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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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I hope everyone enjoyed the debate last night. I don’t know who won though. I wanted to differentiate between D or R while making a vote next month as regards to following topics and would make a decision accordingly. I think one is Pepsi and other is Coke, both same but different flavors but I still wanted to see the differences:
–Who will Outsource more or keep jobs in US?
–Who will give more visas and Greencards?
–Who will control spending?
–Who will control the fiscal deficit?
–Who will be good for Medicare/SS?
–Who will bring jobs back and get the economy going?
–Who will keep a lid on Wall Street?
–Who will not promote principal reduction on mortgagaes?
–Who will bring shadow inventory out?
–Etc..etc..
What debate?
Ryan and Biden debate.
I was being sarcastic Martin.
I could give two sh#ts for the entire lot of them.
Red + Blue = Purple
Amen, brothah!
+eleventy gagillion.
Political debate = the art of pretending to hold extremely different political views from someone whose actual views are almost identical to your own
What were they ‘batin?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMafLdEFgPQ
Each other…
Obama’s reason to vote for him: “I’m not Mitt Romney.”
Romney’s reason to vote for him: “I’m not Obama.”
Oct. 12, 2012, 9:44 a.m. EDT
Obama should give us a reason to vote for him
Commentary: ‘I’m not Mitt Romney’ isn’t good enough
…
I think Pepsi and Coke is a very good analogy for US politics; both are bad for you, and in reality they are both very similar to each other but they both spend a lot of time and money trying to convince people they are quite different. They both want you to believe you have a real choice when you don’t. (This is where the analogy breaks down, because I can choose to drink water)
If you argument was correct. That there is absolutely NO difference in the political parties.
Then why do public unions, wacko environmentalist, race hustlers, trial lawyers and those who want more free cheese support and vote nearly 100% for democrats?
And I hear this argument ONLY when democrats are about to lose in an election.
I never hear this argument when Republicans are in power.
Why is that?
Here. Here. Agreed.
But, what is particularly disturbing as of late, and you see it here, is the ideology of Not voting, or voting for a 3rd party as a protest.
Voting is about confidence.
Whenever you have lost confidence in the party in control, you VOTE THEM OUT.
That is all this election is about.
You hear lots of people say they don’t really think Obama has been effective and didn’t do a good job, even among his supporters.
And yet, here they have an opportunity to REMOVE him and give someone else a chance to try some thing new.
And what’s been the discussion: Well, it won’t make any difference. One is the same as the other.
Not to me. I want Obama gone. As I have said many times, I am NOT a fan of Romney.
But he is my only way to Remove Obama, so he will get my vote and I will HOPE for CHange.
That only makes sense if you think that the new anointed one will pursue a significantly different policy. There’s a reason people are looking for something else.
Yeah for water!
Leigh
Biden may have thought it was the Ophrey Winfrey show ,with all the teeth flashing and stuff. At 69 he needs to figure it out ,but hopefully not from behind the oval office desk,VP that he is. He makes President Obama look like a statesman.
-Who will find that AmericaCitizen’s do not $pend enough of their tax monie$ to continue to “Grow” the War Defen$e Indu$trial Complex?
PS:
Above –Who will give more visas and Greencards?
I mean who will control illegal immigration and control the visas or GCs to leave some jobs for us here.
You still haven’t figured it out? Neither. This isn’t in the interest of the big businesses that BOTH candidates are beholden too.
Do you think Obama did a bad job? What would McCain have done differently? What will Romney do that is so much different than what Obama has already done?
Here’s a clue: Talk, talk til they are blue in the face but without the support of the legislative branch it won’t happen.
There is not a huge difference.
If McCain had won:
No obamacare
No stimulus
No war in Libya and a dead ambassador
Osama still would have been killed
The situation in Egypt would have turned out different (muslim brotherhood not in charge)
Banks would have still been bailed out.
Turbo Tax Timmy would not have been hired.
Housing Bubble part 2 would not have been created
All in all, a mixed bag. A bit better than obama. Not by much.
Do you think Obama did a bad job? What would McCain have done differently? What will Romney do that is so much different than what Obama has already done?
If McCain had won
War in Iran
$7 gas
Health care just as unaffordable as under Obamacare
Died in office 2011, Sarah Palin becomes president
http://www.thinkinghousewife.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/article-2185002-146D888B000005DC-709_306×602.jpg
War in Iran
$7 gas
Health care just as unaffordable as under Obamacare
Died in office 2011, Sarah Palin becomes president
But war is good for the economy. And think of all the alternative energy companies who would be raking in the money with $7 gas. And Sarah Palin’s hot… when was the last time we had a hot female president? Life would have been better under McCain.
I think there would have been a stimulus, too.
Really? Not one republican voted for it.
I think there would have been a stimulus, too.
“Really? Not one republican voted for it.”
They would have if McCain had been President.
Reading Woodward’s book, there definitely would have been a stimulus with a Republican in the White House.
According to Woodward, the reason no Republicans voted for the stimulus is that none of their tax cut ideas were included in the final legislation…Obama put in tax cut ideas that he thought the Republicans would like, despite getting a list of ideas from Cantor. What the Republicans thought would be bipartisan turned out to be anything but, and the no vote was a reflection of that.
Bush signed the stimulus. Both of them.
$hrub $igned the $timulu$. Both of them.
“You Lie!”
I think you are right, a mixed bag is a good analogy. Better though? Nope.
-Pretty sure that McCain would have bolstered Homeland Security further.
-Wouldn’t be surprised if indefinite detainment without legal council or trial wouldn’t have been where the erosion of our civil rights would have ended.
-War with Iran
-Oil out of sight.
-Perhaps stronger military intervention in Egypt, Libya and Syria. (McCain is after all a dyed in the wool military industrial complex supporter)
True, no Obamacare. I’m doubtful that stimulus wouldn’t have passed with McCain, I’m pretty sure he still bows and kisses the TBTF bank pinky ring.
Do you think McCain would have thought it was it presidential right to assassinate US Citizens without trail?
Regarding the NDAA:
In the House 190 Republicans voted for the bill and 43 voted against it, while 93 Democratic representatives voted for and 93 voted against it.
The U.S. Senate passed the act, which it called S. 1867, by a vote of 93 to 7
Let’s not delude ourselves, this is proof that there is little difference between the two parties.
Do you think McCain would have thought it was it presidential right to assassinate US Citizens without trail?
You betcha!
So, while we’re on the subject, what policies, laws, etc. would put an end to this miserable housing bubble debacle?
Not that any of the syphilitic weasels on Capitol Hill would actually implement any of them. With a few exceptions, of course.
THAT is an easy question.
Get government OUT OF THE MORTGAGE industry
Make banks keep their loans and EAT their losses.
Require 20% down-payment.
No loans above 30% of take home pay
Proof on income/job for a loan
Or - how the housing/mortgage industry used to be pre-1990 BEFORE GOVERNMENT got involved AND DESTROYED IT.
“Make banks keep their loans and EAT their losses.”
This.^
x eleventygagillion.
So…massive government regulation of banks. Will you also forbid non-bank loan origination and mortgage backed securities?
Sounds like a lot of government to me.
Only to a liberal looking at failings of the last four years would making the banks keep their loans on their books and getting the US government out of the mortgage industry
=
massive government regulation of banks
Your plan involves forbidding the banks (and presumably all other possible lenders) from continueing in business in the way that they choose. Securitizing loans was an old business when I worked on those deals (mostly cars, industrial equipment and just starting to be credit card receivables) in the 90’s. I didn’t do the mortgages, but other teams did.
Forbidding a business practice that has been standard in an industry for over 20 years is a lot of government regulation. Maybe FPSS can think if a better one, but I’d say a reasonable analog would be making SUVs illegal.
making SUVs illegal.
I think a more apt analog would be outlawing gas- and diesel-powered cars and trucks.
making SUVs illegal.
1. Reinstating Glass-Steagall?
2. Re-enforcing the Sherman Antitrust Act?
Shrimp:
Anyway, like I was sayin’, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey’s uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that’s about it.
http://youtu.be/WhfK98f5S00
I think we should be able to vote separately for the vice president.
Im gonna write in Gene Simmons.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXMpo6rrUcI
Gene isn’t a US citizen.
I’m gonna write in Alice The Goon.
Roseanne Barr is on the presidential ticket on the California ballot.
I’m highly tempted…
What, no love for Vermin Supreme!? I’d gladly throw away my vote for this guy :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d_FvgQ1csE
I like Spooks idea of Gene for VP.
Which U.S. state or municipality will be the next one to declare itself bankrupt, in order to shaft its creditors?
Mammoth Lakes, California mulls post-bankruptcy cuts
SAN FRANCISCO | Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:04pm EDT
Oct 10 (Reuters) - Mammoth Lakes, California could slash its police force to help bolster its post-bankruptcy finances, an official with the resort town in the state’s Sierra Nevada Mountains said on Wednesday.
One cost-cutting option the city of 8,000 residents is considering as it prepares to ask for its Chapter 9 bankruptcy case to be dismissed is to lay off seven police officers, Assistant Town Manager Marianna Marysheva-Martinez told Reuters by telephone.
Mammoth Lakes spends about a quarter of its $16 million annual budget on its police department, Marysheva-Martinez said.
The cuts would leave Mammoth Lakes’ police department with 10 sworn officers and three civilian employees. Savings would help the city as it will pay $2 million annually as part of $29.5 million settlement agreement with a property developer.
The developer had been awarded a $43 million judgment against the city over a property dispute. Saying it could not afford the judgment, Mammoth Lakes became the second city in the most populous U.S. state to file for Chapter protection from its creditors this year.
Marysheva-Martinez said residents of Mammoth Lakes will be surveyed on layoffs and other measures the city could take to shore up its finances, adding that the city later this month will begin the process of asking the judge hearing its bankruptcy case to dismiss it.
Mammoth Lakes followed on the heels of Stockton, a city of nearly 300,000 residents in California’s Central Valley, in filing for bankruptcy. San Bernardino, a city of 210,000 residents east of Los Angeles, was the third California city to file for Chapter 9 protection this year and Atwater, a Central Valley city of 28,000, is contemplating a bankruptcy filing.
Atwater’s city council last week approved a fiscal emergency measure that it may use to put the city on a fast-track to a Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing. Atwater’s leaders are also looking into options for increasing revenue while clamping down on costs, which could include layoffs, while considering whether to pursue a bankruptcy filing.
Analysts in the $3.7 trillion U.S. municipal debt market are keeping a close eye on local government finances in California out of concern that some cites could use fiscal emergency declarations as a way to speed Chapter 9 filings in attempts to shed financial obligations.
A Moody’s Investors Service report released on Tuesday said California’s three municipal bankruptcy filings “demonstrate that the willingness of some cities to continue to cut costs and associated municipal services to pay debt obligations may be eroding.”
Risk and ambition: Stockton’s bankruptcy a morality tale for cities around the nation
By Eric Schulzke, Deseret News
Published: Saturday, Sept. 22 2012 5:47 p.m. MDT
Sworn police staffing in Stockton, Calif. dropped from 1.52 per 1,000 residents in 2005 to 1.16 today.
Ben Margot, Associated Press
Summary
The aftermath of Stockton’s mismanagement will haunt the city’s residents for years to come. Essential services are already being short-changed to pay debts and employee pensions.
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Pixie dust: How Stockton gambled its way from bad to worse
“It went wrong when, in 2002 and 2003, the city decided things were going so well that they could issue bonds for other major projects.”
Stockton Mayor Ann Johnston
This is part one in a two-part series.
Read part two: Pixie dust: How Stockton gambled its way from bad to worse.
STOCKTON, Calif. — The marina is beautiful, sparkling and new. So are the baseball park and the hockey arena, home to the Stockton Ports and the Stockton Thunder. Across the street is a stunning refurbished historic theater. The facilities glisten in the evening August sunshine, while teenagers do backflips off a pier and children fish for bass.
A stone’s throw away is Stockton’s City Hall. Above the entrance is an “All-American City” banner, reflecting faded glory from awards won in 1999 and 2004, but beneath the banner the lamp post foundations are badly cracked. It’s one of many clues around the city that something has gone badly awry here.
…
There are many candidates.
They nearly all have a few things in common.
Insane public unions. Insane public union benefits. Insane public union pensions.
City government composed of politicians entirely supported and funded by public unions.
No way to change any insane promises (due to state laws) without bankruptcy.
Taxes increasing year after year and citizens/businesses leaving due to the high taxes.
“No way to change any insane promises (due to state laws) without bankruptcy.”
Higher interest rates would go far to eliminate unfunded pension liability.
Who has benefited the most under the Fed’s QE3 MBS purchase program?
JPMorgan profit up 34 percent with mortgage surge
October 12, 2012 9:35 AM ET
(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co said third-quarter earnings jumped 34 percent as the largest U.S. bank made more home loans.
Net income was a record $5.71 billion, or $1.40 a share, up from $4.26 billion, or $1.02 a share, a year earlier, the bank reported on Friday. Results for both periods included special items.
The company said it recorded a “modest loss” in the quarter on its so-called “London whale” derivatives portfolio, which had lost $5.8 billion this year through June. It said its Treasury and Chief Investment Office division, which formerly held all of the portfolio, may lose about $300 million more in the fourth quarter.
Revenue from mortgage production was $1.8 billion, up 36 percent from a year earlier, excluding losses for buying back bad mortgage loans sold in the past to investors.
U.S. banks have been enjoying a surge in demand from homeowners to refinance mortgage loans at lower interest rates.
…
TICKERS IN THIS ARTICLE
NAME LAST CHNG % CHNG
BAC 9.23 -0.11 -1.18
C 35.21 -0.31 -0.87
JPM 41.96 -0.14 -0.33
WFC 34.03 -1.15 -3.28
Oct. 12, 2012, 10:09 a.m. EDT
Radio update: Producer prices soar
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The latst money news from Ann Cates, including new efforts by Best Buy to end “showrooming.”
Why doesn’t Best Buy offer itself up to Amazon.com as a takeover target? I see a huge win for both companies.
Because if all the Best Buy showrooms became Amazon showrooms, Amazon would have a physical connection to every state in the country and would have to charge sales tax on all their on-line sales.
What a bummer.
And, speaking as someone who has had business ventures in which sales tax was required, you add it to the purchase price. It’s not eating into your profit margin.
Yes, you do have to file sales tax returns, but so what? It’s not like Amazon.com doesn’t have the software to gather the sales tax info automatically, and then do the appropriate tax filings.
Say , Ben , have you ever considered putting the latest comments at the top ? That way if you click on the comments , you’d see the freshest ones first .
O.K. I admit I am left handed , and did wash out of Pilot training rather quickly a generation ago because under pressure , the Left and right thing went totally blank…..
You sound like a good candidate for the Joshua Tree extension for firefox. It allows you to step through the new comments along with a few other features.
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B0QMI_-Iy8poN3hwcFpNV3JaNzg
Gawd you are charitable!
I always try to skip this one , obviously from Ohio
Is now a historically bad time to own Treasurys?
P.S. I grudgingly confess that on reading this article, I just became a fan of Jamie Dimon.
P.P.S. “…if they called me again to do something again like that…”
To what “they” is Jamie referring? It wouldn’t be the Federal Reserve Bank, would it?
Bloomberg News
Dimon Says Bond Market Turn Assured on Budget Impasse
By Dawn Kopecki and Zachary Tracer on October 10, 2012
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said bond markets would spurn U.S. debt if lawmakers fail to reach an agreement to address the nation’s deficit.
“It’s virtually assured” that markets would react that way, Dimon said today in Washington at an event held by the Council on Foreign Relations. “The question is when and how.”
Dimon, 56, has urged lawmakers to resolve the so-called fiscal cliff before the start of next year, when automatic tax increases and budget cuts are set to pull billions of dollars of purchasing power out of the economy. He told a Senate panel in June that the government risks a financial crisis as lawmakers remain deadlocked on taxes and the budget. He was asked today whether bond markets would turn against the U.S., which has been able to borrow at near-record-low rates.
“I can’t honestly tell you I know it’s going to be two years or five years, but it will happen,” Dimon said. “It is a matter of time and the United States can’t borrow indefinitely.”
Dimon joins Bill Gross, manager of the world’s biggest bond fund at Pacific Investment Management Co., in raising alarms about the effects of government debt on bond rates. Gross has reduced holdings of Treasuries for three straight months in his Total Return Fund. Gross wrote in his monthly investment commentary last week that the U.S. will no longer be the first destination of global capital in search of safe returns unless fiscal spending and debt growth slows.
‘Terrible Policy’
Dimon said New York-based JPMorgan has assigned staff to prepare the bank for the possibility that lawmakers remain deadlocked through the beginning of 2013.
“JPMorgan will survive (JPM) the fiscal cliff,” he said. “I just think it’s terrible policy to allow us to get close.”
He also affirmed his faith in the U.S., saying the economy remains “fundamentally stronger than people might think.”
Dimon built JPMorgan into the largest U.S. bank partly through acquisitions (JPM) during the financial crisis when he added Bear Stearns Cos. and took on assets from Washington Mutual Inc. He said JPMorgan did the U.S. a favor by buying Bear Stearns in 2008 and he might not go through with it again because of how much the deal ultimately cost.
“Would I have done Bear Stearns again knowing what I know today?” Dimon asked today. “It’s really close. Knowing what I know today, if they called me again to do something again like that, I couldn’t do it.”
…