October 23, 2013

Bits Bucket for October 23, 2013

Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.




RSS feed

320 Comments »

Comment by Taxpayers
2013-10-23 04:27:04

2.52 -10yr
market saved- all hail BEN B uber allies

Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 05:14:52

Wbbr said today, “interest rates are going up. Its not a matter of if but when and its going to be meaningful.”

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 08:35:07

Bloomberg News
Copper Slumps From One-Month High as Chinese Interest Rates Rise
By Agnieszka Troszkiewicz October 23, 2013

Copper fell from a one-month high in New York after surging interest rates in China undermined the outlook for demand in the world’s biggest consumer of the metal.

The benchmark money-market rate jumped the most since July as China’s central bank refrained from adding funds to markets. Prices also slumped after the nation’s banks tripled the amount of bad loans written off in the first half and data yesterday showed employers in the U.S. hired fewer workers last month than estimated by economists in a Bloomberg survey.

“Just when it looked like metals might actually defy gravity and make an upside breakout from recent ranges, they took the shocking blow of overnight Chinese money-market rate spikes right on the chin,” Michael Turek, a senior director at Newedge Group SA in New York, said by e-mail.

Copper for delivery in December slid 1.4 percent to $3.2885 a pound by 8:32 a.m. on the Comex in New York. Prices touched $3.355 yesterday, the highest level since Sept. 20. Copper for delivery in three months fell 1.4 percent to $7,226 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange after slumping as much as 1.7 percent, the most in two weeks.

“Reversals in copper today seem greater in magnitude, perhaps because it has been used in China as collateral for short-term loans in anticipation of a credit crunch around year end, as occurred last year around the same time,” Turek said.

Comment by cactus
2013-10-23 08:51:00

Tech is getting hit hard before Christmas

hmmmm

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
Comment by CarrieAnne
2013-10-23 09:36:24

Looking forward to more assets than just housing taking a downward spiral in pricing. :)

 
 
Comment by Rick O'Shay
2013-10-23 05:27:51

“alles”—no “i”

Comment by Strawberrypicker
2013-10-23 07:16:50

Autocorrect will replace alles with allies.

 
 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 04:50:44

“Get what you can get for your house today because it’s going to be much less tomorrow for decades to come.”

Considering the tens of millions of excess empty houses out there, you’re understating it.

 
Comment by azdude02
2013-10-23 05:14:02

wage deflation with consumer goods inflation cannot substitute for asset inflation?

Comment by Combotechie
2013-10-23 05:57:07

With lots of debt and you can make up the difference.

(for a while)

Comment by Combotechie
2013-10-23 06:01:15

What’s wonderfull about debt is debt allows you to buy what you can’t afford to buy.

(Wonderful for the seller, not all that wonderful for the buyer. In the long run probably not wonderful for either one.)

Comment by azdude02
2013-10-23 06:04:14

what if the buyer never intends on paying the money back?

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by Combotechie
2013-10-23 06:12:59

Now you are looking toward the future. In our “I want it now!” society looking toward the future is old school.

Consider: If a buyer depends on debt then the seller also - indirectly - depends on debt; The seller depends on debt being taken on by the buyer.

If buyers cannot take on debt in order to buy then sellers will have nobody to sell to. If sellers have nobody to sell to then they will have to close up shop and send everybody home.

 
Comment by Combotechie
2013-10-23 06:22:58

IMO it all has to do with the time element: Sales are booked immediately while the money that financed the sale - money that was borrowed - will (hopefully) be collected sometime in the future.

If you are somebody that lives from quarter-to-quarter then you need to make your numbers for that quarter. Collecting the money that financed the sale is pushed forward - is kicked down the road.

 
Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2013-10-23 06:26:51

IMHO it is all about cash flow. Things prey on expansion too, as if everything can expand in unison in a finite consumer world.At least on paper things are planned to expand. It sounds good for the investors to hear it.

 
Comment by aNYCdj
2013-10-23 06:28:44

Or they could do what Xerox did in the late 90’s self finance the questionable quality buyers until you can’t and BOOM… the stock went from over 60 to under 4……and its still only $10

 
 
Comment by Rick O'Shay
2013-10-23 06:45:32

WRONG!!! Transfer the risk of lending to a third party. Book the sale, book the revenue, pass on the chance of not collecting.

 
Comment by Combotechie
2013-10-23 06:49:48

“… pass on the chance of not collecting.”

But if the chance of not collecting increases then the cost of transfering the debt to a third party also increases, and this increased cost will ultimately have to be born by the borrower either in the form of paying a higher interest rate or by not being able to borrow at all.

 
Comment by Combotechie
2013-10-23 06:58:36

It was easy to do a few years ago because then receivers of junk debt were deceived. Not so much anymore.

 
Comment by Strawberrypicker
2013-10-23 06:58:57

Or picked up by the government. Bail em all out. Guarantee all the loans! Raise minimum wage to $20. Free health care for all.

 
Comment by Rick O'Shay
2013-10-23 07:01:19

“But if the chance of not collecting increases then the cost of transfering the debt to a third party also increases, and this increased cost will ultimately have to be born by the borrower either in the form of paying a higher interest rate or by not being able to borrow at all.”

Soooooooo–you just EXTEND THE TERMS of the loan!!! See, now you’ve “hidden” the higher risk premium inside a LOWER MONTHLY PAYMENT!!!

(and the consumers line up by the thousands)

 
Comment by (Still) Waiting for the Fall
2013-10-23 07:02:23

Here’s the answer!!!

Steve Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group LP (BX) has spent $7.5 billion acquiring 40,000 houses in the past two years to create the largest single-family rental business in the U.S. The private-equity firm is now planning to sell bonds backed by lease payments, the latest step in turning a small business into a mature industry.

Full article:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-23/blackstone-creating-rental-home-bonds-after-buying-spree.html

Then sell the bonds to unsuspecting foreigners or pension plans you want to see insolvent…

 
Comment by Carl Morris
2013-10-23 08:04:08

But if the chance of not collecting increases then the cost of transfering the debt to a third party also increases,

Unless you have the clout to get the taxpayer to step in as the third party. The ultimate dumb money…

 
Comment by Bluestar
2013-10-23 08:29:19

The Financial Accounting Standards Board makes all this wishful thinking that future debt must be paid off a joke.
Bag it, tag it and stuff it in the FED. FASB says no mark-to-market and we can’t do squat about it. Congress hasn’t acted to restrain the FED or the FSAB in decades so color me skeptical.

 
Comment by my failure to respect is unacceptable
2013-10-23 08:39:47

We all know for a fact that the debt won’t be paid back. So why not default NOW?

 
Comment by Carl Morris
2013-10-23 09:53:15

We all know for a fact that the debt won’t be paid back. So why not default NOW?

That might result in somebody not getting reelected.

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2013-10-23 11:23:52

Question: Is Blackstone’s scheme to securitize collected rents on 40,000 homes crazier or less crazy than Bowie Bonds?

I say less crazy…assuming the underwriting is conservative (like 2x coverage on payments at current rent levels).

People paying rent for shelter seems like a better bet than people continuing to pay for Ziggy Stardust (given that music seems to be getting harder to monetize).

 
Comment by my failure to respect is unacceptable
2013-10-23 11:38:50

Do we know what percentage of the 40,000 units are renters occupied by now?

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2013-10-23 12:10:03

I haven’t seen an occupancy number from Blackstone.

American Homes 4 Rent was at 50% leased when they went public, but homes available for rent for more than 30 days were at 90% leased, and homes available for rent for more than 90 days were at 97% leased, so the 50% was more of an indicator of where they were in their portfolio construction as opposed to the foretelling of a structural vacancy problem. AH4R’s last report was at 56% in their portfolio as a whole was leased. Their next report is scheduled to be released in the first week in November. I expect that their occupancy will be higher still.

We’re involved with two rental portfolios. The first, which stopped buying homes early in 2013 is now at about 95% leased. The other portfolio, which is still adding a trickle of homes, is about 80% leased currently, with most of the vacancy in the more recent acquisitions (which have not been made available to rent).

 
 
Comment by my failure to respect is unacceptable
2013-10-23 07:00:34

Debt is wonderful…we need more of it.

I propose Reskins to be changed to Debtskins.

Washington Debtskins
We will destroy your team, town and country

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
 
 
Comment by Salinasron
2013-10-23 05:30:06

Ah, I feel so,so,so,good today. It must be the aroma of all that HOPE & CHANGE filling the air. These changes in medical care are just so warm and soothing like soaking in a hot tub!

Comment by jose canusi
2013-10-23 06:24:14

Yep, not going well. The best and the brightest. H1B software “engineers” with certificates from a two week course, LMAO. Windows Vista, anyone?

When foreigners think of the US as a place to work or emigrate to, an image of a giant set of buttocks comes to mind.

Comment by Strawberrypicker
2013-10-23 07:00:52

And what if the cost overruns of dealing with just the computer problem are emblematic of the whole system?

It is the Big Dig for 1/6th of our economy, but we won’t know it until we are already way over budget and it’s too late to turn back.

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 08:47:55

It is the Big Dig for 1/6th of our economy

How when ACA only affects 20% of that 1/6 and 80% of that 20% is paid for by individual premiums?

You are using AM radio math.

we won’t know it until we are already way over budget and it’s too late to turn back

Yea dude. The world is gonna end. Get grim and grit your teeth. Poor folk are gonna see doctors and stuff.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by Northeastener
2013-10-23 11:18:29

Get grim and grit your teeth. Poor folk are gonna see doctors and stuff.

I call more socialist BS from Rio. What happens when demand increases for a product or service without an increase in the corresponding supply of that product or service? What happens when government limits the amount that can be charged for said product or service? Take a look at every other government controlled health care system to see the answer… or take a look at Venezuela.

FWIW, I know personally of two primary care physicians who are leaving their private practices to go work in a large hospital group or outright retiring because they can’t make money in private practice any longer and are tired of dealing with the government BS. Anecdotal, but I guarantee this will accelerate. I’m sure Rio has an answer to that problem that involves more government…

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 12:00:40

I call more socialist BS from Rio.

Yawn..Of course you would. Because you don’t know the meaning of words and you are not original. And you’re mad. Almost everyone on the far-right is mad all the time. Grrrrr.

What happens when government limits the amount that can be charged for said product or service?

You get a Canadian/French system the VA and Medicare and less expensive health-care. Was that a trick question?

I know personally of two primary care physicians who are leaving their private practices to go work…..

I personally know of two universities that graduate 100’s of doctors every year.

I personally know of two primary care physicians who have a dog and a car.

 
Comment by Taxpayers
2013-10-23 12:11:35

canada = counting canes
and they are oil rich
socialized medicine scks everywhere and always

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 12:17:49

socialized medicine scks everywhere and always

Wrong.

For example:
France spends about 50% less per person and has better outcomes in many areas and a higher life expectancy. And everyone’s covered. And you can buy private options.

 
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 16:58:35

Poor folk are gonna see doctors and stuff.

ooops.. comrade closer, are you lying again?

you don’t mind if i paste an address or two for you, do you closer?

====

Health plans are sending hundreds of thousands of cancellation letters to people who buy their own coverage, frustrating some consumers who want to keep what they have and forcing others to buy more costly policies.

Florida Blue, for example, is terminating about 300,000 policies, about 80 percent of its individual policies in the state. Kaiser Permanente in California has sent notices to 160,000 people – about half of its individual business in the state.

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2013/October/21/cancellation-notices-health-insurance.aspx

====

(CBS News) CBS News has uncovered a serious pricing problem with HealthCare.gov. It stems from the Obama administration’s efforts to improve its health care website. A new online feature can dramatically underestimate the cost of insurance.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505269_162-57608843/healthcare.gov-pricing-feature-can-be-off-the-mark/

====

oprah no likey either..

Talk-Show Queen Oprah Turns Her Back On Obama; Refuses to Endorse ObamaCare

and this

Oblivious Obama totally clueless of ObamaCare troubles, Sebelius asserts: By Andrew Malcolm

no links to the last two. just use your paste function comrade closer, to find them in google. you’re good at pasting.

looks like lots of poor folks aren’t going to be able to afford obamacare, comrade closer.

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 17:09:06

Yeah, and they have a 100% tax rate too. No thanks.

BTW:

‘Obamacare penalties may be delayed.
Official says effective deadline to have insurance could be postponed.’

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/obamacare-mandate-may-be-delayed-2013-10-23?link=MW_home_latest_news

A comment:

‘Simple strategy to get the delayed pushed through on a bill….

have the Republicans say they will block any delay and the White House and Democrats in the Senate and House will stampede a bill through to delay it for sure. In the end the Republicans would have achieved what they wanted - a delay.’

‘(Really stupid how the Clowns in Congress do a fake representation of the American people)’

 
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 17:16:48

Really stupid how the Clowns in Congress do a fake representation of the American people

i liken them to traitors.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 17:52:51

“ooops.. comrade closer, are you lying again?”

Of course she is. You, BJ, a few others and this blog is a threat to the system. That’s why there are paid liars here.

 
Comment by Northeastener
2013-10-23 19:06:18

Here’s the
Obamacare pricing schedule
… Everyone bend over and take it.

Co-pays way up, deductibles way up, pricing up… If you have insurance, you’ll be paying more. If you don’t have it, you’ll be paying more… Or paying the tax penalty. Either way, Democrats should all be tarred, feathered, and hung for this forcing this travesty of government abuse on a supposed free people.

 
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 19:34:12

Co-pays way up, deductibles way up, pricing up

and later you’ll find quality way down..

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 19:37:47

You, BJ,

“BJ”……, you got that right. :)

Democrats should all be tarred, feathered, and hung for this forcing this travesty of government abuse

You sound angry. It’s what you do.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 19:59:41

You lie. It’s what you do best.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2013-10-23 20:58:21

“You lie…”

Let’s call it “insult”. If the insult to the intelligence does not get traction, then it is the insult to the person. Just an abuser looking for a playmate.

I hope she sticks around to report first hand on the agony of the crashing Brazil bubble, and how she unfairly gets taken to the cleaners on the massive losses to her mama’s house down there.

You gotta wonder why a Brazilian spinster so wants to hang with Americans who think she is dull witted and mean spirited, and on a blog that is about her Big Mistake.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 21:05:01

I hope she sticks around to report first hand on the agony of the crashing Brazil bubble,

I will. I don’t care. How can it be agony when I’ve almost already made up my money in rent?

You gotta wonder why a Brazilian spinster

Spinster? Whatever you were married, almost double it for me.

And I live in Rio if need be. wink

 
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 21:32:48

And I live in Rio if need be. wink

i think comrade closer is sweet on you Blue Skye. i gotta pull the covers over my head on that one..

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2013-10-23 22:13:06

I’m shut down on that too. Going fishing for a few days.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-24 16:34:42

And I live in Rio if need be. wink

i think comrade closer is sweet on you Blue Skye.

Dirty mind and I don’t go that way. I live in Rio, the “sexiest city in the world”

If I needed action. I could get it any time.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-24 19:30:50

There isn’t a guy on the planet that would get near it.

 
 
Comment by Strawberrypicker
2013-10-23 18:47:21

Ro des t care if this costs 10 times what is was projected to cost. It’s other people’s money which she as a liberal pudgressive is happy to spend.

Get back to those kids you are ignoring nanny.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 19:38:47

Ro des t care

You sound angry. Look at that.

 
Comment by Strawberrypicker
2013-10-23 20:58:33

Autocorrect. Keep spending other people’s money. It is limitless.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by (Still) Waiting for the Fall
2013-10-23 05:31:00

Steve Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group LP has spent $7.5 billion acquiring 40,000 houses in the past two years to create the largest single-family rental business in the U.S. The private-equity firm is now planning to sell bonds backed by lease payments, the latest step in turning a small business into a mature industry.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-23/blackstone-creating-rental-home-bonds-after-buying-spree.html

From the article:

“You know how hard it is for you to buy a house?” the Blackstone chairman said. “I mean, you’ve got to negotiate with somebody, you’ve got all kinds of stuff, you’ve got the title. We did it for 40,000 houses.”

The world’s largest private-equity firm has been spending about $100 million a week on properties in states such as California, Arizona, Florida and Nevada since the start of this year, when Wall Street increased lending to the sector. Deutsche Bank, based in Frankfurt, has arranged at least $3.6 billion of credit lines for Blackstone’s home-buying unit.

“Financing this asset class through securitization is untested,” Whalen said in a telephone interview.

Blackstone plans to hold onto its rental homes for years to take advantage of rising prices amid an expected shortage of housing following years of underproduction of new residences after the financial crisis, according to Schwarzman.

This will end badly, I am afeared.

Comment by Carl Morris
2013-10-23 08:06:52

I wonder if a business that big has enough clout to prevent new construction that would compete with their inventory?

Comment by oxide
2013-10-23 08:33:21

There was plenty of construction, it was just all in the wrong places. And possibly the wrong kind. In the DC area all the new builds are: $300K condo, $500K townhouse, $700K McMansion. None of which are suitable for a family of 3-4, and definitely not for a guest worker family of 9-11.

I wonder who’s going to buy these rental backed securities. Are renters vetted for their income streams like homebuyers used to be?

Comment by Carl Morris
2013-10-23 09:55:52

There was plenty of construction

I mean going forward now that we have big boys owning big blocks of houses and wanting to maximize the value of their investment.

In the past the construction industry was the heavy hitter of local politics. But what happens when there’s someone big opposing them?

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by oxide
2013-10-23 14:39:17

Interesting city council meetings?

IMO, Blackstone already has the upper hand, at least in DC. Existing older houses are already desireable because they are ~$250-$300K SFH with shorter commutes and larger yards. New builds would be $500K attached product with a much longer commute and very little public transport — not the kind of properties that renters gravitate to, or could afford.

 
 
 
Comment by cactus
2013-10-23 08:53:22

I wonder if a business that big has enough clout to prevent new construction that would compete with their inventory?”

good point

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2013-10-23 10:21:16

I doubt it, there are apartment owners that have those numbers of units, and while they may get a seat at the table for various discussions (especially if they are a neighbor to a new development), they can’t stop development.

40k homes is a lot, but there are over 10 million single family home rentals in the U.S. and total inventory of housing units of well over 100 million.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 17:19:08

130 million plus.

25 MILLION of them go empty.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 08:37:05

“The private-equity firm is now planning to sell bonds backed by lease payments, the latest step in turning a small business into a mature industry.”

Better hurry before the echo bubble turns to bust.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 09:38:14

Its already ending badly.

They paid double the price and prices resumed falling as are rental rates.

Now how would you like to be holding those melting ice cubes? ;)

Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 10:41:21

‘to take advantage of rising prices amid an expected shortage’

This reminds me of poker; you have three cards of a straight and need two more. The odds of getting one card are slim, the odds of getting both are very slim. Actually, now we’ve got falling prices amid a glut of houses.

Which gets to a key point; if you’ve got good returns on rents, you shouldn’t be concerned about rising or falling prices, right?

I’m curious why the media doesn’t ask, ‘you’re a landlord, just collect the rent and pass it out.’ What’s up with these preferred share deals and bonds? It’s almost like they’re taking money off the table.

 
 
Comment by Arizona Slim
2013-10-23 10:35:45

Selling bonds backed by lease payments? What could POSSIBLY go wrong?

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2013-10-23 21:05:00

“I mean, you’ve got to negotiate with somebody, you’ve got all kinds of stuff, you’ve got the title…”

Not everyone has radar for this kind of speech. Some would lend him buckets of money.

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 05:43:00

It’s a bird…no it’s a plane…no IT’S A GINORMOUS BUBBLE!

LOOKOUT BELOW, SHE’S GONNA BLOW!

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 05:45:27

Bitcoin exceeds $200 mark, investors worry about bubble
By Michael Lee | October 23, 2013 — 06:14 GMT (23:14 PDT)
Summary: Bitcoin has ramped up in value in the past week, bursting through the $200 ceiling, leading many to speculate that a bubble is forming.

Bitcoin has tipped over $200 in value on a number of exchange markets this week in the face of the recent Silk Road closure, prompting the questions: Is this a bubble, and how long will it last?

Bitcoin Sydney organiser and BitPOS founder Jason Williams told ZDNet that in his opinion, there are two main factors for the recent rally.

The first can be seen in oversees markets after Chinese web services company Baidu began accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment. Williams said that many consider Baidu to be the Chinese equivalent of Google in Asia, giving a lot of people confidence in the currency since such a large company is now backing it.

“On the back of this, it seems as though the leading Chinese exchange has been going ballistic with trading,” Williams said. He suggests that this may be due to new Chinese investors attempting to make early gains in a new area.

Comment by oxide
2013-10-23 09:44:48

the recent Silk Road closure

Hmmmm. The value of bitcoins lies in its ironclad pledge to “print” limited number of bitcoins up to a ceiling and then stop. And I assume that the internet cops can seize a stash of bitcoins when they raid an ilicit website just like any drug bust. So, what would the internet cops do with the bitcoins? Keep collecting them until they have them all, theoretically holding a store of infinite value? Or do they release them back into the wild by selling them back onto the open market, this time with a tracer? Or would Bitcoin give in and print more to replace the ones disappeared by the internet cops? Sounds like the subject for a short film.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 11:41:43

How will the Winklevii handle counterfit Bitcoins? Or worse yet, rival virtual currencies to the Bitcoin which may spring up at any given moment?

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2013-10-23 13:34:38

‘what would the internet cops do with the bitcoins?’

Probably “lose” them like they lose dope from the evidence room.

 
 
Comment by Northeastener
2013-10-23 19:15:07

They haven’t seized anything because it is a peer to peer network and transfer of ownership of bitcoins requires the private key.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
 
Comment by azdude02
2013-10-23 05:48:09

I guess CAT layed a big goose egg. The only way anyone can afford their stuff anymore is by joining the howmuchamonthharvey club.

Comment by my failure to respect is unacceptable
2013-10-23 07:16:22

How come chinese are not buying all cash?

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 05:50:41

The Plum Line
The Morning Plum: Outside the conservative bubble, GOP sustains epic damage
By Greg Sargent
October 22 at 8:16 am
John Boehner (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

The Washington Post and ABC News have released a new batch of polling that shows in quite striking terms just how badly the shutdown fight has damaged the GOP.

The question, however, is: Do Republicans actually think it matters that their image is in such disastrous shape, or is that rendered inconsequential by the degree to which the House GOP majority is believed to be invulnerable? The numbers:

* Dems lead in the generic ballot matchup by 49-38. Among independents — a key midterm constituency — those numbers are 46-35.

* Only 21 percent of Americans approve of the way the Congressional GOP is handling the federal budget, versus 77 percent who disapprove. Among independents: 20-78. Among moderates: 14-85. Among seniors: 18-79. Fewer than one in three regard the GOP favorably.

* Only 20 percent think Republicans are “interested in doing what’s best for the country,” while 77 percent think they’re “interested in what’s best for themselves politically.” Among independents: 14-83. Among moderates: 18-81. Among seniors: 24-74.

* Americans blame the GOP for the shutdown by 53-29; moderates by 60-24; indys by 49-29; and seniors by 46-35.

Comment by Neuromance
2013-10-23 09:27:10

Two things happened:

1) In flyover, the congressman who supported this are reaping benefits in their own districts.

2) The Republican brand was clearly damaged in Virginia. In the “district-by-district” calculation, yes, mostly Democratic representatives were pressured. Regarding the statewide Virginia Senate outlook, Republican voters I talked to were outraged by the approximately 3 week shutdown. The practical result is to solidify Democratic control of Virginia. Maryland is perhaps the most Democratic state in the union so in the district-by-district calculation, outraging Maryland Republicans has little blowback at the federal level.

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 05:53:51

Panos Mourdoukoutas, Contributor
I cover global markets, business and investment strategy
Markets | 10/22/2013 @ 1:01PM |1,000 views
What Will End The Wall Street Bubble?

Anyone who has been around Wall Street long enough cannot help but be concerned about the blowing of a new bubble. The S&P500 (NYSE:SPY) is hitting one new high after another; NASDAQ (NASDAQ:QQQ) is racing towards the elusive pre-dot.com crash mark; and a number of hot stocks are trading at astronomical PEs.

Active traders and investors remain fixated on a single source of cheap money, the Federal Reserve, interpreting every lackluster economic report as good news for Wall Street — as was the case with today’s employment report. A weak economy will allow the Fed to continue its Quantitative Easing policies, keeping interest rates at record lows for as far as the eye can see.

Once again, hype begins to take over reason, with retail investors joining the party, fearing that they have missed the train to the Promised Land.

When will all this end? Unfortunately, I am not smart enough to tell you. What I can tell you, however, is how it will end: A liquidity event will turn into a credit event, which will be followed by massive liquidations; and the game will be over.

In fact, Wall Street did get a brief taste of this scenario two weeks ago, when T-Bill rates spiked from almost zero-percent to 0.27 percent, while high priced stocks like Priceline.com and Google tumbled.

What happened?

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 06:02:52

China major city home prices have recently risen at comparable rates to those in SoCal, possibly driven by the same group of speculators armed with QE3 liquidity trying to find a home.

China Major Cities Home Prices Jump, Fanning Bubble Concerns
By Bloomberg News - Oct 22, 2013 2:09 AM PT

Home prices in China’s four major cities jumped the most since January 2011, heightening concerns a bubble is forming as the government refrains from introducing more property curbs that would hinder economic growth.

New home prices in September rose 20 percent in the southern business hubs of Shenzhen and Guangzhou, 17 percent in Shanghai and 16 percent in Beijing from a year earlier as prices climbed in 69 of the 70 cities the government tracks.

Property stocks fell in Shanghai on speculation Premier Li Keqiang will be forced to impose stricter policies to rein in prices and limit risks to the economy. Li has held off tightened restrictions on property this year as his government strives to meet a 7.5 percent annual economic growth target.

“Home prices, especially in big cities, are a bit out of control,” said Liu Li-Gang, a Hong Kong-based economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ), in a phone interview today. “China’s facing an increasing risk of a property bubble.”

A gauge tracking property stocks on the Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) fell 1.5 percent at the close of trading, compared with a 0.8 percent drop in the benchmark.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 06:04:24

Copper Slumps From One-Month High as Chinese Interest Rates Rise
By Agnieszka Troszkiewicz - Oct 23, 2013 5:47 AM PT

Copper fell from a one-month high in New York after surging interest rates in China undermined the outlook for demand in the world’s biggest consumer of the metal.

The benchmark money-market rate jumped the most since July as China’s central bank refrained from adding funds to markets. Prices also slumped after the nation’s banks tripled the amount of bad loans written off in the first half and data yesterday showed employers in the U.S. hired fewer workers last month than estimated by economists in a Bloomberg survey.

“Just when it looked like metals might actually defy gravity and make an upside breakout from recent ranges, they took the shocking blow of overnight Chinese money-market rate spikes right on the chin,” Michael Turek, a senior director at Newedge Group SA in New York, said by e-mail.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 06:05:44

Ibovespa Futures Decline as Commodities Drop Amid China Concern
By Ney Hayashi - Oct 23, 2013 4:28 AM PT

Ibovespa futures declined, after the stock index rose yesterday to a seven-month high, as lower commodities prices sapped the outlook for Brazil’s raw-material exports amid concern growth in China will falter.

Grupo BTG Pactual (BBTG11), the Brazilian investment bank led by billionaire Andre Esteves, may be active as a person familiar with the matter said it is preparing a bid for JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s physical commodities business. Fibria Celulose SA (FIBR3), the world’s largest pulp producer, may move after posting earnings that missed estimates in the third quarter.

Ibovespa futures contracts expiring in December sank 0.5 percent to 55,500 at 9:15 a.m. in Sao Paulo. The real slid 0.5 percent to 2.1835 per dollar. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 raw materials lost 0.5 percent. Commodities producers account for about 39 percent of the Ibovespa’s weighting.

In China, the benchmark money-market rate jumped the most since July as the central bank refrained from adding funds to markets. The Asian country is Brazil’s biggest trading partner.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 06:07:35

Asian Stocks Retreat From Five-Month High on China Rates
By Jonathan Burgos - Oct 23, 2013 3:44 AM PT

Asian stocks fell, with the regional benchmark index retreating from a five-month high, after China’s money-market rates surged.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the nation’s largest lender, dropped 2.2 percent. Japan Exchange Group Inc. sank 3.7 percent after the main bourse operator in the world’s second-largest equity market didn’t boost its full-year profit forecast as analysts had expected. Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. jumped 14 percent after South Korea’s biggest shipping line by market value refinanced 280 billion won ($265 million) of debt.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.8 percent to 142.71 at 7:31 p.m. in Tokyo, erasing gains of as much as 0.5 percent. The gauge had risen for four days amid speculation the Federal Reserve will delay tapering economic stimulus. The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) closed at its lowest level in more than three weeks as China’s money market rates jumped the most since July.

The market has had a good run since the U.S. government ended a shutdown last week,” said Shane Oliver, Sydney-based head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors Ltd., which has about $130 billion under management. “We’re seeing a bit of a correction. Chinese interest rates are an issue. There’s a fear that the mini credit crunch we saw in June could return.”

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 06:08:58

U.S. Stock Futures Drop After 5-Day Rally on Earnings
By Namitha Jagadeesh - Oct 23, 2013 5:08 AM PT

U.S. stock futures declined, signaling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will fall from a record after five days of gains, as forecasts at companies from Caterpillar Inc. to Broadcom Corp. disappointed investors.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 06:12:00

Housing Bubbles Upend Central Bankers’ Rate Plans: Nordic Credit
By Saleha Mohsin & Johan Carlstrom - Oct 23, 2013 5:17 AM PT

Central bankers in Sweden and Norway are finding their efforts to steer inflation are being disrupted by a persistent threat of housing bubbles
.

While policy makers in both countries will keep interest rates unchanged tomorrow, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg, distortions in the two nations’ property markets are adding a layer of uncertainty to outlooks.

In Sweden, the largest Nordic economy, a brief lull in the housing market after a series of measures to curb demand has been replaced by accelerating prices. Apartment prices rose 14 percent in the 12 months through August after more than doubling since 2000.

In Sweden, the largest Nordic economy, a brief lull in the housing market after a series of measures to curb demand has been replaced by accelerating prices. Apartment prices rose 14 percent in the 12 months through August after more than doubling since 2000. That’s prompted Swedes to take on bigger mortgages to help finance their homes, driving debt relative to disposable incomes to a record high. Riksbank Governor Stefan Ingves has repeatedly sounded the alarm and says the central bank needs to use rates to help Sweden avert a property bubble.

Things have “developed relatively strongly in Sweden,” said Henrik Erikson, chief economist in Stockholm at Nykredit Markets, a unit of Europe’s biggest issuer of mortgage-backed covered bonds. He says that the Riksbank may raise rates as early as April, compared with the bank’s official target of late next year.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 06:14:15

No housing bubble yet in Germany — just a bit of local froth

October 21, 2013, 10:47 AM

Germany’s Central Bank Warns of Local Housing Bubbles

By Todd Buell
CONNECT

Germany’s central bank, the Deutsche Bundesbank, sounded an alarm Monday, warning that urban real estate in the country could in some cases be significantly overvalued, against a backdrop of low interest rates.

In a report issued Monday, the Bundesbank said that prices in urban housing markets could be as much as 10% higher than the level suggested by fundamentals, such as demographic and economic factors.

Furthermore, “in the attractive large cities, the upward deviations in this segment are as high as 20% in some cases”, the report said, referring to Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Düsseldorf.

Experts are now speaking of concentrated “local bubbles” in the metropolitan areas, but these do not have the same potential to bring down the economy the way overheated housing markets did in parts of the U.S. and Europe’s geographic periphery.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 06:17:44

It turns out frothy housing is a problem of international scope!

Business Briefing
From Germany to China, frothy house prices raise concerns
Michael Babad
The Globe and Mail
Published Tuesday, Oct. 22 2013, 7:30 AM EDT
Last updated Tuesday, Oct. 22 2013, 1:02 PM EDT

Fears spread

Concerns over frothy house prices are spreading around the world, highlighted today by the latest measure in China.

Five years after the financial crisis, there are now concerns over inflated property values in Britain, Germany, China and Canada.

In Britain, the fears centre on the London area, where, according to Reuters, the year-over-year jump in prices is now almost 14 per cent.

Just yesterday, Germany’s central bank warned that “housing prices in German cities have been rising so strongly since 2010 that a possible overvaluation cannot be ruled out.”

According to the Bundesbank, house and apartment prices have gained more than 8 per cent in the past three years. In cities, prices may be up by 10 per cent, the central bank said, and by as much as 20 per cent in “the attractive large cities.”

It added it expects no decline in the short-term.

“The price hikes are being driven by the strong demand for property, which has been greater than would generally be expected during a period of economic recovery,” the central bank said.

“In addition to the improved economic outlook, the Bundesbank says that the impact of the financial and sovereign debt crisis has also played a role in this development,” it added.

“The German property market, for example, which had thus far been calm became more attractive to international investors after the property market price bubble in the U.S. and in a number of European housing markets burst.”

Of course, interest rates are also exceptionally low as the European Central Bank sets policy for the entire 17-member euro zone, which, as a group, has been hobbled by a debt crisis.

Today, numbers from China suggest trouble amid a fight by authorities to keep the property market in check. According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, new home sales climbed in 69 cities and dipped in one, rising over all at 9.1 per cent in September from a year earlier, with the fastest at almost 21 per cent.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 06:24:28

History has not dealt kindly with the aftermath of protracted periods of low risk premiums.

– Alan Greenspan

Comment by oxide
2013-10-23 07:05:32

Maybe not, but the titans who made their pile from that low risk will have enjoyed the money and died long before history get to deal with anyone. And if the titans are still alive, they will conveniently forget their involvement and rationalize that they made their pile by “hard werk.” Exhibit A of this behavior: Alan Greenspan.

 
Comment by Suite Joey Blue Eyes
2013-10-23 07:30:26

I think Greenspan’s wife is directing a campaign to rehab his public image. I’ve started seeing glowing reviews of his book and favorable mentions of him in the press again.

The one thing I do give him credit for is admitting he was wrong.

Comment by Suite Joey Blue Eyes
2013-10-23 08:04:36

Forgot to mention - his wife is Andrea Mitchell.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
Comment by goon squad
2013-10-23 08:04:39

Downlow Joe has entered the building.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
Comment by my failure to respect is unacceptable
2013-10-23 08:33:11

Dicke Cheney certainly missed on that one. Should have married a liberal “journalist” wife.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by my failure to respect is unacceptable
2013-10-23 09:45:40

Bernanke may as well join the mormon church and marry at least 4 liberal “jouranalist” wives. His rehabilitation is going to take a lot of work.

 
 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2013-10-23 09:09:21

The one thing I do give him credit for is admitting he was wrong.

He admits that his philosophy of the market participants adequately self-regulating was wrong.

But he doesn’t admit that low interest rates had anything to do with stoking bubbles, nor that he should have done anything to slow their obvious inflation.

So I don’t give him much credit yet.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
Comment by CarrieAnne
2013-10-23 09:49:24

“The one thing I do give him credit for is admitting he was wrong.”

Seriously? IMO he’s just making sure when the pitchforks come out he’s not at the top of the new edition of Most Wanted Playing Cards deck entitled “Evil minds behind the US credit bubble.”

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by Blue Skye
2013-10-23 21:12:27

If he says he was wrong, is he saying that the current PTB are wrong?

 
 
 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 06:27:05

Oct. 23, 2013, 6:52 a.m. EDT
2014 ‘Year of the Boom!’ Bet on the bulls now
Commentary: 5 engines driving a new Roaring Twenties stock market
By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Yes, 2014 is coming, fast, now dubbed the “Year of the Boom.” Bulls roaring. Hot race to New Years 2013. Then beyond into a booming, bullish 2014 rally. Yes, the Great Gatsby’s spirit is back in America. Top billing. Let the good times roll. Come join the party.

Comment by Arizona Slim
2013-10-23 10:40:46

I could use a boom. Oh, yes I could…

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 06:28:31

Euphoria, blue-chip earnings and a follow-up to ‘The Fox’ song
October 23, 2013, 6:45 AM
By Shawn Langlois

Goldman had it right. Stocks were bound to go up, no matter what the jobs report showed us. That’s just what they do right now. Each passing day brings a new high, and seemingly a new bear-turned-bull.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 06:31:09

Oct. 23, 2013, 6:00 a.m. EDT
The euro zone’s next big crisis: Deflation
Commentary: Prices falling in Greece, and perhaps soon in Italy, Spain, Portugal
By Matthew Lynn

LONDON (MarketWatch) — What is the biggest danger to the euro zone right now? A fresh banking crisis? The end of quantitative easing in the U.S.? The rise of extremist, anti-euro politicians in countries from France to Italy to Greece? They are all a potent threat, and have the potential to knock the fragile recovery in the continent’s economy off course.

But in fact the real threat is this — deflation.

Three years into a grinding recession, many euro-zone countries are now close to falling prices. In Greece, prices are now going down in absolute terms. In countries such as Spain and Portugal, inflation is getting close to zero, and is only staying above that level because cash-strapped governments keep raising sales taxes.

While the threat from deflation is much exaggerated in most developed economies, in the euro zone it is a real danger. Why? Because it makes debt levels far, far worse — and all the peripheral nations are already weighted down by an unsustainable debt burden. And because it pushes up real interest rates — at a time when economies are already struggling to overcome recessions. Worst of all, there appears to be nothing the European Central Bank can do to counter it.

Comment by Neuromance
2013-10-23 09:50:41

Think of the economy as an airplane. As debt piles up the speed of the aircraft slows down. The central bankers spin the engines up and start printing. They pull the nose up to maintain altitude and wind up the engines/printers even more.

This is called being at the back of the power curve. The only way out is to point the nose down. You need altitude for this to work. If you’re out of altitude, you’re f••ked.

The central bankers and politicians are so in love with debt, what they perceive to be the lifeblood of the (their) economy, they are blind to the consequences of debt. They get themselves into a corner like this. This is the back of the economic power curve.

Debt slows the economy down because it takes up money that can be spent on other things. Debt generates the “de-leveraging event.” Debt is also like engine oil. A little lubricates the engine. Too much fouls the engine, choking it.

Debt to a growing business which can service the debt and also spend its increased earnings on productive economic activity is one thing. That’s socially beneficial debt. Debt in which individuals use it to buy consumer goods is destructive debt. That slows the economy down. A world in maximum debt is a world with a stalled economy.

Comment by Carl Morris
2013-10-23 09:59:48

If you’re out of altitude, you’re f••ked.

So can we print up some extra money to buy some of this “altitude” stuff you speak of? I think I can see people waving down there and they don’t look very far away. Also will the drink cart be back soon?

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 10:16:24

A world in maximum debt is a world with a stalled economy.

A stalled economy in an economy that might be a quarter its present size and shape if there were no debt in the system.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 11:44:52

Setting up for the biggest stock market bubble of all time
October 23, 2013, 2:26 PM
By Cody Willard

I’m rather shocked at all the confident dismissal of my recent commentary about just how big a stock market bubble we are already in and I haven’t even started again calling it my old “Biggest Stock Market Bubble of All TimeTM.”

In the comments on my MarketWatch blog lately and especially over on Scutify.com’s Scuttle page, there is non-stop debate about the current state of the stock market bubble or lack thereof. Former Fedhead Alan Greenspan and the latest Chairman Bernanke both don’t think it’s possible to tell when you’re in an asset bubble until after it pops. I totally disagree. I think you can see them coming and see them get ready to pop too. The cycles are repetitive and often predictable.

I say this with the confidence of someone who’s now correctly bought at the bottom of a bubble pop twice in my professional career and got out of the markets and went to become a TV anchor at the top of the most recent stock market bubble that popped. More recently, back in 2010, I wrote every day pleading with my readers to get in front of what I really did repeatedly write was about to be the coming of ”Biggest Stock Market Bubble of All TimeTM.”

 
Comment by Whac-a-Bubble™
2013-10-23 13:45:17

How many bubbles are out there these days? More than I can count…that’s for sure.

Oct. 23, 2013, 12:38 p.m. EDT
Bubble?
By Michael A. Gayed

“The areas of consensus shift unbelievably fast; the bubbles of certainty are constantly exploding.” - Rem Koolhaas

The term bubble is thrown around a lot in the financial media, used primarily when addressing investments that have had spectacular returns which are then followed by spectacular losses. More often than not, however, a bubble is only really considered a bubble after it has burst.

What drives bubbles and periods of manic behavior in markets ultimately is herd behavior. Studies show that the feeling of rejection is interpreted by your brain as being physically painful. That means not being a part of the crowd, especially when the crowd is making more money than you, actually hurts people to the point where they join the crowd making money. For a short period of time, the johnny-come-lately trades work, until there is no one left to buy.

The key defining characteristic of all bubbles is manic, vertical behavior in price movement, and inter-market disconnects followed by near-permanent losses as money remains in denial about future potential gains. In today’s markets, many argue bonds are in a bubble. I strongly disagree with this. Bonds are only in a bubble if hyperinflation is right around the corner. Just because money poured into bonds and strong gains have been made over the past several years does not mean bonds have exhibited bubble characteristics.

While everyone screams about a rising-rate environment and normalization of yields, few seem to realize what is required for that to happen. You can not normalize yields unless you normalize growth and inflation expectations. Period.

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 05:48:55

Market Snapshot
STOXX 50 3,017.52 -28.25 -0.93%
FTSE 100 6,674.13 -21.53 -0.32%
DAX 8,917.48 -29.98 -0.34%

Junk Rally Sparks Sales by Nikko Amid Bubble Risk: China Credit
By David Yong - Oct 22, 2013 8:26 PM PT

Nikko Asset Management Ltd. and GAM Holding AG are trimming holdings of Chinese dollar-denominated junk bonds amid their strongest rally in almost a year, concerned over a surge in issuance and a possible asset bubble.

Speculative-grade securities in China gained 3 percent in September, the most since November, beating the 1 percent advance for U.S. counterparts, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes. Nikko and GAM decreased holdings earlier this month, while Morgan Stanley favors investment-grade Hong Kong-based corporates as leverage among Chinese companies soars.

“We’ve taken profits on some Chinese industrial and property names,” said Leong Wai Hoong, a Singapore-based money manager at Nikko, which oversees about $156 billion. “We still retain an overweight position but with a reduced allocation because of the valuations. I’m concerned about the supply of new issues, and China’s economic outlook.”

A report yesterday showed home prices in China’s four-biggest cities jumped the most since January 2011 last month, sparking speculation Premier Li Keqiang will be forced to impose stricter policies to rein in prices and limit the risk of a market collapse. Although growth in the world’s second-biggest economy has rebounded from two quarters of slowdown, that recovery may have ended as momentum eased in September, Nomura Holdings Inc. said last week.

 
Comment by scdave
Comment by Young Deezy
2013-10-23 08:20:19

Still lots of “see-thru” houses in my hood (and I rent in one of the nicer ones). Just because the raw numbers have dropped doesn’t mean there isn’t stil a problem.

Comment by scdave
2013-10-23 08:46:42

Local observations are always the best…

 
Comment by Arizona Slim
2013-10-23 10:42:09

Same thing here in Tucson. Got a couple examples of shadow inventory in the next block. Empty rentals are also rampant.

 
 
 
Comment by jose canusi
2013-10-23 05:59:52

National Security staffer fired for nasty tweets. lol. The lesson? Don’t be dissin’ Valerie Jarrett. Who some say is the one who really runs the show.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2013/10/23/obama-white-house-twitter-jofi-joseph/3168757/

 
Comment by goon squad
2013-10-23 06:06:56

we’re not drinking the koolaid

denver post - many in denver predict short-lived housing recovery:

‘many denver residents feel that the recovery in the housing market may be short-lived, according to the latest country financial security index survey.

more than half — 53 percent — say the country could be headed for another housing bubble in the next two years. this compares with 48 percent of americans nationally who feel the same way, the survey showed.’

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_24362475/many-denver-predict-short-lived-housing-recovery

Comment by CarrieAnne
2013-10-23 11:04:53

One of the local news stations asked its viewers via FB what they thought of the employment situation around central New York. The response was overwhelmingly and undeniably negative. That was yesterday.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2013-10-23 11:49:36

My coworker (the one who moved from Arvada to Highlands Ranch, was crowing that her house appreciated 60K during the 6 months it was under construction, saying that the corporate builder has raised the asking price by that amount since they day they signed the contract (not closing).

I reminded her that it could quickly go the other way. She disagreed, as she’s a firm believer in “housing always goes up”.

Comment by inchbyinch
2013-10-23 16:05:33

“builder has raised the asking price”

A usual occurrence in new construction. We bought our last home in phase 2 of a 4 phase build out that added more solid equity at the time. That said, this bubble hasn’t started really deflating yet, so counting her chickens before they hatch may be premature, imho.

 
 
 
Comment by goon squad
2013-10-23 06:23:05

the recoveryless recovery, of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%

wall street journal - high-end spenders shrug off headwind:

‘despite continued weak employment data and gridlock in washington, consumers are showing surprising signs of confidence, and opening their wallets to buy big-ticket items ranging from washing machines to fast boats.

indeed, the wealthiest americans, who took a significant hit during the recession, as stocks plunged and homes lost value, have seen a far stronger rebound than their less affluent neighbors.

the average household in the top 20% of earners has seen its income rise more than 6% since 2008, before adjusting for inflation, according to data from the census bureau; among the top 5%, the increase has been nearly 8%. households in the middle of the income distribution have seen just a 2% gain, on average, while incomes for the poorest americans haven’t returned to their prerecession peak.’

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303448104579151732433711014.html

Comment by samk
2013-10-23 09:18:09
 
Comment by WT Economist
2013-10-23 09:24:10

Add an inflation adjustment and those at the very top broke even, while everyone else is falling behind.

 
 
Comment by goon squad
2013-10-23 06:35:20

what those kidz need are $500,000 ’starter homes’

wall street journal - employment shows ‘missing households’ still weigh on housing:

‘today’s jobs report shows construction employment is up strongly, but in many other ways the report was bad for housing, according to a report by trulia chief economist jed kolko. the reason: young adults aren’t getting jobs, a factor that weighs on household formation — the single most important factor in housing demand.

about 75% of 25-34 year-olds were employed in september, about the same as september 2012 and closer to the depths of the recession than before the housing bubble started forming. young people who don’t have a job are more likely to live with their parents and become ‘missing households’ that aren’t renting or buying their own place.

that’s bad for the broader economy in all sorts of ways, such as lower spending on things like furniture. these missing households are part of the reason why first-time home buyers have been lagging in the housing recovery.’

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/10/22/employment-shows-missing-households-still-weigh-on-housing/

 
Comment by scdave
2013-10-23 06:47:50

Commentary on Mauldin’s new book “Code Red”;

“Code Red brilliantly exposes the myth that the unconventional policies that global central banks have pursued since the financial crisis ended will ultimately be successful in generating the holy grail of escape velocity they so desperately seek. With history on their side, Mauldin and Tepper provide layers of evidence proving that the Code Red monetary policies will more than likely end up creating a cycle of inflation that few are braced for. The economic and financial sands are shifting under our feet as a result of the unprecedented global monetary experiment aimed at bailing out debtors at the expense of savers. The good news is that Mauldin and Tepper don’t merely identify the symptom; they also have come up with solutions for retail investors, portfolio managers, and professional traders as to how to prepare for this transition, from the prior years of deflation to the current reflation to what comes next, which is inflation.”
—David Rosenberg, Chief Economist and Strategist, Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc.

Comment by Strawberrypicker
2013-10-23 07:11:38

These guys had another book in March 2011 entitled “Endgame: The End of the Debt Supercycle and How It Changes Everything”. It also predicted massive inflation. How is this one any different?

Comment by Rental Watch
2013-10-23 10:27:31

Did you read “Endgame”?

Comment by Strawberrypicker
2013-10-23 18:55:25

I did not. But I went on Amazon to check this one out first and also saw that. So they have another book predicting massive inflation, same as their old book a few years ago, but updated with more recent developments and newer buzzwords. But it hasn’t happened.

Did you read it? Why would you buy a new book when the old one seems to cover it?

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by Rental Watch
2013-10-23 22:18:59

I did read Endgame. He does not predict “massive inflation”, and in fact, lays out reasons why massive inflation (hyperinflation) is unlikely except in very specific circumstances, and they note it as a political choice.

The only two countries that he noted could have very high inflation are the UK (because the average duration of their sovereign debt is quite long, and for that reason they risk pissing off fewer creditors if they take an inflationary stance), and Japan, because their only two choices currently are massive inflation, or a massive depression, as the need to service their debt squeezes out their ability to spend on anything else.

What Endgame does talk about is the dangers of too much debt, and the potential ramifications (slower growth, the potential for inflation, the importance of the velocity of money in the inflation equation–questions whether current “low” monetary velocity is actually normal, etc.). There is also a discussion of the importance of exports to get out of debt problems, etc.

My biggest criticism of the book is that while a lot of what they say makes sense, it leans a lot on Reinhart and Rogoff’s book–the one where the conclusions were determined to be faulty because of some bad arithmetic. However, the book is not without merit.

For instance, they show a graph of price inflation/deflation prior to taking the dollar off the gold standard, and after. And what that graph shows is that bouts of price deflation were common while on the gold standard, but after coming off the gold standard, we pretty much only got inflation (to varying degrees).

I’m sure this book talks about the same kind of stuff, but at the end of the day, all these guys are guessing as to what’s going to happen next.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by goon squad
2013-10-23 06:51:45

stagflation - it’s what’s for breakfast

businessweek - mcdonald’s new ‘dollar menu’ goes up to $5:

’since mcdonald’s launched the dollar menu nationally in 2002, it has grown to about 13 percent of sales — a whole lot of mcdoubles and sausage biscuits. but the menu is no longer working for the burger chain, so it’s rebranding it as the ‘dollar menu & more’ with $1 and $2 sandwiches and even some items at $5. it’s more like a neighborhood dollar store now: the name refers to the starting price.

adjusted for inflation, a dollar bill in 2002 is the equivalent of $1.30 today, making the economics of the dollar menu challenging for already strained franchises.’

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-23/mcdonald-s-new-dollar-menu-goes-up-to-5

 
 
Comment by goon squad
2013-10-23 07:07:20

rent now or be priced out forever

bloomberg - blackstone funding largest u.s. single family rentals:

’steve schwarzman’s blackstone group lp has spent $7.5 billion acquiring 40,000 houses in the past two years to create the largest single-family rental business in the u.s. the private-equity firm is now planning to sell bonds backed by lease payments, the latest step in turning a small business into a mature industry.

deutsche bank ag may start marketing almost $500 million of the securities as soon as this week, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction.

blackstone has led hedge funds, private-equity firms and real estate investment trusts raising about $20 billion to purchase as many as 200,000 homes to rent after prices plunged 35 percent from the 2006 peak. the largest investors, seeking to profit from rebounding prices and rising demand for rentals among millions of americans who went through foreclosure or can’t qualify for a mortgage, are looking to the bond market for capital to buy more properties and increase returns with borrowed money.’

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-23/blackstone-creating-rental-home-bonds-after-buying-spree.html

 
Comment by tresho
2013-10-23 07:20:13

Metro Detroit Shias say they were attacked at hajj in Saudi Arabia

A U.S. State Department official told the Free Press on Monday: “We are concerned by reports that a group of U.S. citizens was attacked … at a campsite for Hajj pilgrims located outside of Mecca. We take these reports seriously and are committed to the protection of U.S. citizens traveling and residing abroad.”

Incidents like this one prompted the Crusades a long time ago.

Comment by Northeastener
2013-10-23 19:24:35

The latest generation of Crusades have been going since the re-founding of the Jewish state of Israel… how could you miss the last 60 years of Middle-East military intervention?

 
 
Comment by goon squad
2013-10-23 07:33:50

hope and change (linked from drudge)

‘new research from the republicans on the senate budget committee shows that over the last 5 years, the u.s. has spent about $3.7 trillion on welfare.

‘we have just concluded the 5th fiscal year since president obama took office. during those five years, the federal government has spent a total of $3.7 trillion on approximately 80 different means-tested poverty and welfare programs. the common feature of means-tested assistance programs is that they are graduated on a person’s income and, in contrast to programs like social security or medicare, they are a free benefit and not paid into by the recipient,’ says the minority side of the senate budget committee.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/report-us-spent-37-trillion-welfare-over-last-5-years_764582.html

Comment by samk
2013-10-23 09:51:10

“$3.7 trillion is not even the entire amount spent on federal poverty support, as states contribute more than $200 billion each year to this federal nexus—primarily in the form of free low-income health care.”

What is this “free low-income health care” the writer speaks of? I mean, pre-2013? Surely that is an error.

Comment by In Colorado
2013-10-23 11:51:52

What is this “free low-income health care” the writer speaks of?

Medicaid?

Comment by MightyMike
2013-10-23 16:29:00

Yeah, some of this represents another strange artifact of our health care system. Poor people get Medicaid, a means-tested program. Then when they turn 65, most of their health care needs are met by Medicare, which is not means tested. So I guess that the Weekly Standard folks might consider that to be retirement from the FSA.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
 
Comment by my failure to respect is unacceptable
2013-10-23 12:20:42

Let’s put the military spending there, too. That oughta give some perspective.

Of course not, the neo-conservatives like WS will never bring up the military and war costs.

Comment by Strawberrypicker
2013-10-23 18:58:50

And the left always does. But while the right often says, yeah, cut that waste of corporate or military welfare also when it is brought up, I never see the left chiming in to also agree to cut off the welfare stuff. Just a diversion.

Cut em both. It ain’t right wing v. Left wing, it’s both wings, against you!

Comment by Bill, just south of Irvine
2013-10-25 07:25:47

Exactly. The left statists never say cut welfare yet Rand Paul is loudest for cutting military spending.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
Comment by Northeastener
2013-10-23 19:33:54

While the MIC may be out of control, the military does serve a purpose: National Defense.

Poor people serve no purpose and the welfare state is just designed to garner votes and dependency. Worse, that dependency breeds weakness and corruption.

Cut both, but if you can only cut one, cut the FSA off at the knees. Let them pick crops if they need to work… Isn’t there a shortage of farm workers with the flow of illegals slowing down? The world needs farm helpers, janitors, garbage men, etc. Too bad the FSA would rather sit at home and collect more free stuff.

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 19:41:15

Poor people serve no purpose

You sound like a mad, class-warfare Nazi. U have issues dude.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 19:52:59

‘You sound like a mad, class-warfare Nazi…You sound angry.’

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil

‘The TP are not saviors. They are more like destroyers. They don’t even love America - they only love their flawed “theory” of America. They only love a fuzzy idea of America that never was and never will be. They want no compromise for the good of America. Rigid. Intolerant. Their way or no way.’

Dang, you’ve got everything figured out from that far away? I live in Arizona and I don’t think I’ve ever met a person in the TP.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 19:59:22

I live in Arizona and I don’t think I’ve ever met a person in the TP.

I met 3-4 on vacation in July in America.

you’ve got everything figured out from that far away?

I know my country.

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 19:44:07

‘the military does serve a purpose’

I’ve told this story before. When I lived in Alaska one summer, I knew a person who worked at a high end restaurant in Anchorage. Some generals and admirals had a reservation, and a team of people were sent over the day before to teach the staff how to serve them. Only do this over one shoulder, a special protocol for table settings, all sorts of things. Basically, these high ranking guys were to be treated like royalty.

Have you read about Petraeus? Flying around in multimillion dollar jets, dreaming up colossal failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, being worshiped by flunkies. Never saw one minute of combat in his life. This doesn’t defend us one bit.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
 
 
Comment by tresho
2013-10-23 07:37:18

Median home price graph for Cleveland OH
It would be interesting to see similar graphs for other parts of the USA.

Comment by Suite Joey Blue Eyes
2013-10-23 08:13:06

to be fair, Cleveland is Detroit by a different name.

Comment by goon squad
2013-10-23 08:50:37

Spoken with all the authority of someone who has never lived outside of the I-95 corridor.

Comment by Suite Joey Blue Eyes
2013-10-23 09:32:57

Fair criticism.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
 
 
Comment by goon squad
2013-10-23 07:39:36

more hope and change (linked from drudge)

‘food stamp recipients are turning the government handouts into quick cash with ads on craigslist, despite efforts to stem fraud.

the federally-funded grocery assistance coupons — which are issued by states in the form of debit cards under the supplemental nutrition assistance program (snap) — are being sold on the online bulletin board as well as auction sites like e-bay. foxnews.com found several offerings at craigslist sites around the country, where the sellers offered the welfare benefits at large discounts from face value.’

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/22/craigslist-makes-turning-food-stamps-into-cash-snap/

 
Comment by Suite Joey Blue Eyes
2013-10-23 07:40:31

Anyone else here use Lumosity for a daily brain workout?

It’s one of the best investments I’ve made in 2013. I do at least 2-3 exercises every morning when I’m on the train or right when I get into the office. Some of the exercises are better on a full screen, but others are totally fine on a smart phone. I really wish I’d had this when I was studying for LSAT, the games section is similar to some of the optimization and logic exercises in Lumosity.

Under $100 for a 2 yr subscription btw. Good stocking stuffer.

Comment by my failure to respect is unacceptable
2013-10-23 08:09:23

20 minutes of meditation twice a day is all you need for your brain. No reason to spend any money.

Comment by Suite Joey Blue Eyes
2013-10-23 08:49:25

Meditation is good but I use lumosity to increase neuroplasticity and ability to do trade-offs quickly in my head or juggle between a couple trains of thought. Hard to say exactly how it transfers to real life, I haven’t been doing it long. What I can say is that my scores on the memory games and visual recognition games have gone through the roof.

I’m up to a 17 x 17 matrix on the memory match game now.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 08:53:32

20 minutes of meditation twice a day is all you need for your brain.

Buy a decent guitar or keyboard and learn to play it well. Your brain will get serious exercise.

Comment by inchbyinch
2013-10-23 09:11:08

Rio
I started taking piano lesson online free,
and have progressed nicely. The keyhole focus and learning a new language has been great. Music is a fun brain exerciser. I got a Conservatory Grand Player Piano for my B-Day 13 years ago and didn’t just want it to go to waste, just to stage the LR.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 11:17:26

I started taking piano lesson online free,

That’s great. Where online?

 
Comment by inchbyinch
2013-10-23 16:20:01

Rio
Search using “free piano lessons” and a bunch of websites will come up. As I progressed I changed free websites, until I could teach myself and use library resources (free again).

 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 09:24:24

Liberace on the harpsichord and Lio on the harp perform The Sound of Bull$hit……. What a pair (of testicles)

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by inchbyinch
2013-10-23 09:53:06

HA the troll-man
Can you speak in coherent language?

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 16:06:13

You got ripped off. It must be painful.

 
 
Comment by oxide
2013-10-23 10:26:52

For what its worth, learning to play takes some brainpower, but learning to play well is just repetition.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 10:53:05

learning to play takes some brainpower, but learning to play well is just repetition.

Studies show practice and repetition boost brainpower.

Music practice can sharpen the brain

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/266809.php

….A new study by researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland concludes that people who practice playing musical instruments have sharper brains because they pick up mistakes in their performance and fix them more quickly than other people…..

…..In other words, the more practice hours musicians had accumulated, the faster their reaction times in completing mental challenges, the better they were able to recognize and correct mistakes, and the less likely they were to go back and adjust their responses when they made mistakes.

…..”Musical activity cannot only immensely enrich our lives, but the associated benefits for our physical and mental functioning could be even more far-reaching than proposed in our and previous research.”

 
Comment by inchbyinch
2013-10-23 11:11:06

I really enjoy learning piano, and I know it has been beneficial to my self esteem, if nothing else.

It’s the 75 anniversary of The Wizard Of Oz (Harold Arlen-music, E. Y. Harburg-lyrics). “Over The Rainbow” was taken out 3 times, but finally allowed to stay.

 
Comment by inchbyinch
2013-10-23 11:16:41

75th…oops

 
Comment by Carl Morris
2013-10-23 13:46:45

For what its worth, learning to play takes some brainpower, but learning to play well is just repetition.

I can see how that might be a common viewpoint in classical piano, but I have a different definition of “play well” than they do. Classical people in general seem to have a pretty strict view of “play well” as “play exactly what it written, no more no less”. And yes…repetition is how you get there. To me for music to be art and not just finger yoga, it needs to communicate emotion in a way that simply reading what’s on the page does not accomplish. Really good emotional communication is what “play well” means to me. And for the most part you’re born with it or you aren’t. The repetition just gets you to the point where you can let it out.

 
Comment by Pete
2013-10-23 15:35:17

“concludes that people who practice playing musical instruments have sharper brains because they pick up mistakes in their performance and fix them more quickly than other people”

So for those of us who don’t make mistakes, learning an instrument would be fruitless.

 
 
 
 
Comment by goon squad
2013-10-23 08:10:55

Math is racist.

Comment by michael
2013-10-23 08:32:40

there’s 3 kinda folks in this world…those that are good at math…and those that aren’t.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 08:58:25

1. Those who are naturally good at math.
2. Those who can do math because they study hard.
3. Those who can’t do math no matter how hard they try.

I’ve taught all of the above types.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by michael
2013-10-23 09:33:42

I have a theory about teaching math…I think one’s brain must be ready for it. I remember when I was in high school and taking advanced math/algebra there were these difficult bonus word problems at the end of each chapter that we would get extra credit for if we completed. I remember trying but just not getting it.

When my younger brother was taking the same class (he is 6 years behind me) he would ask me for help on the bonus word problems. I could do them every time with very little effort. The only math class I took in college was Calculus I…I clepped out of college algebra…so it wasn’t like I had any more advanced training.

I passed calculus I but failed miserably at calculus II. I can look back now at my calculus book and some of it makes sense to me now…where before…it was all greek. I also struggled with Trig in high school but just re-taught it to myself online for free…piece of cake.

I just don’t think my mind was “ready” for advanced math or problem solving when I was in high school or college.

 
Comment by my failure to respect is unacceptable
2013-10-23 09:41:08

I did rather poorly on Calculus II in college but still ended up with an A. I think I should have gotten C+ or B- based on my performance but the grading on the curve meant I got an A.

 
Comment by Suite Joey Blue Eyes
2013-10-23 09:49:36

I never got more than 50% of the possible points on a college math exam (multi var calc, linear algebra). Same with a bunch of Econ courses where we had to derive formulas on our own. Always got at least a B, though. The professors’ reasoning seemed to be that any test where students were _expected_ to get 90% + of the possible points was too easy and compressed the grading too much. Focusing on calculation rather than derivation or explanation is stupid.

For the same reason, the chem and organic chem profs put way too many questions on the exams. Almost no one finished. But it became easy to separate out the A+ from the A from the A- and so on. The way to get a good grade was to solve (or at least map out) very difficult questions that were worth more points. These questions had a better ratio of credit to time required, whereas someone only solving the easier questions would get a C+ or so even if they got them all right.

 
Comment by Carl Morris
2013-10-23 10:04:42

I passed calculus I but failed miserably at calculus II.

Calc II is how I ended up in the army :-). Sounds like we learn similarly…when it works it just kind of happens by magic. For me the second attempt wasn’t any easier but I was a lot more motivated to do my homework after a few years of mud and sandbags and PT. It wasn’t natural for me, but I forced my way through it. And if I never need methods of integration I’m pretty confident the computer can do it for me now.

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2013-10-23 11:09:26

I’ve also found that there are people who can:

1. Naturally do “word problems”; and
2. Can’t

My #1 and #2 usually correspond with your #1 and #2.

 
 
Comment by oxide
2013-10-23 10:35:09

Popular T-shirt:

There are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don’t.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by Rental Watch
2013-10-23 11:16:54

lol

There was a great piece on the Daily Show where John Oliver got sucked into the ACA website (dressed as a Tron Character). Instead of seeing 1’s and 0’s, he was seeing 4’s and 5’s–

 
 
 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 08:56:58

Free daily brain workouts of many stripes are available here:

coursera.org

 
Comment by inchbyinch
2013-10-23 09:00:16

Lumosity
I did the freebies for a while.
I liked the Ivy Leagues behind it.
Thanks for the endorsement, Joey.

Comment by Suite Joey Blue Eyes
2013-10-23 09:41:18

What made me want to do something proactive was reading and listening to Justice Ginsberg, then a few weeks later seeing comments in an article about her pointing on how far she’s fallen. In her heyday she would’ve been the smartest on the Court at dissecting arguments and thinking on the fly. Now, she’s no better than 6th — probably only above Thomas and Sotomayor and on par with Kennedy.

I think Lumosity used to be more expensive and I don’t think they offered much in the way of discounts for longer memberships. Now they have a lifetime membership that is a little over $200. They’ll undoubtedly have even better exercises 5, 10 years from now. It seems like a steal to me.

The monthly memberships are $15/month so you might as well go with at least the 2 yr membership. You can always quit with a full refund in 30 days. I doubt you’d end up doing it, but the possibility is there.

People that say “I won’t pay anything to stimulate my brain, I’ll just read or meditate” are missing the point, IMO. Your brain is everything — it holds your memories, it controls your limbs, it processes the data around you, it helps you make connections, etc. And the kind of brain exercises we’re talking about aren’t lame puzzles, the paid content is really good and is meant to build the kind of skills you can’t get by reading, watching lectures, etc. In fact, by reading, you’re focusing on facts and concrete relationships. The entire point of lumosity or neuroplasticity in general is to build generalizable skills.

Comment by my failure to respect is unacceptable
2013-10-23 10:17:03

The first rule of pimiping is to tell one or two tea jerkers.

From Wikipedia:

There is no scientific consensus on the benefits of brain training for medical conditions in the clinical environment. Studies of Lumosity’s effectiveness have shown mixed results.

Some have shown benefits from the use of Lumos Labs cognitive training:

Dr. Shelli Kesler and colleagues at Stanford University found improved cognitive performance and corresponding increases in brain activity in the pre-frontal cortex in survivors of childhood cancer following training with Lumosity. Participants who trained with Lumosity showed significantly improved processing speed, cognitive flexibility, verbal and visual declarative memory scores.[10]
Kesler et. al also showed enhanced math skills and cognitive performance with corresponding changes in brain activity in individuals with Turner syndrome following training with Lumosity.[11]
Kesler et. al also showed that women whose breast cancer had been treated with chemotherapy demonstrated improved executive function, such as cognitive flexibility, verbal fluency and processing speed after Lumosity training. This work is published in Clinical Breast Cancer. [12]
Psychologist Maurice Finn and Skye McDonald from the University of New South Wales found that patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who trained with Lumosity improved their sustained attention relative to controls. MCI is considered a precursor condition to Alzheimer’s disease, and this is the first report of cognitive enhancement with training in this population.[13]
But according to many experts, including eminent neuroscientists, “there is no scientific evidence to support a range of manufacturers’ claims [including Lumosity's] that the gadgets can help improve memory or stave off the risk of illnesses such as dementia.”[14] A careful attempt to replicate the preliminary experimental results[15] on which this enterprise is based found no effect from the training.[16][17] Other studies have failed to demonstrate generalizable benefits of brain training.[18] [19] [20] [21] [22] A survey article “Brain Games are Bogus” was posted April 5, 2013 by Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Gareth Cook at the New Yorker.[23]

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by my failure to respect is unacceptable
2013-10-23 10:18:13

tea = tear

 
Comment by Suite Joey Blue Eyes
2013-10-23 10:27:58

OK well how do you feel about 23andme.com ? I copped a membership to them too, to tell me if I’m susceptible to certain cancers, chronic conditions, and psychological conditions. Again, small price to pay ($99) for heading off potential problems.

 
Comment by my failure to respect is unacceptable
2013-10-23 10:58:03

23andme.com,

I don’t know if I would ever want to find out what disease I may get one day and how soon I am going to die. I will tell you this much I will never cut off my penis (a la Angelina Jolie) even if I were succeptible to Penile cancer.

My views on health (for that matter everything) are more naturalistic. Do the best you can do to live your life today…take care of your body, mind, etc. without relying too much on the flavor of the month or worse ingesting too much chemicals into your body. Disease will come one day (in my mid 30’s now) and I will deal with them the best way possible when they come. Accept death as it comes…In a world where a little girl’s body is blown apart by an incoming drone for no reason, it is foolishness to search for you own immortality.

 
Comment by Suite Joey Blue Eyes
2013-10-23 11:17:59

Not searching for immortality, but if I could make small changes in how I live and thereby lessen the chances of becoming involuntarily sedentary or having a diseased brain, I want to know. I think getting dementia would be the worst of all. But I wanted to know, relatively speaking, if that’s one of my bigger risks or not. There are links in the chromosomes and more is being learned all the time. I just want to have some idea of the %s.

As it turns out dementia and alzheimers aren’t a big risk for me. Parkinson’s is a moderate risk. Same with colon cancer and non-hodgkin’s lymphoma. Over time the risks will be updated (23&me contacts you anytime there are updates based on your DNA code). Along with the updates you get some links to prominent research. Of course, I do some research on my own.

Obviously small tweaks in behavior can make big changes over time. Just think of someone who moderately exercises a few days a week vs someone who lays on the couch every evening watching TV. Over the decades, it’s not 100% certain, but I know which guy I’d bet to be in better shape mentally and physically.

 
Comment by my failure to respect is unacceptable
2013-10-23 11:30:37

I can’t find it now but I think some actuary calculated that average human life would be 126 or 136 years even if we take all the diseases out of the equation. Accidents and other misfortunes are a big killer, too.

 
Comment by HBB_Rocks
2013-10-23 12:27:42

Save yourself $99 and just take a look at your aged relatives (unless of course you are adopted or IUI or some other scenario) and see what they are suffering from - it’s a very strong indicator of what you will experience in the future, and if they are manageable then do what you can to counter act them.

Also stay active and purposeful in your old age if you want to live a long time. That means you can’t derive your purpose in life from your job or from something you can’t do in old age.

 
 
Comment by Strawberrypicker
2013-10-23 19:05:08

Don’t you have a job as a lawyer? Doesn’t that require thinking? You got shilled.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
Comment by my failure to respect is unacceptable
2013-10-23 11:22:14

I liked the Ivy Leagues behind it.

I guess you also like the current economic predicament we find ourselves in. Ivy Leagues were behind, front and center on this one.

Comment by inchbyinch
2013-10-23 16:14:38

Big time. Ivy League are usually narcissistic producing machines. But when it comes to the sciences they are worthwhile. Wall Street, not so much… They should be held accountable, I’m with you.

“Grain Brain” is a new book on the epidemic of Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. It was written by a Neurologist MD about carbs creating Diabetes III (Brain Rot by high blood sugar and brains bathing in it) .

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
 
Comment by Bill, just south of Irvine
2013-10-25 07:28:49

Sudoku. And try to get enough sleep. Brains heal during sleep. Look it up.

 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 08:18:26

“Debt Donkeys Deliberately Dump Dollars into Depreciating Dumps.”

And you could have rented the same square footage for less than half the monthly cost. You know it, we know it…..dumb Debt Donkey.

 
Comment by goon squad
2013-10-23 08:35:26

The most transparent administration in history

“Former Navy SEAL Ben Smith warns that the Obama administration is asking top brass in the military if they would be comfortable with disarming U.S. citizens, a litmus test that includes guaging whether they would be prepared to order troops to fire on Americans.”

http://www.infowars.com/ex-navy-seal-military-leaders-being-asked-if-they-will-disarm-americans/

Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 08:42:32

‘It doesn’t make sense to build systems that could facilitate a future police state.’

 
Comment by my failure to respect is unacceptable
2013-10-23 08:43:08

And yes they will fire on Americans if the day ever comes.

Comment by goon squad
2013-10-23 08:55:46

The Chris Dorner manhunt in Southern California and the lockdown and suspension of the 4th Amendment in Watertown, MA are just previews of the Progressive/Neocon police state.

Obama would imprison and/or execute millions before giving up a shred of control held by the statists.

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 08:57:21

Obama would imprison and/or execute millions before giving up a shred of control held by the statists.

He told the Fed’s to back off on pot. That is more than giving up a shred of control.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 09:06:29

No, he won’t challenge states rights on pot. This is because he can’t do anything about it.

I watched Dirty Wars last night on netflix. I challenge you to watch it and see how dastardly this man is.

 
Comment by goon squad
2013-10-23 09:10:32

the coastal elitist, statist pigs don’t give a sh1t about legalized weed.

but when colorado voters initiated recall elections for two state senators because of their votes on gun control, the statist pigs dumped a torrent of cash into our state, and they lost.

that a state senate election would attract the attention and cash of pigs like bloomberg, biden, feinstein, et cetera tells you what the statists’ real concerns are.

 
Comment by Bluestar
2013-10-23 10:40:04

I’m shocked! The USA has had such a long history of being such a peace loving nation it’s just criminal to see what Obama has done to it. What metric should we use to tell whose dastardly and who is really evil?
Total body count?
How fast the CIA & DoD budget grew?
Our position as the world’s most feared super power?
Number of domestic terror attacks?
How many Generals and Admirals are fired? <trick question.

Like Bush/Cheney, Obama will be gone in due time but the Military Industrial Complex endures and will still be giving the next President his/her daily briefing (with attached hit list).

“No, he won’t challenge states rights on pot. This is because he can’t do anything about it.”

How do you know this? Is there a court ruling or something I missed? We all have our opinions but is there something solid to base this on?

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 10:45:59

‘Is there a court ruling or something I missed?’

‘August 29, 2013. The Justice Department will not attempt to challenge state laws that allow for the medical and recreational use of marijuana as long as the drug sales do not conflict with eight new federal enforcement priorities.’

‘Although the directive issued by Attorney General Eric Holder will apply nationwide, it will largely affect the 20 states and the District of Columbia that allow for medical marijuana use, and Colorado and Washington where state laws allow medical and recreational use by adults.’

‘Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said he “welcomed” the guidance that has been “long-awaited and in short supply.”

“The Justice Department should focus on countering and prosecuting violent crime, while respecting the will of the states whose people have voted to legalize small amounts of marijuana for personal and medical use,” Leahy said.’

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 10:58:38

“No, he won’t challenge states rights on pot. This is because he can’t do anything about it.”

Fed Drug laws trump state drug laws. I remember the Fed’s busting many medical California pot dispensarys that California law allowed.

 
Comment by Bluestar
2013-10-23 11:35:15

So “can’t” is really “won’t” and there is no court case where the federal law was overturned. Has Obama threatened to veto legalization?

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 12:16:24

They can’t, because the people have spoken. These pot decriminalization laws are very popular, and spreading, not just in the US.

 
Comment by Bluestar
2013-10-23 12:59:45

I hope I live long enough to see it in Texas. Maybe the trick is to dangle it in front of our politicians as a tax. As long as it skims money from the rubes it’s good legislation.

“A recent poll in Texas found that 58 percent of respondents either “somewhat” or “strongly” supported “changing Texas law to regulate and tax marijuana similarly to alcohol, where stores would be licensed to sell marijuana to adults 21 and older.”

 
Comment by MightyMike
2013-10-23 13:58:33

Dirty Wars was written by Jeremy Scahill, who is someone I’ve heard of. He works for The Nation, a left-wing magazine, and formerly worked for Democracy Now, a lefty radio show.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2013-10-23 14:07:29

This marijuana issues touches on the issue that has come up lately regarding whether we have or should have a democracy or a republic. In states like Arizona, Colorado, and Washington weed has been legalized or patially legalized through referenda, where the voters got to directly change a law. It wasn’t done tby the state legislatures.

I wonder if the advocates of a republican form of government consider that to be a bad thing, allowing the voters to directly enact law.

 
Comment by Carl Morris
2013-10-23 14:40:20

I wonder if the advocates of a republican form of government consider that to be a bad thing, allowing the voters to directly enact law.

I don’t know…probably. But I’m not sure what their solution is to the lawmakers of the Republic being corrupted by money. If they weren’t they would have already done it themselves.

 
 
 
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 12:47:16

Former Navy SEAL Ben Smith warns that the Obama administration is asking top brass in the military if they would be comfortable with disarming U.S. citizens,

That’s so wrong. American have the right to shoot each other. It’s in the Constitution.

GOP Newsletter In Virginia Advocates For Armed Rebellion If The American People Re-Elect President Obama

The Republican Party seems to already be sensing that they will be miserably defeated on Election Day this November. So as a back-up plan, a Republican newsletter in Virginia is openly calling for violently overthrowing the duly elected government of the United States should Democrats still be in charge.

The newsletter, known as “The Constitutional Conservatives” was published in March by the Greene County, Virginia Republican Committee and it included a column titled “Whitehouse Watchdog” written by editor Ponch McPhee. In the column, Mcphee trashed President Obama and said that if the American people fail to elect a Republican government, conservatives should arm themselves and take back the government by force. Here’s the text via

Mississippi Tea Party Chairman Calls for Insurrection Against the Government

http://www.politicalruminations.com/republicans-threaten-violence/#sthash.NVAPOO81.dpuf

Another crazy right winger, this time the chairman of the Mississippi Tea Party, Roy Nicholson, calls for an “insurrection” or “rebellion” against the government:

“ When a gang of criminals subvert legitimate government offices and seize all power to themselves without the real consent of the governed their every act and edict is of itself illegal and is outside the bounds of the Rule of Law. In such cases submission is treason. Treason against the Constitution and the valid legitimate government of the nation to which we have pledged our allegiance for years. To resist by all means that are right in the eyes of God is not rebellion or insurrection, it is patriotic resistance to invasion.

May all of us fall on our faces before the Heavenly Judge, repent of our sins, and humbly cry out to Him for mercy on our country. And, may godly courageous leaders rise up in His wisdom and power to lead us in displacing the criminal invaders from their seats and restore our constitutional republic. ”

Update: Desperate politics - Tea Party protesters threaten gun violence if health care passes

http://www.examiner.com/article/update-desperate-politics-tea-party-protesters-threaten-gun-violence-if-health-care-passes

In a disturbing indication of the extreme desperation of the far right, Tea Party protesters are threatening gun violence in an attempt to intimidate lawmakers and thwart the will of the people.

Think Progress reports on Tea Party threats of gun violence:

Tea Party activists have gathered on Capitol Hill today for a “Code Red” rally against health care reform. Speakers at the event included Republican Reps. Steve King (IA), Michele Bachmann (MN), and Mike Pence (IN). The gathering was organized by Tea Party Profiteer organizations like FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity. ThinkProgress attended today’s rally and spotted a sign threatening violence if health care passes. The sign reads: “Warning: If Brown can’t stop it, a Browning can,” referring to Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) and a Browning firearm.

The news is deeply disturbing, and is further indication of the break down of civil society. The Tea Party protesters have become an ugly mob. They threaten, they curse, they hurl racial and other ugly epitaphs, they even spit upon our elected representatives.

Comment by cruz bustamante
2013-10-23 16:27:18

he Tea Party protesters have become an ugly mob. They threaten, they curse, they hurl racial and other ugly epitaphs, they even spit upon our elected representatives.

They must have learned from these people.


Police investigate death threats against Ted Cruz

Wisconsin Republican state senators receive chilling email death threat

Twitter death threats to Sarah Palin

Sandra Bernhard on Sarah Palin Controversy: Get Raped!

Death Threats to Rick Perry, George W. Bush via Twitter Being Investigated

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 19:45:16

They must have learned from these people.

You don’t understand the mathematical differences of random individual death threats and leaders of large groups and large political groups and major political parties threatening violence?

Obama’s death threats are 10 times that of Bush. Learn math and its implications.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 19:54:13

Obama’s death threats are 10 times that of Bush. Learn math and its implications.

maybe he’s hated ten times as much for all the misery he’s brought to the country, comrade closer.

 
Comment by imaadesi
2013-10-23 20:03:37

LOL

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 20:04:08

maybe he’s hated ten times as much for all the misery he’s brought to the country, comrade closer.

It’s because he’s black and Democrat you idiot. lol (ba da ba boom)

Obama’s death treats spiked off the charts before he had a chance to do anything.

Racists in action.

 
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 20:19:51

It’s because he’s black and Democrat you idiot.

no, it’s because he’s scumbag communist like you comrade closer.

you’re race baiting again, like most vile marxists do, closer.

Obama’s death treats spiked off the charts before he had a chance to do anything.

link, closer?

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 20:25:39

it’s because he’s scumbag communist like you comrade closer.

I’m not communist and I’m not black.

Do you like me more now? lol

 
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 20:34:36

I’m not communist and I’m not black.

no one but you brings up skin color, race baiting comrade closer.

and yes, we know you ‘claim’ not to be communist. that’s a good one comrade closer. ba da boom!

btw, are you going to answer those articles i posted for you comrade closer? if not, i’ll repost them for you tomorrow if there are too many post here, and you can’t find it.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 20:43:22

btw, are you going to answer those articles i posted for you comrade closer?

IDK, I probably read the first of your 2 sentences, got bored, laughed (and farted). Seriously, Step it up.

Post them again tomorrow, with something interesting at the beginning.

I don’t live for your posts enough to wade through the predictable BS.

 
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 21:00:20

I probably read the first of your 2 sentences, got bored, laughed (and farted).

if you don’t know what to say, then just type in LOL like you usually do, closer.

I don’t live for your posts enough to wade through the predictable BS.

oops.. comrade closer is backing away.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 21:06:30

comrade closer is backing away.

I am. It’s 2:o5 here, you’re boring and It’s going to be sunny and warm tomorrow.

 
Comment by cruz bustamante
2013-10-23 21:26:30

Secret Service: Threat level against Obama no greater than under Bush, Clinton

 
Comment by cruz bustamante
2013-10-23 21:30:37

No evidence to support claim about threats against Obama
False
Share this story:

He’s the nation’s first African-American president. He’s infuriated many people with his policies on key issues, such as health care and taxes. He’s also a target of terrorists.

Because of some of these factors and others, some say the U.S. Secret Service has handled more death threats against President Barack Obama than anyone who’s sat in the Oval Office.

“The incidents of threats against (Obama) are greater than for any other president in modern times,” civil rights legend Julian Bond recently said on “The Colbert Report.”

PolitiFact Georgia received a request from a reader on Twitter to examine the accuracy of such claims. We tried to reach Bond, but our efforts were unsuccessful. We tried him through the American Program Bureau, a company that has arranged interviews and speeches for Bond. We emailed Bond at American University, where he is an adjunct professor in the School of Public Affairs. We called the university’s communications department, which said it would try to contact Bond for us.

Bond, 73, is the former chairman of the NAACP and a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He is a former Atlanta resident and member of the Georgia House of Representatives. Bond has taught college courses and was the narrator of the award-winning “Eyes on the Prize” television series about the civil rights movement.

Others have made similar claims about threats to Obama. And they seem to come from a single source.

A U.S. Secret Service spokesman told us the agency does not discuss the number of threats against any president. But the most recent director left some bread crumbs that we followed.

In August 2009, an author who’s written about the Secret Service estimated that the number of threats against Obama had increased by 400 percent in comparison with his White House predecessor, George W. Bush.

But that December, then-Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan told a congressional committee that the number of threats against Obama had not — again, had not — increased by 400 percent.

“The threats right now … is the same level as it has been for the previous two presidents at this point in their administrations,” Sullivan said.

He told the committee he’d discuss specifics in private. The Secret Service doesn’t like to discuss threats against a president because it doesn’t want copycats to get any ideas.

Sullivan told U.S. News during an interview in March 2010 that the threat level had not increased since Obama became president. Sullivan retired last month.

In 2012, some news outlets reported that there had been a spike in threats against Obama. One report from WLS-TV, an ABC affiliate in Chicago, used the 400 percent increase figure that Sullivan had said was inaccurate. The station later added that it is believed that Obama is the most threatened president in U.S. history. But the report cited no sources.

PolitiFact has occasionally dealt with claims in which the federal government cannot discuss specifics. For example, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., claimed during the 2012 presidential campaign that GOP nominee Mitt Romney went 10 years without paying taxes. Reid said he got the information from a Romney business associate who wished to remain anonymous. Although the Internal Revenue Service can’t release Romney’s taxes without his permission, PolitiFact believed the burden of proof was on Reid since he made such a serious claim and rated it a Pants On Fire!

To recap, Bond said “the incidents of threats against (Obama) are greater than for any other president in modern times.”

But a former Secret Service director has twice said there has not been an increase. The Secret Service is, well, secret, so they won’t discuss the number of specific threats against Obama.

There’s no concrete evidence that Bond and others have produced to back up their claim.

We rate Bond’s claim False.

 
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 21:37:09

you’re boring

good cover for your hobgoblin, closer.

 
Comment by cruz bustamante
2013-10-23 21:37:40

The incidents of threats against (President Barack Obama) are greater than for any other president in modern times.”

Julian Bond on Wednesday, March 6th, 2013 in an interview
No evidence to support claim about threats against Obama
False

He’s the nation’s first African-American president. He’s infuriated many people with his policies on key issues, such as health care and taxes. He’s also a target of terrorists.

Because of some of these factors and others, some say the U.S. Secret Service has handled more death threats against President Barack Obama than anyone who’s sat in the Oval Office.

“The incidents of threats against (Obama) are greater than for any other president in modern times,” civil rights legend Julian Bond recently said on “The Colbert Report.”

PolitiFact Georgia received a request from a reader on Twitter to examine the accuracy of such claims. We tried to reach Bond, but our efforts were unsuccessful. We tried him through the American Program Bureau, a company that has arranged interviews and speeches for Bond. We emailed Bond at American University, where he is an adjunct professor in the School of Public Affairs. We called the university’s communications department, which said it would try to contact Bond for us.

Bond, 73, is the former chairman of the NAACP and a founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He is a former Atlanta resident and member of the Georgia House of Representatives. Bond has taught college courses and was the narrator of the award-winning “Eyes on the Prize” television series about the civil rights movement.

Others have made similar claims about threats to Obama. And they seem to come from a single source.

A U.S. Secret Service spokesman told us the agency does not discuss the number of threats against any president. But the most recent director left some bread crumbs that we followed.

In August 2009, an author who’s written about the Secret Service estimated that the number of threats against Obama had increased by 400 percent in comparison with his White House predecessor, George W. Bush.

But that December, then-Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan told a congressional committee that the number of threats against Obama had not — again, had not — increased by 400 percent.

“The threats right now … is the same level as it has been for the previous two presidents at this point in their administrations,” Sullivan said.

He told the committee he’d discuss specifics in private. The Secret Service doesn’t like to discuss threats against a president because it doesn’t want copycats to get any ideas.

Sullivan told U.S. News during an interview in March 2010 that the threat level had not increased since Obama became president. Sullivan retired last month.

In 2012, some news outlets reported that there had been a spike in threats against Obama. One report from WLS-TV, an ABC affiliate in Chicago, used the 400 percent increase figure that Sullivan had said was inaccurate. The station later added that it is believed that Obama is the most threatened president in U.S. history. But the report cited no sources.

PolitiFact has occasionally dealt with claims in which the federal government cannot discuss specifics. For example, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., claimed during the 2012 presidential campaign that GOP nominee Mitt Romney went 10 years without paying taxes. Reid said he got the information from a Romney business associate who wished to remain anonymous. Although the Internal Revenue Service can’t release Romney’s taxes without his permission, PolitiFact believed the burden of proof was on Reid since he made such a serious claim and rated it a Pants On Fire!

To recap, Bond said “the incidents of threats against (Obama) are greater than for any other president in modern times.”

But a former Secret Service director has twice said there has not been an increase. The Secret Service is, well, secret, so they won’t discuss the number of specific threats against Obama.

There’s no concrete evidence that Bond and others have produced to back up their claim.

We rate Bond’s claim False.

 
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 21:52:47

There’s no concrete evidence that Bond and others have produced to back up their claim.

oops again closer. soon people might not believe one darn thing you post. wouldn’t that be a shame comrade?

 
 
 
Comment by Northeastener
2013-10-23 19:54:20

Typical liberal progressive BS Rio. You’re showing your true colors, again. The 2nd Amendment ensures that citizens can defend themselves against threats. That threat could be a tyrannical government or “natives” looking to plunder or kill.

And no, we won’t be disarmed… try at your peril.

Comment by imaadesi
2013-10-23 20:05:10

yes would be disarmed by MIC/Police state no matter what you do, Just wait and it would come.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 20:07:42

Like I said, thanks for your concern.

 
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 20:06:52

And no, we won’t be disarmed… try at your peril.

“At my peril?” Check under you bed. Dude. You’re unstable. Maybe get help. For the children at least.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 20:57:51

“we won’t be disarmed… try at your peril”.
John C. Calhoun, 1861

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 08:44:27

Desperate Chinese Villagers Turn To Self-Immolation
by October 23, 2013 3:12 AM
7 min 23 sec
Relatives of He Mengqing walk in front of his house, which the local government has slated for demolition. The rice farmer from Chenzhou in China’s Hunan province rejected a government offer of compensation for his land; he set himself on fire when officials came for him.
Frank Langfitt/NPR

In order to turn China into an urban nation, local governments have demolished tens of millions of homes over the past decade. Homeowners have often fought back, blocking heavy machinery and battling officials.

In recent years, resistance has taken a disturbing turn: Since 2009, at least 53 people across China have lit themselves on fire to protest the destruction of their homes, according to human rights and news reports.

This may conjure up images of the more than 100 over roughly the same period to oppose Chinese policies in Tibet. But this is a different problem.

And while many other countries claim land in the name of development, the extent of this policy in China and the extreme response of some of those losing their homes has been striking.
He’s family members stand in the room where he self-immolated in late September. He’s brother, Waiqing (second from left), says local officials have too much power and villagers can do nothing to stop the demolition of their homes.

The most recent case of someone setting himself on fire over home demolition occurred in south-central China’s Hunan province. It began late last month on a sunny Sunday morning, when dozens of officials and police arrived with a pair of excavators at the farmhouse of He Mengqing.

The local government wants to level He’s village to make way for a park, part of a $1.6 billion plan to bring in factories, construct apartment buildings and develop the economy of Chenzhou, a city of about half a million people.

He, a 42-year-old rice farmer, refused to take the government’s compensation offer of about $33,000. His farmland is his only source of income, and he figured he would need a lot more money to survive without it.

So, when the officials came for him, he locked himself inside his house.

As the pair of excavators ripped apart a nearby home, officials pried open He’s door with a crowbar. He then poured gasoline over his head, opened a tank of cooking gas and lit himself on fire.

“There were the sounds of explosions, two of them: ‘Boom! Boom!’ ” recalls He’s brother Waiqing, who tried to block police from entering the house. “Very thick smoke and fire were coming out of the window.”

Family members watched as He burned inside his home. A water truck pulled up and fired water through the window. Eventually, government workers carried He — his body badly burned — from the building.

Waiqing says he never imagined his brother would try to kill himself, but He’s sister-in-law, Li, says he couldn’t afford a new house and had run out of options.

“He is already in his 40s and has no diploma,” Li says, standing in the room where her brother-in-law lit himself on fire, wearing a white hoodie that contrasts sharply with the blackened walls. One of He’s charred leather shoes sits amid the ash that carpets the floor. His 2-year-old nephew collects some of the ash with a plastic toy shovel — too young to understand what had happened to his uncle.

“[He's] child and the entire family depend on him,” Li continues. “He knew he couldn’t find other work because he had no diploma and is growing old.”

“He asked, ‘How can I survive in the future?’ ” Li recalls. “The government said: ‘That’s your business.’ He was helpless and was forced to self-immolate.”

Comment by Middle Coaster
2013-10-23 09:56:45

And yet there are ghost cities in China, full of empty high rises.

Evidently the Chinese government is counting on the land and crop deals they have made on other continents to feed all their people. Or at least the lucky ones.

 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 09:12:37

‘Real Estate Industry Freaks Over Fannie and Freddie Pullback Plan’

‘Proposed shrinkage of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac subsidies to buyers and builders of apartment and condominium complexes has met near-unanimous opposition from real estate industry and affordable housing groups.’

‘The outcry demonstrates the difficulty of making even limited changes to the current U.S. system of housing finance, which five years after the crisis still relies almost entirely on government support.’

‘The FHFA received 29 comment letters representing 42 organizations, and all but two of those organizations were opposed to the changes, according to a report from FBR Capital Markets…Opponents included virtually every major real estate and banking trade group.’

We see again the ugly head of FBR, aka the investment bank of the housing bubble. The lines are draw. Will the government continue “subsidies” to powerful corporations?

Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 09:34:44

Realtors lobbying for grossly inflated housing prices? You don’t say!

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2013-10-23 11:15:17

What’s strange is that I just looked up the 30-year yesterday, and according to Wells Fargo’s website, their Jumbo rate was less than their conforming rate…

If there was EVER a time to pull back Fannie/Freddie’s involvement, it’s today.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 18:10:34

“…their Jumbo rate was less than their conforming rate…”

What is weird about that? My guess is that those who get loans through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under the conforming loan limit are worse credit risks than those who can afford to buy a home financed with a Jumbo mortgage.

Comment by Rental Watch
2013-10-23 21:43:43

Jumbo loans do not come with the full faith and credit of the US Government as credit support. FICO scores and credit risk are irrelevant.

Historically, jumbo loans have been more expensive than conforming loans for that reason. What has changed?

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
 
 
Comment by Taxpayers
2013-10-23 09:30:19

messershmidt- i g farben-henkel

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 09:34:45

‘The intellectual and political degeneration of the “progressive” wing of the Democratic party continues apace, as Tom Watson – a prominent spokesman for the movement – attacks the upcoming “Stop Watching Us” rally, to be held in Washington this coming weekend (Saturday, October 26). Although he claims to support the goals of the rally – more on that later – he writes:

“Yet I cannot support this coalition or the rally. It is fatally compromised by the prominent leadership and participation of the Libertarian Party and other libertarian student groups; their hard-core ideology stands in direct opposition to almost everything I believe in as a social democrat.”

‘The reasoning behind Watson’s sectarianism is ostensibly ideological: he goes through the hate-on-libertarians mantra, so familiar to readers of Salon.com, including our opposition to the welfare state, gun control, Obama-care, and, oddly – for an alleged progressive – he cites with horror the Libertarian Party platform which calls for “unrestricted competition among banks and depository institutions of all types.’

‘If it were up to Watson, the Amash bill – supported by a very broad congressional coalition stretching from the Ron Paul Republicans to the Alan Grayson left-populist types – would never have come as close as it did to passing: indeed, it would never have made it to the floor.’

‘Which is exactly Watson’s desired outcome, in spite of his ostensible support for the programmatic demands of “Stop Watching Us.” As he puts it:

“Political change requires choices and compromise, as well as action. If too many young organizers focus entirely on privacy and security and abandon the front lines on crucial economic issues, civil rights and inequality, the rights of workers, criminal justice reform, environmental regulation, and the pursuit social justice, their gains will be too little and society’s loss too great.”

‘Watson wants “young organizers” to stop focusing on those libertarian-oriented issues like privacy: America’s emerging police state is a marginal issue when compared to “the pursuit of social justice.”

‘In short, you don’t have to stop watching us – if you give us free stuff.’

‘Watson is the ultimate fraud: a “progressive” who shills for the Surveillance State, a supposed “online activist for social change” who disdains the really existing online movement for social change. He’s a partisan sock puppet – here he hails Obama as the conqueror of Afghanistan – one with some dicey connections and an authoritarian mindset that clearly identifies him as an enemy of liberty.’

‘Only a broad-based left-right coalition can bring down the Surveillance State, restore the Constitution, and smash the authoritarian axis of absolutism that runs from “social democrats” like Watson on the left all the way to neocons like Bill Kristol and the Cheneyites on the right. The sectarians at Salon have been running their anti-libertarian campaign for months now, along with the Regimists at MSNBC and the “mainstream” media outlets so recently enamored of “moderate” Republicans like racist bigot Rep. Peter King and Gov. Chris Christie, who thinks libertarians are “dangerous.” But they are on the wrong side of history: a new generation is arising, one that is challenging the Establishment of both parties and leaping over the constraints of the outmoded “left/right” paradigm. Now that’s a real movement for “social change” – one that is rolling over sectarians like Watson and leaving them in the dust.’

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 10:12:22

‘Only a broad-based left-right coalition can bring down the Surveillance State, restore the Constitution, and smash the authoritarian axis of absolutism that runs from “social democrats”

Then it will never happen with the TP controlling the Right. Think about that statement. “Only a broad-based left-right coalition can…….”

You will never get a broad-based, left-right coalition with the TP controlling the right. There is nothing “broad-based” about the TP. They can’t even compromise with their own damn party. Remember? Can you imagine them allowing a majority of the right to compromise with a majority on the left?

The TP are not saviors. They are more like destroyers. They don’t even love America - they only love their flawed “theory” of America. They only love a fuzzy idea of America that never was and never will be. They want no compromise for the good of America. Rigid. Intolerant. Their way or no way. The last thing the TP wants is a “broad-based left-right coalition”.

On anything.

Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 10:29:07

‘The weakness of Watson’s argument finally causes it to collapse completely when he writes:

“For those whose feet still touch the ground, the path to NSA reform so clearly lies inside the Democrats’ big tent – and runs through its liberal wing. And because we are a liberal republic, whose central government is not leaving the landscape anytime soon (the libertarians’ fondest goal), change must also run through an elected Congress.”

‘Gee, now I could be wrong – along with every news outlet that reported on the matter – but wasn’t it a libertarian Republican, one Justin Amash, who introduced legislation that almost defunded the NSA’s unconstitutional snooping, barely losing by a mere 16 votes? And wasn’t it Nancy Pelosi, one of the most visible and vocal leaders of the Democratic party, and former Speaker of the House, who lobbied relentlessly against the Amash bill? Indeed, Pelosi headed off a trans-partisan civil libertarian coalition in Congress – the same one reflected on the speakers platform shared by libertarians and pro-privacy progressives this coming weekend – by mobilizing Obama-loyal “progressives” who de-prioritize civil liberties in the same way and for the same reasons as Watson.’

Justin Amash is considered a TP politician.

Here’s what puzzles so many of us. Instead of constantly harping about the TP or “right-wingers’, what are you doing to restore our privacy? What are your candidates doing? Is the only thing you have is Tea Party! Bahh!

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 10:45:20

Here’s what puzzles so many of us. Instead of constantly harping about the TP or “right-wingers’, what are you doing to restore our privacy?

I think you are correct on the NSA and the TP has aspects that I agree with. Privacy and immigration are a couple. But I see the TP as a “sum of the whole”. Where their “sum of their whole” is more like the sum of their hole.

And this is where the TP screws up. By allowing no compromise on anything, people dislike them on everything. They step on even the good parts of their message by allowing their nutjob fringe to set their agenda.

And I weigh the grand issues in the order of importance to me and in importance to me, wealth and income inequality is the most important issue of our time. And the TP is controlled by people with the direct opposite opinion on this most important issue. One needs to pick one’s battles.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 10:48:13

‘I weigh the grand issues in the order of importance to me and in importance to me…’

‘In short, you don’t have to stop watching us – if you give us free stuff.’

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 11:01:46

‘In short, you don’t have to stop watching us – if you give us free stuff.’

That makes no sense. What “free stuff” do I get from the US Government? Do they send it through the mail to me down here?

 
Comment by Strawberrypicker
2013-10-23 19:21:15

Down here, LOL

 
 
Comment by Bluestar
2013-10-23 11:57:43

Watson is a tool - a would-be pied piper for weak minded progressives. Give me Dennis Kucinich any day.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
Comment by MightyMike
2013-10-23 11:07:41

At the bottom of Watson’s article on Salon it says “Tom Watson is a New York based journalist and consultant to progressive causes who writes the Social Ventures blog for Forbes”.

I don’t think that he’s an important spokesman for anything.

Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 11:19:31

From the link:

‘Watson is the founder and CEO of “CauseWired,” a consulting firm with a vague mission of “social activism,” one that touts its nonprofit credentials but also has some pretty heavy-hitting corporate clients.’

‘Among these is a company specializing in managing philanthropic donations for big corporations, the “JK Group,” which, as one source puts it, is in possession of “unsurpassed payment processing and global legal compliance capabilities, including the USA Patriot Act and a wide range of international regulations.”

‘A whole industry now exists centered around Patriot Act compliance – and, of course, owes its very existence to such legislation. Repeal of the Act would put an end to this little niche of rent-collecting parasites, and Watson could lose a client – unless, of course, he can launch an online “activist” campaign to head such a movement off at the pass. One of the JK Group’s big clients is Wells Fargo – which perhaps explains Watson’s horror at the libertarian proposal that banks should actually compete with one another.’

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by MightyMike
2013-10-23 11:54:48

I was reacting to the Infowars guy’s description of Watson as a “prominent spokesman for the movement”. I’ve never heard of him before.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2013-10-23 12:00:36

Also, I’m not saying that all liberals are good on this issue. It’s just that this Tom Watson guy is not a good example.

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 12:03:35

It’s not infowars, it’s antiwar.com.

 
 
 
Comment by Strawberrypicker
2013-10-23 19:18:46

Rio clearly has Daddy issues. No one is going to tell him what to do.

 
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 10:24:49

‘Only a broad-based left-right coalition can bring down the Surveillance State……….

Here’s the “broad-based, TP/OWS left/right coalition.

Hate is a hell of a drug.”

http://animalnewyork.com/2012/andrew-you-are-freaks-and-animals-breitbart-dead-at-43/

 
Comment by goon squad
2013-10-23 11:01:59

America’s emerging police state is a marginal issue when compared to “the pursuit of social justice.”

This is beyond pathetic.

Come on down to Jonestown, kidz. The kool-aid tastes great!

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 11:06:27

America’s emerging police state is a marginal issue when compared to “the pursuit of social justice.”

I don’t understand this statement. A police state is a violation of social justice.

Comment by goon squad
2013-10-23 11:39:15

The “progressive” interpretation is total hypocrisy, i.e. the stop-and-frisk policing model in New York City that disproportionately targets young black males would be considered both a police state and something that “social justice” would aim to stop, while simultaneously giving a free pass to the anti-Constitutional and criminal actions of the Obama administration because he is the first black president, because of his support of gay rights (which is inherently libertarian, not progressive), et cetera.

HBB poster MacBeth is right: progressive = neocon.

And Obama embodies the absolute worst of both.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 12:14:41

while simultaneously giving a free pass to the anti-Constitutional and criminal actions of the Obama administration because he is the first black president

No way Obama gets a “pass” because he’s black.

Obama gets a huge amount of flack from many Democrats. And even if they didn’t, the far right would impeach Obama in a heartbeat if he had “violated” the Constitution enough to be impeached. The meme that all Dems are wrong on NSA and all Repubs are right is BS too.

Obama deflects criticism over NSA surveillance as Democrats sound alarm

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/08/obama-response-nsa-surveillance-democrats

…..Earlier on Friday evening, two Democratic senators, who are privy to top-secret briefings about NSA programs as part of their work on the Senate Intelligence Committee, released a statement strongly criticising comments made by senior administration officials and calling for more information to be declassified.

“After years of review, we believe statements that this very broad Patriot Act collection has been ‘a critical tool in protecting the nation’ do not appear to hold up under close scrutiny,” senators Mark Udell and Ron Wyden said. “We remain unconvinced that the secret Patriot Act collection has actually provided any uniquely valuable intelligence.”

For at least two years the pair have warned about secret government interpretations of the Patriot Act, but have been restricted in what they can say because their concerns stemmed from classified briefings that could not be publicly disclosed.

Taking issue with remarks made by Clapper and Obama, the senators said: “We disagree with the statement that the broad Patriot Act collection strikes the ‘right balance’ between protecting American security and protecting Americans’ privacy,” they said. “In our view it does not.”

A third Democratic senator, Joe Manchin, said he was uncomfortable with the broad scope of NSA surveillance and indicated the attorney general, Eric Holder, should consider resigning.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2013-10-23 14:20:51

There was a good article about Senator Ron Wyden just this week.

Ron Wyden: The Lonely Hero of the Battle Against the Surveillance State
The Oregon senator isn’t as famous as Edward Snowden or Julian Assange, but his push for limits on the NSA could result in much-needed reforms.


When historians write about the civil-liberties crisis of this decade, the story will be full of vivid figures—Bradley, now Chelsea, Manning, the fragile soldier who broke in a battle zone and has paid a high price; Edward Snowden, the high-school dropout who did a data-dump of the government’s deepest secrets and ended up cowering in Sheremetyevo Airport; Julian Assange, the flawed prophet of global leaks seeking refuge from sex-abuse charges in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.

But if there is any good outcome to the current miserable situation, it will also be the work of a figure a who is a good deal less colorful but much more durable: Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon.
For years before the Snowden leaks, the Democratic lawmaker had been carefully balancing two imperatives: his own oath as a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee to keep the secrets conveyed in confidence to the committee; and his larger commitment to the American people, who were being fed a diet of soothing lies.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/10/ron-wyden-the-lonely-hero-of-the-battle-against-the-surveillance-state/280782/

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 10:54:11

‘Though home prices continue to rise, real estate research from Zillow finds evidence the housing market is cooling…Zillow’s research also finds the larger decreases in home value appreciation came in markets that they’ve been watching as potential bubbles – including San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles.’

‘Home affordability is also declining. A new report from Interest.com finds it’s harder for a median-income household to afford a median-priced home in all of the country’s top 25 real estate markets this year compared to a year ago. That’s because home prices have risen close to 16% along with mortgage rates while income has not kept pace (income has risen by about 3%).’

Jeebus:

‘Housing Market Is Cooling And That’s Great News For Potential Bubbles: Zillow’

Hurrah! No need for alarm, don’t try to sell your house. This is GREAT news.

‘home prices have risen close to 16% along with mortgage rates while income has not kept pace’

16%? Median prices in Boston are 63% higher today than 2005. Cheerleaders like Zillow are getting nervous!

Comment by Arizona Slim
2013-10-23 11:15:04

Down here in Tucson, I’m seeing houses for sale that have been sitting there for months. Priced too high? I think so.

Meanwhile, there’s a glut of empty rentals. I think that’s due to the fact that there are too many units chasing too few tenants.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 17:14:49

Nervous?

They’re a whole lot of nervous loan owners out there…. and they should be.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 18:08:06

“Zillow’s research also finds the larger decreases in home value appreciation came in markets that they’ve been watching as potential bubbles – including San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles.”

Zillow has been watching Coastal California cities as potential bubbles? Talk about coming late to the party…welcome on board, folks!

Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 19:26:51

And as coastal California housing prices slide into the abyss, Zillow will come out saying “we told you so!”.

Friggin fraudsters.

 
 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 12:47:18

ft dot com
Last updated: October 23, 2013 8:16 pm
US task force probes nine banks on mortgage-backed securities
By Kara Scannell, Tom Braithwaite and Camilla Hall in New York

At least nine banks face investigations by the US Department of Justice into their sales of mortgage-backed securities as part of an effort by the task force that reached the $13bn pact with JPMorgan Chase, people familiar with the matter say.

The investigations, which span US attorney’s offices from California to Massachusetts, include the largest banks that underwrote and sold residential mortgage-backed securities. They include Bank of America, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS, Wells Fargo.

Most of the probes are looking for civil violations for allegedly misleading buyers of RMBS, not criminal sanctions. It is not clear how many, if any, will result in lawsuits or settlements.

The threat of potential action could spell more trouble for banks as they try to put the 2008 financial crisis and mounting legal bills behind them.

People familiar with the investigations say document requests and discussions between the banks and government have picked up in recent months after Eric Holder, the US attorney-general, indicated publicly that more MBS lawsuits were coming by the end of the year.

Comment by Whac-a-Bubble™
2013-10-23 13:40:49

Didn’t the Fed strong arm Megabank of America into snapping up Countrywide?

Oct. 23, 2013, 4:27 p.m. EDT
BofA liable for Countrywide fraud, jury finds
By Shayndi Raice

Bank of America Corp. committed fraud when it sold loans to mortgage finance firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a scheme called the “hustle,” a jury found Wednesday.

The decision marks the first time a bank has been found by a U.S. court to be responsible for wrongdoing tied to its financial-crisis-era dealings, experts say.

The jury also found that Rebecca Mairone, a former Countrywide Financial Corp. executive, was liable for fraud for her role in leading the hustle loan-processing program. Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, bought Countrywide in 2008.

“The jury’s decision concerns a single Countrywide program that lasted several months and ended before BofA’s acquisition,” said a spokesman for the Charlotte, N.C., bank. “We will evaluate our options for appeal.”

The trial has taken jurors on a journey inside Countrywide’s subprime lending unit, often seen as a central player in the subprime-mortgage crisis that brought the housing market to its knees. And it has dragged Bank of America back into the spotlight for Countrywide’s alleged misdeeds during the housing boom.

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 12:48:47

Mr Market is once again falling up today. DJIA is down to 15,400+ and still rising.

 
 
Comment by Whac-a-Bubble™
2013-10-23 13:46:59

Down.

Comment by Whac-a-Bubble™
2013-10-23 13:48:31

Oct. 23, 2013, 9:09 a.m. EDT
Treasurys hit fresh three-month highs
By Ben Eisen

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices inched up Wednesday, extending a recent climb that has correspondingly sent benchmark yields to their lowest level since July. The 10-year note (10_YEAR -0.83%) yield was down 1.5 basis points on the day at 2.499%. The 30-year bond (30_YEAR -0.64%) yield was down 1 basis point at 3.603%, and the 5-year note (5_YEAR -0.16%) yield fell 1.5 basis points to 1.270%. Treasury prices have been climbing in recent sessions as the market looks toward weaker data, including a soft jobs report on Tuesday, as a sign that the Federal Reserve could push back the timing to withdraw its bond-buying stimulus.

 
 
Comment by cactus
2013-10-23 14:27:24

Bank of America Loses Fraud Trial Over Mortgages
By REUTERS
October 23, 2013
NEW YORK — Bank of America Corp was found liable for fraud on Wednesday on claims related to defective mortgages sold by its Countrywide unit, a major win for the U.S. government in one of the few big trials stemming from the financial crisis.

Following a four-week trial, a federal jury in Manhattan found the Charlotte, North Carolina bank liable on one civil fraud charge. Countrywide originated shoddy home loans in a process called “Hustle” and sold them to government mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government said.

The four men and six women on the jury also found former Countrywide executive, Rebecca Mairone, liable on the one fraud charge facing her.

A decision on how much to penalize the bank would be left to U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff. The U.S. Department of Justice has said it would ask Rakoff to award up to $848.2 million (524.6 million pounds), the gross loss it said Fannie and Freddie suffered on the loans.

Bank of America bought Countrywide in July 2008. Two months later, the government took over Fannie and Freddie.

“The jury’s decision concerned a single Countrywide program that lasted several months and ended before Bank of America’s acquisition of the company,” Bank of America spokesman Lawrence Grayson said. “We will evaluate our options for appeal.”

Wednesday’s verdict marked a major victory for the Justice Department, which has come under criticism for failing to hold banks and executives accountable for their roles in the events leading up to the financial crisis.

In late afternoon trading, Bank of America shares were down 27 cents at $14.25 on the New York Stock Exchange.

WHISTLEBLOWER

The lawsuit stemmed from a whistleblower case originally brought by Edward O’Donnell, a former Countrywide executive who stands to earn up to $1.6 million if the government prevailed.

It centred on a program called the “High Speed Swim Lane” - also called “HSSL” or “Hustle” - that government lawyers said Countrywide started in 2007 as it sought to move away from subprime lending and issue prime loans.

Prime loans are considered less risky than subprime. But the Justice Department said fraud and other defects were rampant in HSSL loans, because Countrywide eliminated loan quality checkpoints and paid employees based on loan volume and speed.

The Justice Department said the process was overseen by Mairone, a former chief operating officer of Countrywide’s Full Spectrum Lending division.

Mairone later became a managing director at JPMorgan Chase & Co. That bank had no immediate comment.

In 2012, the Justice Department intervened in O’Donnell’s lawsuit and filed its own complaint under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989. That law, passed in the wake of the 1900s savings-and-loan scandals, covers fraud affecting federally insured financial institutions.

The case is U.S. ex rel. O’Donnell v. Bank of America Corp et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-01422.

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2013-10-23 17:32:10

More than 400,000 Floridians face notices health policies are ending

By Charles Elmore
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 7:05 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013

More than 400,000 Floridians are getting notices their health insurance policies are going away, spiking like a fever the debate over what it all means.

Opponents of the Affordable Care Act color it as a cancel-fest symptomatic of the law’s problems that already include a balky online marketplace. Supporters blast what they see as phony alarmism and say large numbers of people stand to obtain better coverage, in many cases for less money.

Comments

Posted by FranciscoM at 7:16 p.m. Oct. 23, 2013

This is a LIE!!! our dear leader ( AKA as the lier in chief) said we could keep our existing plan!!!!
He also said we would save $2500 per year, and we could keep our doctor, and that his plan would not add :one Cent to the national debt, and that tax dollars would not be used to fund abortions and and, and,

400,000 people? this morning it was 300,000. What sit going to be by the end of the week, 5 million?

Posted by HaverhillHarold at 7:41 p.m. Oct. 23, 2013

Hahahahaha Suckers! Most of these people probably voted for the Great Obama and thought that Obamacare was going to be free health insurance. Everyone fell for the promises of better insurance at lower prices and keeping their same plans and doctors.
Hahahahaha, sorry I can not help but laugh. The only thing lower on these insurance plans is going to be what doctors get paid so I predict in the near future there will be a shortage of doctors because there will be no incentive for people spending so much time and money going to medical school to get paid what the government thinks they should get paid. Who wants to pay back a $100,000 dollar plus loan by making bargain basement wages?
Now that companies are going to drop coverage for a half a million people in Florida alone and the healthcare.gov website is not working this is just great!!!

@FransiscoM–the 2500.00 in savings Obama spoke of per year was the amount that you save in Government fines if you did not have insurance..It not actual savings that go into your pocket….

Comment by tj
2013-10-23 17:55:03

This is a LIE!!! our dear leader ( AKA as the lier in chief) said we could keep our existing plan!!!!

this isn’t over yet. single payer is obama’s briar patch. he’ll complain, but that’s where he wants to go. he’ll have a bunch of new promises for us then. wait til you see universal heath care in action. you’ll puke. hardly anyone knows how bad it is.

comrade closer will tell you that the people that have it, love it. but i’ve seen it in action. it ain’t pretty.

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 19:48:03

but i’ve seen it in action. it ain’t pretty.

We don’t care about your parents.

Comment by tj
2013-10-23 19:58:49

We don’t care about your parents.

oooohh, now we’re getting ‘clever comrade closer’. you go komrade.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
 
 
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 18:06:39

U.S. Army Briefing Tells Soldiers That Christians And Tea Party Members Are A Threat To The Nation..

http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=29186742

obama is firing generals at an alarming rate. faster than every before in history. the litmus test is if they are willing to fire on americans. if you can’t, you’re out.

this is scary. we’ve got a real monster in the white house.

Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 18:15:12

I said months ago when it was reported that Obama has a kill list meeting each week, where he personally picks who to assassinate, he was unfit for the office. It suggests a mental problem.

Comment by tj
2013-10-23 18:27:35

It suggests a mental problem.

i posted on another blog in 08, before he was elected, that he exhibited 6 of 7 features of a sociopath according to the DSM IV. i believe only 2 or 3 are needed to be clinically verified a sociopath. it was five years ago so i don’t remember the exact details. he is one scary SOB.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 18:32:30

The first police state/security apparatus president. He’s a law and order homo’s dream date.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 19:11:55

yep, that’s barry.

 
Comment by Resistor
2013-10-23 20:01:10

Written for Bush… but.. uh..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLUX0y4EptA

 
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 19:51:50

(i posted ) (Obama) exhibited 6 of 7 features of a sociopath according to the DSM IV

Only 6 of 7?

That’s nothin’……According to FOX, he exhibits 9.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 20:00:34

According to FOX, he exhibits 9

if there are more, i’m sure he’s got ‘em.

 
 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2013-10-23 18:35:06

SEAL Veteran: Military Leaders Being Asked if They Will Disarm Americans

Litmus test includes question of whether top brass are comfortable with ordering NCOs to fire on U.S. citizens

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
October 23, 2013

Former Navy SEAL Ben Smith warns that the Obama administration is asking top brass in the military if they would be comfortable with disarming U.S. citizens, a litmus test that includes gauging whether they would be prepared to order NCOs to fire on Americans.

Speaking exclusively to the Alex Jones Show, Smith stated, “Going back to the beginning of this administration, I’ve had friends within the community talking about how they were brought in and questioned with people from more towards the top side and the questioning….where it was pointing was do you feel comfortable disarming American citizens,” adding that this was one of the many “funny things” occurring within the military.

When Smith was asked by radio host Alex Jones if this line of questioning included a litmus test whereby military officers were asked if they would fire on U.S. citizens, he responded in the affirmative.

Smith said the litmus test was related to the recent firing of top military commanders Navy Vice Adm. Tim Giardina and Maj. Gen. Michael Carey.

Smith linked the premise to former Obama advisor Van Jones, who was forced to resign in September 2009 after his links with a Marxist organization were revealed.

http://www.infowars.com/ex-navy-seal-military-leaders-being-asked-if-they-will-disarm-americans/ - -

Comment by tj
2013-10-23 19:14:16

thanks, good find.

 
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 19:49:03

this is scary

Pull the covers over you head. I learned that when I was 4.

Comment by tj
2013-10-23 20:02:08

I learned that when I was 4.

keep regressing closer.

 
 
 
Comment by imaadesi
2013-10-23 18:47:30

Most likely this may not get posted but I would write anyway.

You guys are the crazy nuts, who are the real problem for this country and living in their fantasy imagination of reality. But keep dreaming, no matter which party controls the government, you nut jobs or anyone-else would never be stand against the military industrial complex / police state which is coming.

If GOP president did what Obama is doing then you would call him “he is protecting THE country” and when DEM president does it, he is breaking the law, killer, etc.

Comment by Ben Jones
2013-10-23 19:02:08

‘If GOP president did what Obama is doing then you would call him “he is protecting THE country”

That’s absolutely false. When Bush the 2nd was president, I said on this blog that the Bushes are a crime family. And they are, like mafia types, except they run in political/government circles.

Here’s something to consider, which I have posted on this blog before:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessions_of_an_Economic_Hit_Man

‘you nut jobs or anyone-else would never be stand against the military industrial complex / police state which is coming.’

When the recent threats of outlawing guns came up, people in this country bought every gun and bullet they could find for months. And it isn’t to protect ourselves from Muslims. We’ll be fine, and thanks for your concern.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 19:12:52

“I said on this blog that the Bushes are a crime family.”

Likewise. You all remember me saying it.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 19:57:36

‘If GOP president did what Obama is doing then you would call him “he is protecting THE country”

That’s absolutely false. When Bush the 2nd was president, I said on this blog that the Bushes are a crime family.

Yes. You and a very few said it Ben. I said it too. But not most Repubs. Most Repubs are more “law and order” fascists than Dems. Are you guys for real with your history re-writes? We don’t buy it. It’s stupid. Bush started the Patriot Act and Repubs have led the way to the police state.

You all were there. This is not grade school brainwashing.

Comment by tj
2013-10-23 20:12:27

Bush started the Patriot Act and Repubs have led the way to the police state.

bush was a liberal in many ways and 90% of the repubs are establishment rinos (liberals), comrade closer.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 20:18:09

90% of the repubs are establishment rinos

Then you’re doubly fooked. ba da boom.

(Dude people are laughing)

 
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 20:27:13

Then you’re doubly fooked.

that’s true, we are. but what you don’t know is that you’re fooked along with us, comrade closer. ba da boom.

(Dude people are laughing)

yes, at you and obama comrade.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 20:38:14

but what you don’t know is that you’re fooked along with us,

How could I be fooked unless I get sick? By being a good businessman, I’m financially independent. I own a great house and have no debts and an income. (And the opposite sex likes me) :) (thank god)

I have the rights to live more countries than one. I did not spend my life bitching about a country that never was and never will be. I made it.

If you can’t make it, buck up and quit whining. Take charge. But if you want someone to blame, blame the Repubs (yea, yea RINO’s etc, lol) that are most responsible for taking America’s jobs.

(My cigar is going out)

 
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 20:53:14

How could I be fooked unless I get sick?

you’re fooked because the tyranny you’ve championed is going worldwide an eventually you and your family will have nowhere to hide. no where to go. you won’t believe it until they come for you. then you’ll feel really embarrassed.

By being a good businessman, I’m financially independent. I own a great house and have no debts and an income.

the cronies you love will get around to taking it all away from you.

i’d write more answers but i don’t think you can answer more than a couple things at a time comrade closer.

 
Comment by Bill, just south of Irvine
2013-10-23 20:54:04

So you are saying you have the financial means to escape from Marxism, which you highly advocate so you can go to the next country and enjoy liberty while advocating Marxism there. Understood.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 21:02:06

the tyranny you’ve championed is going worldwide an eventually you and your family will have nowhere to hide. no where to go. you won’t believe it until they come for you. then you’ll feel really embarrassed.

LOL.

Wow, so let me get this straight……..

If “they” come for me and my family, I need to worry about…….. “feeling embarrassed”?

Wow.

ba da boom..

So you are saying you have the financial means to escape from Marxism, … so you can go to the next country and enjoy liberty ….

So, you are saying that you don’t have the intellectual means to make a valid argument without resorting to 9th grade straw-man BS comparisons?

 
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 21:44:32

If “they” come for me and my family, I need to worry about…….. “feeling embarrassed”?

as they’re lining you up against the wall, you wouldn’t feel a little embarrassed that you had been supporting them, comrade closer?

So, you are saying that you don’t have the intellectual means to make a valid argument without resorting to 9th grade straw-man BS comparisons?

no comrade. you always get things so turned around.

he’s saying that YOU don’t have the intellectual means to make a valid argument without resorting to 9th grade straw-man BS comparisons. and he’s right comrade closer, you don’t.

 
 
 
 
Comment by cruz bustamante
2013-10-23 19:10:12

WTF you are talking about?

Read a little before opening you mouth or start typing on your computer.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2013-10-23 19:22:10

What does “never be stand” mean?

 
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 19:25:56

But keep dreaming, no matter which party controls the government, you nut jobs or anyone-else would never be stand against the military industrial complex / police state which is coming.

that’s because both parties are liberal. the establishment rinos are only slightly less liberal. that’s why you see so little difference.

as for standing up to the police state, you’ll be surprised what some patriots are willing to do.

If GOP president did what Obama is doing then you would call him “he is protecting THE country” and when DEM president does it, he is breaking the law, killer, etc.

yes, we know you libs are upset. too bad.

bush got us tax cuts which helped the economy more than most people know. but he was also very liberal pushing through medicare D which is highly unaffordable. he also told everyone to ‘go shopping’ which is another keynesian type policy. he was quite liberal in many ways and we are paying for it. we’re paying an even higher price for obama..

Comment by cruz bustamante
2013-10-23 19:27:42

This guy is an idiot. Don’t ever bother responding to him.

Comment by tj
2013-10-23 19:41:30

yes, but it’s a slow night and it gives me a chance to expose their faulty thinking.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 20:12:15

that’s because both parties are liberal…….etc etc etc bla etc

Tip:

I swear, you are so boring tj that 90% stop after your first “response”.

You are one of the most boring writers I’ve come across. Like a monotone, angry machine picking random numbers of canned dialogue.

Comment by tj
2013-10-23 20:44:05

I swear, you are so boring tj that 90% stop after your first “response”.

how do you know this comrade closer?

You are one of the most boring writers I’ve come across.

stop coming across writers then! ba da boom! did you know that boredom is the hobgoblin of the intellectually limited?

Like a monotone, angry machine picking random numbers of canned dialogue.

if you only knew the fun i was having, comrade closer.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 20:49:40

if you only knew the fun i was having, comrade closer.

Fun with a grimace…is weird. But common for a lot of TP’s imo.

It’s a weird sub-culture. Anger. Hate.

I’ve never seen such a lack of humor or good-will from such a large group. I think they’ve been brainwashed to hate.

 
Comment by tj
2013-10-23 21:09:45

no grimace comrade closer, no grimace.

It’s a weird sub-culture. Anger. Hate.

the anger and hate is only for socialism/communism/statism/facism comrade closer. nothing else. all the rest is in your small paranoid mind comrade.

I’ve never seen such a lack of humor or good-will from such a large group.

what? do you really think we’d ever like a race baiting socialist like you? you’ve got to be kidding comrade.

I think they’ve been brainwashed to hate.

no brainwashing by us comrade. we just know dangerous little tyrants like you when we see them, closer.

 
 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2013-10-23 19:35:43

“you nut jobs or anyone-else would never be stand against the military industrial complex / police state which is coming.”

Um, you may want to check this video out.

An open letter to the United Nations - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFjvA4OFWY8 - 134k - Cached - Similar pages
Jul 18, 2012 … AMERICA’S HUNTERS The world’s largest army

 
 
Comment by cruz bustamante
2013-10-23 19:18:36

Cant make this $hit up.

Senate Dems Up for Re-Election in 2014 to Back Delay of Obamacare Enrollment Deadline

Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 19:25:13

I can’t wait to hear what excuses Rio and her bevy of slobbering debt bovines come up with.

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 20:16:42

I can’t wait to hear what excuses Rio and her bevy of slobbering debt bovines come up with.

LOL.

You guys don’t get it at all. Sad….

Here’s my “excuse”. This ship has sailed. It’s over. USA is on the way to universal health-care no matter what form.

Even if ACA “fails”, it will have won because Repus would have to work with Dems on another solution.

You can’t stop this train.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 20:18:43

We get it. And we got you too. Don’t forget it.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 20:26:56

And we got you too. Don’t forget it.

I’m actually laughing a lot right now. Gonna smoke a big cigar and look at the ocean.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-24 04:55:10

You’re doing a whole lot of lying is what you’re doing. You know it. So do we.

 
Comment by tj
2013-10-24 07:54:34

Gonna smoke a big cigar and look at the ocean.

while you’re at the ocean, hold a sea shell to your ear. that should confuse the heck out of it.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 19:21:24

Denver Housing Demand Collapsed A Whopping 26% In a Month

http://picpaste.com/pics/6cf110a0630bd518b543e40e053761d9.1382581190.png

And much like California, new and resale housing prices have resumed their declines.

 
Comment by cruz bustamante
2013-10-23 19:26:26

German leader calls Obama about alleged cellphone tapping

What’s up with Obama and ugly looking white women? He appoints them to top positions in US and now he’s listening Merkel’s calls. Why doesn’t he listen in Carla Bruni’s phone calls? Carla might have some juicy stuff.

OR

May be Obama should just tap Michelle once in a while instead of tapping phones all over.

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2013-10-23 20:19:10

What’s up with Obama and ugly looking white women?

Dude, what’s your problem?

 
 
Comment by Bill, just South of Irvine, CA
2013-10-23 20:01:46

Ah! Google Play. Listening to Lez Zeppelin sing “Good Times Bad Times” - “In the days of my youth I was told what it means to be a man…” Interesting to hear a woman sing those words…

Then there is another fine lady band, Zepperrella.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2013-10-23 20:08:33

Don’t let yourself get ripped off by a realtor.

And above all else, don’t be a Debt Donkey.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 21:22:57

Does command-and-control economic policy still work these days?

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2013-10-23 21:24:03

Yegads!

Insurers offering 78,437 policy variations over HealthCare.gov site

October 23, 2013, 12:20 PM
By Russ Britt

This might explain a lot….

Data now obtainable from HealthCare.gov show there are 78,437 variations of health plans throughout the 36 states covered under the federal government’s troubled web site, ranging from a bare-bones policy going for $81.34 a month in Kansas for a 27-year-old, up to a so-called “gold” family plan with an HMO in Virginia costing $6,494.54 a month.

 
 
Name (required)
E-mail (required - never shown publicly)
URI
Your Comment (smaller size | larger size)
You may use <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong> in your comment.

Trackback responses to this post