Bits Bucket for April 10, 2013
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
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5 states have now passed comprehensive gun control laws. About 15 more have books in the pipeline.
Is it go time yet? It looks like there are going to be some republican senators in favor of comprehensive background checks so there will be a federal bull too.
Is it go time?
Could someone explain what this “go time” thing is. I mean exactly. I guess it’s some general call to load the gunz onto the schoolbus and bug out to the spread in the stix to do… what again? Live off the land, or maybe eat the gunz? I assume these go-folk aren’t going to show up at work next Monday. Certainly they know that they should expect no more paychecks or bennies or Roth IRA disbursements, tax-confiscated or no.
It will be just like the critically acclaimed film “Red Dawn”, except instead of commies, it will be DHS thugs. Patrick Swayze should have got an Oscar for that role.
Federal “bull” is about it.
Go time is a reference to a Seinfeld episode, you know, the one with the Mandelbaums and all their crepe money.
My understanding is that it’s when the Tea Billies will revolt and “take our country back”
Our flag has a scary looking snake on it.
“take our country back”
Interestingly both Obamatons/Occupy and Tea crowd take the country back to same miserable place.
Back to the robber baron era. Those campaigns don’t fund themselves.
Hey, Colorado. How did you survive the snow yesterday? I heard it was going to be a lot for a regular storm, never mind an April one.
Our office initially was going to do delayed reporting, and then 30 minutes after we all came in, they sent us home.
Snow accumulations were minimal, but the wind made driving nasty yesterday. 6 degrees F outside on the drive in this morning.
There was almost no accumulation in Loveland. I usually work from home Tuesdays, so for me it was business as usual.
Actually, we get our heaviest snowfalls in the Spring.
Glad to hear you are both fine!
Interesting about the timing of snow in the spring.
Here in the upper western Mojave, the winds were evil and we got intermittent snows the day before.
Where ya gonna go?
The Teabilly theme song, dedicated to joe smith:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIWfcQPVKB8
I usually picture the banjo duel from deliverance, but this will do. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os7RV5N9VLs
These guys all look like Teabillies. But that makes sense because all of them who are out now and cosidered brothers by these guys are on Janet’s list and would be
considered “Teabillies”. So why don’t you go find one and ask “Is it go time?”
Special Operations, Special Forces, Navy SEALs | Military.com
http://www.military.com/special-operations - 57k -
http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/mcgowan/ri-officials-unveil-sweeping-gun-control-package
—————————–
Flanked by state leaders, R.I. Governor Lincoln Chafee on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping legislative package that would ban semi-automatic weapons, increase prison sentences for those carrying stolen firearms and create a commission to study whether the state should submit mental health records to the federal background check system.
“Everybody knows from experience how difficult crafting gun safety legislation can be and really the frontier should be not only be fighting back against the watering down [of legislation], but strengthening to protect our communities,” Chafee told reporters following a press conference.
“Is it go time?”
Probably never will be, as far as I can see there is one big thing that is going to hold back this this agenda being implemented.
“The incompetence of Homeland Security when it comes to actually doing things is well documented”
Homeland Security Spent $430-Million To Tune Its Radios To A New Frequency, And Failed
from the taxpayer-money-at-work dept
The incompetence of Homeland Security when it comes to actually doing things is well documented — though, they’re often so clueless that they take credit for successfully misleading Congress about their own failings. So I guess it should come as little surprise that a new report shows that DHS spent about $430 million of your taxpayer dollars to get all of its radios to communicate on the same frequency and it doesn’t work. At all.
Of 479 radio users the DHS inspector general tested, only one knew how to tune into the common channel, the report stated. Personnel either were unaware the channel existed, could not find it, or switched to an outdated channel inherited from the Treasury Department. (BANG! BANG!BANG!)
“Personnel do not have interoperable communications that they can rely on during daily operations, planned events and emergencies,” acting IG Charles K. Edwards wrote in the report.
So what was the problem? Apparently no one in top management at DHS ever thought to tell the various departments that they should be using this common channel that they were spending so much money on getting ready for this usage:
The root of the disconnect, according to the report, is top department leaders have provided little guidance and no enforcement to ensure personnel use the channel. The shift to a single frequency began when the department formed in 2003.
“Components independently developed and managed their own radio programs with no formal coordination from DHS,” and as a result, “internal interoperability was not a priority for DHS components,” Edwards reported.
The report suggested that there should be someone in charge of actually coordinating all of this (what an idea!), but DHS officials shot back that they already have a “Joint Wireless Program Management Office.” Of course, this only makes the situation worse, in that they basically admit that they have an entire office set up to work on this issue… and it’s now apparent that the office did little to nothing in terms of actually accomplishing what needed to be accomplished. The author of the report pointed out that it’s a bit silly to point to the office that failed to do its job as proof that they’re now ready to deal with this issue.
http://www.techdirt.com/blog/wireless/articles/20121114/11412221047/homeland-security-spent-430-million-to-tune-its-radios-to-new-frequency-failed.shtml - 115k -
OK, so DHS is incompetent. We still have law enforcement leaders who will implement the agenda as indicated by all the police standing behind Obama in Denver.
Or uh….
March 2013 survey of police officers covered proposed legislation and attitudes about arming citizens
“Similarly, 92 percent feel that banning semi-automatic firearms, or “assault weapons,” would have no effect or a negative effect on reducing violent crime”
“71 percent support law enforcement leaders who have publicly refused to enforce more restrictive gun laws within their jurisdictions”
Submitted by AnCapMercenary on Mon, 04/08/2013
SAN FRANCISCO – PoliceOne.com, the leading online resource for law enforcement, today released findings from a national survey of police professionals that provide insight into the opinions of American law enforcement regarding gun control policies and the root causes of and potential solutions to gun crime in the United States.
The survey, which was conducted in early March 2013, received 15,000 responses from law enforcement professionals. It found that the overall attitude of law enforcement is strongly anti-gun legislation and pro-gun rights, with the belief that an armed citizenry is effective in stopping crime. Response percentages varied only slightly when analyzed by rank and department size. Among the results:
86 percent feel the currently proposed legislation would have no effect or a negative effect on improving officer safety
Similarly, 92 percent feel that banning semi-automatic firearms, or “assault weapons,” would have no effect or a negative effect on reducing violent crime
71 percent support law enforcement leaders who have publicly refused to enforce more restrictive gun laws within their jurisdictions
91 percent support the concealed carry of firearms by civilians who have not been convicted of a felony and/or have not been deemed psychologically incapable
Likewise, 80 percent feel that legally-armed citizens would likely have reduced the number of casualties in recent mass shooting incidents
38 percent believe the biggest cause of gun violence in the United States is the “decline in parenting and family values”. This was trailed by “overly lax parole and short sentencing standards” at 15 percent and “pop culture influence” (eg. violent movies and video games) at 14 percent
The survey was promoted by PoliceOne exclusively to its 400,000 registered members, comprised of individually-verified law enforcement professionals. Only current, former or retired law enforcement personnel were eligible to participate in the survey.
http://www.dailypaul.com/281140 -
DHS - another welfare program for people too stupid to do anything else.
It was time to go was when corporations were given more rights that people, the Patriot Acts were passed, the 4th Amendment was shredded and our jobs were sent to communist China.
That ship done sailed a long time ago.
Interesting thing about firearms, they’re in a “bubble” right now too. People are buying them in a frenzy.
I actually fell victim to the frenzy. Right after Maryland’s legislature passed its gun control bill, I went out to purchase a firearm. I did purchase the one I wanted but at a hefty premium. I’d been casually considering the prospect of purchasing another previously. Usually I do research and consider the issue, and take a measured approach.
But this time - I went to the firing range. Then I walked into the showroom. I saw the exact model I wanted. I thought, “Who knows what’s going to ultimately happen with the gun laws. I need to move now.”
But now, I think about it. In a year or two, I’d (probably) be able to get the same model, but with a lower magazine capacity. For a significantly lower price. A lot of demand is being pulled forward right now. If I ever want to purchase another firearm, I’d have to go through the new Maryland process, which includes fingerprinting, which, while I can appreciate the necessity of the rest of the package (background checks, licensing), the fingerprinting requirement is just vindictive.
It’ll be a few months before I can actually pick up the firearm due to the current state police background checking backlog, due to the current buying frenzy. I’m delighted to have found the exact model I wanted. But I acted quickly due to that sense of urgency. I’m still going to have to submit to the Maryland process in the future. I could have just waited on this purchase for a couple of years too. However… there is the possibility that the laws might become yet more restrictive.
Anyway, it was an interesting experience, to get caught in that “buy now or you won’t ever be able to buy” frenzy.
And FYI, I paid a somewhat absurd amount of money for this model of firearm.
Do you mind sharing how large the “fear/frenzy premium” was?
I had thought about purchasing, but decided I would wait it out.
The premium was 50 percent.
How much does a low end firearm cost? How about a high end one?
I am wondering if it is reasonable for someone to buy them on lucky ducky wages if they want to be able to eat for the month.
We paid $300 for a used S&W .38 Special and $600 for a new S&W .357 Magnum.
But this was before Obama’s reelection and the false-flag, burning-the-reichstag, Newtown “tragedy” and The One’s crocodile tear photo op and the subsequent unconstitutional grabber moves.
In November, you could buy all of the Bushmaster AR-15s you wanted at the local Wal-Mart (!) for $799.
Now? $1500, minimum.
A bespoke Holland “Royal Double” will set you back about $260K. But this Purdy over and under is a steal at only $185,000.
http://www.gunsinternational.com/Purdey-Shotguns.cfm?cat_id=724
Purdey, London. Magnificent, brand new, light weight, 20ga. O/U game gun
“… How about a high end one?…”
A bespoke Holland&Holland “Royal Double” will set you back about $260K. But this Purdy over and under is a steal at only $185,000.
http://www.gunsinternational.com/Purdey-Shotguns.cfm?cat_id=724
Purdey, London. Magnificent, brand new, light weight, 20ga. O/U game gun
Unlike the real estate market, I don’t foresee the central bank and federal government stepping in to support prices.
You have to live somewhere, but you don’t have to shoot something.
Interesting thing about firearms, they’re in a “bubble” right now too. People are buying them in a frenzy.
I guess that means there will eventually be an ample selection at good prices in pawn shops.
“I guess that means there will eventually be an ample selection at good prices in pawn shops.’
Maybe people could just sell them to the Mexican drug lords, they could probably use some more semiautomatic firearms by now.
Obama Moves Fast And Furious On To Hide Gun Hypocrisy
Wed, Jan 23 2013
Gun Control: The president seeks a review of groups barred from gun ownership, while his attorney general asks the courts to keep hidden documents on running guns to drug lords sealed by executive privilege.
Presumably the list of prohibited individuals include Mexican drug lords and their operatives who to this day continue to maim and murder with assault weapons and other semiautomatic firearms provided to them by this administration under the gun-running operation known as Fast and Furious.
Attorney General Eric Holder has been tasked to review this list. Unfortunately, this representative of an administration that pretends to care about the causes and prevention of mass carnage filed a motion Jan. 11 to stay indefinitely a lawsuit by the legal watchdog group Judicial Watch filed to enforce a June 22, 2012, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
That request seeks all documents relating to Operation Fast and Furious and “specifically all records subject to the claim of executive privilege invoked by President Barack Obama on or about June 20, 2012.”
The massacre at Sandy Hook is over, but the massacre of Mexican nationals, now in the hundreds, continues.
While the Obama administration campaigns for new gun-control laws in the wake of the tragic murders in Newtown, Conn., it sets a new standard for hypocrisy.
By continuing to thwart Congress’ efforts to hold accountable those who let the same type of guns be sold to dangerous Mexican drug gangs — who then used them to murder U.S. federal agents — this administration shows just how cynical its gun-control rhetoric is.
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/012213-641534-gun-executive-orders-miss-fast-and-furious.htm?p=full - 152k -
Remind us who started this program?
Hypocrisy? You’re soaking in it.
“records subject to the claim of Executive Privledge”
IOW, a fishing expedition for stuff to bash Obama over the head with.
Too bad absolutely nobody is interested in investigating the banksters/1%er’s excessive influence on government policy.
“Remind us who started this program?”
Eric Holder
“Operation Wide Receiver” ended in 2007.
President Obama Falsely Claims Fast and Furious Program “Begun Under the Previous Administration”
Sep 21, 2012 11:39am
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/president-obama-falsely-claims-fast-and-furious-program-begun-under-the-previous-administration/ -
On Fast & Furious, “Blame Bush” is a Lie
Townhall.com ^ | June 20, 2012 | Guy Benson
Posted on Wednesday, June 20, 2012 3:08:25 PM by Kaslin
Throughout today’s House Oversight Committee hearings on possible contempt charges for Attorney General Eric Holder, Democrat members repeatedly asserted and imtimated that the deadly gun-running program had originated under the previous administration. Their clear aim was to muddy the waters on who is ultimately culpable for this blood-stained travesty, to suggest that Republicans are engaged in a shameless partisan witch hunt, and to feed the pliant mainstream media a handy alternate narrative as they begin to cover the controversy. Katie documented why this variant of “Blame Bush!” isn’t remotely applicable to Fast & Furious in her book, and former federal prosector Andy McCarthy exposed and distilled the Left’s deliberate obtuseness on this subject last November:
The key to [Democrats'] strategy is conflating two very different programs: Operation Fast & Furious and a Bush era ATF initiative known as “Operation Wide Receiver.” In the questions from Judiciary Committee Democrats (principally, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer — there may have been others but, again, I didn’t see the entire hearing), it emerged that Wide Receiver began in 2006, when Alberto Gonzales was the Bush administration attorney general…Wide Receiver actually involved not gun-walking but controlled delivery. Unlike gun-walking, which seems (for good reason) to have been unheard of until Fast & Furious, controlled delivery is a very common law enforcement tactic. Basically, the agents know the bad guys have negotiated a deal to acquire some commodity that is either illegal itself (e.g., heroin, child porn) or illegal for them to have/use (e.g., guns, corporate secrets). The agents allow the transfer to happen under circumstances where they are in control — i.e., they are on the scene conducting surveillance of the transfer, and sometimes even participating undercover in the transfer. As soon as the transfer takes place, they can descend on the suspects, make arrests, and seize the commodity in question — all of which makes for powerful evidence of guilt. Senator Schumer’s drawing of an equivalence between “tracing” in a controlled-delivery situation and “tracing” in Fast & Furious is laughable. In a controlled delivery firearms case, guns are traced in the sense that agents closely and physically follow them — they don’t just note the serial numbers or other identifying markers. The agents are thus able to trace the precise path of the guns from, say, American dealers to straw purchasers to Mexican buyers.
To the contrary, Fast & Furious involved uncontrolled deliveries — of thousands of weapons. It was an utterly heedless program in which the feds allowed these guns to be sold to straw purchasers — often leaning on reluctant gun dealers to make the sales. The straw purchasers were not followed by close physical surveillance; they were freely permitted to bulk transfer the guns to, among others, Mexican drug gangs and other violent criminals — with no agents on hand to swoop in, make arrests, and grab the firearms. The inevitable result of this was that the guns have been used (and will continue to be used) in many crimes, including the murder of Brian Terry, a U.S. border patrol agent. In sum, the Fast & Furious idea of “trace” is that, after violent crimes occur in Mexico, we can trace any guns the Mexican police are lucky enough to seize back to the sales to U.S. straw purchasers … who should never have been allowed to transfer them (or even buy them) in the first place. That is not law enforcement; that is abetting a criminal rampage.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2897461/posts - 44k -
The 5 Biggest Differences Between Operation Fast and Furious and …
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/06/26/the-5-biggest-differences-between-operation-fast-and-furious-and-operation-wide-receiver/ - 173k - Cached - Similar pages
Jun 26, 2012 … Operation wide receiver ended in 2007 while fast and furious started in 2009 and Holder and Obama talk as if it is the same program with no …
“Too bad absolutely nobody is interested in investigating the banksters/1%er’s excessive influence on government policy.”
Absolutely. In fact I think you probably remember me saying attack in both directions Mr. Jetfixr. But I do not see anyone elected to run this country that is going to do it.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Eric Holder Admits Some Banks Are Just Too Big To Prosecute
Posted: 03/06/2013 3:29 pm EST | Updated: 03/06/2013 6:56 pm EST
When the Attorney General of the United States admits some banks are simply too big to prosecute, it might be time to admit we have a problem — and that goes for both the financial and justice systems.
Eric Holder made this rather startling confession in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, The Hill reports. It could be a key moment in the debate over whether to do something about the size and complexity of our biggest banks, which have only gotten bigger and more systemically important since the financial crisis.
“I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them when we are hit with indications that if you do prosecute, if you do bring a criminal charge, it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy,” Holder said, according to The Hill. “And I think that is a function of the fact that some of these institutions have become too large.”
Holder’s comments don’t come as a total surprise. His underlings had already made similar confessions to The New York Times last year, after they declined to prosecute HSBC for flagrant, years-long violations of money-laundering laws, out of fear that doing so would hurt the global economy. Lanny Breuer, formerly in charge of doling out the Justice Department’s wrist slaps to banks, told Frontline as much in the documentary “The Untouchables,” which aired in January.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/eric-holder-banks-too-big_n_2821741.html - 301k -
Thousands of people get blown up in Iraq and Afghanistan and Senate blowhards make a huge stink about a couple of dead border control agents? And KEEP making a stink? Sense of proportion anyone?
The Mexican cartels are (still) killing hundreds a week, there’s a potential failed state on our southern border, but dammit, WE WANT THE NAMES OF THOSE COVERT OPERATIVES MADE PUBLIC!
I’m going with the new meme:
“Hypocrisy? You’re soaking in it.”
“Thousands of people get blown up in Iraq and Afghanistan”
Did that stop in 2009?
“President Obama Falsely Claims Fast and Furious Program “Begun Under the Previous Administration”
“Hypocrisy? You’re soaking in it.”
I wish I had not had a knee jerk reaction to your post ahansen. Eco implied that Fast And Furious wa started under the previous administration, I proved him wrong and I should have let it go at that.
When you take this stance which plays down the couple of dead border control agents please include the massacre of Mexican nationals, now in the hundreds, that continues to this day.
please include the massacre of Mexican nationals
They’re not being ‘massacred’, just shot to death, or perhaps clubbed to death when the weapons jam or run out of ammo. Most likely, US nationals have met similar fates from the firearms in question, but who keeps count, anyway?
Government misfeasance of any kind deserves proper attention. This is not happening.
That’s what I’m hoping for. Nothing I want in the local pawn shops yet, but I can wait.
Thank you and I appreciate your candor in sharing this ‘caught up in a frenzy’ thing - its better to trip on the small stuff and experience a lesson, than to fall for the big stuff. I heard it somewhere “To be old and wise one has to be young and stupid first”.
‘caught up in a frenzy’
And quite a frenzy it has been.
32 Gun Purchase Background Checks Per Minute Under Obama, Over 70 Million Since He Took Office
Apr 10, 2013
Excerpted from CNS News: During Barack Obama’s presidency there have been 32 background checks for gun purchases every minute.
Since February of 2009, the first full month of Obama’s presidency, there have been 70,291,049 background checks for gun purchases, according to data released by the FBI.
Using February 1, 2009 as our starting date, and March 31, 2013 as our end date, (the latest data from the FBI) Obama has been president for 1,520 days.
That equates to 36,480 hours, or 2,188,800 minutes.
Divide the 70,291,049 background checks by 2,188,800 minutes and you get approximately 32 checks for gun purchases every minute!
http://patdollard.com/2013/04/32-gun-purchase-background-checks-per-minute-under-obama-over-70-million-since-he-took-office/ - -
How much do you think NAR and MBA pay the owner of Patrick.net?
Rather… how much do you think they’re spending on the PR consultants who post day in day out?
Same as the ones on here?
Nothing.
Didn’t realize he had a book out…
Haven’t been on there in a LOOOONG time, but his site (which I found in a review of Lereah’s book) is what originally brought me here to the HBB.
I have heard people talk about secured debt vs unsecured debt for a long time.
I’m a bit confused by the experts.They keep saying secured debt is safer for the lender.I’m not so sure about that.
For instance if you get foreclosed on in CA basically they wont get a dime out of you besides the house back, the collateral.
If you have a credit card with a sizeable balance the bank will take you to court and get a judgement against you.
It really seems that unsecured debt is a better debt to have in some states.
any thoughts?
As your post suggests, whether credit is officially secured or effectively secured can be entirely different matters, depending on the legal environment. CA credit card debt is secured by the court’s willingness and ability to hold the debtor accountable.
I’m not sure where the problem lies with respect to the home loan example, especially given that something like 90 percent of all new loans these days come with federal guarantees of principle?
Further thought: Even if it is possible to get a judgment out of an individual, as the old saying goes, “you can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip.” I don’t see how a judgment would help much to extract payment out of a truly broke debtor.
In the case of secured debt, the collateral represents an existing asset which the debtor is supposed to forfeit in case of default, unless a law is passed to override the mortgage contract.
I don’t see how a judgment would help much to extract payment out of a truly broke debtor.
If he has a job, they can garnish his wages.
yep that is true.
“If he has a job, they can garnish his wages.”
Truly broke debtors don’t have jobs; they ‘go on disability.’
they ‘go on disability.’
I suspect (but don’t know for sure) that disability benefits are exempt from garnishment; I know that SS benefits are.
Anyone know for sure about SSDI?
The judgment extends the time period in which the bank can try to collect. How long that will be depends on the state. Someone may be broke today. But their situation may change in 5 years so that collection becomes lucrative.
There are also cases where debtors have been jailed for failure to disclose assets to the collector. Getting the courts involved can give debt collectors additional leverage.
The debtors still have the option to declare bankruptcy. If the debts are large enough and the debtor can acquire the funds to pay a bankruptcy lawyer, they can permanently retire the debt. There have been cases in which debt collectors have attempted to collect on debts that have been discharged in bankruptcy. So a debtor may never be completely free of a bad debt.
I found a site that details income that is exempt from collection.
http://www.peoples-law.org/node/497
Secured debt loses are backed by taxpayers…unsecured debt is backed by a turnip.
But if the secured debt was recourse, the lender would both be able to grab the property that secured the loan and then sue for any remaining debt. And there is always the chance that the property securing the debt, when sold, would generate enough cash to pay off the entire amount owed plus some fees and things.
Mixing up several different concepts.
Mixing up several different concepts.
I believe that is what lenders would typically do, as both secured and unsecured debts are typically “recourse”—except in the case of mortgages, which are a different beast in non-recourse states.
For instance if you get foreclosed on in CA basically they wont get a dime out of you besides the house back, the collateral.”
Ruin your credit is all they can do so say the Realtors. Back in the day ~2006 many realtors urged me to sell my house liberate the equity put it in a bank then buy a similair house with no money down.
Instead of the sell then rent idea I went with.
The risk being no one can call a top. So just walk away IF it blows so what about the credit you have cash in the bank.
They were all doing it.
I went to a lawyer with this realtor scheme he was against it and said in no uncertain terms it WAS ILLEGAL FOR REALTORS TO GIVE LEGAL ADVICE.
Ah the bubble days. And it’s all happening again unbelivable
Come to think of it the Realtard probably just wanted the commision on selling and buying a house.
I think it depends on the circumstances.
The theory was that secured debt can be easier to collect if there is a BK filing of the borrower (thus, the proliferation of “bankruptcy remote”, single-purpose entities with respect to secured debt). As a borrower with lots of unsecured debt, you have an ability to enter BK and cram down all the unsecured lenders (court forced restructuring).
I think this theory was turned on its head with the BK of General Growth Properties.
If you talk to a REIT executive, they like having lots of unsecured borrowings (and thus unencumbered assets), and fewer secured borrowings (and thus encumbered assets). That should tell you that borrowers like unsecured…thus lenders should prefer secured.
Secured debt is better than unsecured debt for the lender.
I do not buy that argument.
If someone owns a house that is 100,000.00 underwater and the bank forecloses on that home they get the home back. Laws in CA make it virtually impossible to come after a homedebtor for the difference in loan balance and market balance of that home.
If someone owes 100,000.00 on credit cards and they dont pay the credit card companies take them to court where a judge decides the outcome and most likely slaps a judgement against you.
“Laws in CA make it virtually impossible to come after a homedebtor for the difference in loan balance and market balance of that home.”
1. Why does it matter, if the loan is federally guaranteed?
2. In the case of loans which are not federally guaranteed, private mortgage insurance is an option for lenders worried about losing money.
3. I believe Robert Shiller developed a home price futures market some years ago which could be used to insure against declines in home values. (I assume the hedge funds which are investing in rental properties hither and yon have also loaded up on these?!)
I see your federally guaranteed argument but a lot of loans that were made by countrywide had no federal guarantee or insurance.
If a borrower was required to get pmi I believe that only insures the upper 20% of the loan amount.
“I see your federally guaranteed argument but a lot of loans that were made by countrywide had no federal guarantee or insurance.”
Hasn’t the Fed’s QE3 MBS purchase program pretty much mopped up the Countrywide mess by now?
Hasn’t the Fed’s QE3 MBS purchase program pretty much mopped up the Countrywide mess by now?
+1.
And with the Fed’s ability to manufacture any amount of desired profits, they have the ability to bury the losses over a LONG, long time-frame.
If the person has no money, the judgement doesn’t mean much. While strategic default has the changed the dynamic, I’d bet lenders recover more on average on secure debt. Certainly less than previously when people would spend every last dime trying to keep up on their mortgage.
Laws in CA make it virtually impossible to come after a homedebtor for the difference in loan balance and market balance of that home ?
Not True….
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&ved=0CIkBEBYwBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfbay-law.com%2Fdeficiency-judgments-in-california-3%2F&ei=eG5lUZSXNamciQKc3YGYAQ&usg=AFQjCNFQVMQxnGtab1D7NJJYYt9jwkbLnw&sig2=aRRRJ5TEq8mRJImgIrVlbw
is true
under your article there are certain cases where a deficiency judgement is possible:
junior lien
Refinanced Mortgages
waiver
fraud
on a 1st deed it is next to impossible to get and money in CA.
is true
on a 1st deed it is next to impossible to get and money in CA ??
Not True…
Refinanced Mortgages are a first deed…
not true
if you havent refinanced you are still basically exempt from collection
Laws in CA make it virtually impossible to come after a homedebtor for the difference in loan balance and market balance of that home.”
Only if the Bank accepts the foreclosed price. They COULD trace to see if you have cash in the Bank. A lawyer told me this.
The virtually immpossible to come after you law applies to a first mortgage only, no refinacing cash out.
Even the realtors knew that. You had to buy clean if you planned to walk no cash out they would get you there.
And the taxpayers will pick up the tab when the $1 trillion of student loan debt default avalanche starts to slide. You’ll see.
And there is also this:
GHEI: Reinflating the housing bubble
Loosened borrowing rules set the stage for another bust
By Nita Ghei
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
…
Caught between the rock of low interest rates and the hard place of federal penalties, banks are lending less. Using FHA to ramp up lending is a policy doomed for failure. It already has a negative net worth of more than $32 billion, and a capital shortfall of at least $52 billion, according to the American Enterprise Institute’s Ed Pinto. Almost 16 percent of its loans are in delinquency. Expansion almost certainly sets up the agency for a taxpayer bailout.
…
Perhaps the Government can create a “Bad Bank” to take all the distressed mortgages from FHA, thus making it whole. Kind of like what the Fed Reserve does for the big Banks.
Could FHA loans be securitized, then sold to the Fed as part of their $40 bn monthly MBS purchases? This is the way I would go if I were the FHA…
Foreclosure inventory rising again nationwide, but falling in CA
After bottoming in May 2012, foreclosure inventory is rising again nationwide. (RealtyTrac)
The nationwide inventory of homes at some stage of the foreclosure process is rising again but remains far below its December 2010 peak, RealtyTrac says in a special report issued Thursday.
However, inventory is only rising in about half of the states, mainly so-called judicial states that require foreclosures to go through a court proceeding. Inventory is still falling in most non-judicial states (including California) that don’t require a court proceeding.
U.S. foreclosure inventory – the number of homes in the foreclosure process plus unsold bank-owned homes – peaked at 2.2 million in December 2010 and declined steadily to a low of 1.3 million in May 2012. It has been slowly rising since the National Mortgage Settlement was made final in April 2012, and hit about 1.5 million in the first quarter of 2013.
RealtyTrac does not count a home in the foreclosure process until a notice of default has been recorded with the county, which could be months or even years after the homeowner has stopped making payments.
In California, total foreclosure inventory in the first quarter of 2013 was one-third less than in the same quarter of 2012. Only Oregon had a bigger decline, 51 percent. In New York, a judicial state, first-quarter inventory was 128 percent above last year.
…
With 4 million excess, underwater, defaulted, delinquent and empty houses in CA, they’re looking at a huge correction.
How exactly is this correction going to happen, if these homes are held off the market forever?
Forever?
Forever?
According to you, they are depreciating so rapidly that they will soon have no value. That takes care of the shadow inventory, eh?
The ultimate value of millions of surplus houses built during the speculative bubble will be negative. Which ones, we’ll only know when the music stops. It’s a familiar process, but never before on this scale.
And the older the house, the more net negative it goes.
Which ones, we’ll only know when the music stops
I agree. But it’s pretty easy to make guesses now: Exurbs, rust belt cities, inland Florida/California, most of Nevada, McMansions, condos, condotels…
Coastal California.
Rural. McMansion. Anything with semi circular windows.
There was a time I just wanted to walk up and smash circular transom windows wherever and whenever I saw one.
Now they’re just hideous and out of style like granite, dark stained home cheapo cabinets, SS and other debt-junkie badges.
New LPS Mortgage Monitor released today:
http://www.lpsvcs.com/LPSCorporateInformation/CommunicationCenter/DataReports/MortgageMonitor/201302MortgageMonitor/MortgageMonitorFebruary2013.pdf
CA’s non-current loan rate (home delinquent and in foreclosure) fell modestly to 7.3% (from 7.4%).
With over 4 million excess, defaulted, delinquent, underwater and excess houses in CA, a fraction of a percent doesn’t mean much.
I think you have an excess “excess” there. Perhaps you should substitute a different word for the first “excess”. Let’s go with…”deteriorating”.
“With over 4 million deteriorating, defaulted, delinquent, underwater and excess houses in CA, a fraction of a percent doesn’t mean much.”
Ah, better.
Saw a sign on the way to work this morning that said “real estate prayer breakfast”.
LOL
Logical extension of burying a St Joes statue.
Now….. God doesn’t give a crap about realtards any more than he cares about lines and boundaries on a map.
Debt is the Devil.
And Obama is the Antichrist.
idiot for sure…anti-christ?
i can’t give him nearly that much credit.
i can’t give him nearly that much credit.
I do. Obama’s true believers are GLAD he’s the anti-Christ.
I-Team: Bills Focus on Protecting Homeowners
Posted: Apr 04, 2013 3:20 PM PDT Updated: Apr 04, 2013 3:20 PM PDT
By Nathan Baca, Investigative Reporter
By Alex Brauer, Photojournalist
LAS VEGAS — State lawmakers called Thursday “underwater mortgage” day at the state capitol as they dealt with bills to boost homeowner foreclosure protection.
The first bill gaining attention adds some teeth to the requirement that banks need to prove they possess a home’s title documents.
Senate Bill 389 allows homeowners to take banks to court if they can’t produce the title papers. A judge could then tell the bank representatives they have no right to continue with foreclosure. It’s hoped that would compel banks to refinance the home loan.
A local attorney wrote the bill saying she has too many friends and clients in legal limbo.
“They’re stuck in their homes. They may be underwater and not able to move or work out a deal with the presumptive owner of the Deed of Trust or the note, so they cant leave. They can’t move. Someone who wants to buy that property might be unable to,” said Lori Jordan, the bill’s author.
Another bill, Senate Bill 160 is also getting attention. It limits banks suing homeowners over lost home value. If a bank sells a home at auction for less than the original homeowner’s mortgage, they can come after that homeowner in certain circumstances and sue for the difference.
The law already prevents banks from suing on mortgages newer than 2009. The bill would limit banks suing homeowners no matter how old their mortgage is. Banks told state lawmakers they oppose the bill, saying it “violates the sanctity of the home loan contract.”
It’s called the Homeowners Bill of Rights. It extends foreclosure protections already enjoyed by customers of the five largest banks to all Nevada homeowners.
…
Try not to get impaled by the double-edged Sword of Damocles.
First deflation in over 40 years hits Greece, reminder of recession reality
Published time: April 10, 2013 11:45
AFP Photo / Aris Messinis
Greece’s consumer price indexes have decreased 0.2%, marking the first deflation since 1968. It might mean the peripheral euro economy may be in more trouble- if the trend continues Greece will amass even more debt.
The Hellenic Statistical Authority released data Tuesday in an official press release.
The deflation is linked strictly to the consumer sector, as service providers have been forced to cut their prices due to an overall decline in consumption. As Greece enters year 5 of recession, people just aren’t buying.
The telecommunications sector, for example, has deflated by 5.1%, and the health Consumer Price Index (CPI) has dropped by 4.6%. Other industries have remained unaffected or have even increased.
CPI hasn’t changed drastically compared to February 2013, with the exception of clothing and footwear, which has jumped up 33.4%.
The deflationary trend is expected to continue for several months before stabilizing, according to Michael Massourakis, chief economist at Alpha Bank.
“If we don’t see further tax or energy price increases, the recent decline in labor costs will have a negative impact on prices,” said Massourakis.
For some, the news doesn’t come as a surprise, and is a ripple effect an economy that has been rapidly contracting since 2008.
“It’s more of a surprise that it [deflation] did not happen sooner,” said Ben May, an economist at Capital Economics, describing falling prices as a “double edged sword”.
…
Single payer could have prevented this, but that’s commie.
Wall Street Journal - Some Small Businesses Opt for Health-Care Penalty:
“Small-business owners across the U.S. are bracing for the health-care law that kicks in next year, fearing it will increase the cost of providing insurance to employees.
But Rick Levi, a business owner in Des Moines, Iowa, is among those considering the government’s escape hatch: paying a penalty to avoid the law’s “employer mandate.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323916304578401413507987532.html
Bigger and bigger government has destroyed health care in America.
And your solution? - even BIGGER government.
who wants to be miserable like all those miserable canadians and miserable scandanavians, paying much less than usa and living better than we are.
a post on this subject on hbb a while ago said ‘i’d rather live 60 years under freedom than 80 years under tyranny.’
Government did not require insurance companies to have 47 different claim forms just between the hospital/doctor/insurance company.
It not require HMOs to even exist.
you can’t see the invisible hand of the free market because it’s invisible. and just because it’s invisible doesn’t mean it isn’t working.
because it’s invisible
You must be really blind.
Invisible hands of free market in USA = The Fed and the US Government.
It’s working all right … working to take us to the cleaners, charging us 2x what other advanced nations pay per procedure.
when does the champaign against fat people start ?
Apparently 2 of the the liberals I work with are OK with this, they distrust corporations so much they want government to step in with health care AND they are OK with going after fat people. for there own good I guess corn syrup and all that stuff.
They are both very skinny, both have PHD’s, both born outside the USA.
Costal CA elite calling he shots. yuck
And subsidizing the medical care of the obese to the tune of $155B a year! It’s a public health issue, thus fair game. America’s casual acceptance of obesity makes it an international laughing stock.
Here we go. Expect to see a lot more of this in the US. I suspect it’s been occurring far more than is reported already. Bribes are unnecessary. Just threaten the guy’s life and if that doesn’t work, there’s always the family.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/attorney-says-deputy-arrested-in-denver-prisoner-escape-did-it-because-he-was-threatened/2013/04/10/9028cbc0-a1df-11e2-bd52-614156372695_story.html
So why didn’t the idiot report it?
Bulletin S&P 500 hits highest level ever as U.S. stocks rise early
Fed minutes show sharp division over ‘QE’ duration
Monetary-policy makers divided at March meeting over how long to keep buying bonds.
April 10, 2013, 9:00 a.m. EDT
Fed minutes show clear divisions over QE duration
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A manipulated market and reality
Does Obama want to push granny off a cliff?
Banks to start making foreclosure payments
By Greg Robb
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch)– Federal Reserve officials remained divided over how long they should keep buying bonds, according to the minutes of the March 19-20 meeting released Wednesday. The Fed said that one member wanted to slow the bond purchases immediately. A few more favored slowing the purchases at midyear, with the program ending later in 2013. Several others thought that if labor conditions improved as expected, the Fed could slow purchases “later in the year and stop them by year-end.” Two members indicated that the purchases might well continue at the current pace at least through the end of the year. The Fed released the minutes early after discovering that some copies had been sent by mistake to Hill staffers and trade groups on Tuesday.
Bulletin S&P 500 hits highest level ever as U.S. stocks rise early
April 9, 2013, 8:41 a.m. EDT
A manipulated market and reality
By Kevin Haggerty
The S&P 500 has advanced +17.2% to the April 2 1574 high from the November 16, 2012, 1343 low, having taken out the 1365.15 previous bull-cycle high close, but not the 1576.09 October 11, 2007, bull-cycle high.
As indicated by the monthly 5 RSI on the S&P 500 SPX +0.99% chart, the market is extremely extended at 87.40, and the risk/reward in that zone is obviously not positive, as you can see on the chart for the past two bull cycles in this secular bear market that started with the 2000 top.
Each previous decline since the March 6, 2009, 667 low has been preceded by an extended monthly 5 RSI number, and this one will be no exception, despite all the spin from the media and buy-side pundits, and of course, the biased political machine.
This bull cycle is 1490 calendar days old to the April 2, 2013, 1574 intraday high, which is +136% from the March 6, 2009, 667 bear market bottom, as opposed to the +105% bull cycle from the October 10, 2002, 769 bottom, and it is also extremely extended in time. The Fed`s market manipulation is artificial, but reality and the business cycle aren’t, so one can say that it isn’t “different this time.”
…
ft dot com
The Bernanke put is still in force
By James Mackintosh
Fed’s actions look good for shares and bad for bonds
When the US Federal Reserve set out to print money and buy bonds, bond prices fell and share prices rose. When the Fed detailed its discussions about stopping bond purchases on Wednesday, bond prices fell and shares rose.
The S&P 500 finally passed its 2007 intraday high and economically sensitive cyclical stocks did better than the dull-but-safe defensive shares that have led the rally all year.
…
In the US there is little confusion. The minutes of the Fed’s last rate-setting meeting suggest policymakers are ready to stop buying bonds by the end of the year, probably slowing purchases from their $85bn-a-month level first.
But there is a big caveat: the outlook for labour markets would have to “improve as anticipated”. Last week’s disappointing payroll numbers, and other weak economic data, came after the Fed comments were made but before they were published. The exit from bond purchases is less sure than it looks.
Even better for equity markets floating on a sea of Fed-supplied liquidity, the minutes noted that purchases of bonds could be increased if the economy worsens.
This looks like heads equities win, tails bonds lose. If the Fed’s actions work, the economy improves – usually good for shares and bad for bonds. If they fail to boost the economy, the Fed will step up purchases – which in the past have been good for shares and bad for bonds. The Bernanke put is still in force.
…
Cue up Sponge Bob Square Pants: “It’s the best day, ev–er!”
P.S. True confession: Being somewhat of a bear, I moved a chunk of change into a long-term bond fund today, as I smell a correction around the sequester corner.
April 10, 2013, 4:45 p.m. EDT
U.S. stocks up for third day to record highs
Best session in six weeks for Dow and S&P 500
By Kate Gibson and Wallace Witkowski, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks on Wednesday rose for a third straight day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 index having their best sessions in six weeks.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s March meeting had several Fed officials saying the central bank should taper its bond purchases later in the year and halt it altogether by year-end if the labor market improves.
However, the meeting came before a government report last week said U.S. payrolls in March expanded at their slowest pace in nine months, a dismal read that could affect future Fed moves.
“We care about liquidity and momentum,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago.
“There are people tiptoeing out of bonds into stocks in search of yield and incremental growth, and that’s why the leading sectors this year are offensive,” said Ablin, pointing to health care as an example.
…
April 10, 2013, 10:41 a.m. EDT
Bonds vs. stocks: Only one can be right
By John Nyaradi
Current stock market action and the global financial system’s reliance on central bank support reminds me of rock legend Bachman Turner Overdrive’s 1974 hit “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet.”
“I met a devil woman
She took my heart away
She said, I’ve had it comin’ to me
But I wanted it that way
I say that any love is good lovin’
So I took what I could get mmh, mmh, mmh
She looked at me with them brown eyes
And said, You ain’t seen nothin’ yet
B-B-B-Baby, you just ain’t seen n-n-n-nothin’ yet”
…
“It seems like every time the Sunflower State pops up in my news feed, it’s for something like this: House Bill No. 2366, a proposed law that would make it illegal to use “public funds to promote or implement sustainable development.”
The state famously dropped evolution from its educational curriculum in 1999, along with the age of the Earth and the history of the universe, for good measure.
Now the state’s “Committee on Energy and Environment” is proposing a law that would prohibit spending on anything that won’t set Kansas on a course to self-destruction. House Bill No. 2366 would ban all state and municipal funds for anything related to “sustainable development”, which it defines as: “development in which resource use aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-09/kansas-s-self-destruct-button-a-bill-to-outlaw-sustainability.html
pat robertson recently attempted to explain why more miracles seem to happen for ’simple, humble’ foreigners than for americans, and he sad it has to do with evolution.
‘these people overseas didn’t go to ivy league schools,’ he said. ‘we’re so sophisticated. we think we’ve got everything figured out. we know about evolution, we know about darwin, we know about all these things that says god isn’t real. we know about all this stuff.’
he continued, adding that ‘in the more advanced schools, we’ve been inundated with with skepticism and secularism. and overseas they’re simple, humble. you tell them god loves them, and they say, ‘okay, he loves me.’ you say, ‘god’ll do miracles’ and they say, ‘okay, we believe him.’ that’s what god’s looking for. that’s why they have miracles.’
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/2013/04/02/pat-robertson-miracles-sophisticated-american-evolution_n_2999013.html
Not unusual.
Many building codes have precluded and made illegal many advanced building techniques while simultaneously allowing ever cheaper (quality) and less safe traditional materials to be used.
I’ve seen houses with foam sheets (that’s right, the same stuff they use in coolers) as the exterior subwall with brick or siding put right on top of it. Only a little bit of plywood.. no, wait, OSB (or similar) now, to reinforce the corners.
Or OSB beams for floor and ceiling joist. Which seems like a great idea until you find out how flammable they are. Think tissue paper in campfire.
It’s called Dryvit and it’s been around for decades.
Or OSB beams for floor and ceiling joist. Which seems like a great idea until you find out how flammable they are. Think tissue paper in campfire.
I’ve heard that firefighters hate that stuff, as floors will suddenly and quickly collapse.
I’ve been in old houses that only had brick walls.
Many building codes were/are created & maintained by rent-seekers. Don’t expect them to make sense otherwise.
“Get what you can get for your house today because it’s going to be much less tomorrow for many years to come.”
Very amusing thing on DC news radio the other day. They have a weekly segment with a top area realtor. It always consists of some ABC (”Always Be Closing”) tidbit - some need for the buyer to move quickly and move now (see my experience above).
But for the very first time, the lack of inventory influenced what the realtor had to say. He actually had an urgency sales pitch for sellers. In an attempt to drum up more listings, for the very first time, he said that in the future, demand for housing in the DC metro area is likely to be lower due to the sequester and rising interest rates so that sellers need to list now if they want to get top dollar.
I thought, “Wow, quite a balancing act. Telling buyers they must make snap decisions now and don’t try to underbid or they’ll won’t “win” the bidding war. Then telling sellers that prices will be going down in the future so they need to list now.”
Then telling sellers that prices will be going down in the future so they need to list now.”
Amazing weaseling.
Of course, this approach depends on the buyers not being smart enough to listen to the message presented to the sellers—e.g. why would a buyer over-bid in a frenzy now if the prices will be lower in the future?
Yep. They always slide the sense of urgency under the door. It’s should make everyones Bull$hit Radar go berserk.
alpha, I tried to reply to your query of a few days ago about the MBA data—but apparently my posts never made it through. Will try again here momentarily.
‘in the 3-1/2 years after false rumors started that the obama administration was giving free cellphones to poor people — and six months after a racially charged video about it went viral — a once-obscure phone service subsidy is getting renewed scrutiny on capitol hill.
there are growing calls in congress to end or drastically cut back lifeline, later this month the house energy and commerce committee will hold a hearing that could help determine its fate.
the program has nearly tripled in size from 800 million in 2009 to 2.2 billion per year in 2012…
lifeline was begun not by president obama but under ronald reagan. it expanded to include cellphone service during the presidency of another republican, george w. bush.’
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-phones-subsidy-program-draws-new-scrutiny-on-the-hill/2013/04/09/50699d04-a061-11e2-be47-b44febada3a8_story.html
There’s those pesky facts again.
memes don’t grow legs and run on ‘facts’, they run on emotion.
Shut your trap, Ronnie Reagan was a hero.
Reagan is very popular among my bootstrapper, Grover Norquist fetishist co-workers. We work for a small shop, and half of us work for two even smaller subs. I would estimate that at least half of the people on our contract have at one point worked for Lockheed or Raytheon.
I like what I’m doing now, but there could be better opportunity and career trajectory if I jump ship in a few years and try to work for one of the Big Boys.
And we are counting on you, joe smith, to make this possible, with your incalculable contributions to freedom and democracy and capitalism on behalf of the Boys. You sir, are a true “job creator”, helping the Boys to create jobs and bill Uncle Sugar for 2 FTE’s whose work could have been performed by 1 Fed.
Thank you.
Of course when they bid on the RFP, the Big Boyz would claim that they can do the work with 1 FTE. It would only be revealed later that, oops, they didn’t understand *exactly* what they were bidding on, so now they need 2 FTEs. A good time for this to be “realized” would be in about yr 2 of a 5 yr contract.
It would only be revealed later that, oops, they didn’t understand *exactly* what they were bidding on
I much appreciate your clarification of how things really work behind the scenes. It’s good stuff to know.
Which politicians are getting cash from NAHB, NAR and MBA?
Hello sweetie!
You can go to opensecrets dot org and search for “National Assn of Realtors.” They gave money to almost everybody, up to $15K each, $4M total, slightly more R than D. Even Paul Sabanes got 10 bucks.
Don’t you mean John Sarbanes? Paul has been out of office for a while and won’t be running for any very soon (he is 80-something yrs old).
Mrs Watanabe is suddenly a gold bug!
ASIA MARKETS
April 9, 2013, 1:53 p.m. ET
Japanese Rush to Sell Gold as Price in Yen Jumps
By KANA INAGAKI And CLEMENTINE WALLOP
The weak yen has triggered a gold rush, literally, among Japanese households, reflecting how bold new economic policies are shaking up long-entrenched deflationary attitudes, freeing up dormant assets, and sparking new economic activity.
While gold prices have softened globally, the declining value of the yen against the dollar makes the precious metal worth a lot more in Japan. Japanese families are now scrambling to dig out gold objects from closets and jewelry boxes, and selling it to metals dealers, converting their passive assets into cash that some say they plan to put to work on everything from vacations to children’s allowances.
Long lines have formed this week outside jewelers from Tokyo to Osaka, with the price of gold in Japan jumping 4.8% this week as the dollar came close to hitting ¥100, up from about ¥80 late last year.
“I learned about the rising price of gold on television and came to sell for the first time,” said 61-year-old Masako Yoshida, as she waited for about an hour on Tuesday to sell a collection of gold rings she received from her mother about three decades ago. She said she planned to use the money to eat good food and buy souvenirs when she travels to Kyushu in southern Japan in May.
Goldplaza, which buys precious metals including gold and platinum, said about 100 people, including Ms. Yoshida, came to visit its shop in the shopping district of Ginza on Tuesday, compared with a daily average of around 20 people at the start of the year. The Ginza store opened 20 minutes earlier than its usual starting time of 11 a.m. and asked a store manager from outside Tokyo to help with flood of business.
At Tanaka Kinzoku Jewelry K.K., a major gold dealer and retail store, one floor of its Ginza shop was packed Tuesday with 50 people, some waiting for up to three hours to sell their items. The store said it had 363 customers over the course of two days, about three times the usual daily average.
“It’s the biggest crowd so far this year,” said Naoto Mizuki, general manager at Tanaka Kinzoku.
On Tuesday, workers said the vast majority came to sell the metal, rather than to buy.
Japan’s gold market is heating up after the Bank of Japan said last week that it would flood the economy with new money, pushing down the value of the yen against the dollar and other major currencies and pushing up the value of gold in Japan.
Gold prices on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange are trading at around ¥5,030 ($50.62) a gram, up around 6.8% since the central bank announced its asset-purchase program on April 4, and 7.8% higher since the start of the year.
In contrast to Tocom prices, appetite for dollar-denominated gold globally has been lackluster, with prices trading 6% lower since the start of the year. Gold on Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange was trading at $1,577.20 a troy ounce Tuesday morning, up from $1,572 on Monday.
The last time Tokyo’s gold dealers saw a similar rush to sell bullion, it was at the height of the European debt crisis, when gold prices surged globally. Tocom gold prices were trading at the time at what was then a record of around ¥4,750 a gram, 5.9% below current prices. Global gold rose in the wake of the global financial crisis and the European debt crisis, but prices in Japan were held down by the stubbornly strong yen. Until now.
After waiting for about 40 minutes at a Ginza gold shop, Akemi Nakamura, a 50-year-old mother of two, sold gold accessories that she bought 20 years ago. She hopes to use the ¥400,000 payout—about $4,025 at current exchange rates—to help pay her family’s taxes and to boost her children’s allowances. She also has some gold accessories left, which she hopes to sell if gold prices rise further.
Japan’s gold-selling boom could soon turn to gold-buying, analysts say, if policy makers succeed in their goal of ending 15 years of deflation and sparking a new round of inflation. Gold is usually seen as a hedge against inflation, holding its value while the worth of other assets is eroded by rising prices.
“The smart money is on buying gold” rather than selling, said Mark O’Byrne, research director at gold dealer GoldCore in Dublin. “Given the BOJ’s determination, there’s no doubt you’re going to get 2% inflation, and there’s a risk it might be much, much higher. For those who are prudent, diversifying into gold makes sense.”
…
and selling it to metals dealers, converting their passive assets into cash that some say they plan to put to work on everything from vacations to children’s allowances.’
Put the money to work where ? last time it spilled over here and caused a mini bubble IIRC.
Time to buy Hawaiian RE ?
Goldman Sachs downgraded its 2013 price target for gold (Exchange:XAU=) and advised investors to short the precious metal, in a commodities report out on Wednesday.
WTF
Case of bad timing for Mrs. Watanabe?
April 10, 2013, 2:37 p.m. EDT
Gold sinks almost 2% on Goldman forecast cut, Fed
Prices suffer largest one-day loss since November
By Myra P. Saefong and Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures on Wednesday dropped almost 2% as Goldman Sachs cut its price forecast on the metal, the dollar strengthened, equities rallied and Federal Reserve officials offered mixed signals on the duration of its bond-buying program.
Adding pressure to prices, Cyprus officials reportedly said they plan to sell some gold reserves to contribute to the country’s bailout.
Gold for June delivery (GCM3 -1.58%) sank $27.90, or 1.8%, to settle at $1,558.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the biggest one-day dollar and percentage loss for a most-active contract since November and the lowest closing level since April 4, according to FactSet data.
The precious metal rose Tuesday to settle up $14.20, or 0.9%, at $1,586.70 an ounce — the highest close since April 1, as a weaker dollar and losses in four of the previous five sessions helped lure bargain hunters.
…
April 10, 2013, 7:31 a.m. EDT
Euro crisis poised for new, more dangerous phase
Commentary: Portugal adds to EU pattern of political instability
By Darrell Delamaide
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The euro crisis has long since gone from being a currency and debt crisis to becoming a full-fledged economic crisis, and now it is poised to become a political crisis as it destabilizes governments throughout Europe.
The flawed construction of the euro and the bungled response to the crisis by European leaders has created a rift across the continent that is toppling political leaders and undermining the European Union itself.
As new crises arise in individual countries, they are becoming part of a pattern of political instability that carries new risks for European integration and its common currency.
…
Someone asked about stuff to so in DC really close to Union Station yesterday. The closest museum is the Postal Museum. It is one of the lesser known Smithsonians.
Info said he (?) would have a largish backpack along. In that case, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend trying to get into the other Smithsonians like Air and Space which is on the Capitol end of the Mall. They do a security check and might have issues with that large a bag. If you are willing to walk east for a bit (to around 8th, walk on H street) you can get to the Portrait Gallery/American Art Smithsonians (buildings connect). That one has lockers to store your stuff as you walk around. Check out the EO Wilson portrait (ants crawling on him) or the presidents or whatever you like. There is a really cool piece on the top floor of American Art that you watch over time and the color of the light changes to make the whole piece look different from moment to moment. Very peaceful. If you just want to walk around outside, the Mall is great, but you can also check out the sculpture garden at the National Gallery. If it is warm, people take off their shoe and put their feet in the big fountain.
And please note that Union Station is elevated in comparison to a lot of the surrounding areas. You may be walking up hill to get back there after you are done. It will take a little longer to walk back than it did to walk away. Plus there is enough sidewalk traffic to slow down your progress as the afternoon progresses.
OTOH, if you’re Amtraking into DC, you have a downhill ride from Union Station to the Smithsonian! The White House! The Mall!
Woo-hoo!
I walk that corridor everyday, there is a lot to do within a brisk 10-15 min walk of Union Station. Capitol Hill, the Supreme Court, the Mall, check out girls at Georgetown Law (kidding about that one). If you want to see the WH, it is a 25-30 minute walk, just follow Massachusetts Avenue until it hits the Carnegie Library, then stay straight and it turns into New York Avenue, a few minutes later you are there. If you want to do an impromptu meet up with me (and confirm I’m not Latino for the benefit of Abq Dan) that works too.
The DC Circulator (free shuttle bus) hits all the highlights off DC proper (doesn’t include places like Arlington Cemetary). The DC Circulator stops at Union Station, right out front. It’s a big red double decker bus, hard to miss. They run frequently from pretty early in the AM until fairly late at night.
If anyone wants to borrow a bike or two, I have 2 bikes locked up here, you could ride around the whole Mall and drop off when done.
What are the best spots for a very straight-looking, straight-acting, married, male Republican to go cruising for some downlow?
The restrooms at the Minneapolis airport. Worked for Larry Craig.
Oh, wait…
Circulator buses aren’t free. They are, however, only a buck.
OK, in Baltimore the Circulator is free. I didn’t realize DC charges a buck. Makes sense, though, they would be crowded otherwise - many more tourists in DC obviously.
Let’s play Do What Stupid Did!
http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/2484/40973600.jpg
what about Jingle Male’s sacramento SFH rental property empire?
If you put mine on there, you have to make it masonry and falling up.
More worthless and eroding mortar in a seismic deathtrap depreciating faster than rotting wood.
More worthless and eroding mortar in a seismic deathtrap depreciating faster than rotting wood. surrounded by a landfill in a 3rd world country!
I gotta hand it to ya…. you’re really catching on.
Well done. Both of you.
News dlivered to a home owner that the Hardes Hit checks have run out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq_bjaI0NTo - 180k -
All this worrying over just a tiny percent of real solar energy output. Solar and wind without energy storage is doomed to be a niche market.
“Solar panels could destroy U.S. utilities, according to U.S. utilities
“As ratepayers opt for solar panels (and other distributed energy resources like micro-turbines, batteries, smart appliances, etc.), it raises costs on other ratepayers and hurts the utility’s credit rating. As rates rise on other ratepayers, the attractiveness of solar increases, so more opt for it. Thus costs on remaining ratepayers are even further increased, the utility’s credit even further damaged. It’s a vicious, self-reinforcing cycle”
grist.org/climate-energy/solar-panels-could-destroy-u-s-utilities-according-to-u-s-utilities/
“Can the Utility Industry Survive the Energy Transition?”
Falling costs of distributed generation
Capital expenditures required to upgrade the grid
Slowing economic growth trends
“IOUs are now facing a “vicious cycle,” EEI says, wherein the industry’s decline will make it harder to pass on the costs of providing service, because customer rates are tied to usage. As usage declines, the costs of new investment must be passed on to a shrinking pool of customer demand, which in turn forces per-unit prices higher still. As those prices rise, investment in efficiency and renewables becomes even more cost-effective, which shrinks usage further. Ultimately, these dynamics could leave a small number of customers supporting the costs of a large chunk of grid infrastructure, leaving utilities with “stranded investments.”
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/can-the-utility-industry-survive-the-energy-transition
===
Well look at this… The Empire Strikes Back!
Well here is a novel idea to make distributed solar unaffordable. Toss out net metering and credit solar system owners at 1/2 of base rate.
A “SunCredit” which would assign a fixed value to the price of the solar power produced and credit that amount against their accounts. Under SunCredit, a kilowatt of solar power initially would be worth a little more than half of what it’s worth under net-metering.”
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/energy/article/CPS-Energy-proposes-slashing-a-solar-power-4422428.php
More voodoo economics.
Raise prices to make up for scarcity of profits.
The electrical industry, much like many 20th century industries these days, are trying to keep the old ways of doing business using the new technologies and they are getting hammered.
Here’s the smartest electrical company out there: Solarcity
Two solar items we purchased for our new home:
1. Solar ventilation roof fans. They’re kind of buzzy sound noisy,
2. Solar landscape lighting, glass not plastic for $3.50 ea.-Costco
Would love to heat the cement pond w/ solar, but it doesn’t
pencil out. Love the idealism, but not the reality yet.
Out of curiosity, are you looking at passive or electrical solar to heat the pool?
ecofeco
I have been reading up on electrical, I guess. The water is pumped out of the pool, warmed by the sun through pipes by the solar panels, and gets put back in the pool . The roof panels are fugly, and we just put a 50 yr roof on, so we are researching all options. Know anything or can recommend any data points?
The city had no size/gal info on this 1968 pool. We estimate it to be 18,000 gallons.
That’s right. Throw good money after bad.
Non-Profit Status-anti-discrimination bill in Ca. (I’m for this bill.)
SAN FRANCISCO (KABC) — A bill aimed at pressuring the Boy Scouts of America to lift its gay ban by taking away the organization’s tax breaks in California has cleared its first vote.
The Senate Governance and Finance Committee voted 5 to 2 on Wednesday. The legislation now goes on to another committee for review.
SB 323, also called the Youth Equality Act, would deny tax-exempt status to nonprofit youth groups that discriminate based on gender identity, race, sexual orientation, nationality, religion or religious affiliation.
This means that those organizations would have to pay corporate taxes on donations, membership dues, camp fees and other sources of income - including sales on food, beverages and homemade items sold at fundraisers.
Long Beach Democrat Sen. Ricardo Lara spearheaded SB 323. He says the bill “seeks to end the unfortunate discriminatory and outdated practices by certain youth groups.”
The Boy Scouts of America reaffirmed the Texas-based organization’s ban on openly gay members last summer then announced in January that it was revisiting the decision. They have yet to comment following Wednesday’s vote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
My other half hates this bill. He believes the gays should start their own scouts and non-profits. He hates govt. interference. He is also against the fair housing bill, and thinks property owners should be able to make their own decisions.
To each their own.
here in NYC equal housing doesn’t apply to live in owners of 4 units or less…They allow small apartment owners leeway in who lives in your house.
Now ifs its an investment property and you dont live there then it applies.
Gov’t interference would be BSA’s tax exemption, would it not? This bill simply removes a government subsidy. How can he be opposed to that?
What could go wrong?
It worked for Sandusky and the Catholic church, right?
Oh wait…
“You’re soaking in it.”
“religion or religious affiliation”
How does this affect church youth groups? Would a synagogue have to allow Muslims to attend its youth groups? Is this a problem for churches? I would expect evangelical churches to welcome outsiders but I am not certain that all religions would.
For Hunkydory:
http://imgur.com/r/all/uwoDoXL
From yesterday’s epic reddit AMA
Love it!
Bear Grrl vs Bear Grylls
No kidding!! One has a crew and staff around in case something goes wrong and is featured in fantasy TV, while the other is complete reality!!
Spain: ‘Andalusia seizes housing belonging to banks to curb evictions’
Presseurop
El País, 10 April 2013
The Andalusian regional government, a coalition between the Socialist Workers Party and the United Left, is taking control of properties belonging to banks for a period of three years if families living there are “at risk of exclusion” and threatened with eviction.
The decision, which will come into force on April 11, has come at a time when the new mortgage law is under discussion in the national parliament. The legislation imposes fines on banks that own unoccupied housing, which they refuse to rent out.
Notwithstanding the European Court of Justice ruling which condemned the abuse of evictions in Spain in March of this year, “legal opinion as to the constitutional compliance of the [Andalusian government’s decision] is divided,” notes the newspaper, because “it could undermine the right to private property.”
Italian property slump deepens fourth quarter
Reuters April 4, 2013, 8:14 pm
ROME (Reuters) - The slump in Italy’s housing market deepened towards the end of 2012, data showed, reflecting the extension of a property tax and declining purchasing power in a stagnant economy.
House prices fell 1.5 percent in the fourth quarter from the third and were down 4.6 percent from the same period of 2011, statistics office ISTAT said on Thursday.
The annual figure was the steepest over a quarter recorded last year, when house prices fell 2.7 percent on average. They had risen 0.8 percent in 2011.
…
Canadian housing market ‘in a highly unusual place’
An unusual combination of factors is fueling house price increases despite a downturn in sales, a new housing survey finds.
Toronto Star / Dick Loek
Susan Pigg Business Reporter, Published on Thu Apr 04 2013
Toronto house prices are likely to continue to soften into next year, but will avoid a hotly anticipated major downturn, as “2013 finds the Canadian housing industry in a highly unusual place,” according to a new quarterly housing survey by Royal LePage.
The rare combination of low interest rates, flattening house prices and an improving economy “is not something we’ve seen before,” says Royal LePage president Phil Soper.
“Typically, one of these variables is moving hard in an opposite direction.”
…
Why do I have the feeling yet another major insider trading scandal might be brewing on Wall Street?
ft dot com
Last updated: April 10, 2013 10:03 pm
Fed leaks rate-setting minutes to banks
By Robin Harding in Washington and Tom Braithwaite and Stephen Foley in New York
The Federal Reserve leaked the minutes of its last rate-setting meeting to bank lobbyists as well as congressional aides and trade associations.
On Wednesday the Fed published its March minutes in the morning rather than the afternoon as had been scheduled. The central bank said it was doing so because they had already been accidentally released on Tuesday afternoon to a distribution list, comprising “mostly congressional staffers and trade association members in Washington”.
However, on Wednesday afternoon, the Fed published that list, which included lobbyists at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, among other banks.
Though the list was predominantly comprised of staffers to members of Congress, it also included a significant number of employees working for banks, opening the possibility that they could have passed on the information to traders.
Staff at Fifth Third, Barclays, Regions Financial, Wells Fargo, Citi, UBS, US Bancorp, Goldman, JPMorgan and PNC Financial all received the minutes early. Naomi Camper, one of JPMorgan’s top lobbyists, was among the recipients.
…