not maintain the monthly payments. Well, 40 months later they have dismissed the foreclosure. So guess what, they will have to refile and with the average time stated in article I have another 24 months……. So 5+ years without a mortgage payment. Why do you care so much what I am doing and focus on your own life……..You might find it will make you happier.
diver4life
4:52 PM, 11/12/2011
“So 5+ years without a mortgage payment. Why do you care so much what I am doing and focus on your own life”
Maybe he wants to buy a house at a price that is not inflated by banks, GSEs and Deadbeats. You know like the prices people like diver4life paid and refied up to during the bubble years B4 they became victims. We pay a LOT more for rent because of you. So the quicker you are kicked out and the banks and GSEs put the shadow inventory on the market. The better for RESPONSIBLE people.
jeff saturday
10:00 AM, 11/13/2011
Responsible people always get dumped on, huh Jeff…..Maybe one day you will stop being a sheep and realize that….
diver4life
1:09 PM, 11/14/2011
Diver4life you are a deadbeat. Enjoy living under a bridge one day, there is a place for people like you. You are the irresponsible one who tries justifies what you are doing. When did doing the right thing become wrong. Everyone else who lived with in their means has to pay for stupid people like you.
Jim
2:04 PM, 11/14/2011
Hey Jim, yes I am a deadbeat. amd if you would like to explain to me how you are paying for me, I am willing to listen. People like yourself stand in judgement of other people with out knowing or even caring to know the circusmstances that put people in that situation. You point fingers and make judgements. You group all people together and you complain how you have to do it, why can’t they.
I may be a deadbeat but your an a##hole.
diver4life
9:02 PM, 11/14/2011
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/foreclosures/average-foreclosure-wait-grows-10-percent-in-florida-1963521.html - 81k -
Exchange is the basic principal on which any decent system of commerce operates. Exchanging a valuable for another valuable, through the medium of money. A criminal likes to obtain a valuable without exchanging a valuable of his own. No exchange, something for nothing. And yes, society in general does pay for the actions of criminals, over and over. Just look around.
This guys is just trying to justify his criminal behavior. The honest way to go is to walk away and pay a lower rent elsewhere. He himself would howl bloody murder if someone stole his car, wiped out his bank account, committed identity theft on him, etc.
But, this guy wants to be a diver4life and live underwater. Hope he finds the Little Mermaid.
“Responsible people always get dumped on, huh Jeff…..Maybe one day you will stop being a sheep and realize that….”
diver4life
Am I a sheep? If I am the flock I am with is pretty GD small.
jeff, the most fundamental drive that people have as individuals is the drive to be right. It trumps sex every time. Survival depends on being right, making the right decisions, etc. So if someone makes a wrong decision, they will insist to the death that it is right, because they can’t be wrong. You will never get this guy to agree that he is wrong.
I know it doesn’t make sense, but often that’s what’s at the basis of insane behavior.
This guys is just trying to justify his criminal behavior.
I’m not familiar with this specific case but how is his behavior criminal? Is he breaking the law by not paying his mortgage?
What crime is being committed?
“I’m not familiar with this specific case but how is his behavior criminal? Is he breaking the law by not paying his mortgage?”
No he is not. The 14th comment said it well though.
Diver4Life: While the prudent refused, others took on excess risk and outbid us on homes we could have afforded w/less risk in our budgets. It is time to give the prudent who can afford these homes access to them.
You are wrong when you say we don’t understand the background. When I purchase my homes, I buy w/the idea something bad might happen and I need a cusion in my cashflow for inevitable bad luck. You obviously didn’t. The price is supposed to be that you give up the asset.
Past Owner
9:18 AM, 11/15/2011
There are people who are not “breaking any laws”, but yet engage in criminal behavior. I do consider it criminal to swindle others, even though the “law” may sanction it.
After all, is that not what Wall Street is all about?
It is time to give the prudent who can afford these homes access to them.
Is it? I am trying hard but I can’t make a good case that even this deadbeat has much obligation to the prudent.
Does it suck? Yes. Did prudent people like us get the shaft the past few years? Yes but what does diver4life owe to the prudent and why would he? Maybe he owes himself and his family more than he owes us.
You all mean to tell me that if you got way behind on your underwater house, you’d move before the bank kicked you out? Because you owed it to me because I deserve a cheaper house because I was smart enough to see the bubble? I can see part of that thinking but not totally and I see nothing criminal.
” I do consider it criminal to swindle others, even though the “law” may sanction it.”
“After all, is that not what Wall Street is all about?”
+ 14,995,302,000,000
This is scary to watch. I will have to check tonight and see where it is then.
http://www.usdebtclock.org/ - 212k -
It is time to give the prudent who can afford these homes access to them.
Another thought: Is diver4life really keeping house prices up by not paying on his underwater home or can it be close to a wash? If he left his house and rented that would support the rental market. When the rental market rises, home prices rise as well because buying a home then becomes cheaper relative to renting. Right now, deadbeat diver4life might be doing us all a favor by keeping pressure of the rental market.
Being a deadbeat is one thing but keeping prices too high for us deserved ones might be a non-related matter. Looking at it this way might give us prudent a little less stress on the subject.
Total national assets go down $10k a second.
Why won’t the bank foreclose on diver4life?
Why are they choosing not to enforce the contract?
Just like diver4life says: They have a contract that says the bank can kick him out if he quits paying. Why won’t they? The ball is in their court.
Even if diver left, would the house suddenly appear on the market, and drive other prices down? Or would it sit vacant, falling into disrepair and attracting vagrants? We know the answer to that.
It seems like at this point, the blame lies with the banksters, they are apparently unwilling to push the houses onto the market. But it’s a fun -distraction- to hate on the FBs who get to squat for a few months or years, I guess. Keeps our attention from the guys behind the curtain.
“Even if diver left, would the house suddenly appear on the market, and drive other prices down? Or would it sit vacant, falling into disrepair and attracting vagrants? We know the answer to that.”
I think I know where diver4life lives. A neighborhood built in 04-05 in Jupiter. I can not be sure but there is a guy in that hood who when I talked to his neighbors told me he had not paid his mortgage in a long time. They didn`t say he was a diver but they did say he was a surfer in his mid 30`s. It is right across the street from a house I bid on last year at $158k and did not get. Realtor scam I think because it sold for $156k. If I am right about who it is, alpha is right about houses being vacant, 2 more on the same street that are actually nicer than diver`s.
I am at the point where I am actually considering moving in and becoming a squatter. BofA formerly a Countrywide loan. If I did that does that make me a Deadbeat or just beat? At this point if I didn`t have a kid still at home I wouldn`t even think about it I would just do it.
Actually, I’m fairly sure it would make you a criminal.
Whether it is fair or not, that guy still owns that home. That is how real estate law works. Until the foreclosure happens, he owns it and has the right to occupy it. Just like your deadbeat landlord has the right to charge rent to let you occupy his house. Both of them will lose those rights when the foreclosures happen, but not before.
“Actually, I’m fairly sure it would make you a criminal.”
Probably, even though the house I am talking about has been vacant for almost 2 years and when a Realtor called about it for me she got some law office representing the bank that said there was no information they could give regarding that property. That was about 7 or 8 months ago.
But you know if I was only considered a criminal and not a Deadbeat I still might do it.
Here is the house still in owners name on county records even though a judgement was recorded 8/12/2010
Dec-2005 19694/1986 $379,000 WARRANTY DEED STEINOLFSON CARRIE L
Name: STEINOLFSON CARRIE L
Location: 17684 CINQUEZ PARK RD W
Mailing: 17684 CINQUEZ PARK RD W
JUPITER, FL 33458 3993
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 12/21/2005 08:39:23
CFN: 20050776917
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 19694/1987
Pages: 16
Consideration: $303,200.00
Party 1: STEINOLFSON CARRIE L
Party 2: MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC
AEGIS WHOLESALE CORPORATION
Legal: CINQUEZ PK L77 L
Type: LP
Date/Time: 3/19/2008 14:17:04
CFN: 20080102425
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 22514/1458
Pages: 1
Consideration: $0.00
Party 1: COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS INC
Party 2: STEINOLFSON CARRIE L
STEINOLFSON SPOUSE
DOE JOHN
DOE JANE
Legal: CINQUEZ PK L77 L
Type: JUD
Date/Time: 8/12/2010 14:55:07
CFN: 20100298523
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 24006/560
Pages: 5
Consideration: $0.00
Party 1: BAC HOME LOANS SERVICING LP
COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS SERVICING LP
Party 2: STEINOLFSON CARRIE L
STEINOLFSON SPOUSE
DOE JOHN
DOE JANE
Legal: CINQUEZ PK L77 L
Here is the house still in owners name on county records even though a judgement was recorded 8/12/2010
Same thing happening here in Tucson. Properties that are obviously vacant and headed for foreclosure (if not there already) are still listed under the owner’s name.
This one had a sale date on the Final JUD for Nov. 8 2010 that never happened. I just called the phone number to the law office that was on the Final JUD. After about a 25 minute wait a lady got on and looked up the house. She said this is still in the owners name so I can`t discuss it with you due to the Fl. privacy act. You could try to contact the owner yourself which I did but there is no phone # for her in this area or the other 2 areas where she has foreclosed houses in Palm Beach County.
“explain to me how you are paying for me, ”
I pay for diver4life every month I need to make another rent payment because I don’t want to pay an inflated price for a house. I pay everytime I pay taxes, because it’s the government bailout and mark-to-fantasy that allows the banks to NOT foreclose.
What would happen if banks had to base their MBS assets on recent comps instead of sales prices from 2005? What if Fannie didn’t buy those mortgages? Those banks would be fire-selling every single property, even for a dollar, just to pay some of their Chapter 7 creditors. And every FB would have a judgement served against him to raise funds to pay the rest of the Chapter 7 creditors.
I pay for diver4life every month I need to make another rent payment because I don’t want to pay an inflated price for a house.
As I mentioned in my comment above is not diver4life keeping your rent payment down by not entering the rental market?
By staying in the house, he’s keeping another buyer/renter OUT of the buyer renter pool.
This makes buyers and renters scarcer than they already are.
But as we’ve seen, the lack of buyers hasn’t brought house prices down. Too many other dominos fall, if house prices correct to reality, so you have the banksters, government, FIRE, and home moaners colluding to keep house prices propped up. And they have the keys to the printing press.
The only way prices are ever going to correct is if the whole thing “Chernobyls”. In which case, most of us will be sitting in bunkers with AR-15s, and not going out looking at houses.
Instead of bitching about it, it’s time for some helpful ideas. Like how I can move into an abandoned property, and not pay rent. I’ve been thinking about this problem/challenge, and have some ideas….
-Look for a town where people don’t ask too many questions like, let’s say, State College, PA.
-Move in overnight. Give all your neighbors a fake name. Look for someone in the obits about your age who has recently passed. Tell everyone you are renting.
-Ditto the utility companies. You may have to pay a deposit that you won’t get back, but what the hell. No land lines, cellphones only. If you are lucky, all you will need to turn on is electric and water/sewer.
-Move in with minimal or cheap furniture. The plan is not to have anything in the house you can’t afford to walk/run away from.
-Open up a PO box for your “real mail”. Or use your business or nearby relative’s address. Have the rest sent to you fake name at the house.
-Park your car around the corner. If/when anyone shows up asking too many questions, say “Let me show you my rental agreement/contract…..”,step back inside, grab what’s portable, sneak out the back door, and GTFOOD.
That’s the basic outline. The plan is still under development.
“The plan is still under development.”
I went to the above mentioned 17684 CINQUEZ PARK RD W house Type: JUD Date/Time: 8/12/2010 14:55:07
That has been empty (except for the mess inside from a hurried move) for about 2 years. Looked the same as it did when I last walked through about 4 or 5 months ago except for this taped to the front door.
VACANCY POSTING NOTICE
This property has been determined to be vacant. This information will be reported to the mortgage servicer responsible for maintaining the property. The mortgage servicer intends to protect this property from deterioation. The property may have its locks replaced and/or plumbing systems winterized in the next few days. If this property is NOT VACANT please call BAC Field Services Corporation immediately at 866-515-9759. BAC Field Services Corporation does not own the property and should not be contacted regarding its sale. FOR SALE INQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL REALTOR OR BANK OF AMERICA AT (866) 781-0029. YOU MAY ALSO VISIT http://www.bankofamerica.reo.com.
Date inspected 10/29
I called (866) 781-0029 Same sh#t We can not discuss this with you it is still in the foreclosure process. You will have to contact the owner.
So here is the tentative plan…
I might get a 1 year lease with a $5k one time cash payment signed by oh I don`t know maybe someone who said they were STEINOLFSON CARRIE L and when BAC Field Services Corporation shows up I will take a line from diver4life and say…. You can KMA I already paid for a whole year, just ask STEINOLFSON CARRIE L she will tell you. Now in the unlikely event that they actually find STEINOLFSON CARRIE L I might say. Well that`s not who took my $5k…. I AM A VICTIM!
Sounds like a plan to me.
Hey we didn’t make/change the rules. We actually liked the old rules better. We’re just playing the game by the new rules.
I once held out hope that the deadbeats would eventually get theirs. I’m not so sure anymore. Too many deadbeats. Not enough money to pay all of the lawyers/cops/prosecutors/jails to handle them.
In -fixr’s dream world, all of the TBTF would have failed, all of these people would never get credit again, and be hounded to the grave by collection agencies. Doing this would probably kill what little is left of our economy. Bailing out the banksters meant that everyone else who is leveraged gets a bailout too.
Owe the country $500, and you have a problem……owe the country $500 billion, and the country has a problem…..”
If all the divers4life would get out of their frickin houses, it wouldn’t matter what the rent payment was, because I would have bought.
Responsible people always get dumped on, huh Jeff…..Maybe one day you will stop being a sheep and realize that….
diver4life
”
Ben Bernake’s ” moral hazard”
A preoccupied Wall Street
Investors anxious over European debt, U.S. economy
U.S. stocks are on track for a broadly lower open, pressured by Europoean crisis. Investors pore over retailers’ results, led by Wal-Mart and Home Depot.
WalMart’s business model was that it would attract shoppers that were looking for a way to spend less. The problem is that those shoppers really are spending less, even when at WalMart.
The problem is that those shoppers really are spending less, even when at WalMart.
This was the long term flaw in the WalMarttization of America business plan.
This is where many CEO’s who considered themselves elite, and fought for the destruction of the middle class will find out that their futures are screwed as well.
Marie Antoinette didn’t get it either.
If they had two brain cells to connect with a synapse, they would have put away a bit of hay while the sun shone. They may not have a cocktail party future, but they won’t be screwed.
It depends on where they put it. I’m sure the Czar’s buddies owned all of the choice real estate in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Four years on and the big box sales of foreign made baubles are still viewed as belweathers.
It is shaping up to be an unhappy new year in 2012.
Nov. 15, 2011, 12:01 a.m. EST
Supercommittee: Deal or no deal?
By Irwin Kellner, MarketWatch
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. (MarketWatch) — To no one’s great surprise, the so-called Congressional Supercommittee does not appear likely to agree on a plan to cut the nation’s long-term debt by next week’s deadline. If there is no deal, here is what you may anticipate.
…failure to reach an agreement could have some significant near-term effects.
First it is likely to roil the financial markets the way the previous political stalemate did last summer. As such, you may expect a decline in investor, business and consumer confidence, setting the stage not just for a decline in stock prices, but for another slowdown in economic activity, as people and firms hold back spending because they fear the unknown.
Then there is what won’t happen. Tax cuts currently in effect are unlikely to be extended in today’s harsh political climate. By the same token, the additional spending requested by the president to create jobs and otherwise boost the fragile economy is likely to get lost in the shuffle.
In other words, the economy will not only not receive the dollop of stimulus most economists agree it needs right now — it is likely instead to be hit with a dose of fiscal restraint. And as I opined last week , fiscal stimulus is what’s needed today in order to boost growth and cut unemployment, since the Federal Reserve has done about as much as it can to lift our sluggish economy.
…
Economists debate the effectiveness of fiscal stimulus. The argument mostly centers on crowding out, a phenomenon where government borrowing leads to higher interest rates that offset the stimulative impact of spending. When the government runs a budget deficit, funds will need to come from public borrowing (the issue of government bonds), overseas borrowing, or monetizing the debt. When governments fund a deficit with the issuing of government bonds, interest rates can increase across the market, because government borrowing creates higher demand for credit in the financial markets. This causes a lower aggregate demand for goods and services, contrary to the objective of a fiscal stimulus. Neoclassical economists generally emphasize crowding out while Keynesians argue that fiscal policy can still be effective especially in a liquidity trap where, they argue, crowding out is minimal.
a zero sum gam borrowing from the future to help the now?
Lots of angry generational comments on web sites these days. this “we are sold up the river by boomers” approach to manage debt. It looks like the angry phase is here to me.
New York Police Evict Occupy Wall Street Protesters
By Alison Vekshin and Esmé E. Deprez - Nov 15, 2011 5:43 AM PT
New York City police in riot gear swept into a Lower Manhattan park early today to remove hundreds of Occupy Wall Street demonstrators who had been camping there for more than eight weeks to protest income inequality.
The action followed similar moves that shut camps in Oakland, California, and Portland, Oregon. New York police and the park’s owners told protesters at 1 a.m. local time to remove items including tents and sleeping bags, after which city workers cleared remaining belongings, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. The park will remain closed until the city can review a judge’s restraining order seeking to allow protesters to return with their belongings, the mayor said.
“The First Amendment protects speech,” the mayor said in a press conference at City Hall. “It doesn’t protect the use of tents and sleeping bags to take over public space.”
…
More dissolution of rights under the guise of protecting the public.
I can tell you after reading comments in the local fishwrap that the protecting the public cover story has been swallowed hook, line and sinker.
And while refraining from backing some of their requests (like allowing them to stay in their non paid for houses for free) I did allow myself some comments to friends about the police reaction being frightening. The response was Crickets! Either there is a great fear of stating a position publically or great apathy. I mean I love my margaritas as well as the next girl but I got a definite feeling my measured comments were considered a real buzzkill w/the life is a party crowd. Could almost feel the collective eyerolls.
Either there is a great fear of stating a position publically or great apathy.
It’s fear, and I thik it starts at the workplace. One thing I notice these days vs. say 20-30 years ago.
Back then: A competent complainer was tolerated, he would even get good raises if the job was well done.
Today: Complainers, regardless of how good they are at their job, get shown the door. Raises are for brown nosers.
Moral of the story: Keep you opinions to yourself and don’t trust your coworkers. They are NOT your friends (if anything, they are your rivals) and will squeal to the boss if you say anything.
Keep you opinions to yourself and don’t trust your coworkers ??
Nice working environment…
It’s the new reality of 20% unemployment and corporate off shoring of jobs.
It’s the new normal.
Now you know why most people don’t work very hard at their jobs… they don’t get rewarded for it.
People are stupid, but they aren’t THAT stupid.
Moral of the story: Keep you opinions to yourself and don’t trust your coworkers.
What kind of moral is that? A person of integrity will not hide their opinions and will stand by them even in the face of unpopularity and unfair treatment.
You’re advocating folks toe the line and become cowards. That’s just sad.
Personally, I’m never going to stop speaking my mind. I won’t be cowed, even in the workplace. I’ve always spoken my mind (though diplomatically), and I’m sure it hurts me at times, but I’ve never been shown the door for it and I still get raises. Maybe it’s different at all the places I’ve worked in my career (5 diff companies), but in most cases I’ve found the people at the top value someone who speaks their mind.
What kind of moral is that? A person of integrity will not hide their opinions and will stand by them even in the face of unpopularity and unfair treatment.
Just saying that’s how it works these days in Corporate America. If you are outspoken you will be first one to be laid off.
Maybe it’s different at all the places I’ve worked in my career (5 diff companies), but in most cases I’ve found the people at the top value someone who speaks their mind.
I’ve had the opposite experience. The outspoken ones are the ones who get the ax. The brown nosers survive.
Not sure but I suspect drumminj works at significantly smaller companies than you do. I’ve seen both and it seemed to correlate to company size.
Hunger and poverty trumps ethics and conviction every time.
I’ve seen this at every company I’ve worked at no matter the size.
Hunger and poverty trumps ethics and conviction every time.
BS.
It only trumps it if you have no integrity and let it.
You have NO idea. No idea at all.
Moral of the story: Keep you opinions to yourself and don’t trust your coworkers. They are NOT your friends (if anything, they are your rivals) and will squeal to the boss if you say anything.”
Thats the fear model of management It was there at my 3 year stint in AZ got tried of it.
One example
Air conditioner didn’t work right ( in Phoenix ) so the lab often would run above 80F so the equipment would often give false readings. It was because the air conditioners didn’t have head pressure switches so they would freeze at night ( they run day and night in AZ).
I complained and offered to try and fix it but nooooooo the Engineer who was really in charge who didn’t know anything would always ( out of fear ) get in the way. he was a brown noser to the big boss a notorious cheapskate who always bagged on CA design centers as being over priced.
3 years later as I left they were finally putting head pressure senors on the air conditioners after our test data didn’t match Greensboros ( hint at company I worked for in AZ )
In the mean time the Engineer supposed to be in charge of the facilities moved his test bench next to the other empty lab so he would run 10F cooler. he thought he was so smart doing this.
BTW this is a lousy place to work
When cheapskate boss was asked by the CEO of Greensboro headquarters why it was so hot in the test lab and how we could work in such conditions he was told ” my workers are just happy to work”
well not really happy but they were afraid
boss had been to asia he was from asia ( left asia on a small boat) and always told stories how good we had it compared to asia test facilities . Thus we work in the Kingdom of FEAR made possible by cheap labor in cheap AZ
now if a company wants to save money on labor by moving to AZ what is to keep them from moving again?
Moving EAST far east
now this is why we have a Recession and it probably won’t be ending anythime soon
In CA where I work now less fear but more stress we are made to work longer and harder
there is still fear here after all its 3x expensive to live here so no mistakes. And it could vary from company to company but CA law makes it harder to screw employees I beleive? So only salary high level workers are left in CA as a result. Hourly workers go to AZ easier to manage I guess ? Plus they can’t afford to live here anyway.
And I don’t want to say all or even many AZ companies or design centers are like were I used to work I just have the one data point.
And the people were generally friendlier in AZ not so stressed out
I complained and offered to try and fix it but nooooooo the Engineer who was really in charge who didn’t know anything would always ( out of fear ) get in the way.
I had something similar. VP of engineering would tell us we HAD to do something a certain way because the chairman of the board wanted it that way. He was too afraid to question/offer a counter-proposal to what the chairman suggested.
However, I’d simply sit down with the chairman and pitch my solution, and back up my proposal. Turns out he liked my idea better most of the time, and his “suggestion” was merely a starting point, not something he was dictating.
How many “better” ideas were lost due to the VP being too afraid to let people suggest different approaches/solutions? Funny, the company laid off 1/2 its employees on my second to last day (I had already accepted another job), and floundered along after that.
Air conditioner didn’t work right ( in Phoenix ) so the lab often would run above 80F so the equipment would often give false readings. It was because the air conditioners didn’t have head pressure switches so they would freeze at night ( they run day and night in AZ).
———
Are you an A/C repairmen qualified to make that call? If your A/C unit runs day and night and parts of it freeze, then your building is underinsulated or the unit is not large enough to accomodate the sq footage, it’s usually not a specific design flaw with the A/C itself.
Additionally because I was not clear, if it does one or the other, then there could be a maintenance problem, but both together usually mean a more powerful system is needed.
Are you an A/C repairmen qualified to make that call?”
haha no
But how many are ? Not too many I used to work with. All many could do was tell me if my system was low on freon. gee whiz.
10 years ago I was put in charge of facilities at a small start-up so had to figure stuff out on the fly. Some repair guys were really good, some not so good.
AZ Lab did need a bigger system Manager was not about to spend 10K to upgrade because ? I think he was afraid to spend money.
After 3 years they did put head pressure switchs on the High side fans to keep the pressure up at night so the system would not freeze. I understand they use this in places like grocery stores that run compressors day and night. Turn the fan off raise the pressure.
Back in AZ I don’t know if they ever spent the money to put more AC in?
You should come to NY and see the Indians Pakistanis operate their stores, refrigerators vented INSIDE the store and no AC just the door open and fans its 10-15 degrees hotter inside then out…..and they are happy because 95 and humid in new Delhi is a comfortable day
When cheapskate boss was asked by the CEO of Greensboro headquarters why it was so hot in the test lab and how we could work in such conditions he was told ” my workers are just happy to work”
I can tell you after reading comments in the local fishwrap that the protecting the public cover story has been swallowed hook, line and sinker.
Remember many of the fish wraps are not owned locally and buy content from a central content provider.
The comments sections after such articles are certainly well astrofurfed, but polls show that a decent percentage of the public supports the OWS protesters and their movement.
They haven’t fooled all of the people yet.
Then there’s this. My heart fell when I saw it. I tend to think it’s real even if I don’t really know what to think of most sources these days. Perhaps it is propoganda to move things along, a big step beyond the media black-out of Ron Paul’s wins in the straw polls.
How do you feel about the eviction of Occupy Wall Street protesters from NYC park?
A violation of their constitutional rights to peaceful protest
26%
They were squatting in public park and needed to go
72%
Not Sure 2%
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57324871/occupy-protesters-regroup-in-nyc/
“will remain closed until the city can review the judge’s restraining order?”
WTF?
But then, what do you expect from a guy who not only bought the office but spent another $100M of his own money to override the term limits of the position.
And he talks about lawlessness.
Realtors Are Liars®
Man commits suicide by jumping off PGA Boulevard overpass onto I-95
By Cynthia Roldan Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 9:50 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011
Posted: 8:13 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011
PALM BEACH GARDENS — Traffic has been slowed to a crawl in the southbound lanes of Interstate 95 in Palm Beach Gardens after a West Palm Beach man committed suicide by jumping off the PGA Boulevard overpass into the path of a semi truck, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Though it was initially unclear whether the man in his early 60s, whose name has not been released, had committed suicide or was knocked off the shoulder by a motorist, troopers have now confirmed through witnesses that the man did intentionally jump off the overpass, said highway patrol spokesman Lt. Tim Frith. The man fell an estimated 30 feet onto the far outside lane before he was struck by the semi truck driven by a South Carolina man.
The man, who so far seems to have no mental health history, drove his 2001 Harley Davidson to the overpass and parked it in the shoulder lane before jumping off, Frith added. The man’s name will be released once troopers notify the man’s family of his death.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/?r=t - 96k
I know of two suicides that have happened due to this lousy economy. One was here in Tucson. The other was in Hawaii. I suspect that the economy may also have contributed to the death of someone else I know, but I don’t have the details.
I guess homeowners are behaving a lot like business owners. They spend their savings because the bank says they would “feel more comfortable” if less money were owed to them ! Stop sucking up to the banker - introduce him to your lawyer instead - you know the kind - the one that needs a mouth guard !
You can be sure that if a jumbo mortgagee is thinking strategic default his new home is already purchased under only his wife’s name with very little equity in it.
It’s the same in Canada with retirement savings accounts. They cannot be touched.
I agree with WT and Cantankerous about Italy’s rate - it is the trend not the amount - and if the entire Euro community cannot hold the line buying their bonds —
Maybe I should build an air raid shelter.
Will the Eurozone allow the PIIGS to default or will they crank up the printing press and continue to buy their paper, with the expected inflationary results?
History says printing press. We’ll see what happens.
They will print, only after they have replaced the leadership of the PIIGS that hasn’t been following the plays off the central bank play card.
“Responsible people always get dumped on, huh Jeff…..Maybe one day you will stop being a sheep and realize that….”
Stop being a sheep and realize what? That we should all expect to live for free? How long would this guy let someone live in his house without paying rent? What a loser!!
Oops, I navigated away from the page and my post ended up in the wrong place. It should be after Jeff Saturday’s post. Sorry.
Conversation overheard on an airplane leaving Phoenix yesterday between two passengers:
PAX 1: “I’m from Chicago, out here for the weekend looking to buy some real estate”
PAX 2: “I bought at the absolute top and am now about $400,000 underwater. I’m not sure what we will do”
PAX 1: “Wow, well just wait, it will come back within 5 years. There are a lot of properties on the market”
I almost laughed out loud when PAX 1 stated with such authority that it would come back, while at the same time admitting there were lots of homes for sale.
Stay tuned, more to come….
Similar story - on a flight to Silicon Valley from Seattle. Prices are so cheap in Seattle, especially REO, (he was in commercial real estate), so he might fly back up in Jan and buy some condos. I did not want to interrupt the conversation between the 2 titans.
My mother had lunch with some friends last week. One said she is storing all her Beanie Babies in her attic now so when prices come back she can make a lot of money.
Manias can take a long time to die off.
That’s the point. We are in a mania, this bubble could take the remainder of most of our lives to deflate. The demographics just don’t support the number of empty housing units in this country (18.9M+). I believe we are in a structural shift in the economy and personal tastes/preferences which have yet to be reflected in the markets. Yet, there are still speculators (a fool and his money…..) willing to bet this is just a short term correction, who, in my opinion, just don’t understand the long term game.
We know the changes in the economy are structural. They’re still clinging to the idea they’re only cyclical.
Tulip prices still have yet to come back. And it has been 374 years.
Ditto for internet stocks. And it’s pretty funny to realize that off all those manias, the actual Beanies will deteriorate the least over time. Maybe ‘byeFL was onto something!
If only the masses could regain their confidence, I am sure tulip bulb prices could stage a recovery!
If only the masses could regain their conviction, I am certain that tulip bulb prices could stage a recovery!
It was about a year or so ago when I heard a similar conversation in the Tucson airport.
One guy was telling the other about his daughter and her husband. They bought a CA house for way-too-much, and then the market went blew-ie. The house’s value plummeted.
So, daughter and husband were doing something called a “short sale,” which Dad said slowly and carefully, like it was a new expression in the foreign language he was studying.
“…which Dad said slowly and carefully, like it was a new expression in the foreign language he was studying.”
My next-door neighbor at work is enjoying a similar linguistic schooling in life’s dear school for underwater home sellers.
DC central planners take note:
Austrian School Economist Hayek Finds New Fans
by Tamara Keith
November 15, 2011
These days it can feel like the country is unsteady — politically, economically. In a search for the way forward, scholars and politicians often turn to their fundamental beliefs. NPR is taking a look at some of the most influential philosophers whose ideas molded the present and could shape the future. You might not know all their names, but you’re certainly familiar with their ideas. They are woven into the fabric of our society.
The Nobel Prize-winning Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek’s arguments for free-market capitalism and against socialism and central planning made him a popular figure in 1940s America — and again today.
Hayek argued for humility among economists and politicians. And that, says George Mason University economics professor Don Boudreaux, was his most important contribution. Boudreaux is one of the people behind Cafe Hayek, an economics blog with a Hayekian point of view.
“The economy will always be more complex, will always confound you in your attempts to mold it to your designs,” Boudreaux says of Hayek’s economic philosophy.
In other words, the economy is too complicated for politicians to avert recessions and unemployment without unintended consequences that may well be worse. This was one of the ideas in his most famous book, The Road to Serfdom. In it he made a nuanced case against central planning, something Boudreaux says had been gaining steam among Western intellectuals since at least the Great Depression.
“It’s a fatal conceit that we can control our destiny as a society, consciously. We can’t do that. It’ll lead to results quite the opposite of what its best intentioned proponents believe,” Boudreaux says.
…
Hayek
Hayek’s cool but Keynesians are a whole lot more fun at parties, kind of like the Catholics vs the Evangelicals in Brazil.
“Hayek argued for humility among economists and politicians.”
What a fantastic idea! Too bad a successful rise to power is highly correlated with excessive hubris and misplaced self-confidence.
latest money news » From the wires
Wal-Mart’s 3Q results show US turnaround Updated 12:22 p.m.
Stocks waver; Wal-Mart slumps as earnings fall Updated 12:16 p.m.
EU plans crackdown on rating agencies 11:26 a.m.
More news .
“US turnaround”
Implication: The Fed will have a hard time selling QE3 against the backdrop of ongoing U.S. economic recovery.
Did everyone see the FHFA home price forecast curves that got posted on CR? I’ll post a link right after this shows up…
It was nice to see that _someone_ is still drinking the kool-aid—all the curves (from best to baseline to worst cases) all trended up at a bubblicious rate after bottoming.
I want some of the what the FHA is smoking.
Yeah. I don’t think that house prices will fall that much further, but there is NO reason to believe that they’re going to start shooting up. Seriously, I don’t expect housing to go up very much in real terms for the next twenty years.
Nov. 15, 2011, 12:40 p.m. EST
Fed’s Fisher repeats call to downsize big banks
By Greg Robb
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Federal regulators must consider radical surgery to downsize “too-big-to-fail” banks into institutions that can been prudently managed and regulated across borders, said Richard Fisher, the president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank on Tuesday. In a speech to students at Columbia University, Fisher said too-big-to-fail banks are “too dangerous to permit.” Fisher said he favors an international accord that would break up these biggest banks into more manageable size. Fisher said regulators also cannot give in to political pressure from mega-banks trying to water down new international capital standards.
Fisher spoke at the University of Arizona b-school last year. He was suggesting the same thing.
Eventually he’ll be heard.
Same goes for Thomas Hoenig, in whose case “eventually” will come sooner than later.
The too-big-to-fail banks’ days are numbered. Look for regime change around the time that Bush-era holdouts Ben and Tim retire from their current posts.
Suprised That Obama Tapped Inflation Hawk Hoenig for the FDIC? Don’t Be
By Daniel Indiviglio
Oct 21 2011, 12:29 PM ET
Although he’s best known for his Fed dissents, he’ll be tough on the big banks
Last year, those of us who cover the Federal Reserve owed a debt of gratitude to then Kansas City Fed President Thomas Hoenig. He kept things interesting. While all of other voting members of the central bank’s monetary policy committee were committed to keeping interest rates low and stimulating the economy with more cash, Hoenig wasn’t. He dissented at every single meeting in 2010. And he was the only one. While the other voting members were worried about unemployment, he was focused on inflation. So should it shock us that President Obama has nominated Hoenig to be Vice Chairman at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation? To understand why, just look at where he stands on big banks.
A Critic of the Big Banks
Those who have followed Hoenig a little more closely know that the rationale for Obama’s decision is actually pretty obvious: he is not a fan of big banks. Back in 2009, he testified at a Joint Economic Committee hearing with several other economists on the problem of “Too Big to Fail.” A few of the others who testified called for the big banks to be broken up. Although Hoenig was a little less aggressive on such action than they were, he seemed fairly open to the concept.
He has also stated that big banks should be regulated like utilities, even indicating his support for reinstating the section of the Glass-Steagall Act that would forbid banks to participate in both commercial and investment banking. But most importantly, in that hearing I attended, he also asserted that big banks that run into trouble should not be rescued and must fail.
For a direct quote, let’s go to Alan Zibel and Jon Hilsenrath at the Wall Street Journal:
…
Where can I buy a “Celebrate Ignorance” sticker?
GOP Candidates Take Aim at Foreign Aid
http://news.yahoo.com/gop-candidates-aim-foreign-aid-110109188.html
Foreign aid may account for a mere 1 percent of the federal budget, but talk of eliminating it consumed a much higher percentage of the most recent GOP presidential primary debate.
….All foreign assistance, which includes everything from HIV/AIDS prevention to Haiti earthquake assistance to Afghan military training, accounted for about 1 percent of the federal budget in 2010.
….“The first thing to understand about foreign aid is that it’s tiny, it’s less than 1 percent of the United States budget,” said Daniel Serwer , a professor at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University . “You can cut it all and make no difference whatsoever to the debt problem.”
This has been a long well know fact, but it makes for a good sound bite for a right wing politico.
Even if SNAP and school lunches were done away with, that would be barely 6% of the deficit. Nevermind that we spend more on our military than the rest of the world combined.
In other countries you probably would never meet someone who serves in the military. In the US almost everyone has at least a cousin or someone closer who serves. And plenty of aquaintances.
The Department of Defense is our new jobs program.
a professor at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University . “You can cut it all and make no difference whatsoever to the debt problem.” ??
Well Mr. Professor, it seems like you may have missed the math classes on the way to that degree because it does make a difference…A savings in the amount of 1% of the budget…Wow…And you actually have to pay for this guy to instruct you…??
A “mere 1%” of the federal budget is $39B. I know for the big govt types this is chump change but it is real money.
And this is why spending is never cut. No matter what the item to be cut, there will be a lobby group screaming about how it’s only $5B or only $10B or only $25B or only 1%.
Well add up all the “only 1% of the federal budget” and before you know it you have 10 or 20% of the budget.
A “mere 1%” of the federal budget is $39B. I know for the big govt types this is chump change but it is real money.
Yea. The USA, the richest country in the world and with a bigger military than our 14 nearest competitors combined (and 12 of them being our ALLIES) is sooooo generous. A lot of the GOP are ignorant on this issue.
We Americans guess, on average, that 24% of our federal budget goes to development assistance. The real number? Less than one per cent.
…US aid as a percent of personal income is second to last among wealthy nations.
….We can do better, at home and abroad.
Borgen cites the cost of two B-2 bombers ($4.4 billion) compared with the the annual budget for the World Food Program (largest relief agency in the world) which assists 104 million starving and malnourished people in 81 countries. Its budget? $3.2 billion.
Why not change it? We can, you know. Once we separate the illusions from the facts. oecd
Trouble is, that 4.4 billion was spent a long time ago.
Here in Tucson, our local Occupiers protested (loudly) at a foreclosure auction. REIC-sters trying to snap up foreclosure deals were not happy.
Much comment merriment after the news story, as one might expect. But this story comment really stood out:
Did anybody tell the big investment firms, and the big banks who bought and sold a bunch of CDO’s and other mortgage backed securities that they too were supposed to pay what they promised?
Big banks became giant trading rooms, meaning that they bought and sold securities for profit. This is a typical scenario: They start with $10 million of “capital,” and then they go out and borrow $90 million from other people, typically by selling bonds, which are promises to pay back the money at some interest rate. Then they take the $100 million and buy some stuff ( mortgage-backed security, or other collaterized debt obligations), which pay a higher interest rate than then they are paying on their bonds. Suddenly they are making money hand over fist. But then let’s say that housing prices start falling, securitized subprime mortgages start plummeting in value, and all of a sudden $100 million in assets are now only worth $80 million. Since the value of their debt ($90 million) hasn’t changed, they are technically insolvent at this point, because their losses exceed their capital; put another way, the money coming in from their slices of mortgage pools isn’t enough to pay their bondholders.
So, aren’t they supposed to pay for what they bought since they gave their word to do so?
Therefore, some of amped-up moral indignation in some of the comments above is shallow and crass.
The bottom line is the big banks risked a lot, lost a lot, and got bailed out with our money. They gambled, they lost, and we paid. Now what about the homeowner who saw an artificially inflated housing bubble burst and take away their money and put them in an underwater situation? The banks worked to inflate the bubble, working against the homeowners’ interests, and now they should share some of the loss. Underwater mortgage holders need re-worked mortgages. Especially from the financial institutions that took our bailout money to save their business from defaulting.
The banks not being able to pay their bondholders is the exact same as a homeowner unable to pay a big underwater mortgage. Why are we willing to help one side out and only give the other side a spit of moral indignation? That’s just wrong.
“Why are we willing to help one side out and only give the other side a spit of moral indignation? ”
Because the 1%ers have excellent propagandists- the best money can buy!
Exactly.
Supporters of OWS:
Yoko Ono
Russell Simmons
George Soros
Michael Moore
Nancy Pelosi
(I’ll leave the reader to add to the list)
So the 1% is for the 99% who is against the 1%? How does that work?
Let me guess, the 1% above isn’t really in the 1%?
Responses with twisted logic in 3, 2, 1. . .
Were you expecting the Koch brothers, neo cons or Corporatists to support OWS?
Latest “I’m not Mitt Romney” Republican candidate hopeful: Newt Gingrich.
Unless the RNC can figure out a way to steal the election, this will turn out badly for them.
Gingrich jumps to front of Republican pack
By Jason Clayworth (AFP) – 1 hour ago
JEFFERSON, Iowa — White House hopeful Newt Gingrich, the former US House speaker whose campaign to win the Republican nomination appeared all but over just weeks ago, has surged toward the front of the pack.
His campaign’s revival follows the rise and fall of leading rivals, most recently former Godfather’s Pizza chief executive Herman Cain who is battling a sexual harassment scandal and stumbled badly Monday in responding to a question on Libya.
The Republican Party has struggled to find the right alternative to frontrunner Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor seen by many as the most formidable challenger to President Barack Obama in the November 2012 election but who has been unable to gain support of the party’s conservative base.
…
Smart guy….Lots & Lots of very dirty laundry besides being a hypocrite…Never withstand the vetting process…
I think most of his laundry has already been aired. People know about his personal life and his political life. There might be some stuff that is not generally known, but it seems much less likely than with a newbie.
Can’t recall if it was Stewart or Letterman who noted the irony that Mitt Romney is the Mormon candidate and Newt is the candidate with three wives.
“The Republican Party has struggled to find the right alternative……”
Me fixee!!
“The Republican Party has struggled to find the right fascist, who has learned to speak in feel-good talking points to make the middle of the road sheeple comfortable, while sending enough signals to the die-hard Republicans to convince them that he’s lying just enough to get elected.”
…who isn’t Mormon.
Do they know Newt’s a Catholic now? To the evangelicals, that’s almost as bad as Mormon.
“Central bankers and politicians kicked the debt can down the road longer than we thought possible three years ago,” Charles Biderman, CEO at market research firm TrimTabs, said in an analysis. “Now the explosive acceleration may really be starting.”
…”Indeed, expectations for a prolonged crisis are heightened not merely by Europe’s inability to cope with its own problems, but also the likelihood of ineffective policy response from Washington.
“The world’s largest central banks and governments are headed by people who believe their central planning can lead to better outcomes than the free actions of people in markets,” said TrimTabs’ Biderman, who recommends clients hold hard assets to brace against the wild market. “In our opinion, their interventions will be very harmful.”
http://www.cnbc.com/id/45288956
“The world’s largest central banks and governments are headed by people who believe their central planning can lead to better outcomes than the free actions of people in markets,”
And these are exactly the folks who just don’t get Hayek’s point (see my post further up this thread for the details).
High risk banking is the new black.
15 November 2011 Last updated at 01:21 ET
IMF says Chinese banks face risks, urges quick action
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that China’s financial system “faces a steady build up in vulnerabilities”.
In a review, publicly released on Tuesday, the IMF said that banks were robust enough to withstand isolated shocks.
But not, it said, combined exposure to credit, property and currency risks.
The IMF has urged reforms, including allowing banks to rely more on market mechanisms such as interest rates.
“China’s banks and financial sector are healthy, but there are vulnerabilities that should be addressed by the authorities,” said Jonathan Fiechter, the head of the IMF team that conducted the review.
The IMF has recommended the Chinese government play less of a role in the banking system, and allow lending decisions to be based on commercial goals.
The current system has encouraged over-investment and fuelled asset bubbles, said the IMF.
“While the existing structure fosters high savings and high levels of liquidity, it also creates the risk of capital misallocation and formation of bubbles, especially in real estate,” said Mr Fiechter.
…
Congress moves to end Fannie, Freddie bonuses
By DEREK KRAVITZ AP Economics Writer
Posted: 11/15/2011 12:18:49 PM PST
WASHINGTON—Congress is seeking to end the practice of paying million-dollar bonuses to executives at government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The House Financial Services Committee approved legislation Tuesday that would suspend tens of millions in Fannie and Freddie executive compensation packages, stop future bonuses and align their salaries with other federal employees who make much less. The vote was 52-4, with strong support from both parties.
The Senate is expected to take up a similar measure. Lawmakers say the legislation limiting pay at the bailed-out firms could be sent to President Barack Obama by the end of this year.
Twelve executives at the firms received roughly $35.4 million in total salary and bonuses in 2009 and 2010. Fannie CEO Michael J. Williams received about $9.3 million for the two years. Freddie CEO Edward Haldeman Jr. was paid $7.8 million for that stretch.
I’m with Polly, since they’re being bailed out by taxpayers, give ‘em government salaries.
+1.
If they’re working for the government (which they are), they should be on the government pay-scale.
If the current team doesn’t want to do the job for that pay, there are plenty of people already in the system who would be more than happy to take their jobs.
Why Did Freddie Mac Pay Newt Gingrich $300,000?
by Peter Overby
All Things Considered
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, shown in May speaking at the Georgia Republican Party Victory Dinner in Macon, Ga., says he was acting as a “historian” when Freddie Mac paid him consultant fees of $300,000.
Enlarge Jessica McGowan/Getty Images
November 15, 2011
Polls continue to show former House Speaker Newt Gingrich solidly in the top tier of Republican presidential contenders. But at the same time, he is dogged by questions about a job he had after leaving Congress: consulting for the mortgage giant Freddie Mac — but not, he says, lobbying.
The questions began at the candidates’ debate in Michigan last Wednesday, when CNBC’s John Harwood asked Gingrich what he did for a $300,000 contract with Freddie Mac in 2006.
“I offered them advice on precisely what they didn’t do,” Gingrich said last week.
This didn’t make him a lobbyist, he said. And by the strict legal definition of “lobbyist,” he’s absolutely right.
“My advice as a historian, when they walked in and said to me, ‘We are now making loans to people who have no credit history and have no record of paying back anything, but that’s what the government wants us to do‘ — I said to them at the time, ‘This is a bubble, this is insane, this is impossible,’ ” Gingrich said at last week’s debate.
…
Fact: Fannie pays Individual_X 300,000 dollars.
Lip Flap: The rest of the narrative.
Wow 300,000 for that?
How long did it take him to say that 10 seconds.
Is there any wonder why Uncle Sam is coming up a bit short on dough, given how much bailout money is paid to zombie corporations like Fannie and Freddie to enable them to pay gargantuan executive salaries plus $300,000 consulting fees to the likes of Newt and (doubtless) their other consultants?
There ought to be a law against this sort of thing.
U.S. seeks to suspend executives’ bonuses at mortgage giants
English.news.cn
2011-11-16 10:51:12
WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) — The U.S. House Financial Services Committee approved legislation Tuesday aimed at suspending million-dollar bonuses to executives at government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The vote was 52-4, with strong support from both parties. The legislation will later be sent to the House floor, and the Senate is expected to take up a similar measure.
Twelve executives at the bailed-out firms received roughly 35.4 million U.S. dollars in total salaries and bonuses in 2009 and 2010. Fannie CEO Michael J. Williams was paid about 9.3 million dollars for the two years. Freddie CEO Edward Haldeman Jr. received 7.8 million dollars during the period.
“Awarding lavish pay packages to the heads of these companies that have accepted 170 billion dollars in taxpayer cash can’t be defended,” said Representative Spencer Bachus, the panel’s chairman and sponsor of the bill.
…
Judge ruled that the mob must vacate Zucotti Park.
Sorry OWS kiddies, sleep over time has come to an end. Time to occupy mom’s basement once again. The adults are back in charge. See you in spring for your next tantrum.
Here in Tucson, the Occupiers are of all ages. Many are senior citizens.
Don’t bother him with the facts, he isn’t interested. In his little fantasy world there’s nothing wrong with our Neo Fascist/Corporatist system and anyone who dares to complain is “throwing a tantrum”
This does dovetail nicely with what I said above, about how “complaining” will get you fired at work.
Deer subdued after being trapped in garage
John Nickerson, Staff Writer
Updated 05:30 p.m., Tuesday, November 15, 2011
STAMFORD — A young buck was shot with tranquilizer darts and subdued by Darien animal control officers and city police after being trapped in a Tresser Boulevard parking garage for about two hours Tuesday morning.
The deer, about 19 months to 2 years of age with foot-long antlers, was taken to a North Stamford park and released shortly after it was hauled out of the garage in a van, police said.
Because Stamford animal control officers do not have tranquilizers, Darien Animal Control Officer Chip Stahl was called and asked to bring his air-pump tranquilizer pistol.
Moments after he arrived, Stahl got one dart into the animal, which sprinted through the large parking structure. Officers shepherded the deer into the same area a few minutes later and Stahl got another dart into the animal’s hide.
When it appeared as though the animal could not raise itself, officers moved in to tie it up.
The deer abruptly stood up and began hopping out of the way of Stahl and Stamford Animal Control officer Tilford Cobb while officers moved in to block its path. The deer was given another tranquilizer injection, which kept it on the ground.
Stahl got the wire from a snare pole around the deer’s antlers, Stahl said. Another officer held it to the ground while Stahl and Cobb tied the deer’s legs.
At one point during the chase, the deer leapt over Stahl.
“I dropped to my knees and he jumped over me,” Stahl said. “It was one of the closest things I ever had. The hooves just cleared my head.”
Stamford police Capt. Tom Wuennemann said it did not appear the deer’s sprint through the garage caused any damage to cars or people.
“He was very scared. Hopefully when he shakes it off he can rejoin his friends,” Wuennemann said. (Who Stahl or the deer?)
Read more: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Deer-subdued-after-being-trapped-in-garage-2269984.php#ixzz1dozQueg9
I’m quite surprised. Generally cops + animal emergency = animal shot dead. Police training with animal emergencies is sorely in need of updating.
Italy bonds back over 7%:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-15/german-two-year-notes-fall-after-report-shows-economic-growth-quickened.html
I’ll take it for $180!
I’ll keep my eye on this one. I bet it goes for $260
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/15909-1st-St-E-Redington-Beach-FL-33708/46974928_zpid/
Jump in euro-zone interest rates hits France
By Howard Schneider and Anthony Faiola,
Tuesday, November 15, 6:28 PM
Borrowing costs for European governments jumped across the board Tuesday, and new data confirmed that the region’s economy is slowing, evidence on two key fronts that leaders of the euro area have yet to contain its stubborn financial crisis.
The rise in interest rates hit Spain, Italy and — perhaps most worrying — France. French borrowing costs outstripped German costs, which serve as a regional benchmark, by the most since the adoption of the euro more than a decade ago.
France, the euro zone’s second-largest economy, retains a top-notch AAA bond rating and is able to borrow at rates substantially below those for Spain, Italy and other economically weaker countries. But the widening of the interest rate spread between French and German bonds is a significant sign that investors may no longer view France as a safe haven.
The emergency plans that European leaders recently developed in response to the debt crisis hinge on France keeping a strong credit rating. Any hint that France might lose that status could intensify the region’s crisis and leave Germany as the sole, large underwriter of any rescue effort.
“Clearly there is a market deterioration in Europe overall,” said Tito Boeri, an economist at Bocconi University in Milan. “They are testing France, too.”
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The Occupy movement: More trouble than change?
By Eli Saslow and Colum Lynch, Tuesday, November 15, 6:33 PM
The movement began as a protest of major economic and political issues, but lately the most divisive issue has become the protests themselves. The Occupy Wall Street encampments that formed across the country to spotlight crimes committed on Wall Street have become rife with problems of their own. There are sanitation hazards and drug overdoses, even occasional deaths and sexual assaults.
On Tuesday, New York and other cities across the country continued the chaotic, disruptive process of picking sides. Police made arrests in at least six states; three civil rights groups filed lawsuits on behalf of protesters. Mayors and city officials from coast to coast held emergency meetings and tried to decide:
Is this an occupation or an infestation?
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