Bits Bucket for April 17, 2012
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Doesn’t seem to be affecting the markets. I guess that means it’s no biggie, right? (snark) AKA Nothing going on here. Move along now, folks.
– Official says Spain’s central government could take over some regions’ finances this year
– Spanish borrowing costs hit new four-month high
– Spain PM says reforms need more time to show results
– Spain PM acknowledged country has lost the trust of financial markets
By David Roman and Jonathan House
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
MADRID (Dow Jones)–Spain’s government Monday warned it could take control of finances in some of its autonomous regions to slash one of Europe’s largest budget deficits and shore up investor confidence.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120416-712082.html
Spain needs to go to war with Argentina, to get their mojo back, and distract the masses. (Except they’d probably lose.)
Argentina came close to beating the UK in 1982. All they needed to do was zap one of the UK’s carriers with a couple of Exocets. As it was, hitting “Atlantic Conveyor” reduced the Brits to a SINGLE heavy lift helicopter (a Chinook) for the whole operation
Or if the Brits had not received the latest AIM-9L Sidewinders from the US.
Or if the Argentinian bombs had been fused correctly for low level release (they didn’t have time to arm before they hit their targets).
Unfortunately, from the Argentinian’s view, they only had 6-7 Exocets on hand. And were embargoed from getting any more.
I think a few British tactical nukes over Buenos Aires would have turned the tide.
Yeah, I’m not so sure the Brits would have won that one without our help- which turned out to be much greater than was know during the war, IIRC.
It’s one thing to be able to defend your homeland, it’s a whole lot more to be able to project that force around the world. Currently, no one other than us can really do it, to any large extent.
Realtors Are Liars®
I miss Michele Bachmann.
Bachmann 2012!
Santorum/Duggar 2028!
Palin/Bachmann 2012!!!! blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!
You could populate the entire US government with Santorums and Duggars.
I joke that third or fourth generation mannings’ could QB the entire NFL.
Heard some rumor mongering about my High school football team a few weeks back.
Over half of the players are related to each other. In a 900-1000 student high school.
Waters/Sanchez 2012, how about Dunn/Jarrett 2012 - Once you go communist you never go back baby!
By Snoop Rockne
KABUL | Tue Apr 17, 2012 5:40am EDT
(Leuters) - Osama Bin Laden was living with 3 wives in one compound and didn’t leave the house for 5 years.
It is now believed he called the Navy Seals himself.
LOL….
lmao…..That makes waterboarding look like a vaycay.
Technically, wasn’t Bin Laden’s experience more of a staycation?
Funny how we were looking for him in Afghanistan the whole time.
Yeah, wasn’t it?
Turned out he was just 1,000 yards from the most prestigious military academy in Pakistan. He had to have had some help from the Pakistani government. You can’t just plop a compound of that size down so close to a military installation without someone knowing something.
We pretend that the Pakistanis are “our allies against terror”
The Pakistanis pretend to help.
It was a great hideout until it wasn’t.
Who would have ever guessed folks would go for free money, brilliant .
Coakley pushes for law offering mortgage aid
The legislation sponsored by Coakley would force lenders to study certain loans before foreclosure and offer workouts if they find that offering a loan modification would be more profitable than a foreclosure. The requirement would apply to homeowners with risky loans, such as subprime mortgages, that are likely to fail.
The study, released by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, found 70 percent of US homeowners who received mortgage help from lenders in 2011 remain current on their new mortgages, compared with 37 percent in 2009. The study found that a major reason for the higher success rate is that lenders are now more willing to significantly reduce monthly mortgage payments of delinquent borrowers.
“It will stop the flood of unnecessary foreclosures,’’ Coakley said. “If we can do that, it is one of the key steps to turning the economy around.’’
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2012/04/17/coakley_pushes_for_law_offering_mortgage_aid/?p1=News_links
I don’t believe the comptroller study.
Those with 2009 mods ran out of money about a year ago. Those with the 2011 mods are current because they haven’t run out of money yet.
Those with the 2099 mods were likely leftover low-quality FB’s from 2005-2006 time frame who bought at a high price. Those with the 2011 mods were likely higher-qual buyers who bought in 2008-2009 already at 30% off 2006 peak and probably had a lower payment to begin with.
This has nothing to do with how the bank modded.
Five banks control 56% of U.S. economy
WASHINGTON - Two years after President Barack Obama vowed to eliminate the danger of financial institutions becoming “too big to fail,” the nation’s largest banks are bigger than they were before the nation’s credit markets seized up and required unprecedented bailouts by the government.
Five banks - JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Wells Fargo & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. - held $8.5 trillion in assets at the end of 2011, equal to 56 percent of the U.S. economy, according to central bankers at the Federal Reserve.
http://www.pbn.com/Five-banks-control-56-of-US-economy,66890
These enormous banks clearly are “systemically important.” Hence the federal government owes them tribute, in the form of free too-big-to-fail bailout insurance. (See my post below on an article in The Economist which covers this in greater depth…)
I believe the economy that is being referred to is US GDP. How can assets comprise a percentage of that?
There is some good stuff in that article, but I almost didn’t read it because of the stupid title. The asset to GDP number is mostly useful as a comparison across time (which was in the article), and certainly not a measure of control of the economy.
Read the history of the Midicis.
Five banks control 56% of U.S. economy
Expect those banks to be targeted by protestors in the coming months. They’re not too big for such treatment.
“In Soviet Russia, government control banks!”
Oh, and, there’s now no limit to how much they can spend on lobbying?
http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/citizens-united-v-federal-election-commission/
The zombie files: Nearly 7,000 stagnating foreclosure cases lie dormant in Palm Beach County’s courts
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 10:40 p.m. Saturday, April 14, 2012
Nearly 7,000 stagnating foreclosure cases lie dormant in Palm Beach County’s courts, creating a payment-free limbo for some homeowners but a stain of vacant and abandoned homes in deteriorating neighborhoods.
23 COMMENTS
THE “FORECLOSURE DEFENSE MILL ATTORNEYS” ARE COLLECTING THEIR $500-$700/MONTH FOR DOING NOTHING.
IN THE CASE OF MR. STOPA, AS HE ADMITS IN THE ARTICLE, IS COLLECTING $1250/YEAR FOR DOING NOTHING
BY HAVING THE CASE DISMISSED FOR LACK OF PROSECUTION, THE FORECLOSURE DEFENSE ATTORNEY ASSISTS THE BANK, I.E. NOW THE PLAINTIFF CAN; 1) CHANGE PARTY PLAINTIFF;2) CORRECT THE DEFECTIVE PAPERWORK THAT WAS STALLING THE CASE;3) ALLOWS PLAINTIFF’S ATTORNEY “OFF THE HOOK” FOR FALSE PRESENTATIONS TO THE COURT
LOU CARR
10:41 PM, 4/16/2012
Mark Stopa has represented us for 2 years. The plantiff, Wells Fargo have been unable to properly response the motions that he has filed in defending our case. I greatly appreciate the professional service, quick follow up and never ever missing a date for filing or hearing. I highly recommend anyone in the State of Florida to use his services.
Tony Ortiz
11:10 PM, 4/16/2012
Mark Stopa and ToM Ice are unprofessional and unethical. they do everything possible to slow down the case improplerly. If you want a good defense attorney hire Malcolm Harrison. He is ethical and professional.
in the know`
6:23 AM, 4/17/2012
When do we get a dirty dishes relief program?
New York Mortgage Coalition Awards Grant to Prevent Bedford-Stuyvesant Home Foreclosures
Bed-Stuy Community Group Helping Homeowners with Property Tax Liens
The New York Mortgage Coalition (NYMC), a non-profit that helps low-to moderate income New Yorkers become homeowners and prevent foreclosures, announced the award of the 2012 Power of Collaboration Grant to the Coalition for the Improvement of Bedford-Stuyvesant (CIBS), a Brooklyn-based network of nonprofits. The CIBS program will help protect homeowners with property tax liens from foreclosure.
The Power of Collaboration was created by the New York Mortgage Coalition, The Center for New York City Neighborhoods and Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City to promote the leveraging power of community-based groups in the metropolitan region. This year’s grant was funded by Astoria Federal Savings, BNY Mellon, Capital One, Chase, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, M&T, and Webster Bank
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/york-mortgage-coalition-awards-grant-150000434.html
Flim flam skim scam.
This is a slide show of “distinguished homes” on the market in the DC area. Only one is under a $1 million (well, there is a boat that is much less). A few are over $5 million. It is very, very funny. Be careful with that coffee.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/distinguished-homes/2011/12/19/gIQA3lJIQQ_gallery.html#photo=1
I actually find those houses in the million$+ range to be more reasonable than a blah suburban McMansion for $600,000. At least most of those houses are somewhat unique, and some are rather spectacular.
The boat seems like the best deal. I wonder what slip rental is in DC.
I agree that some might be a better “value” than $500K plus garage mahals, but they are still just houses. And one is a condo. But I think that says more about the lack of value in the McMansions than about the real value in these houses.
And a lot of them need to get rid of that nasty salmon color and the mottled walls. Oh and the all black kitchen is a disaster.
For real amusement, read the captions. A few million bucks for a house and they are still touting the stainless steel appliances.
they are still touting the stainless steel appliances
Hey! Guess what everyone. I’ve finally figured out the utility of stainless steel appliances. (but mainly in the tropics like Rio I think)
Any guesses?
They’re shiny?
They’re shiny?
LOL,
but no..
They don’t rust?
Shanty-town roofing that is long-lasting?
You get to buy lotsa expensive, but impressive-looking cans of stainless steel cleaner
You get buff forearms from spending lotsa time buffing up that stainless?
Poser
Bar Keeper’s Friend is hardly expensive at about $1.80 for a 21 oz can. (Comet like cleanser.) Works like a charm, almost magic, with very little elbow grease.
Posers is closest to the mark. SS is best for collecting crime scene fingerprints.
Water and ammonia to clean non-stainless surfaces is cheaper yet, Awaiting.
Though I agree that Bar Keeper’s is great stuff. That $1.80 can lasts longer, however, if used solely for cleaning sinks and not myriad other unnecessary stainless surfaces such as household refrigerators and ovens.
They don’t rust?
Bingo! I never thought this would ever be an issue and it never was for me in the good ol’ USA, but here it is.
I brought my white appliances down here 4 years ago from America and now some of them are starting to rust in a few places. Fridge, stove etc. It’s not bad yet but I can see that in 5 years or so, some could be badly rusted. I’ll just sand and touch them up because white is an easy color to touch up with white spray paint and some sandpaper.
My white fans are getting pretty rusty too. I guess 85 degrees and 90% humidity day after day takes its tropical toll. I wonder if it is taking some kind of tropical toll on me? I’m pretty fit and trim down here but someone told me people don’t live as long in the tropics. Thoughts?
First thing I’d do is compare similar populations (genetic background, wealth, access to modern medicine, etc.) in a tropical and a temperate zone. Could you do it in southern vs. northern Australia? Then you have to really dig into the morbidity stats and find out where the extra deaths come from and figure out if they are climate connected.
For example, the old treatment for TB was cool mountain air and hope for the best. Harder to find that in the tropics. Now that we are using medication, it shouldn’t cause disparity but there still would be one if one country didn’t treat TB with the best modern protocols and the other one did.
Wikipedia has a list of U.S. states ranked by life expectancy. Hawaii is #1 at 81.5 years, and Minnesota is #2 at 80.9 years.
Stainless steel rusts.
Powdercoating.
Or Chrome. A chrome refrigerator would be awesome.
“Stainless steel rusts.”
Not if it’s passivated.
cool mountain air and hope for the best. Harder to find that in the tropics.
Sometimes I miss cool mountain air. (and dry)
I set the slide show to only display the pictures for 2 seconds, and the captions generally take longer than that to appear. Brilliant job web designer for the Washington Post.
You can just tab through the pages. It doesn’t have to do it automatically.
I set the slide show to only display the pictures for 2 seconds, and the captions generally take longer than that to appear. Brilliant job web designer for the Washington Post.
When I do slideshows,I just put the caption inside the photo image. Makes sync-ing problems go away.
For real amusement, read the captions. A few million bucks for a house and they are still touting the stainless steel appliances.
I’d be the evil person who’d put my fingerprints all over them during the open house.
I couldn’t find any DC, but Baltimore/Annapolis runs about $300/month or $25K for sale (depending on size).
Occoquan River (VA, not connected to Potomac river) is about $6K/year include water, e-, parking, showers, pumpout.
http://www. usaboatslips dot com
The show houses are a little ugly outside, but look good inside, and good landscaping. I agree, much better than standard McMansions. And those McMansions have nightmare commutes.
From Wikipedia.
“The Occoquan River sometimes also called “The River of Dreams” is a tributary of the Potomac River in northern Virginia… It reaches the Potomac at Belmont Bay.”
Thanks for the correction.
The Occaquan flows into the Potomac about 30 miles south of DC. So the rivers are connected, but these slips are too far away to be an indicator of prices at, say, National Harbor.
Oxide, I had never heard of National Harbor. I may be wrong but I don’t believe it was there when we left the D.C. area in 2002. However, we’ve driven over the Woodrow Wilson bridge many times and ISTR beginning in the 1990’s, that area of the Potomac was infested with Hydrilla. Do you know if they’ve cleared it out?
Do they have boat slips at National Harbor? I’ve only been there to give a presentation to a conference, and the hotel/center was still only partly finished. I didn’t have time to walk around outside.
They’ve got boat slips at the Washington Sailing Marina for 8 to 9$/ft per month. That’s right across the river in Alexandria, you can see most of the monuments etc from there.
That’s a pretty good price for such a prime location (perhaps they don’t allow live-aboards?)
Good maps satellite says yes, but very few. Not much upstream either. Lots on the Occoquan.
Bill In Carolina wrote:
“Oxide, I had never heard of National Harbor. I may be wrong but I don’t believe it was there when we left the D.C. area in 2002. However, we’ve driven over the Woodrow Wilson bridge many times and ISTR beginning in the 1990’s, that area of the Potomac was infested with Hydrilla. Do you know if they’ve cleared it out?”
Oh, they have very much cleared it out. National Harbor is gorgeous. I went down there just before the holidays and just, wow. Supremely easy to get to with all the new roads. 295 ends in National Harbor now.
http://www.nationalharbor.com/intro.htm (Warning: annoying music plays)
Those are some beautiful homes…Thanks for posting Polly…When I see homes like this in the east & south at these prices I just shake my head when compared to what you buy here for the same millions bucks…Makes me want to move there…..Ah…Wait a moment…I am over it…I will stay put…
“homes”? lmao. mmkay.
When I see homes like this in the east & south at these prices I just shake my head when compared to what you buy here for the same millions bucks
So DC is cheap compared to the west coast?
I thought the kitchen with the mondo fireplace was pretty funny. It’s probably where you get tossed if you don’t like what’s cooking.
Wasn’t that in one of the older houses? It was probably what they cooked over back in the Good Old Days.
It was indeed in an older house. But, these days, there isn’t much cooking done in fireplaces.
However, if you insult the cook in this particular house, look out. You could get tossed into the fireplace for your insolence.
You still need a good big fireplace to cook a cauldron of witches’ brew. I’m pretty sure Whole Foods sells organic eye of newt.
eye of newt
Question: What were young, female congressional staffers wary of in the 90’s?
There is no particular reason to believe that the location of the kitchen in the house is the same as it was when the house was built - back in the day, the kitchen was for servants and easily could have been in the basement or even an out building.
no particular reason to believe that the location of the kitchen in the house is the same as it was when the house was built
True, and they probably did have another, separate-from-the-house kitchen for warm-weather cooking. But that’s a very large fireplace for such a small room. A fireplace that large would usually be a focal point in a large room, or else it was used to cook in. Kitchen fireplaces are large so you can have a fire in one end, and still put large pots, grills, rotisseries, etc in them. If you started a fire as large as that fireplace allows, you wouldn’t be able to stay in that little room.
This is really going to screw up the comps in Jupiter, good neighborhood AUG-2006 $465,000 AUG-1990 $170,000 and listed at $185,000 yesterday. There has been nothing under $300k listed in this hood in a long, long time.
18393 Oak Leaf CT Jupiter, FL 33458
$185,000
Beds 4 bed Baths 2 bath
House Size 2517 sq ft Lot Size 0.42 Acres
Price $185,000 Price/sqft $74
MLS ID R3274689
Added to Site April 16, 2012
———————————————————————————-
Location Address 18393 OAK LEAF CT
Municipality UNINCORPORATED
Parcel Control Number 00-42-40-34-05-000-0320
Subdivision LITTLE OAKS
Official Records Book 20843 Page 147
Sale Date AUG-2006
Legal Description LITTLE OAKS LOT 32
Sales Date Price OR Book/Page Sale Type Owner
AUG-2006 $465,000 20843 / 0147 WARRANTY DEED
AUG-1990 $170,000 06550 / 0831 WARRANTY DEED
MAY-1984 $124,900 04270 / 0828 WARRANTY DEED
Has all the element$ of a 1950’s 10 cent crime novel.
Can’t wait for the public trail!
Exclusive: Briton killed after threat to expose Chinese leader’s wife
ReutersBy Chris Buckley | Reuters
CHONGQING, China (Reuters) - The British businessman whose murder has sparked political upheaval in China was poisoned after he threatened to expose a plan by a Chinese leader’s wife to move money abroad, two sources with knowledge of the police investigation said.
Bo’s wife, Gu Kailai, asked Heywood late last year to move a large sum of money abroad, and became outraged when he demanded a larger cut of the money than she had expected due to the size of the transaction, the sources said.
She accused him of being greedy and hatched a plan to kill him after he said he could expose her dealings, one of the sources said, summarizing the police case. Both sources have spoken to investigators in Chongqing, the southwestern Chinese city where Heywood was killed and where Bo had cast himself as a crime-fighting Communist Party leader.
The sources said police suspect 41-year-old Heywood was poisoned by a drink. They did not know precisely where he died in Chongqing. But they and other sources with access to official information say they believe Heywood was killed at a secluded hilltop retreat, the Nanshan Lijing Holiday Hotel, which is also marketed as the Lucky Holiday Hotel.
The sources said police suspect 41-year-old Heywood was poisoned by a drink.
My understanding is they considered his death an accident, and cremated him. The investigation and charges came later. Can you determine cyanide poisoning from ashes? Or are Bo and his wife getting the old heave-ho? (Bo was a little too popular, too good looking, maybe too hard on organized crime- or at least the other guys’ organized crime. And he was playing on the memories of the Cultural Revolution- dicey stuff in old China.)
Why not both? Construction, er, RE “development” is very dirty at that level all over the world.
Mitt Romney’s big plans overheard, showing why he’s Mr. Cautious
In public, Mitt Romney sticks to generalities. But in private remarks overheard by reporters, he floated details of what a Romney presidency might look like. Now he may be even more cautious.
By Linda Feldmann, Staff writer / April 16, 2012
Washington
In private remarks to donors Sunday night, overheard by reporters, Mitt Romney revealed more details about his plans for the presidency than he ever has to the public.
Some examples: Mr. Romney might eliminate the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which his father once headed. He would shrink the Department of Education or combine it with another agency. For high-income taxpayers, he would eliminate or limit the mortgage interest deduction for second homes, though within the context of lower marginal tax rates.
Depending on whom you talk to, these proposals are either welcome or alarming. But they also reinforce a core fact about the presumptive Republican nominee – that as a candidate, Romney is a man of caution. He signaled as much in a recent interview with The Weekly Standard, when he said he’d learned a lesson in his 1994 campaign against Sen. Edward Kennedy (D) of Massachusetts – that when he got specific, he got slammed.
…
“Mr. Romney might eliminate the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which his father once headed. He would shrink the Department of Education or combine it with another agency”
Awesome.
Good luck with that idea. Once these ‘Departments” are established they tend to exist forever.
A bureaucrat knows two things of importance to his/her career:
1. Where the bodies are buried (they know because they helped bury some of them).
2. A new Presidential admininstration will last eight years tops. All they need do is to wait it out and then another one will be put in its place.
In 8 yrs, the president prolly has 2 good years to get something important done.
First yr of election - new mandates, new energy, things will get done.
2nd yr - congressional election - nothing serious will happen.
3rd & 4th yr - President’s already running for reelection - nothing will get done.
5th yr - new mandates, new energy, things will get done.
6th yr - congressional election - nothing serious will get done.
7th & 8th yr - lame duck
There will be no *net* eliminations. The army of contractors will NEVER stop growing.
Why not? After all, smaller government that has been privatized and subject to the invisible hand of the free market is the epitome of governing perfection, is it not?
Is this snark? It was funny to watch people asking for smaller government… until gas prices went to $4 a gallon and suddely Obama wasn’t doing enough.
A simple check of government as a portion of GDP is all that’s required. Government size as a percentage of GDP continues to increase. It will increase quite a bit more after January 2013.
This is the reason why the Washington DC housing market remains frothy. Money is flowing to DC from everywhere else. You guys oughta know…you produce few tangible goods, yet your share of the wealth continues to grow. Why is that?
There must be lotsa 1%ers in Washington, that’s for sure.
There must be lotsa 1%ers in Washington, that’s for sure.
There are indeed. After all, lobbying talent doesn’t come cheap. And defense contractors don’t work for peanuts.
Define “tangible.” Much of what I do is to ensure that things DON’T happen.
Tangible = All that industrial stuff the 1%ers sold or offshored to Chindia, because we were going to become a service economy, which produces intangibles.
More like China, Mexico, and Vietnam, unless you assume that all the electrons are having a “particle” day instead of a “wave” day.
Not just snark; Atomic Snark!
Eliminate HUD?
He can’t possibly be this naive. He will be impeached if he so much as even mentions it again.
He’s treading on thin ice as it for just mentioning it the first time.
HUD makes Freddie and Fannie look like choir boys.
Which House of Representatives is going to impeach him? If Romney wins the presidency, he will have a strong majority in the House.
ALL of them! HUD is a sacred cow of backroom deals and cooked books. I’m not joking when I say it makes Freddie and Fannie look legit.
Sorry. I don’t buy it. Remember the debates when they were all trying to remember which departments they were going to eliminate and how many (three, no five!)? If they win, they are going to have to put up something as a sacrifice. Energy doesn’t actually save much money because the nukes would have to go somewhere. Education seems like low hanging fruit, but it would be way harder to try to funnel money to religious schools without it and the banks would object big time (they make mondo bucks on student loans). Plus the for profit schools have become power players on the lobbying scene here in DC and they need the guaranteed student loans. Plus it means essentially dumping NCLB. I think HUD is the easiest to get rid of.
We should eliminate the Department of Defense, and go back to the War Department, and the Department of the Navy.
It would have the singular benefit of having them fight each other, instead of looking around overseas for wars to start to justify their existance.
And the places they save money are just stupid. Like making the squids wear camo on the deck of a carrier.
“…It would have the singular benefit of having them fight each other, instead of looking around overseas for wars to start….”
That’s the single best suggestion I’ve head so far in this election cycle. Bravo, fixer!
On Yahoo News, linked from Drudge: GOP to cut food stamps in deficit reduction drive
“The cuts to food stamps would reduce the monthly benefit for a family of four by almost $60 and would force up to 3 million people off the program altogether by tightening eligibility.
The measure would also eliminate a grant program to states for social services like day care.”
The measure would also eliminate a grant program to states for social services like day care.
After all, we don’t want those youngsters being looked after while their parents work their three Lucky Ducky jobs, now do we?
Slim,
I understand by “lucky duckie” you’re snarkily saying how bad we should feel for people with low wage jobs. And it’s true, I do feel compassion for them. But I also think if you live in a poor neighborhood and have a bad job, you get to know your neighbors and pitch in on things like childcare and trips to the grocery store. You are telling me in a neighborhood you can’t come up with a way to work your “lucky duckie” job and share babysitting duties with the neighbors? I mean really, the people are poor, but at least don’t call them stupid on top of it.
This would work even better if it was a faith based solution.
If they live in neighborhoods where people don’t know each other, say, if there are a lot of rentals and a highly transient population, this scheme won’t work. And a lot of our nation’s poor live in the kind of neighborhood that I just described.
The ones that can already have the extended family and friends as defacto baby-sitters.
As for the others, I don’t think letting unvetted child molesters and other assorted perverts act as the unofficial Baby Sitting Corp is such a good idea either.
I’m starting to develop the opinion that we should just go ahead and let the Republicans run the show for the next ten years. Then, when the banksters and 1%ers own 99% of the country, the rest of us have hit absolute bottom, and all of the Republican policies and talking points have been discredited, we’ll be able to develop a realistic plan to go forward.
Bachman-Ryan 2016 …….. A disaster I can believe in.
all of the Republican policies and talking points have been discredited, we’ll be able to develop a realistic plan to go forward.
Hasn’t seemed to work in Russia. They just send their thugs to beat down or kill any troublemakers. The oligarchs tend to Stand Their Ground.
You are telling me in a neighborhood you can’t come up with a way to work your “lucky duckie” job and share babysitting duties with the neighbors?
If I were a “lucky duckie” I wouldn’t trust anyone who lived in the same neighborhood as me.
and all of the Republican policies and talking points have been discredited,
32 years of proof of failure is not enough to discredit, globalization, tax cut’s for rich/corporations and supply-side bunk? I mean the BushTaxCutsForTheRich were sold as a job creator and revenue builder. It all failed the 99%.
I’m starting to develop the opinion that we should just go ahead and let the Republicans run the show for the next ten years. Then, when the banksters and 1%ers own 99% of the country, the rest of us have hit absolute bottom, and all of the Republican policies and talking points have been discredited, we’ll be able to develop a realistic plan to go forward.
I think I remember hearing that around the year 2000.
Not that Romney doesn’t have a few good qualities, but I’d really love to get away from both parties if it could ever be possible.
Then, when the banksters and 1%ers own 99% of the country, the rest of us have hit absolute bottom, and all of the Republican policies and talking points have been discredited, we’ll be able to develop a realistic plan to go forward.
Really - See how long Saudi Arabia, N. Korea, and Sadam Hussein remained in power despite discredited policies. Sadam would be there still if not for an outside attack.
“But I also think if you live in a poor neighborhood and have a bad job, you get to know your neighbors and pitch in on things like childcare and trips to the grocery store.”
When do you get to know your neighbors? Does anybody have a car?
And in DC and New York, those kids are looked after by nannies hired by the 1%ers. That those nannies are affordable due to the U.S. taxpayer is beside the point.
Hey- Gotta pay for those tax cuts for the rich. I recommend the rich buy bullet-proof vests and security with the savings.
Besides, the other day I was in line at the store behind this well-tanned guy, and (insert right-wing anecdote here).
They also need to pay a premium for living in gated compounds.
Chain link and barbed wire manufacturers. Except that will probably have to be imported from China, too
Farmers and ranchers ain’t gonna like that.
The Fed is in the process of immortalizing the “too big to fail” business model, which enables TBTF financial institutions to lend at below-market rates, reflecting the subsidy value of their Fed-funded TBTF insurance premiums.
I fail to see how “ensuring that institutions can be resolved in case of failure” fixes the TBTF problem. Apparently the TBTF institutions agree, as they are already advertising the market advantage they get due to the free insurance which comes with “systemic importance.”
Scale in financial services
In the Fed’s sights
The importance of being enormous
Apr 14th 2012 | New York | from the print edition
BEING big makes it hard to avoid attention, whether from the markets or from regulators. A massive, $100 billion-plus credit-derivatives position attributed to a London-based JPMorgan Chase trader called Bruno Iksil—nicknamed the London Whale—was enough to spark a debate this week about whether the bank was violating principles restricting proprietary trading. More quietly, in Washington, DC, American regulators finalised a rule on April 3rd enabling them to expand the designation of “systemically important” (aka “too big to fail”) institutions to non-banks.
…
An executive at one large insurer notes that banks designated as too big to fail have already begun subtly marketing the virtues of what is perceived to be an implicit government backing. Studies have shown that institutions that are seen as too big to fail pay lower prices for funding (although post-crisis efforts to ensure that institutions can be resolved in case of failure are meant to remove that subsidy).
The new rule is certainly expansive, either directly or implicitly extending the Fed’s potential reach to private-equity firms, hedge funds, mutual funds, “financial-market utilities” (companies involved in payment, settlement and clearing operations), commodity-trading advisers and industrial companies with financial operations, to name but a few. The phrase “Wall Street” has long been used as shorthand for finance in America. But with the passage of each new rule, “Constitution Avenue”, where the Fed is located, is becoming the industry’s key conduit.
I don’t know what the article is talking about. I haven’t seen any of that subtle marketing.
The ability to “resolve in case of failure” means that there is a plan in place to take down and sell off the assets of the organization if it makes bets that don’t pan out. Instead of the Treasury paying off their counterparties because everyone is terrified the whole system will seize up, we know ahead of time what will happen. They don’t have the purchasers already lined up so it still could take a while to do. But the government would have the ability to force the sales of the good assets to pay off the bad ones. I think it essentially eliminates the protection of limited liability in these huge complex behemoths. At least, that is what I understand the process to be - I’d love someone to do a little more research, but finding an unbiased analysis will be tough.
It isn’t impossible for it to work. No one, especially the financial institutions, will believe it works until they do it at least once.
“No one, especially the financial institutions, will believe it works until they do it at least once.”
I don’t recall to what extent you were around and participated in myriad discussions on this board about whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were TBTF, in the sense that the government would bail them out if they collapsed. Turns out the markets, which priced their debt at below-market rates for comparable debt securities, was right: When push came to shove, they were bailout-worthy.
Any doubts about whether a financial institution is TBTF will show up as a lower borrowing cost, to reflect the probability of a bailout in case of failure. Of course, the competitive advantage of lower borrowing costs increases a firm’s ability to grow to enormously risky proportions. Once a firm convinces the markets they are systemically risky, they should be able to grow without bound right up until the point of collapse.
The march towards becoming the Rentership Society continues! Get ready to meet your Canadian or Chinese landlord, muppet men!
April 17, 2012, 8:30 a.m. EDT
U.S. housing starts fall 5.8% to 654,000 in March
By Jeffry Bartash
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Builders began construction on new U.S. homes at a slower pace in March, but permits jumped to the highest level since September 2008, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Housing starts fell 5.8% last month to an annual rate of 654,000 from a slightly revised 694,000 in February. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected housing starts in March to rise to an annual rate of 703,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis. Yet permits climbed 4.5% to 747,000 in March from a revised 715,000 in February, mainly because of a spike in requests to construct multi-dwelling buildings with five units or more.
…
April 16, 2012, 7:45 p.m. EDT
China allows banks to short-sell U.S. dollars
By Michael Kitchen
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Chinese banks are now allowed to hold short positions in the U.S. dollar, the nation’s foreign-exchange regulator said Monday. The move would help banks manage forex risk and would “promote renminbi [Chinese yuan] exchange rate based on the balance of payments,” the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in a statement on its website. The move, which went into effect Monday, coincided with a widening of the daily allowed trading range for the yuan. A Reuters report cited analysts as saying the decision to allow dollar shorts shows China is more confident that its currency is near a balanced level.
…
Interesting.
Housing prices will bottom out by the end of this year.
Or at least that’s what this here Weiner sez…
P.S. Do short sale prices show up in public sources (e.g. Redfin, Zillow, etc)?
Short Sales Surpass Foreclosures as Banks Agree to Deals
By John Gittelsohn - Apr 17, 2012 3:00 AM PT
The number of U.S. home short sales surpassed foreclosure deals for the first time as banks became more agreeable to selling houses for less than the amount owed on their mortgages, according to Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS)
Short sales accounted for 23.9 percent of home purchases in January, the most recent month available, compared with 19.7 percent for sales of foreclosed homes, data compiled by the Jacksonville, Florida-based company show. A year earlier, 16.3 percent of transactions were short sales and 24.9 percent involved foreclosures.
“It’s a fairly recent phenomenon that short sales have been increasing,” Jonathon Weiner, a vice president in the applied analytics division of Lender Processing Services, said in a telephone interview. “Short sales should be the dominant way of disposing of assets” in distress, he said.
Lenders are catching up to short sales after being slow to provide the staffing and incentives necessary to complete the deals, Weiner said. The transactions typically fetch a higher price for banks than sales of homes that have gone through foreclosure. In January, foreclosed homes sold for an average of 29 percent less than comparable non-distressed properties, compared with a 23 percent discount for short sales, according to Lender Processing Services. The gap has narrowed as short sales become more common, Weiner said.
The growing percentage of short sales, which don’t require going through the drawn-out foreclosure process, is a sign that the U.S. is making progress in working through its inventory of distressed properties, Weiner said. The increase in short sales also may help values find a floor quicker.
“Our baseline scenario is that home prices will hit a bottom at the end of this year,” he said.
…
It’s bottoms all the way down.
Blasphemy! It’s turtles!
To Turtle: Upside down in the water. Mariner’s reference to what a pontoon boat does in heavy seas.
Catamarans are also “bi-stable.”
A vague phrase like “home prices” is useless because it crosses state lines, home types, and commute times.
Until somebody breaks these numbers down by at least by metro area, distance from center of metro area, and distinguishes whether the home is attached product or SFH, then I will believe none of it.
I expect that you will never see national house prices broken down by commute times.
Case Shiller is probably the basis to use, as they are same house statistics.
‘A vague phrase like “home prices” is useless because it crosses state lines, home types, and commute times.’
Given the huge influx during the housing bubble years of GSE-sourced and other federal lending into the housing market, there is a huge govt-driven demand-side impact on home prices which has driven correlation in price movements across different regional U.S. markets to a very high level. Under these conditions, a national aggregate price index (such as Case-Shiller’s or Zillow’s) will correlate strongly with regional price movements across many different markets.
Of course, there may be exceptions (e.g. DC area, where you are…).
Who was it that said crowds go insane all at once, but they come to their senses one by one? This is exactly what I’m seeing with individual housing markets.
Securitization-fueled mania without regard for re-payability was the instant madness nationwide. But regardless of what F&F did in the past, they are now far more cautious about new mortgages, and they demand re-payability. I had to prove my income with a job. Hence, where-the-jobs-are will be first areas to come to their senses.
Where the jobs are not are the first ones to come to their senses. Especially where the jobs were building houses. The last place to come to its senses will be where the central spendthrift goverment resides, but it will come.
Ya gotta point. For instance, I am reasonably sure Detroit has already bottomed, being so close to the floor that it is almost as flat as a pancake.
Very doubtful DC or SD have bottomed out yet…
DC never took the second little dip most other areas did. It’s full of Helium. or Hydrogen.
“Securitization-fueled mania without regard for re-payability was the instant madness nationwide.”
Seems to me this has resumed with Government backing. Middle income Americans can not scrape up 20% down, most are one paycheck from the street, their credit scores are for shit, yet they seem to easily qualify for FHA McMansion loans.
Good think I am patient, I think there will be some pretty good deals on quality homes in the next couple of years once these last couple rounds of suckers are cleaned out.
DC
never tookhas not yet taken the second little dip most other areas did.FTFY…
This news certainly should provide the stock market with a shot of adrenaline, as top economists have repeated over and over again until they turned blue in the face that the rest of the economy cannot recover until housing does.
U.S. Housing Starts Unexpectedly Drop to Five-Month Low
By Alex Kowalski - Apr 17, 2012 5:42 AM PT
Builders began work on fewer homes than forecast in March, signaling a sustained industry recovery will take time to get underway.
Housing starts dropped 5.8 percent to a 654,000 annual rate, less than the lowest estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and the least since October, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The slump was led by the volatile multifamily category, which at the same time showed a jump in permits, a proxy for future construction.
While warmer weather may have spurred home construction at the beginning of 2012, a competing supply of cheap existing properties may be steering potential buyers away from purchasing a new home. That means home construction may not help boost the economy in 2012.
…
I guess the housing starts number is pretty darned important to Wall Street traders?
U.S. Stock Futures Rise Before Housing, Industry Reports
By Peter Levring - Apr 17, 2012 4:36 AM PT
U.S. stock futures advanced, indicating that the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will rebound from a two-day drop, as investors awaited reports that may show housing starts and industrial production increased in March.
…
Bad news on housing, lackluster news on industrial production, yet the bulls are partying like it’s 1999. What gives?
April 17, 2012, 11:04 a.m. EDT
March industrial production flat for second month
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Industrial production was unchanged in March for a second month, in what could be a sign of slowing momentum in the U.S. economy.
…
With the U.S. economy in the doldrums and the European economy headed into recession, I guess it is somewhat questionable what will help the Chinese economy keep roaring.
Asian Stocks Drop on China’s Foreign Investment, Spain
By Kana Nishizawa - Apr 17, 2012 3:06 AM PT
Asian stocks fell for a second day as foreign direct investment into China dropped for a fifth month, and Spanish borrowing costs climbed to the highest level this year before a debt auction today.
China Construction Bank Corp. (939) retreated 2 percent in Hong Kong even as investment slipped at about half the rate forecast by economists. Esprit Holdings Ltd. (330), a clothier that depends on Europe for about 80 percent of its sales, retreated 1.2 percent. Asian suppliers of Apple Inc. fell amid concern demand for the company’s electronics will slow. Social-network gaming operator Gree Inc. (3632) rose 9.1 percent in Tokyo after Bank of America Merrill Lynch said its domestic revenue growth is accelerating.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.4 percent to 123.68 as of 7 p.m. in Tokyo, its lowest since April 11. About five stocks fell for every three that rose.
“It’s difficult to see if there will be acceleration in China’s growth at this point,” said Pauline Dan, Hong Kong- based chief investment officer at Samsung Asset Management Co., which manages $100 billion. With uncertainties about Europe’s debt crisis and U.S. economic growth, investors are taking a wait-and-see approach, she said. “We won’t see a major upturn or downturn unless we see some external catalyst from the U.S. or Europe.”
…
Turns out Wall Street bovines only care about permits. Damn the housing starts.
At least that’s what the MarketWatch reporter sez…
Permits surge offsets lower housing starts
Bulls aim to stop the selling
U.S. stock futures point to solid gains at the open, keying off housing data with March industrial production on tap. Investors also get a taste of the first real slew of quarterly earnings reports.
…
I just applied for a building permit to install a invisible fence for the dog. Thus, permits are up.
See how that works?
I hope your dog isn’t like the one that some former neighbors of my parents had. It figured out how to hurdle the invisible fence in a New York minute.
AZ,
It was hypothetical.
From what I saw at the Home and Garden show last month, nobody is doing anything in their homes. The place was near deserted. Only six gardens instead of the usual dozen. Past shows had so much free schwag you needed a schwag bag (also free) to carry it, but this year I was lucky to find some Hershey’s Kisses. Lowe’s looked lackluster and Home Despot didn’t bother to show up at all. Ty Pennington spoke to only a couple hundred people on a Saturday afternoon. So what are all the permits for?
I used to sit at the Habitat for Humanity booth at the big Tucson home show. After 2005, the decrease in floor traffic was notable.
Yes, people went gonzo for the free American flags that we were passing out, but the folks sitting at neighboring booths looked bored out of their minds.
I see green shoots EVERYWHERE today! Everything is going up, up and away!!
Markets » 62.89M
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Oil 104.22 +1.29 +1.25%
April 17, 2012, 3:39 p.m. EDT
Treasury’s Brainard: IMF has enough firepower
By Greg Robb
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The International Monetary Fund is in “a good place” on “core” resources to handle any spillover from the European financial crisis, said Lael Brainard, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for international affairs, on Tuesday. Brainard made clear that the U.S. would not contribute to a new push to increase the IMF’s firepower. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde has said she hopes to raise $400 billion at this weekend’s IMF and World Bank spring meetings to bolster the international financial institution’s lending capability. Euro area countries have already committed $200 billion and several other nations including Japan have said this week that they also plan to contribute. Brainard said the European institutions and governments are going to have to continue to work with creativity and flexibility to resolve the financial crisis. While Europe has already taken very significant actions, more steps to strengthen fiscal integration will “remain decisive,” Brainard said. There is also no substitute to reform by individual countries, she added.
Owe taxes to the IRS? Don’t plan on leaving the country any time soon….
http://www.thedailyeconomist.com/2012/03/bill-in-congress-could-suspend-your.html
Totaliturd legislation. Just like the old USSR.
Debtor’s prison.
Look on the bright side. This is the most brilliant piece of anti-illegal immigration legislation EVER passed. Now for the shamnasty. Be careful what you wish for, illegals. You just might get it. The children of illegals might find themselves cursing their parents rather than thanking them. Especially if future legislation presents them with a bill for benefits.
Well, it hasn’t been passed yet, but it looks like will be passed.
If you work off book, the IRS has no idea what taxes you might owe.
If you work using someone else’s SS number, the records show the person whose identity has been stolen on the hook for the taxes.
How is this an issue for illegal immigrants?
How is this an issue for illegal immigrants?
+1. And even if the IRS could figure out what taxes to assess on an illegal immigrant, the US government can’t exactly revoke an illegal’s passport, since they don’t have one.
If you want to read the full text:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s1813/text
Could you give a brief summary? I can’t access your link, and the full text of the bill is very long.
It’ll cost ya!
“There is a new bill in Congress that is expected to pass that would allow the government to suspend your travel outside the country if you own taxes to the IRS.
Senate Bill 1813 (Highway trust fund), which was passed by the Senate last week and is now pending in the House of Representatives contains a provision that would allow the IRS to order the State Department to refuse to grant, refuse to renew, revoke or restrict the passport of any US citizen which the IRS certifies owes the IRS $50,000 or more in unpaid taxes. There is no requirement that the tax payer be guilty of or even charged with tax evasion, fraud, or any criminal offense - only that the citizen is alleged to owe the IRS back taxes of $50,000 or more.”
Get to know your national parks!
The heavy hand of GovCorp now wields chains and shackles.
Who was the dope that went berserk when I suggested we are quickly becoming Rome?
“we are quickly becoming Rome?”
At least you could leave Rome.
All these years they refused to put boots on the border. It’ll happen now, that’s for sure. They’ll be looking for members of the Mexodus trying to smuggle their kids BACK across the border, for a better life, lol.
I’m just curious, though. In a pitched battle between the IRS and drug cartels, who d’ya think would win?
At least you could leave Rome.
Not if you were proscribed. Unless you were fast and lucky.
no requirement that the tax payer be guilty of or even charged with tax evasion, fraud, or any criminal offense - only that the citizen is alleged to owe the IRS
Doesn’t the IRS always operate under the ‘you’re guilty until you prove your innocence’ system?
Excellent find. But, the following needs to be emphasized from the same piece”.
“With Capital Control measures expected to be implemented in 2013, which would force Americans to keep their money from going offshore, the laws being legislated are now affecting the average citizen far more than any action against terrorists, or in support of the ‘War on Terror’.”
With Capital Control measures expected to be implemented in 2013, which would force Americans to keep their money from going offshore,
Will this affect Romney’s offshore Cayman Island tax-dodge?
the laws being legislated are now affecting the average citizen far more than any action against terrorists, or in support of the ‘War on Terror’
How do these things affect the average American?
From what I understand, it’s not Romney’s money. It’s a seperate legal entity that owns the money.
The average American will no longer be able to own a Foriegn bank account.
The average American will no longer be able to own a Foriegn bank account.
Is this true? I’m also not clear on what “would force Americans to keep their money from going offshore” actually means.
SteveJ,
Its a partnership. The partners are considered to own, proportionally, all the assets of the partnership.
And you guys all need to familiarize yourself with FinCen. They are the biggest player in international movements of money. Just Google it. Not hidden at all.
The average American will no longer be able to own a Foriegn bank account.
IRS demands to know about any Brazilian bank account or financial asset I may have in Brazil worth over 10K. It’s a new law. Homeland security and all I guess.
Never mind about the taxes. If they want to keep money from going offshore they need to suspend the travel of JOBS out of the country. (cue Darrell in Phx)
May freedom rein….
2003-2008 bumper sticker greatest hits:
“Support our troops”
“These colors don’t run”
“Freedom isn’t free”
“Remember 9/11″
And the classic “Power of pride” which is best displayed on a rusted out Chevy Celebrity
One of my favorites is “DARE to think while it’s still legal.”
Current favorite has a picture of a Democrat donkey and an Republican Elephant
Above them, it says “CHOOSE THE DESTRUCTOR”.
Another blast from the past, circa 1993……
“TED KENNEDY’S OLDSMOBILE HAS KILLED MORE PEOPLE THAN MY ASSAULT RIFLE”.
And don’t forget the pandering, victimhood squealing, sanctimonious “God Bless America”…….(as if God actually gives a crap about lines on a map)
“Never mind peace. Visualize using your turn signal.”
I [heart] [the generalized formula for solving a quadratic equation]
To quote a great phrase I saw on the Internet, “You have problem with Corporate Communist Capitalism, comrade?”
(I think it may have been here by ecofeco)
turkey, we are now homo economicus, a file, a credit rating, a bank account, a tax ID number.
All hail homo economicus!
The future belongs to Foxconn City! If that business model worked so well in the 19th century just imagine how well it will in the 21st century!
I wonder how many Foxconn employees own iPads and IPhones.
I remember an article about the Foxconn CEO complaining that the workers in Brazil are lazy because they wanted breaks and vacations and Brazilian law’s supported that kind of crazy talk. I also just read that he called compared his factory workers to animals and managing so many animals gave him a headache.
The man needs a tax-cut.
Commodities are sliding. Don’t need as many of them when the global economy is slowing down.
April 16, 2012, 5:31 p.m. EDT
Canadian stocks edge lower as miners weigh
By Sue Chang, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Canada’s benchmark index edged down on Monday after hugging the flatline for most of the session with mining shares taking the brunt of the selling pressure.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index (CA:$ISPTX -0.02%) slipped 2.80 points to close at 12,037.59.
U.S. stock futures rose, bouncing from last week’s sharp losses, as gains in European markets helped buoy sentiment and March retail sales posted a gain of 0.8%. Paul Vigna has details on The News Hub. Photo: Getty Images.
The S&P/TSX Capped Diversified Metals & Mining Index (XX:TTMN -1.99%) slumped 2% and the S&P/TSX Capped Materials Index (XX:TTMT -1.44%) fell 1.4%.
Gold for June delivery GCM2 +0.21% declined $10.50, or 0.6%, to close at $1,649.70 an ounce, its lowest finish in one week. Read the gold report.
…
U.S. economy sent out mixed signals with the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index falling 3 points to a seasonally adjusted 25 in April, marking the first drop in seven months. Read more on home-builder sentiment.
The New York’s Empire State index also slid to 6.56 in April from 20.21 in March but the Commerce Department said retail sales climbed 0.8% in March. Read more on U.S. retail sales.
…
A collapse of the global commodities bubble will drastically reduce the cost of building a house, which will crush used house prices. Round two straight ahead.
I mentioned the 14% YOY drop in house prices in Atlanta to a friend there. She said that amazingly new construction is still going on and underselling used houses.
…new construction is still going on and underselling used houses.
We have this trend due to HELOC borrowing.
Not really.
We have this trend because new housing is less costly than used housing.
New housing is less costly because it is farther from downtown.
Not sure about other cities, but in MoCo you can get a small SFH closer in for the same price as a new “luxury” garage townhome a 25 minute drive farther out. NoVa, I have no idea. That place is wack.
Really? Why is it that new construction in the same development by the same builder cost less than the duplicate house build last season?
Sorry, I keep using my (semi) close in home as point of reference. But yes, outer developments are like getting on an airplane and asking people what they all paid for the ticket.
And I can lay up an new shanty just like yours right on the same street for less than you paid.
“Why is it that new construction in the same development by the same builder cost less than the duplicate house build last season?”
These days the builder might settle for a moderate profit. During the bubble they would pocket an outrageous profit just because they could.
BINGO
A collapse of the global commodities bubble will drastically reduce the cost of building a house, which will crush used house prices.
Why would commodities “collapse”? Has not demand for most commodities risen slightly even during this downturn? What percentage of a new house’s costs are materials?
The labor component of housing is less tan the materials.
The global construction boom is over and commodities are still levitated. Production capacity is way above demand. Stockpiles are enormous. Nobody blink.
But they use different commodities than we do. Our houses are made of sticks, plywood and sheetrock. Theirs are made of brick, mortar, concrete and rebar.
I’ve had the pleasure of showing foreign relatives how our houses are built here (using the garage interior to demonstrate). Needless to say, they are usually surprised, if not shocked to see all the 2×4’s and plywood.
Do you mean particle board? Plywood can be stronger than regular lumber depending on where the stresses are.
“Has not demand for most commodities risen slightly even during this downturn?”
Demand, no. Hoarding, yes.
April 17, 2012, 5:27 a.m. EDT
Asian stocks slide on China, Spain worries
By Sarah Turner and V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Asian stocks skidded on Tuesday amid lingering worries about Spain’s debt troubles, with mainland Chinese and Hong Kong stocks dropping after data showing foreign direct investment in the mainland continued to decline.
…
http://www.businessinsider.com/home-prices-across-the-northeast-are-still-declining-2012-4
Home Prices Across The Northeast Are In Total Freefall
From the article:
Prices are crumbling and homeowners have perhaps six months to decide what to do. I strongly suspect that a year from now will be too late.
For some, it is apparently too late already.
“Oh, it’s too late baybee, oh it’s too late
Though we really did try to make it.”
“Something inside has died
And I just can’t fake it.”
Just wait until January, 2013. Think prices are dropping now?
But….this is the spring selling season!
Do you have any reason to support the notion that it might be different in January 2013?
different in January 2013?
That’s when the anti-christ muslim marxist will reveal his true identity- in the minds of the mindless and easily fooled. Several of whom post here.
Perhaps if you read something other than Salon.com, perhaps you’d know what I’m refering to.
perhaps you’d know what I’m refering to.
Please let us know what Rush has secretly whispered in your ear.
“Please let us know what Rush has secretly whispered in your ear.”
The secret code word, the one that will come via phone call sometime in the future. When we answer the phone and hear the code word, we all stop what we are doing and act on a program installed in our brain via hypnosis. Sorry, but due to safety concerns, I can not expose any further details.
Yeah - as I’ve commented dozens of times here already.
Start with The New York Times. During the past week, they offered a rather scary scenario based on what I’ve talked about here for months.
Next year- starting especially next spring, could be very bad for everybody. Including you and yours.
Guess I need to keep posting the topic endlessly here. A half-dozen or so people here have responded, but that’s it so far.
OK, I poisoned my computer with Newsmax cookies just to see what you’re talking about, and found a “statist agenda” article from David Limbaugh (yes, that Limbaugh).
Whatever.
“Home Prices Across The Northeast Are In Total Freefall”
The faster they freefall, the more likely to bottom out by the end of this year.
So it’s all good, see?
Wow and wow.
These place are so expensive even after drastic drops in housing prices. There are those who are going to take MASSIVE haircuts.
And we still have so much more to go…
Greenwich $481 down 34.8%
Westport $311 down 30.3%
Newton $313 down 13.5%
“Greenwich $481 down 34.8%”
No worries there. The place is heavily populated by hedge fund managers; presumably they are all adequately hedged against falling home prices?
Hedge funds don’t hedge, they leverage. My guess is the hedgies leveraged their lifestyles too.
“Hedge funds don’t hedge, they leverage.”
Sorry I forgot my snark tags.
But seriously, why the misnomer? Wouldn’t ‘leveraged funds’ or ‘OPM funds’ be more accurate?
Wouldn’t ‘leveraged funds’ or ‘OPM funds’ be more accurate?
I always thought ’special funds for rich people that have different rules than those for the little people’ was a more accurate moniker.
Or just ‘oligarchy funds’, if you want to keep it simple.
“I always thought ’special funds for rich people that have different rules than those for the little people’ was a more accurate moniker.”
That’s a mouthful. How about ‘1% Funds’?
“…so expensive even after drastic drops in housing prices…”
For comparison, here are some March 2012 sold-per-square-foot (SPSF) prices from San Diego County, from Redfin dot com:
Area SPSF Year-on-year % change
Coronado $590 -14.5%
Del Mar $566 +7.4%
La Jolla $517 +10.5%
Point Loma $314 -7.4%
Rancho Santa Fe $388 -23.9%
The Rancho Santa Fe data reflects only three homes that sold last month, and is hence unreliable as an indicator of where the market is.
The prices in Del Mar and La Jolla almost suggest hedge fund managers might be moving from Greenwich to San Diego County!
The data on which the above is based includes condos; the picture gets far more interesting if you limit the sample to SFRs that sold in March 2012!
Area #Sold SPSF Year-on-year % change
Coronado 10 $616 -10.1%
Del Mar 7 $615 -17.8%
La Jolla 36 $507 -6.8%
Point Loma 4 $410 +19.5%
Rancho Santa Fe 3 $388 -23.9%
In this case, all but La Jolla should be taken with a grain of salt as indications of market trend, as the numbers of homes selling is too small to constitute a reliable sample, and further does not control for the effect of quality differences.
Those 1-year losses in Connecticut are huge. Is it somehow different there than in, say, nearby Manhattan?
SINGLE-FAMILY HOME PRICES IN THE NORTHEAST
February 2012
Location Avg. Price Per Sq. Ft Change from Feb. 2011
Connecticut
Fairfield County $260 down 16.6%
City of Bridgeport $86 down 17.3%
City of New Haven $88 down 31.2%
City of Hartford $72 down 10.1%
Westport $311 down 30.3%
Greenwich $481 down 34.8%
Darien $354 down 19.3%
New Canaan $371 down 10.1%
Branford $126 down 41.4%
Glastonbury $161 down 19.1%
Simsbury $129 down 13.2%
“Greenwich $481 down 34.8%”
Think of it this way: That would translate into a loss of $3,480,000 on a $10,000,000 house, over just one month’s time.
Ouch!
Suppose that one-month 34.8% rate of decline in Greenwich, CT continued for a whole year; the resulting price decline would then be ((1-0.348)^12-1)*100 = -99.4%.
Luckily knives don’t fall all the way to the floor, or the situation would truly be worrisome.
Oops — I realized my error as soon as I hit the “send” key.
If the 34.8% annual loss continues another year, the overall decline would be just ((1-0.348)^2-1)*100 = -57.5%.
‘Tis a mere flesh wound!
Guys these are SMALL towns so 50 sales because they must move will cause a big change in average price.
Darien is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. A relatively small community on Connecticut’s “Gold Coast”, the population was 20,732 at the 2010 census.[1
Westport is a coastal town 47 miles (76 km) northeast of New York City in the United States.[2] The town had a population of 26,391 according to the 2010 U.S. Census
New Canaan , 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Stamford. The population was 19,738 according to the 2010 census.[1]
Stay out of the way of collapsing housing or you will be crushed.
Not only that, but you wouldn’t want to have to compete with the all-cash Canadian or Chinese investors. They will prove to be an ephemeral driver of U.S. housing demand, the same way California real estate investors were in driving up prices in Bend, OR and Boise, ID a few years back.
The beauty if the all-cash Canadian and Chinese suckers- er, I mean investors- is that we don’t have to bail them or their banks out when it all goes poof.
It’s free money.
BINGO.
Take ‘em to the cleaners a’la Japan in the 1980’s.
So should I dump my rental house during this dead cat bounce; or be happy it provides me monthly income? Assuming I can sell it now for a bit more than what I paid two years ago(I think I could)
Cuz they are fighting to get bids in on the low end right now, what happens later?
Get while the gettings good because it’s gonna be less later.
That’s my thought, RAL. Bend isn’t DC. They don’t have the jobs base to support even a leveling off of prices.
“It’s free money.”
Not sure about China, but Canadian cash is most likely coming from California style equity withdrawals, I would imagine our wall street geniuses have their hands in that cookie jar.
RAL
Went by the house where I have the bid on Sunday, Benz in the driveway, golf cart on the side and kids playing basketball out in the street where they had 2 hoops set up for a court in the cul-de-sac (I don`t think the neighbors are too happy). Anyway I called my Liar to see what was up because it was still on Realtor.com She called me back today after checking with the listing agent and told me that the Deadbeat owner (my words not the Liar`s) had rented it out short term while the bank is sitting on the 2 short sale offers they have. Serenity now! Serenity now! The anger, it just melts right off. Serenity now!
Seinfeld - Serenity Now - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3VCl3yBURs - 100k
Hoochie Mama! Hoochie Mama!
Page 67, first paragraph, Brother Jethro.
Two lovestruck aircraft sighted over Washington, DC. Got yer photos right here!
I saw the first one up close and personal in 1977. Walked right under it.
Realtors Are Stunningly Unethical®
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-17/housing-starts-in-u-s-unexpectedly-decrease-to-five-month-low.html
Below is beautiful comment by a guy named “jcfool” in PB’s link to Bloomberg.
——————————————————————————————
“It was only unexpected by those that live in a little place I call “Fantasy Land”, a place where everything always gets better, perpetual exponential growth is possible, natural resources are inexhaustible, and a March that was 38 degrees above normal is nothing to worry about.
Here is what is actually happening - The monetary system we use requires growth to function. Without growth it is not possible to generate money to pay interest on debt. Debt has been the primary driver of growth for some time. However there is a law of diminishing returns at work. Therefore debt, that we have been relying on for growth, is now no longer able to stimulate the growth that debt requires so more debt can be issued. Simple, no?
We are witnessing the beginnings of the collapse of the economic model that most seem to take for granted. Economists are not trained to look outside their own “reality”, the gospel of economic orthodoxy. That that orthodoxy is based on a whole series of false assumptions has not occurred to them. The application of the conventional wisdom is leading to a host of other problems : environmental destruction, widening of income gaps, social upheaval, to name but a few.
The Vested Interests cannot acknowledge or even contemplate a world without credit, yet that is the destination of the path that we have chosen. Greed is a human characteristic that has been fostered by those most benefiting from it. The pain that is being suffered in many places right now (Greece, etal) is the direct result of the divergence of reality from the conventional wisdom. Until we collectively acknowledge that western standards of living cannot continue to rise, or even be maintained at the current level, we will continue to have our expectations dashed.
The natural system requires that we do not take more from it that we give back. This is the underlying principal of sustainability. We have been treating our resources as profit not capital. Anyone who understands anything about this will realize that capital eventually runs out if you continue spending it. The account has been seriously overdrawn and Mother Nature, the ultimate creditor, is making a margin call.”
Try this experiment the next time you drive down the main drag of a small town.
Notice who is occupying the newest, prettiest buildings. Around here, it seems to be (in no particular order):
-government
-banks/financial institutions
-health care providers
And can someone explain to me why the Orthodontists insist on putting up these fancy “Tooth Mahals”? Seems like a plain old Butler Building would work just as well.
Try this experiment the next time you drive down the main drag of a small town.
Steal his high-heels?
Hey, X-GS, here’s a link I posted for you about a week ago, but you were gone for a few days…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFNIOuOSrpY
Law firms. Always see lawyers in new shiny buildings.
And can someone explain to me why the Orthodontists insist on putting up these fancy “Tooth Mahals”? Seems like a plain old Butler Building would work just as well.
They do the same thing in this area. However, I’ve noticed that their Tooth Mahals tend to be in the ritzier zip codes. Meaning that you won’t find any of them around here.
Oh, I should mention that the patients are the ones who are paying for these places.
I just recommended my new dentist to a work colleague who is getting sick of the prices and “over prescribing” of her old dentist (who I used until I fired him about a year ago). I told her the offices are a little smaller, but adequate. Everyone seems competent. And you don’t have to pay for the other guy’s fancy toys (I don’t want a full head imaging to check for brain tumors every time I go to the dentist, thanks). And, wonder of wonders, she thinks the fewer holes she puts in your teeth, the better. Also, she told me I was grinding at night and needed a bite guard - the other guy couldn’t make any money off it so he never bothered.
Few more:
1. Ad or Marketing agencies
2. Architecture firms
3. Social Media start ups.
Got a snarky story about an ad agency here in Tucson. It was located in the train depot Downtown.
Then it fell on hard times and well, wouldn’t ya know it, a sweetheart deal came forth from the city, which, ISTR, owns quite the stake in this depot:
Free rent!
Well, the city’s not-so-well connected (meaning most of us) went ballistic. You should have heard the howling.
Said agency has since slunk away to another part of town where it, ahem, isn’t as conspicuous. But its name is still firmly attached to the front wall of the train depot.
As much as I struggle in my little business, I’m grateful that I’m not so well connected that I get free rent from the city. I just don’t want my name in the paper the way the aforementioned agency was.
All you city folks sure post some strange responses whenever people talk about dragging and trannys.
Just those good, old-fashioned, down-home, Mark Foley, Larry Craig, and Ted Haggard GOP “family values” is all
Don’t forget Barney Frank, Eric Massa and Anthony Weiner, let’s be fair.
Nothing wrong with a powerglide that stalls out
until 1,200 rpm…
At least San Diego has low taxes (especially if you rent your place)…
Streets Will Worsen for Next Five Years, Report Says
San Diego’s roads are crumbling. The city has the money to fix potholes but hasn’t proven it can efficiently spend it.
Posted: Thursday, February 9, 2012 6:10 pm | Updated: 7:34 pm, Thu Feb 23, 2012.
by Liam Dillon
Three things have become clear in Mayor Jerry Sanders’ stewardship of San Diego’s roads in the final year of his term.
1.) Streets are worse.
2.) The city doesn’t spend enough money to keep them from degrading even further every year.
3.) The Mayor’s Office takes no responsibility for either of these failures.
And now San Diego’s road repair problems have reached breathtaking new depths, engineering officials revealed at a City Council committee hearing Wednesday.
Simply maintaining the status quo would cost $160 million a year. That’s more than the annual budgets of the parks and rec, library and environmental services departments combined.
The city’s plan to borrow $500 million won’t provide enough money to reverse the decay or even preserve the status quo. Under its current proposal, the city won’t begin making progress until 2017.
So over the next five years streets, buildings and storm drains will continue to crack, crumble and deteriorate.
“The city has suffered due to years of neglect on infrastructure,” said Tony Heinrichs, the head of the city’s public works department, at the meeting. “There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it.”
…
This is so low, I don’t know what to say.
Ted Nugent: Threat to Obama, or harmless loudmouth?
Ted Nugent can expect a call from the Secret Service after saying at the NRA convention over the weekend that he’d be either ‘dead or in jail’ a year from now if Obama is reelected.
By Peter Grier, Staff writer / April 17, 2012
…
Ted Nugent
I like Ted’s music but him being a right-wing icon is funny. Ted dodged the draft and girls have come forward saying they performed oral sex on him when they were 12. But he likes guns, calls Hillary a b$&ch and borderline threatens Obama so he’s cool with the GOP?
I liked “Cat Scratch Fever,” but just can’t see anything worthwhile in the rest of his discography. And I do love me that Michigan rock and roll.
Ted Nugent…. pro-war, pro military tough guy….. and documented draft dodger.
The U.S. isn’t the only country facing a problem with heavily-armed right-wing extremists.
Well, at least one wacky high comp on my block is now understood: an NFL player bought his mama a l’il beach house.
You’re within a block of the beach? Must be nice to live there as a government employee, and still complain about prices. Our tax dollars put you there, no? What are you complaining about?
“You’re within a block of the beach?”
Two blocks.
“Must be nice to live there as a government employee, and still complain about prices.”
It is nice. And prices are too high.
“Our tax dollars put you there, no?”
You have no idea!
“What are you complaining about?”
I don’t know. You just solved all of my problems. Thanks!
You just solved all of my problems. Thanks!
That’s what I’m here for, bro. Perspective.
What do you think a house like this will go for in a few years?
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1032-Mainsail-Dr-Tarpon-Springs-FL-34689/47069742_zpid/
$30/sq ft.
Southern California home prices hit 6-month high
Posted: Apr 17, 2012 10:13 AM PDT Updated: Apr 17, 2012 10:13 AM PDT
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A research firm says sales of high-end homes pushed prices to a six-month high in Southern California last month.
DataQuick said Tuesday that nearly 20,000 new and existing homes and condos sold in a six-county region during March, up nearly 3 percent from a year earlier. The median price was $280,000, barely changed from last year and the highest since September.
Home sales rose sharply from February, reflecting the usual seasonal increase. Sales are up from year-earlier levels for three straight months and in seven of the last eight months.
DataQuick says the first big sales month of 2012 suggests Southern California’s housing market remains in a gradual, fragile recovery.
…
From Jamie Dimon: Buy now, or get priced out forever!
P.S. Regarding employment growth, wasn’t it recently reported at a tepid 120,000 rate?
BUSINESS
January 9, 2012, 4:46 p.m. ET
J.P. Morgan CEO: Housing Market Is Near Bottom
By PETER LOFTUS And DAVID BENOIT
J.P. Morgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said Monday that the U.S. housing market has neared its bottom, though it could remain there for a year.
Speaking at his investment bank’s health-care conference Monday, the head of the nation’s biggest banks by assets and deposits said the country is likely to need more new homes in the coming years as supply and demand are balanced and housing is more affordable than ever.
“It could be there for a year, but once you see employment grow 300,000, 400,000, 500,000 a month, you better buy right away,” Mr. Dimon said.
…
So long as the stock market keeps going up, there is no reason for concern if Chinese housing prices drop like a rock.
April 18, 2012, 1:54 a.m. EDT
China home prices fall in March, raising concerns
By Chris Oliver, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — March home prices in China fell in a majority of the cities tracked by the government, data released Wednesday showed, with one analyst saying the price activity suggested a deepening slowdown in construction activity.
Out of the 70 cities surveyed by the National Bureau of Statistics, 46 reported weaker prices from the previous month, up slightly from 45 cities that reported declines in February.
Prices were little changed in 16 cities, while 8 cities saw prices gains, according to bureau’s data.
Compared to prices from March 2011, 38 cities saw lower property values, compared to 27 cities that reported year-on-year price drops in February, according to the survey.
“This will have a major impact on growth this year,” Credit Agricole CIB economist and strategist Dariusz Kowalczyk said in a note from Hong Kong after the data release.
He said that sliding home prices will lead to weakness in residential land prices, which will in turn add to the financial strains already weighing on local governments.
‘The housing market is the main risk to China’s soft landing,” Kowalczyk said, highlighting separate data showing home sales lower 17% during the first quarter.
Construction activity accounts for more than 9% of the Chinese economy, according to Credit Agricole.
Wednesday’s official price data were similar in tone with privately compiled statistics from real-estate website operator SouFun Holdings Ltd., which showed a seventh consecutive monthly drop for residential housing prices, according to figures cited by Bloomberg News.
…
Should You Downsize Your Home to Shed Debt Faster?
by Dave Ramsey
Published April 17, 2012
FOXBusiness
Dear Dave,
Is it ever a good idea to sell your home and buy a smaller, less expensive one in order to get out of debt more quickly?
-Autumn
Dear Autumn,
It’s a good idea in some situations. If you don’t really like the house, or maybe you were thinking about selling it anyway, then I’d say go for it. It would also be a smart move if you simply have too much house and the payments are eating you alive.
I usually recommend that your monthly mortgage payment or rent be no more than 25% of your take-home pay. If your house payments are taking 40% to 50% of this figure, then it’s time to unload the house.
…
Down.
China Home Prices Fall in More Than Half Cities Tracked
By Bloomberg News - Apr 17, 2012 10:37 PM PT
China’s home prices fell in a record 37 of 70 cities tracked by the government in March as officials pledged to keep restrictions on property purchases that have sapped buyer demand.
The eastern city of Wenzhou led declines with a 9 percent slump in values from a year earlier, while Beijing and Shanghai recorded drops of 0.8 percent, according to data released by the statistics bureau today.
Today’s release underscores forecasts for China’s economic growth to slow further this quarter after the rate reached the lowest level in almost three years in the three months through March. Momentum in the real-estate industry is “too strong to reverse” for now, according to Li Daokui, a former adviser to the nation’s central bank.
“Alternative drivers of GDP growth will have to take some time to come in, to fill in the vacuum,” Li said today in an interview with Bloomberg Television from Sydney, citing water, rail and public-housing projects as future contributors to the expansion. Policy makers are aiming to balance reining in property speculation without hobbling growth, he said.
…
Should You Downsize Your Home to Shed Debt Faster?
by Dave Ramsey
Published April 17, 2012
FOXBusiness
Dear Dave,
Is it ever a good idea to sell your home and buy a smaller, less expensive one in order to get out of debt more quickly?
-Autumn
Dear Autumn,
It’s a good idea in some situations. If you don’t really like the house, or maybe you were thinking about selling it anyway, then I’d say go for it. It would also be a smart move if you simply have too much house and the payments are eating you alive.
I usually recommend that your monthly mortgage payment or rent be no more than 25% of your take-home pay. If your house payments are taking 40% to 50% of this figure, then it’s time to unload the house.
…