Bits Bucket for March 13, 2012
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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QE3 is in the bag. Buy stocks now, or get priced out forever!
Forex Flash: Fed’s QE3 in the horizon; a matter of 3 to 6 months - Nomura Group
Posted 3/12/2012 8:58 PM from FXstreet.com in Investing, Forex and Currencies
FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - The Fed will deliver additional quantitative easing over the next 3 to 6 months, according to Nomura. QE will be delivered via purchases of mortgage backed securities (MBS) and Treasuries, with a bias for the former, and will be sterilized in order to appease inflation hawks and critics, Nomura says.
Bernanke must deliver an “insurance ease” to make sure the economy maintains its “escape velocity,” Nomura’s analysts argue. Under current circumstances, where growth is picking up but the recovery remains fragile, the Fed will prefer “a more nuanced and targeted sterilized-easing approach, which has a lower impact on commodity prices and helps appease inflation hawks in the FOMC,” adds Nomura’s analysts.
Stop bitching about QE. Its QE or Armageddon. Which one do you want? -Thought so…
That’s an interesting debate, going back to 2008.
The rich would be a lot less rich post-Armageddon. And assuming that the government stepped in afterward to prevent deprivation, as in the Great Depression, people wouldn’t be able to pretend that only “those people” benefit from Government, as they do now.
Perhaps we would have been better off if the government just let it blow — “liquidate, liquidate, liquidate.” We might be on the way back up by now.
Perhaps we would have been better off if the government just let it blow — “liquidate, liquidate, liquidate.” We might be on the way back up by now.
+1, WT Econ. I never bought the armageddon argument for a minute.
It was the use of fear/threat to manipulate the sheeple into supporting the desired course of action, plain and simple.
“Its QE or Armageddon.”
Boy does that refrain sound familiar!
Newt Gingrich: ‘If Obama Is Re-Elected, It Will Be A Disaster For The U.S.’
by James Crugnale | 9:56 pm, January 31st, 2012
Despite finishing second in the Florida GOP primary, Republican hopeful Newt Gingrich remained determined to stay in the race, and came after President Obama strong in his speech to supporters. “If Barack Obama gets re-elected, it will be a disaster for the United States of America, make no bones about it,” Gingrich declared. “If he can have a record this bad, unemployment this bad, deficits this bad, policies this bad, gasoline prices this high, and still get re-elected, you can’t imagine how radical he’ll be in his second term.”
…
Whew! I thought Congress was in charge of appropriations there for a minute.
There is the tiniest little smidge of truth in Newt’s statement, but you have to really search for it. Second term presidents are less constrained by re-election considerations than first term presidents, though the constraint goes both ways since a president who totally abandoned his base could be the target of a primary challenge. Everything else in there (assumptions that the president is a radical, implications that gas prices are his fault, etc.) is wrong.
The part which I meant to highlight is “It Will Be a Disaster for the U.S.,” which resembles “Its QE or Armageddon.”
A standard policy ploy is to claim that any other course besides the chosen one would have been the kiss of doom.
Actually, it’s QE or the big money loses. The rest of us get the inflation, for which, if we are not hedged in “assets”, we lose.
Money inflation is good for the banks and the rich.
The middle class is the loser. The working poor remain the working poor.
So, it’s QE or the rich lose. There’s no armageddon.
That’s just pure hyperbole. And unfortunately, the mass exaggeration of hypothetical conditions is driving what should be rational decision-making.
Stop the fear-mongering and look at what’s really happening.
The fear-mongering is what the rich(in conjunction with their paid political allies) are working to promote to provide more “liquidity” with which to leverage another asset ‘boom’, and profit raking session. It will make the depression even worse.
FIRE Bernanke, and stop all the games with finance and the FED.
“Actually, it’s QE or the big money loses.”
Bingo.
The scepter of Armageddon is a standard propaganda technique to legitimize whatever policies favor the 1%.
“Stop bitching about QE. Its QE or Armageddon. Which one do you want? -Thought so…”
Ha! With QE the rush lasts for six months and then we’re jonesing (no pun intended) for more. So you’re really into making the crash bigger/deeper/more painful so you can put off the inevitable for just a bit longer?
With QE the rush lasts for six months and then we’re jonesing (no pun intended) for more.
With each dose of new economic heroin, the effect last less and less long, and the cravings start sooner too. So my money would be on the “under” six months…
QE is cool, just don’t spend it all in Iran.
I Would choose Armageddon any day over this tired pretending bullcrap. Enough of this $hit!
Wouldn’t it technically be QE4 at least?
Nassim Taleb is back out in front of the camera to say we’ve got to take our painful chemo to get rid of the cancer. He’s also saying although he isn’t political and not Libertarian, he is a risk analyst and so has to look at Ron Paul as the only candidate who recognizes the problem that needs to be addressed as well as the necessary clean-up. He goes on to say there is no other solution. He is speaking up as a citizen who doesn’t want to be hoodwinked by bureaucrats.
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000078341
CarrieAnn -Thank you. Most interesting video. (I skipped to the “meat” around the side dishes-limited viewing time.)
I liked his Novocaine vs. Chemo analogy, and when he slapped the Republicans. (Remember, I am a recovered one.)
Nice link - thanks for posting that. He’s exactly where I am right now. There are plenty of things I don’t like about Ron Paul. For example his stance against abortion - I think he would have women back in back alley’s and using coat hangers if he could, but consider that we’ve had more than one president that would have the same and it hasn’t happened.
He want’s to actually deal with the stupidity that is the so-called “war on drugs” which results in gargantuan sums thrown down the toilet - this is great.
He wants to audit the Fed. Also great.
He wants to go to the gold standard - not so great, but moving in the direction of protecting the value of the dollar would be good.
Ending our empiric occupation of 130 countries worldwide would be good (look it up - that’s how many countries we have military bases in at last count).
Bottom line is, there are many positions of Paul’s that I disagree with, but if we don’t do something about the ones that we agree on(The Fed, Hyperinflation, etc), then NONE of the other ones will matter.
All we are saying is, Give Paul a chance.
You can’t have an Empire without Imperialism.
Despite Fisher’s protestations, Mr Market smells QE3 and has jumped the shark.
Nice haircut!
Greek debt to fall more than thought
Associated Press | Posted: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 12:00 am
Greece swaps bonds worth $232.5 billion
Greece’s Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos pauses during his speech at a conference of PASOK socialist party at Faliro near Athens, Saturday, March 10, 2012. Greece’s private creditors agreed Friday to take cents on the euro in the biggest debt writedown in history, paving the way for an enormous second bailout for the country to keep Europe’s economy from being dragged further into chaos. (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis)
BRUSSELS • The chief of the eurozone said Monday that Greece’s debt is now expected to decline to 117 percent of GDP by 2020, less than the 120 percent that had been expected.
The optimistic prediction was announced late Monday in Brussels by Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg, who also chairs the meetings of eurozone finance ministers. It came at the end of a meeting of the ministers in Brussels.
Greece implemented the biggest debt writedown in history on Monday, swapping the bulk of its privately held bonds with new ones worth less than half their original value.
…
50% = < “crewcut”
[ There appears to be quite a few '$haggy" looking countrie$ out there these a day$ ]
More like a scalping…
“A number one, a number two, or a Greek bond?”
Will there be a good entry point to the U.S. stock market at some time between now and when QE3 is rolled out later this year?
OVERNIGHT MONEY: March madness not likely at Fed meeting
By Vicki Needham and Peter Schroeder - 03/12/12 06:00 PM ET
TUESDAY’S BIG STORY:
Fed forecast: The powers that be at the Federal Reserve will once again hold a meeting of the minds Tuesday, as the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) gets together for its March meeting.
Since the start of the financial crisis, the Fed has been quick to lower rates and encourage the economy to get moving. And with rates now as low as they can go, the Fed has promised to keep them there for, well, a long time — until at least the end of 2014.
Expect more of the same following Tuesday’s meeting.
Despite the recent run of good news, particularly on the employment front — Friday’s report showed that the economy added 227,000 jobs in February — Fed officials remain concerned about the trajectory of the economic recovery.
While the job picture might be improving, Fed officials are quick to point out that the economy still has a long way to go toward a full recovery, especially while several key pieces, like the housing market, remain out of whack.
The popular opinion for the meeting is that the Fed probably won’t roll out any major new initiative (sorry, QE3 fanatics), but it will be interesting to see how the Fed decides to paint its view of the economy as the recovery slowly chugs along.
“Monetary policy is not a panacea,” Fed chief Ben Bernanke said recently. “The long-term health of the economy depends mostly on decisions taken by Congress and the administration.”
…
“And with rates now as low as they can go…”
I’m guessing they’ve been this low since before Vicki got her journalism degree.
My bad. Petey is just as culpable as Vicki. And I have no information that either of them are sluts.
“Monetary policy is not a panacea,” Fed chief Ben Bernanke said recently. “The long-term health of the economy depends mostly on decisions taken by Congress and the administration.”
God, i love this. Here we have one of the most incompetent business managers, who throughout his reign at the FED and prior, made pronouncement after pronouncement, ALL WRONG, about how everything was fine and we just needed some monetary ‘adjustments’.
I guess even this dim-witted Princeton Professor has finally seen that his ‘remedies’ aren’t working and NOW, he’s deflecting the problems to some other place, i.e., it’s NOT HIS FAULT. It’s the Congress.
It’s the administration. It’s Barney Frank. It’s the people. It’s…….
If I can’t afford to buy a house where we live should I buy one elsewhere to rent out? I would prefer to stay where we are till the kids finish school - 10 years to go….but the house prices didn’t really blink here - Mountain View, CA
There is no reason to buy a house elsewhere to rent out. It is hard enough to buy houses and low prices and rent them out locally. Doing it elsewhere is insane. You have to pay someone else to manage the property for you, and will lose money every month.
If you can afford to rent and want to stay, keep renting and hope the Web 2.0 bubble bursts someday without affecting your job. Norcal has these unbelievable cycles.
“You have to pay someone else to manage the property for you, and will lose money every month.”
I don’t recall that stopping investors in the past; is it different now?
That was one of the more insane aspects of the bubble — buy a house a plane ride away as an investment.
I can understand people owning local real estate as a mom and pop investment, if they are able to a lot of the maintenance, leasing, collecting, etc. themselves.
And I can understand families who have small apartments as their permanent residences also having second homes in the country nearby, as is common in NYC and parts of Europe.
But how the hell can I look after a property in Florida from NY? And why would I want one with a negative carry?
“…why would I want one with a negative carry?”
Stoopid is as stoopid duz.
But the most amazing aspect of the picture is that the untutored masses are still jumping onto the real estate investing bandwagon these days. You’d think enough people would have been tutored by now in Ben Franklin’s dear school for fools for the real estate investing craze to have died out.
Nope - I was thinking South San Jose - not that far away that I couldn’t manage it - and I have been here at this site since the beginning, but honestly I have to keep our money working for us or with inflation we’ll be up the creek with no paddle.
With San Jose, once the kids are out of High School, we then move into the house ourselves.
And of course I would make sure it’s cash flow positive before I did it.
If it’s intended as a retirement home, that may be something that could be considered after some due diligence.
I have a friend who has similar intentions who bought a foreclosed house (for way cheap) near his parents in Florida. He rents out the house and (while I don’t remember the exact details) he is doing “infrastructure repairs/upgrades” (AC, etc.) and apparently can write off a lot of those expenses while it is a rental.
Circa 2005, the carrying costs were more than offset by the bubble appreciation.
My sister tried this in Dallas. Her husband got a new job way at the other end of the metro area, so they bought another house and rented out the old one. They got stuck with the tenants from hell, who caused almost five thousand dollars in damage before they were finally evicted after falling months behind on the rent.
They sold the the place and never looked back.
Question:
Over the years I’ve heard HBBers talking about buying investment properties that are cash flow positive.
My quest then is, when deciding whether or not a property is in this mythical state, do you account for the accruing of equity as part of that?
I realize that in a falling market that this is a dubious proposition, but lets assume a totally flat valuation - neither appreciation or loss.
So lets say you’re getting $1000 a month in rent, and your total expenses - mortgage, taxes, insurance, and maintenance allowance add up to exactly $1000 a month too. Lets also say that you’ve cut a fantastic deal with your bank and a healthy amount of your monthly mortgage payment is going towards principle - say $100 per month. (I know I’m making a lot of assumptions here - but bear with me).
Since our (hypothetical) market is completely flat, the $100 in principal per month would translate directly to equity in a future sale.
Therefore wouldn’t this property be $100/mo cash flow positive? If not, then why not?
I ask because when I see people on here discussing this, it seems like they overlook the fact that even if you only break even on the monthly nut, you are still slowing paying off a property which you would eventually own outright as an asset. I’m just wondering if the idea of ‘cash flow positive’ as presented on the HBB accounts for that.
err quest = question
hey,
i think the cash-flow , positive or negative, is a decision that may have different answers for different investors. In your example above, i would personally consider this property a major alligator. The $100 payoff amount does not justify the risk and headaches that come along with being a landlord - to me. It comes down to what kind of return will you expect if you have to deal with 2am backed-up drain calls and the occasional $2000k bill for a broken A/C.
There are 4 things that need to be considered when looking for a house to rent out:
1 - monthly cash flow
2 - the reduction in capital - somebody else is paying the principal off for you
3 - depreciation write-off
4 - future appreciation
investors weigh the above things differently, and as we all know , item# 4 somehow got so heavily loaded that people were willing to bet their first borns to get a shot at the property ladder.
The other thing to keep in mind is that being a landlord is very difficult and extremely easy - it all depends on your state of mind and what you are prepared for.
Equity does not flow.
my bad - $2000 A/C job, not $2million, unless you are into convention centers…
“I have to keep our money working for us or with inflation we’ll be up the creek with no paddle.”
Its hard to imagine a worse possible place to put money to work than real estate. Maybe the web 2.0 bubble?
How bout Gold? How bout a “permanent portfolio fund” like PRPFX?
My wife’s friend leased out her farmland to farmers. Much easier to landlord a piece of farmland to a neighboring farmer than to landlord a house.
Find a stock that cannot help but go up due to inflation… how bout walmart?
One thing you can’t do unless fabulously wealthy is diversify in real estate. But its no great achievement to put some small fraction in physical metals, some in a permanent portfolio fund, some in retailer stocks, some in petrochem/mining stocks, etc etc
“Comment by Steve J
2012-03-13 12:39:03
Equity does not flow.”
Fair enough, but it is cash that you are accruing(again assuming a flat market) and thus represents in increase to your net worth.
I guess that’s at the heart of my question for everyone: In a more ‘traditional’ RE market with slight appreciation(inflation matching), does a property have to both pay off the mortgage/nut AND yield a monthly surplus to be a worthwhile investment?
What if we were to return to ’sane’(moderate) appreciation levels someday - would that figure in as to whether or not a property was “cash flow positive?” Doesn’t an increase in net worth ultimately constitute an increase in cash flow?
zee_in_phx - I really appreciate your insights and think they are the closest to the mark.
I guess it depends on your perspective…it it were me and my rental didn’t pencil out as cash flow positive, but rather I was hoping for some 2% a year in inflation plus a little in tax benefits with a big payout at end of 20-30 years, then I’d rather invest in bonds or the stock market or something else that didn’t involve me working on random weekends and occasionally costing me some amount of short term money. But to each his own.
I agree with zee: $100/month is a lousy return. and you’re also assuming that you won’t go over maintenance allowance, which is unwise.
You’re better off — and I’m being only partially facetious — stripping (or bartending, if you will) at a nightclub one or two nights a month and making your $100 that way. It would likely be less time and aggravation than dealing with tenants and repairs.
Sorry guys,
I guess I should have specified that the $100 was an arbitrary number. I guess what I’m really wanting to know is doesn’t the fact the renter is basically buying you a “free” house count for something?
By ‘maintenance allowance’ I meant to include a buffer for the air conditioner(ish) problems as well as reasonable hourly compensation for the work involved.
What I really want to know is how would one reasonably factor in principle reduction into the investment-worthiness of a rental property?
Suppose we end up back in the mythical land of overall RE appreciation someday - would it then be worth it to have a rental property that broke even on a monthly basis if principle was reducing and appreciation were also occurring?
I’m just trying to get a feel for how much it would make sense to take principle reduction into account as part of the overall investment.
Oh and thank you everyone for your thoughts!
I guess you can call the amount of your mortgage payment that goes to equity as part of the “cash flow” as long as you understand:
1) It isn’t actually money in your pocket
2) It won’t help if you need extra cash because a big repair bill comes along
3) You should ignore it until enough additional equity has been accrued so that you can cover your transaction costs on selling.
Maybe something else?
Those are great points Polly - and everyone else - thank you!
I guess for me this all got started when there was a discussion some time ago about where someone was lamenting the fact that their investment property didn’t cash flow because it was only generating a few hundred dollars or so above total monthly cost.
My first thought was “well what about the free house that the renters are buying for you?”
I think this discussion pretty much clarified everything - so thank you all for that.
Best,
Markus
Norcal has these unbelievable cycles.
+1 Endured several myself.
Norcal has these unbelievable cycles.
4 years into the downturn and counting. The “wait and rent” advice is great if you are young and/or childless. But my hair is starting to turn gray…
But how long are most people suggesting we wait? Home prices are at about 2002-2003 levels.
“Comment by Steve J
2012-03-13 12:39:03
Equity does not flow.”
Fair enough, but it is cash that you are accruing(again assuming a flat market) and thus represents in increase to your net worth.
I guess that’s at the heart of my question for everyone: In a more ‘traditional’ RE market with slight appreciation(inflation matching), does a property have to both pay off the mortgage/nut AND yield a monthly surplus to be a worthwhile investment?
What if we were to return to ’sane’(moderate) appreciation levels someday - would that figure in as to whether or not a property was “cash flow positive?” Doesn’t an increase in net worth ultimately constitute an increase in cash flow?
zee_in_phx - I really appreciate your insights and think they are the closest to the mark.
Shoot - sorry - this was a response to the previous thread….
But how long are most people suggesting we wait? Home prices are at about 2002-2003 levels.
Sounds like you need some reinforcement, SFR.
The Great Bust Ahead
http://tinyurl.com/66dgsv8 (pdf)
Are you talking about buying with actual money that is yours, or leveraging up with a mortgage to catch this anticipated surge in real estate prices? I’m betting that you think taking on debt is the way to go since you’re talking about cash flow positive. That’s “keeping your money working for you” alright.
It’s funny actually, that in order to take advantage of rising prices you have to go buy where prices are falling!
50/50 - I am leary of the stock market - I cannot be as good as the supercomputers - I do not care too much about house appreciation - just that we will eventually have a paid off house. We have delayed and delayed, we know we can’t afford here, but after two years of dealing with bullying, my daughter is finally really happy in school - otherwise we would buy a house to live in in South San Jose now, it would work out cheaper than the rent we pay now.
And, please don’t imagine that I’m financially stupid - otherwise I would be talking about buying a house in Mountain View. Or taken the liar loan we were offered back in 2004.
I am looking at high dividend paying foriegn stocks. Some utility stocks pay greater than 8% div.
why does it have to be foreign? I hold two USA stock yield from 8% to 14%. Is foreign stock safer?
“please don’t imagine that I’m financially stupid”
Well of course not, but even really smart people are tempted not to factor a couple more decades of declining house prices into their financial investment spreadsheets.
Rent…save…pay cash somewhere else when kids graduate from high school. In the meantime, enjoy life.
I too have been tempted to buy something for $240k that rents for $1800 and have $400 + positive cash flow on day 1 with 20% down.
I am in no hurry.
You could spend $48,000 to get $400 a month for the next 10 years, or you could just give the money to me, and I’ll give you your $48,000 back after 10 years.
A new currency emerges!
Tide has become a form of currency on the streets. The retail price is steadily high — roughly $10 to $20 a bottle — and it’s a staple in households across socioeconomic classes.
Bernanke Says He Won’t Tolerate Higher Inflation to Boost Employment Gains
By Joshua Zumbrun - Feb 3, 2012 12:00 AM ET
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-03/bernanke-says-he-won-t-tolerate-higher-inflation-to-boost-employment-gains.html - 191k -
Bernanke Says He Will Tolerate Dirty Clothes to Boost Employment Gains
By Joshua Tree - March 13, 2012 12:00 AM ET
http://www.Loomberg.com/news/2012-02-03/bernanke-says-he-will-tolerate-dirty-clothes-to-boost-employment-gains.html - 191k -
From
Bernanke Says He Won’t Tolerate Higher Inflation to Boost Employment Gains
By Joshua Zumbrun - Feb 3, 2012 12:00 AM ET
“Fed policy makers see inflation declining in 2012 to below their 2 percent target, with most expecting prices to rise 1.4 percent to 1.8 percent this year, according to forecasts released last week. That gives them more leeway to take action aimed at lowering unemployment.”
Got Tide? or mayo or coffee or gas etc………….
I`ll have an iPad burger but hold the fries because they are cooked in oil so I can`t afford them.
But the fries are cooked in biodiesel, so it is good for the planet.
New York Federal Reserve William Dudley says there is no inflation because i-pads are cheaper now. And because food and energy prices are “volatile”, they are excluded from calculating “core” inflation. THERE IS NO INFLATION.
Correction
Bernanke knows that this time higher inflation will not improve unemployment. Witness the discusion to prevent commoditity inflation with the “sterilized QE”
Higher food and higher food = fewer purchases of manufactured goods and services = higher unemployment.
I hope they straight up remove the “dual mandate” and focus on price stability. With a fiat currency, maintaining confidence in it is the most important factor in avoiding chaos.
“Tide has become a form of currency …”
Ha!
$tay-focu$ed America:
“Linda-the Lunch-Lady-Live$-Lavishly!”
[There's a big chain grocer in an upscale community, in the back of the store, on a clearance rack, there's x2-3 boxes of tide. Every week. Sometimes w/Downey, sometimes w/bleach, sometimes plain. 50% off ... can't say exactly why it is $o. But if it's a form of "local" management charity, I'd give kudo$ to the "Decider!".] (Not so certain iffin’ that would be the CorpInc.$ response to such a $it-U-a-$hun.)
Filed under: “Ask me hows eyes know”
“Tide has become a form of currency …”
Tide is king?
I had no idea your name is Linda. Hi, Linda!
No $illy wabbit, eyes di$covered it following Linda & her shopping cart. [sort like looking at a wall of wine & focusing on which area has the most missing bottle$ > $5.99]
And that the truth!
Lately, I’ve been following people around who I believe are on the public dole…lemme tell ya, they do know where the deals are!
I tried to get a few of the $5 Friday deals at Safeway last Friday. By the time I got back from work, they were out. One person at customer service desk was too lazy to read that the offer said “while supplies last” so I got a rain check.
Tide=Fragrances=Carcinogens+Allergies
That stuff isn’t healthy. Amazing what brain washing will do.
You are not supposed to eat the Tide.
Blue
The chemicals are absorbed through contact with the skin, and for ladies it has been shown to contribute to the breast cancer epidemic, for men prostate cancer. That’s the big deal about BPA and cash register receipts (and of course food can lining). BPA is a hormone distrubtor. You’d be amazed what our bodies absorb through our skin. I do a lot of BC prevention charity work.
I survived a youth of tide washed clothes, back when nothing was harmful, but now I stick with free & clear. I sure do wonder about dryer sheets, I hate them because of the smell. My gf washed a flannel shirt for me a few weeks ago and the nest time i wore it my arm started to hurt, eventually stinging like I had lighter fluid on my skin. The stupid dryer sheet was inside the shirt against my skin.
Needed for all that money laundering…
rusty -lol
Speakin’ of THAT $ubject … [eyes outta breath tryin' to keep up with you'll]
“White List”?
[ how "creative", just like Wall $t. of the long ago pa$t.] :-/
Vatican seeks to explain US money laundering:
Associated Press By NICOLE WINFIELD | Fri, Mar 9, 2012
The U.S. State Department this week released its International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, which identified the Holy See as one of 68 countries or jurisdictions “of concern” for money laundering or other financial crimes.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi noted Friday that all the world’s major economies — the U.S., Japan and even Italy — are identified as countries of “primary concern” for money laundering. That more serious designation is because of the sheer size of their economies.
Lombardi said it wasn’t surprising that the Vatican was placed on the list of jurisdictions “of concern” since it joined a European evaluation process in 2011 to try to conform to international anti-money laundering standards.
The State Department report didn’t explain why the Holy See was included, noting only that it was on the list for the first time. South Sudan, which declared its independence in 2011, was also included for the first time in another category of countries being monitored.
The Vatican passed legislation in 2010 making money laundering a crime and fine-tuned the law earlier this year. It also ratified three major U.N. conventions.
The moves are all part of the Holy See’s efforts to get on the “white list” of countries that share financial information and shed its long-held reputation as a secretive offshore tax haven whose bank has been embroiled in scandals over the years.
————-
“He and other law enforcement officials across the country say Tide theft is connected to the drug trade. In fact, a recent drug sting turned up more Tide than cocaine. “We sent in an informant to buy drugs. The dealer said, ‘I don’t have drugs, but I could sell you 15 bottles of Tide,’ ” Sprague told The Daily. “Upstairs in the drug dealer’s bedroom was about 14 bottles of Tide laundry soap. We think [users] are trading it for drugs.”
————-
I know I shouldn’t be laughing, but that’s pretty funny.
I’m surpsied that these entrepreneurs aren’t stealing the single-load Tide packets or “pods.” You could sell the smaller sizes for a higher profit per unit. [which was predicited on HBB, by AZ Slim. Apparently detergent companies do this in Africa.]
“Upstairs in the drug dealer’s bedroom was about 14 bottles of Tide laundry soap. We think [users] are trading it for drugs.”
Maybe he was just a prepper that wanted to stay clean after the world ends. I have seen that show and they all seem to have plenty of guns, ammo, water, toilet paper, rice, canned goods, MREs etc. But I didn`t see anyone of them with a good supply of Tide. Come to think of it the experts that critique the preppers at the end of the show never mention it either. They should say you are very well prepared and you have enough food and water to last a year. You have enough guns and ammo to protect yourself and you family for 2 years. But your gonna smell really bad in 3 weeks because you don`t have any Tide.
…and TP.
sanitary products
“Apparently detergent companies do this in Africa.”
And they do it university dorms. Seen it with my own eyes. Paid for it a couple times too. In a way it makes sense, if you’re going to pay 50 cents for the washer and 75 cents for the dryer you may as well get them for a 75 cent packet of detergent to make it an even $2. You COULD buy a gallon of detergent and that would probably last the whole year, but you’d have to haul it to and from the laundry room and you’d only end up saving maybe the price of a case of beer, so… Yes this was 20 years ago… I’m guessing about 3 times the price now?
I guess they’re already doing it with the new Tide Pods which, I guess, work like the individual cakes of diswasher detergent. Then you only have to grab a little pod and not lug the bottle around.
Household goods (food, cleaners, small appliances, etc) have always had barter value in neighborhoods.
But detergent most especially because kids make a LOT of dirty clothes.
Tide has become a form of currency on the streets.
Maybe they just need something to tide them over til payday.
BUY recommendation on P&G -
Well, PG stock has been moving up lately!
NY considering raising its minimum wage to $8.50 from $7.25.
“Who makes minimum wage?
About 880,000 New Yorkers, or 10 percent of the work force, make up to $8.50 an hour washing dishes and clothes, flipping and serving burgers, selling shoes and jeans, cleaning homes and offices, milking cows and picking crops and taking care of sick and elderly people in their own homes.
Among these low-wage workers, more than half (55 percent) are women. Only 16 percent are teens, though nearly a quarter are 20 to 24 years old, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute. Almost half (48 percent) are between 25 and 54. One in 10 are 55 or older. One in three is an immigrant.
Two out of every five people earning minimum wage provide the only income in a New York household, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute. But, the other side says, at least one-third of minimum wage earners live in homes where the family income is in the nation’s top 50 percent.”
…”Now New York employers are paying the federally required rate, as are Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Vermont is at $8.46 an hour, Massachusetts at $8, Rhode Island at $7.40 and Connecticut $8.25, though that state is also considering a rate hike up to $9.75 an hour.”
The beginning of our wage/price spiral? Or will minimum wage increases fail to affect other levels of pay?
” … more than half (55 percent) are women.”
Speakin’ of women, the “TrueEvangelicalista’s” repubicans are gonna wish that particular number/statistic goes even higher. Having “free-thinkin’ women as law-makers is becoming troublesome & leavin’ ‘em all in a sort of crazy-bird “conundrum”
The Dayton Daily News reports that Turner’s bill would mandate that men seeking Viagra be “tested for heart problems, receive counseling about possible side effects and receive information about ‘pursuing celibacy as a viable lifestyle choice.
Goose / Gander / Good:
Third female lawmaker introduces bill to limit men’s Viagra access:
National Affairs Reporter
By Liz Goodwin | The Lookout – 16 hrs ago
In January, Virginia state Sen. Janet Howell introduced an amendment to the state’s controversial ultrasound bill, which required women seeking abortions to first undergo a vaginal ultrasound. The amendment, which failed, said that all men seeking Viagra would have to first get a rectal exam. The ultrasound bill passed after Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell successfully requested that the vaginal ultrasound requirement be removed. Women seeking abortions will still have to receive an external ultrasound under the new bill.
Illinois state Rep. Kelly Cassidy introduced an amendment to another bill that would require women to get ultrasounds before being allowed to get abortions. The amendment mandated that men seeking Viagra watch a graphic video about the drug’s potential side effects. “If they are serious about us not being able to make our own health care decisions, then I’m just as serious about them not being able to make theirs,” she said.
Missouri state Rep. Stacey Newman, a Democrat, introduced legislation that would allow men to get vasectomies only if their life depended upon the procedure, which was similar to Georgia state Rep. Yasmin Neal’s bill. “In determining whether a vasectomy is necessary, no regard shall be made to the desire of a man to father children, his economic situation, his age, the number of children he is currently responsible for, or any danger to his wife or partner in the event a child is conceived,” the tongue-in-cheek Missouri bill reads.
a record-breaking 92 new abortion-restricting laws were passed in 2011. Two of those laws mandated that women have ultrasounds and look at the images before being allowed to get an abortion.
To quote Ron White, “You can’t fix stupid”.
Hwy
Your post was delicious reading. It’s about time these men get some equality. Although, don’t these people have better use of their time?
“a record-breaking 92 new abortion-restricting laws were passed in 2011.”
It’s that party of small government at it again.
Is that “graphic” video going to have to be at leastfour hours, because my limited understanding is that it isn’t priapism unless it lasts at least four hours. And then I guess you would have to see the appropriate treatment?
And people say China is a police state.
$8.50 is almost exactly where it should be (based on 1981 rates) when adjusted for the lowest official inflation figures.
http://www.halfhill.com/inflation.html
In the UK the glacier slowly moves
“The 0.7% fall in house prices in January reported by the DCLG reinforces our view that house prices will drift downwards the coming months in the face of soft economic fundamentals and still relatively low consumer confidence,” said IHS’s chief UK economist, Dr Howard Archer.
“Specifically, we expect house prices to fall by around 3% by the end of 2012,” he said.
http://www.sharecast.com/cgi-bin/sharecast/story.cgi?story_id=19952049
In Ireland and Spain it’s more of an avalanche
A new report on residential property prices shows an average drop of 68% since the peak of the boom.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/house-prices-down-68-since-peak-says-report-543343.html
House price changes
Country 2010 2011
Source: Rics European Housing Review
Irish Republic -10.5% -16.7%
Spain -1.6% -9.6%
Cyprus -6.8% -8.7%
Denmark 2.9% -4.9%
Poland -2.9% -4.8%
Greece -7% -4.1%
Netherlands -0.8% -4%
Italy -2% -2%
Sweden 5.2% -2%
Slovakia -2.1% -1.5%
Hungary -0.01% -1.4%
UK -3.2% -1.3%
Portugal 1% -1%
Finland 5.4% 0.4%
Slovenia 8.7% 0.6%
Malta -2% 1.8%
Belgium 4.3% 4.3%
Germany 3.6% 4.5%
Austria 6% 5.1%
Switzerland 4.2% 5.5%
France 7.6% 6.5%
Norway 6.6% 8%
Iceland -1.4% 8.1%
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17191691
Yawn…wake me up when the glacier has finished melting.
[Eyes only choose Icelandic on accounts it was last on the yer list. Me's Taoist instinct$ comes to the fore sometimes, i.e.; "The la$t, $hall be first!"] oh, verminou$ mastermind.
By P. D. Eastman: {Google Translate: Icelandic}
“Ert þú eins og verð á húsinu mínu?”
“Nei, ekki ég ekki!”
“Bless!”
“Kveðja aftur!”
Rough American English-$lang tran$lation:
“Do you like the price of my house?”
“No, no I do not!”
“Goodbye!”
“Goodbye again!”
Now that you’ve added a foreign language, I doubly feel like Jame$ Bond trying to decipher secret code$ when I read your post$!!
Send Mr. Ben x3 box tops from Trix’s cereal & eye’ll overnight the $ecret Decoder ring!
[$milin']
MF Global Still Set to Pay Bonuses
Wall Street Journal
Three top executives of MF Global Holdings Ltd. when it collapsed could get bonuses of as much as several hundred thousand dollars each under a plan by a trustee overseeing the securities firm’s bankruptcy case, people familiar with the matter said.
Louis Freeh, the former Federal Bureau of Investigation director now in charge of unwinding what is left of the New York company, is expected to ask a bankruptcy-court judge as soon as this month to approve performance-related payouts for the chief operating officer, finance chief and general counsel at MF Global, these people said. All three executives kept their jobs after the company’s Oct. 31 failure in order to help Mr. Freeh untangle the firm’s assets and maximize payouts to creditors.
MF Global executives Bradley Abelow and Henri Steenkamp will receive bonuses if the winding down of the firm achieves certain goals. With them, in Washington in December, is ex-CEO Jon Corzine.
Under the expected pay plan, the three executives and as many as 20 other MF Global employees working for Mr. Freeh would get the bonuses only if they hit specified targets such as increasing the value of MF Global’s estate for creditors.
The payments could vary in size depending on progress with the estate and likely would be paid in batches throughout 2012, a person familiar with the matter said.
You wouldn’t want them to lose all that “talent” to other firms, would you.
Where is the money coming from?
“If I can’t afford to buy a house where we live should I buy one elsewhere to rent out? ”
Only you can make that decision, but as a renter for 8 yrs until the end of this month I can tell you about my current neighborhood. We moved here to Salinas in 2004 and as soon as a property with 3 or more bedrooms hit the paper it was rented. All of the houses were will manicured by blow and go mower services and there were few kids. About 10% of the neighborhood was rental. The one two doors down from me in 8 yrs has turned over at least 6 times. One was a drug family. After they moved a huge metal garbage container was parked in front while things were gutted and repaired. They have put two new lawns and need a third. People have stopped mowing and watering lawns, we are probably at 30% rental with multifamily members, 5 basketball hoops line the curb side in a block and a half, kids playing in the street don’t want to move for cars, trash is blowing into the yards as they eat snacks and drop the wrappings wherever.
If I were thinking of buying a rental it might be in Vallejo, Ca because the city went BK and housing could be cheap. Buy near Touro University, medical and pharmacy school. Pack it with a group of students who spend most of their time in school and as a group could pay the rent. One group could be good for 4 years.
Maybe you should clarify, Salinas is at least 60% Hispanic.
Realtors Are Loosers.
Now Liz, that’s language that’s somewhat $ubjective.
Whereas, “Realtor$ Are Lair$”. Is language that contain$ “Categorical Imperative$”
[Let's $trive to keepin' the threshold$ raised high.]
oh LOOOOSIE…Loosie where are you?
…you got some ’splainin’ to do!
All the definitions on Urban Dictionary were written by people just like you. Now’s your chance to add your own!
Word: affordable housing
Definition: Government-subsidized housing which isn’t affordable, intended for purchased by people who cannot afford to own it.
Example: Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae do more to finance affordable housing than any other financial institutions in the country.
Tags: affordable, housing, government, subsidized, propaganda
“…intended for purchased…”
Note to self: No Urban Dictionary definitions before coffee, especially during ’spring forward’ week…
“All the definitions on Urban Dictionary were written by people just like you.”
Urban Dictionary
1. wasssup
it’s this facebook thing where someone will set their status as “like for a wasssup” and then that person will write on that persons wall in an annoying question format that spams your newsfeed.
LaDouche: “like this for a wassup”
*Simbad: like*
LaDouche: “Simbad? The simbad? the simbad who ate all my salsa? well… wasssup?
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wasssup -
These definitions probably don’t rise to the bar of what might stand up in court, but they sure are hilarious!
1. whupass 36 up, 5 down
a liquid: a source of destructive power accessible to an aggressor: usually referred to as a quantity of whupass ( as in a can of… or bucket of… ). Use of whupass implies that destruction of the aggressor’s foe will be a complete immolation of some sort.
“I’m gonna rip open a bucket of whupass and pour it all over you.“
“I’m gonna rip open a bucket of whupass and pour it all over you.“
By: $ir Greeni$pent & Ben’$ Bernanke
Titled: “A $aga & Collaboration”
[Please reference $ource attribution's Professor Bear]:
“I’m gonna rip open a bucket of whupass and pour it all over you.“
Def Leppard
“Pour Some whupass on Me”
How much has the price of a can of whupass gone up lately? Can anyone tell me wasssup with the whupass?
Free FunndddZZ For Florida FBeez:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/fl-foreclosure-settlement-finalized-20120312,0,6790648.story
Would any of the HBB’s legal eagles care to offer comment on where this is headed? I assume that as Fed chair, Bernanke has blanket immunity from legal culpability, but I freely and frequently admit to being a legal ignoramus.
March 13, 2012, 9:29 a.m. EDT
Fed fights subpoena on Bernanke: report
By Greg Robb
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The Federal Reserve is fighting a subpoena for Fed chairman Ben Bernanke to testify in a civil lawsuit challenging Bank of America’s takeover of Merrill Lynch & Co in 2008, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The lawsuit alleges that Bank of America (BAC +1.13%) and its former chief executive Kenneth Lewis deceived shareholders about a looming multi-billion loss at Merrill so that Bank of America shareholders would approve the takeover. The government provided a $20 billion bailout to Bank of America after the deal was completed and the loss announced. Shareholder lawyers want to ask Bernanke about conversations he held with Lewis prior to the closing of the transaction in January 2009.
I hope Ben Bernanke doesn’t have legal immunity, but I would not be surprised.
If I am not mistaken, the BIS members do.
National security.
Everything the FED does is a “secret”, so this goes against the raison d’etre for the FED. They can do whatever they want without culpability, and without interference by the government.
The Fed is a private creation that is wholly sovereign. It cannot be touched. It will not be touched and it’s agents will go unchallenged.
Even the President of the US of A can get subpoenaed, but what about the “FED”? Can they be made to come clean?
They might make a show trial for public consumption, but I doubt we’ll get much disclosure. It’s all in the public interest, don’t you know.
“They can do whatever they want without culpability, and without interference by the government.
The Fed is a private creation that is wholly sovereign. It cannot be touched. It will not be touched and it’s agents will go unchallenged.”
The $uffering $o’s word du jour for these type$ of privilege$ is named:
“Indemnified!”
The president of the USA and not get subpoenaed regarding any official actions as president. He was forced to testify in the Paula Jones suit because it had NOTHING to do with official business of leading the country (or state when it happened).
Nixon was subpoenaed and forced to turn over his Oval Office recordings*.
*a few minutes were unavailable though.
I thought that was only the portions directly related to reelection. Again, not related to the official job of being president.
Fighting a subpoena isn’t the same thing as preventing the testimony. Not sure what their arguement against it is, but if it isn’t valid, they won’t win.
Stocks are rocketing up. Does news that QE3 is in the bag possibly have something to do with it?
Focus stocks: Midas, Great Wolf buyouts
U.S. futures headed higher
Wall Street indicated to open on a solidly bullish note, following hard on Europe and Asia’s heels
Not everyone got the memo that QE3 is in the bag.
TRADECRAFT
MARCH 12, 2012, 3:43 P.M. ET
The End of the Bond Bull Market (Finally)
Hoenig: Shorting bonds may be the new big thing, as market seems headed for a fall.
By JONATHAN HOENIG
In this column five years ago, I called currency markets “the new Wild West” and predicted that foreign exchange trading would “soon become the hottest game in town.”
Since then, forex trading has grown by well over 20%, coming off a 72% increase that preceded it between 2004 and 2007. According to industry reports, the activity has come from “other financial institutions,” namely hedge funds, high-frequency-traders and retail investors.
A wide assortment of new products have been launched to play the trend, from baskets of currencies like WisdomTree Dreyfus Emerging Currency Fund (CEW) or WisdomTree Dreyfus Commodity Currency Fund (CCX) to broad-based bets on the dollar, such as PowerShares DB USD Index Bullish (UUP) or PowerShares DB USD Index Bearish (UDN) .
Once again I’m going to again step out on a limb and predict this time that fixed income and interest rates will soon dominate investor attention just as foreign exchange has over the half past decade. Fueling the interest will be the end of the near 30-year bull market in U.S. Treasuries, whose yields have actually risen since the Fed’s most recent January promise to keep them low through 2014. As we wrote last month , the yield on the 2-year note most directly influenced by Federal policy how sits at 0.30%, the highest since last August but still well below the 4% the security yielded as recent as 2007.
…
Someone was asking what a ”Mill hill House ” was , yesterday . Across the South , almost every medium size town had a textile mill, which surrounded itself with houses for the mill workers . Almost all the mills have closed now , but the houses mostly remain ,thousands & thousands of them ,in hundreds of towns, all about 50-80 years old.
John Edwards , former Presidentail canidate, was born and raised in one , In Pickens Co. SC.
The houses are cheap , but often pretty toxic . Some have clapboard siding, then asbestos siding , then alum siding over that , occasionly asbestes roofs too. We used to avoid the ones with asbestos sidings , until we discovered lead paint is the big issue now . They’ll pay for themselves in a few years ,hopefully , an LLC is a good idea .
Are mill houses worth saving? They don’t seem to have been intended for long term use and could have been chepaly built.
On the same subject, there’s the old saw that Tool Brothers McMansions “hold together for five years. Then they fall apart.” By my calculations, those McM’s are now 7-10 years old. Has anyone run across any stories of Tool BrothersMcMs falling apart?
My home was built in 1928 for coal miners with old growth cedar siding and narrow grain fir floors (maybe oak in the living room - not sure, there’s carpet…for now). I guarantee it will outlast anything built today. Similar sentiments towards the old mill houses in SC.
b-hamster
I agree with some exceptions. We’ve bought two new construction homes in So Ca. In Ca, by state law, 10 yr guarantee on construction defects.
Older homes were built well for their time, depending on natural hazards (new codes). If I bought an older home (circa 1950’s & earlier)I would look into updating the already solid contruction with newer science.
The 10 years is the statute of limitations on construction defect law-suits. This is not the same as a guarantee.
Charlie
Thanks for that correction. I appreciate that. We’re all sold a false premise at the sales office, evidently.
In Texas, you must go to arbitration.
Luckily, the builder picks the arbitrators.
Older homes were built well for their time…
New stick-built spec homes with wired smoke detectors, central air, dead bolt locks, asphalt roof shingles, etc., are much easier to obtain mortgage financing and cheaper to insure.
But then, $8000 to get rid of the knob and tube wiring, $4000 to replace the clay sewer pipe, $2000 to upgrade the electric panel to support modern electrical needs, $3000 to add a utility closet for my tools and enlarge the bedroom closet for the missus’s shoes and $4000 for an A/C & heater upgrade and dangit I should have just bought a brand new house!
When bulls come out to play,
All the gold bugs hide away.
Gold - Electronic (COMEX) Apr 2012
CNS: GCJ2
Market open
$1,686.60
Change -13.20 -0.78%
Volume 67,156
Mar 13, 2012 9:33 a.m.
Quotes are delayed by 10 min
Previous close $ 1,699.80
Day low $1,683.30
Day high $1,706.20
Open: 1,700.80
52 week low $1,402.40
52 week high $1,918.10
A QE3 announcement later this year will turn around this trend in a heart beat.
March 13, 2012, 9:45 a.m. EDT
Treasury yields hit highest this year
U.S. 10-year auction and Fed’s policy statement on tap
By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices lost ground on Tuesday, pushing long-term yields toward the highest since October, after a report showed U.S. retail sales rose last month, with higher gasoline prices not putting much of dent in consumers’ spending.
Still to come is the government’s auction of 10-year notes, a little before the Federal Reserve concludes its meeting on the economy, monetary policy and interest rates.
…
When you’re trolling along the bottom of the pond, any bump in the ground surface will make an “all-time” intermediate “high”.
But that’s the newspaper reporting. Sounds really big.
Doesn’t mean a thing.
Two articles to consider on the subject of the southern primaries:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-12/mississippi-whites-not-used-to-help-back-republican-aid-cutters.html
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/03/obama-still-muslim-report-southern-republicans.html
Loved that bloomberg story.
There ya go, proof the next president will be a ‘R’. There is no way this country will elect a muslim. “Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” GWB.
Maybe the next president of the Confederacy
Romney to voters south of the Mason-Dixie line:
“Y’all come back and vote for me in November, ya hear?”
Lynn’s portion of the settlement was 18 million dollars.
COLUMBIA, South Carolina —- A $95 million settlement with the nation’s four largest mortgage servicers was announced today by United States Attorney Bill Nettles.
Bank of America Corporation, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Company, and Citigroup Inc. agreed to the settlement to address allegations that the defendants participated in a nationwide practice of failing to obtain required mortgage assignments which resulted in servicing misconduct, and using false assignments to submit Federal
Housing Administration mortgage insurance claims, all in violation of the federal False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729. This is the largest False Claims Act settlement ever obtained by the District of South Carolina. The settlement was reached as part of the $25 billion dollar global resolution between the same defendants, the United States of
America, the state attorneys general, and others.
The United States and the state attorneys general filed today in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia proposed consent judgments with Bank of America Corporation, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Company, Citigroup Inc. and Ally Financial Inc., to resolve violations of state and federal law. Included in the proposed
settlement agreements, is the partial settlement for four of the defendants of allegations that the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina began investigating in the Spring of 2010. In particular, the government investigated allegations that the defendants participated in a pervasive nationwide scheme involving
the wholesale fabrication of mortgage assignments and other servicing abuses.
The False Claims Act allows the government to bring civil actions against entities that knowingly use or cause the use of false documents to obtain money from the government or to conceal an obligation to pay money to the government. The lawsuit in this case was initially filed by Lynn Szymoniak under the qui tam or
whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act. This provision entitles a private person to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the United States, where the private person has information that the named defendant has knowingly violated the False Claims Act.
Under the False Claims Act, the private person, also known as a “whistleblower,” is entitled to a share of the government’s recovery. In this matter, the whistleblower will receive $18 million from the proceeds of the settlement.
“Whistleblowers play an important role in protecting taxpayer funds from fraud and abuse,” said U.S. Attorney Nettles. “Settlements like this one help maintain the integrity of the federal mortgage servicing process.”
“By this agreement we are making an important first step to hold mortgage servicers accountable for fraudulent and abusive practices not only in South Carolina but nationwide. I am proud of the tireless work of this office to investigate this case across the country,” said U.S. Attorney Nettles.
“We see this historic settlement as one of national importance as our success in this case marks a precedent setting application of the False Claims Act to complex financial fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Nettles. “It also demonstrates the role that whistleblowers can play in working with the government to return dollars to the federal treasury and to expose wrongdoing.”
“We are very pleased by this settlement but at the same time our investigation is ongoing as we continue to ascertain the full magnitude of wrong doing and to seek redress for the United States Government,” said U.S. Attorney Nettles.
$implify! $implify! $implify!
[comments the fill-in copy editor of the day]
Bank of America Corporation, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Company, and Citigroup Inc. [et.al.]
allegation$
participated
nationwide
practice [aka; Pattern$ of Behavior$]
failing
mi$conduct
false assignment$
violation’$
… of the federal False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729
“Lynn’s portion of the settlement was 18 million dollars.”
That`s only about 17 million dollars more than Lynn took in cash out refi money! Lynn has been screwed again! First they only let her take a million $ in cash out of her shacks, then they only let her live in the big shack rent free for 4 + years and now a pathetic 18 million dollars settlement? This is an outrage! I smell another 60 minutes episode starring Lynn the victim. When she makes that next insurance payment tell her to get her fat wrinkled old sagging Deadbeat victimized @ss out there and occupy something!
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 5/8/1998 03:10:33
CFN: 19980172276
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 10392/990
Pages: 6
Consideration: $314,200.00
Party 1: SZYMONIAK LYNN E
Party 2: FIRST BK FL
Legal: HORSHOE AC W. RPL B5 L12 BL
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 11/17/2006 09:14:37
CFN: 20060644206
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 21094/3
Pages: 24
Consideration: $376,000.00
Party 1: SZYMONIAK LYNN
Party 2: MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC
SOUTHTRUST MORTGAGE CORP
EQUIBANC MORTGAGE
Legal: METROPOLITAN CONDO U8-E U
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 11/10/1999 10:02:37
CFN: 19990449235
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 11448/1496
Pages: 9
Consideration: $128,000.00
Party 1: SZYMONIAK LYNN E
Party 2: FIRST UN MTG CORP
Legal: SQUARE LK L94 L
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 4/21/2000 12:29:36
CFN: 20000147532
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 11734/1937
Pages: 8
Consideration: $68,800.00
Party 1: SZYMONIAK LYNN E
Party 2: FIRST UN MTG CORP
Legal: VLG NPB 4 BO L2 BL
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 7/18/2001 09:36:59
CFN: 20010305701
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 12737/1072
Pages: 5
Consideration: $220,000.00
Party 1: SZYMONIAK LYNN E
Party 2: FIRST UN NAT BK
Legal: HORSHOE AC W. RPL B5 L12 BL
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 3/19/2002 15:53:25
CFN: 20020142741
Book Type: O
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Pages: 6
Consideration: $209,057.16
Party 1: SZYMONIAK LYNN E
Party 2: FIRST UNION NATIONAL BANK
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 9/15/2004 17:18:11
CFN: 20040527663
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 17516/209
Pages: 6
Consideration: $270,269.69
Party 1: SZYMONIAK LYNN E
Party 2: WACHOVIA BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Legal: HORSHOE AC W. RPL B5 L12 BL
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 1/3/2005 11:28:53
CFN: 20050001026
Book Type: O
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Pages: 4
Consideration: $415,000.00
Party 1: SZYMONIAK LYNN E
Party 2: USA SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 1/3/2005 11:28:53
CFN: 20050001027
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 17961/1039
Pages: 5
Consideration: $415,000.00
Party 1: SZYMONIAK LYNN E
Party 2: USA SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 2/15/2006 08:27:13
CFN: 20060092890
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 19933/1827
Pages: 14
Consideration: $780,000.00
Party 1: SZYMONIAK LYNN E
Party 2: OPTION ONE MORTGAGE CORPORATION
Legal: HORSHOE AC W. RPL B5 L12 BL
Type: LP
Date/Time: 8/6/2008 16:00:12
CFN: 20080293601
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 22796/1110
Pages: 1
Consideration: $0.00
Party 1: DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY TRUSTEE
Party 2: SZYMONIAK LYNN E
SZYMONIAK SPOUSE
DOE JOHN
DOE JANE
Legal: HORSHOE AC W. RPL B5 L12 BL
God Bless America! 18 million dollars FOR NOT PAYING YOUR MORTGAGE.
“The False Claims Act allows the government to bring civil actions against entities that knowingly use or cause the use of false documents to obtain money from the government or to conceal an obligation to pay money to the government. The lawsuit in this case was initially filed by Lynn Szymoniak under the qui tam or whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act. This provision entitles a private person to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the United States, where the private person has information that the named defendant has knowingly violated the False Claims Act.”
“Under the False Claims Act, the private person, also known as a “whistleblower,” is entitled to a share of the government’s recovery. In this matter, the whistleblower will receive $18 million from the proceeds of the settlement”
Damn- she nailed it! Deadbeat of the Year! Maybe deadbeat of the whole bust!
“Maybe deadbeat of the whole bust”
Maybe she can marry Angelo Mozilo, they would make a perfect couple.
I was recently looking at the number of available homes for sale in my bellwether zip code and saw it was about what it was during the peak of the boom. I thought, wow, six years after the peak of the bubble, with the massive foreclosures, the subprime implosion, we should be awash in affordable housing inventory.
What I did not anticipate was that government controls such a large portion of residential real estate in this country. And the FIRE sector heavily influences the government.
Huh. I’m all about learning about how things really work. This is an interesting data point.
But - I don’t think this level of government intervention is sustainable. Early next year, when the “Supercommittee Theater” tax increases and spending cuts go into effect, and the election year volatility ceases for a few months, that’s when my crystal ball suggests we’ll see some kind of longer term indicator of housing. The loan implosions should be over by 2013, per the Credit Suisse chart. There’s a massive, ever increasing debt, and the existence of a feeder line from the public treasury to the FIRE sector might not be sustainable.
“What I did not anticipate was that government controls such a large portion of residential real estate in this country.”
Nobody could have seen it coming!
Neuromance
Same observation on home inventory in my area of So Ca. Total cr*p that is overpriced is selling (lack of choice), and no doubt to 3.5% downers. With all the no-payers out there, and of course the Ca. Foreclosure Moratoriumin, I am waving my white flag to the FIRE lobbyists. Extend and Pretend is still going strong in my woods.
Zillow’s CEO is pumping (or is that pimping) a robust spring/summer season.
Anyone
Has Slim been posting lately? Any word on her parents?
She mentioned she might be away for a few weeks. Slimster, if you’re out there give us a heads up?
Banks OK foreclosure settlement that could give state homeowners $8.4 billion
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 9:49 p.m. Monday, March 12, 2012
Florida’s struggling homeowners are one step closer to getting a share of the state’s foreclosure settlement - valued at $8.4 billion - after formal bank agreements were filed in federal court Monday.
The agreements with the nation’s five largest lenders are the culmination of a nationwide attorneys general investigation that began in the fall of 2010 with allegations that forged documents were used to repossess people’s homes.
Included in the settlement are JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Bank of America and Ally Financial.
“The requirements for providing documentation of loan ownership and good-faith verification to foreclose will undoubtedly make robo-signing more difficult,” Ice said. “And in some cases, where the necessary documents and information is missing, it may create an insurmountable problem for the bank to foreclose quickly, or foreclose at all.”
Florida negotiated a special guarantee with Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America ensuring at least $4 billion will be awarded in the form of principal reductions, loan modifications and refinances for underwater borrowers.
Florida’s haul includes a $334 million payment to the state, 10 percent of which is considered a penalty. The attorney general has discretion on how to use the remainder, but it generally must go to foreclosure-rescue programs or fraud investigations.
About $171 million will be cash payments to Florida borrowers who lost homes to foreclosure between 2008 and 2011 and were victims of servicer abuse. An additional $309 million will refinance underwater borrowers current on their loans
For more information
Go to nationalforeclosure
settlement.com
You also can contact banks directly :
Bank of America: (877) 488-7814
Citigroup: (866) 272-4749
Chase: (866) 372-6901
Ally/ (800) 766-4622
Wells Fargo: (800) 288-3212
IMHO this could have been easier by having one number to call
(800) CHE-EESE
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/foreclosures/banks-ok-foreclosure-settlement-that-could-give-state-2233823.html - -
16 comments (none mine) here is one of them.
What is wrong with you people?
We are not deadbeats - at least not most of us… We were done wrong!
The lenders sold us a bill of goods, they emphasized low teaser payments and hid the facts that interest rates would climb, and if they did disclose the rising rates we were told to refi again with no closing costs… We were sold on low payments and then they sold the loans, they got their money and a bail out. We are just defending ourselves.
You are jealous that you are taking a whipping.
Just N Observation
9:08 AM, 3/13/2012
technicolor yawn…
We get offers that invite us into debt all the time. That’s why they make shredders, and the first line of defense, that self-control word “NO” thank you .
On our last mortgage my husband and I had locked in at 7.25, yet every round we looked at the mortgage papers which was 3-4 times prior to closing, the rate listed was 7.75. ” Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that’ll be fixed”, they’d tell me every time I pointed out the mistake, and yet even though other corrections I pointed out were made that one never was. On the day of closing everyone moaned as I told them all, I don’t care if every other buyer signs and runs. I’m reading this document in its entirety. And of course, that closing document still read 7.75% which I crossed out and wrote what I knew it should be and signed it.
I checked the rate again when I got the coupon book. Obviously those closing papers meant something because now it was right. People that sign and run w/o reading and understanding their mortgage documents take some serious risks.
CarrieAnn
You rock. I love the fact you crossed out the error (more like they’lll never notice) and put in the agreed interest rate of 7.25%. You are the epotime of the REIC’s nightmare.
When we put in an offer, we both read the docs, and put in our own protections. Our buyer’s broker hates that.
Thanks, awaiting. but instead of feeling like I’ve done anything so wonderful I just wonder how everyone else can leave their binding documents up to those that would make money off any “mistake”.
The documents are written in a way that protects the FIRE economy participants more than the buyer or seller of the property. And even the protections that are there are one size fits all. Some customizing may be needed for individual circumstances. That is what a contract is all about. If more people realized that, like you, they’d be researching and editing and/or adding to their documents too. As it is now, people do more research buying their flatscreens.
Glad it worked, but I would have warned them in the reading before the last signing that if it wan’t fixed in the final papers that they would have to correct it and print out new papers while I waited. And then I would have made them do it, print it out again and sit and wait while I reviewed the whole thing.
If it ever comes up again, you should make some authorized person initial your change. Just to be extra careful.
I did that.
See, working for Sheldon Adelson did teach me a few things about CYA.
The lenders sold us a bill of goods, they emphasized low teaser payments and hid the facts that interest rates would climb…
The financial loan disclosure form with the “meat-n-potatoes” is a single (1) page. How could the lender hide the facts?
Jeff, you need to
1. Stop blaming the government.
2. Ask your boss for a raise!
He needs to file a whistle blower lawsuit against the deadbeats.
Iceland’s Big Trial, Travesty of Justice: Hannes H. Gissurarson
Bloomberg
By Hannes H. Gissurarson Mar 12, 2012 7:01 PM ET
In the fall of 2010, a narrow majority in Iceland’s parliament decided to charge [prime minister] Haarde with criminal negligence before and during the collapse of all three major Icelandic banks in early October 2008.
In his defense, Haarde points out that after the collapse he put through parliament a special emergency law that guaranteed bank deposits and re-established the failed banks’ domestic operations, while essentially leaving other creditors, mainly foreign financial institutions, out of pocket.
This emergency law meant that Iceland didn’t bail out its bankers. So unlike Ireland, for example, which in the crisis hastened to guarantee all bank obligations, Iceland doesn’t face a future burdened by heavy debts. The economy is now slowly recovering, and grew 3.1 percent last year. The reluctance of other nations to assist Iceland in the fateful latter half of 2008 may have been a blessing in disguise. Those who had recklessly lent or borrowed money in international markets lost, while the ordinary deposit holder kept what was his or hers.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-12/travesty-of-justice-in-iceland-trial-commentary-by-hannes-h-gissurarson.html
Carlyle Owners Took $398.5 Million Payout Before IPO
Bloomberg
By Cristina Alesci, Miles Weiss and Devin Banerjee - Mar 13, 2012 12:00 AM ET
Carlyle Group LP (CG), in a transaction nine months before it filed to go public, saddled itself with debt to pay owners including William Conway, Daniel D’Aniello and David Rubenstein a $398.5 million tax-deferred dividend.
Carlyle, founded in 1987, is the second-biggest private equity firm, with $148 billion in assets as of Sept. 30, including stakes in companies such as Dunkin’ Brands and Nielsen Holdings N.V. Its three founders received a combined $413 million last year, mostly from distributions. Apart from the founders and Mubadala, its owners include the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or Calpers.
The firm found some of its first investors in the Middle East, including the Saudi royal family and owners of the Saudi Binladin Group, the Jeddah-based construction company founded by Osama bin Laden’s father, Mohammed. Carlyle returned the family’s money after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-13/carlyle-owners-took-400-million-tax-deferred-payout-before-ipo-with-debt.html
Cheney-$hrub $hadow Legacy Effect # ___ [oh, nevermind.] :-/
“Living with War$” … (dang good drummer)
Whaddya know: It turns out that low home prices are fueling Phoenix’s economic recovery.
Coastal California cities, take note!
ECONOMY
Updated March 12, 2012, 9:57 p.m. ET
Rise in Phoenix Housing Shows Path for Other Cities
By NICK TIMIRAOS
PHOENIX—As home prices continue to drop in most cities, a nascent real-estate rebound here holds lessons for the rest of the country.
This sprawling desert metropolis was one of the hardest hit housing markets during the bust. Phoenix home prices declined 55% from 2006 through the end of 2011, and Arizona’s foreclosure rate jumped to No. 3 in the nation in 2009. Hundreds of thousands of homeowners are underwater, meaning they owe more than their homes are worth.
Now real-estate economists across the country are studying an early but surprisingly broad Phoenix turnaround. The sharp drop in home prices has brought new buyers into the market. Unlike other markets where housing recoveries have been snuffed out by big overhangs of homes for sale and foreclosed properties, inventories are lean here.
“Phoenix has hit a bottom,” says Thomas Lawler, an independent housing economist who was one of the first to warn six years ago that prices in overbuilt metros were poised to fall.
The nation’s hard-hit housing markets face a tough act: engineering a housing recovery without traditional trade-up buyers, many of whom are either unwilling or unable to sell because of huge price declines.
Phoenix has found a viable formula. Low prices are igniting demand from first-time buyers and investors who are converting the homes to rentals. The local economy is on the upswing with several big employers like Amazon.com Inc. and Intel Corp. hiring again, which is further increasing demand for housing. And the region is benefiting from a surge of buyers from Canada who are using their favorable exchange rate to scoop up bargains in the desert.
…
“Phoenix has found a viable formula.” ;-/
Good grief, a Ginormous version of Bakersfried, CA. Substitute cacti for baby carrots & 100+ degree heat for oil wells.
[ eyes suspect it's changed a tad since 1975, for the better? ... IDK, haven't been outside their airport since then. ]
Looks my my posting yesterday was a day early and the comments on this article on the WSJ website are right on.
The word around the PHX area is that homes less than 200k are being snapped up, some in bidding wars. There are stories about 45k 3/2 homes in the west valley bought up and rented out for $800 a month. Queen Creek/Gilbert has plenty of SFR rentals form $750 a month. NE Valley is a little tighter but I’ve been some loosening in the past couple of months.
I have a difficult time believing this is a sustainable trend, especially once the comps are set as such a low rate. It will be interesting to see how many people finally “give up” and just do a short sale/forclosure to get on with their lives now that comps are confirmed to be lower.
In short, this pop should be over by July, just like the one in 2010.
“I have a difficult time believing this is a sustainable trend, especially once the comps are set as such a low rate.”
My thought: Suck’em in, shake’em down.
I hope you do not actually believe the lies of the Realtwhores.
Yeah, prices have stopped falling but that hardly makes a recovery.
It is not scalable. People from Canada and elsewhere are buying here because we’re the first place to hit bottom. And still that is only enough demand to keep prices flat. If the entire country was hitting bottom, there would not be enough demand for the entire country to be at the bottom.
And, where are prices in Phoenix? Here are a few from my zip.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6111-W-Mauna-Loa-Ln-Glendale-AZ-85306/8098714_zpid/
Sold 2006= $240K. Sold 2012 $55K.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5401-W-Acoma-Dr-Glendale-AZ-85306/8097574_zpid/
Listed for sale 2008: $234K. Sold 2012: $87K
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5125-W-Hearn-Rd-Glendale-AZ-85306/8097485_zpid/
Peak value 2006: $320K. Sold 2012: $149K.
My house is actually in the zillow photo of this house it is that close to me.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5532-W-Hearn-Rd-Glendale-AZ-85306/8098443_zpid/
Peak bubble value: $280K. Sold 2012 for $93K.
Let’s think about this for a moment. $5T more wiped out from housing values. $5T more debt/money poofs out of existence in another massive wave of foreclosures. We go back into collapse mode. $5T more business debt goes poof. To get back to late 1990s debt levels, half of all money that exists in this country would poof out of existence.
Yeah… Armageddon is just a fear scenario to get people to go along. Right.
You wipe out that kind of money that would be needed to get the rest of the country to a bottom like Phoenix, and we’re toast.
There is a scarcity of lower-price REOs on the Phoenix MLS right now. But there will certainly be ample future supply, IMO. I explore the recorded history of a few streets that I am familiar with in the newer NW suburbs and in North Phoenix. The outer suburbs are easier because you barely have to research the loans - if the purchase was before 2009, the house is majorly underwater. If the purchase date was 2004-2006, the loan will probably be underwater until the George P. Bush administration (kidding, well?). The rare substantial or 100% down payment purchase has never really shown up. A few 20%-downers mixed in, but still majorly underwater. In the more established neighborhoods, same phenomenon of underwater loans but you have the occasional never re-financed with cash out and even some paid-offs now and again. But definitely the minority.
Seriously, the REIC seems to be pushing that most foreclosures are done in the Phoenix area, pointing to low REO inventory and diminishing Trustee Sale notices. I know a couple of people whose last house payments were in mid-2011, and one who last paid in Fall 2011. Trustee Sale Notices (which are recorded and precede Trustee Sales by at least 90 days) have not been issued to any of them. You hear these stories about 8,9,10 months - or delays surpassing a year. I believe that these delays occur, but could not prove it beyond a few examples known personally to me. I just do not see most of those severely underwater house loans as likely to be kept current, and it seems that many may be in arrears already but no recorded docs exist yet to show it.
I guess that we can look at some of those 60-day late data sheets, but are they trustworthy?
Filed under: “No comment needed” :-/
JonBenet Ramsey’s Father Regrets Letting Her in Pageants, Says ‘Toddler$ and Tiara$’ Is ‘Bizarre’
By Juju Chang | ABC News Blogs – 5 hrs ago
JonBenet Ramsey would be 21 years old if she were alive today. Instead, she will forever be the 6-year-old beauty queen, frozen in time, hair coiffed and in full make-up.
But that’s not the JonBenet her father John Ramsey remembers. He remembers something of a tomboy, who loved to hike and play with her older brother, Burke.
“I see her, you know, in shorts and t-shirt and hair kind of scruffy and just kind of a kid,” he said.
In fact, with hindsight, Ramsey has a fascinating view of today’s child beauty pageant “Tiger mom$,” who parade their daughters on the hit TLC show, “Toddler$ and Tiara$.” Ramsey said he never sat and watched the show, but he has caught snippets of it, which he said he finds di$turbing.
I read an interesting analysis of the ransom letter and rough drafts of the random letter. Pretty much pointed the finger at his wife.
It’s nicknamed the War and Peace of ransom notes due to its length.
As I previously mentioned, the writer probably realized that a kidnapper would not deliver the hostage. This caused him to cross out the word “delivery” and write “pick-up.” Another reason why he crossed out the word “delivery” may have to do with the author’s writing style. An examination of the writing style shows us that whatever comes before the phrase “and hence” comes after the phrase “and hence.”
13. delivery will be exhausting so I advise you to be rested. If we
14. monitor you getting the money early, we might call you early to
15. arrange an earlier delivery of the money and hence a earlier
16. delivery pickup of your daughter.
We see the same writing style in the Ramsey’s Christmas message.
“Had there been no birth of Christ, there would be no hope of eternal life, and, hence, no hope of ever being with our loved ones again.”
http://www.statementanalysis.com/ramseynote/
Buy Foreclosures With Your IRA
Diana Olick 13 Mar 2012
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15837671/
Investigation Uncovers People Selling Taxpayer-Funded Food Stamps
February 16, 2012 11:05 PM
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A CBS2 News hidden-camera investigation uncovered people selling food stamps, cashing in your taxpayer money.
With hidden cameras, we uncovered a black market of people offering to sell their food stamp benefits for cash, which is against the law.
With the cash they could buy whatever they want — perhaps alcohol, cigarettes or even drugs — things you can’t buy with food stamps, all coming from your money.
Nationwide 46 million Americans are now collecting $75 billion in food-stamp benefits.
In California it is called CalFresh and more than one million people in L.A. County are signed up.
The benefits range from $200 to $1,500 a month and the money comes through Electronic Benefit Transfer Cards (EBTs), which work like debit cards.
EBTs are not supposed to be shared. But we went on Craigslist and found no shortage of people offering to cash in on their food stamps, giving buyers bargains to seal the deal.
We saw ads for people selling $131 worth for $61; $70 for $50; and $200 for $150.
We answered one for someone offering to sell $200 in food stamps for $125.
Our undercover producer met with Matthew, who said he had just enlisted in the Navy, outside of a supermarket in Riverside. There he had more to sell, offering not only his EBT card, but someone else’s.
“This one is my friend Steven’s. I have his PIN number,” he said, adding, “This one is mine. I have my pin number.”
“OK, so he has $200 and he has definitely got it on his account,” our undercover producer asked?
“Yeah, I just called. It’s $200 on his card. I’ve got $110,” Matthew replied.
He wanted to deal.
“I have $310 right here,” Matthew said to our producer.
“Three ten?”
“Want to do it for $200,” he offered.
“Yeah, $200 would be great,” our producer replied.
He said he would go shopping with our undercover producer. She could pick what she wanted and he would pay with his EBT cards — the supermarket would never know.
We did not go through with it, but tried to talk with Mathew.
“You’re taking taxpayer money and you’re selling food stamps, right,” I asked?
“I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to talk about it,” was his response.
He went back inside the store, then tried to avoid our camera by coming out without his shirt on, using it to block our view.
“You’re in the Navy and you’re ripping off taxpayers?”
He was not the only one; we answered another ad.
“I’ve done it with friends. It’s no big deal,” said a man in Redondo Beach, who told us that he had done it before.
“You’re selling food stamps. It’s illegal,” I said.
“I wasn’t selling food stamps,” he replied, denying it at first.
Then he admitted that he knew a lot of people doing it.
“It’s pretty easy, right,” I asked?
“I guess so,” he said.
A woman also responded to an ad on Craigslist and told our producer that everything was on the up and up.
“Is it OK to do this? Is it legal,” our producer asked?
“Yeah, as far as I know. Friends and I have done it for each other,” she said.
But it is not.
Liz claimed that she did not know.
“No I didn’t. Honest to God, no one ever told me that,” she said.
But people like Latoya Pierce, a single mother who collects food stamps, thinks that it hurts everyone.
“It makes me very upset because first of all I’m struggling with my daughter and for people to get money and use it for something else is very wrong,” Pierce said.
In L.A. County the Department of Social Services administers benefits and investigates food stamp fraud.
They have about 160 investigators, but, believe it or not, they have only arrested about a dozen people in the past year.
We showed our undercover video to Lupe Luque, who is in charge of fraud.
“We answered the ad on Craigslist and met them at the supermarket. Why can’t your people do this,” I asked him?
“We are,” he replied.
“But you only had a dozen arrests in the past year. It doesn’t sound like you’re doing a lot about it,” I said.
“Not a lot, but we are doing it,” Luque responded.
But right now they are still out there.
What we uncovered may show the hidden underground of trading benefits for cash is more widespread and that taxpayers are footing the bill.
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/02/16/investigation-uncovers-people-selling-taxpayer-funded-food-stamps/ - 124k
“With hidden cameras, we uncovered a black market of people offering to sell their food stamp benefits for cash, which is against the law.
With the cash they could buy whatever they want — perhaps alcohol, cigarettes or even drugs — things you can’t buy with food stamps, all coming from your money.”
How else are food stamp recipients supposed to raise funds for the stuff they really need, like alcohol, cigarettes or even drugs?
Or diapers.
I hope no one thinks this is new.
I think WIC is a WAY better program than Food Stamps. You get a voucher: This is good for one gallon of milk. This is good for one dozen eggs. This is good for one whole wheat cereal from the following list: Post Raisin Bran, Chex Wheat, Total, Total with Raisins… This is good for 4 lbs of bananas or 3 lbs of apples….
Go to the office with photo ID, sign the vouchers in front of the govt employee. Go to the store with photo ID. Counter sign the vouchers in front of the cashier.
Sure, you can’t stop the person from them walking over to a neighbor and selling the food for $.60 on the $1, but it is a lot harder to liquidate healthy food than the food stamps.
In Vermont, my uncles kids got WIC while they were in foster care (he was the foster parent until they could be adopted). They got local milk delivered by a dairy and the food was left in a cooler on the porch - cheese, eggs, formula when they were very little, a few other things.
of course the concept of selling food stamps is not new. Its the Sheer MAGNITUDE of this BLATANT RIP-OFF thats NEW! Our system and our leadership SUCKS!!!
God Bless America! 18 million dollars FOR NOT PAYING YOUR MORTGAGE.
“The False Claims Act allows the government to bring civil actions against entities that knowingly use or cause the use of false documents to obtain money from the government or to conceal an obligation to pay money to the government. The lawsuit in this case was initially filed by Lynn Szymoniak under the qui tam or whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act. This provision entitles a private person to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the United States, where the private person has information that the named defendant has knowingly violated the False Claims Act.”
“Under the False Claims Act, the private person, also known as a “whistleblower,” is entitled to a share of the government’s recovery. In this matter, the whistleblower will receive $18 million from the proceeds of the settlement”
$95 MILLION SETTLEMENT WITH THE NATION’S FIVE LARGEST …
22 hours ago … Szymoniak will get $18 million from the settlement. ~ … The settlement was reached as part of the $25 billion dollar global resolution … filed by Lynn Szymoniak under the qui tam or whistleblower provision of the False Claims …
http://4closurefraud.org/2012/03/12/95-million-settlement-with-the-nations-five-largest-mortgage-servicers-partially-resolves-south-carolina-false-claims-act-lawsuit/ - - Cached - Similar pages
Pick your poison :-).
I’ll pick any number of political satirists, including Dave Barry, Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert, over any number of politicians.
I agree with that. I’m not on the same part of the political spectrum as Stewart or Colbert (I don’t know where Barry is), but I’d take either of them over a career politician.
Barry is a Libertarian.
You should check out Carl Hiaason’s stuff, too. He’s great.
Hard to square the PB, with your history of party fanaticism.
Oh bother…
Citi fails Fed’s stress test
Citigroup, Ally, MetLife and SunTrust don’t have enough capital under a stress test on 19 big banks, according to the Federal Reserve.
Relax, they can borrow more capital.
The Root of the Problem:
Housing prices are still F-ing high!
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-orlando-rents-20120313,0,923223.story
The Rent… Is Too F*cking High! I like it. That’s my new political platform. It’s the new, testier incarnation of The Rent… Is Too Damn High!
Alpha, perhaps this is why you and others don’t feel the heat the way Jeff and I do. The rental market here is brutal, flea-infested, and just plain chitty. Not too mention… TOO DAMN HIGH!
Btw, you asked why I wanted to buy… I don’t. I just want a stable, affordable rental. Florida is the only place I’ve ever lived where you can count on having to move even if you pay on time.
That reminds me of a scene in one of my favorite movies, Used Cars. Marshall Lucky is shooting a shotgun throughout this part:
‘Marshall Lucky here, where we’re battling inflation not only by fighting high prices, but by blowing the living sh@t out of high prices! You heard me right! Here’s an example: cadillac coup deville for $xx . That price is too high. Yessir! Here’s another one: A lincoln continental mark - it’s loaded, it’s got air conditioning, it’s got a stereo, it’s got power steering, power breaks, power seats, power windows, and a price that is just too high!’
‘Now, remember, friends…look out, Marshall Lucky, it’s high prices! Take this, you dirty, old high prices! You got me, marshall!’
‘Yessir, so remember, friends, that’s new deal used cars. Now wait just a g@ddam minute! What the hell is this? Is this a mercedes sl for xx dollars? That’s too f@ckin’ high! We blew the sh@t out of that overpriced m@ther@#%&er-just the way we blow the sh@t out of all high prices at new deal used cars.’
‘So you all come on down! New deal used cars. So you all come on down!’
http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/u/used-cars-script-transcript-zemeckis.html
The only movie Kurt Russell was any good in. Still have my Used Cars VHS tape…
The Rent… Is Too F*cking High!
The Rent Is Too Damn High Party’s Jimmy McMillan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4o-TeMHys0
This interview was about the boomerang situation that is setting up in America and in southern European countries too. Kids as old as in their 30s are returning home to live under the parnental wing. But one question touched on how it was going to affect the housing industry and I thought it was quite insightful….not to mention it repeats some of the arguments I’ve been trying to make in the last few weeks.
TFT: If this generation, who has lived with their parents and always had a support system, fall on hard times, how are they going to deal with it? How could this affect them psychologically?
KN: Psychologically it will be difficult and materially it will be difficult. Young people won’t get into the housing market because they can’t. They won’t accumulate equity like earlier generations did. They won’t have the resources to help their parents when they’re elderly. They’re going to be waiting for an inheritance which may not be there. The whole run-up to that accumulation that defined middle class life in the past will not happen, or won’t happen in the same way. My parents bought their first house when they were 23 and 25. I bought my first house when I was nearly 30. I don’t think my children will be in the homeownership market until they’re closer to mid-30s or older. In a system like ours where so much of a family’s wealth is tied up in housing, that affects the overall wealth profile and distribution across the country. And that matters for everything – retirement, helping the older generation, affording a college education – there’s virtually no aspect of American material life that’s left unaffected by this.
TFT: Has the stigma gone away in the U.S.?
KN: Not entirely. The lingering evidence in the stigma is in the sort of discomfort that people have. But I do think that it’s starting to wear away and that’s because it’s such a widespread experience. Today 85 percent of college graduates have either come home or have stayed home.
85%? This is gonna leave a mark.
The above is an excerpt from an article from The Fiscal Times.
How Clinging to Mommy and Daddy Is Ruining a Generation
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2012/02/08/How-Clinging-to-Mommy-and-Daddy-is-Ruining-a-Generation.aspx#page1
Diogenes, I’m on year 7 and both of my children were born here. Am I allowed to be annoyed by spring breakers?
Fed Is ‘Playing a Game With Us:’ Pimco’s Gross
Published: Tuesday, 13 Mar 2012 | 3:29 PM ET
By: Margo D. Beller
Special to CNBC.com
The Federal Reserve “is playing a game with us to some extent” by maintaining low interest rates, Pimco founder Bill Gross told CNBC, who also expects another round of quantitative easing.
“I think the Fed will continue to do this for a long time and subordinate investors in the bond market,” said Gross, who runs the world’s largest bond fund.
Gross spoke Tuesday after the Fed left its policy unchanged. While acknowledging signs of strength in the U.S. economy, it reiterated that unemployment [cnbc explains] is too high and interest rates would remain near zero until late 2014. The Fed did not say whether there would be another round of quantitative easing [cnbc explains] .
Gross said there has to be a QE3.
“Whenever the Fed and other central banks have paused with their quantitative easing programs since 2009, stock prices have fallen and economies have slowed. To my mind there’s little hope for the private markets substituting for central banks anytime soon,” he said.
March 13, 2012, 12:01 a.m. EDT
10 reasons Wall Street will hit bottom, crash
Commentary: Gambling-addicted banks need a Betty Ford Center
By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Yes, Wall Street will crash. Has to. They’re gambling addicts. Dodged the bullet in 2008. But learned nothing. Now killing reforms. Teamed up with the Super Rich, CEOs, lobbyists, and crony politicians. It’s only a matter of time.
Yes, they’ll crash, again. No matter how anemic the recovery. No matter how much more debt they pile on taxpayers. No matter who’s president. Crash.
How do I know Wall Street will hit bottom? First off, most American know somebody who’s trapped in addictive behavior. I got a front-row seat years ago as a professional helping a few hundred addicts, alcoholics and gamblers getting help from the Betty Ford Center and others like it.
Guess what: Wall Street’s behavior is exactly like all other addicts, trapped in denial, they’ll risk destroying family, friends, health, careers and even America before stopping. They’re obsessed, hooked, blind, addicted to gambling.
Second, the Treasury secretary and his wife warned us. Seriously, Tim Geithner highlighted her in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, “Financial Crisis Amnesia,” that made clear how addictive and clueless Wall Street and their team are: “My wife looks up from the newspaper with bewilderment at another story about people in the financial world or their lobbyists complaining about Wall Street reform.”
Yes, amnesia. Wall Street’s got a bad case of denial, blind to “the lessons of the crisis and the damage it caused to millions of Americans.” So it’ll happen again. And soon. Why? Mr. Secretary’s diagnosis: “Amnesia is what causes financial crises.” Look closely.
Wall Street has all 10 self-destructive traits of a gambling addict
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