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The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Is the the inventory chokehold by the banks working?
I’d say for right now, kinda…
bidding wars are back in style.
For the smart people (who are apparently a rarity in the marketplace), it is still falling knife catching 101. Way too much pent-up supply.
Similar to how De Beers creates market demand for diamonds.
But what if most of that supply is kept off the market and taxpayers continue to pay to maintain these homes on the books?
Define “maintain”? As in upkeep?
Seems to me, at least here in FL, that there is very little maintenance done on foreclosed properties. That doesn’t exactly bode well for the properties value. When it is sold, it will be for much lower than neighborhood comps.
I understand what they are trying to do, they are trying to create an upsurge in the market with limited inventory and then sell into it. I don’t think it will work, people can’t even come up with 3.5% down payments now. Unless uncle sugar decides to make them zero down payment houses, I don’t see it happening.
This gap will be filled with syndicated money (aka OPM).
Vast pools of low-return mulah will be tapped into - are now being tapped into - to buy up these properties so as to turn them into rentals so everyone involved can get filthy rich.
“…and taxpayers continue to pay to maintain these homes on the books?”
I suspect this is just fine, so long as most taxpayers remain clueless about the boondoggle.
One can only wonder how many tons of diamonds DeBeers has locked away in its vaults, creating an artificial shortage.
And DeBeers must really hate the idea that General Electric came up with a cheap method of artifically producing millions of those ‘rare’ diamond thingies.
GE “lost” the recipe.
combotechie said “DeBeers must really hate the idea”
Hardly. The makers of artificial diamonds very purposefully priced their output to just under the price of real diamonds. Hardly any savings at all. So the DeBeers propaganda that diamonds are scarce and valuable, continues to be supported.
And yet I can still get diamond cutting discs cheap from Harbor Freight. The market for diamonds is autistic.
Billion dollar hedge funds buyers who bought from GSA bulk sales will rent or sell driving down prices. No way a house buyer today can “compete” with the big boy’s!
The March jobs report looks bullish.Unemployment down to 8.2% baby.
War$ are good.
How$ the U$ inventorie$ the$e day$?
What’s the difference between a military Hummer & a John-its-Deere tractor?
Who is responsible for the daily change$ of price$ for ga$oline & the Ho$pital emergency $tandard rate$ marquee?
(Did you know that there is a specific window for financial aid @ most ho$pital$? Really, someone actually has a job dealing with that specific i$$ue. Being that there are 7 Billion$ of quasi-perfect humans, eye reckons that’s definitely a pro$pect for job growth on a global $cale!)
What parts of the Fed’s January 2012 housing revitalization plan have been implemented, and how is it working thus far?
Fed pushes for government action to help revive housing
Ideas include big roles for Freddie, Fannie
By Patrice Hill
The Washington Times
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
**FILE** Newly built luxury townhomes are offered for sale Jan. 10, 2012, in Woodland Hills, Calif. (Associated Press)**FILE** Newly built luxury townhomes are offered for sale Jan. 10, 2012, in Woodland Hills, Calif. (Associated Press)
Top Federal Reserve officials are prodding the White House and Congress to take more aggressive action to stop the free-fall in the housing market, warning that the U.S. economy will remain sluggish and vulnerable and will not fully recover until housing returns to better health.
Having failed to revive the housing market from its deep slump by driving interest rates to record lows and taking the unprecedented step of buying up many of the country’s mortgages, Fed officials have concluded that vigorous action by the executive branch is needed to overcome legal and institutional obstacles to a recovery.
In speeches and staff studies issued since the beginning of the year, the Fed has been urging such ambitious steps as setting up low-cost, streamlined mortgage-refinancing programs for millions of creditworthy borrowers, regardless of whether they have equity in their homes or previous backing from the federal government.
To blunt the impact of an expected deluge of foreclosed properties hitting the housing market and further depressing housing prices this year and next, the Fed says, the government should take advantage of a budding renaissance in the rental-housing market to create programs for investors to easily purchase and rent out thousands of foreclosed properties now owned by banks and the government.
While such steps have been debated in housing circles for months, the Fed’s push for action is touching off controversy in part because most of its recommendations involve using Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant mortgage agencies taken over by the government in 2008, to carry out the housing assistance programs.
Republican legislators are particularly piqued because the proposals would cause further losses at the agencies over and above the $165 billion already paid out by taxpayers, at least in the short term, at a time when Congress has been single-mindedly focused on limiting the taxpayer bailout of the mortgage giants.
Nevertheless, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke quietly forwarded a staff paper at the beginning of the year offering a dozen or so ideas for jump-starting the housing market, saying he gets many requests from legislators for advice on housing.
“Continued weakness in the housing market poses a significant barrier to a more vigorous economic recovery,” said the paper, which noted that the 33 percent drop in housing prices on average since 2006 has eviscerated the main source of wealth for middle-class households while leaving millions of homeowners “underwater” with loans worth more than their houses.
…
Those newly built luxury townhomes are “starting at $399K.” Nope, that’s about twice what they’re worth, if that.
Is asset price stabilization part of the Fed’s mandate?
April 5, 2012, 5:00 p.m. EDT
Fed assures banks they can rent foreclosed homes
By Ronald D. Orol, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Federal Reserve on Thursday released guidance giving banks assurances that they can rent out foreclosed properties they own.
The central bank was acting to counter assumptions that regulators want those properties to be sold.
“In light of the large volume of distressed residential properties and the indications of higher demand for rental housing in many markets, some banking organizations may choose to make greater use of rental activities in their disposition strategies than in the past,” the Fed said in a policy statement.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said recently that the agency would provide such guidance. Read about how the Fed’s Bernanke pushes for foreclosed rentals
In a speech in February, the central bank chairman said that programs to encourage rentals could help cure the market’s current “serious” imbalances where there is a excess supply of vacant homes and an expanded rental market.
Bernanke said that as of the end of the second quarter of 2011, there were roughly 2 million vacant homes for sale, with about 500,000 units owned by banks, the two mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration. Read Bernanke’s housing white paper
Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke also recently made a push for having banks rent properties they own. In a January speech, she said Fed research suggested that if lenders were permitted in some cases to rent foreclosed residential property rather than sell it at fire-sale prices, it could “better balance rental and owner-occupied markets” and help housing prices stabilize.
…
If the Fed can see bubbles while they collapse, why can’t they see them while they inflate?
Case in point, an article that was published in the very same month we became long-term renters:
FRBNY Economic Policy Review / December 2004
Jonathan McCarthy and Richard W. Peach
Are Home Prices the Next “Bubble”?
• Home prices have been rising strongly since the
mid-1990s, prompting concerns that a bubble
exists in this asset class and that home prices
are vulnerable to a collapse that could harm the
U.S. economy.
• A close analysis of the U.S. housing market in
recent years, however, finds little basis for such
concerns. The marked upturn in home prices is
largely attributable to strong market
fundamentals: Home prices have essentially
moved in line with increases in family income
and declines in nominal mortgage interest rates.
• Moreover, weaker economic conditions are
unlikely to trigger a severe drop in home
prices. Historically, aggregate real home
prices have fallen only moderately in periods
of recession and high nominal interest rates.
• While such conditions could lead to lower home
prices in states along the east and west
coasts—areas where an inelastic supply of
housing has made home prices particularly
sensitive to changes in demand—regional price
declines in the past have not had devastating
effects on the broader economy.
Piles of cash blocking their view?
It’s ideology. Nobody in elected or appointed office today wants to be marked as a “doomer”. The system selfishly runs on rosy outlooks.
Will paltry March 2012 employment numbers give the Fed the support to roll out a mortgage-bond version of QE3?
“Worse than expected” yet again.
April 6, 2012, 9:24 a.m. EDT · CORRECTED
U.S. economy gains 120,000 jobs in March
Less-than-expected increase is smallest since last fall
By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
Fixes story to reflect last time jobs data wasn’t above 200,000.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The U.S. economy added 120,000 jobs in March, the smallest increase in five months, to break a recent string of strong employment gains, the government reported Friday.
The number of jobs created last month fell well below expectations and failed to top the 200,000 mark for the first time since November.
Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected a 210,000 increase.
…
88,000,000 people are riding the pine right now. That’s a lot of people not doing a whole lot!
Accounting for the new entrants into the labor force as well as the 88 million sitting on the bench, how many months of creating only 120,000 jobs will it take to correct this?
“88,000,000 people are riding the pine right now.”
Sources, please.
I can’t seem to get my posts to link correctly:
For the life of me, I can’t get links to post. I’ll try it this way:
http : // research dot stlouisfed dot org / fred2 / series / LNS15000000
http : // research dot stlouisfed dot org / fred2 / series / LNS15000000
Thanks.
Did you try removing the blanks and replacing ‘dot’ with ‘.’?
Yes. I tried using the tags shown at the bottom of the comment box but, alas, I find that you need to be smarter than the tags to make them work correctly.
“Not in Labor Force”
Who are these 88m peops, and how do they get by?
I would assume the following:
1. Family
2. Savings
3. Uncle Sugar
4. Gray Economy Jobs
Or some combination of the 4.
Year / NILF / U.S. Population
1990 63m 248.7m
2012 88m 312.8m
Conclusions:
* The number of U.S. citizens “not in labor force” grew by 39.7 percent over a period when the U.S. population grew by “only” 25.8 percent.
* The dependency ratio increased by even more, as demographic exits from the working age range over the past couple of decades have clearly exceeded new entrants.
Aren’t most of those 88 million kids?
But yeah, they’ll need jobs when they grow up. I have no idea where they will come from.
I have no idea where they will come from ??
McDee’s & Taco Bell ??
158 million total unemployed, broken down as follows:
1. 88 Million functionally unemployed: No job & no longer looking.
2. 70 million children, disabled or retired.
Now add U6 - Those who are marginally employed or receiving unemployment benefits to the 88 million who are functionally unemployed.
Doesn’t paint a pretty picture does it?
“1. 88 Million functionally unemployed: No job & no longer looking.”
Is this group what is euphemistically called ‘discouraged workers’?
I’m not 100% on this but I believe so.
This just shows how misleading the data really is. The information is there but it takes some serious thought to get to what the BLS numbers are actually saying.
“…what the BLS numbers are actually saying.”
Hint: Remove the ‘L’ from ‘BLS’.
Nearly everything that I read says that you need somewhere between 100,000 and 125,000 jobs a month just to absorb new entrants. Now that may be a little inflated = I don’t know if, for example, that number reflects people flocking over the boarder at the times of bubble job growth. If so, we may need less. Also don’t know if enough people are staying in school to lower that number. And I think one person asserted that the real need was 150,000. In any event, 120,000 should keep us approximately even.
I don’t know why anyone is surprised about this. Some of the hiring that should have happened in March happened in January and February because of the mild winter. There was bound to be a slow down eventually. We aren’t in summer vacation hiring season yet.
So, in essence, we create 120k jobs/month in order to account for those entering the work force. Yet we have 88 million sitting idle, plus those included under U-6 who are marginally employed (part-time but want full-time employment) or receiving unemployment benefits; yet somehow the unemployment rate is going down?
I think Professor Bear is right BLS data needs the ‘L’ removed.
Opinion
New Script Calls for More U.S. Quantitative Easing: Opinion
By Jeff Nielson 04/06/12 - 06:00 AM EDT
The following commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet’s guest contributor program, which is separate from the company’s news coverage.
NEW YORK (Bullion Bulls Canada) — Ben Bernanke has been in a quandary, ever since the Federal Reserve’s QE II was universally castigated as a reckless (and selfish) escapade by the U.S., aimed at doing nothing more than propping up the value of the “financial assets” of the Wall Street crime syndicate. Bernanke never understood that criticism, since all of the money-printing done by the Federal Reserve is for the specific intent of propping up the value of Wall Street’s financial assets. How else do you stop Ponzi schemes from imploding?
Be that as it may, the one thing which Bernanke did understand is that there was little tolerance (and certainly no appetite) in the global community for more U.S. quantitative easing. To understand this requires actually taking a moment to define quantitative easing, since though the mainstream media uses the term a million times a month, they never explain it.
Quantitative easing is nothing but a 21st century euphemism to replace a 20th century euphemism: “monetizing debt.” Those with any understanding of language realize that euphemisms are expressions we create when we want to (more or less) lie about a subject — because telling the plain truth is too unpalatable.
…
Chances of Fed Quantitative Easing `Diminishing’
April 6 (Bloomberg) — Gary Schlossberg, senior economist at Wells Capital Management Inc. in San Francisco, talks about the U.S. economy and Federal Reserve monetary policy. Employers probably added more than 200,000 workers to payrolls in March for a fourth straight month as U.S. companies gained confidence sales will keep improving, economists said before a government report today. Schlossberg speaks with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television’s “First Up.” (Source: Bloomberg)
Can you find an update from the same person after the real jobs numbers were released? That would be very interesting.
No kidding!
I just watched this interview Pbear…I wonder given the significant miss from the estimate if Mr. Schlossberg would like to revise his opinion on future QE…
Just spent yesterday in Bakersplat, and while business may be “booming,” what I noticed was that all the real estate “investor-type” CostCo shoppers had been replaced by retired farm and ranch types (hello,) and Mexican speaking women with youngsters in tow.
“The Bakersfield-Delano market is once again among the top 20 fastest recovering economies in the nation, according to the latest data from the Brookings Institution….”
“…Both the oil industry and food processing have a presence in the manufacturing sector, and both of those industries are doing extremely well amid high oil and food prices….”
“‘Those are sectors that are really benefiting the area,” said Gregory Bird, an associate economist with Moody’s Analytics. “You’ve recovered virtually all of the jobs that were lost since 2009, and what’s really given you momentum is the oil and agriculture.’”
http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/business/local/x1322082369/Fast-recovery-underway-in-Bakersfield-Delano-region
“and Mexican speaking women”
You mean they were speaking in Nahuatl ?
Or did you mean “Spanish speaking women”?
“You mean they were speaking in Nahuatl ?”
“Or did you mean “Spanish speaking women”?”
FWIW I know guys from Mexico and Guatemala and according to them there are differences in the Spanish language in the 2 countries. My first wife spent a year in Australia with her uncle and his family after high school. The first night she was there they went out to dinner and at the end of the meal she said “I am stuffed”. According to her the entire resturaunt turned and looked at them and her uncle was pretty pissed.
Australia Social Etiquette
By Naomi Vogel, eHow Contributor
Dining
When dining out with others, it is expected that everyone will split the bill. To offer to pay for someone’s meal will be misconstrued as viewing yourself superior to him. To accept or expect someone else paying for your bill will be admitting to inferiority. If invited to someone’s home for an informal meal such as a barbecue, it is expected that you will bring beer and possibly even food. After the meal, never use the phrase, “I am stuffed,” because in Australia, this means you are pregnant. At a dinner party, it is expected that you will bring a fine wine. When you leave for the evening, the beer or wine is to remain with the host.
http://www.ehow.com/about_6165593_australia-social-etiquette.html - 57k
>>FWIW I know guys from Mexico and Guatemala and according to them there are differences in the Spanish language in the 2 countries<<
Actually, there are fewer differences between them, than between American and British English. All Spanish speaking countries abide by the spelling and grammatical rules defined by the Royal Spanish Academy.
Case in point: For decades the Academy insisted that ‘Mexico’ was spelled with a ‘j’ (Mejico) and you will find many maps and globes with Mexico spelled that way. This is because in Spanish ‘X’ does not have the ‘h’ sound, it is pronounced the same as in English. Mexico lobbied for decades to get the Academy to reconsider and finally the Academy agreed. “Mexico” now appears with an ‘x’ in the Academy’s official dictionary (the one and only authority on how words are spelled in Spanish). This was considered a major triumph for Mexico.
Where there are differences it’s in colloquialisms. Bottom line, Mexicans and Guatemalans speak Spanish, not Mexican or Guatemalan. They use the same spelling (no color vs. colour, no tire vs. tyre, etc.) and the same grammar.
Curiously, there are people in Mexico who propose that Nahuatl (the languages the Aztecs spoke) be declared Mexico’s official language, which would be odd as only a tiny minority of Mexicans are fluent in Nahuatl.
The word ‘chocolate’ is perhaps the best known word of Nahuatl origin in the world. it comes from “chocolatl” (some spell it “xocolatl”).
“All Spanish speaking countries abide by the spelling and grammatical rules defined by the Royal Spanish Academy.”
I don`t think the guys I am talking about abide by any spelling and grammatical rules defined by the Royal Spanish Academy but whatever. I would still tell my daughters not to say “I am stuffed” after a meal in Australia and if by chance I wanted a cigarette you won`t catch me asking a dude from England for a “fag”. Not that there`s anything wrong with that.
Went to training once with three guys from the Spanish Air Force.
They went to great pains to explain that “Spanish Spanish” is different than “Mexican Spanish”.
Sorta like the difference between “Ivy League English” and “Louisiana Gator Hunter English”
Went to training once with three guys from the Spanish Air Force.
They went to great pains to explain that “Spanish Spanish” is different than “Mexican Spanish”.
Back when I was bicycling around the USA, I made a huge mistake while I was in New Mexico. That was referring to someone with a Spanish surname as “Mexican.”
Oops.
She huffed that she was NEW Mexican, not Mexican. And, if she was like a lot of people with Spanish surnames in New Mexico, she may have been a descendant of the Spaniards.
“Pissed” in Ozzy means “drunk.”
“Pissed” in Ozzy means “drunk.”
Maybe that`s why he was so upset about my ex-wife saying she was stuffed.
Now is that Ozzy or Ausie because when I think of Ozzy I think of a bat`s head getting bitten off. Never mind I`ll look it up in the spelling and grammatical rules defined by the Royal Spanish Academy.
No, I meant they were speaking Mexican– with hard fricatives. The Basques are of a different social class in Bakersfield (think Brit and Irish,) and the Mexicans here prefer being referred to as Mexican. So I do.
“The Basques are of a different social class in Bakersfield (think Brit and Irish,) and the Mexicans here prefer being referred to as Mexican.”
I`m Irish but I think I would prefer being referred to as Mexican.
“…Both the oil industry and food processing have a presence in the manufacturing sector, and both of those industries are doing extremely well amid high oil and food prices….”
Both the oil industry and food processing are doing well amid high oil and food prices. Imagine that, who could have ever seen this coming. Well I have to go fill up my tank and drive out to Wellington, after that I hope I have enough cash for an I-Pad burger.
Americans brace for next foreclosure wave
(What the next wave in the kiddy pool?)
By Nick Carey
GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio |
Thu Apr 5, 2012 2:22am EDT
Until December 2010, Daniel Burns, 52, had spent his working life in the trucking industry as a long-haul driver and manager. When daily loads at the small family business where he worked tailed off, he lost his job.
Unable to cover his mortgage, Burns received a grant from a government fund using money repaid from the 2008 bank bailout. That grant is due to expire in early 2013 and Burns is holding out on hopeful comments from his former employer that he might get his job back if the economy recovers.
(Looking at the prescription drugs next to the dudes water bottle I guess you have to be medicated when you don`t look for work or pay for a place to live.)
“We are right back where we were two years ago. I would put money on 2012 being a bigger year for foreclosures than 2010,” said Mark Seifert, executive director of Empowering & Strengthening Ohio’s People (ESOP), a counseling group with 10 offices in Ohio.
“Last year was an anomaly, and not in a good way,” he said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/05/us-foreclosure-idUSBRE83319E20120405 - 112k -
———————————————————————————-
“No Deabeat will hit the street until after the 2012 election” said jeff saturday executive director of Deadbeats Are Victims (DBAV) a counseling group with 1 office in Florida.
The last 10 years have been an anomaly, and not in a good way,” he said.
“Looking at the prescription drugs next to the dudes water bottle I guess you have to be medicated when you don`t look for work or pay for a place to live”
You never cease to amaze me Jeff. Here’s a guy who worked an honest job for about 30 years. He drove trucks, until he got laid off. He just wants his job back so he can pay the bills. He’s not a welfare queen, but he is an older guy who will almost certainly face age discrimination as he looks for a new job. Yeah, he took advantage of a government program, but he has stated he wants to work and he understands that he will eventually lose his house if he can’t get another job. He doesn’t brag about “not paying the mortgage”.
Yet all you see is a “medicated” (code for someone taking mood altering drugs) deadbeat. For all you know those are his blood pressure or cholesterol meds.
“You never cease to amaze me Jeff. Here’s a guy who worked an honest job for about 30 years. He drove trucks, until he got laid off”
If only he had worked as a fireman in Palm Beach County he would be retired now with a $100k pension and a gold plated health insurance policy for life.
Received a grant from a government in 2008? That grant is due to expire in early 2013? Burns is holding out on hopeful comments? I am going to call my DBLL and tell him I can`t pay you this month but I am holding out on hopeful comments that I may be able to pay you in 5 years. BUT DON`T GET MAD AT ME OR THROW ME OUT BECAUSE I HAVE WORKED AN HONEST JOB FOR 32 YEARS. We are taking 1/2 paychecks (which is better than the no paychecks I thought we would have 2 weeks ago) and jobs that don`t pay sh#t just to survive. This is turning into a heads I win tails you lose nothing is my fault society. The dude hasn`t paid for “his” house since 2007 and he can`t find work? MOVE!
Why Prosperity Is Hip, And Raises Living Standards - Forbes
Mar 15, 2012 … McDonald’s is offering workers $36 an hour plus a signing bonus. … barrels of oil’ from the Bakken Shale [the root of the North Dakota boom]. … article on WSJ states that McDonalds is paying $18/hour plus signing bonus, not …
http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterferrara/2012/03/15/why-prosperity-is-hip-and-raises-living-standards/ - 114k - Cached - Similar pages
“(code for someone taking mood altering drugs) deadbeat. For all you know those are his blood pressure or cholesterol meds.”
Looking at the dude if he backed off the Budwieser and the Big Macs he might not need “cholesterol meds”.
Colorado
I think you should open a (DBAV) office in Colorado.
Is there any chance the Chinese Premier’s banking system restructuring idea might take hold among U.S. politicians?
So far as I am concerned, banks can be as greedy as they want, so long as they are not too powerful, they face competition, and they are subject to an enforceable rule of law.
The Monitor’s View
Goldilocks banks: not too big, not too greedy
Britain launches the Big Society Bank to invest in social causes while China, Europe, and the US worry about big banks becoming big liabilities.
By the Monitor’s Editorial Board / April 4, 2012
A woman pushes her grandchildren past a branch of Agricultural Bank of China in Hubei province. On Tuesday, China’s premier called the country’s big banks a monopoly that needed to be broken to get money flowing to cash-starved private firms.
REUTERS
Britain jumped on a global trend Wednesday. The government launched a type of bank that puts people before profits.
If it succeeds, the new Big Society Bank will be one more example of nations trying to move away from giant, profit-maximizing banks – the kind that pose high risks to taxpayers and often display a low regard for customers and the disadvantaged.
The new British bank isn’t quite a nonprofit or a for-profit. It is an independent “for benefit” enterprise that will help provide low-interest loans to enterprises that can make money on social projects, such as retraining the jobless or running a community bus service. Its initial capital is $1 billion, most of it from unclaimed bank accounts. The government also coaxed four large banks to chip in.
…
Is it possible that some top Wall Street investment bankers are actually underpaid for their services?
Opinion
Why Does Jamie Dimon Suffer for Just $23 Million?
By Dan Freed 04/05/12 - 10:08 AM EDT
NEW YORK (TheStreet) — JPMorgan Chase(JPM_) boss Jamie Dimon’s $23 million 2011 pay package may look like a lot to you and me, but don’t be surprised if he feels poor.
Take a look at his 38-page shareholder letter, published on the bank’s website Wednesday, and you can see the guy is suffering.
…
Meanwhile, is Europe marching backwards towards feudalism?
ft dot com
April 6, 2012 6:27 pm
Rothschild clan moves to cement its grip
By Daniel Schäfer in London
David de Rothschild©AFP
David de Rothschild takes strength from family ties
More than two centuries after his Frankfurt-based ancestor Mayer Amschel Rothschild sent his sons to Paris, London, Naples and Vienna to create what became known as “the world’s banker”, Baron David de Rothschild is set to close the final chapter in the reunification of his sprawling family dynasty.
The 69-year-old chairman of the Rothschild group is bringing together its French and UK assets under the roof of Paris Orléans, a French listed entity with its roots in a 19th-century railway company.
The move will mark the last step in a process that started a decade ago of integrating the French banking operations with NM Rothschild, the UK-based investment bank that rose to fame in 1815 when Amschel’s son Nathan Meyer Rothschild made a fortune buying British government bonds in anticipation of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo.
In the 19th century, the House of Rothschild could thrive as a loose European partnership that financed states, companies and armies throughout the continent. But Mr de Rothschild’s reorganisation highlights the fact that in today’s world, a banking group cannot afford to operate as a network of sporadically aligned regional fiefs.
“To improve the performance of the group, we need to bring it under one umbrella,” one person close to the family says.
…
Is yet another predictable Spring Stock Market Swoon about to materialize?
Is there any chance the Fed might invoke “asset price stabilization” measures, similar to those they employ for housing, to forestall another summer stock market swoon?
They could call it ’sterilized quantitative easing.’
April 5, 2012, 5:25 p.m. EDT
Where to go if you ‘sell in May and go away’
By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — After a blowout first quarter, investors may be feeling a sense of deja vu — both 2010 and 2011 saw an early rally in the stock market that was followed by a dramatic downturn beginning in the spring.
As the market’s historically worst six months of the year draw closer, many on Wall Street see another stock slide looming.
“I do believe that we’ve set ourselves up for another seasonal downturn,” said Jeffrey Hirsch, editor-in-chief of Stock Trader’s Almanac. May through October is typically the worst six-month stretch for stocks.
Without the over-arching influence of the financial crisis, seasonal patterns are back in play, according Hirsch. “We’re getting defensive and cautious,” he said. ”There are really no sectors that begin a bullish move right here.”
The rally so far has certainly been impressive.
…
A bear’s gotta eat.
After Being Fed by Currency Markets, Bears Are Readying for Dessert Courtesy of Bonds
By Tim Thielen Apr 05, 2012 11:10 am
Here are the specific caution signals that show the market is on the verge of moving from yellow flags to red flags.
I recently put out a piece to subscribers of my market reports that I felt a move in the S&P up to around 1440 would occur and then we’d see a pullback in risk assets. The evidence coming from the fixed income and currency markets currently may be indicating that the correction is coming sooner than I anticipated.
…
Da bears be partying hardy; how is the “worse than expected” jobs data release bad for bond investors?
Data shocker
Bad Friday jobs report
10-year yields on Treasury bonds dropped after disappointing jobs data.
The markets that were open on Friday did not respond well to news that only 120,000 jobs created in March.
• Treasurys rally as jobs data spark worry
4 Responses and the basic theme is although you have not paid your mortgage in 3 or 4 years you still can not afford to drive 1 hour to get help? What kind of help could there possibly be for someone who owes three or four hundred thousand dollars and can`t afford to drive an hour?
Bank of America offers free homeowner assistance event
by Kim Miller
Bank of America is hosting an event for homeowners struggling with their mortgage payments April 12-April 14 where they can meet face-to-face with a lending specialist.
While the event is at the Miami Beach Convention Center, it is free and open to homeowners in Palm Beach and Broward counties.
According to a press release, Bank of America sent letters to 19,000 customers within 125 miles of Miami who may benefit from workshops or personalized counseling.
The event will be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Hall A, 1901 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach.
For more information and to register to participate, go to http://www.bankofamerica.com/homeownerevent or call 855-201-7426.
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2012 at 11:41 am and is filed under Banking, Florida economy, Foreclosures, Housing affordability, Mortgages.
4 Responses to “Bank of America offers free homeowner assistance event”
1
huh? Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 11:55 am
What could they possibly offer that could justify a trip from here to Miami?
2
Tom Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 12:32 pm
They are betting that Palm Beachers won’t go or can’t afford to drive all the way to Miami for the event. What a stupid idea. If it’s for Palm Beach or Broward, at least hold it in the same county. Another reasonI want to get rid of them.
3
Tom Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 12:46 pm
That Bank of America has the concerns of the ordinary person at heart who’s struggling with the mortgage mess. VERY DOUBTFUL. Save the gas expense for the round trip to the Miami Convention Center.
4
john Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 1:50 pm
If any of you go, bring your Lawyer.
That is the only way to deal with the Banksters of America and their Fraud Network.
Tell the person up front I dont trust you or this Bank and brought leagal council to monitor you.
They willthen tell you, we cant help you.
ALL FRAUDSTERS. Oh and put your cell phone on record and point right at them. That usually tends to make them run and hide from the camera.
Ah ha ha ha hya
Oh God! I put this sh#t in the Weekend Topic Suggestions, I`m gonna get my @ss chewed.
Proposed weekend topic:
Is it still possible to own a mortgage-financed home indefinitely without ever making any payments?
Put 20% down and let’s find out. :-/
Another day in surreal Floriduh
April 6, 2012, 12:36 p.m. EDT
Mortgage broker fights lender folly
Commentary: Why compound your problems with a default?
By Al Lewis
DENVER (MarketWatch) — Pam Marron, a mortgage broker for 27 years in Tampa, Fla., is trying to put an end to one of the dumbest things any financial-services company can do.
She says banks, credit unions and other lenders are routinely telling homeowners to default on their mortgages. She has posted a petition on the White House’s website to get them to stop. Read her petition.
It can happen when a homeowner asks a lender to approve a short sale.
“They say, ‘We can’t help you until you’re 30, 60 or 90 days delinquent on your mortgage,’” Marron said in a telephone interview. “I have heard it with my own ears.”
Scientists say that one day the whole state of Florida will be underwater, but for now it’s just mortgages.
…
Is the best way to cope with the aftermath of a mania an attempt to prolong the euphoric delusion which underpins it for as long as possible?
Is the goal to keep everyone in their place, slaving away?
If 88m out of 312.8m (28% of all American citizens) are currently of working age but out of the labor force, then the goal is not being achieved.
We actually have a similar problem in our own little household:
33% of the household members do 100% of the work.
Dumb questions of the day:
1) Is the global financial crisis over?
2) Is it safe to get back into the U.S. stock market, or any other stock market, for that matter?
3) Has the U.S. federal government moved on from its policy of explicitly propping up the housing market to higher and more appropriate uses of its scarce resources?
1) thru 3)……….No
All all my banking and investments are at the Bank of Sealy (Posturpedic branch)
Equally dumb questions:
1) Rent or Buy?
2) Market Bottom in 98 of 100 SMSA’s? (Honolulu and SF the only outliers). True and significant?
3) When will mortgage rates rise?
Are the Fed’s real estate price stabilization measures creating a windfall for foreign investors in the U.S. real estate market?
us real estate market propped up by chinese buyers
News Posted On: 06 April 2012
Latest reports suggest that the still-struggling US housing market is getting unlikely support from rival China. Wealthy Mainland China buyers are snapping up US residential and commercial properties; in fact, the Chinese have crept up just behind Canadians as the second-highest foreign buyers of American homes.
When did interest in the United States’ real estate market grow?
Not surprisingly, interest in the country’s real estate climbed steadily during the disastrous housing market meltdown. Sinking home prices attracted overseas investors in droves, and have been on their radar ever since. Consider this - current prices of single-family homes in the US are one-third lower than the same back in ‘06. Not just this, the prices are also more attractive than those for similarly-sized residential units in Australia, Canada and the UK. It is no wonder then that high-income Chinese citizens have set their sights firmly on America.
Top cities, big price tags
It appears that Chinese buyers don’t seem to mind splurging on grade A properties in New York and California. They are increasingly opting for affluent neighbourhoods, with real estate agents revealing that a significant number of buyers are interested in homes in the $800,000 and above range. Residences in the Big Apple are popular among the Chinese with very high discretionary incomes - $20 million apartments are being paid for in cash! The buyer base also comprises of those looking to swoop in on foreclosed homes in Florida and Nevada.
New York is also the preferred destination for commercial property investments, with plush office buildings and luxury hotels in Manhattan and strategic locations like Times Square being bought by major Chinese companies. So much so that US real estate agents and developers are trying to win business by strategizing with partners in China and adding Chinese language sections to their websites.
…
“snapping up”
There ya go…
It appears that Chinese buyers don’t seem to mind splurging on grade A properties in New York and California.
For some strange reason, the Japanese purchase of Rockefeller Center comes to mind.
It’s not bad enough that we give our own 1%er/banksters a safe haven.
Soon we’ll be overrun with the ethically challenged class from China, Russia, etc.
The Statue of Liberty will need a little modification…..
“…..Give me your criminals, your parasites, your financial engineers
Your Robber Barons yearning to breathe free.
The Celebrity TV refuse from you Riviera shore.
Send these, the state-less Capitalists to me
I lift my lamp, to our golden, unregulated door!”
Exactly, Slimmie. They’re gonna be so scrude.
I am VERY wary of possible reactions from frustrated immigrants, legal and otherwise, when things don’t go their way. For many, this country is just not the healthiest place for them and seems to engender violence when they encounter frustrations. Cases in point, the Korean guy who shot up his college in Oakland, the incident in CA where the Muslim mother was killed (which seems to have been set up to look like a hate crime when in fact it may have been an inside job, time will tell) and the Russian guy in NY who slaughtered his roommate. And that’s just in the past week or so. Not to mention the ongoing difficulties some communities are having with Somalian and other refugee families that were dumped on them by do-gooding agencies who washed their hands of the refugees.
Is the Fed hopelessly addicted to QE?
ft dot com
On Wall Street from MARKETS 8:26pm
Fed injections can be hard habit to kick
QE risks entrenching a stop and start recovery
* Jobs data wake-up call to Obama camp
* Sharp slowdown in US jobs growth
* Wall St ends lower for worst week of 2012
* Fed doubts big US jobless falls will last
Is that a banana in your pocket, or just a bazooka?
Leaning into the
windhurricane?How is it possible for an E-8 in the Army to own a $200,000-plus house in Colorado…get orders to move to Nashville…and then be able to build a 3,000 square foot home there? Especially since they haven’t sold the soon to be former home yet…
Just boggles my mind.