Bits Bucket for May 11, 2013
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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More Americans spending majority of income on rent, except in Washington
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/more-americans-spend-majority-of-income-on-rent–except-in-washington/2013/05/10/a8c2c3fe-b970-11e2-b94c-b684dda07add_story.html
Nationally, the share of working Americans who spend more than half their income on housing costs has grown every year since 2008, reaching 23.7 percent of all working households in 2011, according to the Center for Housing Policy, a research group. It was 21.8 percent in 2008.
Housing costs hitting renters harder than owners.
More Americans spending majority of income on rent, except in Washington
A report shows that D.C. bucks the national trend in housing affordability.
RENTS BOUNCING BACK
As economy recovers, more landlords considering hikes in a market that’s more balanced for owners, tenants
By Lily Leung
12:01 a.m. May 11, 2013 Updated
5:33 p.m. May 10, 2013
More landlords in San Diego County are raising rents or considering doing so in response to a slowly mending economy. Hiring has seen an uptick and the stock market is heating up.
“The economy has gotten better and people are more optimistic,” said Stuart Posnock, chief executive of Garden Communities in San Diego. The company is building what will be a 2,100-unit apartment development off Interstate 15 in Mira Mesa.
…
Raising rents isn’t going to work in most markets. Craigslist is absolutely hammered with rental listings. Specuvestors are having a hard time finding tenants.
That makes sense considering rental rates in DC are falling.
You could be really stupid and pay 2 times the monthly rent to buy a rapidly depreciating house for a massively inflated price in DC.
Rent….. it’s half the monthly cost of buying at current massively inflated asking prices of resale housing.
Obama calls on Congress to help more homeowners, confirm choice to lead federal housing agency
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/obama-calls-on-congress-to-help-more-homeowners-confirm-choice-to-lead-federal-housing-agency/2013/05/11/bb1f2b5c-ba22-11e2-b568-6917f6ac6d9d_story.html
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says Congress must give more homeowners the chance to refinance their mortgages to save money.
Obama says more than 2 million people are saving about $3,000 a year after restructuring their loans under his administration but that more deserve the same chance.
In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama also calls on the Senate to confirm “without delay” his choice of Democratic Rep. Mel Watt to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees government-controlled mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Best guesses about the exit from QE3:
1) It will start before the official announcement.
2) Favored asset classes (U.S. housing and stocks) will get price support, shifting the initial adjustment onto unfavored asset classes (bonds, gold, etc).
3) The unwind will be half over before it shows up in the Fed meeting minutes.
It won’t start for much longer than people think.
It will start and we will see a collapse of demand rising unemployment and falling stock prices. After a trial balloon it will be restarted quickly.
Call me when you see take home pay and after tax and expenses income rising. Call me when the average # of hours worked per week is rising and unemployment is falling.
The UE rate is dropping like a rock.
Talia Ralph
May 3, 2013 13:30
US unemployment rate falls to 7.5 percent, a new four-year low
US employers added 165,000 jobs in April, and far more in February and March than expected.
…
Lot of people out of the workforce.
It doesn’t matter for purposes of QE3 exit timing, as the Fed has linked its plans to the headline UE rate (now 7.5%, with a trigger point of 6.5%).
In fact, even if the number of employed workers were frozen at its current level for the next decade, the UE rate could drop to 6.5% due to attrition in labor force participation alone.
As the unemployment rate drops, more people will want to return to work, making the rate go back up.
When in doubt, sow confusion.
U.S. NEWS
Updated May 10, 2013, 7:19 p.m. ET
Fed Maps Exit From Stimulus
Timing of Wind-Down Is Uncertain, but Focus Is on Managing Unpredictable Market Expectations
By JON HILSENRATH
Federal Reserve officials have mapped out a strategy for winding down an unprecedented $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program meant to spur the economy—an effort to preserve flexibility and manage highly unpredictable market expectations.
Officials say they plan to reduce the amount of bonds they buy in careful and potentially halting steps, varying their purchases as their confidence about the job market and inflation evolves. The timing on when to start is still being debated.
The Fed’s strategy for how and when to wind down the program is of intense interest in financial markets. While the strategy being debated leaves the Fed plenty of flexibility, it might not be the clear and steady path markets expect based on past experience.
Officials are focusing on clarifying the strategy so markets don’t overreact about their next moves. For example, officials want to avoid creating expectations that their retreat will be a steady, uniform process like their approach from 2003 to 2006, when they raised short-term interest rates in a series of quarter-percentage-point increments over 17 straight policy meetings.
“I don’t want to go from wild turkey to cold turkey,” Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said in an interview Friday. “I think we ought to dial it back.” Mr. Fisher is part of a contingent of Fed hawks who are wary of the central bank’s easy-money policies.
Stocks and bond markets have taken off since the Fed announced in September that it would ramp up the bond-buying program, and major indexes closed at another record Friday. An abrupt or surprising end to it could send stocks and bonds in the other direction, but a delayed end could allow markets to overheat. And some officials feel they’ve ended other programs too soon and don’t want to repeat the mistake.
The Fed’s strategy on how to unwind the program has emerged as a source of some uncertainty in markets in the wake of its policy meeting earlier this month. The Fed said in its postmeeting statement that it was “prepared to increase or reduce the pace of its purchases” as the economic outlook evolved.
…
Here is the big QE3 exit plan shell game, in a nutshell: The Fed eventually will either increase or decrease the pace of its bond purchases, and it won’t say when.
It won’t sart until we see wage inflation. I don’t see any wage inflation for the next five years. ZIRP for another half decade!
Has the gold rush came to an end?
By MATTHEW CRAFT, AP Business Writer
Updated 4:44 pm, Friday, May 10, 2013
FILE - In this Nov. 8, 2006 file photo, gold bars are on display at the “Gold” exhibit in the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Gold, often touted as the most trustworthy of investments, has looked wild over the past month. After starting April 2013 above $1,600 an ounce, it dropped below $1,361 on April 15 and has steadily recovered to settle at $1,436 on Friday, May 10, 2013. Photo: Seth Wenig
NEW YORK (AP) — When the price of gold plunged $200 last month, many people thought they caught the sound of the gold bubble popping.
What Peter Schiff, the CEO of brokerage Euro Pacific Precious Metals believes he heard was a stampede of fair-weather speculators fleeing the precious metal.
Schiff and other champions of gold weren’t shaken by the plunge. To them it was just a short breather in preparation for another long climb.
All the reasons they give for buying gold haven’t changed: Gold remains a refuge from disaster, they say, arguing that a steep drop in the dollar and a spike in the price of consumer goods are a threat.
For speculators, buying gold was simply a way to profit from its popularity.
“That’s what happens in a bull market,” Schiff says. “The selloffs shake out the Johnny-come-latelies. It’s healthy. Now we can have a real rally.”
Gold, often touted as the most trustworthy of investments, has looked wild over the past month. After starting April above $1,600 an ounce, it dropped below $1,361 on April 15 and has steadily recovered to settle at $1,436 on Friday.
Gold was supposed to be a haven from turmoil. When the housing market started cracking and the stock market sank in 2007, the price of gold began to surge. Over the next two years, it soared from around $600 an ounce to nearly $900 in the depths of the financial crisis in late 2008.
For those who were wary of financial institutions or thought the Federal Reserve’s rescue efforts would backfire, it became the favored investment. The television personality Glenn Beck advised his audience to stock up on gold bars in case the dollar became worthless. The tea party called for a return to linking the value of the dollar to the price of gold.
“People treated gold like the cure for everything,” says James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis. “If you were worried about a depression, buy gold. If you were worried about inflation, buy gold.”
…
The popularity of gold will end when:
You can get 5% interest on your money in a CD/bank account
The fed stops all QEs
The obama administration stops borrowing 46 cents out of every dollar it spends
The popularity of gold will end when:
You can get 5% interest on your money in a CD/bank account
The fed stops all QEs
The obama administration stops borrowing 46 cents out of every dollar it spends
So basically - NEVER
Once you injected Obama’s name into your list of reasons you tainted your entire argument to come off as nothing more than a blathering parrot that one would expect to find on a Fox News segment.
Yeah, better change that to Bush otherwise you are a mindless foxnews drone.
Pure Obama Trauma.
My thoughts exactly, Bubs.
“So basically - NEVER”
Why would you believe this, given the Fed has already loudly announced its QE3 exit plans?
Why would you believe this, given the Fed has already loudly announced its QE3 exit plans?
Because Bernanke and obama have continually lied to us on every aspect of the bailouts, budgets, stimulus, TARP and QEs?
The best deals now are in gold, silver, and platinum. Odd how the psychology goes: no one wants to buy assets when their prices become more attractive. No one wanted gold at $252 spot. No one wanted series I bonds when their fixed rate was at least 3%.
Plot gold versus S&P 500 for the last year and then think of which is a better deal going forward.
I vote for movable, hidable wealth. Way behind in my ideal asset allocation, sold a good amount of some stocks two weeks ago to get plenty of cash for buying $2,000 a month of precious metals through November.
We know you hide your gold in the pantry behind the oatmeal.
You did not look behind the Bisquick.
That’s because I found it behind the oatmeal.
Didn’t we hear exactly the same announcement from the exact same spokesman about this time last year?
11:39 am
May 10, 2013
Credit
Bill Gross: Bull Market in Bonds Is Over
By Min Zeng
Bill Gross
Bloomberg
Bill Gross said the three-decade bull run in bonds ended last week when the 10-year Treasury yield hit 1.67%, in his latest attempt to call the top in a market whose buoyancy has been aided by central-bank policy and long questioned by skeptical investors.
The manager of the world’s largest bond fund stressed that a bear market in bonds won’t start until economic growth and inflation pick up — an arrangement that he doesn’t expect to see immediately.
Gross, founder and co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co. and manager of the world’s biggest bond fund, made the comments Friday on his Twitter account and in a subsequent interview with The Wall Street Journal.
…
I’m watching junk bonds:
‘The rapid demise of Mexican homebuilders and the losses inflicted on foreigners holding US$2.5bn of their debt has further dented the reputation of the country’s high-yield borrowers. And the ricochet effects may have a broader impact on the reception of other junk names seeking funding in the international bond markets.’
“It’s unhealthy for all players in this market when Double B issuers in a strategically important sector such as housing and from a veteran EM country such as Mexico can literally earn a D rating in a matter of weeks,” said Robert Abad, an EM portfolio manager at WAMCO.’
‘In some cases, homebuilder bonds have plummeted a good 50% over the past month, causing considerable pain among investors who are now re-examining their exposure to lower-grade names. ‘You thought you knew what was going on at Geo,” said one investor. ‘All analysts thought the problem was with Urbi. So you suddenly realise you know nothing about these credits.’
‘In some cases, homebuilder bonds have plummeted a good 50% over the past month, causing considerable pain among investors who are now re-examining their exposure to lower-grade names.’
Wow! I thought the 5%+ drop in 30-year Treasurys since May 1, 2013 was ugly, but a 50% drop in junk bonds over one month looks a lot worse.
FYI the article Ben posted is dated May 3, 2013, so this news is very current.
Also worth noting that a junk bond crash in Spring 1987 preceded the October 19, 1987 Black Monday stock market crash.
Of course, this time is different, as the PPT is standing guard with liquidity fire hoses in hand…
Stocks rise to close the week at record highs
Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY5:36 p.m. EDT May 10, 2013
Stocks rose Friday to close out on a high note by posting gains for the third consecutive week.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 35.87, or 0.2%, to close at a record high of 15,118.49. The Dow closed above 15,000 for the first time on Tuesday and was up 1% for the week.
The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 7.03, or 0.4%, to hit a record high of 1,633.70. The Nasdaq composite index gained 27.41, or 0.8%, to 3,436.58.
…
Spanish Bonds Decline as Demand Falls at Debt Sale; Bunds Slide
By Neal Armstrong - May 10, 2013 11:00 PM PT
Spain’s 10-year government bonds declined for the first time in six weeks as demand fell when the nation sold a combined 4.57 billion euros ($5.9 billion) of securities at an auction.
Spanish 10-year yields climbed to a two-week high as investors submitted bids for 1.62 times the amount of 13-year bonds sold on May 9, down from 2.85 times at the previous auction in January. The so-called bid-to-cover ratio also dropped for three- and five-year notes. Portugal’s 10-year yield slid to the least since August 2010 after the nation sold 10-year securities for the first time since its bailout in 2011. German 10-year bunds declined for a second week as stocks rose.
…
May 11th, 2013
06:00 AM ET
Obama talks housing in Saturday address
CNN Political Unit
(CNN) – President Barack Obama described America’s housing market as “healing” on Saturday in his weekly address, touting his own record on the subject and encouraging Congress to act on more of his proposals, including approving his nominee for a key housing post.
“From the day I took office, I’ve made it a priority to help responsible homeowners and prevent the kind of recklessness that helped cause this crisis in the first place,” Obama said. “My housing plan has already helped more than two million people refinance their mortgages, and they’re saving an average of $3,000 per year.”
The Obama administration has tried to help underwater borrowers - those who owe more than their homes are worth - through the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP.
But that initiative has been limited in its effectiveness over the past few years, securing principal reductions for less than 120,000 borrowers as of the end of 2012, and it limits such reductions to mortgages that aren’t controlled by mortgage financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are overseen by the government.
Obama conceded there was more work to be done Saturday, saying, “We’ve got more responsible homeowners to help – folks who have never missed a mortgage payment, but aren’t allowed to refinance; working families who have done everything right, but still owe more on their homes than they’re worth.”
He said two million Americans have been able to refinance their mortgages but that more homeowners could still be able to save money.
“I’ve called on Congress to give every responsible homeowner the chance to refinance, and with it, the opportunity to save $3,000 a year. That’s like a $3,000 tax cut. And if you’re one of the millions of Americans who could take advantage of that, you should ask your representative in Congress why they won’t act on it,” he said.
And he encouraged senators to approve Rep. Mel Watt of North Carolina, his nominee to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Freddie and Fannie.
Watt is “the right person for the job,” Obama said.
…
Watt is “the right person for the job,” Obama said.
Zandi would have been an improvement to Watt and that’s saying something.
Cramdowns are coming.
This guy is going to give away the store. And the amounts given away will cost the U.S. taxpayer over $100,000 a shot in many cases.
Rep. Mel Watt’s Long Odds Involve More Than Just Principal Forgiveness
By Heather Anderson
May 2, 2013
Although several news reports have put the odds of Rep. Mel Watt’s confirmation as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency at 50% or less, the North Carolina congressman’s senate hearing could reveal more details about the Obama Administration’s plans for housing finance reform.
CUNA Senior Vice President of Legislative Affairs Ryan Donovan said he thinks Watt will get a hearing, and the process could “have some impact in the short term on housing finance reform.”
The North Carolina Democrat has previously supported so-called mortgage cramdown legislation that would force lenders to accept mortgage principal reductions in bankruptcy proceedings: he was an original co-sponsor of a mortgage cramdown bill in 2007 and voted in favor of Rep. John Conyers, Jr.’s (D–Mich.) cramdown bill that passed the house in 2009 but was killed in the Senate.
Current FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco has resisted pressure from the Obama Administration and some state attorneys general to include principal forgiveness in modification programs at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Watt, nominated by Obama earlier this week, was also one of 19 congressmen and women who urged the president during fiscal cliff negotiations in December to include principal forgiveness in any deal.
“Given the clear benefits of providing assistance to underwater borrowers, as well as the significant savings for the American taxpayers, we believe that provisions expanding such assistance should be part of any deal to resolve the fiscal cliff. At a minimum, such legislation should require that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac offer principal reduction loan modifications to borrowers who are net present value positive,” the letter stated.
…
How about a cramdown for credit card debt or just reset the interest at ZERO% for 10 years or better yet student loans
The important text is “bankruptcy proceedings.” That’s a bit more than filling out a form. And let’s yank their credit cards for 7 years, like they used to.
How about a deal: if they make mortgage debt partially dischargeable in BK, it has to apply to student loan debt too.
In bankruptcy you have the option of walking away from your mortgage….you can’t walk away from student loans.
My plan is to return the degree to wipe out the debt…then its up to employers whether or not to employ you without a valid college degree.
The possibility would be if employers en mass eliminate the college degree requirements for lots of jobs, thereby making 4 yr college degree unnecessary and then that bubble will burst too.
And this would be a once in a lifetime deal.
April 15, 2013, 9:52 AM
Mark Zandi: Washington’s New Housing Czar?
By Nick Timiraos
If the White House nominates economist Mark Zandi as the director of the regulator that controls Fannie Mae FNMA +0.80% and Freddie Mac FMCC -0.24%, there shouldn’t be too many surprises about what Zandi thinks about housing finance.
That’s because Zandi has been one of the most frequently quoted economists since the housing boom turned to bust. He’s a regular presence on cable television news shows, the industry panel circuit, and Capitol Hill testifying before lawmakers.
Zandi, who The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday is under consideration to run the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has been an early and outspoken advocate for more aggressive action to stem the foreclosure crisis, championing efforts to boost refinancing and to force banks to write down mortgage principal. He also endorsed a bankruptcy overhaul known as “cram-down.”
…
The Free Sh*t Army will be saddened…
Is it safe to say that a Watt confirmation as FHFA head would represent the death knell for any possible near-term restoration of private sources of mortgage lending?
Does allowing cramdowns in cases of bankruptcy increase or decrease mortgage lending risk?
Who’s stopping banks from lending out private mortgages? Are they forced to sell their mortgages to Fannie Mae?
Cramdowns are coming.
It didn’t happen before and it ain’t gonna happen now.
Only once it’s Uncle Sam getting the cramming?
That Jay Carney would make one hell of a Realtor.
Didn’t he use to be a “reporter”? How can a reporter become propaganda mouth piece? Only in 3rd world, right?
Collusion of business and government was bad enough now we have collusion of government and the media and nobody cares.
Get shorty!
Sorry, BigV, this is the way the game is played…
Stock shorts get hurt, but don’t call it a squeeze
Market Extra
May 10, 2013|William L. Watts, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — It’s been an undeniably ugly week for short sellers, but don’t pin too much credit for the broad equity rally on a squeeze.
U.S. stock indexes steamed through to record closes on Friday, keeping up with rallies in Europe and Asia, and shaking off an initial wobble that followed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments that he was on the lookout for excessive risk taking.
It was the third week of gains for the U.S. benchmarks, and along the way the Dow Jones Industrial Average (US:DJIA) and S&P 500 (US:SPX) hit new highs—for the Dow, it was the 18th record close this year.
…
whats happens when there are no shorts left when wall street decides to crash the market again?
EGGSPLOITED
Crisis-burdened Spain and Cyprus are hot spots for women to sell their eggs
By Lauren Alix Brown @laurenalixb May 10, 2013
IVF drugs that must be injected in an egg donor every day for two to three weeks to stimulate egg production. Getty Images/Tina Stallard
Egg donations thrive off the young and desperate. For years, US college campuses have been plastered with signs imploring young women to “donate” their eggs—for $8,000. More recently, the number of women selling their eggs (and men their sperm) soared amid the recession and high unemployment.
Now, because of permissive laws and cash-strapped young women, Cyprus and Spain have become booming centers of egg donation and in vitro fertilization.
Countries elsewhere in Europe more closely restrict the business of fertility. So hopeful mothers turn to donors in Spain and Cyprus, heralded as destinations for IVF because of lower costs and quicker turnaround times. According to a 2010 story in Fast Company, prospective parents can receive an egg two weeks after request in Spain versus two years in the UK because of restrictions. In the US, the entire procedure can cost upwards of $40,000 compared to $8,000 in Cyprus.
Other rules of economics are at play: There’s a high demand for eggs and they are in short supply. But it’s controversial for women to receive payment for their eggs. Thus, women receive compensation for their time and inconvenience, not for the actual eggs they are giving up. And they are euphemistically called “donors,” so everyone actually feels better about the transaction.
…
I guess we’re getting our ‘pound of flesh’.
Nearly a third of county foreclosures three years old or older
by Kim Miller
May 10th, 2013
Palm Beach County Judge John Hoy throws his hands up as he reads a foreclosure case that had dragged on for several years.
A new judicial workgroup assembled to tackle Florida’s backlog of foreclosure cases in the courts found that 29.7 percent of Palm Beach County’s pending foreclosures are three years old or older.
More than half _ 51 percent _ have been in the system two or more years, according to the report from the Foreclosure Initiative Workgroup.
The workgroup, whose members include judges and court administrators, was formed in January to discuss what barriers exist to clearing cases and make recommendations on how to hasten the process.
Typical time standards for civil cases outlined in state court rules are 18 months for jury cases and 12 months for non-jury cases, according to the report.
Statewide, nearly 42 percent of foreclosures have been pending for more than two years.
But the court has limited power over the two “fundamental” barriers to processing cases faster _ banks delaying moving cases and paperwork and procedural problems that continue to exist.
“Judges report that it is challenging to resolve some foreclosure cases because the parties do not want or are not prepared to proceed,” the report notes. “Dismissing a case for failure to prosecute is only a temporary solution, because the plaintiff can then re-file the case if the plaintiff wants to foreclose on the property.”
Also, the report noted that cases are increasingly being reopened after disposal, possibly to cancel and reschedule sale dates of properties.
In Palm Beach County there were nearly as many reopened cases in 2012 and there were newly filed. About 13,500 new cases were filed, while 13,389 cases were reopened.
Statewide, 186,651 cases were newly filed and 156,069 reopened.
This entry was posted on Friday, May 10th, 2013 at 11:37 am and is filed under Foreclosures, Housing affordability. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Responses
Cheeseus Sonofdog Says:
May 10th, 2013 at 12:51 pm
Robo-signing was a bogus lawsuit. It was simple perjury of signatures. The underlying foreclosures were still righteous, as the homeowners were default of the debt and contract they agreed to. If anything, the banks welcomed the Robo-signing scandal as it gave them an excuse to stall foreclosures and pay some hush money for their greater crimes. Banks are stalling because they don’t want to take a loss and know the Fed will eventually pay off their risk taking with that $85b a month. In the meantime, market collusion and manipulation may make their future foreclosures actually bring a profit.
I sold my home in 2006. The deadbeat got a foreclosure notice the next year. It is still pending
30 April 2013 Last updated at 04:59 ET
Spain’s economy contracts for seventh consecutive quarter
Anti-austerity protestors took to the streets of Madrid again last week to proclaim, “not this way” Anti-austerity protestors took to the streets of Madrid again last week to proclaim, “not this way”
Spain’s economy shrank for a seventh consecutive quarter between January and March as domestic demand slumped.
The country’s gross domestic product fell by 0.5% compared with the previous quarter, according to the National Statistics Institute.
On an annual basis, Spain’s economy shrank 2% in the quarter - the worst fall since the end of 2011.
…
Greece: Three years after the bailout
May 10, 2013: 9:02 AM ET
By Mark Thompson
It’s been three years since Greece was granted 110 billion euros in the first of two bailouts by its EU partners and the International Monetary Fund. Harsh austerity measures have driven the economy into the ground since then. Unemployment has soared. More than 6 in 10 young workers are out of a job.
But there may be light at the end of the tunnel. After six years of recession, the economy is forecast to grow again in 2014. And while Greece remains shut out of international financial markets, one of its biggest banks – Piraeus — is convinced it can raise enough money from global investors to avoid nationalization.
Here’s a look at how Greece’s economy stacks up today compared to what it looked like in the last full year before the bailout.
…
6 May 2013 Last updated at 06:01 ET
Italy economy to shrink 1.4% in 2013, figures forecast
Sale in Italian shop
Private consumption is forecast to fall further this year
Italy’s economy will shrink by 1.4% this year, a much sharper contraction than previously forecast, according to the national statistic agency.
…
Crank up the austerity. This should decimate US treasuries?
Portugal’s unemployment rate hits 18%
Portugal’s first quarter figures reveal spike in unemployment rates, with government cuts expected to harm growth further
Giles Tremlett and agencies
The Guardian, Thursday 9 May 2013 13.45 EDT
Portuguese PM Passos Coelho announced last week that he would cut another €4.8bn spending over the next three years. Photograph: Armando Franca/AP
Bailed-out Portugal added to the unemployment woes of southern Europe on Thursday as the country’s jobless rate hit a startling 18% of the working population.
The first quarter figures from the national statistics institute revealed that youth unemployment had soared even higher, with 43% of the under 25s who are not studying now unable to find work.
“It is a dramatic and brutal increase,” said Helena Pinto, a deputy for the Left Bloc party, who also pointed to a leap in emigration by people desperate to find work.
…
Crank up the austerity to 11
The Irish Times
Exporters revise forecasts downwards
IEA predicts manufacturing will continue to decline due to stagnation in EU
Fiona Reddan
Topics:
Business
Economy
Irish Exporters Association
Fri, May 10, 2013, 10:18
First published: Fri, May 10, 2013, 10:15
Irish-based exporters have revised downwards their forecasts for this year, following a tough first quarter for merchandise exports, with manufacturing exports “severely impacted” by the recession across the euro zone.
According to the Irish Exporters Association (IEA), the first quarter of 2013 was a mixed bag for exports, with merchandise exports contracting “severely”, down by almost 10 per cent. Services exports continued to advance, rising by 8 per cent in the first quarter and accounting for more than half of all exports. This was not enough to stem the decline in total exports, which fell by 1.4 per cent to €44.1 billion.
…
Only another 17 years of austerity until the Irish Tiger is back in business!
Hedge Funds May 8, 2013, 4:49 pm
Eisman Is Gloomy on Canadian Housing
By WILLIAM ALDEN
Steven Eisman is the founder of Emrys Partners.
Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters
The hedge fund manager Steven Eisman rose to prominence in the financial crisis after betting against mortgages in the United States. On Wednesday, he turned his focus to Canada.
Mr. Eisman, whose wager against subprime mortgages was described in “The Big Short” by Michael Lewis, warned on Wednesday of weakness in the Canadian housing market and said lenders were vulnerable.
Speaking at the 18th Annual Sohn Investment Conference in Manhattan, Mr. Eisman, founder of Emrys Partners, said the rise in Canadian home prices in recent years was being fueled by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, a mortgage finance entity that guarantees half of the country’s mortgages.
The corporation’s mortgage portfolio, Mr. Eisman said, is approaching a $600 billion cap recently imposed by the government, raising questions about whether it can continue supporting the market.
“When something gets that big, even governments get nervous,” he said.
What is more, he said, mortgage-underwriting standards are beginning to tighten. It’s a worrisome situation for banks, which hold “zero” capital against loans guaranteed by the mortgage finance giant, Mr. Eisman said.
“It’s like owning a sovereign bond,” he said. “We know where that got us.”
He focused in particular on the Home Capital Group, a mortgage originator specializing in “nonprime” loans. Mr. Eisman said half of the company’s $8.8 billion portfolio of these loans dated to the last two years, when prices were relatively high.
But Mr. Eisman was much more upbeat about the situation in the United States.
…
“Gloom on Canadian Housing”????
Huh?
Falling housing prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels is bullish optimism and good for everyones economy.
Tracey Greenstein, Contributor
Business
2/20/2013 @ 12:06PM
Iceland’s Stabilized Economy Is A Surprising Success Story
You may have heard about Iceland’s toppling economy back in 2008. As one of the hardest-hit countries at the time, Iceland’s heavily criticized method to escape veritable economic demise actually did the trick.
Faced with the possibility of financial failure, Iceland had to think on its feet. Instead of bailing out banks USA-style, the country forgave mortgage debt for the population – and completely started over from square one.
A country with a small population of roughly 320,000 citizens, Iceland‘s entire banking structure “systemically failed” in the early days of the 2008 recession. Despite the fact that Iceland is still on the road to recovery, the country ranks high as a politically and economically stable nation. Their success over the last few years has been largely under-reported, and the story behind it is quite fascinating.
A Little Bit of Morality Goes A Long Way
Let’s face it: Icelanders are tough. They are entirely isolated, living in frozen tundra, perpetually enduring less-than-optimal weather patterns. While they are surrounded by epic natural beauty, these people aren’t spoiled; they’re tenacious.
Instead of allowing the criminals responsible for bank fraud to run free as the years passed by, Iceland thought it might be wise to actually indict bankers who committed serious financial crimes that contributed to the collapse. By paying off loans for consumers, forgiving homeowner debt (up to 110% of the property value), and throwing the offenders in prison, Iceland was able to bounce back. Now, its economy is “recovered” and is growing faster than both the US and European economies.
…
Yes and no. Iceland didn’t bail out the collapsed banks, but that wasn’t for the want of trying. If you read through the Report of the Special Investigation Commission you’d find out that the Icelandic government tried everything it could to save the banks, including asking for insane loans to pay off the banks’ debts.
The report: http://sic.althingi.is/
Most of it, and most of the really juicy stuff IMO, is only available in Icelandic, unfortunately. You can find the Icelandic version here: http://rna.althingi.is/
So the true story is that Iceland tried and tried and tried and tried as hard as we could to save the creditors. The only reason why we didn’t is that the Icelandic government, then and now, is completely incompetent.
Dumb things Icelandic officials did while trying to garner international support (mentioned in the report) :
Spin that a noncommittal but positive reply from the Russians was a loan agreement, pissing off the Americans and the Russians resulting in no loans from either.
Not answering Alistair Darling’s phone call (he was the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer or finance minister at the time). They literally put him on hold, then told him to call later and hung up.
Announcing on live TV that we were not going to help creditors, including those who had deposits, while they were in the middle of negotiations for funding to save said banks. Then having to backtrack to get any sort of help from the EU.
Lying to the governor of the Bank of England and the president of the European Central Bank about the state of the banks.
And plenty more. All in the special report. Read it if you care about what happened in Iceland. The short version is that they tried to save the banks, save the creditors and screwed up completely.
Other tidbits from the report: Icelandic MP’s received a lot of no-strings-attached free money from the banks and the key players in the banking bubble and ensuing collapse are not the same as the people who are being convicted for fraud or insider trading.
Except for two:
A ministry department head (also my namesake) who sold all of his stock soon after he attended a meeting on the state of the banks was convicted for insider trading. Baldur sakfelldur. The only reason why he was convicted is because he was too stupid to even try to cover his tracks.
And Lárus Welding, who some consider a key player and is mentioned several times in the report, was convicted yesterday and will be jailed for six months, plus three months probation. He gets to keep all the money he made and he’s going to appeal. Given the libertarian slant of the high court, his conviction is still not a certainty. The jail time he has just got in the lower courts is much much less than the prosecutor was hoping for, which does not bode well for later cases.
(A newish story on his conviction. It should work fine in google translate and you can nod along to the video, pretending to understand.)
The prime minister was found guilty of negligence in his job but was completely unpunished. No jail time, no fine, no nothing. I’d call him a scapegoat if he hadn’t actually gotten away scot-free.
Guardian: Iceland ex-PM Geir Haarde cleared of bank negligence. The Guardian piece was originally titled ‘Iceland ex-PM Geir Haarde found guilty of banking crash failure’ which is the headline that got distributed on twitter, of course, being the absolute opposite of the truth.
Icenews: Former Icelandic Prime Minister Geir H. Haarde found not guilty
Everybody else who has been convicted to date are to the Icelandic banking bubble what Bernie Madoff is to Goldman Sachs: fraudsters who took advantage of the climate but weren’t key players in the bubble or the collapse.
It’s a bit like arresting a Nazi lieutenant when Hitler and Goebbels are still running around. What am I supposed to say to that? Well done? He’s small fry but I guess he’s a start? Pat them on the head and say better luck next time?
Bah, humbug.
(I guess the above also addresses 3. Iceland arrested the fraudsters, showing that it’s patently not true. Iceland arrested some fraudsters: the pawns, small fry, and the lackeys.)
4. Iceland nationalised the banks.
This much is true. Iceland then privatised them again in record time. Two out of the three collapsed major banks in Iceland are now owned by the creditors. (“But I thought Iceland shafted the creditors?” Hah! Yeah, funny that.) The third bank, Landsbanki, is still nationalised but that’s solely because of the ongoing court cases involving Icesave.
Are you in Iceland, Skroodle?
Alpha sloth yesterday:
How do we give people more jobs?
Does it involve cutting taxes on the wealthy? Because that’s already been shown not to work very well.
Two thoughts directed at why we lost jobs in the first place:
Is globalism a done deal or can we get the jobs to come back if US workers start making concessions? Washington should take note workers (outside of a handful of unions) can’t start making concessions while cost of living industries are protected from the same depressionary forces: housing, education, medical/pharma/insurance. We need free markets to be allowed to return and do their cleansing.
Polly and others are probably going to cringe at my naivete but can we set up an assist from a tax code overhaul? If the labor portion of corporate costs is outside the country, worker pay, taxes, and benefits (if any) are all monetary value now lost to US circulation. Unless these workers buy US imports in their country and/or jump on a plane and do the tourist thing, that’s value that’s not coming back. So we’re not only losing jobs to overseas. There is also the impact of money that no longer circulates in our environment. Is there a way to structure the tax code in a way that penalizes them for this?
The USA
Highest Corporate tax rates in the industrialized world
An out of control tort system
An out of control obama administration
Picking winners and losers with taxpayer money
Total union goon control in half the country
Why would ANYONE RISK their OWN money to start a business here when there are so many other better alternatives?
Would you RISK your own money starting in a business? In NYS? Chicago?
Of course not. You would be out of your mind (unless you got huge taxpayer subsidies).
Lol! Highest rate! lol! I love these Fox News talking points!
G.E.’s Strategies Let It Avoid Taxes Altogether
By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI
Published: March 24, 2011
General Electric, the nation’s largest corporation, had a very good year in 2010.
Enlarge This Image
Drew Angerer/The New York Times
A PRESIDENT’S BUSINESS LIAISON
In January, President Obama named Jeffrey R. Immelt, General Electric’s chief executive, to head the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. “He understands what it takes for America to compete in the global economy,” Mr. Obama said.
But Nobody Pays That
A Wealth of Exceptions
The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.
Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.
There might not have been any federal income tax but plenty of other taxes- employment, excise, real estate tax, taxes on dividends, etc…
But best is NO corporate taxes since they are paid by the consumer. GE and other can’t print money so the taxes are overhead and get built into the price of every loaf of bread, pair of shoes, gallon of gas, etc.. But the spendthrift politicians love hidden taxes because they’re less painful. And a lot people actually believe the fantasy that businesses pay the taxes. Kind of like the people who believe that the seller pays the RE commission. Who brings the money to the table?
PS. A lot of these people are the same people who want “the government” to pay for all kinds of goodies such as “free” healthcare.
pure bs
The tax comes out of profits.
Supply and Demand determine price. Manufacturing costs and taxes determine solvency. GE would still be solvent if it had to pay reasonable corporate taxes.
Is globalism a done deal or can we get the jobs to come back if US workers start making concessions?
Make concessions? That implies that they have a say in the matter. Guess what? They don’t. I still remember the day at then very profitable HP when it was announced that there would be a 5% across the board pay cut for everyone. I don’t recall making a “concession”, it was simply taken away from me.
I understand your point, Colorado, but a reduction in income is so terrifying because costs of living are too high a percentage of that income. But what if a free market cleansing released the supports under those industries? Yeah, I know pricing in those industries are sticky but this is just a thought experiment.
So I ask, can the post WWII model where US workers get paid far more than other labor forces go on forever? Can the balance remain static when our competition continues to increase it’s education, training, and build out newer updated infrastructure faster than the US? What is the added value we bring to the table when negotiating for positions against others across the globe asking a fraction of the salary especially when as 2ndbanana points out above our governments are piling on the additional taxes for the opportunity to use us? I don’t see how we can add jobs before we attend to these questions.
But what if a free market cleansing released the supports under those industries?
What if a free market cleansing led to communism?
our competition continues to increase it’s education, training, and build out newer updated infrastructure
Our competition also has no environmental protection, no enforced worker safety rules, no enforced labor rules, no enforced food safety rules, etc.
How do we compete against that? Do the same?
“…while cost of living industries are protected from the same depressionary forces: housing, education, medical/pharma/insurance.”
Don’t overlook transportation, i.e., the propped automobile industry.
Its time to take advantage of the easy money policies. Buy a house and stocks to flip for quick cash before QE ends.
You have to be in the game to make quick cash.
Get in now, there’s still big gains post 15000! Who says the Dow can’t go to 15 million!
DoD Civilian Furloughs and Job Cuts Loom
Military dot com ^ | 10 May 13 | Richard Sisk
With furloughs looming, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter this week paid tribute to the job done by the Pentagon’s civilian work force while warning that there soon would be fewer of them doing it.
In a series of appearances that fell during Public Service Recognition Week, Carter said the department had yet to come to a decision on how many furlough days to impose to meet the budget-cutting demands of the Congressional sequester process in the current fiscal year.
Carter called the across-the-board sequester cuts “stupid,” and said they would result in the loss of five to six percent of DOD’s civilian personnel if continued through future fiscal years.
In February, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned that nearly 800,000 civilian DOD workers would have to be furloughed for up to 22 days under the nearly $40 billion in cuts from sequester.
Furlough is not the same as a job cut. The 5-6% loss probably refers to retirement attrition, or DoD workers fleeing to contract work.
If they just furloughed them on Federal holidays, the effect would be minimal.
Well, that is one way to reduce supply…
Neighbor ‘goes nuts,’ destroys several homes with bulldozer (Washington State)
KOMO TV (Seattle) / Various | May 10, 2013
PORT ANGELES, Wash. — Witnesses say a man upset with his neighbors went on a rampage with a bulldozer-like piece of logging machinery in a Port Angeles neighborhood, damaging four homes and knocking out power to thousands of people.
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Office says it does not appear that anyone was injured during the incident that happened just after noon Friday along Pioneer Road. The suspect was arrested.
“A person with a piece of heavy equipment that was very upset, struck (four) homes in the area and also a truck,” said Jim Borte with the Clallam County Sheriff’s Department.
Keith Haynes lives near one of the damaged homes and told the Peninsula Daily News the man took a piece of logging equipment called a skidder and “just went nuts.”
Haynes said a woman inside one of the homes escaped unharmed, and the other home was unoccupied. Haynes said the houses were demolished.
wow I guess they pissed off the wrong dude.
Mystery Aircraft Frightens Quincy Residents
By Bill Shields, WBZ-TV
May 9, 2013 11:59 PM
QUINCY (CBS) – A mystery in Quincy continues to deepen: Who is flying around the city from dusk to dawn, for the past ten days or so?
“It’s frightening, not just weird, but frightening,” said one resident of the Wollaston section.
Every night for nearly the last two weeks, residents have spotted a low-flying aircraft doing loops over the city. WBZ has learned the FAA knows what’s going on, but the agency isn’t telling.
“I mean it is strange. I don’t know if they’re looking for somebody, I have no idea,” one resident told WBZ.
It’s not the state or local police doing the flying, and the FAA is giving out little information, even to city officials.
“It’s frustrating, it really is,” says City Councillor Brian Palmucci. “I specifically asked, ‘Is it a law enforcement flight? Can we tell people that?’ He said, ‘No, we can’t tell you that.’ Then I asked that when folks call me can I at least tell them that it is something that they shouldn’t worry about, it’s something they shouldn’t be concerned with? He said, ‘I can’t tell you that.’”
Sources tell WBZ that the aircraft is not a drone, that it is manned. FAA spokesman Jim Peters would only say, “We have to be very careful this time” concerning information.
Even the Mayor has been kept in the dark. “We’re as frustrated as our constituents,” said Mayor Tom Koch. “We’d like to be able to give our citizens some answers, but we don’t have any answers.”
Obviously when the federal government wants to keep something quiet, they keep it very quiet. In this case, they wouldn’t even say how long it would continue flying for.
“This strong humming sound as you look up and you go, ‘Oh there she goes again.’ It goes all the way around, comes all the way back, keeps going at 5 o’clock in the morning,” one resident told WBZ NewsRadio.
Palmucci is just hoping he can ease any worries his residents are sharing.
“If it’s an operation that requires some secrecy, that can be appreciated by residents,” said Palmucci. “Just at the very least if the FAA can release something that says there’s nothing that should cause folks any concern, I think that would put people at ease.”
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/05/09/mystery-aircraft-frightens-quincy-residents/ - 115k -
Methinks there are some science fiction authors trialballooning/crowdsourcing their storylines in the comment sections of some of these reports. Yowza!
If anyone ever calls me about strange acting airplanes, I’m going to start telling them stories that are 100% bullsheet, just to see how long it takes to make the evening news.
“I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you……”
As a participant in the aerospace bidness, my experience is that Joe Q Public’s ignorance about aerospace matters is absolutely stunning.
Nobody in their right mind is going to test ANY type of aircraft (especially a secret/dark project) over one of the most densely populated areas in the country.
It’s probably a non-story, whatever it is. But people will believe that the real story is a coverup.
This is what happens when government/whoever gets caught laying out too much BS. Nobody believes you, even when you tell the truth.
a low-flying aircraft doing loops over the city.
Doing loops like a somersault? Or flying around in circles?
No one has taken a video of it?
Here’s an update from Chicago. The Fed is definitely reinflating the market here. I never thought I’d see it.
The South Loop has seen prices fall about 30%. But apparently, some areas are already back to those “peak” prices.
Rah! Rah! Rah!
“Related’s pace is impressive, but not surprising to Marc Realty Residential Principal David Ruttenberg, who specializes in acquiring distressed condo projects, including a failed 94-unit development at 2300 S. Michigan Ave.
Mr. Ruttenberg says home prices have risen back to 2005, or nearly peak, levels in “core locations,” including parts of the South Loop, amid a sudden change in buyer philosophy.
“There’s more demand than supply, really, for newer assets,” Mr. Ruttenberg said.”
http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/article/20130509/CRED0701/130509737/sales-surge-at-south-loop-condo-towers
“Sabrina”….. LMAO
Same old charade. Nothing to see here folks.
I guess when you make a great product in America this is your reward:
Oreck Corp. files for bankruptcy protection
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/05/07/oreck-files-chapter-11/2142283/
“I guess when you make a great product in America…”
I wasn’t impressed with Oreck’s product line, so I bought a Royal Commercial 1058Z Metal Upright. No more of these plastic “hepa-vac” Sears garbage for us.
Here’s an anecdotal story from the Chicago market.
Buyers are paying all cash for properties like $650,000 3-bedroom duplex down condos in Lakeview and waiving inspection. These duplex down into the basement, essentially. And they’re fairly new construction (last 10 years) which have been known to have a lot of construction issues.
Even in 2006-2007, I never heard of anyone waiving inspection in Chicago (in the hottest markets like San Francisco- yes. But Chicago? no.)
Red flags are going up all over the place here. And it seems like we’re just in about the second or third inning of this re-inflation.
Thanks, Ben, for still running this blog so those of us who are sane can support each other. I really can’t believe what I’m seeing out there in the Chicago market.
uh huh.
http://www.zillow.com/local-info/IL-Chicago-home-value/r_17426/#metric=mt%3D34%26dt%3D1%26tp%3D5%26rt%3D8%26r%3D17426%26el%3D0
The Link Between High Levels of Homeownership and Unemployment
Richard Florida
May 09, 2013
Homeownership is a vaunted cornerstone of the American Dream. It’s long been viewed as providing a path to financial security and the good life. And it’s often posed as a barometer of the health of the economy writ large. it’s been center stage, after all, in the ongoing conversation about the economic crisis and recovery. The American government has provided substantial incentives to spur homeownership for decades.
But, in recent years, a growing chorus of economists have argued that America may have gone overboard in its pursuit of homeownership. They suggest that high rates of homeownership distort the economy, tying people to places and restricting the ability of workers to move to jobs.
A new working paper provides powerful evidence of that higher rates of homeownership may in fact be connected to higher rates of unemployment. The study, “Does High Home-Ownership Impair the Labor Market?” [PDF], by economists Andrew Oswald, whose earlier research argued that high rates of homeownership undercut labor mobility, and David Blanchflower of Dartmouth University, employes a large-scale data set covering the past 25 years (1985-2011) and more than two million American households to examine the connections between homeownership and unemployment, labor mobility, commuting times, and new business formations.
…
“high rates of homeownership distort the economy, tying people to places and restricting the ability of workers to move to jobs.”
NOW they realized this?
“The Housing Market “Recovery” Is A Complete Myth”
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1151771-the-housing-market-recovery-is-a-complete-myth
With millions of excess empty houses, housing priced at massively inflated levels and housing demand lingering down at 17 year lows, there is no “housing recovery”. Besides, a “housing recovery” is dramatically lower prices by definition.
If you have a stake in housing, now is the time to get out while the getting is good.
You can use the zoomable map to track the insane amount of real estate development in your area over the past thirty years.
A Terrifying, Fascinating Timelapse of 30 Years of Human Impact on Earth
Emily Badger
May 09, 2013
Google
Since the 1970s, NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey have been amassing satellite images of every inch of our planet as part of the Landsat program. Over time, the images reveal a record of change: of cities expanding, lakes and forests disappearing, new islands emerging from the sea off the coast of rising Middle East metropolises like Dubai.
If you could thumb through these historic pictures as if in a flip book, they would show stunning change across the earth’s surface, in both our natural environments and our man-made ones. Now, the digital equivalent of that experience is possible – three decades of global change as GIF – in a project unveiled today between NASA, the USGS, TIME, Google, and the CREATE Lab at Carnegie Mellon University.
…
I guess Florida isn’t the only place where houses sink.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/homes-calif-subdivision-sinking-19158988
Dang.
FL Sheriff: “We Want People To Call Us If The Guy Down The Street Says He Hates The Government”
by Tammy on May 2, 2013
Because we know how ‘hating government’ contributed to Tucson, Aurora, and Sandy Hook. Oh, wait…
Palm Beach County sheriff gets $1 million for violence prevention unit amid questions about civil liberties, care for mentally ill
Florida House and Senate budget leaders have awarded Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw $1 million for a new violence prevention unit aimed at preventing tragedies like those in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo., from occurring on his turf.
Bradshaw plans to use the extra $1 million to launch “prevention intervention” units featuring specially trained deputies, mental health professionals and caseworkers. The teams will respond to citizen phone calls to a 24-hour hotline with a knock on the door and a referral to services, if needed…
“We want people to call us if the guy down the street says he hates the government, hates the mayor and he’s gonna shoot him,” Bradshaw said. “What does it hurt to have somebody knock on a door and ask, ‘Hey, is everything OK?’ ”
http://tammybruce.com/2013/05/fl-sheriff-we-want-people-to-call-us-if-the-guy-down-the-street-says-he-hates-the-government.html - 61k -
Posted: 11:04 p.m. Monday, Nov. 29, 2010
Palm Beach County’s high-tech security hub tracks terror threats and crime
By Cynthia Roldan
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tucked among the winding hallways of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office headquarters, behind many closed doors, is a room called the Situation Room. It’s where local and federal agencies gather to collect and share information.
When the Delray Beach Police Department released the image of a bank robber a few months ago, McBride said it was a fusion center analyst who grabbed the image from a media outlet’s site and used its face recognition software to map it to a person.
What came out of that match, however, is unknown to the analyst, because the privacy guidelines of the center prevent such follow-ups.
Bradshaw hopes the county’s fusion center becomes part of the 72 Department of Homeland Security-approved fusion centers that are in service across the country.
Making the center operational cost about $700,000, Nugent said. About $400,000 was allocated from a Homeland Security grant to cover the technology costs, and $300,000 from the sheriff’s office budget covered the modifications for what is now the situation room.
It costs about $100,000 a year to keep the center running, Nugent said.
An additional federal grant of about $1 million was invested in radar that allows the center to track boats throughout Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. McBride said the sheriff’s office is the only local agency with such a system, but he did not detail its functions.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/palm-beach-countys-high-tech-security-hub-tracks-1/nLnCp/ - 84k -
“hates the government.”
Thomas Paine, we’re he alive today, would be jailed by today’s politicians.
They are drowning in information.
Much like the Stazi in East Germany. They spent so much time tapping phone lines and following people that they had no idea the government was going to be overthrown. They didn’t even have time to burn their files.
Will the music and the merry go round ever stop?
And when will the FSA riots start?
——————-
Fed Maps Exit From Stimulus
WSJ| 5/10/13 | hilsenrath
Federal Reserve officials have mapped out a strategy for winding down an unprecedented $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program meant to spur the economy—an effort to preserve flexibility and manage highly unpredictable market expectations.
Officials say they plan to reduce the amount of bonds they buy in careful and potentially halting steps, varying their purchases as their confidence about the job market and inflation evolves. The timing on when to start is still being debated.
The Fed’s strategy for how and when to wind down the program is of intense interest in financial markets. While the strategy being debated leaves the Fed plenty of flexibility, it might not be the clear and steady path markets expect based on past experience.
Not. Gonna. Happen.
Anybody that’s lived around the oil industry knew this would happen.
First they exported our jobs and now they are going to export our future for a few quick bucks.
“Obama Administration’s Natural Gas Policy Is Tragically Misguided”
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1423441-the-obama-administration-s-natural-gas-policy-is-tragically-misguided
“In order for natural gas to be turned into a liquid (a.k.a. liquid natural gas or LNG), it has to be compressed and refrigerated all the way down to an astonishing -260 degrees Fahrenheit. In order to export LNG, it takes energy to simply turn that energy into a liquid. How much? Roughly 25%. That’s right; a quarter of the embedded energy in the natural gas is lost before it even makes its way to a customer.”
If we assume that the US is going to ramp up export and consumption of natural gas to use in transportation and to replace coal fired power plants the current projection of a 100 year supply is based on a steady 2010 demand is ludicrous. The author of the story calculates the actual supply could be depleted in less than 40 years.
Even though the price of natural gas has doubled in the last year I am considering buying a few shares of UNG next week.
demand is falling as well.
Poor unemployed people don’t use as much energy. Nice article in Bloomberg today about this.
Why are there so many lawyers lurking, posing and posting on this blog?
when did you get fired from redfin?
Ahhhh….. I didn’t know you were a Liar…. errr lawyer I mean.
Is that poor b@stard who made the youtube Mohammed video nobody saw still in jail?
Mother of Benghazi victim: Hillary and Susan Rice told me “nose to nose” that the Mohammed video was to blame
posted at 12:01 pm on May 9, 2013 by Allahpundit
This makes two parents of men killed in Benghazi who’ve claimed that Hillary told them personally that the video was the prime mover in the attack. Tyrone Woods’s father went a step further and alleged that she vowed to have the filmmaker “arrested and prosecuted” — which, courtesy of California authorities, is what ended up happening.
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/05/09/mother-of-benghazi-victim-hillary-and-susan-rice-told-me-nose-to-nose-that-the-mohammed-video-was-to-blame/ - 124k -
Late response to this exchange from a few days back:
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-05-08 13:27:54
There it is. Don’t confuse their PR with reality.
It occurred to me late after this exchange, PB, that the hardest part for the Fed in such a scenario (e.g. of losses required them to decide they manufacture arbitrary profits) might be answering this question:
“What asset class do we want to manipulate next?”
So many choices…so few they haven’t already previously manipulated…(my suggestion: GOLD).
maybe they should make loans easier to access for internet gambling.
Posted: 5:18 p.m. Thursday, May 9, 2013
Borrowers shortchanged in national banking agreement
By Kimberly Miller
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
NORTH PALM BEACH —
John Lebeau eagerly awaited what he believed would be a $50,000 restitution check for a messy, years-long and possibly fraudulent foreclosure on his North Palm Beach home.
What he got Tuesday was $400.
In another fiasco involving a multi-billion-dollar settlement between federal regulators and mortgage servicers, 96,000 borrowers nationwide were mailed checks last week that shortchanged them on what they are owed as compensation for foreclosure abuses.
The mistake, called a “clerical error” by Minneapolis-based paying agent Rust Consulting, follows problems with earlier checks that bounced when borrowers tried to cash them.
“I literally knelt down and said a prayer before I opened that envelope,” Lebeau said. “It didn’t work, obviously.”
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/business/borrowers-shortchanged-in-national-banking-agreeme/nXmt4/ - 83k -
Nearly a third of county foreclosures three years old or older
by Kim Miller
Friday, May 10th, 2013
A new judicial workgroup assembled to tackle Florida’s backlog of foreclosure cases in the courts found that 29.7 percent of Palm Beach County’s pending foreclosures are three years old or older.
More than half _ 51 percent _ have been in the system two or more years, according to the report from the Foreclosure Initiative Workgroup.
Also, the report noted that cases are increasingly being reopened after disposal, possibly to cancel and reschedule sale dates of properties.
In Palm Beach County there were nearly as many reopened cases in 2012 and there were newly filed. About 13,500 new cases were filed, while 13,389 cases were reopened.
Statewide, 186,651 cases were newly filed and 156,069 reopened.
When will the public finally understand what kind of swindlers realtors are?
“Vernal real estate broker charged with forging termite inspection records”
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865579795/Vernal-real-estate-broker-charged-with-forging-termite-inspection-records.html?pg=all