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The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Is establishing a rule of law in the U.S. financial sector really a Democrat versus Republican issue?
Goldman Employee Reinforces Need for Volcker Rule, Democrats Say
By Phil Mattingly and James Rowley on March 16, 2012
The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) employee who criticized the company’s culture in a newspaper column bolsters the case for Wall Street restrictions like the Volcker rule, congressional Democrats said.
While Greg Smith’s New York Times (NYT) opinion column published March 14 drew no requests for hearings or deeper investigations. Lawmakers including Senators Carl Levin of Michigan and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the Democrats who authored the Volcker rule’s ban on proprietary trading and conflicts of interest in the Dodd-Frank Act said the piece strengthened the case for restrictions on Wall Street trading.
Congress can’t “legislate the culture but I think the heart of this goes to why we needed the Merkley-Levin amendment,” Merkley, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, said in an interview.
…
Oh to be a fly on the wall…
I personally see nothing that happened last week that Goldman’s PR staff can’t heal in due time with the right combination of lies and spin.
March 15, 2012 8:07 pm
Rivals fear Goldman backlash on Wall St
By Tom Braithwaite in New York
Wall Street’s concern over the latest public outcry at Goldman Sachs was underscored when the head of one of its biggest rivals warned his senior staff not to exploit the “alleged issues” surrounding the investment bank.
In response to a stinging article on Goldman Sachs’s business practices written by a departing derivatives salesman at the bank, Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan, emailed his colleagues on the bank’s operating committee. “Today’s New York Times op-ed by a Goldman Sachs executive is generating a lot of discussion around the street. I want to be clear that I don’t want anyone here to seek advantage from a competitor’s alleged issues or hearsay – ever,” he wrote. “It’s not the way we do business … We respect our competitors, and our focus should be on doing the best we can to continually strengthen our own standards.”
The article on Goldman Sachs by Greg Smith, published in the New York Times on Wednesday, criticised Lloyd Blankfein, its chief executive, and Gary Cohn, president, for presiding over a culture that had turned “toxic”, with bankers exploiting their clients. In a memo to staff, Mr Blankfein and Mr Cohn said that the article did “not reflect our values [or] our culture”.
…
Source: ft dot com
It would be if both sides hadn’t been bought.
Is establishing a rule of law in the U.S. financial sector really a Democrat versus Republican issue?
Is this intended as a joke? Clearly both sides are opposed to the rule of law in the financial sector.
How does the Great Housing Bubble look these days in other parts of the world besides the U.S.?
Norway Risks Housing Bubble
By Josiane Kremer and Kristin Myers on March 16, 2012
Advertisements for residential housing are seen in the window of an estate agent’s store in Oslo, Norway. Photographer: Tomm W. Christiansen/Bloomberg
Norway is moving closer to a housing bubble as the central bank’s strategy of cutting interest rates to weaken the krone spurs credit growth and bloats property values.
A day after Norway’s financial regulator said the biggest domestic threat to the economy comes from an overheated property market as borrowers bet rates will stay low, Norges Bank Governor Oeystein Olsen on March 14 demonstrated he won’t allow further krone gains by cutting the bank’s main interest rate a quarter of a percentage point to 1.5 percent.
The country may already be in a housing bubble, according to Robert Shiller, the co-creator of the S&P/Case-Shiller (SPCS20) home- price index who predicted the U.S. subprime mortgage crash. Policy makers should “start worrying now,” Shiller said in an interview in Copenhagen in January. Norway’s Financial Supervisory Authority this week told banks to build up their capital buffers to prepare for increased losses as low central bank rates continue to fuel credit-market imbalances.
An overpriced housing market “is one worry that we have, but we have to balance different developments,” Olsen said in a March 14 interview in Oslo. The bank “is aware when we set interest rates of the impact on housing prices,” though there’s no sign of a bubble “in the classical sense,” he said.
…
Why would a country purposely weaken its currency?
so they can replace it with something else?
To make its exports more competative and encourage its citizens to buy locally made goods, not imports.
A second order effect is that it makes debts denominated in it’s currency easier to pay.
Ah, thank you. I’ve seen a few places where Scandinavian coutries are trying to make inroads into the American market. Kid’s clothing stores at the mall and IKEA come to mind. I guess they’re trying to make us nostalgic for Pippi Longstocking.
Maybe they should open a Swedish Bikini Volleyball Team store at the mall. I have no idea of what they would sell there, but it would draw a crowd.
To increase exports in the face of a contraction in global demand.
Competitive currency devaluation was a feature of the Great Depression of the 1930s. I believe the policy was referred to as “Beggar thy Neighbor.”
“…he won’t allow further krone gains by cutting the bank’s main interest rate a quarter of a percentage point to 1.5 percent.”
Why turn off the valve$, when alls yous have to do is stand there & pinch the ho$e?
as borrowers bet rates will stay low
I’ll bet they don’t have fixed rate mortgages over there.
Is the U.S. housing recovery in full swing, now that the red-hot spring sales season is upon us?
What was it that P T Barnum used to say? Oh yeah — “A sucker is born every minute.”
Housing Lays Foundation for Rebound as Buyers Coaxed Back
By John Gittelsohn, Steve Matthews and Chris Christoff - Mar 1, 2012 9:01 PM PT
Sam Hodgson/Bloomberg
Construction spending in the U.S. unexpectedly fell in January as commercial and government projects slowed, a sign the building industry will take time to rebound.
Dan Kowalyshyn figures he owes about $200,000 more than what his four-bedroom house is worth today. It faces a cul-de-sac where three of the six homes have been lost to foreclosure since his $570,000 purchase in 2006.
The software developer has decided to keep up on his mortgage payments because he sees signs of improvement outside his window. Trucks drive by to deliver lumber for houses being constructed by PulteGroup Inc. (PHM), KB Home and Meritage Homes Corp. (MTH)
“Either those builders are insane or they’re getting some traction selling new homes,” Kowalyshyn, 40, said in a telephone interview from his house in Eastvale, California, 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. “I think we’re seeing the beginning of a recovery.”
…
The Civita housing development construction site in San Diego on Feb. 28, 2012. Photographer: Sam Hodgson/Bloomberg
Enlarge image U.S. Housing Lays Foundation for Recovery
Speculation that new home sales will rebound has boosted shares of homebuilders. Photographer: Sam Hodgson/Bloomber
Enlarge image Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said “housing will come back, you can be sure of that.” Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg.
‘unexpectedly’ lol
people need equity to buy new cars and stimulate the economy.
It would also help if said cars were built in the US with mostly US content. Buying a car that rolled off an assembly line in Japan, Korea or Germany won’t help.
the VW polo gets 60 mpg, why isnt it sold in US?
According to Edmunds the Polo is coming to the USA.
http://www.edmunds.com/volkswagen/polo/years.html?sub=hatchback
“It would also help if said cars were built in the US with mostly US content. ”
This one’s built about 15 miles from me:
2012 Toyota Camry Shaping Up To Have Highest American Content
By Bengt Halvorson
The Car Connection
The most American vehicle for 2012 probably isn’t going to be a Ford, or General Motors product, or even a Chrysler or Jeep. It’s most likely going to be the 2012 Toyota Camry.
That’s according to the federal government’s annual U.S./Canadian parts-content figures, as posted on new-car window stickers and required by the American Automobile Labeling Act (AALA).
According to Toyota, the gasoline version will have a market-leading 92-percent North American-sourced parts.
Although the location of final assembly doesn’t affect a vehicle’s North American content figure, all four-cylinder and V-6 Camry models will be built at Georgetown, Kentucky, or Lafayette, Indiana
Does look like anyone over 175 lbs could fit in it.
e Polo is coming to the USA.
BUSINESS
March 16, 2012
Banks Want Fed to Iron Out ‘Maiden’
Wall Street, Investment Firms Show Interest in Buying Assets Tied to the U.S. Bailout of AIG
By SERENA NG
A growing appetite for risk is prompting some Wall Street banks and investment firms to show interest in buying the most complex and troubled assets tied to the bailout of American International Group Inc.
The $47 billion face value in assets, held by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, are the same kinds of financial instruments that were at the heart of the financial crisis and caused record losses across the financial industry. Plunging values of the securities, called collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs, caused AIG’s near collapse and a government rescue in 2008. The $182 billion bailout was widely criticized because a chunk of taxpayer aid was funneled through AIG to large banks.
Now, amid rising investor demand for riskier, higher-yielding assets, attempts by Wall Street firms to buy those same assets may spark further controversy. Some large banks were on the winning end of bets with AIG over the instruments during the crisis, and benefited from the insurer’s bailout.
A potential sale of the CDOs by the New York Fed in the coming months, plus the government’s recent decision to resume selling some of its AIG stock, could set the stage for the U.S. to recover the bulk of its money from the bailout before the presidential elections this year.
…
“$ome large bank$ were on the winning end of bet$ with AIG over the instrument$ during the cri$i$, and benefited from the insurer’$ bailout$.”
Ain’t it amazing what Wall $t. can accompli$h with U$ Taxpayer’$ provided “financial-bungi-cord” / “bridge-to-us” loan$?
“Hurry$! Hurry$! Hurry$!” say it without $tammering!
Sell the crap to the government at face value. Buy it back for pennies on the dollar.
The US Government is Wall Street’s Bi#ch. If Government officials are going to act like Hos, maybe they should start dressing the part. Starting with Bernanke, Geitner, and Eric Holder……
-Bernanke……Pink tank top with on the front. Too tight black Spandex short-shorts with “Juicy” on the butt, with half his azz cheeks oozing out. Obligatory 4 inch heels.
-Geitner……Tube top and miniskirt, black leather vest, heels.
- Holder…….Black leather corset, Studded dog collar around neck. Garter belt. Pink thong. Ball gag. Leather boots.
I’m not comfortable with the amount of thought you put into that.
LOL, Carl…
Hey, I just wanted to make sure that they all had the appropriate ensemble.
I thought Eric Holder’s ball gag was a nice touch. You know “See no evil, speak no evil…..”
Is the largest collective yawn in the history of international finance following the massive Greek haircut evidence that extend-and-pretend is actually working just fine?
Not Solving the Greek Debt Crisis Might Just Solve the Greek Debt Crisis
By Matthew O’Brien
Mar 12 2012, 8:07 PM ET 7
Everybody assumed that when Greece defaulted, Europe would fall apart. This weekend, Greece defaulted. And Europe’s still around. What if extend-and-pretend actually works?
Greece and the euro zone are the Sid and Nancy of currency unions. We know these crazy kids are going to break up eventually — so why not go ahead and get it over with already? The answer is that neither side is prepared for their inevitable divorce. The Germans have roughly a trillion reasons to keep Greece around for now. And the Greeks, for their part, still want to stay in the euro zone. The prospect of bringing back the drachma simply terrifies many of them. It shouldn’t. Greece’s recent managed default shows that leaving the euro, though ignominious, wouldn’t need to be the end of the world.
…
I thought we had come to the conclusion years ago that it wasn’t so much the Greek default as what would happen as the larger Club Med countries approached the same fate and expected the precedent treatment set by Greece. Perhaps the world not falling apart with the Greek default will only embolden a Portugal or a Spain to push for default themselves as their debt to GDP approaches that same critical collapse point.
I totally agree with your point, but then I am a professed bear.
This weekend, Greece defaulted. And Europe’s still around. What if extend-and-pretend actually works?
CarrieAnn has it right; Greece is just the appetizer…
And I hear the other PIIGS stomach’s rumbling.
“G” is only one letter in PIIGS.
“Nothing to see here, keeping moving, move along.”
Watching Wall Street can be fun:
As everyone on this message board knows (or should know) banks need to raise capital. One good way for them to do so is to sell stock, but to do this they need an active market to sell into.
For example: Here’s what a newly created active market for Regions Financial Corp looks like:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=RF&t=5d&l=on&z=l&q=b&c=
And if one bothers to look at RA’s SEC filings for March 14 he/she will discover that RA has registered to sell 152,900,000 shares for $5.90 a share - $902,110,100 goes to RA and the remainder goes to the underwriters.
And where is all this money going to come from? The answer lies in the chart.
The new song taking over phoenix airwaves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwDvF0NtgdU
“RA” = “RF”
The 152.9 millions RF shares were priced at $5.90 a share, anything more than that is pure profit to the Market Makers.
The deal closes Monday (Translation: The MMs take possession of the 152.9 milions shares Monday) so it may be on Monday that the shares will be dumped into a well-prepared stock market.
Pump ‘em and dump ‘em.
For a bit of a read google-up “regions financial prices 152.9″; That should get you there.
Right now the pre-market bid/ask price for RF is 6.53/6.54, up from yesterday’s close of 6.44.
It should be a real fun day for RF.
Short now, or short after the Monday pump-up?
Timing is everything.
Somebody kicked it sky high on Weds March 14.
The answer lies in the chart.
Wow, that’s a nice spike in volume alright.
I would have expected the stock to take a dip on the revelation that previous owners are about to experience significant dilution.
If you go to Yahoo Finance and search the SEC filings for RF you will discover the latest entry was made on March 13. The filing for registering to sell 152.9 million shares that came out March 14 is not there.
RF is going to dump onto the market 152.9 million shares beginning Monday and Yahoo Finance does not even give a hint that this is going to happen. IMHO this says a lot about Yahoo Finance and who pulls their strings.
The velocity of money, as measured by M2, just touched on a level last seen when I was a wee lad. Should we care, and how should American households factor this information in their financial decisions?
Here is the graph Combo posted a day or so back.
One thing I recall about the period from 1966 through 1982 is that it was not exactly a joy ride for those US investors whose portfolios were loaded down with either long-term bonds or stocks. But maybe HFT can fix the problem?
Go to cash.
The velocity of money is a measure of how rapidly money is changing hands. If money isn’t changing hands very rapidly then that is a sign that people are hanging on to what money they have rather than spending it.
A consumer-based economy depends on consumers spending money. If consumers are not doing so then such an economy is hosed.
What would M2 look like without record government transfer payments? What would GDP look like without record government spending?
It would look like the last Great Depression. Except worse, because half the population wouldn’t be living on farms.
Picture zombie hordes, post-Katrina New Orleans, et cetera…
“…because half the population wouldn’t be living on farms.”
Bonu$ points to Alpha for “body-of-knowledge” + per$pective.
And without the Dust Bowl.
The current Dust Bowl is in Texas. Although I understand things have gotten a little better in the past few months.
“…current Dust Bowl…”
Two of the PIIGS:
Spain, Portugal face worst drought in 70 years
Published On Thu Mar 15 2012
A street is seen in Robres village, Huesca, Spain, Tuesday. Spain is suffering the driest winter in more than 70 years, adding yet another woe for an economically distressed country that can scarcely afford it. Thousands of jobs and many millions of euros could be in jeopardy.
Emilio Morenatti/AP
Daniel Woolls Associated Press
ROBRES, SPAIN—Fernando Luna, a burly Spanish farmer, yanks a barley sprout from a field as dry as powder. He examines its roots, which are mostly dead, then tosses the stunted shoot away in disgust.
“Worthless! This is worthless!” Luna shouts.
Spain is suffering through its driest winter in more than 70 years and bailed-out Portugal next door is in similar straits. Thousands of jobs and many millions in agricultural output are in jeopardy.
Both nations are desperately short of so much: tax revenues, bank credit, jobs, hope for the future. Now, it won’t even rain.
…
The velocity of money is a measure of how rapidly money is changing hands. If money isn’t changing hands very rapidly then that is a sign that people are hanging on to what money they have rather than spending it.
Possible alternate explanation: consumers are spending about like they usually do (see retail sales data), but banks are sitting on an unprecedented amount of cash in the form of reserves (which the Fed pumped into them). Big corps are sitting on lots of cash too.
It might not be the consumer at all this time.
A somewhat speculative but reasonable presumption is that debt service is driving the velocity into the ground and once the debt is retired, velocity will accelerate rapidly. Not a forecast.
Here’s my suspicion on why this is: No long term stability. The government itself is picking and choosing winners. The Supercommittee tax and spending cuts - are they real or will they be whittled away? What’s the tax situation going to be? What is the long term housing situation? What will the elections bring?
So, if lack of an ability to plan longer term exists, it may well be what is causing people to sit back and keep their powder dry.
Also - state of the economy is uncertain. Recession? Recovery?
I’m guessing after the election, the longer term outlook should become clearer. But, I’m looking to hire a a haruspex in any case
I suspect that not too many people are keeping their powder dry. The majority of people I know are running just a little short on powder. A lot of people were borrowing to keep up over the past decade and now that is getting more difficult. The government is trying to take up the slack (borrowing) but isn’t quite. I think the velocity of M is down because we have passed Peak Credit. it is not going to come back in our lifetimes, JMO.
This is fine for me, I have not been able to compete well with borrowers.
How do you know when companies are lying about their performance?
Chinese Companies Forced to Falsify Data, Government Says
By Bloomberg News - Mar 16, 2012 12:01 AM PT
Forbes Conrad/Bloomberg
Factory workers in China.
China’s statistics bureau said local officials forced some hotels, coal miners and aluminum makers to report false numbers, highlighting flaws in data tracking the world’s second-largest economy.
Statistics officials in Hejin city in northern Shanxi province gave companies “seriously untrue” numbers to submit for 2011, the Beijing-based National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement on its website dated March 12.
Discrepancies between national and local numbers for gross domestic product indicate the task that remains for officials seeking to bolster confidence in the statistics system. So far, steps have included crackdowns on leaks of market-moving numbers and direct online reporting of data by companies to limit opportunities for provincial officials to massage the numbers.
“The national bureau is demonstrating its resolve in improving the nation’s data accuracy but it has a long way to go,” said Lu Ting, a Hong Kong-based economist at Bank of America Corp. In general, national-level data from the bureau is “more trustworthy” while local numbers “need a closer look.”
…
One is reminded of the “Great Leap Forward.”
Any thoughts on whether the Fed will keep a lid on low interest rates indefinitely?
Investing|
3/15/2012 @ 8:57PM
Where will rates go once the FED stops meddling?
Ending Operation Twist Alone Should Push Rates Higher by o.4% In A Year
Since 2008, the Federal Reserve has been interfering with interest rates to a degree which is unprecedented in my lifetime. In the early 80’s, The FED under Paul Volker (SIC) raised rates to sky-high levels, creating a recession in order to kill inflation. However, I believe the current effort to keep rates low and the creative new policy tools employed to accomplish this goal is even more dramatic than the measures taken by Volker.
…
they wont end their printing till home prices are rising agin.
they wont end their printing till home prices are rising again.
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/pimco-bill-gross-qe3-inflation-muted-growth-way-115229488.html
Bill gross thinks the FED will ease forever
either that or pay down my credit card so i can buy new front rotors for the car. the money has to be put somewhere…..
We’re No. 1: Small towns in Mass most expensive for renters
You have to be pulling down more than $31 an hour to afford the average two bedroom apartment in small towns across the state, a new report finds.
That’s about $64,000 a year.
But here’s the rub: The average renter in our state is making not much more than half of that, pulling down $16.94 an hour, the National Low Income Housing Coalition finds in its annual “Out of Reach” report.
Massachusetts always ranks near the top in surveys of the most expensive rental markets, just below even higher cost states like Hawaii, New York and California.
But when the state’s cities are subtracted from the equation, Massachusetts suddenly leaps to the top of the pack
http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/blogs/renow/2012/03/were_no_1_small.html
Government costs a lot of money.
That’s why Massachusetts, Hawaii, New York and California are so expensive. Voters tend to pay the price for their decisions.
Government costs a lot of money.
$o does infastructure$
Now let’s compare North Dakota population$ (x2 US Senators), with California’s population$ (x2 US Senators)
Notice anything right away?
[OK, besides effects of earthquakes on required repair$)
Yeah, I do.
I notice that big governments lead to lotS of infrastructure that later need repair. Government costs lotSa money.
People who vote in lot$a government create lotSa debt for themselves. And, since many of those same people cannot pay for that lot$a debt, there’s lot$a leeches living in such places.
Doesn’t mean it gets repaired. I-25 looks as awful as ever.
“Government costs lot$a moneie$”
Good thing only the children of Wealthie$ & $uffering $o’s volunteer & are paid $$ to fight for America.
You definitely have one helluva point on that one, Hwy. I agree 100%.
Mortgage brokers and serial refinancers who were reaping huge benefits from the fraud and corruption years after this blog was started get millions while Ben Jones gets nothing. What a bunch of BS.
“Szymoniak declined to comment.” I wonder why?
Whistleblowers reap millions in U.S. mortgage suits
By Rick Rothacker
Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:11pm EDT
(Reuters) - Troubled homeowners are not the only ones set to get a financial lift from the U.S. government’s $25 billion landmark mortgage settlement.
Whistleblowers who were instrumental in revealing epidemic mortgage abuses, some of whom risked their careers to do so, are getting multi-million-dollar payouts, court documents show.
Victor Bibby and Brian Donnelly, two Georgia mortgage brokers, are among the handful of whistleblowers whose stories are coming into focus.
Bibby and Donnelly said they started noticing in 2005 that lenders were charging veterans hidden fees on mortgage refinancing - a violation of the government’s Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loans program.
The lenders also used false assignments to submit Federal Housing Administration insurance claims, prosecutors said.
The whistleblower in the case, Florida homeowner Lynn Szymoniak, will receive $18 million.
She gained national attention last year when CBS’ “60 Minutes” profiled her role in uncovering the robo-signing of foreclosure documents by large lenders.
While trying to save her own home from foreclosure, according to the “60 Minutes” report, Szymoniak used her legal training to research other mortgages and discovered that a “Linda Green” had signed thousands of mortgage documents, in varying signature styles.
Multiple employees in a mortgage document “sweat shop” in Georgia were using the name Linda Green to recreate missing mortgage assignment documents for the banks, the report said.
Szymoniak declined to comment.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/14/us-settlement-whistleblowers-idUSBRE82D1G620120314 - 103k -
Help offered to 600 lb. man facing eviction
Erin Logan
New Haven, Conn. (WTNH) -
Published : Wednesday, 14 Mar 2012, 3:38 PM EDT
A 600 pound New Haven may says his landlord is evicting him and his mom because of his weight problem. The talk around town is that it’s just a bad situation all together, and now people are stepping up to help.
Meanwhile, the landlord is sticking by his story that the man’s weight is not an issue.
While Debbie Verab cares for her 600 pound son, Joseph, and her three-year-old grandson, her worries don’t stop there. On Thursday, she’ll be in court fighting eviction.
http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_haven_cty/help-offered-to-600-lb-man-facing-eviction - 58k
I’d say let him stay…as long as a renters insurance policy will cover damage from him standing in a tub of water, or sitting on the toilet as its falls to the first floor….
Lots of codozes and co-ops require you to have proof of renters insurance each year before they will issue a lease.
Where is the three year old grandson’s mother? Is 600 pound Joseph the father?
That is the thing that amazed me—this guy actually managed to impregnate someone???
How much did he weigh 4 years ago?
“Since when has it been part of American patriotism to keep our mouths shut?” - Hillary Clinton 2006
“Blind faith in bad leadership is not patriotism” - Hillary Clinton 2006
“Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism” - Hillary Clinton 2006
Secret Service Gets Authority To Limit Free Speech
Mar-15-2012
President Obama last week signed into law the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011. A fairly benign, and non-threatening name for a bill which Judge Andrew Napolitano says gives the Secret Service unprecedented authority to limit free speech.
Napolitano writes, “This law permits Secret Service agents to designate any place they wish as a place where free speech, association and petition of the government are prohibited. And it permits the Secret Service to make these determinations based on the content of speech. Thus, federal agents whose work is to protect public officials and their friends may prohibit the speech and the gatherings of folks who disagree with those officials or permit the speech and the gatherings of those who would praise them, even though the First Amendment condemns content-based speech discrimination by the government.”
Freedom of speech is perhaps our great right and should be protected at all times. Something this President, and oh by the way this Congress, seem to only want to protect when what they are hearing is pleasing to their ears.
The “Judge” encapsulates this legal abomination perfectly, “This abominable legislation enjoyed overwhelming support from both political parties in Congress because the establishment loves power, fears dissent and hates inconvenience, and it doesn’t give a damn about the Constitution. It passed the Senate by unanimous consent, and only three members of the House voted against it. And the president signed it in secret. It is more typical of contemporary China than America. It is more George III than George Washington.”
http://www.loudobbs.com/b/Secret-Service-Gets-Authority-To-Limit-Free-Speech/-449393420036111215.html - -
March 12, 2012, 11:48 AM.Civil Liberties Advocates See Backslide in New Trespass Law.
The difference one word can make.
Last week, President Obama signed into law the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011, which has been called “the anti-Occupy” bill, but as the ACLU points out, it was the elimination of one word from an existing law that could make life harder for protesters.
As first-year criminal law students know, most crimes require that a certain state of mind be proven. The new law re-writes an existing 1971 trespass law, which stated someone had to act “willfully and knowingly” when committing the crime.
Now, the language has been changed so that the actor only need behave “knowingly,” which would mean knowing one was in a restricted area but not necessarily that he or she was committing a crime. This small change would allow the Secret Service to arrest protestors more easily, the ACLU said in a statement.
The law makes it an offense to knowingly enter the certain areas without legal authority. The following areas are off-limits:
(1) the White House or its grounds or the Vice President’s official residence or its grounds, (2) a building or grounds where the President or other person protected by the Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting, or (3) a building or grounds so restricted due to a special event of national significance.
The bill originally passed the House of Representatives 399-3 in February 2011. On Feb. 6 of this year it passed the Senate with changes, which were approved by the House. The president signed the bill into law on March 8.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.), who introduced the measure in the Senate, said it will “improve the law enforcement tools available to the Secret Service in its attempts to protect the President, the Vice President, and others on a day-to-day basis by closing loopholes in the current federal law,” according to his statement.
He added: “The new law should punish and deal more effectively with anyone who illegally enters restricted areas to threaten the President, Vice President, or other Secret Service protectees.”
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/03/12/civil-liberties-advicates-see-backslide-in-new-trespass-law/ - 64k -
A new bill, HR 347, the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011, also known as the “Trespassing Bill,” is soon to be signed into law by President Obama. This bill effectively criminalizes protest and will hurt protest groups and movements such as Occupy quite hard.
The bill as states that anyone who knowingly “enters or remains in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority to do so” with the “intent to impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions, engages in disorderly or disruptive conduct in or [in] proximity to, any restricted building or grounds” or “impedes or disrupts the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions” will be punished with a fine or “or imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or both.” (emphasis added)
There are already many problems with the bill as it does not attempt to define what “imped[ing] or disrupt[ing] the orderly conduct of government business or official functions” is, nor does it specify what “government business” is or what an “official function” is. This vagueness will allow for the US government to effectively stifle protest and free speech, thus criminalizing such actions like the upcoming Occupy Chicago anti-NATO/G-8 protests. In addition to this, such a law will make it impossible for Americans to exercise their First Amendment rights when “government business” is being attended to or “official functions” are occurring.
Unsurprisingly, only three people voted against the measure: Paul Broun (R-GA-10), Justin Amash (R-MI-3) and Ron Paul (R-TX-14). This law would allow federal law enforcement “to bring these charges against Americans engaged in political protests anywhere in the country, and violators will face criminal penalties that include imprisonment for up to 10 years.” HR 347 will is ripe for abuse, as the NYPD has, as of recent, assumed the notion that taking photos and videotaping is a form of disorderly conduct.
The fact that only three people in the House, all Republicans oppose the bill and absolutely no Democrats (see the voting list here), only shows just how both parties are just two sides of the same coin.
http://www.dailypaul.com/219755/hr-347-the-criminalization-of-protest - 95k -
How is U.S. consumer confidence holding up in the face of nascent consumer price inflation?
Is it safe to ignore this news of inflation in the volatile food-and-energy sector?
March 16, 2012, 10:27 a.m. EDT
Consumer prices rise sharply in February
Cost of gas jumps 6% to mark biggest increase in over two years
By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The cost of living in February rose by the fastest amount in 10 months as Americans paid sharply higher prices for gasoline, according to the latest government data.
The consumer price index jumped 0.4% last month on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Labor Department said Friday. That was slightly below the 0.5% increase forecast by a MarketWatch survey of economists.
The higher cost of consumption last month easily outstripped a 0.1% gain in hourly pay for U.S. workers. As a result, inflation-adjusted earnings fell 0.3% in February to mark the second straight decline.
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March 16, 2012, 10:57 a.m. EDT
Sentiment drops for first time since August
By Ruth Mantell, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Consumer sentiment in March declined for the first time since August, as rising gasoline prices contributed to a downturn in expectations, according to a key gauge released Friday.
The University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters said sentiment fell to 74.3 in a preliminary reading for March from a final level of 75.3 for February. U.S. stocks struggled after the sentiment data was published. Read more about stocks.
Opposing forces are impacting consumers — jobs reports are positive and stocks are gaining, but gasoline prices are also rising. According to the Energy Information Administration, gas prices averaged $3.88 a gallon last week, up from $2.72 at the beginning of the year. Read more about jobs.
“Households are balking at higher gasoline prices,” said Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, a London-based research firm. “The continued rally in equity prices is now being more than offset by the jump in gasoline prices.”
Higher gas prices helped drive one-year inflation expectations to 4% in March from 3.3% in February, according to UMich. Elsewhere Friday, the government reported that the cost of living is accelerating, with sharply higher gas prices. Read more about inflation.
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March 16, 2012, 11:02 a.m. EDT
Treasurys head to work week since July
By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices fell on Friday, adding to a weekly rise in yields that’s the biggest since July,
Bonds pared losses after a trio of “bond-friendly” economic reports, said Gary Pollack, head of fixed-income trading at Deutsche Bank’s private-wealth-management unit.
The data will likely allow the Federal Reserve to maintain easy monetary-policy measures but at the same time further reduce the argument for expanding the central bank’s bond-purchase program.
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Damn weather messing up industrial output again…
March 16, 2012, 10:57 a.m. EDT
Industrial output flat in February
Details of the report stronger than headline
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The output of the nation’s factories, mines and utilities was flat in February, the Federal Reserve said Friday.
This was well below Wall Street expectations of a 0.4% gain.
February production was suppressed by a drop in mining, a decline in auto production and a flat reading for utility output due to the warm winter.
Offsetting this weakness, January production was revised up to a 0.4% increase from the initial estimate of unchanged.
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NY Fed William Dudley, i-pads are cheaper, etc. Didn’t you get the memo?
Do you mean the “official” confidence index, or the real world index?
My travel plans for the summer have not changed. But with all the $ I’m spending on gas am “confident” I won’t be contributing much (if anything) to the local economies of Breckenridge, Aspen, Telluride, et cetera, as I’ll just bring my own ramen noodles with me…
The son’s soccer team usually goes to the Steamboat Springs tournament each summer. Over the years the decline in team numbers has become very evident. This year, the team parents voted to drop Steamboat and the boys will be playing in a tournament in Boulder instead which will allow us to commute from home instead of staying in hotels.
OK PB, you win the award today for most self answered posts. Ever.
De nada.
Facebook Realtor posting on facebook
http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2012/03/15/short-sales-get-shorter-new-deadlines-go-effect#.T2NfFsCdMfc.facebook
•Servicers must notify a borrower immediately if a deficiency payment is needed to approve the short sale. They also must provide an estimated amount for the deficiency payment needed for the short sale. ”
not spring it on them at the last minute ?
How about a discussion on how family and community ties are being trashed, and are being replaced by “consumer/product ties”
It used to be your identity was tied into your family, your immediate community, and yes, your race and religion (admittedly, for better and worse).
In 21st century USA, these ties are becoming weak and non-existent for a lot of people, and have been replaced by “stuff”…….sports teams, consumer products, one-issue politics.
And once you feel you are part of a “team”, you really have to screw up bad for people to renounce their membership. Joining the wrong team is a sign of poor judgement, you see………
You can list any number of professional sports teams who are mediocre, year in and year out, who are somehow able to con people into remaining loyal “Fans”; even raising their own taxes to build the team a new stadium, because they don’t want to “lose them”.
I don’t think this was ever part of a master plan, but once discovered, was a bandwagon that business has jumped on. The question is, can this cycle be broken?
The question is, can this cycle be broken?
Nope.
This is just smart marketing meets human nature; we still have a large element of the “pack” (as in wolf-pack as opposed to pack-animal) or “clan” nature in us. Once your identity is that of the pack, it is very hard to shake that identity.
It’s the same reason that people can’t leave cults. Since it is deeply in our DNA, I would expect that it will ever be so.
I need to start a “Supermodels who think mechanics are hot” cult.
Doesn’t increased insecurity in difficult times lead to even more “pack identification” motives? and ever more illogical pack themes?
“and yes, your race and religion (admittedly, for better and worse).”
Hey, so consumer/product ties are the great racial equalizer? Score one for the “let the market decide” crowd!
Mayor Bloomberg is sticking up for banksters who refer to their clients as “muppets.” I guess those 1%ers have to stick together? I’m sorry, but this is over the top. Let’s just agree that Gollum’s culture is abusive and condescending towards its muppets, er, I mean, clients, and move on.
And by the way, was Bloomberg’s comment meant to suggest he doesn’t realize that God actually runs Goldman Sachs?
FT dot com
Last updated: March 16, 2012 10:11 pm
New York mayor backs Goldman chief
By Tom Braithwaite, Tracy Alloway and Helen Thomas in New York
Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City, said on Friday that not even God could lead Goldman Sachs without criticism, as he defended the investment bank’s head after a rare attack from within its own ranks.
Goldman has been battling a stream of negative press since Greg Smith, a middle-ranking derivatives salesman, resigned on Tuesday, publicly accusing Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive, of presiding over a “toxic” culture in which bankers were “ripping off clients” and referring to customers as “muppets”.
Mr Bloomberg said the attack on Mr Blankfein was ridiculous. “He’s trying to lead this firm at a time when God couldn’t lead it without being criticised,” the billionaire mayor, who started his own career as an investment banker, told the Financial Times.
Mr Blankfein, who once said the bank was “doing God’s work” but later expressed regret over the comment, has remained silent in public over the latest blow to its reputation.
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Wealth Matters
A Forecast for Low Returns, and Advice for Investors
Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times
Jean L. P. Brunel, chief investment officer at GenSpring Family Offices, says low interest rates have made the investment environment “radically different.”
By PAUL SULLIVAN
Published: March 16, 2012
THE stock market seems to have found its footing lately, touching levels not seen since early 2008.
So I was surprised to hear Jean L. P. Brunel, chief investment officer at GenSpring Family Offices, tell me that he was preparing his clients for a sustained period of low investment returns. And further, he is counseling those clients — families with hundreds of millions of dollars — that they may need to spend less or change their estate plan.
If this is his advice for the wealthy, what does it mean for people with considerably less, who may simply be saving for retirement?
Mr. Brunel argues that the classic link among the return premiums for bonds over cash and stocks over bonds still holds, but they are substantially lower because of the low interest rates set by the Federal Reserve.
Here is how it works. The return on cash is typically the expected rate of inflation plus some real interest rate that is derived from the rate a central bank sets to promote growth. The return on bonds is cash plus some additional amount to account for the duration of the bond. The return on equities is the bond returns plus some premium for the risk associated with stocks.
He noted that cash typically had a return of 4 percent, putting bonds at 6 percent and stocks at 8 to 9 percent. With cash now yielding zero, that has lowered bonds’ return to 2 to 2.5 percent and stocks to 5 percent. The problem, as he sees it, is that too many people are stuck on the old numbers.
“I don’t want you to read into this that we have precise information on real returns,” he said. “I could be wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time. But whichever way you cut it, the environment is radically different.”
Sure, the stock market is off to a nice start this year. But 2011 also started strong — until the tsunami in Japan and the uprisings throughout the Arab world touched off a downward spiral. For the year, the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index finished flat, unless you include dividends, which put it up 2.1 percent.
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Auguries—The Muppet Show
Resource Clips Mar 16, 2012 – 5:49 PM ET
A Muppet is ready for her close-up.
By Kevin Michael Grace
Gold was down (at press time) $42.50 (-2.5%) for the week to $1,658.70, and silver was down $1.41 (-4.2%) to $32.50. Reuters attributed gold’s decline to (narrative alert!) “removal of the premium attached to further quantitative easing, with prices giving up almost all of the gains made since January 25 when the Fed signaled the potential for additional policy stimulus.” In addition, “A modest upgrade of the [Fed's] economic outlook gave the dollar fresh impetus and investors an excuse to lighten holdings of bullion.”
This column has noted the MSM’s decision to ignore the substantial quantitative easing promulgated by the European Central Bank. Which was not enough, according to Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of the Telegraph: “M1 money supply growth in the big G7 economies and leading E7 emerging powers buckled over the winter. The gauge…peaked at 5.1% in November. It dropped to 3.6% in January and to 2.1% in February. This is comparable to falls seen in mid-2008 in the months leading up to the Great Recession.”
“Rightly or wrongly,” Evans-Pritchard asserts, “the US Federal Reserve does not intend to do anything about this. Time is running out for Ben Bernanke before the US election season closes the political window on fresh stimulus, yet he gave no hint of largesse in his latest testimony to Congress. He fretted about inflation instead, causing gold to crash over $100 (£64) an ounce within hours.”
Evans-Pritchard may well be right about the Ben Bernanke’s intentions, but given that President Obama is close to panic regarding rising gas prices, it seems unlikely he would risk having the nascent “recovery” strangled in its crib.
John Manfreda at Wall Street for Main St agrees. “There is no way the government will be able to finance its budget without more Quantitative Easing,” he writes. “So this year I expect the QE trigger to be pulled; now I am not sure if they will call it Quantitative Easing, but it will be done regardless.” Furthermore, “If the Euro gets devalued due to the crisis in Greece, the ECB will most likely fire up the printing press, and the Euro could come close to a one to one ratio with the US dollar. This scenario would make US exports very expensive in the Euro region and drastically hurt the US export market. As a response, the US would most likely issue another round of QE.”
Technically, QE refers to the issuance of Treasury bonds bought by the US Government. What most people don’t know about this is that the USG does not simply move the numbers from one side of the balance sheet to the other but rather employs investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, which make a tidy profit facilitating this switcheroo.
So further QE would be good news for Goldman Sachs, which could use some. Yesterday, Greg Smith, described as “executive director and head of [Goldman's] United States equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa,” resigned and dropped a bomb on his erstwhile employer in the New York Times.
Smith doesn’t beat about the bush. In the first paragraph of his essay, he describes Goldman as “toxic and destructive.” He explains, “Today, if you make enough money for the firm (and are not currently an ax murderer) you will be promoted into a position of influence.” And the best way to make money is to persuade clients to buy junk paper.
As might be expected, Goldman does not have a high opinion of its clients. Smith reports, “It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off. Over the last 12 months I have seen five different managing directors refer to their own clients as ‘muppets,’ sometimes over internal email.”
Smith concludes with a call to reform. “I hope this can be a wake-up call to the board of directors. Make the client the focal point of your business again. Without clients you will not make money. In fact, you will not exist.”
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