Bits Bucket for March 18, 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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“Besides, how many people are tuned into hurricane statistics as an explanatory variable for insurance stocks?”
I’m not worthy! I’m not worthy!
Me neither. I can’t figure out how to cook lentils properly. I can’t even figure out if you are supposed to do it like rice (add water and cook until it is all absorbed) or like pasta (cook in a lot of water and drain when done). And I know you don’t add salt until the end, but I have no idea if that applies to other stuff and what that other stuff should be. I certainly couldn’t get anyone to fight over lentils I cooked.
OMB, I better put my copy of this book in a lockbox…
P.S. Lentils are the easiest legumes to prepare.
The Bean, Pea & Lentil Cookbook [Book] by Maria Luisa Scott, Jack Denton Scott in Books
$119 online
By Maria Luisa Scott, Jack Denton Scott - Consumer Reports Books (1991) - Paperback - 216 pages - ISBN 0890433631
Provides recipes for appetizers, soups, salads, vegetable dishes, side dishes, and main dishes that feature legumes
I can’t speak to that book specifically, but almost all the recipes I find start with “cook the lentils” and then go on to the other steps. Hardly the information I need.
Lentils? Totally NOT rocket science.
Wash lentils.
Cover with water. Add salt. Cook at low heat for the right amount of time. (*)
When draining, retain the water. It’s absurdly nutritious.
(*) Depends on which lentil, and also mode of eating. Do you want it to be firm like for a salad, or cooked through, or does it go into a dish later which will be cooked through, etc.
Cook at low heat for the right amount of time. (*)
Do you just guestimate? Eat a few occassionally to check doneness?
Any tips on approximate length of time for firm vs cooked through?
“Do you just guestimate? Eat a few occassionally to check doneness?”
I certainly hope those were meant to be a rhetorical questions.
In case not, Google is your friend.
I forgot one “detail”. You can pre-soak them overnight but that means the skin will split. If that’s not a textural issue, for example if you are going to purée them later, then do it. It’ll save you time and energy.
However, this is a detail. I doubt most people are as passionate about this stuff as me.
“You can pre-soak them overnight but that means the skin will split.”
My legumes cook book suggests this is unnecessary for lentils, as opposed to other legumes, and I agree with the writer.
However, de gustibus non est dipsutandum.
I’m a little ashamed to report this, but I found a package of TastyBite lentils (CostCo purchase) in the pantry. Added a little Trader Joe’s habaneros pepper sauce and a slice of mozzarella cheese, nuked it for 90 seconds, and scooped it up with Trader Joe’s felafel chips — affordable fast food ecstasy in two minutes time!
TastyBite
I used to eat those TastyBite lentils all the time at work! They were crazy-cheap when TJ’s first started carrying them—not sure about now…
Eventually I started to become concerns about the content of their plastic box for warming it in; I now avoid anything plastic in contact with hot food.
“I now avoid anything plastic in contact with hot food.”
Same here; I emptied them into a bowl before adding habanero pepper sauce and swiss cheese, then nuking.
P.S. Lentils are the easiest legumes to prepare.
If they are so darn easy, how about a one-paragraph explanation? And why would a book on such a “simple” topic be so darned expensive??
Dish, PB…
FPSS covered it quite well immediately above.
Over the years, it has dawned on me that the processed food business makes its huge profits off people who are too lazy to follow simple recipes.
‘And why would a book on such a “simple” topic be so darned expensive??’
Apparently it’s out of print.
The same thing would presumably happen to Ben’s Bucks w/o QE3.
You don’t need a book. You just need to hit an Indian grocery store.
Read above.
Lentils are good for you. And easy. And they are freakin’ delicious!
And if more people knew about them, they’d stop b1tching about food prices.
“And if more people knew about them, they’d stop b1tching about food prices.”
You, sir, are an incorrigible optimist.
“And if more people knew about them, they’d stop b1tching about food prices.”
Wouldn’t the price go up if that happened?
Yeah, probably because people just love to complain.
However, let’s see the economics:
Maybe $4-$6 for a 2-lb bag. Let’s say you get 10 different kinds because the same ol’, same ol’ gets boring. (I’d have more but that’s neither here nor there.)
That’s about $50.
It’ll last me about 2 years, I think, or more! Family of 4 and throw in larger appetites, etc. will still get you to about 4-5 months.
And it’s below food stamp level finances!
HELLO?!? Is anybody at all listening?
Yes, and a scrap of ham.
I like to add crispy sauted chopped onions at the last minute.
Lentil Central here. Hear the man, Puss speaks the truth.
Boil lentils, fast or slow to the desired degree of mushiness or firmness. Drain or don’t. Save the water for veggie stock. Then chop up whatever animal and/or vegetable matter is left in your refrigerator, garden, larder, throw it in the pot, and season as the spirit moves you. If it sucks, give it to the dog and start over; they’re cheap and easy.
As I type, I’m rotisserie grilling a spicy lamb roast which I’ll dice with bitter greens, and cloved garden parsnips to throw into the pot cooling on my stove. Served with homemade herbed poppy-sesame seed cracker bread, it’s a perfect spicy-savory supper for a snowy March afternoon. Yummerz.
PS. There are thousands of recipes online for the hesitant or unimaginative.
“There are thousands of recipes online for the hesitant or unimaginative.”
But it takes time and effort to type ‘lentils’ into the subject line on Google and hash through suggestions, not to mention the effort to hie your arse over to the store to buy lentils, then to turn on the stove, boil water and cook them.
On that note, I am going to go cook some post haste…
You’ll be happy to know that my homemade lentil soup is my standard work lunch.
There you go again with the hieing :-).
As I type, I’m rotisserie grilling a spicy lamb roast
Hey! As I type, I’m grilling a leg o’ lamb over wood chips (hickory- I think the sweetness goes well with lamb) for my mum’s b-day. My brother is assigned side dishes, so god knows what’s coming there.
Polly- I think most lentil soups taste better when pureed- so that solves the consistency problem. Don’t cook them like rice, use more water. Simmer them til they’re soft, in salted, seasoned water, then puree with a hand immersion blender. Curry goes well with lentils (esp red, with ginger and garlic), thyme and one or two bay leaves go well (especially with green lentils- remove bay leaf prior to pureeing). Either way, cook the seasonings with the lentils.
Recipe for quick and easy red lentil soup:
Toast curry powder in dry pan over low heat til very fragrant, scooting it around so it doesn’t burn. Then add butter or olive oil, scooch it around with the curry powder, then add diced yellow onions, ’sweat’ them til they softening, then add salt, pepper, and garlic as the onion is almost soft- don’t burn the garlic! Add rinsed red lentils, cover with water by an inch or two, cook til lentils are soft, let cool a little, puree til smooth, adjust seasonings, and eat with flat bread- ideally naan.
Want to get a little fancier? Finely dice some fresh cilantro and lime zest, add it to softened, room temp butter, mix it up, plop it on plastic wrap and form it into a cylinder in the wrap and twist it up like a, um, cigar. Put it in the fridge til it’s hard, then slice a piece off and top each bowl of soup with it when you serve it- delicious! And super easy.
perfect spicy-savory supper for a snowy March afternoon
Crikey! We’ve skipped having an early Spring, and have gone directly into two-month-early Summer. 77 degrees, blazing sun, everyone in shorts. Lamb on the barby. Life is good.
I just buy the Progresso Lentil soup when it’s on sale.
The amount of sodium in canned soup is absurdly ludicrous.
sodium
There is no scientific evidence that this is bad for you, unless you have pre-existing high blood pressure or heart disease.
Polly,
Cook like rice until the water is absorbsed. Unlike most legumes no need to pre-soak the lentils. They are so small they cook in in about 30 minutes for al dente. Start by boiling then lower to to a simmer so you don’t have to stand over them the entire time. Hope this helps.
Suggestion, when you say cook until the water is absorbed, you have to specify how much water.
By the way, let me add that I have a problem that goes absurdly beyond the actual cooking. The last time I tried it they were mushy and not very appetizing (I have no idea what spices to put in or how much salt is needed). Then I got the most horrendous case of food poisoning ever. I have no reason to believe the lentils were to blame (I think I know what was to blame), but the association is sort of stuck in my lizard brain as the lentils definitely “reappeared” multiple times.
I had a similar issue with peanut butter and jelly for over a decade. I was eating a PB&J once and a kid in my class came over and did a neck pinch thing. I startled so hard I fell over backwards in the chair and bashed my head on the concrete floor - hard. Probably had a mild concussion. Didn’t eat PB&J for another 15 years or so. I had no problem knowing that PB&J doesn’t make you hit your head. I just couldn’t eat it. Now I have the same isue with the lentils I cook myself. Couldn’t touch ‘em. I can manage the Trade Joes pre-steamed ones, but buying them already cooked doesn’t help with the cheapness factor. Maybe if I knew what else to put in them, they would smell different and I could get over it.
“The last time I tried it they were mushy and not very appetizing…”
= overcooked
= overcooked
Puree those suckers.
Just for the record:
I didn’t know how to cook until I started on this blog 5 years ago.
“Me neither.”
I was joking!
Realtors Are Liars®
The local realtors I’ve spoken with (many here meet at the post office to discuss what’s on their minds) in my rural-ish Arizona town say they never made more commission moola than in 2011. This year they aren’t doing so good as less steal deals and for some reason steal deal inventory has really fallen and legit want to sellers gave up trying to compete against the bank crooks and their inventory of take backs.
steal deal
Does that mean a great deal? Like they’re stealing it? Any examples?
But facebook Realtor® says Denver’s supply is decreasing and prices are rising.
I don’t know about Denver, but things are really tightening up in the more desirable areas around Sacramento.
Inventory is very low, foreclosure listings are about half of what they were a year ago.
We have been trying to get a house under contract for my daughter and keep getting out bid. 2,000 SF homes that sold for $150,000 last summer are now listed at $165,000 to $175,000. They are getting multiple offers, with some exceeding the asking prices. Of course these are the very same houses that sold for $349,000 in 2006, but prices do seem to have reached a bottom around here.
where are the desirable areas in sacramento county?
The exits.
The exits.
LOL, with a snort
Nice, amazing. Really nice.
Many properties come on high because it’s the start of the season, and if last year’s inventory moved relatively well, they’ll come on higher to test the ceiling. Our realtor talks about this right in front of me, as if, as I buyer, I’d be celebrating that with her. But I think last season a lot of inventory moved due to seller capitulation which means if this season’s sellers try to move back up too fast, the properties will again just sit until the reductions.
It may be that these sellers attempted to sit out the slowdown and now have some media driven ideas that things are getting back to normal but in my anecdotal circle this is realtor driven.
“some media driven ideas that things are getting back to normal but in my anecdotal circle this is realtor driven.”
BINGO
It is absolutely Liar driven. I’ve been communicating with a Liar (undisclosed location) and the Liar is using very subdued language implying a hot market. My hyper-sensitivity to Liar lies imediately puts me on defense and I quickly question the Liar on their language. What happens? They backpedal. Put Liars on the defense and do it quickly and tactfully. Force Liars to substantiate their airy fairy suggestions. the fact is sales are still half what they were and the only activity is churn and escape.
Take note Liars. Take note readers. Take note public.
Wife and I went to Costa Mesa in SoCal to look at open houses.
Saw a great, 1962 4/2 on 1/4 acre with pool for around $750k.
Way, way above our strike price. Nice place, though.
Truly low inventory in 92626.
What boiled my cookies is when the dowdy fill-in sitting agent said she thought this summer we would be back to bidding wars.
She wasn’t even salivating but her eyes were wide open with the prospect of the piranha-like frenzy.
Sold six, listed two, and generally had a good past 12 months.
Can’t we finally get past the fallacious assumption that the real estate bubble is somehow homogeneous??
We are not hot Toronto nor Seattle nor Detroit.
I reassert my hypothesis that R/E can, indeed, be local, at least in the short run.
Imagine the collapse in CA’s future.
Assuming she sold 6 properties at $750k, that’s $750k * .015 * 6 = $67.5k. I’d call that generally good. But I’d also say that’s about the most I think a realtor “should” make.
I’ll tell you what I think i happening in Denver:
In the nabes where the Managerial Class lives, with their German cars, where each kid has his or her own iPad, I hear of bidding wars.
In the nabes where the unwashed live (which are the majority of neighborhoods): foreclosures and falling prices.
I have even heard of select neighborhoods in Ft. Collins where there are bidding wars, even though the majority of the fort languishes.
It’s really weird.
No, it’s not weird; in fact it’s a good sign that today’s buyers are picky about neighborhoods and schools. It means they are treating the home as a place the live and not an investment.
And they have plenty of money or else plenty of credit. I think that’s the part that is surprising.
Like I said, its mostly the managerial (and to a lesser degree, the “professional” class). There are a few young pup coworkers who are chomping at the bit to buy a house in Broomfield or Highlands Ranch, and have lost more than one bidding war already.
It means they are treating the home as a place the live and not an investment.
If only it were so. The conversation around the lunch table is that they want to buy in Broomfield or Highlands Ranch because that’s where houses are appreciating. If they just wanted a house they could get a perfectly nice McMansion in Aurora for about half the price they go for in Highlands Ranch.
Homes are really selling fast here on the coast 93021
at least below 500K I don’t follow the expensive homes
You should hurry up and buy one before they are out of your reach forever.
One of our offspring and spouse relocated to the Denver area a few years ago and, against my advice, bought a house. Wifey (an ex realtor) went out to help them find one. All were taken aback by the number of places they looked at that had foundation problems. Their realtor showed them what to watch for.
They ended up in one of the nabes mentioned above where houses are supposedly appreciating. However, based on what I see actually selling in their nabe they have lost about 10 percent of their purchase price. Before selling costs.
Their house has a full basement that’s got floor joists and plywood subfloor, laying over about four feet of crawl space below. So the poured concrete foundation walls go down at least 12 feet which I guess is to minimize future shifting and cracking of the walls. I had never seen construction like that.
12′ of foundation wall and only a crawl space? Clearly they had to go deep to get to stable subgrade.
I’m closing in on the answer to my research question about which bank was on the other side of Robert Bales underwater home loan. My hunch is that it is JP Morgan-Chase, as they took over Washington Mutual, which had an outsized influence in making subprime loans in the PNW, where Bales lived.
But this is just a hunch so far — any hard facts to confirm or deny it would be appreciated.
Saturday, March 17, 2012 - Page updated at 08:00 p.m.
Friends call Afghan killing suspect Robert Bales trusted soldier, family man
By Seattle Times staff
The Army staff sergeant suspected of killing 16 unarmed Afghan civilians during a rampage through two isolated villages Sunday has been identified as a Lake Tapps man who joined the Army after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Sgt. Robert Bales, an Army sniper from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, was on his fourth combat tour when he is alleged to have wandered off on his own from a small outpost to commit an atrocity that has strained U.S.-Afghan relations and saddened his colleagues.
There is little indication of a motive behind the slaughter, which included the shooting deaths of nine children. Some corpses were burned.
…
Bales has served at Lewis-McChord and lived in the area since 2002, moving here from Florida, according to Army and public records and interviews with friends and acquaintances. He is a native of Ohio. The Army listed his home of record as Jensen Beach, Fla.
A neighbor described him as friendly and good with his two young children.
His wife, Karilyn Bales, is a project manager at Amaxra, a Redmond marketing and public-relations firm. Records show she also had worked as a project manager at now-defunct Washington Mutual.
The couple bought their house in Lake Tapps in November 2005, county records show. They paid $280,000 for a four-bedroom, two-story home built in 1990. The house was listed for sale March 12.
Karilyn Bales was eager to “stabilize her home life” and wanted to sell the family’s house, according to John L. Scott real-estate agent Phillip Rodocker, who met with her March 9, two days before the massacre.
She said her husband was on his fourth tour of duty and was in Afghanistan. “I think she was ready to have him home,” Rodocker said.
The house was put on the market Monday for $51,000 less than the couple paid for it in 2005, according to Seattle-based Zillow. But Rodocker said she left a voice-mail message the next day, asking that it be pulled off the market because of a “family emergency.”
The home is in a wooded area not far from Lake Tapps, a Pierce County area northeast of the base. A Realtor’s lockbox was attached to the front door Friday, and empty boxes, trash and other items were piled on the front porch.
…
The attorneys will have a field day with this one.
The attorneys will have a field day with this one.
Let’s hope at least one of the lawyers has four combat tours on his resume; trial by your peers.
It’s jury of your peers. Not trial of your peers. And since he is going to be getting a military trial, there is a decent chance that everyone involved will have spent time in one or both of the hot war zones over the past decade.
$51K less than the $280K they signed to pay? Rub of course is what would they have been able to sell for? Home selling for just 20% less than what bought for would have me celebrating and dancing. In Central Arizona I’d be lucky to find a buyer for 35-38% less than I paid in ‘04.
Folks ’round here come to expect super low interest rate financing + heavily discounted properties or their interest meters stay in hibernation mode. That’s cool though. Slumming in your parents house from late twenties and beyond isn’t so unusual. At least mom n dad don’t have to scream “turn that music down” as buds stuck in ears or headphone audio is now de rigueur.
The wire story I saw said the Bales also owned a house 10 miles north, which they had “abandoned.”
J.P. Morgan Chase Admits Targeting Service Members
The bank apologizes for overcharging 4,500 soldiers and foreclosing on 18.
02/09/2011
‘which bank was on the other side of Robert Bales underwater home loan’
Yeah, here it comes. Occupy Wall Street will camp out in front of his prison, demanding he be released as it was the banksters that were responsible for killing those people.
Now we’ve come to this; FBs shooting little kids in the head and setting their bodies on fire. Well played, Mr Bernanke, well played.
Ben:
Its the American way, we must have deaths in order to affect real change. whether its a bad intersection, accidents happen for years, and nothing gets done, but kill a kid and they will be out there in 7-10 days with new lights signs etc so it doesn’t happen again.
So this killing was necessary to bring all this to the front. Foreclosure, multiple active assignments..I thought we had a waiting list to get into military service?
Maybe we will finally level with the American people about protecting the poppy fields and wanting to mine for rare earths are the real reasons why we are there.
I thought we had a waiting list to get into military service?
I suspect experienced GI’s are considered valuable, hence they keep getting redeployed.
Also, not so much a waiting list, as the military is simply rejecting the chaff they would have taken a few decades ago.
Afgahnniii
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/an-ios-investigation-to-the-chinese-and-the-indians-the-spoils-of-a-terrible-war-7576426.html
When I was a little kid, one of the much older thug boys in the neighborhood was given a choice by a judge - jail or the marines. And the marines took him to start. He washed out of basic and I don’t recall that there was any requirement that failure to manage a full enlistment meant he had to go to prison, but the process was a real option for the judge.
Judges can’t do that anymore.
Polly that’s why we need some alternative such as forcing them to learn English or jail
I mean how often to do you see thug boyz on the honor roll?
on the honor roll?
dj, forcing them to learn English would not change their core values. The reason they are thugs is a values issue, not a spoken or written language issue.
You can force someone to learn to a given standard, but you can’t make them care about being on the honor role (or care about anything else, for that matter).
That’s all true, but I’m still intrigued by DJs thoughts on it, because as a side effect they would be much more employable and THAT might make a critical difference in their life choices going forward.
This kid spoke English perfectly well. And just for the record he wasn’t a minority, and I expect his family had been in this country since the 1800s. He was just a thug. I don’t remember if he had been disruptive enough in high school to get expelled, but it is a possibility.
Carl….you got it…it might work plus I also believe that the horrible rap and hip hop music cant survive a generation of kids speaking English
And same with jails no time off for good behavior…instead read the NYtimes in front of a parole board.
And eliminate interpreters for illegals at deportation hearings, i mean if you’ve been here 3-5 years and cant read or speak English….go home…
Next up is math….only 60% can pass the math exam at target.
The to top it all off we need to eliminate 1/3 of the colleges in America and spend some of that $$$ making sure a HS diploma means something……Its a crime to stick kids with crushing student loans for a 4 yr degree for jobs that don’t require them. Kids today have no clue how to fix anything.
Ive gotten lots of things off of CL, and a soldering iron, pliers, contact cleaner a drill all under a florescent magnifying lamp..and its good as new…and i can sell it
I rather like the “horrible” rap and hip hop music you continually deplore, and consider its poetry a legitimate literary form that reflects a larger cultural malaise. As do a fair number of music history and English poetry professors in the USA including those at Yale, Columbia, and Princeton who have published acclaimed scholarly works and anthologies about the history and meaning of rap.
Personally, I wish you’d stop dissing what you can’t appreciate. It’s getting tedious.
“Now we’ve come to this; FBs shooting little kids in the head and setting their bodies on fire.”
At least the Bales family could afford to buy a home.
Well, the wife is a project manager.
“Well, the wife is a project manager.”
Certainly not anymore, at least at WaMu…
DEALS & DEAL MAKERS
September 26, 2008
WaMu Is Seized, Sold Off to J.P. Morgan, In Largest Failure in U.S. Banking History
By ROBIN SIDEL, DAVID ENRICH and DAN FITZPATRICK
In what is by far the largest bank failure in U.S. history, federal regulators seized Washington Mutual Inc. and struck a deal to sell the bulk of its operations to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
The collapse of the Seattle thrift, which was triggered by a wave of deposit withdrawals, marks a new low point in the country’s financial crisis. But the deal, as constructed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., could hold some glimmers of hope for the beleaguered banking system because it averts any hit to the bank-insurance fund.
Instead, J.P. Morgan agreed to pay $1.9 billion to the government for WaMu’s banking operations and will assume the loan portfolio of the thrift, which has $307 billion in assets. The full cost to J.P. Morgan will be much higher, because it plans to write down about $31 billion of the bad loans and raise $8 billion in new capital. All WaMu depositors will have access to their cash, but holders of more than $30 billion in debt and preferred stock will likely see little if any recovery.
The deal will vault J.P. Morgan into first place in nationwide deposits and greatly expand its franchise.
The seizure was another watershed event in a frenetic period for the U.S. banking system, and came while members of Congress wrangled over the Bush administration’s proposed $700 billion bailout package. The tally of U.S. financial giants that have either been seized by the government or sold themselves off to stronger firms in recent weeks includes mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, insurer American International Group Inc., and Wall Street firms Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co.
The failure of WaMu eclipsed what had long been America’s largest bank bust on record, the 1984 collapse of Continental Illinois, which had $40 billion in assets.
The fact that no bank was willing to buy WaMu until it failed shows how badly confidence has eroded in a banking system awash with record profits just a few years ago. Faced with deepening losses on mortgages, credit cards and other loans, big and small banks across the country are struggling with what many bank executives say is a crisis far deeper than the savings-and-loan debacle.
The seizure of Washington Mutual is likely to send tremors through the thrift industry. Many of WaMu’s smaller brethren are also struggling with a wave of bad loans and some have already been ordered by regulators to raise capital and stop growing. Many community and regional financial institutions are also slashing dividends, selling branches and reining in lending in order to preserve capital.
…
I remember September 2008 quite well. I was very busy that month at work; in fact, I was on travel when the news of F&F’s collapse broke wind.
“Now we’ve come to this; FBs shooting little kids in the head and setting their bodies on fire.”
Was Timothy McVeigh a FB? How ’bout the Virginia Tech killer? Charles Manson? The Columbine shooters? Gary Gilmore? …
‘Timothy McVeigh…Virginia Tech killer…Charles Manson?…Columbine shooters…Gary Gilmore’
Here’s what’s different about these mass murderers and the one in Afghanistan. There are people over there that will hold you and me responsible for this. Nobody can blame me for Manson,etc. But this is our army.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/03/12-1
‘My kid has annoyed me a time or two today. Loud, wild, antagonistic here and there. (He’s seven.)…Then again, he told me a dozen times he loved me. And there he sleeps. And you could bomb my house and blow up my car and take away a leg and an arm and I might take your compensation check and relocate and regroup and nurse my grievances in the barroom. But if you or you or you or anybody came in here and killed him, I don’t care if you’re Christian or Jew or Mohammedan or a pagan suckled in some creed outworn, if you hurt him accidentally or on purpose, under orders or because you snapped under the pressure of your third deployment. I’d just want to kill you.’
‘And I don’t doubt I might kill you slowly and abuse your damned corpse in some ugly way. You and the guy behind you and the army that comes after that. I’d open you up and I’d nail you to the porch floor. Oh, I’d be a bad person for doing so. Why, you might even say I’d become a terrorist, I suppose.’
‘And killing you wouldn’t bring back my wonderful boy, because whatever God you might pray to or believe in only ever made one of him, and you killed him, and there could be no joy, no purpose, no happiness in my life after that other than getting to you and grinding you up and making you pay. You’d compensate me with your flesh for forty-two pounds and forty-four inches of boy. And if I went crazy enough (and I might, and anybody might), I might need to kill a whole lot more who seemed to me to be pretty much like you. And there we would be.’
+1
it was the banksters that were responsible for killing those people
Given that we are fighting this “forever war” (with apologies to Joe Haldeman) mostly to protect their interests, there is some truth to that statement. The good sarge who snapped didn’t have the option of quitting his “job” when it started to affect him. They sent him to his umpteenth deployment and all he could do was say “yes, sir”.
This should be a warning for any kid who is tempted to join the military because he can’t find a job in his hometown,
It should also be an alarm to any serviceman who goes off to war, leaving behind a wife and family living in owner-occupied housing.
Leaving behind a family is bad enough, regardless of the housing situation. I wonder if being an FB is what sent him over the edge? Or if it was being sent back into a situation where you don’t know if your head will get blown off that day by Talibans disguised as civilians?
First, see Mentally Unfit but Serving Anyway
‘Given that we are fighting this ‘forever war’ mostly to protect their interests’
But there’s no agreement on that. We get really distracted on just about any subject to the point the public doesn’t know what’s right in front of their faces. Even with a complete murderer, we can expect the various interests spin it to their advantage. I don’t even have to turn on Fox radio to know they’ll find a way to blame Democrats. I don’t even have to listen to the President to know he’ll say ‘this doesn’t represent what ‘Merica stands for, and we will not be deterred in our fight against terror!’
Saying some interests are why we are in Afghanistan doesn’t change this mans responsibility one bit. But that’s what all this spin has gotten us; no one is responsible for a system most know is madness.
Both political parties have responsibility. Bankers, the military industrial complex, the oil giants, they all played a role. Who funds this stuff? Aren’t they a party too? Can we not see reality anymore? Can’t we place responsibility where it belongs, and act accordingly?
Here’s a start; the central bank funds these wars. The central bank funds the REIC. The central bank runs programs that search on blogs like this to see who is making negative comments about them. Well played, Mr Bernanke, well played.
“The good sarge who snapped didn’t have the option of quitting his “job” when it started to affect him.”
Good? Really? I don’t think so.
“The central bank runs programs that search on blogs like this to see who is making negative comments about them.”
Since the Fed operates above the rule of law, they presumably are above the First Amendment as well. And they don’t have to spend a dime of taxpayer money to fund illegal violations of private American citizens’ privacy rights, as they also own a printing press technology.
“Here’s a start; the central bank funds these wars. The central bank funds the REIC. The central bank runs programs that search on blogs like this to see who is making negative comments about them. Well played, Mr Bernanke, well played.”
I just decided to vote for Ron Paul. Seriously. And I don’t care whether he is on the ballot — I am going to write him in if necessary.
Privacy violation concerns notwithstanding, the thing I find most irritating about the Federal Reserve is their readiness to play the victim card (”noone could have seen it coming,” etc). Since they have been the monopoly bank of the U.S. since 1913, shouldn’t they at least assume a modicum of responsibility for the endless stream of wars and financial crises U.S. citizens collectively enjoy 100 years later, not to mention a slide directly from First World into Third World nation status?
Thanks, Ben and Alan — thanks a bundle!
“I just decided to vote for Ron Paul. Seriously. And I don’t care whether he is on the ballot — I am going to write him in if necessary.”
Come on in……we’ve been waiting for you.
The central bank runs programs that search on blogs like this to see who is making negative comments about them.
Reference, Ben? Is this speculation, or documented? I haven’t heard of such a program..
“The good sarge who snapped didn’t have the option of quitting his “job” when it started to affect him.”
Good? Really? I don’t think so.
Are you certain of that? You think he shouldn’t be mentally evaluated?
The act he committed was heinous, of that there is no doubt. But his long term track record indicates he wasn’t an axe murderer. I think there is a good chance that he snapped.
Should he be held accountable? Perhaps. But before rushing to that judgement, I would like to hear what the doctors have to say.
‘Federal Reserve to monitor billions of convos for ‘Fed’, determine mood, ID bloggers. There is about to be a new breed of Big Brother “watchers” and electronic surveillance on billions of online conversations before eavesdropping on the emotion behind how the ‘Fed’ was used. The monitoring will include identifying and reaching out to “key bloggers” and “influencers.”
http://blogs.computerworld.com/19003/federal_reserve_to_monitor_billions_of_convos_for_fed_determine_mood_id_bloggers
‘There is about to be a new breed of Big Brother “watchers” and electronic surveillance on billions of online conversations before eavesdropping on the emotion behind how the ‘Fed’ was used.’
Let’s stress test the system:
THE FEDERAL RESERVE SUCKS ROCKS.
I’m sure this piece is just some tinfoil hat blogger spouting off, as it would clearly be illegal for the Federal Reserve to set up any kind of intrusive surveillance operation to spy on private U.S. citizens, but this is highly entertaining, nonetheless.
Federal Reserve Starting to Sweat – Establishes Web Based Surveillance as They Listen to Criticism From Web-Site Bloggers
Posted on September 26, 2011 by Mark Schumacher
The illegal Federal Reserve is not only an illegal entity that has ruined the United States of America, but is now spying on Americans. I have news for the corrupt oligarchs that run this illegal trillionaire boys club. You are going to have a lot to listen too. This supposed non-governmental country killer is going to be eliminated. Your treason against the Constitution of the United States of America is through. There isn’t enough ink left in the world that can be poured into your filthy printing presses.
Americans are waking up to the fact that this hell hole, treasonous secret society is a mafia run racket. No longer will you be playing games with American lives. You clowns can bet on that. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but you are finished. There is no Colorado bunker big enough for you traitors to hide; the tunnels have been nuked shut.
…
There was a rumor yesterday that he had seen one of his friends get a leg blown off the previous day. I have no idea if it is true, and the source couldn’t confirm it either.
“Snapping” is a very vague word. The standard for being insane and therefore not responsible for a criminal act is very, very, very high. You pretty much have to not know that what you did was wrong. If it was “in response” to a terrible injury to a friend (in other words, an act of revenge), that tends to make it more likely that he knew what he was doing was wrong.
I’m sure the issues will be raised. Don’t expect them to have a lot of effect on the case.
Here is a question which perhaps the Fed’s surveillance bots could pass up the chain:
Given that Ben Bernanke is a Republican, and that Republicans consider taxation to be anathema, why not just abolish the U.S. federal tax code and use the Fed’s printing press technology to print up all the money needed to run the U.S. government? Besides being more politically acceptable, an added benefit would be to give the Fed full allocative discretion.
It would appear that the Afghan civilians have a much higher station in life than the Palestinians.
an added benefit would be to give the Fed full allocative discretion.
I fail to see this as a benefit.
it would clearly be illegal for the Federal Reserve to set up any kind of intrusive surveillance operation to spy on private U.S. citizens
I’m not sure that what is being described would qualify as “surveillance”, nor that it would be illegal.
If what they are monitoring are “public” forums (such as blogs), there is no expectation of privacy to begin with.
It could simply be construed as getting a pulse on public sentiment—kind of like the consumer sentiment surveys that already exist.
When are we going to held the politicians accountable for these unjust wars? Impeach Bush retroactively and Impeach Obama.
“I fail to see this as a benefit.”
Is your sarcasm meter broken or something?
‘It could simply be construed as getting a pulse on public sentiment—kind of like the consumer sentiment surveys’
Fed guy: Sir, Ben Jones is talking sh@t about you again on his blog.
Bernanke: What blog is it?
Fed guy: thehousingbubbleblog, sir.
Bernanke: Oh crap, I’m never gonna live that one down.
Fed guy: He said you finance wars sir.
Bernanke: What? Cut off his cable TV!
Fed guy: He doesn’t have cable sir.
Bernanke: Does he use Splenda?
Fed guy: No sir.
Bernanke: Well, ding his credit then.
Fed guy: Some guy on there just said the Federal Reserve sucks rocks sir.
Bernanke: All right, we gotta bring in Herman Cain. He’s on Fox now.
Fed guy: He doesn’t work for us anymore sir.
Bernanke: I’ve got some dirt on him, put him on the phone!
Fed guy: Yes sir.
Is your sarcasm meter broken or something?
Yes your in your case it is. There is a wide gulf between our views and I can’t discern sincerity from sarcasm.
“Yes your in your case it is. There is a wide gulf between our views and I can’t discern sincerity from sarcasm.”
You should stick to Rush Limbaugh.
“There is a wide gulf between our views and I can’t discern sincerity from sarcasm.”
I thought the allocation remark was a pretty soft pitch, but apparently not…
“…wide gulf between our views…”
And if you listen to Rush, Hannity or any of the other bloviating maroons on teevee who tell you how to think, then that is completely understandable.
I think for myself, thank you.
And if you listen to Rush, Hannity or any of the other bloviating maroons on teevee who tell you how to think, then that is completely understandable.
I think for myself, thank you.
a little name calling, a straw man, and declare yourself superior, you da man!
CIBT said, “I just decided to vote for Ron Paul. Seriously. And I don’t care whether he is on the ballot — I am going to write him in if necessary.”
You’re late to the party, but welcome. RP will also be getting my vote.
“…a little name calling, a straw man, and declare yourself superior, you da man!”
“There is a wide gulf between our views and I can’t discern sincerity from sarcasm.”
If you can’t discern sarcasm from sincerity, then how can you tell whether I was trying to declare myself superior or just responding to your insinuation that there was something wrong with my way of thinking because of the wide gap between my world view and yours?
When you say “I think for myself, thank you.” after suggesting that I am told what to think I don’t have to discern between sincerity and sarcasm that part comes through loud and clear.
You constantly attack republicans and “bloviating” pundits but you do it with name calling (and no argument) and so often in my mind you attack those who counter the issues you attack so I get confused when you are sincere or sarcastic. Perhaps you think the articles that you post prove your point but you “connect the dots” and present a slanted point of view. In my view Krugman is another idiot with a Nobel prize and posting his articles proves nothing.
I never insinuated that there is something wrong in your way of thinking. I am saying there is something wrong in your way of communicating. You do a lot of name calling, how about communicating without all the attacks? I’m often bewildered by them and If I question you, you tend to attack me rather than explain your thinking.
Charlie — Sorry. Perhaps I should change my name from Cantankerous to something less…cantankerous?
How about we stop blaming “the system,” “multiple deployments,” “the banks,” and put the onus on one Robert Bales, who voluntarily signed up to go kill people IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY. For money. By the standards of the good Christian people who “support our troops,” the man should be a hero.
Oh. Oh, he didn’t play by The Rules of killing people in their own country for money? I see. Sort of like the guys who played by The Rules when they killed 1.45 million (let me repeat that, MILLION,) Iraqi civilians who had nada to do with 911 or WMD’s? Or those other (official,) 17,000-and-counting innocent villagers killed in Afghanistan during American arms, drug, and oil operations there?
The correct action would have been to turn Robert Bales over to the justice system of the villagers he slaughtered. Instead he’ll be brought home for “evaluation,” given the traditional slap-on-the-wrist sentence in a military hospital, and quietly released in a few years after he’s “rehabilitated” to open a jewelry shop in Georgia like that earlier American patriot, Lt. William Calley.
Meanwhile Bradley Manning rots in jail for telling the world the truth.
We are all compromised.
I would rather aim for the “head” of the snake. Not excusing what this soldier has done but he is just a lowly pawn in this game.
As are we….
“We are all compromised.”
…and all the green Federal Reserve Notes in our pockets are flecked with foreign blood.
’stop blaming “the system,” “multiple deployments,” “the banks,” and put the onus on one Robert Bales’
Or we could go after all of them.
“Or we could go after all of them.”
Acceptance is destiny for a Third World nation’s citizenry.
How about we stop blaming “the system,” “multiple deployments,” “the banks,” and put the onus on one Robert Bales, who voluntarily signed up to go kill people IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY. For money.
Or we could blame the society that built up the imperialistic, mercenary military, and created an underclass that made “economic conscription” possible.
I wonder what would happen if no one volunteered. Would they bring back the draft? Or would they just go offshore to hire the mercenaries?”
That would be MY dream…..it would eliminate a lot of rap and hip hop music, ( and open the doors to other types …zydeco) because to stay out of the draft you would have to learn English to get into college…
Would they bring back the draft
“…he is just a lowly pawn in this game….”
It STARTS with the “lowliest” soldier. Generals don’t get their hands dirty– at least not literally.
Without “lowly” soldiers, there is no war-making. Stop cynically calling them “heroes” and glorifying them in the press, stop paying kids good money to go into other people’s sovereign countries and kill them, stop lauding parents for raising their children to be war-makers, and when the national mindset changes, the beast will die of its own accord.
Or would they just go offshore to hire the mercenaries?”
That process has already begun: US citizenship in exchange for service. Starting small, but expanding offshore in the future to be sure:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/us/15immig.html?pagewanted=all
I like it PB, let’s stress test them!
Comment by Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Thrower©
2012-03-18 10:42:50
‘There is about to be a new breed of Big Brother “watchers” and electronic surveillance on billions of online conversations before eavesdropping on the emotion behind how the ‘Fed’ was used.’
Let’s stress test the system:
THE FEDERAL RESERVE SUCKS ROCKS!
THE FEDERAL RESERVE SUCKS ROCKS!
THE FEDERAL RESERVE SUCKS ROCKS!
THE FEDERAL RESERVE SUCKS ROCKS!
THE FEDERAL RESERVE SUCKS ROCKS!
The Bernake, in case you missed it:
THE FEDERAL RESERVE SUCKS ROCKS!
THE FEDERAL RESERVE SUCKS ROCKS!
Signed,
LasVegas,not loving the FED, Dude
ahansen wrote:
Soldiers (accomplished ones) display strength and courage. It’s something that humans are almost bred to want to emulate and respect.
In the hunter-gatherer societies, the biggest and meanest with the least regard for the other tribes were able to attack them and take their stuff. When attacked, they would be able to defend the tribe. This set up a positive feedback loop over the ages. The most ferocious and fearless eventually became kings and nobles.
I drove by a maximum security prison (now closed) today. I realized that we pay soldiers to do awful things to others in other tribes/societies. But if someone turns around and does awful things inside the society, they wind up in a place like the maximum security prison. I guess members of “The Forces” are like sheepdogs. Violent criminals are like wolves in sheeps’ clothing.
However, there are Osama Bin Ladens out there. While that is true, we need people - like SEALs - to hunt them down and kill them. The SEALs are probably not nice people. But they are the sheepdogs who protect our interests. They are the ones willing to carry out impossibly dangerous and difficult missions.
There is brutal evil in the world. While that is true, we need people who are willing to confront it.
I don’t support Bales any more than I support William Calley of My Lai infamy. But there are also people like Hugh Thompson who landed his helicopter between a group of cowering Vietnamese and the US unit, and told his door gunner to machine gun the US unit if it attacked the Vietnamese. Thompson enlisted the aid of two gunship pilots to evacuate the Vietnamese.
I find myself repulsed by politicians and military leaders who allow the military to be put in untenable situations (nation building? By 20 year old infantrymen? Are they complete morons?). This nonsense of forever war, unending tours in conflict zones, yet all without a draft is outrageous. The military will eventually just break down.
While there is evil out there, we need people who wil risk their lives to confront it. But we can’t allow the military to be used for pointlessly brutal or immoral missions.
neuro–
I display strength and courage, and IIII don’t have the need to hunt people down in their homes and kill them. It’s called, “evolution,” and unlike those who don’t “believe” in it, I follow its tenets.
Human technology has exceeded our emotional capacity to deal with it. Those remnants of the genepool that do the bidding of the “kings and nobles” you reference are not kept around for their defensive prowess, they’re mindless invasionary forces who haven’t the critical faculties to think their mission through to its logical conclusion– they’re dupes.
If California is ever invaded by Afghan tanks, I’ll be the first one out on the roadway setting the IEDs and sniping from the mountaintops. But that’s not what’s happening in today’s world. It’s about money. Oil, arms, drugs, and money.
That’s not sheepdog. That’s predator.
PS. Evil is in the perspective of the beholder. Bin Ladin is a hero to about a billion of your fellow human beings. Not all of them are mindless. Imagine the furor if ISI sent a “squad” of SEALS in helicopters to East Podunk to eliminate Santorum.
setting the IEDs and sniping from the mountaintops…That’s not sheepdog. That’s predator.
setting ied’s on your own roads after waiting to be invaded doesn’t sound to “predator” to me. sniping from mountaintops sounds a bit more “predator” but it is a tiny counterstrike after we let them successfully invade. permitting that is unnecessarily playing victim and not being “predator”
The SEALs are probably not nice people.
I don’t know any SEALS, but I know people in other branches of service who are similar. Actually on average they are nice people, much nicer than the average young infantryman. I don’t know why, but being smarter and having nothing to prove seems to have something to do with it.
“The SEALs are probably not nice people.”
I have similar thoughts to Carl’s post above. My guess is that if you sat down to dinner with a typical SEAL, you would be shocked at how polite their manners were. Just because you kill enemy combatants for a living doesn’t imply you can’t be nice around polite company.
My supervisor’s boss is a Seal. Very calm and intelligent person.
“J.P. Morgan Chase Admits Targeting Service Members”
They said they are sorry, so what’s the big deal?
Any thoughts on how long until the Fed invokes QE3? And will they have to first allow the stock market to crash in order to legitimize revving up the printing press technology in the face of a recovery that not only Ben Bernanke, but everyone else on the planet, can see is strongly underway?
Easiest Credit Worldwide Shows No Signs of Abating as Fear Index Plummets
By Simon Kennedy and Joshua Zumbrun - Mar 11, 2012 5:01 PM PT
Central bankers are taking a break rather than hitting the brake.
Even as they pause campaigns to spur economic growth, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and counterparts at the Bank of England and Bank of Japan aren’t taking signs of recovery for granted. That’s a shift from 2011, when some greeted an improving outlook by considering or embracing tighter monetary policy, only to see expansion fade.
The bid to guarantee growth suggests officials at the four key central banks won’t hurry to pull down the $9 trillion wall of money on their combined balance sheets or boost interest rates stuck near record lows. They also stand ready to add more stimulus if the recent rebound proves another false dawn.
“The major central banks have learned there are deep, pernicious problems,” said Nathan Sheets, New York-based head of international economics at Citigroup Inc., who held a similar position at the Fed until August. Now they are taking a cautious approach on where their economies are headed “and a more simulative stance of monetary policy.”
…
Standing Pat
After the ECB and Bank of England stood pat last week, the Fed isn’t likely to take further steps to bolster U.S. expansion when officials meet tomorrow, said Dana Saporta, New York-based U.S. economist for Credit Suisse. Officials will instead discuss the likelihood of further declines in the 8.3 percent unemployment rate and potential threats of costlier oil, she predicted.
“As far as any substantive changes to policy, we’re not looking for much,” Saporta said.
This follows a period when the Fed introduced new measures aimed at defending growth. In January it released for the first time projections for its target interest rate and said inflation and joblessness may warrant low rates through late 2014, extending a previous terminus of mid-2013.
Having held its benchmark near zero since December 2008 and purchased $2.3 trillion in assets during its two quantitative- easing programs, the Fed said in September it will swap $400 billion of short-term debt with longer-term debt through June to further cut borrowing costs.
‘Juiced Up’
It “wants to keep things juiced up, even though things are looking a lot better now than they did,” said Eric Green, chief economist and head of rate strategy in New York at TD Securities Inc. and a former economist at the New York Fed. Unemployment has fallen from 9.1 percent in August, and companies created 734,000 jobs in the past three months, compared with 471,000 in September-November.
U.S. policy makers are signaling they may be open to more steps, such as a third round of bond purchases, or QE3. A “few” said economic conditions could warrant buying more “before long,” according to minutes of their January meeting.
Fed regional presidents have publicly disagreed on the need for adding stimulus, with San Francisco’s John Williams saying QE3 is “definitely not off the table,” while Atlanta’s Dennis Lockhart said he doubts the gains would outweigh the “longer- term potential costs.”
…
print baby. I like 5 dollar gasoline and 6 dollar value meals.
I need some home equity to pay down these credit cards i have been living off since 2005.
Seems like gas has been rocketing up by $0.11 a day or so here in SD. Bought some for $4.44/gal on Friday; saw $4.55/gal for unleaded regular on the way home from the symphony last night.
Print, baby, print!
I bought some at Sam’s Club for 3.42 on Friday. I have seen it as high as 3.50. I expect it will be at least $3.60 next weekend.
this is actually a good video about rising gas prices:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8WReKlUFP4
..and they can’t live w/o those big efficent trucks out in God’s land.
I’ve actually talked to a few “trucksters” and they really believe they can’t live without their behemoths.
Funny how construction workers in other countries don’t drive gas guzzling pickup trucks.
I’d like to see someone hauling an excavator with a car.
Funny how houses, factories, bridges and skyscrapers get built in other countries while the construction workers don’t own their own trucks.
Understand that I’m not saying that trucks aren’t needed in construction, just that in most cases J6P doesn’t need to own one of his own. Just like he doesn’t need to own a bobcat or a bulldozer.
Are value meals really $6??? You can cook almost for less than that — and I mean high quality cooking, not just pasta.
I make some breaded, fried chicken breasts for dinner last night. With Zatarains yellow rice and a veggie for sides. I’d say it was about $8 for 4 servings. I could never pull that off with beef though
Fast food prices have gone through the roof (those wonderful deflationary forces at work again). A combo meal that a few years ago would have cost $4 (say a double decker burger) can now easily set you back for $6 or more. Which is why I rarely go.
yes 6 dollar value meals are real great. too much money for me. mcdonalds is making a fortune off their mccafe also. the size of their burger patties gets smaller every year. I think big macs a 3 bucks now.
Its even worse, azdude:
When I traveled recently to the East Coast it was $3.49 for a Big Mac.
During the “crisis” in 08’ I actually paid two different prices during the same fill up. I’ve got a 60 gallon tank in my truck. After running through one credit card cycle the attendant came running out to post a new, and obviously higher price, on the sign.
I said to myself “you’ve got to be f-ing kidding me” and just shook my head.
That’s a cool story, I’ve never heard anybody else with that one before :-).
Gene Marcial, Contributor
I have an insider’s take on Wall Street
+ Follow on Forbes
3/18/2012 @ 8:18AM
Will Bloomberg Become The Next Chief Of Goldman Sachs To Lift It Out Of Its Misery?
Mayor Mike Bloomberg will most likely deny it, but wouldn’t this highly experienced, Wall Street-savvy wunderkind be the logical choice to lead the troubled Goldman Sachs out of its misery?
The recent surprise visit of the New York City Mayor to Goldman Sach’s enormous digs in downtown Manhattan may have been unscripted. But it was obviously a heartening display of much needed support from Bloomberg, a capital markets veteran who excelled as chief trader of Salomon Brothers back in the day when Wall Street was at the height of its glory. Yet who knows what lurks in the sharp, methodical and mighty mind of the billionaire Mayor, who made his fortune on Wall Street and from one of the most profitable and ingeniously successful companies in the planet that he founded?
Without doubt, he has been mulling the idea that after his third term in office as chief executive of New York City, the next best circumstance for him is to be elevated to the White House. Or, go back to his moorings and be enthroned as the king of an investment palace like Goldman Sachs, where his political connections, business smarts, and analytical genius would be of tremendous help.
…
Christ, Bloomberg, just start a new bank!
Where are the new banks to take advantage of the trust the existing banks have squandered? Is this entrepreneurial America, or not?
Why would a crony capitalists bother to start a new bank, when the friendly neighborhood oligopoly bank is so much bigger and more powerful?
Late night comedy talk show hosts are highly amused over Greg Smith’s outrage over discovering questionable attitudes at Goldman towards their clients.
The Associated Press March 16, 2012, 1:09AM ET
Goldman manifesto echoes past questions about bank
By DANIEL WAGNER and CHRISTINA REXRODE
The young banker whose dramatic public resignation stung Goldman Sachs this week joins officials from every corner of the government in questioning whether the august investment house deals honestly with all its clients.
In separate cases, judges, lawmakers and regulators have suggested the bank ignores conflicts of interest and sells to its clients investments it knows are weak, all in the pursuit of profit.
The resignation Wednesday by Greg Smith, a 33-year-old banker for Goldman in London, was a shot from within Goldman’s ranks. In an Op-Ed article for The New York Times, Smith said the bank sells financial products “that we are trying to get rid of.”
“It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off,” Smith wrote.
The essay was widely circulated online, and Smith became a trending topic on Twitter. But his charges were only the latest embarrassment for Goldman, which has built a sterling reputation over 143 years on Wall Street.
The bank paid $550 million in 2010 to settle civil charges that it misled investors while selling them investments in the U.S. housing market as the bubble burst — even as Goldman reaped hundreds of millions from its own bets against housing.
A congressional committee recommended that law enforcement authorities look into a series of deals that Goldman sold while executives derided them in emails as “junk,” “crap” and another profane adjective.
And last month, a Delaware court nearly blocked a merger between Kinder Morgan and El Paso, two energy companies, because Goldman had ties to both companies, raising questions about a conflict of interest.
“This is the latest entry into a long-running narrative that they don’t put their clients first,” said Michael Robinson, a former official with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “If your business is built on trust, that’s not going to fly.”
Robinson, who now works for Levick Strategic Communications, a public relations company, said regulators, Congress and prosecutors are almost certain to look into Smith’s claim that Goldman sold investments to clients that it wanted to get rid of.
The SEC, the FBI and federal prosecutors in Manhattan declined comment. A spokesman for Goldman also declined comment.
…
“I just love words - does anyone beside me think that “crepuscular” is just absolutely delicious?”
Thelonous Monk sure did.
Copacetic, baby!
January 11, 2010, 6:35 am
Moist, Crepuscular, Pullulate, Lugubrious
This weekend, co-vocabularists have generously shared the words that grate on their ears.
Not a few commenters used this exercise to exorcise more general linguistic pet peeves (less/fewer, use/utilize, etc.) – but listed below are just some of those words that evoke an actual shudder of disgust. It is curious how many describe something smooth, creamy, or oozing.
copacetic, crepuscular, curdle, dank, ignominy, infarction, lugubrious, magma, membrane, moist, mucilage, nestle, ointment, phlegm, pullulate, purulent, reconnoiter, rickets, scabrous, scapular, scurfy, squab, squad, squeamish and undulations
This competition has been moved to the C-column, where unpleasant sounding words can safely be quarantined.
Here are a few more pet-peeve words that could be added to the above list:
bodacious, ginormous, mucus, slimy, sycophantic, smarmy, turgid, unctuous
As I was trying to explain yesterday to FPSS, a serendipitous result of the financial crisis has been opening up a whole new branch of comedy devoted to making light of the myriad high crimes, misdemeanors and peccadilloes routinely committed on Wall Street. I anticipated it years back when I used to express hope that Jon Stewart would eventually start using this material. Now I revel in it!
De gustibus non est disputandum.
March 15, 2012, 8:47 AM ET
Stephen Colbert on Greg Smith’s Goldman Sachs Op-Ed
By Christopher John Farley
Greg Smith’s op-ed in the New York Times explaining his resignation from Goldman Sachs–and taking a few shots at his former employer–went viral soon after being made public. It also gave Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert a new source of comedy. “When you work on the Street, there’s sacred trust,” Colbert joked. “You never go public with complaints about your bosses. And in exchange, one day they will explain to you what it is you do for a living.” Watch the clip.
Re: how can an amateur investor hope to make 7.5% annually?
A few Vanguard funds are possibilities. 10 year average annual return figures:
Precious Metals 17.1%
Energy 14.9%
REIT Index 10.6%
Plus or minus, depending on Admiral vs non-Admiral shares. Assumes all distributions reinvested. Vanguard’s annual maintenance fees run around .25%.
Who needs Goldman Sachs?
I have a couple thousand (many actually) in PRPFX and supposedly I’ve enjoyed 11% annual returns over the last decade, whereas the index funds are all down, certainly down if inflation corrected.
Look up the definition of a permanent portfolio and ask yourself why a passive strategy like that outperforms most active strategies.
“Precious Metals 17.1%”
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
P.S. But the main point is well taken (take it from a long-time Vanguard customer).
Ditto. Although many Vanguard fund returns past few years have been po po, at least they don’t shave your returns further with perverse expense ratios and (for managed accounts) management fees.
po po??
I decided against Vanguard because their barrier to entry was too high for me.
I decided against Vanguard because their barrier to entry was too high for me.
$3K minimum to open an account does not seem like a very high barrier to entry. You can accumulate elsewhere until you hit that amount, then open and make smaller additions ($100).
Is your complaint that you can’t diversify adequately with a low $$$ account, as they have a per-fund minimum? If so, some of their fund-of-funds would likely suit your purpose.
I have Vanguard, and one thing that ticks me off is when I buy, it seems like they wait for the next uptick to execute. When I sell, it’s the next downtick. Ask them about it and they give me the “mustn’t time the market!” finger wag. Anyone else notice this?
When I was at Wells Fargo, they would execute at end of market day.
Not that my dinky funds matter, but IIRC Strong Funds got in trouble for this, by executing the same way, only in reverse for large fund holders.
Anyone else notice this?
You are simply misunderstanding what it happening.
They never sell at intra-day pricing, so it would be impossible for them to wait for an up-tick or a down-tick.
You get end-of-day pricing on your buy or sell, that’s all. Depending on what time of day you call, you either get today’s end-of-day price or tomorrow’s EOD price.
Then I must have been looking at the wrong literature, because my recollection was $25K to start. Or maybe that was one of the premier funds. Whatever it was, the attitude was clearly that they were for higher rollers than little old me.
You are simply misunderstanding what it happening.
Okay, I used the wrong terms. Let’s call it “up-day” and “down-day.”
Even if I transact before opening of market, they wait one or two days to execute…or don’t. If it was a down day, they execute *amazingly* fast.
Wells Fargo and even Strong would do it at market closing price, as long as I put in the order before 2 pm Mountain time.
Oxide,
I believe your literature you saw was for the ‘Admiral’ level of funds. They have actually lowered it over the years–it used to be 100K, then 50K, now its 25K.
Comment by oxide
2012-03-18 14:03:04
Then I must have been looking at the wrong literature, because my recollection was $25K to start. Or maybe that was one of the premier funds. Whatever it was, the attitude was clearly that they were for higher rollers than little old me.
“how can an amateur investor hope to make 7.5% annually?”
They could try shading CalPERS.
Our View: Ignoring expert CALPERS advice
Posted: 03/17/2012 11:03:55 PM PDT
California’s public employee pension systems face hundreds of billions of dollars of debt largely because of unrealistic assumptions about future investment returns needed to fund overly generous retirement benefits.
For years, political pressure has overridden fiduciary responsibility. On Tuesday, key leaders of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the nation’s largest government pension system, demonstrated that they still haven’t learned.
For the second year in a row, they ignored their own expert’s advice as they continued gambling our children’s financial future to avoid short-term pain.
The culprits include state Controller John Chiang and representatives of state Treasurer Bill Lockyer and Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration.
The three statewide officeholders preach fiscal responsibility but, in the end, they fail to walk the talk.
CalPERS board members have been advised to get real about investment returns. Their chief actuary, Alan Milligan, recommends that they lower their long-term projections from 7.75 percent annually to 7.25 percent.
Here’s why this is important:
The lower the assumed rate of return, the more money employers and employees must contribute now, and the greater the chance there will be adequate funds to pay pension benefits in the future.
Conversely, the higher the assumed rate, the greater the likelihood the pension system will later come up short. If it does, future taxpayers must make up the difference, siphoning off money that would otherwise go to public services. We’re already experiencing that because of past fantasy forecasts.
Nevertheless, a committee of the labor-dominated CalPERS board recommended kicking the can further down the road. The full board most likely will rubber stamp the decision.
Last year, the board ignored Milligan’s advice to lower the rate to 7.5 percent. This year, the committee opted for the 7.5 percent rate when Milligan was advising 7.25 percent.
Many experts argue that even that is way too optimistic. We agree with them. Indeed, Milligan told the CalPERS committee on Tuesday that there’s only a 54percent chance of meeting the 7.25 percent rate over the next 19 years, and the chance of meeting the 7.5 percent rate is only 50 percent.
Think about that: We are guaranteeing pension benefits to current workers when they retire. But we will be funding them based on a gamble that is just as likely to fall short as to meet the target.
…
They could try shading CalPERS.
Honestly, I had these exact thoughts. Maybe I should schedule a CAT scan to look for that surreptitiously embedded microchip.
I suggest 33% municipal bonds/savings bonds, 10% physical gold bullion in your own possession and the rest in Vanguard Admiral funds, small company growth index, emerging markets, and 500 index fund. Rebalance annually. I figure to do 7.8 percent annually this way, not including inflation rate of average 3%.
Sounds reasonable.
I think the main point is to diversify in outside-the-box ways: I.e., the traditional U.S.-dollar heavy diversification between U.S. stocks and bonds may not be enough over the next few years.
Bill in LA,
I see an other Libertarian investor on the HBB as your portfolio sounds like Harry Browne’s “Permanent Portfolio.”
It took a few years to kick, but this investment portfolio has done well this last decade.
I have to admit as a radical libertarian and Harry Browne fan (dog-eared copies of “how I Founfpd Freedom in an Unfree World”) I would get tempted to go for The Permanent Portfolio. But I keep my investing separate from my polemics. I keep my job separate from my polemics.
But if you dig deep, Harry Browne recommended to never invest politically. I almost did that in 1996 because in those days I did not like Clinton. In retrospect I reminisce about Clinton. I got very liberal the older I got, albeit still 100% capitalist and 100% RKBA.
IIRC, the PRPFX fund has a mixture of treasuries, Swiss Francs, and precious metals. I like it except it is overweight in precious metals (I remember 1980) and has no equities. I paid a one time 4% commission on my gold and a nominal fixed amount for storage. I pay .78 annual expenses for my muni fund (my biggest gripe) and zero expenses for my treasuries and less than .26 for my vanguard index funds. My S&P 500 Admiral, VFIAX, has a 0.06 expense ratio. I think my overall expense ratio and asset allocation is better than PRPFX, but it is only my opinion and comfort level. I could do better and buy individual Arizona muni bonds. I think they cost $100,000 apiece. The annual expense would be negligible, but I would lack the diversification.
and a nominal fixed amount for storage.
How do you manage that? Pointers?
careful sector funds can fall flat
Fidelity’s management fees are close.
“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.”
29 Responses to “Palm Beach Gardens homeowner gets $18 million in foreclosure settlement”
1
Punish the Lawyers too Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 10:01 am
Every FAKE ROBO SIGNER/FORGER should be punished like this, including the bogus ATTORNEYS and JUDGES who know all about the forgers and robo signers, smirk, charge their bloated fees and look the other way while people have their property illegally sold at auction.
2
Jerry Felice Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 10:05 am
Is granting a mortgage which is 86% of our net income covered by this law suit? That is exactly what B of A did to us rather than stating that we could not afford the home. Because of this preditory lending, we lost over $200,000. What is just as bad is that I cannot afford an attorney to fight this fight on our behalf.
3
sick logic Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 10:12 am
The Banks, The Lawyer Politicians and Wall Street Criminals created this mess intentionally. Shorted everything at the end. Yes, they made billions , bought yachts and smoke cigars and drink while laughing how they kicked so many peiople out of their homes while they make billions.
Now they steal billions, eliminate EVERYONE’s equity by the billions, and send the people back a pittance. What garbage. What lousy people.
4
Take responsability Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 10:14 am
to Jerry Felice:
Give me a break….what are you 12 years old? Why should a bank have to tell you what you can or can’t afford? Is that not your responsability as an adult? Seriously people, take some ownership in your mistakes. You wanted to buy the big house you knew you could not afford…..you signed the documents, you took the check.
By no means do I defend the banks, but we can’t blindly blame them for everything that went wrong.
ORP
5
Justice Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 10:15 am
Jerry, no one put a gun to you head and told you to apply for and get a mortgage you knew you couldn’t afford. If you didn’t know what you could afford before you took out the mortgage then maybe you should update your budget once in a while. Don’t blame the bank for your stupidity.
6
Mr. Bojangles Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 10:36 am
Jerry, you lied to get the loan and now want to lie to get out of it?
We are on to your type!
7
usfalum Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 10:51 am
I seem to recall seeing Ms. Szymoniak on 60 Minutes. She was in foreclosure for nonpayment on her mortgage. As a trained attorney she started a letter writing campaign that resulted in her uncovering the robo signing escapade. I for one consider her part of the problem and should no way be entitled to 18 million dollars under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act. The lenders suck but so do people who take out a mortgage they cannot pay and then find a way to profit from it. Disgusting.
8
Erica Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 10:51 am
Were banks a part of the problem here? Yes, but seriously, TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY~!!! I live down here and on a $30,000 year income wasn’t going to buy a $500,000 house. WHY? Because, as I kept saying “If it doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t make sense! I can’t afford it!” Not one person in my family was affected by this crisis because no one refinanced their home and blew the money and no one bought during the inflated prices. Now MY tax paying money is going to people who blew their money, or lived in mansions (rent free for two years while their home went into foreclosure.) Stop living beyond your means. Goodness. Pisses me off. Bail out, bail out, bail out. It sends the message that when you do wrong, you get rewarded for it. GRRRR.
9
Jess Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 10:53 am
This is exactly what is wrong with the country. No one wants to work for what they have, everyone wants to be taken care of, and a HAND OUT, not a hand up.
10
Erica Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 10:55 am
usfalum I agree!!! She bought a home she couldn’t afford, then lived in it RENT FREE while it was being foreclosed on, now she gets $18 million dollars of OUR tax money?!? GREAT. She is as bad, if not worse, than the banks!
11
mojo Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:00 am
I am sure there were a number of unscrupulous mortgage brokers who talked NAIVE people into loans they could not afford, but the vast, vast majority of the people who got into serious trouble were trying to get ricj quick on real estate, and thought they would flip the house at a nice profit before they had to make more tahn one or two monthly payments.
when the bubble burst, all of the mice got caught, and the downward spiral made it worse…..and worse….and worse.
the lesson is; leave real estate speculation to the professionals….who were all just as stupid and greedy as everyone else.
12
Common Sense - not so common Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 11:39 am
Last I remember – my parents (who did not make much or have much – but didn’t LOSE anything, for that matter) always told me the rule of thumb was that your BASIC household expenses (rent or mtg/gas/electricity)should NOT exceed 2 weeks salary – no exceptions. I ignored it in my 20′s & got in over my head. Pulled myself out in my 30′s & refused to budge, no matter ‘how good’ the deal was – anything over 2 weeks salary was something I could not afford. It was excellent advice – and worth repeating & following. Today my basic household expenses are ONE paycheck. Thank you Mom & Dad. I will retire when I’m able to enjoy it.
13
Whistleblower Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 12:18 pm
Kim — why doesn’t anyone do an expose’ on how banks are acquiring failing banks and their troubled loans via HIGHLY accretive deals (financed by John Q. taxpayer) then hounding the foreclosed homeowner for the deficiency on loans they (the banks) have already been made whole for? Isn’t that double dipping? It boggles my mind that no one brings this up!! I know there is alot of geeky accounting behind it but the surviving banks are making a killing on this.
14
orofthepress.com Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 12:44 pm
Check out this lady on the county clerks official records. She kept doing re-fi’s. Cashed out over a million on her many properties and then stopped paying when the prices fell. One of the most greedy deadbeats yet. She doesn’t deserve anything except some jailtime.
15
Wake Up! Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 1:48 pm
I feel sorry for the people who come on here spouting hate on so called “deadbeats”. They have no idea of what their talking about just regurgitate what the MSM tells them and how they should feel about it. It demonstrates why this country is in the decline its in when you see these ignorant sheep just “bah bah” the talking points. If your going to take the time to come on here and condemn why not take the time to educate yourself on what it is your condemning. Start with Fractional Banking, Securitization, Credit Default Swaps, Derivatives and then study some of the laws that were either passed or dissolved to make way for the planned economical collapse. Then we can start to talk about Robo-Signing and the property law your so quick to dismantle.
16
bizcoachdesigner Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 1:53 pm
I guess we’ll see if Szymoniak has more ethics than the banks on who she ‘uses’ this money….
17
dani Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 3:08 pm
god bless this attorny she is a hero that stood to the banksters and their fraud at great risk, she shuld be name attorney general of the united state this is the person we need brave person like her that fight until the end god bless you lynn
18
Connie Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 3:32 pm
Lynn – You are my hero.
I cannot tell you how much you have you been an inspiration to me and I am sure – so many others.
You deserve this. Congrats!!!!
19
Kathleen Burt Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 4:01 pm
Congratulations, Lynn!
I would encourage anyone who tosses around the word deadbeat to include the large mortgage bank that walked away from the loan on its Tokyo office, the same bank whose Bonds department executive walked away without paying his $210 cab fare, remarking, “the police won’t do anything! I pay $10,000 a year in property taxes.”
People who were downsized and/or outsourced in their 50s, having also losing 80% of their 401Ks in the dot.com Bust, decided to “invest” the remainder of their retirement money in a “safe place,” their home.
It might have worked for them, as it did for previous generations of Florida retirees, had it not been for the President telling everyone the best thing they could do for their country after 9/11 was shop, and the governor of Florida encouraging minorities to participate in the American Dream; buy a home.
Many people followed this advice, including those in low-paying, unskliied jobs and those whose English wasn’t up to the task of reading ther mortgage contract. Brokers cold-called everyone night and day, receiving bonuses from the banks.
We all know the results. But we learned some things too. There’s now no difference between moveable and immovable property. Homes are traded like pork belly futures. Capitalism is not a religion to “believed in,” it’s just an ecoomic model that bears watching and needs to be restrained with regulations.
20
Henry Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 8:07 pm
Wake Up, you are absolutely right, unless you have gone through it, you basically don’t have a glue of what you are talking about. These Banksters have been robbing the public as if they have a license to do so. They have well paid friends in high places knowing in the end they would get what they are getting “a slap on the wrist”. It happened to me with 4 properties and my feeling was, take it, take it all. I gambled and lost. That’s life and life goes on. It was only after the first fore-closer when I found out that the realtor couldn’t sell the house because there was something wrong with the Deed that started me looking into things. The Bank that gave me the load had gone Bankrupt and never sold the mortgage. The bank that took the house never owned it. Than it gets better, because they couldn’t fix the Deed they transferred it to BOA who in turn Foreclosed on the same house again as though the first foreclosure had never happen. They then sold the house to someone that has never been able to move in and it has been close to 2 years on the last foreclosure. And there is allot more to this story Double Dipping at the expense of the American Public and the public has NO Idea of what they are doing because all the State Attorney Generals in their pockets too. Just look at the O’Barma Administration, the people that cause this are now on government salaries. The Biggest Cartel that ever lived.
21
Get in the Game Says:
March 14th, 2012 at 3:02 am
Banks NEED you…
You do NOT need banks.
So, please please stop complaining about how horrible the situation is…woe is me…how the ‘evil’ bankers made me do it…how the cartel lives on…
Save your money – then you will not incur house debt!
22
jeff saturday Says:
March 14th, 2012 at 8:34 am
Lynn had a few cash out refis. I wonder what false info may have been on her loan applications?
Date/Time: 9/15/2004 17:18:11
Consideration: $270,269.69
Party 1: SZYMONIAK LYNN E
Date/Time: 1/3/2005 11:28:53
Consideration: $415,000.00
Party 1: SZYMONIAK LYNN E
Date/Time: 2/15/2006 08:27:13
Consideration: $780,000.00
Party 1: SZYMONIAK LYNN E
Date/Time: 11/17/2006 09:14:37
Consideration: $376,000.00
Party 1: SZYMONIAK LYNN
23
Henry Says:
March 14th, 2012 at 8:35 am
Me they only ripped off one time and can’t get anymore. You the tax payer they have been ripping off everyday for millions of dollars and is what has gotten the country in the shape that it is in. The toxic mortgages that they never proved they owned has been paid for by you, the Tax Payer not the bank. They are making money on mortgages they don’t own and most of the time Tipple Dipping. And you still have no idea of what they did and continue to do and I can’t waste my time trying to explain it because you may still never get it. Our Government bought shares of GM and bail them out. The banks they just simply bailed out. The banks should have gone bankrupted like the rest of us and taken over by the states they were in. Look at N. Dakota employment 3.3% with surplus money. Why, because they have state owned banks that invest in they state’s small businesses, roads, school rather than sending the earnings to Wall Street. Wake Up smell the Roses!
24
jeff saturday Says:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:29 pm
Do those of you singing the praises of Lynn Szymoniak think she is going care when you are thrown out of your houses with $2k for a U-Haul as per the agreement struck? If you do think again. Lynn Szymoniak is for Lynn Szymoniak. She proved it when she refied a million $ she knew she couldn`t pay back and she proved it again giving her approval of this 18 million $ settlement for her and a $2k settlement for you. She is the same greedy being as the banksters you all scream about.
25
honestly Says:
March 14th, 2012 at 5:06 pm
So…Lynn is rewarded for being dishonest and irresposible? She played the game and took out all the cash she could then bailed…now she gets $18m…why should anyone get a settlement…what about us honest hard working people who are upside down but keep making payments. We are the ones who have been screwed!
26
ronMori Says:
March 14th, 2012 at 6:03 pm
Wait – I think we’ve got this upside down.
We the people provide ‘insurance’ to the banks.
As insurers, we expect them to be prudent in their lending. (ie check the credit worthiness of the applicant.)
They didn’t do that.
They need to cause there’s lots of opportunistic Lynn Szymoniaks out there.
27
Lynn Szymoniak | Palm Beach Gardens | $18 Million Says:
March 14th, 2012 at 7:12 pm
[...] settlement with banks engineered by Bill Nettles, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina. [Palm Beach Post] Tags: lynn [...]
28
Get in the Game Says:
March 15th, 2012 at 4:15 pm
And, I think you mean…
We the people lend to these so-called house’owners.’
We the people give them all forms of tax breaks, concessions, subsidies, and other benefits…
And they want more free stuff – typical.
29
Romeo Stephany Says:
March 16th, 2012 at 7:00 pm
I’ll be honest, I’m kinda confused. But nice post.
I don’t have time to read all that, Jeff. Have little courtesy to edit excerpts, or at least bold the interesting parts.
That said, Jerry Felice needs a bank to tell him he can’t afford a house payment that’s 86% of his net income? Bucket of stupid indeed.
4
Take responsability Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 10:14 am
to Jerry Felice:
Give me a break….what are you 12 years old? Why should a bank have to tell you what you can or can’t afford? Is that not your responsability as an adult? Seriously people, take some ownership in your mistakes. You wanted to buy the big house you knew you could not afford…..you signed the documents, you took the check.
By no means do I defend the banks, but we can’t blindly blame them for everything that went wrong.
ORP
5
Justice Says:
March 13th, 2012 at 10:15 am
Jerry, no one put a gun to you head and told you to apply for and get a mortgage you knew you couldn’t afford. If you didn’t know what you could afford before you took out the mortgage then maybe you should update your budget once in a while. Don’t blame the bank for your stupidity.
I enjoyed all the commentary and found time to read it all.
I like this guy’s comment:
24
jeff saturday Says:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:29 pm
Do those of you singing the praises of Lynn Szymoniak think she is going care when you are thrown out of your houses with $2k for a U-Haul as per the agreement struck? If you do think again. Lynn Szymoniak is for Lynn Szymoniak. She proved it when she refied a million $ she knew she couldn`t pay back and she proved it again giving her approval of this 18 million $ settlement for her and a $2k settlement for you. She is the same greedy being as the banksters you all scream about.
Enjoyed the comments and found time to read them all.
I liked this guy’s comments-
24
jeff saturday Says:
March 14th, 2012 at 12:29 pm
Do those of you singing the praises of Lynn Szymoniak think she is going care when you are thrown out of your houses with $2k for a U-Haul as per the agreement struck? If you do think again. Lynn Szymoniak is for Lynn Szymoniak. She proved it when she refied a million $ she knew she couldn`t pay back and she proved it again giving her approval of this 18 million $ settlement for her and a $2k settlement for you. She is the same greedy being as the banksters you all scream about.
I found time to read all the comments and enjoyed the entertainment.
Sorry, for the triple post everyone.
What can I say I was so entertained I hit the add coment button repeatedly.
“It might have worked for them, as it did for previous generations of Florida retirees, had it not been for the President telling everyone the best thing they could do for their country after 9/11 was shop, and the governor of Florida encouraging minorities to participate in the American Dream; buy a home.”
Yeah but he and his buddies in high office really cleaned house on those sweet Halliburton (and many more insider no bid deals. Not to pick on Repub’s as the Dem’s helped write the book on insider enrichment schemes.
Best career moves 101: got a family connection? > summer intern for local politician > intern for DC politican > after four years of brown nosing and learning who’s who > get hired as big buisness lobbyist.
had it not been for the President telling everyone the best thing they could do for their country after 9/11 was shop
Do you have a source or are you referring to this speech to airline employees about 2 weeks after 9/11 (in which shopping is never mentioned)?
Remarks by the President to Airline Employees, O’Hare International
Airport [[...]
When they struck, they wanted to create an atmosphere
of fear. And one of the great goals of this nation’s war is to
restore public confidence in the airline industry. It’s to tell the
traveling public: Get on board. Do your business around the country.
Fly and enjoy America’s great destination spots. Get down to Disney
World in Florida. Take your families and enjoy life, the way we want
it to be enjoyed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/specials/attacked/transcripts/bush_092701.html
Don’t split hairs. He was telling people to get out there and spend money. Disneyworld vacations are not cheap.
Nor are $350K houses with mortgages. Especially in flyover country! Whad ya do - sell a house in Cali for massive profit, move to Colorado, buy an expensive house there, buy a Suburu, and then proceed to tell the locals how they should live their lives after you priced them out of the market?
I bet one can purchase LOTS of trips to Disneyworld with $350K. Even if you spend $2K a trip, that’s 170 trips to Disney!
BTW, what is it with high and mighty Suburu drivers?
BTW, what is it with high and mighty Suburu drivers?
I know many of them, and have never considered them “high and mighty”. They are simply cars that make sense in certain locales (e.g. AWD is great for the combinatio of snow and hills).
What makes them seem “high and mighty” to you?
BTW, what is it with high and mighty Suburu drivers?
Many years ago there was an Environmental Rally meant to close-down an off-road vehicle park. A newspaper photographer snapped a protester’s full sized Ford SUV there with an “Earth First” bumper sticker. A caption was purposely omitted since the photograph said it all.
“I bet one can purchase LOTS of trips to Disneyworld with $350K. Even if you spend $2K a trip”
$2K? Try $5K for a family of 4 (say a week long visit):
$1200 for the airfare.
$1000 for lodging (and you can spend a LOT more than that)
$1000 for parkhopper tickets
$1000+ for meals (they are REALLY expensive, especially of you eat nicer than burgers)
Plus whatever you spend on the rental car, excursions outside of Disney, trinkets, etc.
Whad ya do - sell a house in Cali for massive profit, move to Colorado, buy an expensive house there, buy a Suburu, and then proceed to tell the locals how they should live their lives after you priced them out of the market
None of the above.
We left SoCal during the early 90’s bust. We made ZERO profit on the house we sold there.
Bought a 180K house
Never owned a Subaru
Never told the locals “this is how we did it in SoCal”
Thank you for your response to my rather obnoxious post. It’s nice to see I’m wrong here.
You still did buy a $180K house that by your own account, is in a rather toney neighborhood. Not upper crust, but hardly shotgun shack, either. Now that house is worth $350K by your account. Good.
I do agree that blowing cash at Disney is dumb…but who am I to say that for others it’s not a fantastic idea? I retrospect, it would be a much better choice to blow $5K at Disney every other year than to buy a house.
Me? If I was to blow $5K I’d buy something durable with it -like a room or two of well crafted furniture. Not a $40K car (a huge waste of money regardless of mpg). Not dinners out. Speaking of which, a great deal more people blow $5K eating out every year (or used to until recently), which I consider the epitome of foolishness.
Hah, Ria.
My kid did two Congressional internships and it put him off his feed so badly he’ll never vote again. Moreover, you’ll never get off the donor lists.
I have a treasured photograph of him standing by himself onstage under a huge $60K McCain/Palin sign on election night 2008, head thrown back, laffing his arse off. He made a webpage out of it for awhile, and used the whole experience as a screenplay.
JFYI, most of the new hires come from the Ivies, Georgetown, William and Mary, maybe Duke, not “connected” offspring without the credentials. When it comes to staffers, there really IS something of a meritocracy going. But that’s big government for you….
A Cal State graduate and high school classmate of mine (1977, and had several foreign language classes in common) became a congressional staffer in his early 20s and then a high mucky muck federal employee, and now a high mucky muck private employee. Not bad for a Fresno California son. I think I am not doing a bad job too, also a lowly Cal State graduate (BA 1985, MS 1990) and yes I could not decide what to get my degree in until my sixth undergraduate year. I took a couple semesters off in the duration. My second cousin was in college for ten years and then became a meteorologist. An ex supervisor of mine spent 11 years as an undergraduate. He is a corporate lifer, a great guy, and got married late to a beautiful woman.
Too bad Congress does not go for the state university slouches like my high school associate anymore.
Polly matbe you could check these two pages out.
Florida special foreclosure deal gets $1.8 billion from Bank of America
by Kim Miller
The Florida attorney general’s office negotiated a special side deal in the nationwide bank settlement that guarantees mortgage relief worth $1.8 billion from Bank of America, $1.2 billion from Wells Fargo and $1 billion from JPMorgan Chase.
The plan, obtained today by The Palm Beach Post in a public records request, is laid out in a short two pages.
As with the national deal, filed Monday in federal court, Florida’s special pact gives banks credits worth specific dollar amounts for cutting loan amounts on first and second mortgages, for negotiating deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure and for completing short sales.
The banks will also get credits to waive deficiency judgments on foreclosures and short sales under the Florida plan.
Deficiency judgments are the unpaid debt on a mortgage still owed by a borrower after bank repossession or a short sale is conducted. In Florida, banks have five years to file for a deficiency judgment and up to 20 years to collect on the debt.
Florida’s total settlement is worth more than $8 billion.
Florida and California held out during negotiations with the nation’s five largest banks to get special side contracts.
Other states that signed on to the historic $25 billion deal were given estimates of how much homeowners may benefit from principal reductions, loan modifications and refinances for underwater borrowers from Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.
If the lenders fail to complete 75 percent of their obligations within two years and 100 percent of the requirements within three years they’ll have to pay the state tens of millions of dollars in punitive damages.
This might work to get to the 2 pages.
http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/realtime/2012/03/15/florida-special-foreclosure-deal-gets-1-8-billion-from-bank-of-america/ - 44k -
“The banks will also get credits to waive deficiency judgments on foreclosures and short sales under the Florida plan.”
“Florida’s total settlement is worth more than $8 billion.”
As I have said here before, the foreclosures that have been put on the market are in low end neighborhoods while the middle and upper middle class neighborhoods prices have remained propped up.
The banks can write off the $8 billion on the lower end stuff in Florida that would not be worth chasing anyway cause ya can`t get blood from a rock. As near as I can tell they`ve got a lot more than $8 billion left to chase for 20 years from middle and upper class hoods that they have kept the prices up on so effectively and allowed the people who do bleed to remain in the homes, so far.
Why? What question do you have?
The states have a claim for penalties under the laws that were broken. They have decided that they are willing to trade those penalties for relief given to some of the borrowers. Two parties in court coming to an agreement to modify the default result. Happens all the time.
“Why? What question do you have?”
I don`t think I do. From the short two page agrrement it says..
1.8 billion from Bof A
1.2 billion from Wells
1 billion from JPMorgan Chase
They will recieve credit for any principal reduction on 1st or 2 nd liens including reductions through loan mods deeds in llieu or short sales. Servicer shall recieve dollar for dollar credit for each such activity. There shall not be any percentage on the amount of credit available for any particular activity.
Sounds like they can burn through that on the cr@p they have already taken back and spend five years filing on people who have assets and the next 20 years going after them.
“where are the desirable areas in sacramento county?”
Funny stuff. No matter how nice the nabe, all Sac and most SoCal residents roll the dice for extra risks for respiratory disease. My oncologist in SoCal told me it’s a really unhealthy place to live. Maybe that’s why he moved to Washington State.
But … but … the weather is to die for!
Maybe that’s why he moved to Washington State.
Up here, our air gets scrubbed by the drizzle nine months of the year.
“Funny stuff. No matter how nice the nabe, all Sac and most SoCal residents roll the dice for extra risks for respiratory disease.”
I find that most interesting, as my respiratory health has never been better since moving to SoCal. Perhaps working and living within 20 miles of the coast matters…none of those nasty inland auto exhaust fumes that plague Central Valley residents.
Maybe if you live west of Interstate 5. I saw plenty of smog in Escondido and RB when i lived out there. Of course, noting cleared the air like a good Santa Ana. When that happened the air was clear even in the inland empire.
We live east of “The 5,” but at the end of a canyon which funnels the trade winds to our doorstep.
“Of course, nothing cleared the air like a good Santa Ana.”
Ironically, the worst air we have experienced here was when a Santa Ana was bringing the Witch Creek Fire ever closer to RB, Poway and Escondido.
Yeah, that can happen.
The South Bay air is always breezy. Yet I realized my west facing windows (along a busy street and within two miles of the ocean) would gather black dust on the sills.
That is soot, I think. Disconcerting. Maybe I should get my next gig in Tampa!
I find that most interesting, as my respiratory health has never been better since moving to SoCal. Perhaps working and living within 20 miles of the coast matters…”
yea I was dying in Phoenix in Spring time after my first year, here in Moorpark the air almost never bothers me
A nice Lucky Ducky article:
Rediscovering poverty
By Barbara Ehrenreich
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/NC17Dj04.html
Jake the Snake* picked a bad week to start his PR gig at Gollum.
March 14, 2012, 1:20 pm
Investment Banking
Welcome to the Goldman Firestorm
By AZAM AHMED and JACKIE CALMES
It would be hard to imagine a tougher start for Goldman Sachs‘s new public relations chief, Richard Siewert Jr.
Just Tuesday, the bank announced Mr. Siewert’s arrival in a detailed memo. A day later, an opinion article appeared in Op-Ed section of The New York Times from a Goldman executive, who publicly resigned from the bank and criticized it for pursuing profits over principles and writing that “the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it.”
What a difference a few hours can make.
Mr. Siewert, known as Jake, joins Goldman after an extensive career in the private and public sectors. A Yale graduate, he worked at the White House National Economic Council late in the Clinton administration and then, for a few months at the end, was the last press secretary to President Bill Clinton. During the Bush years, he worked for Alcoa.
As a close confidant of Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, Mr. Siewert got a front-row view to the financial crisis and its aftermath.
Like the Treasury secretary, Mr. Siewert is an occasionally irreverent presence who privately expressed frustration with the actions and public griping of the major financial players, including Goldman Sachs. Mr. Siewert shared the sentiment among top Obama advisers that the government – the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve — had saved the industry. But he also expressed frustration, behind the scenes, that major companies quickly went back to bolstering executive compensation and complaining about proposed federal regulations to avoid another such crisis. Among the recurring irritants was the fact that reporters, pundits, politicians and others identified Mr. Geithner – often in an implicitly critical way – as a former Goldman Sachs executive when Mr. Geithner had never worked for Wall Street.
He also worked to quell public criticism of the bailout programs. He was a force in the administration for winding down the Troubled Asset Relief Program, even as officials who wanted to keep the unused money for housing programs and other purposes. Mr. Siewert also worked to hasten repayments of government loans to General Motors and the American International Group.
Since leaving the Treasury Department last year, Mr. Siewert has been a stay-at-home dad with his young son and daughter in Manhattan. He starts at Goldman Sachs just as he and his wife Christine Anderson, who works at the Blackstone Group in public affairs, are about to have their third child.
…
* Not his real name, or even his nick name; just funnin’ you guys.
I don’t think Geithner has ever has had a real job anywhere!
“when Mr. Geithner had never worked for Wall Street”
Someone please remind me: Does U.S. federal law allow discrimination on the basis of color or socioeconomic status? And does it matter if the discrimination is to help or to harm the target class?
P.S. None of my (white) sons play the drums, as it would drive not only the neighbors (in the same duplex we live in) crazy, but the parents as well.
Sweet Home: When Owning Isn’t All About Money
by Annie Baxter
Mar 18, 2012 (Weekend Edition Sunday) — At the height of the housing crisis, low-income Americans had many opportunities to buy a home with the help of subprime mortgages, which proved to be disastrous. But those battered by the crisis continue to find paths to home ownership, despite financial disincentives.
It’s not hard to figure out why the Rhodes family would want a house of their own. Their son Paul’s passion for music makes it clear right away.
His mom, Tamika Rhodes, says in their last place, a two-bedroom apartment, Paul couldn’t play the drums because it would have driven the neighbors crazy.
Now he, his two sisters, mom and dad live in a big, five-bedroom house in St. Paul, Minn. Rhodes says they all feel much more comfortable.
At the height of the housing crisis, low-income Americans had many opportunities to buy a home with the help of subprime mortgages, which proved to be disastrous. But those battered by the crisis continue to find paths to home ownership, despite financial disincentives.
“Our main goal of owning a home is a place that we can really call our own — a place that we feel safe and secure,” Rhodes says. “Just a place where we can be free.”
Out Of Debt, Into A New Home
Rhodes and her husband’s path into this home is amazing, considering the foreclosure in their recent past.
A few years ago, they bought a home with a subprime mortgage that had ballooning payments. Rhodes wasn’t working year-round and had a low-wage job. They were pulling in about $30,000 together. The house became unaffordable; they lost it to foreclosure, and their credit scores plummeted.
A local bank and a nonprofit called Build Wealth, MN, helped them do some intensive credit repair.
A couple years later, Rhodes and her husband make about $50,000. With three young kids, that still qualifies them as low-income by federal housing standards for the area.
But they were able to close on this house in December for about $146,000. Their monthly payment is less than $1,000, which makes Rhodes kind of giddy.
“That’s the blessing in it,” she says. “We’re actually paying less now than we were, even in the apartment.”
Low-Income Borrowers
It might seem surprising that at a time when mortgages can be difficult to get, a bank would take a chance on the Rhodes family and get them back into a home.
“Oh yes, [we're] definitely willing to work with them,” says their loan officer, Vickie Reardon of Bremer Bank.
Reardon says she works with lower-income borrowers all the time.
“There [have] been many files I’ve started and worked with them for over two-plus years before they’ve actually closed and purchased,” she says.
Nationally, the share of mortgages made to modest earners doesn’t seem to have dropped off. In fact, it hit its high point of the decade in 2009 at 34 percent. At Bremer Bank, the share of mortgages made to low-income people nearly doubled between 2005 and 2011.
Reardon says these days a lot of Bremer’s loans to low-income people are made through the Federal Housing Administration. It requires smaller down payments than traditional loans do. But she doesn’t think that’s driving people of modest means to buy houses.
“[Low] interest rates and lowering home prices is really what’s helping them get into those properties,” Reardon says, “because I don’t think FHA or any of the other programs really have lowered their standards at all.”
A ‘Double Whammy’
Of course, there’s a downside to the drop-off in home prices. The housing market in the Twin Cities is down about 35 percent from its peak a few years ago. Houses aren’t quite the smart financial investment people once thought they were.
Additionally, housing expert Alan Mallach says, the financial benefits of home ownership can be even lower for people who don’t make much money. Mallach published a study in 2011 for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on lower-income home ownership.
“It’s a double whammy. Your basic housing costs to begin with are going to be a much larger chunk of income, which means you have less slack,” he says. “Plus, the likelihood that your house is going to need repairs is much greater than if you buy a much more expensive house.”
…
Let’s see….
Get government out of the mortgage business
Make banks eat their bad loans
Housing prices drop
and then
more people then can afford to buy houses
Shall Ibe politically correct in my response or just honest?
Hell. I hate growl metal and I hate cRap
I’ve searched high and low on the internet for word of which Wall Street bank was forcing the Bales family out of their home, and have come up with nothing, nada, zilch.
Is there some kind of media blackout on the basic facts and circumstances surrounding this story?
They could change the culture by busting up the trusts. About now, America could use a man like Teddy Roosevelt or Andrew Jackson again.
Why Greg Smith Is ‘Dead Right’ About Goldman Sachs
By Michael Hirsh
Mar 16 2012, 10:09 AM ET 129
The resignation letter heard round the world proves what we already know: Washington would like to think it can change the culture of Wall Street — and it can’t.
…
“The first column is rates. The second column is a payment for $100K on a 30-year mortgage, a 50-year mortgage and a “mortgage into perpetuity.
There is very little difference at normal rates but as you go down, you start seeing differences. Of course, we all know by basic economics that the bond-holders (or the government) are going to take a bath but this is an exercise in bond-math not the real world. 8-)”
Here is my take on this:
Consider a typical young American household living on $50K annual income, of which they can allocate 30% ($15,000/yr) to paying the mortgage. Here are the amounts of house they can ‘afford’ to purchase at different interest rates (column 1) on a 30-year mortgage, a 50-year mortgage, and a perpetuity mortgage:
0.5 $418,060.20 $664,893.62 $2,976,190.48
0.75 $403,225.81 $625,000.00 $1,984,126.98
1 $388,198.76 $589,622.64 $1,506,024.10
1.25 $375,375.38 $558,035.71 $1,201,923.08
1.5 $362,318.84 $527,426.16 $1,000,000.00
1.75 $350,140.06 $500,000.00 $856,164.38
2 $337,837.84 $473,484.85 $748,502.99
2.25 $327,225.13 $449,640.29 $664,893.62
2.5 $316,455.70 $428,082.19 $600,961.54
2.75 $306,372.55 $407,166.12 $545,851.53
3 $296,208.53 $388,198.76 $500,000.00
3.25 $287,356.32 $370,919.88 $461,254.61
3.5 $278,396.44 $354,107.65 $428,082.19
3.75 $269,978.40 $338,753.39 $399,361.02
4 $262,054.51 $323,834.20 $375,375.38
4.25 $254,065.04 $310,945.27 $353,107.34
4.5 $246,548.32 $298,329.36 $333,333.33
4.75 $239,463.60 $286,041.19 $315,656.57
5 $232,774.67 $275,330.40 $299,760.19
5.25 $226,449.28 $264,830.51 $285,388.13
PBear, the MBA and NAR will bring you to trial for posting this seditious mathematical evidence. Meanwhile let the beatings commence.
FPSS made me do it!
If that illustration doesn’t show why Ben Bernanke is hellbent on suppressing mortgage rates, nothing does…
You got it PB!
Comment by Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Thrower©
2012-03-18 13:53:11
If that illustration doesn’t show why Ben Bernanke is hellbent on suppressing mortgage rates, nothing does…
*********************
It also help’s Uncle Sam keep the interest payments low on that $15.2 trillion dollar debt…
And keeps the bank spreads profitable.
It’s a win, win, and win situation for The Bernake
The Bernake, in case you missed it:
THE FEDERAL RESERVE SUCKS ROCKS!
THE FEDERAL RESERVE SUCKS ROCKS!
Of course, we all know by basic economics that the bond-holders (or the government) are going to take a bath”
when interest rates go up they sure will
and if rates don’t go up how will bond investors get any return ?
Probably a good time to sell some bonds
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/03/why_neighbors_cant_wait_for_th.html
Why neighbors can’t wait for the IRS auction of the blue-roofed drug dealer’s mansion in Skaneateles
Usually the first rule when making lots o money in illegal enterprises is to keep a low profile.
Another good rule is to be a good neighbor or at least don’t piss off the neighbors.
That dude hit on my MIL frequently.
I’ve probably posted this before, but I enjoy the Schadenfreude so much I am reposting:
CalPERS gets out of housing development investment, takes loss
Sacramento Business Journal by Mark Anderson, Staff Writer
Date: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 11:24am PST
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System is getting out of a large major housing investment at a loss, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The Sacramento-based pension giant is selling a portfolio of 28 communities to a partnership of San Diego-based developer Newland Real Estate Group LLC and an affiliate of Japan’s largest home-building company, Sekisui House Ltd. at a loss of about $250 million.
The portfolio represents about a fifth of CalPERS portfolio of residential real estate investments. It includes 16,300 finished lots, which are lots with entitlements, curbs and gutters, ready to build a home on, as well as thousands of acres of undeveloped land in 11 states. Four of the developments are in California, in San Diego and Riverside counties.
The move to sell the land is part of an effort by the fund to move from riskier high-yield assets like real estate speculation to more conservative stable income investments.
…
The move to sell the land is part of an effort by the fund to move from riskier high-yield assets like real estate speculation to more conservative stable income investments
Except CalPERs (like all pension funds) promised to make 8% a year on their investments - forever.
You ain’t going to make 8% on “stable income investments”
“You ain’t going to make 8% on ’stable income investments’”.
But … but … but … they PROMISED!
Luckily insurance companies and others that are expecting to earn eight-percent-plus returns on their float are secure.
oooops …
These guys’ll need to earn at least eight-percent-plus in order to justify scraping off the hefty fees they charge so as to have some money left over to pass on to their customers.
ooooops squared.
Uh, maybe now is not such a good time to choose money management as a career field.
Bloomberg News
Fisher: Investors Should Prepare for Less Fed Easing
By Steve Matthews and Aki Ito on March 05, 2012
Richard Fisher, right, on Feb. 29, 2012, in Mexico. Photograph: El Universal/ZUMAPRESS.com
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said he opposes additional Fed purchases of securities and urged Wall Street to get ready to become less dependent on monetary easing.
“I would suggest to you that, if the data continue to improve, however gradually, the markets should begin preparing themselves for the good Dr. Fed to wean them from their dependency rather than administer further dosage,” Fisher said today in a speech in Dallas. Financial markets “have become hooked on the monetary morphine we provided” after the 2008 financial crisis, he said.
…
More Fed Money changer pandering to create a sense of urgency.
So grammie is in town visiting… she and I get caught up, and she tells me about the house she is buying in the Syracuse area, and why (because she doesn’t want son #1 to be all alone in Upstate NY, while son #2 and #3 and daughter #1 live in Florida).
Son #1 is also in town, and later today he and I get caught up. Their first baby is due this may and the school his wife teaches at is closing.
So then he asks if I could help them land on their feet down here if need be.
Just say no. Never tell a sibling how much money you make. Been there (she told her boyfriend and then he gave me he’ll, I defended myself, and she became angry at us both). Plead poverty. Accentuate money losses, bills owed. Son #1 may become distant to you for years, but he will know not to drain you. You have wife and kids to support by golly!
What’s with the anti-anger stuff?
I’m pissed!
I’m just waiting for the right thing to throw a brick at!
March 18, 2012, 9:00 a.m. EDT
The glacial pace of the housing recovery
Top economic reports this week include home sales, construction
By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. economy finally seems to be on a solid path to recovery three years after the recession ended. The struggling housing industry, not so much.
The real-estate market takes center stage in a typically slow week for U.S. economic data. Reports on new-home construction, new-home sales and purchases of existing homes are among the highlights. See MarketWatch Economic Calendar.
Housing looks to have perked up over the past few months, though some of the data may have been goosed by unseasonably warm winter weather.
Still, the groundwork for turnaround in the slum-ridden industry is set in place. Mortgage rates are at record lows, the economy is growing, more people are finding jobs and rents are starting to rise — a trend that usually pushes people to buy their own homes and build equity.
“Our view is that housing bottomed out last year,” said Michael Gapen, an economist at Barclays Capital. “It’s no longer a drag on the recovery.”
The damage from the 2007-2009 recession, however, was so great that economists believe it will take a several years or longer for the housing market to return to normal.
The unemployment rate, for example, remains very high at 8.3%, and it’s nearly 14% for people 20 to 24 — an age when many young Americans start to considering buying their first home.
What’s more, credit isn’t easy to obtain owing to tighter loan requirements. Banks have been burned by the high rate of foreclosures over the past few years and millions of homeowners are still struggling to pay their current mortgages. Lenders are scouring every new loan request with the proverbial fine-tooth comb.
Sorting out the foreclosure mess is a big drag on the construction industry in particular and the broader U.S. economy in general. Instead of buying new properties — which creates construction jobs — more Americans are buying existing homes, especially if they can get distressed properties on the cheap.
“We still have a significant amount of foreclosures to work through,” Gapen said.
The depth to which the real estate market has plunged is evident in the sale of new homes. They actually fell to 304,000 in 2011 from 323,000 in 2010, and they are down 80% compared to the last full year before the recession.
Put another way, the sale of new homes last year was the lowest the government has recorded since it began keeping statistics almost 50 years ago.
“While we think this will be a year when the housing market starts to see some meaningful improvement, it’s still extremely weak on a historical basis,” noted Ken Metheny, senior economist at Macroeconomic Advisers in St. Louis.
…
MarketWatch consensus
See economic calendar
date report Consensus previous
March 19 Home builder sentiment 29 29
March 20 Housing starts 708,000 699,000
March 21 Existing home sales 4.6 mln 4.57 mln
March 22 Jobless claims 350,000 351,000
March 22 Leading indicators 0.5% 0.4%
March 22 FHFA house prices 0.7%
March 23 New home sales 330,000 321,000
Just bought my first $60+ tank full of gas today.
Gas prices increase at slower pace
Written by Morgan Lee
9:31 p.m., March 11, 2012
Updated 3 p.m. , March 12, 2012
The price of regular gasoline in California rose by nearly 2 cents during the past week to an average of $4.38, the U.S. Energy Information Service reported Monday.
Prices nationwide rose nearly 4 cents to $3.83, according to the federal government’s weekly retail price survey.
California prices continued to weigh on consumers and elevate the national average. Over the past year, they have risen 42 cents on average, while U.S. prices have risen 26 cents.
San Diego gas prices have gone up by 20 percent this year — to $4.38 on Monday — and are now within 25 cents of the all-time high of $4.63 that was set in June 2008, according to the AAA daily fuel gauge report.
U-T San Diego asked small-business owners how they are dealing with high gas prices.
Seasonal maintenance and a fire at a refinery in Washington state in February have contributed to Southern California’s surging prices, analysts say.
The publisher of a leading fuel price survey said prices could soon peak as West Coast refineries wrap up maintenance projects.
“Overall motor-gasoline supply will become more generous, and this will probably put a stop to the price rise,” Trilby Lundberg, president of the Lundberg Survey, told Bloomberg News over the weekend.
…
Nominated for most truthful, reality driven post this month.
————————————————————————————-
Comment by In Colorado
2012-03-18 11:22:28
Or we could blame the society that built up the imperialistic, mercenary military, and created an underclass that made “economic conscription” possible.
Benny is the figurehead, his 12 disciples are the moneychangers. Watch their word games and how they play the public. It mimics the moronic duplicity and false dichotomy of political party clowns.
Economic Beat | SATURDAY, MARCH 17, 2012
Our Cheap Debt Will Come Back to Haunt Us
By GENE EPSTEIN | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR
The Fed’s mandate to maximize employment will undermine its other mandate, to keep inflation at bay. Seduced by what can only be called low teaser rates, the U.S. Treasury is piling up staggering debt that does not cost much to finance right now, but will ultimately bust the budget.
You may have heard by now of the Federal Reserve’s “dual mandate.” Not content to merely protect us against the ravages of price inflation (mandate No. 1), our fearless Fed is equally committed to fostering “maximum employment” (No. 2). And right now, with the unemployment rate still at 8.3%—far too high to meet anyone’s definition of full employment—the central bank understandably favors No. 2 over No. 1.
That was again made clear in the release last week from the Federal Open Market Committee—Chairman Ben Bernanke’s group of Fed governors and presidents empowered to set short-term interest rates. The FOMC statement declared that the target range for the interest rate on federal funds would be kept at 0% to 0.25%. It also reiterated the somewhat astonishing commitment that these “exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate” would be maintained “at least through late 2014.”
Set aside for the moment the potential distortions that such a regime might introduce into the structure of the economy. As CEO Peter Schiff of Euro Pacific Capital has pointed out, the Fed’s interest-rate policy has mortgaged the economy at an “adjustable rate” that will eventually cause damage once the rebound in rates inevitably occurs. Among other profligate borrowers seduced by what can fairly be called low teaser rates, our own U.S. Treasury is piling up staggering debt that does not cost very much to finance right now, but whose financing costs might ultimately bust the budget once rates climb.
NOT TO WORRY, HOWEVER; between now and late 2014, soaring financing costs of the federal debt probably won’t be a problem. Nor do I agree with the other objection about the intermediate term frequently raised by the Fed’s critics: that over the next year or two, the central bank’s pursuit of the employment mandate will undermine its other mandate, the need to keep inflation at bay.
…