Bits Bucket for August 21, 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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“Why would pay more than new construction cost ($60 per square foot) for a depreciating 20+ year old resale house?”
Because that’s what dumb borrowed money does?
land
Considering there is a globe full of land and 95% goes undeveloped- strike 2.
Antarctica is cheap… even beach front!
No squealing Squealtor.
Resales in July up again, interest rate increase had no effect.
Looks like a great Fall to Spring surge for new and resale. Keep renting and you will fall behind, why make your landlord rich.
Purchase a house at right price (excellent deals still abound) and discover equity in your life?
Resale up? A 1.2% increase on a peak month where the previous month was revised lower just yesterday?
LOLZ… Nice try cupcake.
‘Purchase a house at right price (excellent deals still abound)’
Do you think you are going to drum up customers posting this here? It sounds like a cheesy used car commercial at 2 AM. I don’t understand what you are trying to accomplish with pigeon English half assed slogans.
‘Keep renting and you will fall behind, why make your landlord rich’
Actually, my landlord is underwater on a few houses (after inheriting a small fortune and pissing it away on houses). When I call to tell him to come fix something, his voice trembles like a scared little boy.
“When I call to tell him to come fix something, his voice trembles like a scared little boy.”
Now THAT is some funny chit!!!
“It sounds like a cheesy used car commercial at 2 AM. I don’t understand what you are trying to accomplish with pigeon English half assed slogans.”
……Maybe he really is Tom Vu.
Is that you, #2?
Don’t get too excited yet.
Existing home sales are measured on actual CLOSED sales. Meaning the contract was written 6-8 weeks ago, and the rate on the mortgage may also have been locked a while ago. My colleague is refinancing his home and while he hasn’t closed, he’s getting the rate that he was quoted a couple of months ago.
In other words, if there is going to be a negative effect from higher rates, it will be in the next couple of months, not this last report.
Candidly, I don’t expect there to be much of a negative effect from the recent rise in rates, but I don’t think you can draw that conclusion from this piece of data.
Locally, I see way more for sale signs now than I did two months ago when I left to cruise. I don’t see much of anything that has actually sold, just put up for sale over the summer. Seems odd.
We may be getting closer to answering the question:
With respect to market conditions as it related to lower sales, did we have a weakness in demand? Or too few willing sellers?
If there are more homes on the market, but NOT more sales, then we have weak demand.
If there are more homes on the market, and that results in MORE sales, then we simply had too few willing sellers.
I read an article recently about how LA County saw an increase in sales following an increase in listings…at least there it seems like the answer was too few willing sellers.
Time will tell, and the answer may very well be different in each market.
Location and quality vs garbage.
Stick with one username… OK realtor?
And the public is well aware of the fact that the rusty worn out realtor meme of “location” is simply a sales tactic to draw more money out of your target.
Cool? Cool.
“Stick with one username…”
That is very funny.
How does a DebtDonkey spend dumb borrowed money?
As though it were someone else’s money………. because it is someone else’s money.
Is HUD really necessary? Because with the fate of some cities like Detroit, it’s looking more and more like the Department of Housing and Urban Decay.
I mean, considering the deficit and all, couldn’t we do without it?
All those HUD employees certainly can’t.
Oh, geez, I forgot. We need all those HUD employees to promote dieversity in places like Oklahoma so “bored teens” can hone their polar bear hunting skills.
US media is such a fraud..I guess we knew it all. Many still haven’t covered it because it doesn’t fit the narrative.
It really is. And the minute some outlet comes along that exposes the truth, it gets co-opted and becomes a cog in the big lying machine.
Al Jazeera US and BBC America are our last hopes, brothers.
Even MSNBC is becoming unwatchable. I really can’t stand Lawrence O’Donnell now, he’s as bad as Olbermann. CNN might make a resurgence under new leadership. Fox News, of course, is useful for seeing how the proles feel about things. Even the Fox Business financial programs are a joke because of the guest list. Obviously no corp lawyer, hedge funder, or BB execs are going to come on any show and tip their hand to the real way they make money. So the shows are filled out with random morons who are really there to push a book or a subscription to their website. These shows make Mad Money (Cramer) look very insightful by comparison.
Ain’t that the truth. People are so content to be entertained that the news outlets don’t feel compelled to offer any legitimate journalism. I fault Fox and MSNBC equally for their lack of objectivity.
Newshour on PBS. Actual news and in-depth coverage. Civil discourse. No cleavage.
We need all those HUD employees to promote dieversity in places like Oklahoma so “bored teens” can hone their polar bear hunting skills
———————————————————————-
A question for white people, who do you think young black criminals are harming BEFORE they harm a white person and you get all upset, have a seizure,get mad and pass new laws named after little blonde white girls?
Adding crabs to the barrel does NOT guarantee one will be unable to occasionally climb out and pinch you. Maybe you should hold these bastard sons of single moms (and the moms) to account instead of releasing them back to terrorize black people?
Or is it just a cost of doing business?
Maybe you should hold these bastard sons of single moms (and the moms) to account instead of releasing them back to terrorize black people?
I don’t disagree, and can sympathize with your initial point about who they were already hurting when nobody was paying attention. But most “white people” have no more say than anyone else about how these things get handled. The few with the actual power have other priorities.
My rage is mostly with the media. When I first read the news (local OK media) sicne they gave no descriptions, I thought they were white kids. Had to learn from the Australian news that they were actually black kids. That’s a significant negligence on US media’s part, don’t you think? To me it’s not a bigger tragedy bacause the perpetrators are black kids.
My beef is with the us media, which is so screwed up, has no problem using the race as a bait to divide people further if it fits the narrative. Just think for a moment, how would the US media react if the victim was a black student athlete and killers were white kids…..It would be like Christmas for eveyone on TV talk shows, right? What would JJ, Sharpton and Obama have done? You know the answer. That’s my point…sorry if I am rambling here. On a conf call witha a client while typing this.
What people don’t get is that, in the end, this is not about black vs. white, although it looks that way, and the media is a HUGE part of the furtherance of this meme.
What it’s really about is two groups of white people who detest each other with a passion, and one group uses blacks, browns, and other minorities liberally against the other, sort of like human shields. Many of that group are in the media.
This is sometimes illustrated in microcosm on this blog, although some of the usual suspects haven’t shown up yet.
We need to somehow reduce the % of kids in this country born to poors/dumbs. I’d argue sex ed, free condoms for anyone who wants them, and plan b covered by insurance for a start.
Also need to stop wasting so much of law enforcement’s time on minor drug busts so we can do more to deal with true career criminals, especially violent ones.
What it’s really about is two groups of white people who detest each other with a passion, and one group uses blacks, browns, and other minorities liberally against the other, sort of like human shields. Many of that group are in the media.
I think that’s a good point. And I’m amused by your use of the word “liberally”.
And I’m amused by your use of the word “liberally”.
______________________________________________
That was actually a Freudian slip, so to speak. There are both liberals and conservatives on one side, on the other what I like to call an unholy alliance of neos, neo-libs and neo-cons.
It can be pretty confusing, but that’s the idea, confuse the hell out of people and drive them into complete apathy.
Using the term “teens” to describe a pack of underage feral thugs is Orwellian. A real re-interpretation of the word.
“We need to somehow reduce the % of kids in this country born to poors/dumbs.”
Been reading HL Mencken?
Honestly we shoould abort the future Ivy students….there is no other group that f’ed the country more than Ivy leaguers.
Can we start with past Ivy students? Like maybe Ted Cruz? The dude was apparently a major creeper at Princeton, I’m pretty ashamed that we share that alumni connection.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2013/08/21/ted_cruz_on_the_princeton_debate_circuit.html
—————————————–
Patricia Murphy’s sort-of illuminating, sort-of bizarre story on Sen. Ted Cruz’s Princeton years depicts the senator as just as conservative and polarizing as he is today. His freshman year roommate, Craig Mazin, provides some nice color:
“I remember very specifically that he had a book in Spanish and the title was Was Karl Marx a Satanist? And I thought, who is this person?” Mazin says of Ted Cruz. “Even in 1988, he was politically extreme in a way that was surprising to me.”
The article goes on to describe Cruz as being “creepy” for donning a paisley bathrobe and wandering past the girls’ bathroom on his dorm floor, yet by another (anonymous) account he was “sort of a stud” with the girls on the college debate circuit. What do other people who debated with Cruz think of him?
I talked to some Yale debate team alumni who competed with Cruz in college—Yale and Princeton have a decades-spanning, Crips/Bloods sort of debate team rivalry. Slate’s own Dahlia Lithwick faced off against Cruz in college tournaments, and remembers his high-minded rhetoric. “He wasn’t ‘creepy’ on the debate circuit—he was a phenom,” she said. “When Ted was 19 people knew he’d run for president.”
Spook:
Black people continue to fail on Earth because black men lack the instincts to take responsibility for their families. You can’t blame white people for the actions of black men. You can’t blame “little white girls” for the actions of black men. You can’t blame black women for the actions of black men. You should take responsibility for yourself. If you have a bastard child, then YOU need to step up and help raise him/her.
Besides, look at how black people act in Africa. Let me guess, they were all fine until the white man came along and ruined it for them, right?
Black people continue to fail on Earth because black men lack the instincts to take responsibility for their families.
Quite the blanket statement. I’ve known black men who took great care of their families.
Carl:
Oh, you knew two black men who took great care of their families? Well, the overwhelming majority of them do not. The women are expected to do it on their own, yet Spook implores us to blame the women. What happens to a culture where the men feel comfortable blaming the women? It fails. It fails because the men don’t take responsibility, thereby leaving 1/2 the population out of the productivity equation.
…yet Spook implores us to blame the women.
This is far from the first time you misread what was written.
Oh, you knew two black men who took great care of their families?
Join the army as an enlisted person. You will get to know all sorts of folks, from the biggest scumbags on the planet to the best people you’ll ever know. And both types will come in a wide assortment of colors.
“Maybe you should hold these bastard sons of single moms (and the moms) to account …”
Sleepless, if you can’t see the blatant misogyny in that statement, then you might be a misogynist.
My bad. I actually read the post you wrote to Spook @ 13:06:56 as being written BY spook.
Carry on, I’ll sit quietly in the corner…
Uncle Fed
What happens to a culture where the men feel comfortable blaming the women? It fails.
———————————————————————
Black males are NOT in charge of any women as long as we must depend on white people for everything we need. The hypergamous nature of females guarantees they always respond to the most powerful males; and in a white supremacy culture, that means they listen and respond to white men, just like all other females.
If the genetic recessive traits commonly associated with what is known as “white people” are to survive, white men must be in control of handing out all resources on planet Earth.
White women are just like all other women; they don’t want men, they want resources. Its their nature. This is why the white man must keep the black man “in check.”
I don’t agree with it, but I understand the logic. I should have been taught this in the 5th grade, why did I have to find this out on my own at the age of 30?
In addition, if black males collectively become fully functional productive members of society, how would white people recognize themselves if they could not force black people to function as black?
With nothing concrete to anchor yourselves to, you all might start shooting each other? (like we do)
Its a paradox. How do you make black people smart enough to be constructive, but not so smart they are no longer forced to function as black?
Spook:
Black men control themselves. Black women control themselves. Same with everyone else. How do you explain Africa?
“Black males are NOT in charge of…”
Clearly you should channel your creative energy into something of the day (the next android revision?) rather than dwell on the black v white thing; Asians don’t waste much time on the yellow v white thing. Maybe the San Francisco bay area should be high on your list for places to live since it supports the most diverse cultural mix of brainy talent.
In context, “Black men are not in charge of any women as long as…” is beyond creepy in and of itself. “in charge of”? Really?
Spook, I’m halfway through Isis, and I have to tell you that woman is off her freaking rocker.
Was Sigmund Freud “off his rocker?” too?
Was Sigmund Freud “off his rocker?” too?
Freud was a Fraud. Most people would be better off studying William James and Milton Erickson.
In addition, if black males collectively become fully functional productive members of society, how would white people recognize themselves if they could not force black people to function as black?
It sounds like you’re saying white people need “suppressed”(?) black people as some sort of baseline to compare or push against? I don’t agree with that. I think it’s human nature to be focused on trying to get to what you think is above you and completely ignoring what you think is below you even as you step on them to try to get a little higher.
Have you ever heard the saying “the opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference”?
The free sh*t army votes.
There will not be one cut in the free government cheese. Or even the projected rate of growth.
Any politician that even proposes cutting any entitlement program (no matter how inefficient) will be labeled as a racist, someone who wants to starve children and throw grandma in the street.
But yours is a racist post of course, since you think no one deserves any handout. I betcha your great grandfather’s uncle’s, cousin’s brother in law strung up a black slave. By that, you are eternally guilty and should have voted for The One.
fascist!
commie!
“Department of Housing and Urban Decay”
This is a new development?
You know, it would be interesting to have some sort of study measuring the health of various cities before and after HUD. Because it seems to me, just on the face of it, that urban decay has increased paralell to the time frame and growth of HUD. Maybe some suburban decay, too.
While I agree that would be an interesting study I’d postulate HUD is more a correlation, with the cause being linked more to the types of people having the same number (or more) babies vs the types having less.
“The world you get’s the one you give away.
It all just happens again, way down the line…” –The Offspring
HUD is about one of THE most corrupt depts. of the Federal gov.
It’s sole purpose is to make the PTB even richer through back channels with a public face diversion of helping poor people through “community development.”
What this basically means is insider knowledge to planned large scale urban renewal projects as well as out right pork, not to states, but to RE infestors. Political favors on the grand scale.
From Drudge.
Do you really own your home (even if fully paid off) with public unions?
—————————–
Jersey shore mayor priced out by property taxes
AP - Aug 21, 2013
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — The mayor of a Jersey shore town is selling his waterfront home because he says he can’t afford the property taxes.
Egg Harbor Mayor James “Sonny” McCullough has lived in the township’s Seaview Harbor section since 1974. He and his wife bought land and built their home for $360,000 in 1985.
The property was valued at slightly more than $1.1 million during last year’s township-wide revaluation, which increased his property taxes by nearly 60 percent to $31,056.
McCullough says he hopes to find another home in the township. But if he doesn’t, the couple purchased a $150,000 waterfront condominium in Florida, where the property taxes are $2,569.
Property taxes are nothing more than rent paid to the government for the use of their land.
It would be an interesting exercise for Ben Jones to post on here the origin of the property tax in America. I bet most “progressives” think property taxes were in every state since 1776. LOL.
I learned in public school history class that black and female Continental solders fought for abortion and huge government bureaucracies in 1776 during the revolution.
Then evil white men came (excluding the Irish) and put them in chains and forced the women into back alley abortion mills. And they also cut taxes and forced everyone to buy a gun. They even made everyone to pray.
We only got our freedom back by liberal democrats.
“It would be an interesting exercise for Ben Jones to post on here the origin of the property tax in America.”
It likely has something to do with “division of labor.” I don’t want to pave my own streets or provide round the clock protection for my 3/2 rancher. I also enjoy the plumbing as a bucket in the well isn’t very efficient. Regulations and taxes done right don’t hold us back…they hold us up.
And they keep taxes high by severely limiting the amount of land available for development.
???
Property taxes are high due to insane public unions and the politicians they elected.
Here is a hint.
Detroit has some of the HIGHEST property taxes in the nation.
Yet there is PLENTY of room in Detroit. Plenty of empty land. Plenty of places to build.
But Detroit is STILL controlled bu insane public unions and the democrat politicians they support. So nothing will change.
Isn’t Detroit now controlled by an emergency manager appointed by the (Republican) governor of Michigan?
Yes. Yes it is.
Detroit is controlled by its debt. The “emergency manager” is just the warden.
There is more to this story. As I posted when I returned from vacation, the property taxes at major east coast shore points _are_ nuts. They’re clearly based on the fact that a disproportionate number of homes are: 1) vacation rentals charging several thousand bucks per week or 2) second homes of wealthy boomers.
Egg Harbor Twp is adjacent to Atlantic City and Ocean City. The nice homes in EHT are all on canals that lead to the bay which leads to the Atlantic (I think the inlet is between Atlantic City and Ocean City). So you shouldn’t feel too bad for the guy, the value of his house skyrocketed while boomers were boomer-ing the housing market.
I was looking for cheap places down the shore. Even “nothing special” houses have 10k in property taxes. Because the values are driven up because of wealthy boomers and people who want more vacation rentals. You can bring in 30k easily just in summer rental income with a stupid 2-3 BR rancher that isn’t even on the beach/boardwalk.
One last thing - the east coast shore points are, in general, very conservative. It’s the “red state” part of NJ, DE, MD. They have GOP congressmen, vote overwhelmingly GOP in statewide races (see: Christie, Chris or Ehrlich, Robert), and are conservative w/r/t schools and having large, intrusive police forces focused on small time marijuana use, underage drinking, and so forth. It’s not like they are ultra liberal, privileged places. The elites who have shore houses don’t really live there, they live in the NYC, Philly, Baltimore, or DC regions.
NJ, DE, MD are red states? Who knew?
Maybe one day they will even become right to work states and elect conservative senators to Washington…
NOT.
Banana,
You gotta understand. It’s Liberace posting…. the harpsichordist.
You have to understand, he’s illiterate. Or else willfully obtuse.
Based on his senseless boomer rants, I’m guessing the former.
The shore areas are very red. Are you illiterate? I said they’re the “red state” (prole) areas. The year-round residents vote overwhelmingly for GOP. The mayor of Egg Harbor (who is selling his house) is GOP, for example.
The Eastern Shore of MD is another example. They are the only area of GOP with a Republican congressman (Andy Harris). They helped Bob Ehrlich defeat Kathleen Townsend Kennedy for Gov of MD a few yrs back. The Jersey Shore is what got Chris Christie elected. I could go on and on with examples. The GOP areas of NJ/DE/MD have property taxes as high or higher than the blue areas, but without the jobs to support them. In Bethesda, 30k property taxes is NBD because median income there is like 200k/yr. In shore towns, very few people make that money, the prop taxes are all based on rental property incomes being high or the houses being 2nd homes for elites from the major metro areas.
HTH
There is NOTHING a local town can do when the state is controlled by liberal democrats and union thugs.
The game is stacked against them for 95% of their budget.
Yes - the locals can argue about what street lights to install or what to name a baseball field.
Union goon salaries/benefits/pensions (which will consume 70-100% of their budget) is OFF LIMITS due to state laws.
What are you talking about? Atlantic County is Republican. So is Ocean County. They run the schools, the towns have their own police forces. The mayor AND city council in the town are GOP.
I’ll explain so even someone as stupid as you can comprehend:
PROPERTY TAXES IN SHORE TOWNS ARE SUPER HIGH BECAUSE OF VACATION RENTALS ($2500/week+ for a SFH) and SECOND HOMES FOR LEGITIMATELY WEALTHY PEOPLE FROM OUTSIDE THE AREA.
Don’t want super-inflated property values and prop taxes? Don’t live at an east coast shore point.
What’s next, you’re going to tell us housing is overpriced and taxes too high in the Hamptons? Thanks for the tip, genius.
Here is your conservative GOP mayor of Egg Harbor Twp:
http://www.ehtgop.org/mccullough.html
22 yrs on the council, 18 yrs as mayor.
GOP controlled mayorship the entire time.
GOP also controls the school board.
The police chief is also GOP.
HTH
It gets even better:
The GOP city council members (all GOP) were _unchallenged_. Literally NO democrats ran in 2012.
“Unchallenged Republican Township Committee incumbents James “Sonny” McCullough and John Carman also won reelection to their positions. McCullough garnered 51.51 percent of the vote, receiving 10,011 votes. Carman won with 48.10 percent of the vote, receiving 9,349 votes.”
http://www.shorenewstoday.com/snt/news/index.php/egg-harbor-twp/eht-general-news/31548-egg-harbor-township-election-results-announced.html
You’re spamming. It’s ironic that another yammering spammer got $hitcanned yesterday.
Nothing to see here, people. Just a brutal evisceration of 2Banana. I’m ashamed I invested the time to look these things up, I should’ve made him do it. Having lived summers down the NJ shore I was long aware that it was a rock solid GOP place.
Sorry real life doesn’t follow your narrative, 2Ban. Both of our major political parties are f’ed up beyond repair. Rotten from their cores.
You’re spamming. It’s ironic that another yammering spammer got $hitcanned yesterday.
It takes one to know one. Who got banned?
Typical of KnowNothing to defend another housing fraudster.
Why is that?
2B is the only “know nothing” I see up there^^^ .
That is certainly not the case from long island to Maine!
Do you really own your home (even if fully paid off) with public unions?
TABOR, baby, TABOR!
a liberal told me the other day that she agrees that uniions have and do overreach…but the good they have done over time has outwayed the bad.
so apparrently it’s all good in the liberal mind. my mind is just wired different i reckon.
She sounds right to me. And I’m not even a liberal. I just know what working conditions were like before unions.
Even Reuters is running out of hope and change.
Bigger and bigger government and higher and higher taxes is the only way to build our economy and have prosperity…
——————————
Analysis: Obamacare, tepid U.S. growth fuel part-time hiring
Reuters | Aug 21, 2013 | By Lucia Mutikani
U.S. businesses are hiring at a robust rate. The only problem is that three out of four of the nearly 1 million hires this year are part-time and many of the jobs are low-paid.
Faltering economic growth at home and abroad and concern that President Barack Obama’s signature health care law will drive up business costs are behind the wariness about taking on full-time staff, executives at staffing and payroll firms say.
“… and concern that President Barack Obama’s signature health care law will drive up business costs are behind the wariness about taking on full-time staff, executives at staffing and payroll firms say.”
This is a no-brainer decision for companies to make for those companies that need to make long-range plans that factor in labor costs.
If expenses associated with long-range plans can’t be factored in and projected into the future then these long-range plans will be put on hold, and what we will end up with is a country that has a large work force much of which that has been put on hold.
The free sh*t army votes.
——————————-
Study: Massachusetts welfare pays better than entry-level jobs
bostonherald.com | 08/20/2013 | Antonio Planas
Massachusetts pays its welfare recipients what would amount to a pre-tax wage of more than $24 an hour, and ranks third in the nation in terms of dollars doled out per welfare collector.
It would be ironic to have people on welfare actually below the poverty line, wouldn’t it?
work is for suckers!
the costs / vote must be astounding.
Not really.
It is not politician’s own money.
It is taxpayer money.
Easy to spend. Especially if it buys you the votes of the free sh*t army.
“Easy to spend.”
But not easy to get. Used to be, but not anymore.
Spending policies were easy to dream up and implement in the days of plenty but the days of plenty have gone bye bye while the policies remain.
“It is not politician’s own money.”
easiest thing in the world…spending other people’s money.
department christmas party paid for during the last boom time by the company:
1. soup.
2. appetizer
3. surf and turf (most expensive thing on the menu)
4. dessert.
5. irish coffee.
after the crash when everyone had to pay for there on:
1. split appetizer.
2. burger.
the above is what people ordered off the menu…not what the company provided.
they could have just as easily ordered a burger when it wasn’t someone elses money.
work is for suckers!
Given the low pay most receive, you have no idea how right you are.
When I was a kid, the folks next door, he was a produce clerk at the local supermarket. They lived in a 2000 sq ft house and had decent cars. The wife did not work. There is no way they could live like that now.
The mortgage interest deduction is WELFARE FOR THE WEALTHY.
So riddle me this: How can somebody who can ‘afford’ to buy a home with a $1 million mortgage actually exist below the poverty line?
They are probably including benefits that would also be available for low wage workers, but not counting those benefits for the low wage workers. Medicaid, food stamps, etc.
And also not counting the EITC.
As for traditional welfare, it never amounted to very much money, and currently amounts to almost none.
Some on the right have moved on to being against the working poor, who were held up as models during the anti-welfare crusade of the early 1990s, but are now blamed for their low wages and layoffs.
But others apparently long for the good old days when a primarily minority, primarily urban dependent class was available to absorb most of the blame while actually being responsible for a small part of the money.
Yes this study adds all the other benefits someone can get.
To both sides? To the minimum wage worker and the welfare recipient? For the most part, welfare grants have not increased in size in 20 years, so I doubt the worker is worse off all in.
Then again, the minimum wage hasn’t been increased much either.
Married couple with two kids and minimal income (less than $20K in the case I am aware of) will get you close to $10K in EITC and refundable child credit.
Tells me it’s time to raise the minimum wage.
WAY past time.
Pricey homes in Richmond’s eminent domain plan
sfgate.com, San Francisco Chronicle | August 20, 2013 | Carolyn Said
Richmond’s controversial plan to seize underwater mortgages through eminent domain includes loans for at least two homes purchased for over $1 million as well as other high-end properties - a revelation that appears to undermine the city’s argument that the plan would combat blight.
The city is pursuing mortgages with balances ranging from $98,000 to $1.12 million, according to data collected by Marc Joffe, an analyst who received the property addresses, loan balances, offer amounts and other information through a California public records request and shared them with The Chronicle.
–SNIP–
Eminent domain is the seizure of private property for a public purpose. City leaders argued that the public purpose is to keep families in their homes and prevent blight and the destabilizing impact of foreclosures. Banks say the plan is unconstitutional and would drive up lending costs in Richmond.
ridiculous bs
The plan is to make renters pay for other people’s mortgages. If you didn’t do your duty by buying an overpriced shack from a Baby Boomer during the last bubble, then you will pay for it now through your taxes. If you bought an unaffordable house like a good servant, then you can have it for free as a reward.
Went to dinner with neighbors who own their townhouse. They thought we bought this one. I’m not sure if that’s why they felt comfortable inviting us out, but their was an obvious shift in mood when I said we were renting it.
The dregs of society, we renters are…
So narscum releases their “data” on housing resales for July today. It’s going to be a doozy if they can be trusted to tell the truth.
What are ya hearing?
cratering demand as the result of of the rapid increase in interest rates.
Probably the voices in his own head.
While living in yours, rent free.
I evicted you for non-payment of rent a few months back. I copped that default judgment when you didn’t show up for the hearing, bro.
I’m still in there, enjoying the vast empty space.
And it drives you nuts.
Get a room, you two.
It is good to be a public union thug.
After all, we can always raise property taxes.
————————————
State to reduce pensions of 3 ex-firefighters
The Seattle Times | Tuesday, August 20, 2013 | Mike Baker
Washington auditors have determined that pre-retirement salary increases led to more than $30,000 in excess pension payments for three former firefighters, and the state projects it will save the system more than $140,000 by permanently reducing their combined pension values.
… Even with the reductions, Hull, Bronoske and McGovern will still have some of the most valuable pensions in the entire state — each of them more than $150,000 per year.
Hull, Bronoske and McGovern retired near the beginning of 2010. Shortly before departing, they received substantial salary increases in three different ways. Each got a 4.2 percent cost-of-living increase along with a new $500 monthly payment for their years of service. Local officials also agreed at the end of 2009 to give Hull and Bronoske a 4 percent increase in duty pay along with a 2 percent increase for McGovern.
By the time they retired, each of their salaries was near $200,000 per year. … Other pension systems calculate the retiree’s benefit by looking at an average of the person’s salary over time.
Okay, off to go to my purely COMMERCIAL job (got that, commieRado?). Embedded software for medical devices.
Yeah - but you drove on a “government road” to get to work so if you are not for bigger and bigger government you are just a hypocrite…
You’re done here, reptile.
commieRado
Unlike you, I have always worked in the private sector. I have never worked for our oppressive government, designing weapons for them … got that, collaborator?
And while I’m not commie, I would rather be one than a collaborator.
BFF you vote for thugernment. I vote libertarian
…BFD…not BFF of the commierado
“got that, commieRado”
Whoa, Bill, WTF? Maybe I missed something here, but I hardly think Colorado deserves that. He’s usually pretty much on an even keel with his comments and insights. And I, for one, value his perspective on matters south of the border as it pertains to the situation in the US at this time.
It’s because I have accused him in the past of being a “collaborator”, because he accepted money from our corrupt government to work on weapon systems.
Calling me a commie is beyond absurd. Since when have I advocated the nationalization of all enterprises or a dictatorship of the proletariat? He calls me a “commie” because I don’t embrace his Ayn Rand vision of a Libertarian Paradise.
But you have to admit that the medical device industry is receiving a lot of support from government-forced health insurance.
The entire medical industry is a scam.
The funny thing is, I picked up a piece of medical equipment a few months ago and I have to bypass the embedded computer to get it to fire at full power
The entire medical industry is a scam.
Agreed. It’s about getting you paying rather than getting you well.
The funny thing is, I picked up a piece of medical equipment a few months ago and I have to bypass the embedded computer to get it to fire at full power
Cringe…
Everyone in the US including Commierado is getting subsidies of some sort. You are too.
So that does not mean an anarchist should not agitate for anarchism or a libertarian should not agitate for libertarianism.
“Get what you can get for your house today because todays price is your best price for decades to come”.
Exactly. And you don’t want to be the sucker on the buy side. Beware.
Three Thousand Homes Were Sold in Austin Last Month—The Most Ever
Get any new neighbors recently? KUT is reporting that 3,135 homes were sold in Austin in July, the most ever. That’s according to the Austin Board of Realtors, who also report that not only are a lot of homes being sold, but they’re also selling faster, too. A house selling in Austin will now spend 41 days on the market—a year ago, the average was 64 days. This comes after last month’s report that rent in Austin is at an all-time high of about $1.15 per square foot. Why all the buying and renting? Because, duh, everyone is moving to Austin (most of them are probably coming from somewhere else in Texas). Housing bubble? What housing bubble?
http://austinist.com/2013/08/20/three-thousand_homes_were_sold_in_a.php
I doubt very seriously they are all ‘coming from somewhere else in Texas’. If I had to guess I’d say they’re coming from the west coast. Keep Austin weird!
Inventory in Austin has been increasing since February. Prices have been decreasing since April, on a per-square-foot basis.
With the housing market ever improving in the face of rising interest rates, I see no reason the Fed should worry that a QE3 taper might harm the housing recovery.
Aug. 21, 2013, 10:16 a.m. EDT
Home sales climb in July to nearly four-year peak
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By Ruth Mantell, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Existing-home sales in July jumped to the highest level since late 2009, as buyers looked to lock in mortgage rates before they rose any further, according to data released Wednesday morning.
The National Association of Realtors reported that existing-home sales in July rose 6.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.39 million. That level was the highest since late 2009, when buyers rushed to make a tax-credit deadline.
Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected July’s existing-home sales to reach a rate of 5.21 million, compared with an original June estimate of a 5.08 million rate. On Wednesday, NAR revised June’s rate to 5.06 million.
Up 17.2% from the prior year, the latest data on existing-home sales show a market that continues to rebound.
…
So they overstated last month, revised it down yesterday to inflate todays number. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Meanwhile, the inventory that did change hands went from from the lenders balance sheet to private equity…… and the houses are still empty.
More evidence here that the Fed could taper QE3 w/o damaging the housing recovery:
Markets
8/21/2013 @ 9:15AM
Toll Brothers CEO Says Housing Rebound Is Real, Still In Early Stages
High-end home builder Toll Brothers (TOL +1.71%) reported a drop in fiscal third-quarter profits Wednesday, but the dip was due largely to a tax expense as pre-tax income, revenues and home deliveries all climbed in the quarter.
Toll Brothers recorded net income of $46.6 million, or 26 cents per share, down from $61.6 million a year ago. The 2012 figure included an $18.7 million tax benefit though, compared with a $21.7 million tax expense in the most recent quarter.
On a pre-tax basis Toll Brothers earned $68.3 million, up from $43 million a year ago.
Revenue in the quarter rose $689.2 million and the company delivered 1,059 units, a 10% increase in volume and 24% rise in price. The average selling price was $651,000 and $612,000 when excluding 16 luxury properties on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
Gross margin picked up too, clocking in at 25.1% (excluding interest and write-downs), versus 24.1% the prior year.
Net signed contracts were up 47% on a dollar basis to $992.6 million and 26% in units to 1,405 from fiscal 2012, while the cancellation rate was steady at 4.6%. Toll Brothers has a backlog of $2.8 billion, up 75%, and 4,001 units, up 56%, compared with a year ago.
Executives expressed confidence that the builder’s rebound from the dark days of following the housing bust still has a long runway ahead.
“We believe the recovery is real and we are in the early stages of the rebound,” said CEO Douglas Yearley, touting better sales volumes and pricing power.”
…
Conventional wisdom when I was a kid: Cop that degree, move to NYC; get job, no probs.
Conventional wisdom for today’s HS kids: Cop that PAYE & EBT, move back in with parents after college.
It’s crazy what a difference a dozen years make.
today is all about far part 15.404-4
http://www.acquisition.gov/far/html/Subpart%2015_4.html
How sick is that?
If I was going to give the average fratty 21 yr old college upperclassman a tip right now, it would be to go to one of the Alaska community colleges that have a Process Technology A.S. degree. Go right after you graduate with your bachelor’s.
Here’s one of the best of these programs: http://www.ctc.uaf.edu/
If you do well in that program, almost guaranteed you’ll make 120k or so your first yr on the job. There is great job security too, since these guys have good tangible skills in a vital industry.
To ensure you get the job, work as a roustabout while you’re in the CC program and show that you’re a hard worker, easy person to be around for hours at a time, etc.
The hardest part about this gameplan would be convincing one’s ‘boomer parents that doing this really is better than droning away for some multinational corp.
Process technology will turn out to be the “computer studies” field of the 20teens. Grand rush, then a glut of grads working for seasonal peanuts. Oil as fuel is a dying industry, and it only takes a few folks to turn the valves and pull the levers for $120K/year.
“Rebound”
What happens after the rebound?
When a ball bounces down an incline, its momentum increases.
illustration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRWk3IeM4to
Then there’s the voluntary death leap.
http://imageshack.us/a/img688/2484/40973600.jpg
The Problem is that the rebound is ocurring in “garbage time” if we want to continue using the basketball analogies.
35 yr sentence for Manning
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/judge-to-sentence-bradley-manning-today/2013/08/20/85bee184-09d0-11e3-b87c-476db8ac34cd_story.html
A travesty, IMO.
Agreed.
35 years is a travesty.
ANYTHING under 135 years is a miscarriage of justice.
Except that I think 90 was the maximum. Prosecutors asking for 60. Defense requested no more than 25.
You can’t be serious.
He made mistakes with copying things wholesale and including legitimately sensitive communications.
However, he also blew the whistle on outright murders that the military had covered up.
The reason the US is able to be such a negative force in so much of the world is a lack of accountability. But it seems like we (the US) will never change course or learn. Until it is too late.
Take all of Darrell’s rants with a grain of salt.
Truth doesn’t come cheap.
Bush was direcrly behid hudreds of thousands of deaths - gets a nice retirement and will build a billion dollar presidential library
Ditto Cheney - gets a new heart
Obama was directly behind thousands of deaths - gets reelected 4 more years to kill more
Bradley Manning - didn’t kill anyone. gets 35 years.
think people. think.
Bradley Manning released top secret information that very well may have resulted in death.
He should NEVER be a free man, EVER.
Do you realize that had his fellow marines known what he was about to do, they could have shot and killed him?
TV shows cops shooting at fleeing suspects all the time. That is BS. Cops can only use when there is probable risk of death or serious bodily harm to themselves or another.
HOWEVER, if you have top secret information, and there is the probability you will release it, you can be shot and killed, in the back, while fleeing.
This is SERIOUS stuff, not jay walking.
I think he should have gotten the death penalty, but would have been okay with 100+ year sentence.
35 years is an outrageously short sentence for releasing top secret information.
‘The Obama administration provided a New York Times reporter exclusive access to a range of high-level national security officials for a book that divulged highly classified information on a U.S. cyberwar on Iran’s nuclear program, internal State Department emails show.
The information in the 2012 book by chief Washington correspondent David E. Sanger has been the subject of a yearlong Justice Department criminal investigation: The FBI is hunting for those who leaked details to Mr. Sanger about a U.S.-Israeli covert cyberoperation to infect Iran’s nuclear facilities with a debilitating computer worm known as Stuxnet.’
‘Mr. Sanger’s book debuted in June 2012 and brought an immediate call from Republicans to investigate the leaks. They charged that administration officials jeopardized an ongoing secret cyberattack by tipping off Iran’s hard-line Islamic regime about war plans.
They also charged that Obama aides were leaking sensitive materials on other issues, such as the Navy SEAL-CIA raid to kill Osama bin Laden, to burnish Mr. Obama’s credentials as commander in chief as the 2012 election approached.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/aug/18/trail-of-stuxnet-cyberwar-leak-to-author-leads-to-/?page=all#pagebreak
Uh, oh.
‘The FBI is hunting for those who leaked details to Mr. Sanger about a U.S.-Israeli covert cyberoperation to infect Iran’s nuclear facilities with a debilitating computer worm known as Stuxnet.’
Once unleashed, how are these controlled? Seems like a computer or two of mine have had Stuxnet issues over the years…
Once unleashed, how are these controlled? Seems like a computer or two of mine have had Stuxnet issues over the years…
You got a lot of centrifuges in the basement? From what I’ve heard of Stuxnet even if it’s on your machine it doesn’t matter unless your machine is attached to just the right type of peripheral hardware.
“They also charged that Obama aides were leaking sensitive materials on other issues, such as the Navy SEAL-CIA raid to kill Osama bin Laden, to burnish Mr. Obama’s credentials as commander in chief as the 2012 election approached.”
Look for top-secret NSA-collected data to strategically surface around the time Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential election campaign gets revved up.
Oh Darrell, you really need to get off this whole “government before country” thing. He released documents that did NOT result in any harm to the United States, and he never intended to harm the United States. He was trying to help us, and he did. He is part of a movement of individuals who, completely individually and on their own, at around the same time, have decided to blow the lid off this farce of “leadership” in the US. We need more transparency in this country, and apparently we will only be getting it through leakers for a while.
In the meanwhile, all this improperly classified information on immoral/illegal/questionable government practices IS ACTUALLY CAUSING PEOPLE TO DIE. The only way to stop the senseless killing and theft is to let people know what’s going on.
“government before country”
It’s enough to make you wanna hurl.
Silver lining: At least these posts don’t include endless rants on homespun trade theory.
‘I think he should have gotten the death penalty’
No no no, what kind of message would that send to the peasants? Here’s what needs to happen; Obama could order a DC stadium seized. Then fill it with blood-thirsty soldiers (and people like yourself). Then bring out Manning so Obama can give him the thumbs down. At that moment, release the wild animals. And when Manning is almost dead, Obama could tie his body to one of his limo’s and drag him around in circles on the stadium floor. Afterward, while Obama holds a lavish feast, Manning’s body will be taken to the edge of the Imperial City and left on a cross for all to see. Then, all will know what happens to those who expose government crimes and embarrass their diplomats. For it must be made clear to the masses; there are laws for them, and no laws restricting the rulers. It is in this way that we will be safe.
“Then, all will know what happens to those who expose government crimes and embarrass their diplomats.”
All political leaders need do is relabel a protected ‘whistle blower’ as a ‘traitor’, and he becomes fair game for summary justice based on trumped up charges.
Worst possible crime: Embarrass Congress by revealing that the surveillance programs they approved violate the U.S. Constitution.
He was unfit for service and should have washed out of boot camp.
I think that’s true, he was just not up to handling the stress associated with his job and it’s sort of cruel to punish someone for that. Poor guy is probably now in far worse shape than he was before, too.
Apparently he was actually sent to the discharge unit in boot camp but his discharge was rescinded. I don’t know why that happened, but it happened.
That’s interesting. But I still say it sucks to take someone who isn’t mentally or otherwise fit, put them in a position where they’re privy to state secrets and punish the hell out of them for taking the bait. It’s like whipping a dog for grabbing the steak left out on the front porch. Cruel and unusual punishment. I think the poor guy was only trying to work out his resentments and frustrations.
I think Manning may be a lot like Snowden. Interesting article on how the lack of employer loyalty is affecting young workers:
Snowden leaks: the real take-home
Key quote: We human beings are primates. We have a deeply ingrained set of cultural and interpersonal behavioural rules which we violate only at social cost. One of these rules, essential for a tribal organism, is bilaterality: loyalty is a two-way street. (Another is hierarchicality: yield to the boss.) Such rules are not iron-bound or immutable — we’re not robots — but our new hive superorganism employers don’t obey them instinctively, and apes and monkeys and hominids tend to revert to tit for tat quite easily when unsure of their relative status. Perceived slights result in retaliation, and blundering, human-blind organizations can slight or bruise an employee’s ego without even noticing. And slighted or bruised employees who lack instinctive loyalty because the culture they come from has spent generations systematically destroying social hierarchies and undermining their sense of belonging are much more likely to start thinking the unthinkable.
Edward Snowden is 30: he was born in 1983. Generation Y started in 1980-82. I think he’s a sign of things to come.
PS: Bradley Manning is 25.
That might go for countries as well as employers. Do younger people today feel the country is loyal to them?
A lot of younger people can see that this country is selling them down the river. A lot of older people can see that this place ain’t what it used to be.
That might go for countries as well as employers. Do younger people today feel the country is loyal to them?
No.
Snowden appears to be a man of principle who sought out evidence of government abuse and exposed it. Manning appears to be a confused and under-developed boy who lashed out at his bosses. To connect the two is a disservice to Snowden, IMHO.
“…lack of employer loyalty…”
If you pay an army of private contractors with no more than a high school education upwards of $120K a piece then give them access to top secret, highly sensitive military secrets, you deserve the situation at hand.
As ye sow, shall ye reap.
Excellent find, Slim! Thought provoking.
Never trust a used house salesman. They’ll lie to you every time.
What about a new house salesman?
Consider all Realtors tainted by the time they get their certification. None of them are “new” as in fresh and clean.
Seems like most of them are really dim too.
New or used, theyll bamboozle you in the same way a carnival barker takes change from kids.
How’s this for a bubble.
Check out in how little of New York City is the median home price less than five times the median household income.
http://gothamist.com/2013/08/20/affordability_map.php
Now this situation isn’t exactly comparable with the rest of the country because just 30 percent of city households own homes, and thus you’d expect homeowners to have relatively higher incomes here. But in many areas prices are sky high compared with the incomes of those who used to live there.
These GIS maps are really interesting. I could spend all day rendering various data layers. Thanks!
http://bloomberg.econoday.com/byshoweventfull.asp?fid=456311&cust=bloomberg-us&year=2013&lid=0&prev=/byweek.asp#top
Existing Home Sales. Interesting graphs.
Rate of increase is slowing. And the long-term trend is downward.
Oops. My bad. I mistook mortgage rates for home sales.
What’s odd to me is that the first graph appears to show a pretty steady increase on a month-to-month basis, but the data on the lower graph shows a less pronounced increase.
I think it may be scaling…the top graph has the chart with the X-Axis crossing the Y-Axis at 3MM, the bottom graph shows it crossing at 0.
In any event, the top graph seems to show a pretty steady rise in activity off of the bottom in the Summer of 2010 (was that abotu when the impact from the first time buyer tax credit wore off?).
Empty houses going from a bank to a private equity is meaningless…. other than they’re still empty.
Isn’t it more important to look at inventory, rather than sales?
Depends on how you define “inventory”.
If you define inventory as “vacant homes” relative to population, then I agree.
If you define inventory as “listings”, then I don’t think it’s an accurate representation of the supply/demand balance in the market.
Not sure if someone posted this last week when I was away, but it’s worth a look…
“The College Loan Scandal”
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/ripping-off-young-america-the-college-loan-scandal-20130815?print=true
(excerpt)
While it’s not commonly discussed on the Hill, the government actually stands to make an enormous profit on the president’s new federal student-loan system, an estimated $184 billion over 10 years, a boondoggle paid for by hyperinflated tuition costs and fueled by a government-sponsored predatory-lending program that makes even the most ruthless private credit-card company seem like a “Save the Panda” charity. Why is this happening? The answer lies in a sociopathic marriage of private-sector greed and government force that will make you shake your head in wonder at the way modern America sucks blood out of its young.
In the early 2000s, a thirtysomething scientist named Alan Collinge seemed to be going places. He had graduated from USC in 1999 with a degree in aerospace engineering and landed a research job at Caltech. Then he made a mistake: He asked for a raise, didn’t get it, lost his job and soon found himself underemployed and with no way to repay the roughly $38,000 in loans he’d taken out to get his degree.
Collinge’s creditor, Sallie Mae, which originally had been a quasi-public institution but, in the late Nineties, had begun transforming into a wholly private lender, didn’t answer his requests for a forbearance or a restructuring. So in 2001, he went into default. Soon enough, his original $38,000 loan had ballooned to more than $100,000 in debt, thanks to fees, penalties and accrued interest. He had a job as a military contractor, but he lost it when his employer ran a credit check on him. His whole life was now about his student debt.
student loan default rates soar in colorado:
http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_23905142?source=bb
Thanks, Joe. I’m printing this story for my wife and daughter tomorrow.
Just remember, Todays San Francisco is tomorrows Detroit. It happen every time.
Today’s detroit is tomorrows san fanscico?
oops.
Detroit is going gay and getting 2 big bridges?
I guess anything would be a better change than the way it is now.
Condo wife and I sold in 2007 for $ 405K just sold again for $ 403K. Surprising considering the recent insanity in northern VA.
i figured someone one would have “snapped that up” with “all cash” at a huge premium!
Condo wife and I
Is “condo wife” someone not to be confused with “house wife”?
LOLZ!
Although I think he meant “THE condo THE wife and I sold”
Good one, though.
The Real Condowives of NYC…no, wait, The Real Condowives of Miami.
Makes you wonder what they sold, twice!
Is “condo wife” someone not to be confused with “house wife”?
It made me think of Soylent Green, the apartment that included a concubine.
Oops. I really should read other peoples’ comments before posting my own. My bad. It is funny though.
nice.
What part of NoVA? This makes a big difference when deciding if the bubble is really going to pop or that area is just blah. If this was in Arlington near a Metro I might go up to our office rooftop and jump.
alexandria…not too far from old town…5 minute walk to the King Street metro.
OK, not going to throw myself off the building. 5 minutes means like 10 blocks, no? And it’s outside Old Town. Which I don’t even like anyway, but apparently some people do.
I see POS places going for 600-700k or more on the regular so it still seems like a bubble to me.
So you have a “condo wife”, in addition to your regular wife? Just kidding. I’ll be here all night, folks. Try the martinis.
“Condo wife”
Interesting concept. Don’t lots of Congressmen have those?
Some even have condo interns.
BA DUMP BA!
I doubt anyone else hear reads Salon (just outed myself as a shitlib, oops). Today Camille Paglia took an enormous dump on the Clintons and on ‘boomers in general:
————————————
(excerpt, full link at bottom)
I am praying for a credible presidential candidate to emerge from the younger tier of politicians in their late 40s. A governor with executive experience would be ideal. It’s time to put my baby-boom generation out to pasture! We’ve had our day and managed to muck up a hell of a lot. It remains baffling how anyone would think that Hillary Clinton (born the same year as me) is our party’s best chance. She has more sooty baggage than a 90-car freight train. And what exactly has she ever accomplished — beyond bullishly covering for her philandering husband? She’s certainly busy, busy and ever on the move — with the tunnel-vision workaholism of someone trying to blot out uncomfortable private thoughts.
I for one think it was a very big deal that our ambassador was murdered in Benghazi. In saying “I take responsibility” for it as secretary of state, Hillary should have resigned immediately. The weak response by the Obama administration to that tragedy has given a huge opening to Republicans in the next presidential election. The impression has been amply given that Benghazi was treated as a public relations matter to massage rather than as the major and outrageous attack on the U.S. that it was.
Throughout history, ambassadors have always been symbolic incarnations of the sovereignty of their nations and the dignity of their leaders. It’s even a key motif in “King Lear.” As far as I’m concerned, Hillary disqualified herself for the presidency in that fist-pounding moment at a congressional hearing when she said, “What difference does it make what we knew and when we knew it, Senator?” Democrats have got to shake off the Clinton albatross and find new blood. The escalating instability not just in Egypt but throughout the Mideast is very ominous. There is a clash of cultures brewing in the world that may take a century or more to resolve — and there is no guarantee that the secular West will win.
http://www.salon.com/2013/08/21/camille_paglia_it_remains_baffling_how_anyone_would_think_that_hillary_clinton_is_our_party%E2%80%99s_best_chance/
Democrats have got to shake off the Clinton albatross and find new blood.
I agree. This whole “Hillary 2016″ meme just says that the Dems are out of ideas.
Just like the pubes with “JEB! 2016″
Illuminating, isn’t it? I thought this was a country of innovation.
Instead, we trot out and hold up the Bush-Clinton crime families once again.
“It’s time to put my baby-boom generation out to pasture! We’ve had our day and managed to muck up a hell of a lot.”
We have plenty of innovation… when it comes to stealing money and literally outlawing competition.
We have plenty of innovation…
in the land of the spree and the home of the knave.
Just like the pubes with “JEB! 2016″
Exactly. And it looks like Cheney’s daughter is also trying to get into position as well…
I think the presidential term limit should apply to all immediate family members as well.
I had no idea she was running for President.
Me neither. All I’ve seen is very bad speculation being mistaken for de facto.
Could it be that it’s not that people are so in love with Hilary as it is a longing to go back to a time when life (and the economy) seemed better?
That Camille Paglia is always entertaining. I love to listen to her being interviewed on the radio. You never know what’s going to come out of her mouth. One minute she sounds insane and the next minute she’s brilliant and insightful.
That blathering troll makes Madonna look relevant.
I think Salon just gives her space every year or so to goose their page hits from all the people hating on her.
Ted Cruz: Ran up $1800 in poker debt in the Princeton dorms in the 80’s like it was no big deal.
So relatable to Americans. Such a bright, shining light to help America get back on track (never mind that Ted Cruz, unlike Obama, actually is a foreigner who needed to be naturalized).
——————————-
“Cruz also angered a number of upperclassmen his freshman year when he joined in a regular poker game and quickly ran up $1,800 in debt to other students from his losses. Cruz’s spokeswoman, Catherine Frazier, said Cruz acknowledges playing in the poker games, which he now considers “foolish.””
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/19/ted-cruz-at-princeton-creepy-sometimes-well-liked-and-exactly-the-same.html
Hey Lib…. I thought I told you to go get us a room.
Yes, but did he pay them?
That would be more telling.
I see that the “plunge protection team” brought out the Charley McCarthy doll to spew out some more pablum for the masses. Market quickly reacts, but yet it only stopped the bleeding for a bit. The manipulation is beyond belief. Vegas truly has more regualtion(and better odds IMO).
Jas! Is that you?
“Temeculan”
Is that a disgraced Romulan living in S. California?
If the S&P managed to make it back into the red after TODAY’S headlines, then surely it will continue downward for quite some time.
You can guess that when the Wall Street Journal runs a front page story on how the shorts are getting perpetually killed, it must be close to the time for shorts to get paid.
EARNINGS
August 20, 2013, 9:24 p.m. ET
Rising Markets Batter Short Sellers
Investors Betting Stocks Will Fall See Worst Losses in Decade
By JULIET CHUNG and ROB BARRY
CONNECT
Short sellers are facing their worst losses in at least a decade, a Wall Street Journal analysis has found, as many of the rising stocks they bet against have only continued to soar.
That has stung several high-profile hedge-fund managers, including William Ackman and David Einhorn, who have placed prominent short bets.
In the Russell 3000 index, the 100 most heavily shorted stocks are sharply outperforming the average returns of stocks in the index, according to a Journal analysis of data provided by S&P Capital IQ. The shorted stocks are up by an average of 33.8% through Aug. 16, versus 18.3% for all stocks in the index.
The gap between the performance of the most-shorted shares—as measured by percent of total shares outstanding at the beginning of the years—and the market as a whole is wider than it has been in at least a decade.
“If you just took hedge funds’ long positions, you would have pretty stellar performance,” said Greg Dowling of Fund Evaluation Group, a Cincinnati-based investment firm that invests client money in hedge funds. “It’s on the short side where guys have been getting killed.”
…
“Investors Betting Stocks Will Fall See Worst Losses in Decade”
Beware the power of the printing press.
Mr Market is in a sucky mood as of late. There’s a whole lot of dangerous divergences going on.
Aug. 21, 2013, 8:31 a.m. EDT
Dangerous divergences unseen since 2007
Commentary: Message of A/D line and High Low Logic Index
By Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (MarketWatch) — You can’t say that the stock market isn’t giving us plenty of warning that downside risk is both high and rising.
The latest big warning comes from the failure in late July/early August of the NYSE Advance/Decline line to confirm the stock market’s new highs. This non-confirmation is potentially quite worrisome, according to several of the market technicians I monitor, because it means that an unexpectedly few stocks were participating in the broad market’s march into new-high territory.
From the perspective of this non-confirmation, the stock market’s decline over the last couple of weeks is therefore not a surprise.
The NYSE Advance/Decline line is calculated by taking the number of issues that rise in price on a given day, and subtracting the number that fall. This net number is added to the cumulative total of prior days’ readings, resulting in a historical data series.
This series topped out in May, according to several of the technical analysts whose services I monitor. When the broad market averages rose to new highs in July and early August, in contrast, the A/D line apparently failed to join in.
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Detroit: Ex-Detroit mayoral candidate hides with intruders inside home
Former mayoral candidate Lisa Howze is recovering from an apparent break-in while she was inside her home on a day she made a controversial political decision.
Amid a fire storm of criticism, Howze announced her endorsement of former DMC CEO Mike Duggan for mayor on Tuesday, and that decision caused an instant uproar on social media with supporters calling her a sellout who had betrayed their trust.
Howze returned at about about 5 p.m. to her home in the Mohican Regent neighborhood. Four hours later, she was upstairs in her bedroom chatting on the phone with friends over the day’s events.
“Then I heard a thump,” Howze said on Wednesday. “I thought what is that noise?”
She heard things tumbling over downstairs while realizing someone was inside her home.
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When Howze called police, telling a dispatcher she was a former mayoral candidate who had just completed a news conference.
“I thought that if I explained who I was that it might illustrate the state of mind I was in,” Howze said. “I was hoping for a faster response time.”
The first patrol car arrived in about 20 minutes, she said.
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“The officer told me ‘it’s time to get my CPL license,’” Howze said. “I had resisted for a long time, saying, no I’m not getting a gun, I’m not get a gun. Now I’m not resisting.”
Will they play “O, Canada!” alongside “The Star Spangled Banner” at the GOP convention in 2016 if Ted Cruz is the nominee?
They will have to since we made hakuna matata our national song not long ago.
Once we reach the point of One World Government of the Serfs, By the Bankers, For the Bankers, such nationalist cultural relics will no longer matter.
We still have people willing to go to prison for decades to keep us free. That should be some comfort.
Not to the likes of Darrell, who’s swallowed the official spew hook, line, and sinker.
Americans of conscience are traitors, don’t you know? Manning should just have sold “secret” information like Mossad bagman, Mark Rich did. Then a pardon would be imminent.
Aug. 21, 2013, 4:34 p.m. EDT
Fed tapering: The math investors need to know
Commentary: What ‘normal’ interest rates would do to stock valuations
By Brett Arends
In October, 2007, just before the crash, the stock market put on one last surge to new highs. Even though it was clear there were icebergs all around — and indeed several ships were already taking on water and listing heavily — the participants in the market decided to party One Last Time.
My excellent friend Peter Bennett, a money manager in London who has called most of the big market moves over the past 15 years, sent a missive to his clients with a powerful one-word headline: “Farce.”
Economists say economic growth is likely good enough for the Fed to pull back on its stimulus later this year. Photo: AP
Well, here we are again. I am not so bold as to predict what is going to happen over the next few months, but the situation on Wall Street brings that word to mind yet again.
In the past two months bonds have slumped, long-term interest rates have surged, and yet the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 have been hitting new highs.
Farce.
I don’t offer crystal-ball gazing, hocus-pocus or any other associated magic or marketing shtick. I can only offer some basic math, basic common sense (I hope) and the perspective of someone who’s first discipline was neither management nor science but history.
In a nutshell: Federal Reserve “tapering” — the winding down of “quantitative easing,” and the normalization of interest rates — changes absolutely everything in the markets.
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Also see: Fed says taper on track by the end of the year
Treasury yields always go up, just like stock prices were only a month-or-so ago.
Aug. 21, 2013, 4:22 p.m. EDT
Treasury yields jump to 2-year highs on Fed fears
By Ben Eisen, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices fell Wednesday, and yields climbed to new 2-year highs, after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July policy meeting suggested officials largely agreed the central bank should wind down the Fed bond-purchase program before the end of the year.
Medium-term Treasury yields, which are most sensitive to the Fed’s monetary policy changes, sold off the most, jumping back up to their highest levels since July 2011 on the news. The 5-year note (5_YEAR +0.61%) yield, which moves inversely to price, surged 9 basis points to 1.634%, according to Tradeweb. The 7-year note (7_YEAR +0.43%) yield jumped 9 basis points to 2.299%.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury note (10_YEAR +0.35%) yield advanced 7.5 basis points to 2.888% and 30-year bond (30_YEAR -0.15%) yield rose 6 basis points to 3.918%, both at their highest yields since 2011.
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Fiatscos
GoonSquad, how has the Colorado mountain weather been? I am pretty sure I am booking a flight to Denver soon to hit up the Colorado Trail. Snow was happening at high elevation last year in early October. Wonder if it is likely to hit early this year.
Your Housing Bubble Blog posts may be subject to NSA surveillance. And in this case, it could possibly be legal.
Even the secret tribunal believes the N.S.A. has overstepped its bounds. Ya gotta love the irony!
Secret Court Castigated N.S.A. on Surveillance
By CHARLIE SAVAGE and SCOTT SHANE
Published: August 21, 2013
WASHINGTON — A federal judge sharply rebuked the National Security Agency in 2011 for gathering and storing tens of thousands of Americans’ e-mails each year as it hunted for terrorists and other legitimate foreign targets, according to the top secret court ruling, which was made public on Wednesday.
The 85-page ruling by Judge John D. Bates, then serving on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, involved an N.S.A. program that searches Americans’ international Internet communications for discussion of foreigners under surveillance. Judge Bates found that the agency had violated the Constitution for several years and declared the problems part of a pattern of “misrepresentation” by agency officials in submissions to the secret court.
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Mind your grammar when sending emails.
At least I finally understand how firms reliant on seemingly sketchy online advertising business models make countless billions of dollars.
U.S. NEWS
Updated August 20, 2013, 11:31 p.m. ET
New Details Show Broader NSA Surveillance Reach
Programs Cover 75% of Nation’s Traffic, Can Snare Emails
By SIOBHAN GORMAN and JENNIFER VALENTINO-DEVRIES
CONNECT
WASHINGTON—The National Security Agency—which possesses only limited legal authority to spy on U.S. citizens—has built a surveillance network that covers more Americans’ Internet communications than officials have publicly disclosed, current and former officials say.
The system has the capacity to reach roughly 75% of all U.S. Internet traffic in the hunt for foreign intelligence, including a wide array of communications by foreigners and Americans. In some cases, it retains the written content of emails sent between citizens within the U.S. and also filters domestic phone calls made with Internet technology, these people say.
The NSA’s filtering, carried out with telecom companies, is designed to look for communications that either originate or end abroad, or are entirely foreign but happen to be passing through the U.S. But officials say the system’s broad reach makes it more likely that purely domestic communications will be incidentally intercepted and collected in the hunt for foreign ones.
The programs, code-named Blarney, Fairview, Oakstar, Lithium and Stormbrew, among others, filter and gather information at major telecommunications companies. Blarney, for instance, was established with AT&T Inc., (T -1.15%) former officials say. AT&T declined to comment.
This filtering takes place at more than a dozen locations at major Internet junctions in the U.S., officials say. Previously, any NSA filtering of this kind was largely believed to be happening near points where undersea or other foreign cables enter the country.
Details of these surveillance programs were gathered from interviews with current and former intelligence and government officials and people from companies that help build or operate the systems, or provide data. Most have direct knowledge of the work.
The NSA defends its practices as legal and respectful of Americans’ privacy. According to NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines, if American communications are “incidentally collected during NSA’s lawful signals intelligence activities,” the agency follows “minimization procedures that are approved by the U.S. attorney general and designed to protect the privacy of United States persons.”
As another U.S. official puts it, the NSA is “not wallowing willy-nilly” through Americans’ idle online chatter. “We want high-grade ore.”
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“We want high-grade ore.”
That would be anyone critical of U.S. funded Israeli policy.