Bits Bucket for November 17, 2011
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Throw-away buildings: Toronto’s glass condos
Many of the glass condominium towers filling up the Toronto skyline will fail 15 to 25 years after they’re built, perhaps even earlier, and will need retrofits costing millions of dollars, say some industry experts.
Glass walls have been popular among developers and consumers alike because they’re cheaper than more traditional materials and make a good first impression. But they aren’t energy-efficient and come with a hidden price that could soar down the road, engineers say.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/11/13/tor-glass-walled-condos.html
So not only is there a huge condo bubble in Toronto, looks like some of them might not even last a long time. There is also a quote that no other city in North America is building more condos right now then Toronto.
I went to a Blue Jay game this year with my folks, virtually every old parking spot we used back in the World Series hayday (92&93) is now condos. In fact that City lot we used is now a parking structure (and not cheap). Then again, the school board here (and the provincial edu minister) supports the banning of soccer, football and other ‘hard’ balls from the playground.
Glass in Toronto? We’ve had plenty of these glass buildings here in NY, and I don’t think much of them.
I want brick or stone. With stone lintels or brick arches over the windows, not steel.
Most of your buildings would have been built with standards (I assume NYC has fairly tough codes). Toronto’s building codes allow glass which falls.
Glass curtain walls (as that construction type is know in the states) are also allowed throughout the US. In fact, the push for LEED accredited buildings, which pushes toward more natural lighting, actually encourages the use of glass curtain wall construction.
By the way, a brick facade over a door or window is supported somehow by the structure behind, as the brick lacks the structural capacity to span the opening. Usually it is tied back to the structure by a carbon steel support angle; however, that approach should be falling into disuse due to the thermal bridging the angle creates. A solution to that energy loss is to use a stainless-steel angle, which has a lower coefficient of thermal conductivity relative to carbon steel.
The new Bank of America building on 6th Avenue had lots of huge panes of glass fall as it was being built. It had plywood in place of some of the windows for months after it was completed and occupied.
Fortunately, no one was killed. But I work near there, and still am not comfortable walking past the building.
In Seattle, one of our fairly new downtown buildings is having the glass half-wall surrounding its rooftop deck replaced already.
Seems they were making a habit of coming off and plunging to the ground below. Thankfully no one was injured in the process. I sure wouldn’t want to lean on that wall though!
just curious, do these “glass” buildings look like this one? sorry not a good pic
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:First_Interstate_Bank_building_in_Missoula.jpg
Prime_Is_Contained: is that the 4th and Madison building? There were issues with falling glass there too…
WPHR, I was thinking of the Four Seasons Hotel:
http://www.king5.com/news/local/Glass-falls-off-hotel-128972948.html
Some fell this past summer, and some more fell just this past weekend…
Most of your buildings would have been built with standards (I assume NYC has fairly tough codes). Toronto’s building codes allow glass which falls.
Here in Tucson, there was a major problem with a falling-glass building.
That was the Gould Simpson Building on the University of Arizona campus. There was glass popping out of the place for several years. The university had to shelter the sidewalks to keep people from getting killed.
The UA and the glass manufacturer finally figured out that there was some sort of defect in the glass. ISTR that every window in the building had to be replaced.
Ugh! Sounds like the Hancock Tower here in Boston. Soon after the building was completed, 500-lb windowpanes detached from the building and crashed to the sidewalk hundreds of feet below. Police had to close off surrounding streets whenever winds reached 45 mph. That was just one of the problems.
Poor engineering and poor QC and a little skimming will get you that.
That’s why we need a “regulation holiday” to stimulate the economy.
You’re not kidding. Those mean regulations get in the way for goodness sake. Hey, why not add more parabens to personal care items and make-up, and BPA to can lining, and the stock for Breast and Prostate Cancer drugs will skyrocket. Why not let high lead content into ceramic dinnerware, and other regulations that keep manufacturering costly (read that as sarcasm), and we could solve the SS issue. We’ll all be dead.
All sarcasm aside, glass building in So Ca are scary. One of the homes we’re interesting in (just wrote the heir for a quite sale) has huge windows. Good points HBB’ers.
After a BC scare, I started my journey helping BC patients and in BC prevention. I’m a recovered Republican. Regulations keep immoral pos from killing us all.
“”That’s why we need a “regulation holiday” to stimulate the economy.”"
+10000000 Great post!!
Yeah, and using “migrant labor” instead of union goons too. The unions actually have a way of making sure that everyone on the job is qualified.
Indeed they do. When I was taking those community college construction courses, the first six classes were required.
They covered topics like the safe use of hand and power tools, job site courtesy and safety, reading blueprints, and construction math. These courses were also the prerequisites for entering local apprenticeship programs operated by trade unions.
We’ve bought new construction twice. Once in 1984, our American Skilled Worker home was almost perfect. One hour of minor tweeks, and it was done.
Fastforward to 1998 and our second newly built home. All the construction guys were Spanish Speaking (I heard them) and we had 18 months of total hell with the builder. It even rained through the walls, flooding our piano (flashing was stapled patchwork). The two experiences were night and day.
Construction is a skill based on knowledge, not just throwing up a wall or hammering. I hear ya gals. I’ve lived it.
The life poetica:
Gordon Lightfoot visits Occupy Toronto:
Canadian music icon Gordon Lightfoot made a brief appearance at the Occupy Toronto camp Tuesday in support of his 17-year-old daughter, Meredith.
In an impromptu press scrum, Lightfoot stressed he was only there at the invitation of his daughter, who began her stay at St. James Park on Oct. 15.
Lightfoot expressed concern for the lack of opportunities and employment for young people.
“When asked by a CBC videojournalist which of his songs best captured the spirit of the occupation, he said his 1993 ballad Restless seemed to sum up the mood of the protesters and camp residents.”
Funny how he didn’t mention “Black Day In July.”
(Gordon Lightfoot) said his 1993 ballad Restless seemed to sum up the mood of the protesters and camp residents.”
Funny how he didn’t mention “Black Day In July.”
or “The Wreck of our Back Ends Imperiled”
geez that was bad. I would think that his three-part song about building the Canadian cross-country railroad would be most applicable.
Oh, how ’bout a direct quote/lyric?
“Their minds were overflowing with the vision$ of their day
and many a fortune lost and won and many a debt to pay.”
“A dollar a day and a place for my head, a drink to the living and a toast to the dead.
Oh, the song of the future has been sung, all the battles have been won,
o’er the mountain tops we stand, all the world at our command,
we have opened up the soil with our teardrops and our toil.”
America (AA+) Day #: 104!
“geez that was bad. I would think that his three-part song about building the Canadian cross-country railroad would be most applicable.”
Great songs, but I don’t know if he mentioned the crony capitalism and corruption that was part of the railroad construction…
if he mentioned the crony capitalism and corruption that was part of the railroad con$truction…
Perhaps Warren “BNSF” Buffett will send the Canadian Indian a $ x1 Loonie + Lincoln $5.00 US bill & “Thank You!” card.
You beat me to the quote, Hwy.
Lyrics by Gordon Lightfoot Hwy50’s Favorite:
“Just ’cause you got chicken-to-go you think your in luck.”
Seven Island Suite: Lyrics by Gordon Lightfoot:
Living high in the city, guess you think it’s a pretty good way
You get to learn but when you get burned you got nothing to say
You seem to think because you got chicken to go you’re in luck
Fortune will not find you in your mansion or your truck
Brothers will desert you when you’re down and shit out of luck
Look around at the morning, guess you’re doing the best you can
Surely you know that when you go nobody gives you a hand
Think of the air you’re breathing in, think of the time you waste
Think of the right and wrong and consider the frown on your face
He often romanticized poverty (see Railroad Trilogy) and even unemployment: (from “Summertime Dream”)
“If you come ’round when the mill shuts down
you can see what chivalry means
Just steal away in the noonday sun
It’s time for a summertime dream
Birds in all creation will be twitterin’ in the trees
and down below’s a pond I know
You can swim it if you please”
Then again, the school board here (and the provincial edu minister) supports the banning of soccer, football and other ‘hard’ balls from the playground.
sponge ball Laurel Broten
http://mcaf.ee/fj3z0
Hey Chris, just think what is gonna happen when your kids get to play “hard ball$” with MegaBanker$ come their higher ed-u-kay-$hun & “I wanna be a homemoaner”
“Chris Stateski, who has a son in Grade 2 and a daughter in Grade 4 at the school, said he was “disgusted” to hear about the ban, which he felt was an overreaction.
“A lot of things could happen. A child could trip on the asphalt, a child could fall off the monkey bars and break their arm,” said Stateski, who also has a three-year-old.
“So many things could happen. What are they going to do — cover the schoolyard in pillows and take all the doors off the hinges?”
In 10 to 20 years that suggestion will be taken seriously.
Dony laugh soft spongy playgrounds are the next big thing…..went to my nephews school and yes the jungle jims on this snongy mat…..I think its cool….
http://www.sofsurfaces.com
But we should have a choice to get sprained ankles without suing the schools
I actually have walked on a playground like that. The ground was covered with a spongy surface like a track. With each step my foot rebounded a bit.
In college I had an apartment that had floor to ceiling walls. Looked great. But in winter, it was like having the windows open, cold air leaked in like crazy.
In college I had an apartment that had floor to ceiling walls.
Floor to ceiling walls? We always knew you were one of the Lucky Duckies.
LOL!
“Of course, but ED forces equity.”
Lol. Bubble brain. Should read, “force equality.” Countrywide forced “equity.”
Two economics profs try to connect the dots:
“Our research suggests that 65 percent of the job losses from 2007 to 2009 came from the drop in household spending induced by the collapse in home prices and its effect on a highly levered household sector.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-17/how-household-debt-contributes-to-job-cuts-commentary-by-mian-and-sufi.html
‘We would be happy to entertain other theories to account for the economy’s continued weakness.’
Here’s one professor; house prices are still too high and preventing a recovery.
Um…lack of a rule of law when it comes to the banksters?
More like lack of law.
And they don’t bother enforcing the laws we have.
‘We would be happy to entertain other theorie$ to account for the economy’$ continued weakne$$.’
Hwy50 singin’ HBB theme song:
Choru$:
“A vastly over-$old Debaaaaaaaaaaacle…”
Outsourcing/off shoring of jobs.
Atif Mian is professor of …real estate at the University of California, Berkeley.
What a surprise that this “economist” would say that it’s all due to the collapse of housing prices.
Nothing at all to do with job loss, huh?
I know 2 professor that need to be fired.
Fat chance. Ever heard of “tenure?”
Today’s professors are installed by trade groups to represent their respective industries in the impressionable hearts and minds of tomorrow’s leaders.
Not far from the truth. Florida State was the recipient of a gift from a foundation directed by one of the Koch brothers. In exchange for the money, which funded positions on the economics faculty, the foundation got to screen all candidates first.
http://tinyurl.com/3r3dlj4
The vast preponderance of the tenured university professors I’ve known are both scrupulous in their scientific objectivity and scathing of those who are not. (Note that I am referring to the sciences here, not the arts.)
Non-tenured visiting and in-residence positions are specifically understood to be funded by outside interests– and the research is weighted accordingly. Peer review has a way of weeding out the bias. That’s why it’s part of the review process for publication and tenure.
What does that say about the global warming mantra?
that really is tail-wagging-the-dog territory, isn’t it.
You know it.
I don’t know either but it seems odd that lots of HS reunions 40th 50th birthdays anniversaries 70’s disco partys etc all seemed to have dried up pretty quickly about that time (Heloc $$$ )and they haven’t come back all this dj equipment just sitting waiting to be used gain….but its paid for…
Actually I have been a doing quite a few AA parties, i didn’t know till 2 years ago a good dj friend was in AA…didn’t drink and i don’t do much…..never occurred to me…
So we teamed up he MC’s…and we had a blast, even a NYE with no drunks wanting to cuss me out over their horrible song i just have to play. and NOW!
Thanks for talking about your new opportunity, NYCdj. I hope you become the go-to deejay for the sobriety party circuit.
Not that you’ll get local competition from me, but I’m in deejay school right now. It’s run by my beloved community radio station, KXCI, and what a class.
Lots of detailed info, demanding KXCI staff instructors, and no guarantee that you’ll get on the air anytime soon. In order to get airtime, you have to be good enough to pass the audition. And be available for substitution when a regular deejay can’t be on the air.
Some people are substitutes for many years, including one of our instructors. She subbed for almost a decade. Then KXCI hired her.
In short, I’m learning that this deejaying thing is a real challenge. The good ones make it look easy, but it’s NOT.
My virtual hat is off to you, NYCdj.
Haha ha ….and you think we just pushed buttons…..thanks….it is a lot of work and once you learn, it becomes easy…I’ve always said as a mobile dj the hardest part is loading up and getting there and setting up on time..let alone have time to spare…so much can go wrong….
But in radio you need to learn timing and how to use a countdown and count up clock to make smooth transitions…and what a cold start and ending is and how many seconds you can talk over the intro of the song intro before you hear any lyrics or that key drum beat or intro guitar solo like ACDC shook me all night long
And to talk over the outro of a song that fades and when to stop before you start the commercial set, or a song that starts cold.
you have to plan ahead…follow the log…..
My high school had a radio station and a couple semesters of radio classes that could be taken, first producting spots and then on-air. I was a musician who was comfortable with the equipment and was interested in the concepts you outlined above. To my teacher’s credit, the biggest thing I learned that year was that none of that counted as much as the business side. I went into it thinking it was about the music and came out of it knowing it was about the commercials. And I never entertained the idea of doing it for a living again.
Elijah Cummings, the Homeowner Crusader
By JOSEPH WILLIAMS | 11/6/11 11:15 PM EST
For President Barack Obama, fixing the collapsed housing market may be a part of political calculus, a key factor in winning a second term. For Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the fight to keep people in their homes and out of foreclosure is a personal mission.
“I feel it just sitting here and talking to you — it’s emotion,” Cummings told POLITICO in an interview last week. “When I walk out of my door every morning, five of 15 homes on the other side of the street are in foreclosure. … I see the devastation it brings on people every day.”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/67715.html - 105k
Hey Elijah, ask your neighbors what they did with the money.
“I see the devastation it brings on people every day.”
Yea, making bad decisions, not reading documents before signing, buying more than you can afford, and multiple HELOCing will tend to do that.
They should outlaw property ownership. That would prevent people from being devastated, while also making us more competitive with China.
Does he live in a KB homes subdivision in Lehigh Acres or something?
Are there BMWs parked in the driveways of the foreclosures?
Cummings represents the 7th district of Maryland, which includes most of Baltimorgue and a swath west and north of the DC beltway. Not quite commuting distance, but he could easily live in his primary house on weekends.
That area is likely to have outer suburb new bubble housing.
During the bubble there were signs on the Metro adverstising that DC commuters should live in Baltimore to the lower pricing. He could also live among those.
New York Times: young people hurting the economy by living at home with parents to save money.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/business/economy/as-graduates-move-back-home-economy-feels-the-pain.html?hp
Of course given what life is like for young people these days, those without parents are ending up camped out in parks. And what did you expect to happen when you sold the parents 4,000-square-foot houses?
“With the poor job market and uncertain recovery, hundreds of thousands of Americans like Ms. Romanelli (and her boyfriend, who also lives with his parents) have tabled their moves. Even before the recession began, young people were leaving home later; now the bad economy has tethered them there indefinitely. Last year, just 950,000 new households were created. By comparison, about 1.3 million new households were formed in 2007, the year the recession began.”
Perspective. In the 1960s, at least among Italian American families, you NEVER left home until you were married. When my parents got married, my grandparents carved an apartment out of their house and we lived there for 10 years, and the 1958-built house was much smaller than those built since. When we moved out one of my mother’s siblings, who had just got married, moved in.
With these bigger houses, you’ll see many more multi-generation families among those with good parents. Among the rest, you’ll see much more living with friends to get by.
And older people are hurting the job market because they cannot afford to retire. The older generation are holding onto jobs longer due to economic uncertainty (and poor planning)which causes higher unemployment.
A job is a terrible thing to waste.
I see it around here that’s for sure…I think they realize that they could retire but they would need to leave this area…Its just so expensive you must continue to earn to maintain what ever lifestyle it is you enjoy…They don’t want to leave, so they continue to work…
Inflation is everywhere.
I see it in my own workplace. So many people who are already past retirement age still showing up (and doing mediocre work) while younger people languish in lower-level positions, afraid to jump ship for a better gig and hoping somebody will retire or die off so they can move up into their slot.
My question is, if there’s a performance improvement to be had by putting the younger person into the more senior/mgmt position, why doesn’t upper management jump at the chance to make that improvement?
Not even a performance improvement. Think of the savings on health insurance premiums when you have a company full of young healthy employees — like, Whole Paycheck. Which is why I boycott them.
Not even a performance improvement. Think of the savings on health insurance premiums when you have a company full of young healthy employees — like, Whole Paycheck. Which is why I boycott them.
Thanks for giving me yet another reason to boycott them. Actually, my reason’s more personal. Here goes:
Years ago, when I lived in Pittsburgh, I worked at a food co-op. Lousy job if there ever was one, but that was the reality.
My first boss was an alcoholic who was absolutely miserable to be around. When he quit to take another job, there was widespread rejoicing.
Well, he was replaced by a man on a mission. And that was to turn the co-op, which was then located in a run-down area on the east side of Pittsburgh, into a yuppie grocery store.
So, instead of that cool, eclectic mix of music that we employees played for the customer on the store’s stereo system, it was all classical music, all the time. Our customer base, which was heavily African American, was puzzled. What was up with the music? All we could do is shrug our shoulders.
I found a new job a few months after Mr. Mission took over. And, wouldn’t you know it, the co-op’s inner city location was no longer good enough. He oversaw the co-op’s move to a more upscale location. Which lacked adequate ventilation. Staff really suffered during Pittsburgh’s muggy summers.
Right before I left Pittsburgh, I was over at the new co-op location. It was time to say goodbye to a bunch of people who had supported me through one of the worst times of my life.
Well, they told me that they’d successfully pulled off an uprising. The result? Mr. Mission just quit! And he’s going to North Carolina to manage a yuppie grocery store! Hooray!
I’ve since learned that Mr. Mission was one of the original employees of Whole Foods. He’s now a consultant — on upscale food retailing, I believe.
So, that’s why I boycott Whole Foods.
My question is, if there’s a performance improvement to be had by putting the younger person into the more senior/mgmt position, why doesn’t upper management jump at the chance to make that improvement?
Because upper management is all boomers who don’t want to retire, themselves?
But that assumes some sort of solidarity and reluctance to throw similar people under the bus. You don’t usually see that from today’s management…so I’m suspicious of that explanation.
oxide
I don’t shop whole paycheck either, but like Slim, I’ll add that to my list. I don’t appreciate the merchandise gimmicks to make you think it’s healthier. There is a lot of fake health food at WF’s. What to be healthy, eat some veggies, not processed cr*p. NPR did a great segment on WF’s and their gimmicks.
AZ Slim, here is the WSJ editorial which turned me off of Whole Foods for good:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html
The last italicized bullet point alone is enough to make me spit at any WF that I see.
The last italicized bullet point alone is enough to make me spit at any WF that I see.
Yeah, like this sort of thing is really going to help. Quoting from the editorial:
“Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren’t covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.”
I have a friend who works at a chain called Natural Grocers and says it is pretty great. They price their food reasonably because they want to encourage people to eat healthier, and they treat their employees pretty well. They stock some of the same things as Whole Foods at a fraction of the cost. They aren’t national yet, but they are expanding.
Slim, what I REALLY didn’t like about that bullet point is the attitude. I can just imagine Mackey making some paltry contribution and then standing by with a sh!t-eating grin on his face, as poor people, in pain, line up to gratefully recieve the health care that HE oh so generously provided to them. By his grace, and because he worked hard to make money to give such a generous donation, those poor people *sniff* are saved — oh praise be — from their bad habits.
But he’ll be so generous ONLY if he deems that the tax break is worthy of one such as he. Oh, and the forms have to be easier to fill out. Or else he won’t bother.
IT’S PUKE INDUCING.
Bub diddly, my understanding is that Whole Foods started out much the same way, with just one store… and then Mackey got greedy and began buying up Fresh Fields and Bread and Circuses to eliminate mom-and-pop competition, as if they were Wal-mart. Then they went all gour-may and boo-teek and offered “fine” cheese (not organic) and prepared foods (at $8 a pound) and freking wine tastings on Friday evenings. He was leverging his former granola cred to retain his original well-meaning customers, while catering to the 10%ers. Also puke inducing.
This editorial caused outrage among the libs when it was published.
I just have to question the “good parents” commentary. In many circles, this choice in fact will be enabling.
With these bigger houses, you’ll see many more multi-generation families among those with good parents.
When my parents married, it was 1960. Mom was 19 and Dad was 21. I don’t think there was a lot of money in the beginning but Dad was a workaholic. They did not buy a home until they were almost 30 and already had 2 kids. But Dad was moving along in his career and building his income stream by not tying himself to a particular area. When the 70s recession hit, his mentors advised him VT was not the place to wait it out and we moved for work again. They had good friends in VT and he had prestige in the community but they did what they had to do and pulled up stakes. He sold the VT home before the recession was full blown. Dad provided well for the four of us through the 70s and 80s recessions.
Grandma only had to share her home much later in her life w/the perpetually unemployed (and somewhat unstable) uncle. She always had the house near the shore but although each of her kids had periods of economic struggle, some due to low military pay when they started out or severe chronic illness later in life, each family figured out how to stay in their own home and feed their kids. I dont’ see why this generation can’t be up to facing similar challenges if they make intelligent choices.
“I dont’ see why this generation can’t be up to facing similar challenges if they make intelligent choices.”
Lower wages, which cannot be made up by going deeper and deeper into debt.
The U.S. standard of living is going down. But I suppose it won’t be a disaster if it merely brings us back to the 1960s, with perhaps better IT. Live with your parents and save a downpayment — on a small house. One car, or none. A very rare meal out. You get old and sick, you die.
Or course it will take two parents in the labor force to afford this, not one.
You get old and sick, you die ??
Define old ??
I think the definition of old will depend on when you were born.
Under Republican proposals, it seems, those now 55 or over will never get old, while those 54 and younger were born old.
The Democrats are pursuing the same sort of generational differences by “accident,” “due to circumstances beyond our control.”
lol
And to play the other side, according to public unions, you get old at younger and younger ages.
Nowadays it’s kinda hard putting up your kids, knowing they’re sleeping all day and gaming/texting all night…are they really trying to move on, or just in escape mode?
That’s the case if they don’t have a job.
But kids have started living with their parents to sock money away even if they do have a job. After all — why throw away money on rent?
In that case, I would love to have them back here. But in our case, they didn’t save, blew 200/mo on their phones, and just screwed around buying stuff at the mall. I really believe in families doubling up in hard times, but this tried my patience.
but this tried my patience.
As that would mine too.
After all — why throw away money on rent?
I don’t understand why the parents are letting them live rent-free. I wouldn’t.
jbunnii — I don’t disagree with your point, but IMO it’s probably better for the kid to save up a cushion for an eventual move-out. Demanding rent would just keep the kid living paycheck-to-paycheck at home. Of course, if the kid spends the money on crap instead of saving, yeah, I’d demand rent too.
I’d probably go with a middle ground and demand that they pay part utilities and $100 or so.
Have the kid pay rent and give it back to him when he moves out.
Have the kid pay rent and give it back to him when he moves out.
Good idea, I like that.
My folks did that, way back when. Cost me $55 a month the minute I turned 18. They put it in a savings account and they still add to it to this day. Dad sends me the interest statement, although smaller in recent years, so I can pay the tax on the earned income.
Hey Carrie:
Something tells me your grandparents were paying your bills when you were born. Also, you must be living on another planet if you think that today’s kids have just as much opportunity as your dad did in the 1960s.
Today’s kids don’t have the same opportunities — either in jobs or cheap housing. But I could do without the catfight, k?
“…to save money.”
the HORROR!!!!!
Yeah, because they WANT to live at home with their parents.
Free meals. Free laundry service. Free cable and internet. What’s not to like?
Can I move in with you?
What’s not to like?
Doors with no locks and an occupied left hand,…huh Bill?
Sorry bill, had a flashback to my youth.
“Free meals. Free laundry service. Free cable and internet.”
You’re dreaming.
In my previous business, I had to do services calls to people’s houses. In the vast majority, even teenagers didn’t have those privileges.
“What’s not to like?”
Living with an old person who constantly berates you, demands that you pay them every dime you earn (even though it’s nearly impossible to earn one), constantly threatens to kick you out, and tries to control your every breath?
Unless you have good parents, that is.
It’s not that they like it, it’s just that if they don’t have a lot of drive, they settle into stasis and entertain themselves by spending what money they do have. And some are so dumb, they think if they hang around, maybe you’ll *give* them the house, or they’ll inherit it, or something. Because they’re young and need it now.
they don’t have a lot of drive, … they think if they hang around, maybe you’ll *give* them the house, or they’ll inherit it,
My rule: If you are healthy, No try, No inheritance, No help. And I don’t care how you try. Try to get a job, (any job after a certain time). Mow lawns. Paint my house for rent. Start your own small business even if you fail and fail again. Play the harmonica on the corner for $, any money. Just try. If not, no inheritance and no help.
Sounds to me like he’d be a lot more motivated to move out if houses were cheaper.
In other words, Ms. Romanelli, 22, saved a lot of money. But she deprived the economy of a lot of potential activity, too.
LOL, I love the wording there - as if the economy is entitled to every last spare nickel earned by every worker.
Does the economy work for us or do we work for the economy? I’m confused.
Depends on who you ask, apparently.
This statement is a prefect example of how businesses think we owe them living.
Do your duty, consumer!
In my family, my cousin and his second wife have the following people living with them:
1. My cousin’s 25-year-old son, who works in a local grocery store. His family benefits greatly from his steep employee discount. He also pays rent for his room. These things really comes in handy when my cousin’s home remodeling business is slow, as it was last winter.
2. The second wife’s stepson. Who’s a real handsome fellow with a sweet personality. Too bad his former girlfriend kicked him out of where they were living. He’s pondering grad school, but doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to go. Mom’s going to have a little talk with him about paying rent like his step-brother does.
3. Mom’s first husband, who stays there when he’s in the area. Believe it or not, the two “men of the house” get along famously.
This household is one of the most congenial of my entire family. I absolutely adore these people and love spending time with them.
That is the way Europeans do it, but that does not fit in with the American way of life. In this country, you are supposed to have the opportunity to take care of yourself.
But hey, this makes us more competitive with China!
The world exported $331 billion more than it imported in 2010, according to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook.
http://www.economist.com/node/21538100?fsrc=scn/tw/te/ar/exportstomars
The world exported $331 billion more than it imported in 2010, according to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook.
Is there an underlying message in this article that excuses off-shoring of American jobs? Let’s run the numbers. USA is 25% of the world economy (wiki) and has a 500 billion dollar trade deficit. (2010 US Commerce Dept.) But “Rich countries’ trade statistics tend to be more reliable than those of emerging economies” (the article) so let’s say our 500 billion trade deficit is actually 20% less and only $400 billion per year.
So it’s all good now? Off-shore on dudes!
Off shore on, Garth!
shouldn’t they net to zero globally?
Your forgetting the moon.
75 trillion dollars (approx. the entire world’s GDP for the next 30 years) of derivitives says it can be whatever they want.
Apparently the International Space Station cost $331B in 2010.
Realtors Are Liars®
It’s funny how many homes that SOLD just 2-3 years ago come back on. Some are flipped and may be doing the neighborhood a favor. I can’t imagine buying a home in a flailing economy when I know I’m only sticking around for 48 mos. I wonder if these people are like my friend where their employer takes the loss instead of them.
Ocwen praised for ‘bold’ mortgage modifications
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 8:24 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2011
WEST PALM BEACH — Mortgage industry leaders are celebrating a milestone of 5 million home loans modified nationally, but acknowledged Wednesday it’s just the start of what needs to be done to help struggling borrowers.
Hope Now, an industry-created group that includes loan servicers, investors and housing counselors, traveled to Ocwen Financial Corp.’s West Palm Beach office to highlight the progress made since loan modifications began in earnest in 2007.
Faith Schwartz, executive director of Hope Now, thanked Ocwen’s 340 West Palm Beach employees for working with thousands of homeowners to lower their monthly mortgage payments.
Ocwen services about 700,000 mortgages nationwide worth about $100 billion.
“These are not just temporary fixes; they are 5 million realistic sustainable solutions,” Schwartz said.
About 4.1 million of the permanent loan modifications are proprietary, meaning they use programs created by their servicers. A more middling 900,000 originated through the federal Making Home Affordable program.
About 20 percent of the modified loans default after 90 days.
“Some homeowners may never see equity again in their home in their lifetime,” said Ocwen Executive Vice President Paul Koches. “This gives the borrower some hope.”
Loan modifications have been decried nationally by homeowners who complain about the tediousness of the process and critics who argue that lowering a person’s interest rate, the most common modification in the federal plan, is little help in the long run.
“We are clearly not out of the woods yet, but 5 million is a good beginning,” Schwartz said.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/foreclosures/ocwen-praised-for-bold-mortgage-modifications-1973879.html - 75k
What with all this talk about mods, I have yet to see the details of one.* Has ANY reporter ever asked: mortgage price before and after, mortgage type before and after (i.e. neg am? 50-yr?), interest rate before and after, monthly payment before and after, monthly payment after year 5 or so (i.e. is there a balloon), and income of the FB.
————
*except for President Obama, who actually tried to give a detail: F&F go from 6% to 4% which will save about $170 a month. Maybe it was a crappy refi, but at least they were actual numbers instead of average statistics and propaganda about the dream of home ownership.
“ANY reporter ever asked:”
And the most important question: what is the difference in NPV of the payment stream?
“Some homeowners may never see equity again in their home in their lifetime,” said Ocwen Executive Vice President Paul Koches. “This gives the borrower some hope.”
So he’s saying there’s a chance. (Dumb and Dumber)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGdhc9k07Ms
Ocwen was one of the first to include principal reductions in their mods (if you stay current for 3 years, the principal is written down to less than market value, Ocwen gets ~25% of the upside if there is appreciation after that).
Astonishing - in our 2012 crony capitalist banana republic, Nevada AG has actually issued CRIMINAL indictments of banksters involved in robo-signing.
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=197678
Hopefully this is the leading edge of a trend…I’m pretty sure once a movement to put financial criminals behind bars gets underway, it will gather plenty of force. Before you know it, a rule-of-law will be established in the U.S. financial system, and future rates of high-level financial fraud will drop precipitously.
Wait for it!
“and future rates of high-level financial fraud will drop precipitously.”
Doesn’t $ound good for “”Bidne$$”-all thing$ Financial & unethical” graduate$”
As long as 95% of the sheeple continue to vote for crony capitalism, there will be no rule of law. I have seen nothing that leads me to believe the Obama Zombies or McCain Mutants of 2008 have, or are capable of, reversing their lobotomies and accepting their responsibilities as Citizens of the Republic.
“Do not blame Caesar, blame the people of Rome who have so enthusiastically acclaimed and adored him and rejoiced in their loss of freedom and danced in his path and gave him triumphal processions and laughed delightedly at his licentiousness and thought it very superior of him to acquire vast amounts of gold illicitly. Blame the people who hail him when he speaks in the Forum of the ‘new, wonderful good society’ which shall now be Rome’s, interpreted to mean ‘more money, more ease, more security, more living fatly at the expense of the industrious.’ Julius was always an ambitious villain, but he is only one man.” - Cicero
I sincerely hope this sticks, but I have my doubts this will. I’d bet a paycheck that the Feds will step in and prevent this from going to trial. I have absolutely zero faith in the ability of any government in the US to apply the rule of law any more.
AG Masto, you are my heroine of the day! Thank you for issuing what I hope will soon turn into a tidal wave of CRIMINAL indictments.
Horrors!,…like Giffords in Tucson, Snowe & Collins in Maine,… a Democrat!
Catherine Cortez Masto
32nd Attorney General of Nevada
Personal details
Political party: Democratic
“I have discovered that one of the most important characteristics of most economic trends is that they are too slow in their motion to be visible to humans …. Humans do not get out of the way of that which they cannot see moving.” - R. Buckminister Fuller
I have often contemplated how most folks can’t see the housing crash that is still underway, especially thanks to the many efforts from on high to thwart its progress. In long-term retrospect, the downtrend will be visible to the naked eye, but only on a time series graph that covers a period of decades after 2006.
but, but, but Oil is @ $100.00+ whil$t demand is dropping day by day…hurry, hurry, hurry, buy Gold!
Very few people sell their houses every year. It’s easy to be out of touch with a market you are not a part of.
“Very few people sell their houses every year.”
‘Specially these days…with the possible exception of people escaping from California.
Fewest Americans in More Than 60 Years Are Moving, Census Says
November 15, 2011, 6:04 PM EST
By Frank Bass
Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) — The percentage of Americans who moved residences reached its lowest point last year in more than six decades, the Census Bureau said.
Barely 1 in 9 people, or 11.6 percent, changed locations between 2010 and 2011, the lowest total since the government began tracking the figure in 1948, the bureau said. The percentage of Americans who moved has declined since 1985, when 20.2 percent relocated.
“Although many of us still move over the course of a year, we are now less likely to do so,” Alison Fields, chief of the bureau’s journey to work and migration statistics branch, wrote in a report.
When people did move, it was mostly for employment-related reasons, according to one of four mobility-related studies released by the bureau. The government reported that 43.9 percent of people who moved more than 500 miles between 2008 and 2009 did so for work reasons. Only 11.6 percent of people moved long distances for housing.
A separate study based on the American Community Survey showed the most common move between 2009 and 2010 involved 68,959 people relocating from California to Texas.
California accounted for several of the most-common moves from one state to another. There also were 47,164 Californians who moved to Arizona; 39,468 to Washington; and 35,472 to Nevada.
The second most-common relocation involved 55,011 people moving from New York to Florida, the bureau said. Third were the 49,901 people moving from Florida to Georgia.
…
FWIW, Corporate America doesn’t like to pay relo expenses for worker bees anymore. You’re lucky if they give you a few grand to pay for the UHaul rental. In the good old days they hired professional movers to relocate you and paid your closing costs at both ends, which could add up to some serious change (HP paid about 8K just to move our stuff from SoCal to Colorado 15 years ago)
Hey have R. Buckminister Fuller define this in le$$ than time than a $peeding bullet:
ATM
Combo, did you know Bucky Fuller couldn’t see until he was 5 years old? His parents didn’t realize he needed glasses. Up til then he thought his sister was making it up when she told him all the things she could see.
“Couldn’t see” is an exaggeration. “Couldn’t see well” is more like it. And I was in that boat until age 10 or so. When I walked out of the optical shop wearing my first pair of glasses I realized that I was able to see individual leaves on the trees instead of just a blur of green.
Agreed, I find it almost offensive when they portray people on sitcoms as being functionally blind without their specs.
Same here. I was in 6th grade and got my first pair of glasses. I was amazed at how may individual leaves were on a tree.
First pair of glasses at age eight. Astounded that the moon was round like a ball and had shadows all over it.
Why won`t the Govsters who own them and the Banksters who sevice them sell them?
Danger Ahead: More Loan Mods May Go South
Friday, November 4, 2011
By Brian Collins A large and aging pool of nonperforming mortgages continues to hang over the housing market despite loan modifications that have kept the serious delinquency rate from ballooning. However, the pace of loan restructurings has slowed by nearly 40% since last year and there are new fears that loans that have already been modified may default.
Citigroup chief financial officer John Gerspach recently noted that modifications have slowed at his shop due to a smaller pool of eligible delinquent loans serviced by the giant bank.
“At the same time, our early-bucket delinquencies are beginning to increase—reflecting redefaults in previously modified mortgages,” he said, discussing Citi’s third-quarter financial results.
ASG analysts say there are 3.2 million loans where the borrower has either not made a payment in more than one year, the property is in foreclosure, or listed as REO.
Meanwhile, REO is being sold at a rate of 90,000 to 100,000 units per month. As the pace of REO sales quicken, it will put “more pressure on home prices,” ASG believes.
IHS Global economist Patrick Newport is forecasting further declines in home values. “Our view is that foreclosures, excess supply and weak demand will drive prices down another 5% to 10%,” he said. If the economy slips into recession, it would lead to an “even larger drop in home prices,” Newport said last week.
The Hope Now servicer alliance estimates that 2.8 million loans are 60 days or more past due. “My concern is they have been aging. We know the average time to go to foreclosure is over 600 days,” said Hope Now executive director Faith Schwartz.
http://www.mortgageservicingnews.com/nmn_features/loan-mods-problems-1027327-1.html - 29k
Today’s houses:
House 1: Standard issue wishing price.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/303-Clagett-Dr-Rockville-MD-20851/37104682_zpid/
1955 3/1.5 sort-of colonial on 0.26 acre just a block or two from Spanish by Immersion land. Why do people build houses with such lousy window design? Bad kitchen layout — the type of cheap update where they should have moved some walls but were content to install a couple mid-price appliances and call it a renovation. But the yard is nice.
Sep 1999: Sold $159K
Jun 2002: Zestimated $227K
Nov 2011: Listed $309K. Good luck with your wishing price. I’d lowball at $230K mainly for the quarter acre.
House 2: Who lives here, the folks from Twilight?
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7520-Laytonia-Dr-Gaithersburg-MD-20877/37216647_zpid/
1969 3/1.5 nearly windowless blocky thing on 0.11 acre. Kinda makes me wonder exactly what they were doing in this house.
Won’t pass FHA because the house basically doesn’t function well. Needs new systems. Is an image of a pumpkin painted wall supposed to sell the dream of home ownership? That said, at least it’s priced somewhat reasonably. With about a hundred K of fixup, this could be a decent entertainment home, maybe.
Mar 2002: Zestimate $120K
Mar 2008: $380K yikes
Oct 2011: Listed $150K. Even then I’d lowball it.
You could build that place from scratch for 100k.
Yes, you probably could. The value of that property is in the land and service hookups. I couldn’t find any comparable empty lots nearby, but even a tenth of an acre of developed land can be pricey — upwards of a couple hundred K.
A tenth of an acre is barely a few parking spots! Utility hookups? Could that be worth more than $20K?
Fees are a lot now a days.
Many city lots are 1/10 acre, as is my current property (ansd was my last). It still allows me ~2,000 of arable land for urban ag. Or if you choose to raise grass, you can trim it with a blade mower or weed eater. Small is good.
Urban ag doesn’t work well unless there’s adequate sunlight at ground level. In my area of the country, there are a lot of houses and trees and fences and shrubbery to block the sunlight. A 1/10 acre lot is not large enough to guarantee a sunny spot on the lawn. Balconies are shaded too.
Agreed. Sunlight makes things easier. I’ll be trimming back the cherry trees this winter to afford more sunlight. Sunchokes, garlic, leeks and some herbs seemed shade tolerant, as well as the chickens as long as they stay dry.
“Utility hookups? Could that be worth more than $20K?”
Definitely. And quite a bit more if you need to drill a well, put in your own sewer, your own propane tank. That stuff is not cheap .
Really? REALLY?
500′ 4″ perforated PVC=$350
Triaxle of sand=$150
Triaxle of #57stone-$400
1000gal precast tank=$800
Equip Operator and dinky backhoe for a day-$500
Yup. That septic system is big dollars. Big dollars. At least $20,000!
Holy suffering $hit Ben Jones! Our dare you suggest you can build that place for $60/sq. Blasphemous I declare. It really must cost $600/sq. according to all the construction experts here. Afterall, they were schooled in construction contract administration by Realtors.
Occupy protesters march to NYC financial district
Updated 14m ago
NEW YORK (AP) – Two days after the encampment that sparked the global Occupy movement was cleared by authorities, demonstrators marched through New York’s financial district on Thursday and promised mass gatherings in other cities.
About 500 protesters were met by a line of police in riot helmets one block from Wall Street.
“Whose street? Our street!” the protesters chanted.
The day of action had been planned before the city and park owners cracked down on the encampment in Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, but took on added importance to the protesters after tents, tarps and sleeping bags were cleared out early Tuesday and the granite plaza was cleaned for the first time since the group arrived more than two months ago.
“This is a critical moment for the movement given what happened the other night,” said Paul Knick, 44, a software engineer from Montclair, N.J. “It seems like there’s a concerted effort to stop the movement and I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
…
It seems like there’s a concerted effort to stop the movement
In the land of the “free”? Say it ain’t so, Joe!
Only corporatized, sanitized, astroturfed “movements” will be tolerated.
And for 1 day only. Take the charter bus downtown. Wave your USA flag. Hold up your sponsored-message sign. Give excessively enthusiastic applause to token minority event speaker to prove you’re not racist. Pick up all your trash and use corporate sponsor provided port-a-potties. Take charter bus home to 95%+ white suburban community. Vote to replace incumbent corporate sponsored elected representative with new corporate sponsored elected representative. Pretend you’re making a difference.
‘prove you’re not racist. Pick up all your trash and use corporate sponsor provided port-a-potties. Take charter bus home to 95%+ white suburban community.’
You do realize you need the support of these people if you are to succeed, right?
“You do realize you need the support of these people if you are to succeed, right?”
Actually he/she probably DOESN’T want the support of such people. Would prefer to crush them, a la Pol Pot.
You do realize you need the support of (The Tea Party folks) if you are to succeed, right?
Some but not all IMO. So what is the best way to get some of them to change part of their thinking? Excuse and ignore the behavior you find hypocritical and/or inconsistent or to hold a mirror up to that behavior?
‘you need the support of (The Tea Party folks)’
More than that, Tea Party, Green Party, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Mormons, Hindu, Atheists, environmentalist, socialists, capitalists, union, non-union, you get the idea.
‘the behavior you find hypocritical and/or inconsistent’
If you want real change, then this can’t be about you or me or that guy over there. Are you the 99% or not? Broaden your reach or fizzle out, IMO.
Pol Pot? So now OWS is calling for the extermination of millions in death camps?
You do realize you need the support of (The Tea Party folks) if you are to succeed, right?
Science says “not necessarily”. Maybe just 10% of the population:
http://scienceblog.com/46622/minority-rules-scientists-discover-tipping-point-for-the-spread-of-ideas/
“Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of the society. The scientists, who are members of the Social Cognitive Networks Academic Research Center (SCNARC) at Rensselaer, used computational and analytical methods to discover the tipping point where a minority belief becomes the majority opinion. The finding has implications for the study and influence of societal interactions ranging from the spread of innovations to the movement of political ideals.”
The Khmer Rouge had the right idea but they just got a little bit carried away with their enthusiasm
Less than 50% of the people eligle and registerd to vote actually vote. In local elections, that number is even lower.
So no, you really don’t need everyone’s vote.
I predict that that’s how the Dems are going to at least hold their ground in 2012. R’s will be so disgusted with their R candidates that they will stay home.
We’ll see. I predict the average non-fundamentalist R will have no problem voting for Romney, and will be happy to do so. So if he gets the nomination, it would all depend on the fundamentalist vote…assuming all of them put together are enough to defeat Obama.
I have a soft spot for Gingrich going back to 1994, but that doesn’t mean I think he’d be a good president. I predict I’m not alone in that assessment. He’s just the anybody-but-Romney flavor of the week…and he is good at talking so I’m not surprised people are noticing him in the debates.
“when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of the society”
The unshakable belief that abortion is murder is held by more than 10% of the population, IIRC.
http://articles.cnn.com/1998-01-20/us/9801_20_abortion.poll_1_abortion-new-poll-sampling-error?_s=PM:US
Of the 40% or so that believe abortion is murder, I’m sure many of those are willing to reconsider. But if I had to guess, well over 10 percent are “unshakable”. Someone needs to include this in their polling!
“I have a soft spot for Gingrich going back to 1994, but that doesn’t mean I think he’d be a good president. I predict I’m not alone in that assessment. He’s just the anybody-but-Romney flavor of the week…and he is good at talking so I’m not surprised people are noticing him in the debates.”
He’s a well-practiced liar, hypocrite, and scumbag.
Thank you, Pete. There goes the meta-analysis….
It seems to me the OCW folks are missing opportunities to hit the PTB where they live.
Invade the PTB’s favorite restaurants, their golf courses, their neighborhoods. Make their lives miserable on a personal level.
Find out what these guys value and hold dear and then go after these things.
Terrorist!
Thank you.
It seems to me that pitting the cops against OWS are pitting two groups against each other that have more in common than they have differences, while the PTB get to skate and laugh at it all.
‘Invade the PTB’s favorite restaurants, their golf courses, their neighborhoods.’
Don’t you suppose the police would be called if this were to happen?
They should occupy the donut shops.
It seems to me that pitting the cops against OWS are pitting two groups against each other that have more in common than they have differences, while the PTB get to skate and laugh at it all.
Here in Tucson, the Armory Park Occupy camp had a sign saying that TPD was part of the 99%. I don’t know if the current camp Downtown has the same sign, but I’ll look for it this weekend.
Those cops are well paid and have fat pensions to think about. They aren’t going to risk that to hang out with a bunch of hippies.
Don’t forget that the 1%ers want to eliminate pensions for civil servants.
If 2011 was about occupying public places, then 2012 needs to be about invading the private places and lives of the financial-parasite, economic terrorists. As the SDS/Weathermen did 40 years ago, bring the war home, to their home.
Maybe start running some of them for Congress.
Occupy their stockholder meetings.
This, by the way, is already proving to be an effective tactic.
Occupy-yer-pocket$
[wallet/coin$ silly]
“Boycott’s ‘em” = no repeat cu$tomer$ $ales!
Invade the PTB’s favorite restaurants, their golf courses, their neighborhoods. Make their lives miserable on a personal level.
When I lived in Pittsburgh, there was a group of unemployed protesters who had a habit of showing up at the Presbyterian church in the Shadyside neighborhood. That’s one of the richest nabes in the city, and the church didn’t exactly have a congregation that was on Food Stamps, if you get my drift.
Any-hoo, the unemployed protesters would disrupt the service. They’d preach the parts of the Gospel that were about helping the poor.
This group garnered quite a bit of local support. Not necessarily joining them at church support, but definitely support.
The elite live far from dense population centers for a reason. They would just move up to their summer house or helicopterr back to the city penthouse. The elite will more and more have high walls and armed guards. I’m sure all tax deductable.
A hostile America would be a bad place to commute by helicopter.
As was proven in Mogadishu back in 1993.
Well…they had LAW rockets. But potshots from hunting rifles wouldn’t be fun, even though your odds of getting hurt/killed or shot down would be pretty low each day. The risk would add up over time…
Helicopters (especially civilian ones) are extremely vunerable to small arms fire. All kinds of “gotta work 100% of the time” parts that aren’t protected from the kind of damage a (say) 7.62 x 39 or 7.62 NATO round can cause.
“7.62 NATO round”
Is that what my .308 WIN rounds are called now? Heart shot at 300 yards “possible” on a still target, but don’t they fly higher than that?
You shoot them on takeoff and landing, not at altitude.
“This is a critical moment for the movement given what happened the other night,” said Paul Knick, 44, a software engineer from Montclair, N.J. “It seems like there’s a concerted effort to stop the movement and I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
Don’t worry, the OWS will live on because the MSM’s got your back.
(Just don’t get caught on camera littering or scratching yourselves.)
Cueing paid anti-OWS troll in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
GEG must have another gig today (snark…).
Come to think of it, we haven’t seen the dual banana-person around here either.
Bananarama at least posts what appear to be genuinely personal attitudes/beliefs. While they parallel many of Rush’s talking points, at least they have personality.
The newer (paid) trolls have no personality…
I wish I were a paid troll by the evil 1%.
Alas, I am just one of the 60-70% of the public that finds the OWS disgusting.
Why, GEG?
Why do YOU find OWS (not the Fox outlier OWS, but the actual movement,) “disgusting?” Do you have any clue as to what it’s all about? One doesn’t get that impression, and you certainly aren’t among the one percent, so what so frightens you about it’s spread?
Seriously, all you’ve given us so far are unoriginal talking points and you seem far more articulate than that otherwise.
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Tri-polar world
Nice. Good find.
The EU seems to be contemplating divergent, alternative futures: Either unify under a tighter fiscal discipline, or break up.
Calls for EU to have more budget powers
Alain Jean-Robert
November 18, 2011
EUROPEAN Union leaders have called for Brussels to gain new powers to rewrite national budgets, in a radical step they say is necessary to ensure the euro survives.
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said officials from the EU executive must be able to demand changes to national budgets before they are adopted by domestic MPs.
”We are indeed now facing a truly systemic crisis that requires an even stronger commitment from all,” Mr Barroso told the European Parliament.
The call comes amid concerns that democratic principles are being undermined in seeking to overcome the debt crisis, with former EU officials taking over emergency governments in Italy and Greece.
Some MPs in the European Parliament took exception to the latest calls for greater EU control of national budgets, with Czech conservative Jan Zahradil denouncing a ”dictatorship run from Brussels, Frankfurt, Berlin and Paris”.
Supplanting national sovereignty over control of public finances would be a huge step in the evolution of the EU, which has tried and failed to ensure disciplined economic convergence via successive pacts since the euro’s creation in 1999.
At present, governments are only obligated to share their national budget planning with the EU, itself a recent change.
But both Mr Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said the time had come to agree to far tighter surveillance. ”Without this increased convergence, we will not be able to sustain the common currency - this is the truth,” Mr Barroso said.
…
Never waste a good crisis!
Cue video of Hank Paulson talking to Congress before TARP vote.
“Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!” is a direct stststststammering Goldenman$ucks quote, really.
(Pre-”get lil’ Opie” (The non-Hawaiian) & The incandescent bulb cri$is)
Eurozone financial forecast for 2012: More systemic turbulence on the way.
Barroso to table eurobond blueprint
Published 17 November 2011
Commission President José Manuel Barroso announced yesterday (16 November) in the European Parliament that his office would table next Wednesday a proposal on ‘stability bonds’, which are otherwise known as eurobonds.
In what can be seen as a challenge to Germany which opposes introducing eurobonds to tackle the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, Barroso said he believes that euro stability bonds will be seen as ‘natural’ when the Union reaches its goal of reinforced governance, discipline and convergence in the euro area.
Barroso made the statement as part of a ‘Debate on economic governance’ with MEPs in Stasbourg, in the presence of European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker.
“The continued turbulent events in the sovereign bond markets were a sign that our challenges are of a greater magnitude,” Barroso said. He added that the problems the eurozone would face in 2012 would be “even more systemic and urgent”.
“We should continue to deal with them robustly and not be diverted from the direction we have set ourselves,” he pleaded.
…
Heck, I’d buy euro-bonds, on a few conditions:
- all the sovereign governments of the current EU boundaries are separately and jointly liable for their repayment, regardless of whether they remain in the EU
- they are denominated in dollars.
I don’t claim to have the definitive answer on why North San Diego County price declines have suddenly picked up, but I have noticed around 15 Trustee’s Sale announcements a week in our local paper for just one NC zip code (Poway — 92604). The dollar amounts of defaulted debt generally range from $300K - $1.3m, with a surprising number north of $1m. 15 a week may seem negligible, but on an annualized basis, this rate adds up to almost 800 — many for just one zip code.
HOUSING: North County median house price drops like it’s 2009
By ERIC WOLFF
Tuesday, November 15, 2011 7:00 pm
The median price for houses in North San Diego County fell more in October than it has since 2009, when the market was in free fall, according to data from the North San Diego County Association of Realtors.
The drop in home prices exceeded that of San Diego or Riverside counties, according to real estate data firm DataQuick. A difficult lending environment and a glut of short sales and foreclosure sales dragged down the market, analysts and real estate agents said.
“Things are slow,” said Harriet Crain, a Fallbrook real estate broker. “We’re not receiving any calls at all.”
The median home price in North County fell 12 percent in October from October 2010 to $409,058, a 6 percent drop from September, according to the Realtors association. Prices haven’t fallen that fast on a 12-month basis since November 2009, when house prices were still falling off a peak set in 2007.
The 614 house sales dropped 16 percent from September, but remained exactly even with October 2010 —- a slow year for house sales.
Countywide, the median home price in San Diego dropped 5.8 percent to $315,000, and the number of sales rose slightly by 0.3 percent to 2,759, according to DataQuick, a La Jolla data firm that analyzes county records.
In Riverside County, sales fell off 7.3 percent to 3,026, and the median price dropped 5.6 percent to $187,000.
“Show me where the bright spot is, aside from mortgage rates,” said Robert Martinez, research director for MarketPointe Realty Advisors. Mortgage rates have been hovering around 4 percent, a historical low. “Even mortgage rates are kind of a mirage, because you have to have significant equity and perfect credit to get that rate.”
Martinez couldn’t explain why North County seemed to fare so much worse than the rest of the region.
He said there could be a big drop, “if you have a higher percentage of distressed sales now than you did a year ago.”
…
Poway is way over rated. Hope the prices cave.
Don’t tell that to people who lived there. When I worked at HP in Rancho Bernardo more than a few of my coworkers lived in Poway. You’d think they lived in La Jolla or Belair the way they waxed about the place. Oh, and they LOVED to make fun of the fact the I lived in Escondido.
Poway I lived there somthing’s wrong with that place
only Place I have lived so far that old people shove kids out of the way at Costco so they can get free samples of Ice Cream
Lots of estate sales there even saw a comb with the dead womens hair still attached 2.00
On Easter my crazed neighbor finally cracked and went on a shooting rampage leaving 2 dead plus crazed neighbor who was shot about 15 x
because the dead peoples kid used to park in front of the crazed
shooters house.
The kids escaped through the window leaving his young wife and baby in the house locked in a bathroom but luckly the cops who were got there in about a minute where able to blast the crazed shooter.
This is different than the other crazed murderer who killed young joggers and dumped them by the lake.
That place is haunted
I could tell you why NorCo prices are dropping, just think of the Hummer craze afflicting this area, which corresponded to the fugly McMansions being snapped up for 1.5Mil. I’ve told the story before of how families were buying two or more of these faux mediterranean monstrosities up the hill from me. Flip floppers.
Lots of small-time builders had spec houses there.
HOUSING: North County defaults leap for second time in three months
By ERIC WOLFF ewolff@nctimes.com |
Posted: Thursday, November 10, 2011 7:30 pm
Defaults in North San Diego County in October, compared with 12 months earlier, jumped by the highest percentage than in any month since late 2009, according to data from ForeclosureRadar.
Notices of default, which begin the foreclosure process, peaked in North County and Southwest Riverside County in March 2009. Southwest County stayed on a two-year streak of year-over-year declines in October, but North County defaults rose for the second time in three months. The sudden jump corresponded with declining house prices and a national trend of homeowners falling further behind on their mortgages.
“Maybe people were holding on, hoping to see some recovery in prices, and now maybe giving up and not making their payments,” said Bob Casagrand, a San Diego real estate agent.
…
Fannie, Freddie cut risk for lenders in refi program
By Margaret Chadbourn Reuters | Posted: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 7:00 pm
WASHINGTON —- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest sources of housing finance, both said Tuesday that they would relieve lenders from certain risks associated with refinanced loans in an effort to throw a wider net with a government program to help distressed homeowners.
The move could qualify hundreds of thousands of homeowners in San Diego County and the Inland Empire, which is made up of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
In new guidelines for the Home Affordable Refinance Program, both companies said in separate releases that they are relieving lenders of certain representations and warranties that are related to the value and condition of mortgaged property.
HARP seeks to provide refinancing options for borrowers who have little or no equity in their homes. It is open only to loans sold to Fannie and Freddie.
About 11 million U.S. homeowners owe more than their homes are worth. In San Diego County, 33 percent of homeowners, or 196,000 homeowners, are underwater, according to data firm CoreLogic. In San Bernardino and Riverside counties, 430,000 homeowners, or 50.7 percent, owe more than their properties are worth.
No government agency has exact figures for how many homeowners could qualify for the refinancing program, but quarterly statements from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac indicated the firms own or securitize about 3.3 million mortgages in California.
The changes are designed to encourage lenders to participate by reducing their potential liability for bad loans.
The Obama administration program aims to help troubled borrowers get new loans at lower rates. So far, it has helped about 894,000 borrowers —- far fewer than the White House had hoped.
…
That is not going to turn out well. Not well at all.
Please elaborate, pretty please? (Drools over keyboard with eager anticipation…)
Just a slow steady build up of refinancing bad loans (that could be shoved back onto the originators because they didn’t acutally meet the requirements that they promised to meet) with bad loans (that can’t be shoved back onto the originators because in the new loans they don’t promise anything and that means there are no grounds for forcing the loans back).
This is one of the more subtle forms of bank bailout. It could take years (for the new loan to default) to see the problem and you will never know how much the program costs because you don’t know how much of the old loans (with tighter reps and warranties) could actually have been forced back.
It is sickening.
More simply, to the extent that the reps are waived, the originator thinks it is making a liar loan. It doesn’t have to check anything that is covered by the new rules. The person taking the loan has still signed something (hopefully under penalties of purjury, but what good does that do you if they default because of being broke?), but the originator of the loan is relieved of all need to check to see if anything covered by the new rules are true. So they don’t have to check if the comps are good if that is what is covered. They don’t have to check if the person has salary $x if that is what it covered. etc.
Since the loans are taxpayer guaranteed, isn’t this new policy just another variant on “privatize profits, socialize losses”?
“both companies said in separate releases that they are relieving lenders of certain representations and warranties that are related to the value and condition of mortgaged property.”
Does anyone know what this refers to?
I would have to look up the specifics, but it means that there are many fewer avenues that Fannie/Freddie could use to push the mortgage back on the originator. For example, if they don’t have to promise that the house was habitable when they made the loan and it turns out that it isn’t, then there is no fraud (they didn’t say it was) and no way to make the originator take it back. Basically eliminating the taxpayer protections even though the taxpayer backstops are still there.
End badly. Very badly.
Time to buy swamp land on credit put up an outhouse and sell it to a friend for 10x the amount all borrowed from our local bank and sold to F and F.
Well, I wouldn’t recomend it, and that might not be covered by the reps and warranties that have been removed, but someone is certainly thinking that way.
Got to keep the prices up. Ick. Where do I sign for the two year lease renewal?
“End badly. Very badly.”
For who?
The lender who made the original loan?
The borrower who took out the original loan?
Who else is there?
Souds like a get out of jail free card.
“The change dampens the “put-back risk” for lenders, which is the possibility that the bank originating or refinancing a loan will have to repurchase it from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because the underwriting violated the mortgage finance giant’s guidelines.”
Fannie, Freddie cut lenders’ risk in refinance program
WASHINGTON | Wed Nov 16, 2011 7:57am EST
Fannie Mae, in its revised HARP guidelines, said, “The lender is not responsible for any of the representations and warranties associated with the original loan.”
Freddie Mac said the changes in its policies regarding representation and warranties is mainly for mortgages valued at more than 80 percent of a property’s worth.
Around 11 million U.S. homeowners owe more than their homes are worth.
The change dampens the “put-back risk” for lenders, which is the possibility that the bank originating or refinancing a loan will have to repurchase it from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because the underwriting violated the mortgage finance giant’s guidelines.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/16/us-usa-housing-mortgages-idUSTRE7AE2SU20111116 - 100k
WASHINGTON | Wed Nov 16, 2011 7:57am EST
(Reuters)
Fannie Mae, in its revised HARP guidelines, said, “The lender is not responsible for any of the representations and warranties associated with the original loan.”
Freddie Mac said the changes in its policies regarding representation and warranties is mainly for mortgages valued at more than 80 percent of a property’s worth.
Around 11 million U.S. homeowners owe more than their homes are worth.
The change dampens the “put-back risk” for lenders, which is the possibility that the bank originating or refinancing a loan will have to repurchase it from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because the underwriting violated the mortgage finance giant’s guidelines.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/16/us-usa-housing-mortgages-idUSTRE7AE2SU20111116 - 100k
FHA might need a bailout
If the housing market doesn’t rebound next year, agency may need as much as $43B
By Jim Puzzanghera / Los Angeles Times
Published: November 16. 2011 4:00AM PST
WASHINGTON — There might yet be another casualty in the real estate market: the Federal Housing Administration.
With home prices still seeking their bottom, the federal agency that insures more than $1 trillion in mortgages faces a nearly 50 percent chance that it could need a taxpayer bailout next year, according to a government report released Tuesday.
If the housing market fails to rebound next year, the FHA would need as much as $43 billion from the U.S. Treasury to stay afloat, the report said. That would add to the combined $150 billion already spent to rescue seized housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The FHA’s projected losses on loans made mostly before 2009 continue to increase, eating away its cash reserves. The agency is dangerously close to being in the same dire position as many homeowners — upside down on its housing finances.
“They have no margin for error right now,” said Richard Green, director of the University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate.
Home prices in major U.S. cities rose for five straight months through August, when they ticked up 0.2 percent, according to Standard & Poor’s/Case-Schiller Index. But many analysts predict troubles ahead as foreclosure activity continues to rise, particularly in hard-hit regions such as Southern California.
The median sale price for Los Angeles and Orange counties was $270,000 in October, down 3.6 percent from September to the lowest level since January, San Diego real estate information service DataQuick reported Tuesday.
…
If the housing market doesn’t rebound next year, agency may need as much as $43B
Nah, they just won’t foreclose and do accounting tricks to make every look A-OK.
The US is screwed this time and there is no way out other than printing money.
I see massive inflation in the future to bailout the federal GOV. Do you?
In the future? Where have you been for the last 2 years?
The future one will make last 2 year a kids party.
Agreed. I have lived in a high inflation country and it is mind boggling. And you don’t need people with fists full of pesos to have 50%+ annual inflation, just financing the government’s spending with the printing press is all it takes.
October another mixed month for San Diego housing
Lower prices and mortage rates with tight lending rules still key factors
Written by Lily Leung
11:15 a.m., Nov. 15, 2011
Housing numbers for San Diego County appeared mixed again in October, based on Tuesday’s report from a local real estate tracker.
DataQuick analysts said the median home price flattened at $315,000 in October from September, but fell almost 6 percent from the same time last year — the steepest year-over-year drop since August 2009. Year-over-year prices were dampened mainly by new home values, which fell 10 percent.
…
If prices were up in 30 of 92 San Diego County zip codes, then I’m guessing prices were flat or down in 62 zip codes.
Home prices up in 30 of 92 ZIP codes in Oct.
San Diego market update from local information service DataQuick
Written by Lily Leung
12:11 p.m., Nov. 15, 2011
The median home price went up in 30 of 92 ZIP codes in October from a year ago, Tuesday’s DataQuick report shows.
…
Is it a linear thing? Like from La Jolla straight to Anza-Borrego?
I keep visualizing the steep downhill out of the mountains and into the valley where Anza-Borrego is. It’s the downhill that goes south, and man, is it a steep one. Real scary on a bicycle.
Then there’s Scissors Crossing. Boy, do you have to keep your eyes peeled at that intersection.
Thanks for bringing back the memories!
First it goes up, to an elevation of several thousand feet, then drops off to below sea level.
Of course I am talking about the recent progression of San Diego housing prices, not the elevation gain and loss as you travel from La Jolla, across the San Diego mountains, down to the desert floor.
REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY NEWS
O.C.home prices slump, home sales falter
DataQuick: New Federal Housing Administration loan limits affect the local housing market
by Caitlin Adams
November 16, 2011 09:55 AM
In October, 2,241 homes were sold in Orange County, a decline of 2.5 percent compared to last year. The local median home price of $405,000 was also a sharp decline of 7.5 percent from a year ago.
…
November 17, 2011, 10:23 AM ET
Philly Fed Manufacturing Index Slips
By Kathleen Madigan
Mid-Atlantic manufacturing activity remained in expansion mode this month but just barely, according to a report released Thursday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia; expectations for the future, however, surged.
The Philadelphia Fed said its index of general business activity within the factory sector has fallen to 3.6 in November. In October, the index had jumped to 8.7 from -17.5 in September and a very contractionary -30.7 in August.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires expected the November index to remain at 8.7. Readings under zero denote contraction, and above-zero readings denote expansion.
The Philly Fed report follows Tuesday’s report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that New York state manufacturers also have been just treading water this month.
Within the Philly Fed survey, the subindexes outside employment generally slowed this month.
The new orders index dropped to 1.3 from 7.8, while the shipments index fell back to 7.3 after surging to 13.6 in October from -22.8 in September.
…
So long as the stock market is going up today, why worry about gloomy forecasts for next year?
Fed study offers discouraging economic news
November 15, 2011|By Harold Brubaker, Inquirer Staff Writer
People stop and look at stock market indices on a monitor outside a bank in Milan, Italy, Monday, Nov. 14, 2011.. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
People stop and look at stock market indices on a monitor outside a bank in Milan, Italy,…
The Federal Reserve banks in Philadelphia and San Francisco released discouraging economic-research results Monday.
Forty-five professional economic forecasters surveyed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia predicted slower growth and higher unemployment next year and in 2013 than they predicted in August.
A publication by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco said the economic uncertainty spurred by the European debt crisis had increased the odds to more than 50 percent that the United States would fall into recession early next year.
Locally, a European recession could hurt Delaware and New Jersey. Both are among the top 15 states ranked by exports to Europe as a percentage of state gross domestic product, Wells Fargo Securities said in a report Monday.
why worry about gloomy forecasts for next year?
Bungee-cord Theory = 3
Rope-around-the-Throat = 0
That’s
just$till the way it’s gonna be Mr. Bear…Yosemite Sam: “Varmit, iffin’ you does that once more I aint-a goin’ in after it!”
Nov. 16, 2011, 10:09 a.m. EST
Home-builder index hits best level in 17 months
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Builder confidence in the market for newly built single-family homes rose in November to the highest level in 17 months — albeit to a still-weak level — as hope builds in the industry with mortgage rates around record lows.
The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index rose 3 points to 20 in November, which is the best reading since May 2010 and above the 19 seen in a MarketWatch-compiled economist poll. October’s level was downwardly revised by a point to 17, but nonetheless the index has climbed 6 points over two months.
The seasonally adjusted index, which historically correlates strongly with single-family housing starts, is designed so that it would take a reading over 50 to be considered “good,” which hasn’t been the case since April 2006.
“While this second solid monthly gain on the builder confidence scale is encouraging, the overall measure remains quite low due to the many challenges that home building continues to face with regard to the high number of foreclosures, the difficulties of obtaining construction financing and accurate appraisals, and the restrictive lending environment that is discouraging potential buyers,” said Bob Nielsen, NAHB chairman, in a statement.
There were over 600,000 foreclosures in the third quarter, according to RealtyTrac data, and there’s potentially millions of houses in a so-called “shadow inventory” of stalled or potential foreclosures. Though an October Federal Reserve survey of senior loan officers found increased demand for mortgages for the first time since early 2010, few banks reported changes in standards, and the increased demand the lenders did report may reflect refinancing activity.
…
There was an article showing parts of the US where home prices were improving:
4 of 5 worst markets were non-judicial (ie. foreclosures continuing unabated);
4 or 5 best markets were judicial (ie. fewer and fewer foreclosure sales).
The homebuilder sentiment in the West did not go up (predominantly non-judicial states–CA, NV, AZ).
Moral of the story…where there are foreclosure sales, there are depressed prices. Where there are depressed prices, there are poor new home sales.
Watch the homebuilder sentiment fall again elsewhere when the foreclosure sales ramp back up…
LIVE wall street protests its going to something today
http://www.ustream.tv/TheOther99
Police Surveillance Trucks, and Barricades everywhere. It’s an all day protest extravaganza celebrating the two month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. 7AM EST 1000s gathering to block the real Wall Street. 3PM Demonstrations in the Subways in all 5 Burroughs, and 5 PM a March across the Brooklyn Bridge. The Jails will be filled.
Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?
Henry David Thoreau
http://media.photobucket.com/image/foghorn%20boy,%20i%20say/chet_t16/Foghorn-Leghorn-BoyI-say-Boy-I-approve-of-this-here-thread.jpg
Yesterday was “A Forth Day”
Tea-Partier’$:
re·bel·lion (r-blyn)
n.
1. Open, alarmed, and organized resistance to a constituted government lead by lil’ Opie.
Occupier’$:
Definition of CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
n.
1. Refusal to obey CorporationInc.’$ demand$ or command$ especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the Ba$tard$!
Hopefully they don’t obstruct the Manahattan Bridge bike path on the way home.
Hey OWS, the 1 percenters are taking commuter rail home to Greenwich, not subways home to Brooklyn. Go occupy them for a change.
As a Gen Xer (gawd I hate that term *grumble*) who didn’t participate in the housing bubble, I have mixed feelings about this article.
Anyway, I didn’t see this on here the other day when it aired on NPR:
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/13/142275958/gen-x-takes-the-housing-hit-boomers-only-grazed
“For millions of younger Americans, this long price slump will have a lasting financial impact. Economists are finding the slump is disproportionately hurting the so-called Generation X — people born between 1965 and 1982. Here’s why they are being hurt more than Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964:
Consider the financial fate of a boomer who was 30 years old in 1991. If he purchased a typical house that year, the median price was about $100,000. Today, the median selling price is around $170,000.
Today’s price is well below what it would have been five years ago. But still, even after adjusting for inflation, a person who sells a house purchased 20 years ago will make a profit today. And that profit can help make for a much more comfortable retirement.
The story is quite different for a Gen-Xer who was 30 years old in 2006. If she bought the typical house that year during the housing bubble, she paid about $250,000.”
I listened to that on the air. It can be boiled down to this: you can only become well off by buying a house and having the price of that house go up.
Well - my net worth has improved considerably during my years as a renter. And I know of people whose finances were devastated as a result of buying an albatross house in the bubble.
The sales pitch makes sense. But it ignores the details. Namely that buying an overpriced depreciating product that you can barely afford is not going to help your net worth. Or your quality of life.
The sales pitch makes sense. But it ignores the details. Namely that buying an overpriced depreciating product that you can barely afford is not going to help your net worth. Or your quality of life.
The above needs to be shouted from the rooftops. Doesn’t matter if they’re above rented or owned property. It just needs to be shouted from the rooftops, that’s all.
Consider the financial fate of a boomer who was 30 years old in 1991. If he purchased a typical house that year, the median price was about $100,000. Today, the median selling price is around $170,000.
Coulda/Woulda/$houlda/:
BK “A” 1991: x1 share $5,000
Today, 5min ago 2011: $113,507.00
20% of $100,000 = $20,000
x4 shares = $454,028
Now that’s one horse I wish I would have bet on
The financial experts always know what item I should have bet on 10 or 20 years ago. They can’t ever tell me reliably what item I should bet on today. :/
Yeppers Neuromance, eyes fell like eyes been smacked with a rather large $nowball!
(Hwy’s SIL received x40 BK [1975] $hares from a relative-who-now-resides-in-a-casket in 2009)
Consider the financial fate of a boomer who was 30 years old in 1991. If he purchased a typical house that year, the median price was about $100,000. Today, the median selling price is around $170,000.”
Thats a cusp boomer 30 years old in 1991 means they were born in 1961 on the tail end and working for leftovers
My father bought a house in Long Island for $29k in 1969.
Inflationary times benefit those with fixed debts.
As a Gen Xer (gawd I hate that term *grumble*)
Count me as a late 1957-vintage person who abhors the term Boomer or the extended play version, Baby Boomer.
Yes, it’s true that there are people of this particular generation who still act like babies, but come on. The leading edge of the group is turning 65 this year. Lose the “Baby” part. Please.
I think the whole generational thing is quite dubious. Sure, people near the same age as me share some similar experiences growing up, things like pop culture or changes in technology etc., but that’s about as far as it goes. How do you draw the lines between these generational cohorts? I don’t see myself having much in common in general with the majority of other people my age, but I’ve found I have a lot in common with certain individuals of widely varying ages (boomers, millennials, whatever).
The whole boomer/gen x/millenial thing seems more like astrology to me than anything else.
The whole boomer/gen x/millenial thing seems more like astrology to me than anything else.
I’m with you, Bub. And that’s what I like about the HBB. The ultimate multi-generational hangout.
i like the gen-xer title…mainly because i contradict every notion it purports.
“Consider the financial fate of a boomer who was 30 years old in 1991. If he purchased a typical house that year, the median price was about $100,000.”
That’s me exactly. Right near the back of the baby boom. I bought in 1994, after the late-1980s bi-coastal housing bubble deflated.
“Today, the median selling price is around $170,000…The story is quite different for a Gen-Xer who was 30 years old in 2006. If she bought the typical house that year during the housing bubble, she paid about $250,000.”
The are only about as screwed as a late boomer who bought an outer borough New York co-op in the late 1980s. Or a Texas house in the early 1980s, right Ben?
Everyone should see the last scene in Fight Club. They destroy the financial system to get rid of all the bad debt. Very interesting angle. Fight Club came out a long time ago, well before the debt markets became precarious.
Yeah, but if you read the book, the ending is different: the protagonist dies and the bombs fail to go off.
Little known fact: The World Trade Towers held a lot of Wall St’s “back room” data centers.
That sounds like a pricey place to keep a server farm.
“Little known fact: The World Trade Towers held a lot of Wall St’s “back room” data centers.”
Other little-known fact: all large financial services firms these days have what’s called “geolocated replication”—in other words, off-site backup servers that they can bring online very rapidly if they lose an entire data-center.
Also IRS And SEC records.
And Saperstein insured it for 5 (though he argued10,) times what he’d paid for it when he leased it in May of 2001.
NEW YORK (AP) — The Republican Party and the tea party seemed to be a natural political pairing. But what may have seemed like another politically beneficial alliance — Democrats and Occupy Wall Street — hasn’t happened.
Although both Democrats and the Occupy protesters have similar views on economic inequality and corporate responsibility, each holds the other at arm’s length. There’s little benefit to Democrats in opening their arms wide to a scruffy group that has erupted in violence, defied police and shown evidence of drug use while camping in public parks across the country — much as the prospect of such a pairing delights Republicans.
Many protesters, in turn, are contemptuous of Democrats, arguing that both political parties are equally beholden to corporate interests and responsible for enacting policies that have hurt the middle class.
Both sides may be missing an opportunity. Polling shows the public supports the message of the Occupy Wall Street movement even if people have reservations about the encampments themselves. And political observers say Democrats may be missing a chance to reinvigorate their base.
My op - OWS has not let Dems take over the message and purpose of the movement. OWS is anti elite, where as Tea Party message morphed into the agenda promoted by wealthy elites on the right. That message of course is that we need smaller gov and lower taxes and less regulation on the elite. We need to roll back benefits that benefit the majority of Americans to benefit those at the top.
in opening their arms wide to a scruffy group that has erupted in violence, defied police and shown evidence of drug use while camping in public parks across the country — much as the prospect of such a pairing delights Repubicans.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/silipo/2215691957/
Born in Washington, Boston graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology and served in the U.S. army before starting his news photography career in Dayton, Ohio. He moved back to Washington to work at the Star and was director of photography when the newspaper folded in 1981. He then was hired by the Los Angeles Times to establish a photo operation in the U.S. capital.
What’s next for OWS?
A poster mentioned here that they need to field candidates to make a real difference. I agree with that sentiment. They’ve shown they’ve got organization and motivation. Now, they need to field candidates.
Field candidates? How about put the 535 currently on the hill in prison for life with no parole, burn the Capitol building to the ground, and declare Year Zero. The only way out is through.
The bottom line is we do have the vote. The Arabs did not. Those who have never heard a shot fired in anger may not fully appreciate what revolution really means. We can see images of real revolution on Al Jazeera.
Our population can stand up and change things for the better. The Founders were unnaturally brilliant and prescient. Which is how they were able to defeat the British empire on the eve of the Pax Britannica and create a country that rose to world preeminence.
I remain convinced that the population can vote to remove its own chains. Only if it cares to do so. And only if it does not remain ignorant.
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” — Thomas Jefferson
I don’t have a crystal ball. Maybe we are past the point of no return. If the 90+% incumbent re-election rate pattern continues in November 2012, then it seems the majority of people will have chosen their chains.
Yes, this country is past the point of no return. But it won’t end with a bang like Paris 1789 or St Petersburg 1917.
The sheeple will just continue to get dumber and more violent, every daily need will continue to get more expensive, and the malaise that Jimmy Carter spoke of will be the new normal.
And unless they are stopped soon, stopped now, the financial terrorists will continue their class war on the working poor (there will be no middle class left in 20 years).
Occupy Wall Street was the last chance to do something, do anything, about the economic rape being committed by the 1%.
Occupy Wall Street was the last chance to do something, do anything, about the economic rape being committed by the 1%.
Really? People can no longer stop using credit cards, stop borrowing money, move money from big banks, buy from small, local companies rather than mega-corporations? Do without rather than buy some cheap chinese-made bauble?
There are all kinds of actions folks can take every day of their life, but are unwilling to sacrifice a bit personally. It has nothing to do with OWS.
Protesting = asking someone else to do the work for you.
No drumminj, they can’t. Even small local companies are at the mercy of Wall St. and the Fortune 500.
You don’t DARE stop using credit cards or any other daily type of credit. You will be denied so many services it isn’t even funny. Cash is getting harder and harder to come by for most people and harder and to use.
At my new job, I get paid by either pay card of DD. There is NO other choice. If I move more than $3000 at any one time in my personal accounts, the banks will freeze it until they personally make sure it IS me, and then they’ll report it to the feds. Fatherland Security, doncha know. If try to write a check for than $1000, it will be turned down because I don’t often write $1000 checks, no matter that I have more than enough to cover it.
You don’t get out much, do you?
Turkey,
You need a new bank.
And you don’t have to stop using cards to make a difference. If everyone who uses them a lot would use them a lot less, it would have a huge impact. Grocery stores and gas stations and all sorts of places are delighted to take cash. Airlines, not so much, but what percent of your expenses are airline tickets.
You have to be willing to give up the points.
You have to be willing to give up the points.
Thank you, Polly. Exactly.
I’ve never had a problem getting cash out of the bank (my employer does do DD). I just walk into the bank branch and make my withdrawls. Or use the ATM regularly to get cash up to my daily limit.
Gas stations are happy to get cash, as a grocery stores, food merchants, pet stores, coffee shops, restaurants…come to think of it, I’ve NEVER had anyone turn down my cash (airlines are the only ones I can think of right now).
Nice fear mongering, though turkey. I *DO* dare stop using credit. I have, for the most part. And it hasn’t hurt me one bit, and I know that more of my cash ends up in the pockets of the folks selling me a service/product.
they need to field candidates to make a real difference.
I like their leaderlessness, feels so Taoist Amoeba protestus animalculistis.
In cases where the amoeba are forcibly divided, the portion that retains the nucleus will survive and form a new cell and cytoplasm, while the other portion dies. Amoebae also have no definite shape.
Like most cells, amoebae protestus animalculistis are adversely affected by excessive CorpoorateInc pressure caused by extremely militarized police-as-tool$ Patriots.
I like their leaderlessness
Me, too. The lack of leaders or a “clear message” (seems crystal clear to me - I don’t get those who say otherwise) seems to be a major complaint with a lot of people, but I feel just the opposite.
A lot of it seems to be age-related. The older the person complaining about OWS, the more they want there to be a figurehead of some sort speaking for the group as a whole. Younger people seem comfortable with smaller cells or individuals working independently toward similar ends without an overall leader.
I think TPTB know how to deal with a leader or figurehead, but are clueless in how to deal with something like Anonymous where there is no organization and anyone can claim to be a member.
Los Zetas figured out how to deal with Anonymous:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/05/world/americas/in-mexico-facts-blur-as-online-feud-ends-in-a-draw.html
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Blogger-murdered-and-beheaded-in-Nuevo-Laredo-2260814.php
I’m sure the OWS platform of spend spend spend spend will catch on like wildfire when the national debt just passed $15T. I say go for it OWS/Dems. Field all the OWS candidates you can. I’ll donate money to them.
While the unwashed hippie rabble may support a platform of student loan foregiveness and foreclosure moratoriums that many on HBB (the squad among them) do not support, keep in mind that OWS is about leaderless resistance.
The ‘black bloc’ splinter groups breaking glass and setting things on fire are just the tip of the iceberg. In the dark and deep below, thousands of lone wolveswait, never losing sight of the real enemy, the 1%er financial-parasite, economic-terrorist pigmen, and the political/media fluffers that enable them.
See also the post above WRT impact a 7.62×39 round can have on a helicopter
What platform of “spend” spend” spend” might that be GEG? The one that went livid at the WS bailouts? Or the one that says cut the military by 60% and the oil/ag/water/ subsidies to the political connected? Or the one that says, no more seven-figure bonuses for the management of bailed out financial entities?
Is that the “Spend, spend, spent” platform you mean?
The Republican Party and the tea party seemed to be a natural political pairing. But what may have seemed like another politically beneficial alliance — Democrats and Occupy Wall Street — hasn’t happened.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/democrats-see-minefield-occupy-protests-160851552.html
Remember the Atari Democrats of the early 1980s? They weren’t exactly what one recalls from that period, but they were definitely there. ISTR that they were the forerunners of the more corporate-oriented Democrats who backed NAFTA a decade later.
I must say I’ve been watching the OWS stream DJ forwarded and there are some really odd looking protesters.
One guy is wearing a French looking beret. This one lady was chanting “we are the people”. One guy actually had a guitar case strapped to his back and there is a 50 year old guy in nice cloths right now saying “we’re not a 3rd world country and shouldn’t be treated like one with all these barricades”
Right now the hotdog carts are booming and the cops “are trying to search the wikileaks truck”
It’s just nuts.
Thanks Rio:
What i gather is good people are just scaping by and they are still not sure why in this great country they need food stamps food pantires and shopping at the salvation army just to make next months rent payment.
What i gather is good people are just scaping by and they are still not sure why in this great country they need food stamps food pantires and shopping at the salvation army just to make next months rent payment.
Good observation.
Question everyone,
From that link: True story: About an hour ago a guy called “Romania” got beat by police for “pushing a barricade” and he was bloodied up pretty good. Then about 15 min ago about 6 of the trolls on the site all started posting “ROMANIA DIES FROM POLICE INJURIES” and fake linking to MSNBC, CBS etc. It turned out not to be true and a lot of the posters said this is an example of paid blog Agent Provocateurs trying to rile up the protesters. Possible?
Ask GEG
LOL, I wish I was a paid agent by the evil 1%. Do you have a link on how to apply for these jobs? Or are they super duper top secret jobs that only the Kock brothers know about?
Yes what’s your email address.
Possible?
SOP
Yeah, the food bank I’ve volunteered at for the past five years has seen some unprecedented problems:
- Less donations from individuals
- Record numbers of clients and families
- Local grocers tightening up their inventory controls and shrink so they have less to donate to the food bank
- More volunteers that take some food after their shift - I’ve always said “if you’re too proud to go to the food bank, volunteer there”
- Wet/late summer with less produce from the food bank farm.
And we always felt that we were so lucky. I can only imagine those that are not funded or supported as well as we are.
Food banks have seen an almost geometric rise is demand over the last 10 years.
This can be verified with a simple Google search.
The RE boom didn’t reach a lot of people.
Had a quick coffee with an old client early in Tuscon Tuesday. 25th St looks pretty much the same. Back to the Phoenix airport and home.
My daughter’s preliminary custody hearing went only so-so. The domestic violence didn’t get much traction, mother got temporary full custody, father gets some unsupervised visitation and orders to abstain from drinking with weekly spot checks. Mother has until spring to establish a rich life in Colorado and Father has until then to fall off the wagon. My bets are on the Mother.
What sort of combat service did the troubled father see?
He was in the zone without direct engagement. Transport driver and heavy equipment.
Blue Skye -
Here’s a link to a video that may be useful to you in gaining some understanding about your family situation. It’s from PBS’s POV about some guys who joined the Natinal Guard right out of high school and ended up deployed to Afghanistan. Total run time is 1 hr, 22 mins.
http://video.pbs.org/video/2164102537
I know you’re not here under the happiest of circumstances, but Slim is also available for coffee/tea/hot chocolate and commiseration.
I thought about you Slim, but only had a 30 minute window and early in the morning at that to get the noon flight out of Phoenix. Thank you for the offer of hospitality!
Gosh Slim, offering Blue your ear was just so lovely. And Blue, you seem like a dear.
OK, *Aunt Bea is going back to work now…LOL
The Arab Spring is the beginning of the end for the Crusaders, Zionists and Infidels in the Middle East. For several decades the Great Satan and the Little Satan have installed and propped up illegitimate stooges to repress us and cooperate with them. That is now coming to an end. We are now overthrowing the pro-Western and pro-Zionist puppets that you decadent infidels have installed and propped up for the last few decades.
A New Middle East is emerging. The pro-Western and pro-Zionist illegitimate dictators are being overthrown, one by one. And in their place we are establishing Islamic states ruled by the Sharia, from Egypt to Yemen, from Turkey to Somalia, from Libya to Syria, from The Land of the Two Holy Mosques to Sudan, from Tunisia to Gaza, from Jordan to Lebanon, from Indonesia to Pakistan, from Iran to Bangladesh, and many other places (and one day in Europe, and eventually in America).
It is our time now. This is the Great Awakening for Islam. We are returning to our roots. We live in Muslim countries, and our laws will reflect our religion — that’s natural. You infidels are dying. You infidels are retreating. You decadent infidels are bankrupt and your fraudulent economic system will soon collapse. Your fraudulent financial and banking system are destroying your countries, with their haram loans with interest which brings about exploding debts which you can never pay off. Your societies are collapsing. Islam is spreading throughout the world. We are on the march. Islam is on the rise. Christianity is dying. We have lots of children. You decadent infidels kill your children. We will rule over you.
We are also taking over Europe. We don’t even need to use nuclear bombs to conquer you decadent infidels. We already have nearly 50 million of our brothers and sisters in the infidel nations of Europe, who are growing rapidly in number, while the infidels are aging, shrinking, and dying, and are turning it into Eurabia. Our women’s wombs are our greatest weapon. We are conquering you in the maternity wards and kindergartens. You can’t stop it. Your grandchildren will be living under Sharia. It is inevitable. Your granddaughters will wear the burqa. Your infidel lifestyle has proven to be a total and absolute failure. We have the answer. You degenerate Westerners way of life is collapsing all around you. You are unable to solve your own problems. We have a better way of life. You will join us. Either voluntarily, or against your will.
We defeated the Soviet Union in Afghanistan…and we have now defeated you imperialist American infidels in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are gaining strength every day, while you infidels are becoming weaker and weaker. You are no match for us. We will defeat you easily. You are not ready for what is coming. You don’t stand a chance. It’s not too late. You can still join us. Time is running out for you infidels.
We will soon overthrow the American-backed dictator in The Land of the Two Holy Mosques, and we will cut off your infidels oil supply, and your economy will come crashing down. We are going to take on the fake illegitimate Zionist regime…and when we are done with them, we will come for you imperialist Americans, on U.S. soil, and we will fight you in the streets, house to house, neighborhood by neighborhood, city by city, until the Sharia is established and you decadent infidels are subjugated. Allahu Akbar!
Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Koran is our law. Jihad [holy war] is our way. Dying for the sake of Allah is our highest hope.
GIVEN TO ME BY ONE OF MY TURBAN WEARING STUDENTS,HE IS 26 YEARS OLD … TOPIC,YOURE DEFINITION OF HOPE/CHANGE
I suggest a reading of books, articles, and other writings by Irshad Manji before getting too swayed by the above. The Islamic equivalent of the Protestant Reformation is gaining traction.
GIVEN TO ME BY ONE OF MY TURBAN WEARING STUDENTS
GEG?
I predict it’s much more likely his granddaughter will NOT wear a burqa.
Sociopaths can wave any banner they like. Information is their enemy and the internet is the motherlode.
Getting Saudi Arabian oil cut off would be fabulous for the US and Europe. We need to get on renewables and home grown eventually. Personally, I think 9/11 would have been a great excuse to really get working on it, but 10 years after the fact is better than 20 or 30 or 40.
It would hurt like nobody’s business for a while, but it won’t kill us.
You may have seen the WashPost piece last week about declining public support for federal funding of renewable energy research. That plus the election next year plus the defecit reduction supercommittee has the squad looking for a new gig…
The euro zone was unraveling, just as he had long predicted, yet Bernard Connolly, Europe’s most persistent prophet of doom, still faced a skeptical audience.
“The current policy of lending plus austerity will lead to social unrest,” Mr. Connolly told investors and policy makers at a conference held this spring in Los Angeles by the Milken Institute, arguing the case that Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain could not simply cut their way to recovery.
“And one should not forget that of the four countries we are talking about, all have had civil wars, fascist dictatorships and revolutions. That is history,” he concluded, his voice rising above the chortles and gasps coming from the audience and the Europeans on his panel. “And that is the future if this malignant lunacy of monetary union is pursued and crushes these countries into the ground.”
Now, as the European debt crisis that began in Greece threatens to engulf even France along with Italy and Spain, Mr. Connolly’s longstanding proposition that the foisting of a common currency upon so many disparate countries would end in ruin is getting a much wider hearing.
finance.yahoo.com/news/rise-euro-doomsayer-155509377.html
Up in the UK, they’re crowing like roosters. Because they didn’t join the Eurozone.
Fannie, Freddie cut lenders’ risk in refinance program
WASHINGTON | Wed Nov 16, 2011 7:57am EST
Fannie Mae, in its revised HARP guidelines, said, “The lender is not responsible for any of the representations and warranties associated with the original loan.”
Freddie Mac said the changes in its policies regarding representation and warranties is mainly for mortgages valued at more than 80 percent of a property’s worth.
Around 11 million U.S. homeowners owe more than their homes are worth.
The change dampens the “put-back risk” for lenders, which is the possibility that the bank originating or refinancing a loan will have to repurchase it from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac because the underwriting violated the mortgage finance giant’s guidelines.
Previously, lenders were held responsible if any problems occurred with the loans or if they defaulted. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have actively sought to force lenders to repurchase loans.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/16/us-usa-housing-mortgages-idUSTRE7AE2SU20111116 - 100k -
Is this no big deal?
“Fannie Mae, in its revised HARP guidelines, said, “The lender is not responsible for any of the representations and warranties associated with the original loan.”
“Privatize profits, socialize losses” seems to apply here, no?
“Privatize profits, socialize losses” seems to apply here, no?”
Big time.
http://www.ustream.tv/TheOther99
http://www.ustream.tv/cbsnews
NYC OWS protests. One blog crew on the ground and an air shot of the action.
Police Strategy: Divert protesters from every directions from reaching Foley Square. Once and if they get there keep them separated through massive show of force and reasons of “public safety.
Police Tactics: Any breach of the police state such as mouthing off or not moving fast enough brings dozens of cops to beat your a$$ and take you to jail and deal with 10 BS counts of “disturbing the peace”. Don’t take my word for it. I’ve seen it live all day.
BBC News
17 November 2011 Last updated at 17:41 ET
Mass arrests at Occupy Wall Street protests
Protesters in New York clashed with police on Thursday morning
Occupy Wall Street demonstrators have converged on two public squares in New York after a day of protest that has seen solidarity rallies across the US.
Activists attempted to “occupy” New York subway stations during rush hour and earlier they marched through the financial district earlier.
About 175 people were arrested in clashes with riot police as trouble flared near the stock exchange.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said five policemen had minor injuries.
Protesters were hoping to march on New York’s Brooklyn Bridge on Thursday evening.
They have massed in Foley Square, close to the bridge, but a large police presence appears to be blocking them from crossing.
Elsewhere in lower Manhattan, demonstrators have massed at Union Square.
Police were out in force, penning in protesters with barricades and ordering marchers to stay off the traffic lanes.
In rallies across the US on Thursday held to mark two-months since the start of Occupy Wall Street:
Los Angeles police arrested 20 people who sat in a street as hundreds marched downtown
City officials in Dallas evicted a protesters’ camp there, arresting 18
Arrests were made in Portland, Oregon, as activists tried to “occupy” a city centre Wells Fargo bank branch
The protesters are on the move; they’ve marched to subway stations across the city, and are starting to rally now in Foley Square. Unions are due to be marching with them.
A key question - what will happen when the protesters try to march over the Brooklyn Bridge tonight? That’s where 700 were arrested back at the beginning of October. The confrontation drew the world’s attention to this movement against income inequality and corporate excess.
The NYPD say the protesters can march on the pedestrian walkway but not the roadway - Occupy Wall Street protesters tell me that sometimes civil disobedience is necessary to demonstrate against inequality.
The day’s events began with demonstrators converging on the edge of New York’s financial district.
They were unable to get past junctions blocked by police, and as scuffles broke out some of them were dragged away by officers.
Some people were arrested after they sat down at an intersection, while others were detained as they tried to get closer to the stock exchange.
“All day, all week, shut down Wall Street!” the crowd chanted.
Frustrations boiled over in Zuccotti Park, the cradle of the nationwide movement, as hundreds of people tried to remove barricades surrounding the area and scuffled with baton-wielding officers.
In a news conference, Mayor Bloomberg said one policeman’s hand was cut and four others had liquid - possibly vinegar - thrown at them.
Gene Williams, a bond trader, told the Associated Press he empathised with the demonstrators.
“They have a point in a lot of ways,” he said. “The fact of the matter is, there is a schism between the rich and the poor and it’s getting wider.”
…
Now they are closing press airspace and again separating the Foley Square crowd from marching to the bridge.
Freedom of Assembly? No friends, this is what a police state looks like. See it live on my 2 links above. This is the power of corporations destroying our democracy.
This is the power of corporation$ destroying our democracy.
The MegaInc.$ & Wealthie$,…they’re $uffering $o!…Hurry! reduce/eliminate their taxe$, Hurry!,… Cinder$ & Ashe$…Schemer$ & Scammer$…Agonie$ & Pain$,…Hurry!, Hurry!, Hurry!,… Help ‘em!.
Wonder if this
“two officers were injured at Zuccotti Park and taken to the hospital. One officer was hit in the eye with an unknown object, the Journal reported, and the second officer had a cut to his thumb from a glass object that will likely require 20 stitches.”
has anything to do with this:
“The poll found that support for the Occupy movement is weakening while opposition to the protesters is gaining momentum. Thirty-three percent of respondent said in a Public Policy Polling poll that they support the protesters’ goals, while 45 percent said they are against them. Last month, 35 percent of voters said they support the Occupiers, while 26 percent said they opposed their movement.”
Keep it up OWS and 2012 will make 1968 look like the good old days for Democrats.
GEG supports the police state violating the Constitution of our Country. Watch his posts. Watch him do it.
If you want to get under GEG’s skin, ask him how much he is paying his wife these days.
Well it doesn’t take a whole lot to see the paramilitarization of our police force. Look at the weapons and equipment the average small-town police force has and you need to wonder what the government’s true inention was in the War on Terror.
When we evolve fully from a crony-capitalist state to fascism and people say “how did it come to this?”…remember these past few months.
“Well it doesn’t take a whole lot to see the paramilitarization of our police force. ”
Don’t kid yourself… if TSHTF like it did in N.O. half of the police will walk off anyway. Besides, good shot trumps flashy weapon.
I agree. Sure the armed forces are trained to lack any empathy when fighting the enemy. You can’t say the same for all the Barney Fifes out there that will some day be confronting their fellow football coaches or churchgoers.
No matter how flashy the war toys, most of the police and even guardsmen have not been desensitized enough to fight their own citizens.
I remember when I was 13 and used to shoot at Creekside (Blue, did you ever go there?)… there would be guys with all these ventilated, black, nasty, threatening-looking guns and they 1. were crappy shots, and 2. always unjamming their guns.
Also, you’ve basically already said this, but police are a fabric of the community. Cops and teachers run in overlapping circles, so between cops and teachers there’s plenty of room for talking before doing battle. Add some firefighters to the mix, and you’ve got the entire nation covered.
There are some serious anti-federal sheriffs out there, too. I think that’s a good thing.
You can’t hide Schmendrik.
BBC News
17 November 2011 Last updated at 10:10 ET
Spain’s borrowing costs hit 14-year high
Spain’s borrowing costs have risen at its latest bond auction, as Spaniards prepare to vote for a new government to tackle its financial crisis.
On money borrowed today, payable in 10 years, Spain has to pay an interest rate of 6.975%, the highest since 1997.
A high rate or yield indicates investors may not have confidence in a government to fully repay its debts.
The figure is perilously close to 7% - the level at which other eurozone countries have had to seek bailouts.
The average yield on 10-year Spanish government bonds soared from 5.433% in October.
Italian 10-year bond yields passed 7% earlier this month.
Opinion polls indicate that the opposition Popular Party will win Spain’s general election on Sunday, ending seven years of Socialist government.
‘Dreadful’ result
The Spanish government sold 3.56bn euros (£3.04bn; $4.79bn) worth of bonds out of a maximum target of 4bn euros.
The auction attracted bids worth 1.5 times the securities offered. The so-called bid-to-cover ratio was down from 1.8 in October.
“The result was dreadful. They didn’t manage to raise the full amount and the bid-to-cover is really poor,” said Achilleas Georgolopoulos, rates strategist at Lloyds in London.
“The fiscal profiles of Spain and Italy are different but their yields seem to be aligning now.”
A similar auction in France saw French short-term borrowing costs - for its two and four-year bonds - also rise by about half a percentage point.
The government raised 6.98bn euros through the sale, but the interest rate on its four-year bond jumped to 2.82% from 2.31% in October.
The spread between French and German 10-year bond yields widened to more than two percentage points - the widest since the euro was created in 1999 - amid fears that France will be the next eurozone country to face a debt crisis.
European share markets were lower after the auctions, with leading share indexes in London, Paris and Frankfurt all down almost 2%.
Shares in the banking sector saw big falls, with Lloyds Banking Group down 5.6%, while Barclays, Credit Agricole and Commerzbank all shed about 4%.
France, whose AAA credit rating has come under threat, has called for the European Central Bank (ECB) to take stronger action.
The return to an investor from buying a bond implied by the bond’s current market price. It also indicates the current cost of borrowing in the market for the bond issuer. As a bond’s market price falls, its yield goes up, and vice versa. Yields can increase for a number of reasons. Yields for all bonds in a particular currency will rise if markets think that the central bank in that currency will raise short-term interest rates due to stronger growth or higher inflation. Yields for a particular borrower’s bonds will rise if markets think there is a greater risk that the borrower will default.
Many analysts believe the ECB should buy up large quantities of bonds to try to stem contagion in the eurozone.
But Germany has resisted this move, opposing any suggestions for the ECB to become the “lender of last resort”, fearing it may lead to rising inflation.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel reinforced that stance on Thursday. “If politicians think the ECB can solve the euro crisis, then they are mistaken,” she said.
…
Am I the only HBB regular who takes the impression that Europe remains on the boil with no end in sight?
Boil$ Boil$, Toil$ & Trouble$
America (AA+) Day #: 104!
I remain convinced that at some point, Too Big To Fail would become Too Big To Bail. If not this round, then next round.
But, TBTB might be happening this round.
The FIRE sector supports the TBTF policies obviously, as it enriches them. A significant group of Americans supports those policies as they believe it helps their net worth, with house prices being kept afloat and debauched lending aiding in that end.
But it fights financial laws. Taking a ball of manure (bad loan), putting it in a pretty box, having a third party (debt rating companies) put their imprimatur on it, then selling it to private investors only works for so long, till the private investors realize they’ve been sold a box of tastefully wrapped manure.
Then, governments step in to keep the market going and they buy up the boxes of manure for quasi-financial and political reasons. Governments however have their own debt load. The US can simply print money. The Europeans are however seem to be a bit more cautious with the printing presses. And Germany, with its unhappy experiences with inflation, is probably not going to voluntarily play with that fire again.
Some folks from high up in the Fed hierarchy apparently agree with you. I’m holding out hope that if Obama gets reelected, Hoenig stands a chance of succeeding Bernanke as Federal Reserve Chair. This would be a game changer for America’s position in the world economy, which currently seems to be in a period of steady decline.
The Wall Street Journal
BUSINESS
NOVEMBER 18, 2011
Banks’ Critic Poised to Be Head of FDIC
By VICTORIA MCGRANE
Until his retirement last month, Thomas Hoenig was a consistent thorn in Ben Bernanke’s side, voting against the Federal Reserve chairman’s easy-money policies at each of the central bank’s eight policy-making meetings in 2010.
Now, Mr. Hoenig, the former Kansas City Fed president, is likely to become a thorn for the nation’s biggest banks.
Thomas Hoenig believes that some banks are so big that they are a risk to the financial system.
In a rare display of bipartisanship, the Senate appears likely to easily confirm Mr. Hoenig to a six-year term as the vice chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., an agency that gained significant powers over the nation’s biggest banks under last year’s Dodd-Frank financial overhaul. Mr. Hoenig breezed through his confirmation hearing Thursday, lauded by senators from both parties.
The choice has rattled Wall Street executives. Mr. Hoenig believes some banks are so big that they are a risk to the financial system, and that taxpayers might need to bail them out in the future, just as they rescued big financial firms in the 2008 crisis.
Mr. Hoenig believes there is only one way to end this phenomenon of “too big to fail.” “We must break up the largest banks,” he said in a February speech, arguing that regulators could do so by restricting the activities of government-backed banks “and significantly narrowing the scope of institutions that are now more powerful and more of a threat to our capitalistic system than prior to the crisis.”
The enthusiasm for Mr. Hoenig, who is not affiliated with either party, comes at a time when politicians of both parties are trying to harness populist anger at Wall Street rather than get clobbered by it.
Mr. Hoenig’s nomination also illustrates how lawmakers are moving beyond bank-bashing rhetoric and taking concrete policy actions that could affect the financial industry for years to come.
Mr. Hoenig was recommended to the White House by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. After rallying votes for the government’s $700 billion bank bailout in 2008, Mr. McConnell weathered a surprisingly tough re-election, took flack for his financial ties to Wall Street and saw tea-party icon Rand Paul elected to the Senate from his home state.
The nomination comes after big banks suffered a major bipartisan defeat last summer when the Senate voted against rolling back a Dodd-Frank provision limiting fees they can charge on debit cards despite the all-out, big-money lobbying campaign the financial industry waged.
…
NYCPD is making 10 thousand people march to the Brooklyn Bridge on the SIDEWALKS. They’re making a major, peaceful American protest movement march on the SIDEWALK.
Once they get there, I’m now hearing the bridge is blocked by cops.
Once
theyUS Citizen-Patriots get there, I’m now hearing the bridge is blocked bycopsMilitarized-police-tool$.Freedom of movement under United States law is governed primarily by the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the United States Constitution states,:
“The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.” As far back as the circuit court ruling in Corfield v. Coryell, 6 Fed. Cas. 546 (1823), the Supreme Court recognized freedom of movement as a fundamental Constitutional right. In Paul v. Virginia, 75 U.S. 168 (1869), the Court defined freedom of movement as “right of free ingress into other States, and egress from them.” However, the Supreme Court did not invest the federal government with the authority to protect freedom of movement. Under the “privileges and immunities” clause, this authority was given to the states, a position the Court held consistently through the years in cases such as Ward v. Maryland, 79 U.S. 418 (1871), the Slaughter-House Cases, 83 U.S. 36 (1873) and United States v. Harris, 106 U.S. 629 (1883).
6:35 pm NYC time: OWS protest is now joined by students unions and yuppies.
The crowds are separated but huge. The CBS live overhead shot was pulled off the internet. CBS Blog saying comments like:
mapetite06 CBS CHOPPER DO NOT LET THE NYPD STOP YOU FROM PRACTICING YOUR 1ST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF THE PRESS!
rupper2011 Time to march on CBS news NYC
Viv Rockoflove Curl WE DEMAND THE TRUTH CBS
The San Diego Union-Tribune is being sold to a developer, and one of the big financial backers of the anti-gay, Prop 8 campaign.
When I called to cancel my subscription, they offered to extend my subscription for 10 cents per week. I turned them down. It appears they’re trying to artificially maintain their subscriber numbers.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/nov/17/platinum-equity-seell-san-diego-union-tribune-doug/
“The owner of The San Diego Union-Tribune announced Thursday it has signed an agreement of sale for the 143-year-old newspaper to MLIM, LLC, owned by local entrepreneur Doug Manchester. He is joined by longtime media executive John Lynch, who serves as President and CEO of MLIM.”
“Manchester is well-known for his hotel and commercial property development in the county. Lynch is a founder of the Broadcast Company of America and has a long history of owning radio stations.”
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/environment/muck/article_59bdd81e-1153-11e1-a38b-001cc4c03286.html
“In a brief interview, Manchester said he paid “above” $110 million for the newspaper. “The asking price was a lot higher than that,” he said. The price is more than double what the Wall Street Journal said Platinum Equity bought the paper for in 2009.”
“Manchester, a prominent conservative downtown hotelier who insists on being called “Papa Doug,” takes the reins as owner; John Lynch, a former radio executive, will become the president and CEO of the newspaper company. Manchester declined other comment, saying the parties in the sale had agreed to stay silent until the deal was finalized between Nov. 30 and Dec. 15.”
“Manchester has been a polarizing figure, one known for his brash negotiations and controversial politics. He sponsored a 1994 effort that sought to move the city’s international airport off the waterfront and to the Marine base at Miramar. The $125,000 he donated to the 2008 initiative to ban gay marriage in California attracted a high-profile boycott of his local hotels. His stand on marriage drew attention to his own divorce a year later.”
“He has a well-earned reputation for being a small-minded, resentful, mean-spirited man,” said Fred Sainz, the former spokesman for Mayor Jerry Sanders. “And those are not the character traits you want in the publisher of your newspaper. It’s going to be hard to believe the editorial positions of the newspaper were arrived at in a thoughtful and unbiased manner.”
It appears they’re trying to artificially maintain their subscriber numbers.
attracted a high-profile boycott of his local hotels.
Yea!
(Good for you SDGreg)
“Boycott ‘em!” = No repeat customer$
“Boycott ‘em!”
Think of each or your dollars as a vote, then vote wisely.
Hit ‘em where they live. Hit ‘em hard and hit ‘em often.
Don’t look for anyone else to do for you what you can do for yourself.
Cash does rule, you know.
Need more Mark Foley / Larry Craig / Ted Haggard family values. See also Ernst Rohm and the brown-shirt S.A. paramilitary branch of the Nazis, another fine example of fascism that loves bois on the down-low
Where’s yer umlaut, boy?
I buy stocks mostly in stock mutual funds in my 401k and IRA. I do not urinate in my own beer. OWS Sucks.
OWS Sucks
Cheer up. It’s not like your Football team lost last Sunday.
OWS Sucks.
Bank of America executive?
I sold my stocks and stock mutual funds, moved my bank accounts from TARP bank to the local credit union, and then I urinated in your beer
Any questions, troll?
I’m trying to move my money out of one investment company, one with whom a prior employer put 401K money. This company doubtless has high frequency trading, but it is literally taking a MONTH in a volatile, declining market, to execute this transaction.
Every step - which they dictate - they are drawing out as long as possible. Fill out this form - oh, 10 days later, they still haven’t sent it out? It’s pending. 14 days after the rollover request initiated via phone, I can expect to get the initial forms (”fingers crossed!” chirped the lady on the phone). Then, I have to send the forms back in then 2-3 weeks after that, perhaps the rollover will be executed.
Unbelievable.
‘and then I urinated in your beer’
See, if I were involved in the OWS, I’d ask what this persons concerns were and see if there isn’t some misunderstanding that could be resolved. But that’s just me, I’d like to see something positive come out of this and not use the opportunity to piss people off.
Ben I’m about to give up. Sorry for wasting your bandwidth, the interwebs just ain’t what they used to be…
I buy stocks mostly in stock mutual funds in my 401k and IRA. I do not urinate in my own beer. OWS Sucks.
See, if I were involved in the OWS, I’d ask what this persons concerns were and see if there isn’t some misunderstanding that could be resolved.
I think his concerns are that the stock market was down today and he’s blaming it on the OWC marches. Because he’s losing money, he feels the OWS “sucks” notwithstanding OWS’s noble goal of good jobs for Americans, eliminating corruption, crony capitalism and the corrosive effect of big-money in politics.
Now maybe I’m wrong and you are probably the bigger person than me for it but I believe one will convince more people to one’s side by shaming such a self absorbed person like “by gold” than to ask him “how he feels” about blaming the OWS because they are costing him money.
But maybe I’m just in a bad mood because I’ve witnessed live, 8 hours of police-state tactics and strategy being employed against my fellow Americans including the possible jamming of live feeds from the protest scene for the past one hour and 45 min.
‘I’m about to give up. Sorry for wasting your bandwidth, the interwebs just ain’t what they used to be’
So I should be embarrassed for suggesting the OWS crowd gather support instead of attack citizens of this country? I’ve worked a lot in politics, and what needs to be done is organize. I don’t mean calling meaningless meetings and serving donuts, but getting people on board with your agenda. Organization means reaching out to people, some of whom you may not agree with. It’s work doing this, not for the thin skinned, and IMO the time for sleeping in tents and urinating in beer is over if you want something to come of this.
‘I believe one will convince more people to one’s side by shaming such a self absorbed person’
It’s self absorbed to be concerned with ones investments? That he/she has earned in a lifetime of labor? Maybe this guy just hates OWS, but why not at least ask what his concerns are? It might be some common ground can be found and progress made. Jeebus, this is grass roots politicking here people.
It’s self absorbed to be concerned with ones investments?
Good question. I would say yes if it overrides concern for one’s country and I believe OWS is more important for America at this time than my investments. I also believe common ground is found more easily in the middle 60% and not the two 20% groups on the fringe. I think someone who states that “OWS sucks” because their stocks are lower is part of a 20% fringe and even if not I have no patience with that kind of selfishness. I also believe pointing out the attitude of the 20% fringes allows more common ground to be found by the middle 60%.
But as I say, I could be wrong.
‘if it overrides concern for one’s country and I believe OWS is more important for America at this time than my investments’
I’ve never owned a stock in my life because I consider it gambling. I’ve never bought a lottery ticket either. But I don’t hold anything against people that have.
What matters is who is willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with you when it counts.
“I’ve never owned a stock in my life because I consider it gambling.”
It’s funny that I try to limit my exposure to all-cash positions for the same reason.
“I buy stocks…”
Look at corporate earnings and share prices over the last thirty years; you’ll find that stocks are bubble priced way beyond fundamentals. This is why the dow/nasdaq/s&p 500 shares can whipsaw without ever nearing true value. It’s a system rigged in favor of the insiders and well connected, not the wage earners who belong in simple investments such as cd’s, gold, real estate and treasury bonds.
I have no interest in having my 401k funds in a rigged market. If/when that changes, I’ll reconsider.
OWS can’t put anything worse in that tainted beer than was already there.
Enjoy all those hidden fees.
Enjoy the restrictions you have in your 401k.
They are stripping wealth from you. You just aren’t smart enough to know it.
“TrueDoNothing™ / “TrueObstructionists™ / TrueGridLockers™”
WASHINGTON (AP) — With a special deficit-reduction supercommittee floundering, the top Republican in Congress warned Thursday that he won’t permit savings from winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to pay for President Barack Obama’s jobs spending agenda.
Democrats on the deficit panel proposed last week to use war savings to pay for a $300 billion jobs program along the lines President Barack Obama wants, plus take steps to protect the upper middle class from the alternative minimum tax and extend financing for doctors who treat Medicare patients.
Boehner: War drawdown savings can’t go to jobs
AP News By ANDREW TAYLOR | AP – 5 hrs ago
If the supercommittee fails to reach a $1.2 trillion deficit-cutting deal by Wednesday, automatic spending cuts totaling that amount would take effect beginning in 2013. That’s a result that lawmakers on both sides of the political divide — particularly defen$e hawks — say they oppose.
The MegaInc.$ & Wealthie$,…they’re $uffering $o!…hurry! reduce/eliminate their taxe$, hurry,… Cinder$ & Ashe$…Schemer$ & Scammer$…Agonie$ & Pain$,…Hurry!, Hurry!, Hurry!,… Help ‘em!.
“TruePatriotCEO’$™” plead, plead, plead: “give u$ a tax repatriation holiday and we’ll bring the money back and start creating Job$! Job$! Job$!…”
lil Opie (the non-Hawaiian): “The wealthie$ still get to fly in the private jet$, it’ll just co$t ‘em more.”
HBB quizz:
Who in America de$ires endle$$ly/relentle$$ly for “privatized”,”unregulated” liberty to keep taking care of them$elve$, who?
“Of the roughly $90 billion of profit$ repatriated in 2004, Pfizer was by far the biggest beneficiary, $aving $11 billion in taxes, Johnston recalls. “They started destroying jobs the day they brought it back” and have cut 40,000 U.S. jobs in the ensuing years.
Starting about 8:15 pm NYC time all 4 of the OWS covering streams I was watching started failing.
Comments included:
Gwahlur Protesters are reporting no cell signals in nyc, all feeds are down…
unacceptableco tomorrow the cell companies are going to claim overload
ZSchult ITS DAM% NYC ITS NOT AN OVERLOAD! they deal with millions of cells every day
kmplace: LIVE FEED IN NYC DOWN. i HEARD THEY nypd CUT the WIFI
GoatGirl: I am currentlyt selling MY SOUL for bloody health insurance
Starting about 8:15 pm NYC time all 4 of the OWS covering streams I was watching started failing.
One hour 15 min later and all 4 live, OWC, NYC streams still down.
Darth_Budda_GreenPassion: I can’t belive I can’t find anything on the internet
I will never believe MSM again
spamrv: Yes: manipulated FED JAM
bpaproski: Send Ayn Rands bones back to Russia
EastWestWorld: Can we get an update on NY as of last hour or so please?
braider: the revolution will not be televised - MSM=1%
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=197702
“Regulated” derivatives markets about to blow up?
I have been told by gentlemen from Mexico that there are tunnels where illegals come through from Mexico and out of someones house in the U.S. I guess they weren`t bull sh#tn.
Police find major drug tunnel under U.S.-Mexico border
By Marty Graham
SAN DIEGO | Thu Nov 17, 2011 7:41am EST
SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Police have discovered a “major cross-border drug tunnel” running to California from Mexico, and seized more than 17 tons (12,700 kilograms) of marijuana, U.S. and Mexican authorities said on Wednesday.
The tunnel measuring around 400 yards links warehouses in an industrial park south of San Diego and the Mexican border city of Tijuana, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said.
U.S. federal agents made the discovery after police stopped a small cargo truck seen leaving a nondescript white warehouse building near the Otay Mesa port of entry on Tuesday afternoon, and arrested two men, ICE said.
A subsequent search of the warehouse found the entrance of the tunnel in the floor. It plunged more than 20 feet to the bottom of a shaft, meeting a passageway measuring approximately 4 feet by 3 feet, with structural supports, electricity and ventilation.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/17/us-usa-mexico-tunnel-idUSTRE7AF2SQ20111117 -
“they hesitated to predict a get-well timeline for the Sunshine State.”
get-well get-well soon we want you to get-well
Longer recovery forecast for Fla.
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 8:08 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011
With 24.5 percent of the nation’s foreclosures, Florida remained in the lead this week for housing woe - an unenviable position it will hold long after other regions of the country recover, economists said Thursday.
A Mortgage Bankers Association report on home loan delinquencies and foreclosures during the third quarter of this year found a dip in the percentage of late loans nationally, leading some analysts to predict an overall economic lift within the next three to four years.
But with Florida’s large inventory of seriously delinquent loans and foreclosures - 18.8 percent of all mortgages - they hesitated to predict a get-well timeline for the Sunshine State.
“The three- to four-year estimate I have for the U.S. is just not going to apply (in Florida). It’s going to be much longer,” said Mike Fratantoni, the association’s vice president of research and economics.
“The three- to four-year estimate I have for the U.S. is just not going to apply (in Florida). It’s going to be much longer,”
Great news since I am an invincible super hero that will live… to infinity and beyond!
Goonies never say die!
More workplace discrimination, but it’s probably better for everyone in the long-run.
Higher premiums for unhealthy lifestyles
http://tinyurl.com/85oforp
Tried to post this a moment ago, but it seemed like there was a glitch. So sorry in advance if it turns out to be a repost; probably worth reading twice, anyway.
By the way, I find it quite peculiar that the WSJ labels a lifetime Fed insider as “Banks’ Critic.” I guess they have to pander to the financial lobbyists just like other prominent firms in the financial sector.
BUSINESS
NOVEMBER 18, 2011
Banks’ Critic Poised to Be Head of FDIC
By VICTORIA MCGRANE
Until his retirement last month, Thomas Hoenig was a consistent thorn in Ben Bernanke’s side, voting against the Federal Reserve chairman’s easy-money policies at each of the central bank’s eight policy-making meetings in 2010.
Now, Mr. Hoenig, the former Kansas City Fed president, is likely to become a thorn for the nation’s biggest banks.
Thomas Hoenig believes that some banks are so big that they are a risk to the financial system.
In a rare display of bipartisanship, the Senate appears likely to easily confirm Mr. Hoenig to a six-year term as the vice chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., an agency that gained significant powers over the nation’s biggest banks under last year’s Dodd-Frank financial overhaul. Mr. Hoenig breezed through his confirmation hearing Thursday, lauded by senators from both parties.
The choice has rattled Wall Street executives. Mr. Hoenig believes some banks are so big that they are a risk to the financial system, and that taxpayers might need to bail them out in the future, just as they rescued big financial firms in the 2008 crisis.
Mr. Hoenig believes there is only one way to end this phenomenon of “too big to fail.” “We must break up the largest banks,” he said in a February speech, arguing that regulators could do so by restricting the activities of government-backed banks “and significantly narrowing the scope of institutions that are now more powerful and more of a threat to our capitalistic system than prior to the crisis.”
The enthusiasm for Mr. Hoenig, who is not affiliated with either party, comes at a time when politicians of both parties are trying to harness populist anger at Wall Street rather than get clobbered by it.
Mr. Hoenig’s nomination also illustrates how lawmakers are moving beyond bank-bashing rhetoric and taking concrete policy actions that could affect the financial industry for years to come.
Mr. Hoenig was recommended to the White House by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. After rallying votes for the government’s $700 billion bank bailout in 2008, Mr. McConnell weathered a surprisingly tough re-election, took flack for his financial ties to Wall Street and saw tea-party icon Rand Paul elected to the Senate from his home state.
The nomination comes after big banks suffered a major bipartisan defeat last summer when the Senate voted against rolling back a Dodd-Frank provision limiting fees they can charge on debit cards despite the all-out, big-money lobbying campaign the financial industry waged.
…
Spain latest to take hit in European debt crisis
By Howard Schneider and Michael Birnbaum, Updated: Thursday, November 17, 3:03 PM
Europe’s debt crisis continued expanding on Thursday when Spain paid record interest rates and was unable to raise as much money as it had hoped in a bond auction.
The combination raised fears of what officials consider a doomsday scenario: a situation in which even governments that seemingly do the right things are driven toward insolvency by runaway distrust in the euro zone as a whole.
…
As New Graduates Return to Nest, Economy Also Feels the Pain
Wendy Carlson for The New York Times
Jay Bouvier makes $45,000 a year after taxes, but is living with his mother, Nancy Bouvier, in Bristol, Conn., to save money.
By CATHERINE RAMPELL
Published: November 16, 2011
Like most of her friends, Hollis Romanelli graduated from college last May and promptly moved back in with her parents.
As a result, she didn’t pay rent — or a broker’s fee or renters’ insurance, for that matter. She also didn’t buy a bed, desk, couch, doormat, mop or new crockery set. Nor did she pay the cable company to send a worker to set up her TV and Internet, or a handyman to hang a newly framed diploma. She didn’t even buy drinks and snacks for a housewarming party.
In other words, Ms. Romanelli, 22, saved a lot of money. But she deprived the economy of a lot of potential activity, too.
Every year, young adults leave the nest, couples divorce, foreigners immigrate and roommates separate, all helping drive economic growth when they furnish and refurbish their new homes. Under normal circumstances, each time a household is formed it adds about $145,000 to output that year as the spending ripples through the economy, estimates Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.
But with the poor job market and uncertain recovery, hundreds of thousands of Americans like Ms. Romanelli (and her boyfriend, who also lives with his parents) have tabled their moves. Even before the recession began, young people were leaving home later; now the bad economy has tethered them there indefinitely. Last year, just 950,000 new households were created. By comparison, about 1.3 million new households were formed in 2007, the year the recession began, according to Mr. Zandi. Ms. Romanelli, who lives in the room where she grew up in Branford, Conn., said, “I don’t really have much of a choice,” adding, “I don’t have the means to move out.”
…
European Rift on Bank’s Role in Debt Relief
By JACK EWING and NICHOLAS KULISH
Published: November 17, 2011
FRANKFURT — The financial stability of Europe has come down to one institution, the European Central Bank, which is now under heavy new pressure to rescue the euro — or possibly see it collapse.
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spain’s prime minister, on Thursday became the latest leader to demand that the bank find a solution to the euro crisis, saying that “this is what we transferred power for” and that it had to be a bank “that defends the common policy and its countries.”
Mr. Zapatero made his unusually blunt statements on a day when markets sagged further and contagion continued its seemingly inexorable spread from the small economies on Europe’s periphery to Italy, Spain and even France at the core. Spain was forced Thursday to pay nearly 7 percent on an issue of 10-year debt, the highest since 1997, while investors demanded the largest premium for buying French as opposed to German debt in the decadelong history of the euro.
Only the fiercely conservative stewards of the European Central Bank have the firepower to intervene aggressively in the markets with essentially unlimited resources. But the bank itself, and its most important member state, Germany, have steadfastly resisted letting it take up the mantle of lender of last resort.
…