Bits Bucket for January 22, 2014
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
About Me
Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
To donate by mail, or to otherwise contact this blogger, please send emails to: thehousingbubble@gmail.com
PayPal is a secure online payment method which accepts ALL major credit cards.
Links
-
April 2024 M T W T F S S « Sep 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Photo Submission: hbbphotos@gmail.com
View the HBB Photo Gallery *updated 4/13/2008
a foot of snow in nyc and i saw a lonely cat had to go out trudge through the unshoveled porch and stairs to feed it…..my feet are cold but i guess i made a friend….
You are a kind soul.
He would be happy in a rental.
Keeping pets in a rental is animal abuse.
“Keeping pets in a rental is animal abuse.”
+1 Now that produced a good belly laugh. Thanks!
What about keeping them in your car, Amy, since that’s what you’re living out of?
Keeping pets in a rental is animal abuse.
Stocks earn an annual 7% gain above the inflation rate while real estate returns an annual 0 to 1% gain above the annual inflation rate over time.
Only an idiot would tie up his money for 30 years when he could invest the excess saved in index stock funds with low expenses.
My Roth 401k contribution kicked in finally for my new company. I’ve been with this company for over 6 months already. How time flies. 100% in stock funds in that 401k.
Home buying is not an investment.
Home buying is not an investment.
Yep. In fact, I’m reading a real estate investment book that says exactly this!
Even though it wouldn’t feel like a real home!?
Mayor DeBlasio (Socialist Party) has decided evil rich (mainly white) people don’t deserve any snow plowing. Although he still gladly accepts their tax contributions.
Ah, New York! If ever a city deserved its mayor, New York does.
This is a story in the Rupert Murdoch owned New York Post and is linked from the Drudge Report website.
None of which could be considered real journalists.
You’re right. The snow is actually plowed. Rupert Murdoch took fake pictures of foot deep snow from Ohio and all the people interviewed are paid actors.
I wonder though why DeBlasio didn’t deny the story.
Poor kitty. It was probably abandoned by an FB.
Not everyone has dumped their Treasurys just yet.
Does anyone besides myself find it odd that Treasurys tanked on QE3 taper fears while the U.S. stock market kept going up like gangbusters?
Greed is ascendant over fear, for now.
Like the thinly layered risk the fraudulent masters love to talk about, so it is with the greed. Just under that paper thin greed are deep dark pools of fear…. and loss.
Genius is a rising market.
I thought that the QE was mainly buying toxic MBS paper from Fannie/Freddie to the tune of $85 billion/month, with tapering to $65 billion/month. Surely this decrease the demand will devalue of MBS, and so investors are turning toward stocks. Or maybe I have it all wrong.
$1 TRILLION worth of empty and rapidly depreciating houses is alot of houses. ALOT of houses.
Even more reason to invest in stocks, yes?
An even greater reason to limit losses on depreciating assets at a massively inflated price.
“Cash IS King!”
“Even more reason to invest in stocks, yes?”
If you believe for some strange reason that houses and stocks cannot crater at the same time. Harken back to 2008 for your answer.
The Economic Times
India’s exposure to US treasury bonds touches a new high
By Gayatri Nayak, ET Bureau | 21 Jan, 2014, 07.56PM IST
MUMBAI: Rising yields in US treasury bonds has encouraged India to increase its exposure to US treasury bonds. India’s investment in US treasury securities touched its highest ever level at $63.9 billion in November, data released by the US treasury department indicated.
The Reserve Bank of India does the majority of Indian investment in US treasury bonds even though other entities such as banks and financial institutions are allowed to invest in these bonds. India ranks 17th among the foreign investors in US government debt.
“India’s investment of $63 billion in US treasury notes reflects an asset portfolio re-allocation decision.” Said Saugata Bhattacharya, chief India economist, Axis Bank. “RBI is seeking to increase returns on its forex reserves by betting that US sovereign yields will rise over the year, as the Fed progressively increases its QE taper. US inflation remaining low further increases the attractiveness of this asset class.” He added.
…
Thank you PB for all your hard work of putting relevant articles on the blog. I really appreciate the clarity as well as the tone set for the blog every day.
You’re welcome.
Thank you HA also. By some estimates you might have helped save millions of dollars for people who otherwise might have bought homes. Good deed on your part.
This blog saved me a helluva lot of money.
Home buying, marriage, and other obligations would have limited my opportunities ten years ago. I know this blog is about 7 or 8 years old, but yes I was close to marriage with a wonderful smart woman with an irresistible smile and accent. But it was a long story and I would have had to become Muslim (I cannot become ANY religion). It would have been 1) marriage, 2) buying a house in Tucson’s Catalina Foothills, 3) two or three kids and 4) being screwed by the management to an income about 2/3 what I’m earning now, and maybe 1/3 of the peak income I made in 2005.
I saved a lot of money by not owning real estate.
We know that China is buying treasuries so that we can continue to support their manufacturing base. But why is India buying treasuries? What hold does the US have over India? H1-B?
“…Storm Approaches”
’nuff said.
January 21, 2014, 3:52 p.m. ET
Treasurys Mixed; Trading Limited as Storm Approaches
…
Bond Yields Near 6-Wk. Low As Investors Weigh Outlook
By Bloomberg News
Posted 05:48 PM ET
Treasury 10-year note yields hovered at almost a six-week low as investors weighed whether the U.S economic recovery is strong enough for the Federal Reserve to make more cuts to its debt-purchase program.
Yields climbed earlier before data this week forecast to show manufacturing increased in January. The Federal Open Market Committee has cut its monthly debt purchases to $75 billion from $85 billion this month and holds a policy meeting next week. A gauge of U.S. consumer confidence fell Jan. 17 following a weaker-than-forecast employment report a week earlier.
“Although the Fed is tapering, the economy is growing at such an anemic pace that it lessens the concern that the Fed is burning to raise interest rates and tighten any time soon,” said Thomas di Galoma, head of U.S. rates sales at ED&F Man Capital Markets in New York. “Investors should play the range until we meaningfully break through 3%.”
Ten-year note yields were little changed at 2.83% at 5 p.m. ET, Bloomberg Bond Trader data show, the second day below their 50-day moving average. Yields increased earlier as much as five basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, to 2.87% after dropping to 2.816% on Jan. 17, the lowest level since Dec. 11.
The price of the benchmark 2.75% securities maturing in November 2023 declined 2/32, or 63 cents per $1,000 face amount, to 99-10/32.
U.S. financial markets were shut Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
U.S. government securities have returned 1% this month, set for the biggest gain since April after a 1.5% loss during the last two months of 2013, according to the Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Bond Index.
“Daily momentum is still bullish,” William O’Donnell, head U.S. government-bond strategist at RBS Securities Inc. in Stamford, Conn., wrote in a client note, citing technical analysis. “A daily close below 2.80 percent in 10s is the signal I’ll be looking for to guide me to the lower rate range.”
…
Markets
China, Japan Boost U.S. Bond Buying to Record Highs
Demand Should Contain Pace of Rise in Bond Yields, Keeping U.S. Borrowing Costs in Check
By Min Zeng and Eric Morath
Updated Jan. 16, 2014 2:42 p.m. ET
China and Japan boosted their holdings of Treasury bonds to a record high in November, a sign two of the biggest foreign investors in the U.S. government debt market haven’t fretted about the rise in long-term interest rates.
The activities of foreign investors are highly scrutinized at a time when Treasury yields have climbed over the past year and bond prices have fallen on the prospect that the Federal Reserve would wind down its bond buying this year. Analysts said steady demand from foreign investors would help contain the pace of rise in bond yields, keeping long-term borrowing costs for U.S. consumers and businesses in check.
China added $12.2 billion in Treasury debt in November to $1.3167 trillion, according to the latest monthly capital flows release from the Treasury Department. It surpassed the previous peak of $1.3149 trillion set in July 2011, according to analysts.
Japan increased its holdings by $12 billion in November to $1.1864 trillion. The Fed currently owns more than $2 trillion Treasury debt, bigger than any other investors in the $11.8 trillion Treasury bond market.
“While foreigners won’t be the sole source of buying when the Fed reduces its purchases, foreign demand should prevent U.S. rates from rising too quickly,” said Guy LeBas, chief fixed-income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Philadelphia, which oversees $11 billion in fixed-income assets.
A portion of Thursday’s Treasury International Capital report was released early.
“Due to an error, limited amounts of TIC data were posted on the Treasury website ahead of the official release,” the Treasury said in a statement. “As soon as the error was discovered the data was removed.”
Despite the glitch, the release helped boost Treasury bond prices Thursday. In midafternoon trading, the benchmark 10-year note rose by 11/32 in price, yielding 2.849%, according to Tradeweb.
The November increase was the third straight monthly buying increase from China as the nation took advantage of a 0.2 percentage-point rise in 10-year yield to buy, as many other investors shed holdings.
The world’s second-largest economy bought $10.67 billion in Treasury notes and bonds in November, the highest since June 2013. The rest of the net purchases were Treasury bills, debt securities maturing in a year or less.
Overall, foreign investors were net sellers of $3.4 billion Treasury notes and bonds in November, driven by selling from private investors such as hedge funds and bond mutual funds.
The buying reflects China’s limited options in parking its massive amount of foreign reserves accumulated from a trade surplus with the U.S., analysts said. China’s foreign reserves rose to $3.82 trillion at the end of December from $3.66 trillion at the end of September, with the majority denominated in U.S. dollars.
“As long as China has trade surplus with the U.S., it needs to put the dollar reserves somewhere and the Treasury bond market is the world’s most liquid bond market,” said Jeffrey Young, U.S. rates strategist at Nomura Securities International in New York.
“China likely continues to do small tweaks on their monthly holdings but it is highly unlikely it would dump Treasurys because that would hurt not only the U.S. but China itself too,” he said.
For Japanese investors, higher Treasury yields make U.S. bonds more attractive compared with their domestic bond markets, analysts said.
The 10-year Treasury note yields more than four times that on the 10-year Japanese government bonds. A weaker yen driven by the Bank of Japan’s 8301.TO 0.00% money printing to boost the economy adds to the allure of U.S. bonds.
“Foreign accounts have been a steady buyer of Treasurys over the last several years and, given the size of their existing portfolios and need to roll over investments, not to mention currency-related flows, we anticipate these investors to continue buying Treasurys,” said Ian Lyngen, senior government bond strategist at CRT Capital Group LLC.
In the first 11 months of 2013, China’s Treasury holdings have increased by $96.3 billion while Japan has added $75.2 billion.
Foreign buying has helped contain the pace of rise in Treasury yields, traders said. The 10-year yield has risen from 1.61% at the start of May. That yield rose to a 2 1/2-year high of 3.03% at the end of last year. Over the past couple of weeks, buyers including foreign investors have stepped in, sending the yield lower.
This month through Wednesday, Treasury bonds have handed investors a total return of 0.47% including bond price appreciation and interest payments, according to Barclays. The market posted a loss of 2.75% in 2013, the biggest annual loss since 2009.
But Shyam Rajan, interest rate strategist at Bank of America BAC 0.00% Merrill Lynch in New York, cautioned that it is premature to draw a conclusion whether foreign investors would fill the void of the Fed. He noted that foreign central banks have cut Treasury bond holdings following the Fed’s decision on Dec. 18 to start dialing back bond buying this month.
The overall holdings of Treasury bonds by foreign central banks have fallen for three straight weeks, down to $2.995 trillion as of Jan. 8 from $3.021 trillion as of Dec. 18, according to data from the Fed.
…
Bloomberg News
How America’s Fracking Boom Helps to Boost Treasuries Demand
By Daniel Kruger January 21, 2014
Fracking Boosts Treasuries Demand
Energy prices have become disinflationary in the U.S. as America comes closer to attaining energy independence, which has been bolstered by the proliferation of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of the nation’s shale deposits. Photographer: Eddie Seal/Bloomberg
America’s shale boom is providing an unintended benefit to U.S. government bonds.
With the U.S. economy relying less on oil and gas imports than at any time in two decades, energy expenses for Americans have fallen and cut into inflation more than any other living cost in the past year, according to data compiled by the Labor Department. Economists say consumer prices will rise less than 2 percent for a second straight year in 2014, the first time that’s happened during an expansion in a half-century.
Slowing inflation, which increases the purchasing power of fixed-rate payments, would give support to Treasuries after the Federal Reserve’s plan to curtail its unprecedented bond buying ignited their first annual losses since 2009. Ten-year notes yielded 1.76 percent last month after deducting inflation, close to the highest since 2011. Spending fewer dollars on foreign oil also means that any gain in crude prices no longer leads to a weaker greenback, upending a decade-long relationship that may strengthen the value of U.S. assets.
Story: Is England on the Brink of a U.S.-Style Fracking Boom? Don’t Bet on Shale Just Yet
Rising U.S. oil production means “lower inflation than it would otherwise be, lower interest rates than would otherwise be,” David Kotok, the chairman and chief investment officer of Sarasota, Florida-based Cumberland Advisors Inc., which manages $2.2 billion, said in a Jan. 16 telephone interview. “We don’t have to provide the incentives to recycle the dollar back from a foreign holder, be it friend or enemy” with higher bond yields.
Real Yields
Energy prices have become disinflationary in the U.S. as America comes closer to attaining energy independence, which has been bolstered by the proliferation of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of the nation’s shale deposits.
While a Labor Department report last week showed that fuel helped lift consumer prices 0.3 percent in December, the most in six months, energy expenses for all of 2013 still decreased.
Story: Who Wins, Who Loses if the U.S. Starts Exporting Oil?
The costs of gasoline and fuel oil, which account for about 10 percent of the U.S. consumer price index, fell 0.8 percent last year, the biggest drag on annual inflation of 1.48 percent. Oil prices will fall 5.5 percent in 2014, according to an annual forecast from the Energy Department, which will help limit the increase in living expenses to 1.7 percent this year.
The last time the cost of living in the U.S. rose less than 2 percent for two straight years during an expansion was in 1964 and 1965, Labor Department data show.
Smaller consumer-price gains are helping boost the appeal of Treasuries as inflation-adjusted yields rise, according to Jack McIntyre, a money manager at Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC, which oversees $45 billion.
Story: How the Booming Oil Patch Helps U.S. Trade
‘Treasury Exposure’
Real yields on the benchmark 10-year note climbed to within 0.1 percentage point of highest level in 34 months on Dec. 27, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The greater the real yield, the more debt investors are insulated from a loss of purchasing power as the dollars needed to buy the same amount of goods and services increase.
The 10-year note yielded 1.32 percentage points more than the rate of inflation today, higher than the average of 1.07 percentage points in the past decade, data compiled by Bloomberg show. As recently as March, real yields were negative.
“That’s why we have Treasury exposure,” McIntyre said in a telephone interview from Philadelphia.
Treasuries, which posted just their fourth annual decline since 1978 as an improving U.S. economy strengthened the Fed’s case to taper its stimulus, are now off to the best start in five years. The $8.3 trillion of U.S. government debt from 1-year notes to 30-year bonds included in the Bank of America Merrill Lynch U.S. Treasury Index has returned 0.8 percent in January after losing 3.4 percent last year.
Energy Independence
Yields on the 10-year note were little changed at 2.82 percent as of 12:28 p.m. in New York after falling for a third week to 2.82 percent in the five days through Jan. 17. The price of the 2.75 percent bond due in November 2023 was 99 11/32.
Demand for fracking, a method used to fracture underground oil- and gas-bearing rock formations such as the Bakken shale in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford in Texas by injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals to create cracks and release the fuel, increased as rising oil prices in the past decade made it more affordable to explore on land than under water.
…
So why not allow it all over the US?
Yes, especially on federal land.
They’re only gonna frack where there’s gas. Plus, not everyone wants their tap water to be combustible.
Where the tap water has been tainted, I would suspect that there are remedies through the legal system. Is this not true?
If you look at the maps of where the petroleum industry is working the hardest, North Dakota, west Texas, southeast NM, Pennsylvania, Ohio etc, the economies are booming.
I have talked to business owners in SE NM that told me they were paying $25 for truck drivers and many times they were working tons of overtime.
They’re only gonna frack where there’s gas. Plus, not everyone wants their tap water to be combustible.
Wrong. Most fracking these days involves oil not gas. Fracking simply means you fracture the source rock so either the gas or oil can escape. North Dakota is all about fracking for oil, hell they are burning off a lot of the NG since they do not have the pipelines for it. BTW, that is really wasteful and should not be occurring.
Where the tap water has been tainted, I would suspect that there are remedies through the legal system. Is this not true?
Yes, the strata where they are getting the oil or the gas is far below where you get fresh water. If there is gas in the water you would most likely be looking at a poor job of cementing around a pipe to seal it and such negligence would be addressed.
Or produced water reinjection?
Where the tap water has been tainted, I would suspect that there are remedies through the legal system. Is this not true?
It won’t bring back a ruined aquifer.
If you look at the maps of where the petroleum industry is working the hardest, North Dakota, west Texas, southeast NM, Pennsylvania, Ohio etc, the economies are booming.
Uh, isn’t that always the case? Even in corrupt middle eastern nations flowing oil raises the boats.
Yes, the strata where they are getting the oil or the gas is far below where you get fresh water. If there is gas in the water you would most likely be looking at a poor job of cementing around a pipe to seal it and such negligence would be addressed.”
I was talking to a petroleum engineer he says its state of the art and they can drill down 15K feet !! - also its a 1 degree rise per 100 feet down gets hot down there. He also said it was the casing that could cause water contamination.
casing = pipe
Yes.
Walmart pays people $15/hr in N. Dakota. Obama’s dream has come true. And yet he hates the oil industry.
“Walmart pays people $15/hr in N. Dakota.”
Try living off that. There aren’t even any rentals available, and what come up cannot be afforded by that wage. KFC also pays that much. You will be living in your car at that rate. Nice try, though, troll boy.
Bloomberg News
How America’s Fracking Boom Helps to Boost Treasuries Demand
By Daniel Kruger January 21, 2014
Fracking Boosts Treasuries Demand
Energy prices have become disinflationary in the U.S. as America comes closer to attaining energy independence, which has been bolstered by the proliferation of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of the nation’s shale deposits. Photographer: Eddie Seal/Bloomberg
America’s shale boom is providing an unintended benefit to U.S. government bonds.
With the U.S. economy relying less on oil and gas imports than at any time in two decades, energy expenses for Americans have fallen and cut into inflation more than any other living cost in the past year, according to data compiled by the Labor Department. Economists say consumer prices will rise less than 2 percent for a second straight year in 2014, the first time that’s happened during an expansion in a half-century.
Slowing inflation, which increases the purchasing power of fixed-rate payments, would give support to Treasuries after the Federal Reserve’s plan to curtail its unprecedented bond buying ignited their first annual losses since 2009. Ten-year notes yielded 1.76 percent last month after deducting inflation, close to the highest since 2011. Spending fewer dollars on foreign oil also means that any gain in crude prices no longer leads to a weaker greenback, upending a decade-long relationship that may strengthen the value of U.S. assets.
Rising U.S. oil production means “lower inflation than it would otherwise be, lower interest rates than would otherwise be,” David Kotok, the chairman and chief investment officer of Sarasota, Florida-based Cumberland Advisors Inc., which manages $2.2 billion, said in a Jan. 16 telephone interview. “We don’t have to provide the incentives to recycle the dollar back from a foreign holder, be it friend or enemy” with higher bond yields.
Real Yields
Energy prices have become disinflationary in the U.S. as America comes closer to attaining energy independence, which has been bolstered by the proliferation of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, of the nation’s shale deposits.
While a Labor Department report last week showed that fuel helped lift consumer prices 0.3 percent in December, the most in six months, energy expenses for all of 2013 still decreased.
The costs of gasoline and fuel oil, which account for about 10 percent of the U.S. consumer price index, fell 0.8 percent last year, the biggest drag on annual inflation of 1.48 percent. Oil prices will fall 5.5 percent in 2014, according to an annual forecast from the Energy Department, which will help limit the increase in living expenses to 1.7 percent this year.
The last time the cost of living in the U.S. rose less than 2 percent for two straight years during an expansion was in 1964 and 1965, Labor Department data show.
Smaller consumer-price gains are helping boost the appeal of Treasuries as inflation-adjusted yields rise, according to Jack McIntyre, a money manager at Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC, which oversees $45 billion.
‘Treasury Exposure’
Real yields on the benchmark 10-year note climbed to within 0.1 percentage point of highest level in 34 months on Dec. 27, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The greater the real yield, the more debt investors are insulated from a loss of purchasing power as the dollars needed to buy the same amount of goods and services increase.
The 10-year note yielded 1.32 percentage points more than the rate of inflation today, higher than the average of 1.07 percentage points in the past decade, data compiled by Bloomberg show. As recently as March, real yields were negative.
“That’s why we have Treasury exposure,” McIntyre said in a telephone interview from Philadelphia.
Treasuries, which posted just their fourth annual decline since 1978 as an improving U.S. economy strengthened the Fed’s case to taper its stimulus, are now off to the best start in five years. The $8.3 trillion of U.S. government debt from 1-year notes to 30-year bonds included in the Bank of America Merrill Lynch U.S. Treasury Index has returned 0.8 percent in January after losing 3.4 percent last year.
Yields on the 10-year note were little changed at 2.82 percent as of 12:28 p.m. in New York after falling for a third week to 2.82 percent in the five days through Jan. 17. The price of the 2.75 percent bond due in November 2023 was 99 11/32.
Demand for fracking, a method used to fracture underground oil- and gas-bearing rock formations such as the Bakken shale in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford in Texas by injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals to create cracks and release the fuel, increased as rising oil prices in the past decade made it more affordable to explore on land than under water.
…
Why is everyone spelling it “Treasurys”? Shouldn’t it be “treasuries” or “Treasury bonds”?
For the same reason they type (insert political party) “it’s there fault.”
I just spell it Treasurys because (1) that’s how it often appears in print, and (2) treasuries is the plural of a type of government office, not a long-term government bond.
Wasn’t 2002 near the onset of a stellar runup for gold?
ft dot com
January 21, 2014 5:49 pm
Gold analysts most bearish since 2002
By Xan Rice
Gold analysts are more bearish than at any time since 2002 and expect an average price of $1,219 a troy ounce this year, according to a survey of industry forecasts by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA).
The modest forecast price – lower than the spot price of $1,240 on Tuesday afternoon – is a reflection of the dismal recent performance of the yellow metal. After 12 consecutive years of price rises, gold tumbled nearly 30 per cent in 2013 amid a sell off in gold-backed exchange traded funds.
Investor pain was matched by analyst red-faces. A year ago, all but five analysts polled by the LBMA predicted that gold would average more than $1,700 for the year. The lowest forecast was $1,600, by René Hochreiter, of the South African advisory firm Allan Hochreiter, and Eddie Nagao of Sumitomo. The average price for gold in 2013 was $1,411.
Explaining their caution this year, analysts cited a possible strengthening of the US dollar, an oversupply of gold and potential further ETF sales. Weak inflationary pressure was another concern, since gold is viewed by investors as an inflation hedge. Continued strong demand from China, one of the few bright spots for gold in 2013, and a possible relaxation of import duties in India, could support prices.
The most bearish of the 28 analysts in the 2014 poll, Tom Kendall of Credit Suisse, reckons gold could drop to a five-year low of $950 this year, with an average price of $1,080. More than a third of those surveyed believe the average price this year will be $1,200 or lower. At the top end, Wolfgang Wrzesniok-Rossbach, of German bullion dealer Degussa Goldhandel, see prices reaching $1,480, with an average of $1,315.
The range between the highs and lows in the forecasts is also more modest than in previous years, when prices were soaring. From $276 at the start of 2002, gold reached a high of $1,920 in 2011, and stayed strong the following year. Throughout that bull run, analysts who participated in the annual LBMA surveys correctly predicted that the average gold price would rise.
…
“Gold analysts are more bearish than at any time since 2002… From $276 at the start of 2002, gold reached a high of $1,920 in 2011, and stayed strong the following year.”
Is it a safe bet to shade gold analysts’ commentary?
Full article on Goldseek.com
By Graham Summers
History is often written to benefit certain groups over others.
Indeed, you will often find the blame for some of the worst events in history placed on the wrong individuals or factors. Most Americans today continue to argue over liberal vs. conservative beliefs, unaware that the vast majority of economy ills plaguing the country originate in neither party but in the Federal Reserve, which has debased the US Dollar by over 95% in the 20th century alone.
With that in mind, I want to consider what actually caused the hyperinflationary period in Weimar Germany. Please consider the quote from Niall Ferguson’s book, “The Ascent of Money” regarding what really happened there:
Yet it would be wrong to see the hyperinflation of 1923 as a simple consequence of the Versailles Treaty. That was how the Germans liked to see it, of course…All of this was to overlook the domestic political roots of the monetary crisis. The Weimar tax system was feeble, not least because the new regime lacked legitimacy among higher income groups who declined to pay the taxes imposed on them.
At the same time, public money was spent recklessly, particularly on generous wage settlements for public sector unions. The combination of insufficient taxation and excessive spending created enormous deficits in 1919 and 1920 (in excess of 10 per cent of net national product), before the victors had even presented their reparations bill… Moreover, those in charge of Weimar economic policy in the early 1920s felt they had little incentive to stabilize German fiscal and monetary policy, even when an opportunity presented itself in the middle of 1920.
A common calculation among Germany’s financial elites was that runaway currency depreciation would force the Allied powers into revision the reparations settlement, since the effect would be to cheapen German exports.
What the Germans overlooked was that the inflation induced boom of 1920-22, at a time when the US and UK economies were in the depths of a post-war recession, caused an even bigger surge in imports, thus negating the economic pressure they had hoped to exert. At the heart of the German hyperinflation was a miscalculation.
You’ll note the frightening similarities to the US’s monetary policy today. We see:
1) Reckless spending of public money, particularly in the form of entitlement spending
2) Excessive spending resulting in massive deficits.
3) Little incentive for political leaders to rein in said spending.
4) Intentional currency depreciation in order to make debt payments more feasible.
Dan, summers is wrong. fiscal policy is more important than monetary policy.
But as I understand his argument, it is the monetary policy that has allowed the terrible fiscal policy to continue. This is very close to what I said a few days ago that the primary purpose of QE was to fund big government.
But as I understand his argument, it is the monetary policy that has allowed the terrible fiscal policy to continue.
they are separate.
This is very close to what I said a few days ago that the primary purpose of QE was to fund big government.
the bernank was trying to prop up the economy with QE (idiot). and of course the government can’t exist without an economy.
monetary policy: imagine if interest rates were infinite. how much borrowing would there be? none, correct? but with no borrowing or lending, people would still work. there would still be jobs.
fiscal policy: imagine if taxation was 100%. no one could keep anything they earned. even the next earned meal would be taken away by 100% taxation. then no one would work.
i’m not saying that this will ever happen. i’m just going to the extreme to try to illustrate my point.
http://www.kitco.com/scripts/hist_charts/yearly_graphs.plx
Looks like there was a mini-run from 2002-early 2004, and then it was flat for a year or two…then it really took off starting in the Summer of 2005.
Uh…I hadn’t thought of that.
You can safely ignore this scenario, as a 4% 10-year Treasury yield would also crush real estate, and the Fed is not going to allow that to happen.
Jan. 22, 2014, 6:16 a.m. EST
The incredible gold-interest rate correlation
Opinion: One model pegs gold’s fair value at $800 an ounce
By Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (MarketWatch) — If the 10-year Treasury yield rises to 5%, gold will fall to $471 an ounce.
And if that yield rises to just 4%, from its current 2.8%, gold will still plunge — to $831.
Those sobering forecasts come from an econometric formula based on the last decade’s relationship between gold and interest rates. Assuming this past is prologue, the only way for gold to make it back to its all-time high above $1,900 an ounce is for the 10-Year Treasury yield to fall to 1%.
To be sure, a comprehensive model of gold’s price needs to include more than just interest rates. But, according to Claude Erb, who conducted these statistical analyses, we should not be too quick to reject his simple “behavioral” model relating gold’s price to the 10-Year Treasury yield. Erb is a former commodities portfolio manager for Trust Company of the West and the co-author (with Campbell Harvey, a Duke University finance professor) of a recent National Bureau of Economic Research entitled “The Golden Dilemma.”
Erb says we should not blithely dismiss his simple gold-interest rate model because it has had impressive explanatory power in recent years. Consider a statistic known as the R-squared, which reflects the degree to which fluctuations in one thing predicts or explains changes in another. The R-squared ranges between 0 and 1, with 1 indicating the highest degree of predictive power and 0 meaning that there is no detectable relationship.
In the case of the gold-interest rate correlation over the last decade, Erb told me in an interview, the R-squared is a very high 0.78. ( Click here for a summary of his findings. )
Most correlations on Wall Street don’t come anywhere close to being that high. Indeed, many of the drugs that get FDA approval have lower R-squareds between their use and positive medical outcomes.
…
The rash of articles in the MSM trying to bash gold brings me great joy. Clearly, the PTB are worried they will lose control.
Joy aside, what do you think about the 4% ten-year T-bond scenario?
1. Not going to happen, as the Fed won’t allow it.
2. Likely to happen, but won’t have the predicted effect on gold prices (regression analysis of historical price relations notwithstanding).
3. Other?
I agree with 1. The Fed with a claimed inflation rate of about 2% would never allow the ten year to go to 4%. That would crash the economy and drive up federal borrowing costs. BTW, it is the real interest rates that matter to gold not the nominal rates, in 1979 we has high rates and gold continued higher until the real rate became too high.
“I agree with 1.”
How about
3. The Fed attempts 1., but it turns out that long-term interest rates cannot be indefinitely suppressed.
3. The Fed attempts 1., but it turns out that long-term interest rates cannot be indefinitely suppressed.
I agree and that goes to real interest rates. I suspect that inflation will get ahead of the Fed and they will raise interest rates but not by enough, I think we are looking at the 1970’s again but with a lot more debt so it is going to be even more ugly.
“I think we are looking at the 1970’s again but with a lot more debt so it is going to be even more ugly.”
With the inflation caps, gas lines, and retirees on fixed-income pensions getting wiped out again?
If so, it will get far more ugly with the Baby Boomer bulge in wipeout mode. Expect million geriatric marches on Washington, etc.
I’ve fallen and I can’t get up. Massive pile.
“Subprime will be contained to $200 bn.”
January 21, 2014 3:50 pm
The very model of a modern central banker
By Martin Wolf
Ben Bernanke, outgoing chairman, deserves credit for the Fed’s handling of the crisis
In their patter song in The Pirates of Penzance, Gilbert and Sullivan satirised the notion of an educated “modern major-general”. Today they might satirise academic central bankers, of which Ben Bernanke – soon to be ex-chairman of the Federal Reserve – is the very model. As a distinguished scholar, he brought to the Fed a brilliant and well-informed mind. His knowledge of economic history helped him halt a terrifying panic. But he also made mistakes. History will probably judge him kindly. But there is much to be learnt from his time at the Fed.
Mr Bernanke was hugely influential even before he became chairman, in 2006. As governor from 2002, he made notable contributions, including his 2002 “Making Sure ‘It’ [Japanese-style deflation] Doesn’t Happen Here”, and his 2004 celebration of the “Great Moderation”. Before this, not least in a 1999 paper co-authored with Mark Gertler of New York University, he had argued that “the best policy framework for attaining [price and financial stability] is a regime of flexible inflation targeting”. This is the core dogma of modern central banking.
In a valedictory this month, Mr Bernanke started with “transparency and accountability”, pointing to the fact that, in January 2012, the Federal Open Market Committee “established, for the first time, an explicit longer-run goal for inflation of 2 per cent”. He added that the Fed’s transparency and accountability proved “critical in a quite different sphere – namely, in supporting the institution’s democratic legitimacy”. He was surely right. Central banks wield great power. Transparency and accountability are vital if its exercise is to be both effective and legitimate.
Another area on which Mr Bernanke focused was financial stability. Here, in the run-up to the crisis, he made two mistakes.
First, in his 2004 praise for the great moderation, the vainglorious label given to the performance of the US economy before the largest financial and economic crisis for 80 years, Mr Bernanke claimed that “better monetary policy may have been a major contributor to increased economic stability”. In this, he displayed the blinkers of his profession. As the disregarded economist Hyman Minsky tried to tell us, stability destabilises. An active and enterprising financial system creates risk, often by raising leverage dramatically in good times.
Second, he missed the implications of subprime mortgages. Thus, in May 2007, he remarked that “we believe the effect of the troubles in the subprime sector on the broader housing market will probably be limited, and we do not expect significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the economy or to the financial system”.
…
Oops…
He gets an A+ for bringing the stock market back up to new heights.
Not to mention bringing many U.S. housing markets back up to pre-bubble collapse price levels…
“He gets an A+ for bringing the stock market back up to new heights.”
Indeed, massive market interference
http://www.economist.com/node/18178399
The problem with highly manipulated market signals is that the insiders make out like bandits and outsiders get crushed in the inevitable correction. Of course, The Bernank doesn’t associate with outsiders.
thats is so true.
Oh and they ultimately crash spectacularly…
I’m pretty sure that the ppl at the Federal Reserve do not view themselves as servants of the public. Whatever they write or say pubicly is designed to excuse or explain their lapp-doggity behavior, so as to benefit the wealthy global elite.
California housing BOOM is barely in it’s infancy. Buy 2-3 homes if you can.Create wealth with real estate. You won’t get rich working 9-5. Most of the wealthy people in the world got rich thru real estate.
That housing analylist dude probably can’t afford to came up with a down payment to buy a home. Don’t listen to him.
I have been reading most housing bubble sites since 2005 and i knew it was time to buy many homes in early 2009.And the housing boom in California has barely begun. Get on the gravy train. Make alot of money like ‘Tom Vu’.
California Foreclosure Starts Dip to Eight-Year Low
January 21, 2014
La Jolla, CA.–The number of California homeowners pulled into the formal foreclosure process dropped to an eight-year low last quarter, the result of an improving economy, foreclosure prevention efforts and higher home prices, a real estate information service reported.
A total of 18,120 Notices of Default (NoDs) were recorded by lenders and their servicers on California owners of houses and condos during the October-through-December period. That was down 10.8 percent from 20,314 for the prior quarter, and down 52.6 percent from 38,212 in fourth-quarter 2012. Last quarter’s tally was the lowest since 15,337 NoDs were recorded during fourth-quarter 2005. NoDs peaked in first-quarter 2009 at 135,431. DataQuick’s NoD statistics go back to 1992.
“Some of this decline in foreclosure starts stems from the use of various foreclosure prevention efforts - short sales, loan modifications and the ability of some underwater homeowners to refinance. But most of the drop is because of the improving economy and the increase in home values. Fewer people are behind on their mortgage payments. And of those who do get into trouble, many, if not most, can sell and pay off what they owe. Also, those who are underwater and close to slipping into foreclosure are far less likely to give up their homes now that appreciation has returned to the housing market. There’s a strong incentive to hang on,” said John Walsh, DataQuick president.
The median price paid for a California home was $364,000 in the fourth quarter, up 22.1 percent from $298,000 a year earlier. The median has risen more than 20 percent on a year-over-year basis for the last five quarters. It peaked in second-quarter 2007 at $485,500 and hit bottom at $235,000 in second-quarter 2009, DataQuick reported.
http://www.dqnews.com/Articles/2014/News/California/CA-Foreclosures/RRFor140121.aspx
Tom Vu says to never ever ever buy real estate if the median price in the area rose more than 20 % in the last 12 months.
Martin Wolf is the very model of a modern central banker sycophant.
Bloody ‘ell…that post was supposed to land under the Martin Wolf piece, not the Landlord King Troll IE drivel piece.
We all know it is you!
Wait…I’m the Landlord King Troll?
Nobody is more surprised to learn that than I am.
Whoever he is, he’s pretty unconvincing in his attempt to fake bad grammar. Definitely an educated chap (not me).
me think she does protest too much.
she doth indeed!
I think it’s goon. I think that goon is Amy Hoax, Mr. Banker, and IE LANDLORD KING. I derive this theory from the flowery language he used to adopt before he became overpaid government contractor. I also think I remember him doing another character with the purposeful bad grammar, and I vaguely recall that there was some proof of the character being him.
Goon: Are you the multitroll or not?
As goon, he would definitely take on a persona to mock it, and do it repetitively. So that would fit. The Mr. Banker character I like. Takes some thought and humor to pull off, and isn’t as repetitive. Amy and Landlord King not so much, but people do seem to respond. I’m curious too.
Goon is not Mr Banker.
Imagine a world where all of this real estate speculation was in its proper place. Imagine the creative awakening in entrepreneurial spirit that would occur if all of that juice devoted to granite counter tops and flipping was forced into trying to figure out a business that actually produced something people wanted.
was forced into trying to figure out a business that actually produced something people wanted
Said business would manufacture offshore, which is why so many people flipped houses.
That’s BS, there is still plenty of entrepreneurial spirit and business possibility here. The house flipping get rich quick psychology is stymying it.
+1
I talked to a subcontractor working on new homes and they said they were slammed with work in the San Fran metro area and Sacramento.
Is it possible that the shadow inventory has been sold to investors?
They weren’t organic sales. That you can be certain of.
Where is there land to build new homes in San Fransicso? Or is he in the supercommuter suburbs?
The good shadow inventory — i.e. good condition housing where the FB moved out — was likely sold a long time ago. What’s left is probably dregs: squatting FB’s, needs repair, bad neighborhood etc. Or, in many cases, people simply feel that they are “above” the existing older stock, distressed or no, so I guess they turn to new housing. I see this in my neighborhood which is decidedly diverse and middle-class, if that. Evidently the mid-high income professionals are willing to accept a lousy commute in exchange for a newer/bigger house at a similar price. I guess they all want kids bedrooms that can accomodate king-size beds and a bathroom they can play baseball in. Not sure about the school system.
California is a big state.
The excess empty and defaulted inventory is still there… still empty and still being maintained by service companies.
That’s a promise.
IE LANDLORD KING is making more money on housing in the Inland Empire than you will ever make building your crapshacks in Nowheresville, USA.
That’s a promise.
And 4.4 million excess empty houses in CA aren’t going anywhere soon.
Where is there land to build new homes in San Fransicso ??
Don’t need land….You need Air-Space…Go up…
Given that (so far as I am aware), most U.S. pension funds these days rely on assumed investment returns above 5%, why would they gain advantage by locking in long-duration asset purchases paying well below 5%?
First off, motivations…those managing the pension funds don’t want to get fired. They won’t lose money if they buy treasuries and hold to maturity, even if it’s below their target.
I suppose the logic is this:
If the market takes off, their treasuries will be worth less as interest rates rise (and so they’ll need to hold them for longer), but the risky parts of their portfolio will do much better…making up the difference.
However, if the market re-crashes, their treasuries won’t go down in value (and may even go up), and they can then sell some of the treasuries to buy risk assets that have just tanked.
Diversify…rebalance…rebalance…rebalance…
Credit Markets
Treasurys Mixed on Tapering Concerns
Carolyn Cui
Updated Jan. 21, 2014 4:07 p.m. ET
U.S. Treasurys ended Tuesday’s trading session on a mixed note, as trading activity was limited by an approaching snowstorm and investors waited to see whether the Federal Reserve will soon announce another tapering of its bond-buying program.
…
U.S. government debt got off to a strong start this year, with prices gaining for three consecutive weeks. Yields fell toward their lowest levels for the year. The benchmark 10-year note yielded 2.829% as of Friday’s close, down 0.201 percentage point for the year. The price gains were fueled by investors’ rekindled interest in bonds after a battered year, as well as a disappointing December’s jobs report that showed the economy added much fewer jobs than expected.
On the other hand, the lackluster jobs report didn’t seem to diminish the central bank’s expectations for solid U.S. economic growth this year, as the Fed remains on track to trim its bond-buying program for the second time in six weeks when the Federal Open Market Committee meets next week, according to media reports. In December, the central bank kicked off the long-awaited tapering with a $10 billion reduction, lowering the monthly purchase pace to $75 billion.
Most analysts weren’t surprised at the Fed’s exit strategy of gradually reducing the pace of its bond buying, but some investors are still worried about the potential effect on the labor market recovery.
Higher yields at the end of last year had lured many pension plans to buy bonds, including Treasurys and corporate debt, which help achieve their goals.
“Pension funds are moving a lot of the longer-dated securities in the marketplace. They’re the ones that are responsible for this big asset-allocation that’s taking place,” said Thomas L. di Galoma, co-head of fixed-income rates trading at ED&F Man Capital.
I’m starting to see ridiculous wishing prices in the areas I watch. I also saw a for sale sign with “Berkshire Hathaway” on it. I had no idea that company moved into selling real estate. That’s some kind of sign - literally and figuratively.
Berkshire Hathaway acquired all of Prudential’s real estate franchises.
Berkshire Hathaway acquired all of Prudential’s real estate franchises ??
Yep…And there may be a underlying motive…The industry is ripe for destruction of its commission based model…A move to salary based agents would deliver huge savings to the consumer…6% of the sale price can sometimes be 25% of someones equity or more…Also, by having agents that are “salary based” they are employees that can be hired & fired…The degree of intelligence & integrity can be measured and a company the size & likes of BH could easily market it…
Seeing Buffett move into this arena raises that question in my mind…
“A move to salary based agents would deliver huge savings to the consumer”
Yes, but I doubt if they’ll salary the agents. Maybe 1099 fixed fee with a little bonus here and there for closed sales.
$10.00/hr 1099 with a $25.00 bonus for each completed sale!
Gotta love the 1099 scam.
W2 is a scam for the employees. The economy would be much more efficient if there were no such thing as a permanent employee.
Walk into any company with 250+ employees and at least 20% of them are dead wood.
“Walk into any company with 250+ employees and at least 20% of them are dead wood.”
+1 I’ve been noticing the increase in physically challenged employees at the places I visit largely due to the increasing average age. The people who retired 15-yrs ago were in far better shape than what I see these days.
Walk into any company with 250+ employees and at least 20% of them are dead wood.
In the places where I’ve worked management has always been very aggressive and proactive in managing “deadwood”, usually in the form of a layoff. And big companies are ALWAYS laying off employees in small numbers (as opposed to the mongo layoffs that make the news). It’s always safer to tell the fired employee that their position was “eliminated” as opposed to firing them for cause. Sure, they can file for unemployment which will cost you a bit, but it beats a lawsuit. Plus you can make them sign a waiver promising to not sue if you give them a month or two of severance in exchange for their John Hancock.
Heck, many companies have policies to layoff the bottom X% by relative ranking, even though their performance is satisfactory.
Used to be that there was no stigma in being laid off. It was understood that when there was a RIF that sometimes entire departments were let go and that not everyone was “deadwood”. Not anymore. Now it’s a scarlet letter which means you are assumed to be an underperformer. And heaven help you if you are middle aged and don’t have a skill that is in high demand. You might as well begin applying for disability.
With today’s competitive job market and aggressive employee evaluations, “deadwood” don’t stand a chance.
The sign I take from the news that some of the largest investment firms on the planet have plowed fortunes into purchases of U.S. residential real estate which used to be the sole province of mom-and-pop investors is simple enough:
DON’T BUY — THE PRICE IS TOO HIGH!
Well Michael… That should explain why housing demand has fallen to 1997 levels and the homeownership rate is at 15 year lows.
Money will go where the cost is least. And right now, renting is far less costly than buying. In fact rents are falling as we speak and are now less than half the monthly carrying costs of a mortgage.
See for yourself.
“Manhattan Apartment Rents Drop for a Third Straight Month”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-11/manhattan-apartment-rents-drop-for-a-third-straight-month.html
Hold your cash close and stay out of debt.
Upscale housing in Chicago seems to have problems:
http://realestate.msn.com/blogs/post–oprah-lists-custom-chicago-condo
Hope and Change linked from Drudge:
“Last year was tied for the fourth warmest year on record around the world.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday released its global temperature figures for 2013. The average world temperature was 58.12 degrees (14.52 Celsius) tying with 2003 for the fourth warmest since 1880.
NASA, which calculates records in a different manner, said Tuesday that 2013 was the seventh warmest on record, with an average temperature of 58.3 degrees (14.6 Celsius).
Both agencies said nine of the 10th warmest years on record have happened in the 21st century.”
Still not warmer than 1998, when you are on a Mesa every year is about the same. No global warming again this year.
Temperature Mesa, until the sunspots disappear and then global cooling.
Koch must have been late in paying Drudge this month otherwise this article wouldn’t have been linked there.
But fortunately, the Drudge Report has several articles about the East Coast snowstorm to keep the talking points guided correctly.
Forward
Sorry unlike Slate, Drudge does cover both sides of the debate. BTW, what happened Slate magazine virtually guaranteed last year we were going to set an all time record this year. Not just warmer than 1998, a record. With the way the data was fudged this year it should not have been that hard, the ground base data was way warmer than the satellite data. Also, Hansen in the 1980’s said we were going to warm 1 degree Celsius per decade and then it was changed to 1 degree F per decade. Now, we argue about .01F. Since we are probably going to have an el nino event this year, you might even break the old record by .01F or .02 F, too bad that we are 2 degrees C cooler than the average interglacial period, I do not think that is going to scare anyone but the alarmists.
What part of “real journalism” do you not understand?
Linking to a bunch of fringe websites written in mom’s basement is not real journalism.
RJ hate the game not the player. Real journalists love to be linked to Drudge, he drives traffic to their article.
You are confusing the media ratings game with real journalism.
The mission of real journalism is to give readers the correct© attitudes and beliefs about:
Global warming
Minorities
Homosexuality
Guns
Racis white people
Trayvon Martin
Yes, well the NOAA says they found errors in their computer program, in the way the numbers were “corrected”. These science guys would have all been flunked by my high school science teacher for not discussing the accuracy or propagation of error in their numbers. In the paragraph above the difference between the two government departments for the average temperature is 0.2 degrees different. Yet it is a headliner that the year was 1.0 degrees above the average for the 20th century. The implication is that the record is determined by a number out past the last significant digit. Compared to 1880, when temperature was measured with hand drawn glass tubes, +/- 3 degrees I’d guess! Science indeed. Our gullibilities are so easily exploited.
“These science guys would have all been flunked by my high school science teacher for not discussing the accuracy or propagation of error in their numbers.”
Sensitive dependence on initial conditions…
Blue:
Ever since there was a degree, people could measure to a degree.
It is hard to explain significant figures to a journalist. They tend to explain scientific concepts in ways that are wrong. For instance, we still have massive numbers of people who think they will live longer if they don’t eat salt.
What South African miners make and still the mines are losing money:
http://business.iafrica.com/news/894629.html
This is what the South African miners make in the dangerous platinum mines a similar story in the gold mines and yet at the manipulated gold and platinum prices they lose money. Obama is about to blow up South Africa, how ironic.
Leading South African platinum producers hit out at “unaffordable and unrealistic” wage demands from workers planing to go on strike from Thursday, warning previous industrial action has already cost jobs.
Top global platinum firms from Lonmin, Impala Platinum and Anglo American Platinum issued a rare joint statement on Tuesday, in a bid to persuade around 80 000 workers not to down tools.
Insisting demands from the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union for a minimum monthly wage of $1150 were “unaffordable and unrealistic” the firms said the sector “currently pays amongst the highest entry level wages in the country.”
The union claims entry-level workers currently earn around $460 a month.
The trio warned that previous strikes, rising operating costs and a sharp drop in platinum prices had resulted in the loss of around 11 000 jobs since December 2011.
They also claimed strike action directly cost them $1.2-billion in lost revenue and workers lost $110-million in lost wages over roughly the same period.
Around 134 000 people work in the platinum sector in South Africa - the world’s largest producer.
They= the mines
‘The union claims entry-level workers currently earn around $460 a month. ‘
For work that they can get seriously injured/killed in, I presume.
First thing I think of, is this same populace would easily take much lower paying jobs if they did not have to sacrifice potential life/health in process of getting a paycheck. What is the multi-year plan w/ Africa? Surely, corporations are plotting how they can exploit that continent down the road for sources of ultra-cheap labor when the window opens for such?
For work that they can get seriously injured/killed in, I presume.
You presume correctly both the platinum and gold mines in SA are some of the most dangerous in the world. Mostly, its geology thin seams deep underground. There are shortages of skilled workers due to a brain drain of engineers to countries such as Australia. This only makes settling the strikes more difficult, skilled workers, mainly whites, are making six figures and unskilled black South Africans are making less than six thousand dollars a year. The only reason this is tolerated is that ANC members is so corrupt and has been placed on company boards and given stock in the companies. Animal farm bests describes what is going on in SA and even more so in Zimbabwe.
ANC members are, I started saying the ANC but then changed it to members.
‘The only reason this is tolerated is that ANC members is so corrupt and has been placed on company boards and given stock in the companies. Animal farm bests describes what is going on in SA and even more so in Zimbabwe.’
‘Robo-Cop’ phenomena.
I tell people that first-world problems are a luxury. Don’t know if our government has figured out how to exploit that mind-set yet. Maybe they have. Conflicting anecdotes abound. I see the trend is that money is all that matters in the long run for most though. Maybe family matters to many, but money, oh, money, that has historically been an opiate.
Money quote from this article:
“If you’re considering buying a home this year, buy sooner rather than later … I can guarantee it will only be more expensive to buy a home later”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-22/silicon-slopes-beckon-as-u-s-buyers-shun-costly-homes-economy.html
More Hope and Change in the Obama recovery:
“Food banks across the country are making similar preparations, increasing efforts to prepare for the increased demand even as donations decline.
(”I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family” - George W. Bush)
Even before the stimulus money ran out in November, food banks said they were having trouble keeping up. Since 2006, the number of Americans receiving food aid from pantries and similar services has gone up almost 50 percent, according to Feeding America.”
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/01/22/us/politics/food-banks-anticipate-impact-of-cuts-to-food-stamps.html?_r=0&referrer=
Our local food pantry is a “let them eat cake” operation. Tons of sugar laden cereals and beverages. Very little on the vegetable and protein end.
This home economist is doing his best to stock the pantry with discounted bulk food scores and delicious preserved meals for a fraction of the cost of one of the village grocery store offerings and pennies on the dollar vs. eating at the diner. If the Fed would stop fueling speculation it would cost us a lot less to “put food on our families”!
Our local food pantry is a “let them eat cake” operation. Tons of sugar laden cereals and beverages. Very little on the vegetable and protein end.
They’re stocking up on the cheap calories. Veggies and meat are expensive and have shot up in price. It wasn’t too many years ago when you could get fresh broccoli, zucchini or green beans for a dollar a pound. Now I’m seeing prices in the $2+ range. Ground beef? I’m seeing the nasty 80/20 stuff go for $4 when it’s not on sale.
“Ground beef?”
You actually put that Pink Slime™ garbage in your body?
Eat something healthy, like Papa John’s pizza.
Eat something healthy, like Papa John’s pizza.
Thank you for pointing out the error in my ways. I’ll also remember to order it with extra “cheese(tm)”
I’m bummed that I might only have one more chance to get the 50% off deal from Papa John’s this season.
Cheese Sticks™ with bacon and banana peppers = WIN.
“Cheese Sticks™ with bacon and banana peppers = WIN”
Hah, you laugh, but each time you post this, I start to salivate.
‘ It wasn’t too many years ago when you could get fresh broccoli, zucchini or green beans for a dollar a pound.’
The wallet votes on what is nutritious and edible in my kitchen. I buy frozen vegetables for convenience and price. I see a lot of stuff comes from multi-nation sources, China being one of them as well as Mex/Latin America. I try to avoid as I can, but minimal choices for low cost vegetables. Prices have crept up, if that means anything. About $1.50/lb for frozen vegetables.
Processed food is much cheaper per calorie, especially if you get the fat-laden stuff. Eggs and cream cheese have gone up in price too. Next wave of price increases will be in grains IMHO. I can still find lentils and beans cheap(er) for a very good protein source. As substitutions for food go through the rounds, prices catch up. When I go long distance hiking, I am shocked how much I spend on food. Food costs a lot.
“long distance hiking”
Hiking where?
I am going to finish all 58* of Colorado’s 14,000+ foot mountains this summer, because I am just that hardcore. And food is a critical part of successful summits, I usually bring banana, apple, clif bars, reese cups, and bbq pringles. Mountain House meals on overnight backpacks are delicious but expensive, so I make my own using ramen and frozen chicken and broccoli. It’s not easy making your own cheese sticks in the backcountry.
* the official “list” ranges from 53 to 59, depending on how the peaks are qualified, but I agree with the general consensus that North Snowmass is not on the list.
‘And food is a critical part of successful summits’
Plenty of lists on the net via the trailjournals.com forum and even reddit has good hiking forums that create endless list of hiking foods.
I try to go real simple sometimes by packing gorp and going w/o a stove type food plan. Peanut butter and Nutella are worthy of bringing and are loaded w/ calories. I end up craving things on a hike. I can go out for a week at a time or sometimes a whole month if the year is good for that. On the Appalachian Trail, food is everywhere, accessible in town nearly every other day if you want. On a hike like the CT or John Muir Trail, mailing a food package to post offices or hostels along the route are maybe the only way you have to get food a lower cost way versus hitching to a town a bazillion miles away.
20% of the population in on food stamps. The govt is giving out plenty of free food, no need to donate to food banks. I donate my taxes to the feds who in turn give “poor” people all sorts of bennies. Which is why I have not donated to a charity in about 10 years.
Smithers,
I understand your view on this one, and I kind of fall into that mindset as well sometimes. However, I’ve been trying to remember that it is still a personal thing to put yourself out there in service to others. My charity has been closer to home with family having problems, but the wife and I are looking to do a bit more community based volunteer work and/or donation this coming year. I have to say (and maybe it’s selfish) it feels a lot better when you do the work yourself to help someone else out, knowing you’re not just dumping some money in their hand and telling them to figure it out themselves.
The best charity I’ve ever been able to do is taking care of myself and my wife first and building a savings. Refusing to just give money to people in tight spots that will just be wasted has allowed me to have money in the bank when it was *really* needed for medical needs and law problems, not late phone bills for iphones that weren’t needed. I did learn my lesson when a family member was broke due to his wife’s out of control spending and I gave him $500 (not a loan, a gift). The next week he was complaining to me about how his wife had gone out and bought a $700 dog using the paycheck he turned over to her. The upside to the story is, since then they hit bottom and got a divorce, he’s now much better off financially. Btw, the now ex-wife quickly got rid of the dog the moment she was on her own to pay for it. She had a new “meal ticket” lined up and bedded before the divorce papers were even signed.
If those stupid poors didn’t want to go hungry maybe they should have majored in STEM.
Anybody who didn’t major in STEM deserves to starve anyway.
There is no such thing as poor in America. There is poorER but not poor.
You want to see poor? Go to India or Brazil or Africa. Only having the Iphone 3 and only having basic cable….that’s not poor.
“You want to see poor? Go to India or Brazil”
No poor in Brazil. Ask Lola, he’s a high net worth trickles.
Lola… slithers…. it’s all the same.
China’s pollution reaches the US. Gives new meaning to the term “blow back”. But keep buying all those appliances, smartphones, I-Pads, electronic devices, bric-a-brac, clothing, whatever.
http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/china-pollution-reaches-us-20140121
Between China and Japan, California will glow in the smog.
in addition to buying, keep on breeding.
the global ecosystem needs another 5 billion eaters.
Buying, bonking, breeding, eating, crapping.
Life’s good!
That’s a succinct summary definition of the mission/purpose of capitalism in five words.
Yep, human bodies are built on the tube model.
Thanks to the miracle technologies of the 21st century, it is now possible to do all five simultaneously: sitting on the toilet with a woman on your lap, shopping amazon dot com on a smartphone with your right hand, and eating a Big Mac with your left hand.
Life is beyond good!
Ok, I laughed so hard at that I could barely breathe.
But you forgot the breeding. I guess the breeding part follows the bonking.
Speaking of Amazon, has anyone been following their dumb, over the top PR? First there was the stunt about delivery packages by drone. But the really, REALLY stupid PR stunt was the headline about Amazon will deliver the goods before people even buy. And then I saw the news story on it.
Are you ready for this?
All that was meant by the idiot headline was that Amazon will, based on market research, anticipate what people in any given region will purchase in the future and move those goods into the regional warehouse for faster shipping. Seriously. Merchants have been doing this since time immemorial.
Marco, on your next trip to China, could you bring back some more of those silks and gunpowder? Can’t keep ‘em in stock.
The amount of hatred here towards tech companies is astounding. Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Apple…why so much hatred for these companies?
On the one hand the HBB whines incessantly about the lack of good paying jobs. And then in the very next breath you bash the companies that provide those very same jobs.
It’s truly bizarre.
‘On the one hand the HBB whines incessantly about the lack of good paying jobs. And then in the very next breath you bash the companies that provide those very same jobs.’
Those jobs get the same amount of applicants that a Sams Club job fair would get.
I told a friend that removing the minimum wage would be an amazing thing. It would force people to work or rob, and if they chose the latter, hades to pay. What the market place would normalize out is that since there was no floor on wages, that formerly $50,000/ yr job was worth what mr. so and so out of work could bid their labor for. If somebody undercut them and no laws were restricting nothing on wages, then heck yes, that job would go for diddly pay. It is plainly obvious to me that minimum wage is a gold standard of nothing. Take it away and guess how many regular folks would start whining about how all of a sudden their company started grandfathering off higher income workers and let lowest bidder workers abound. Who would want to work? Would you have any other choice? Government solves all this we see. They have the guns.
Hi Smithers:
No one said anything bad about Amazon, so clamp it. There is also no such thing as a “permanent employee”, and W-2 workers are quite often classified as temporary. Furthermore, if you feel that 20% of the employees at your company are dead weight, then please fire them.
“No one said anything bad about Amazon, so clamp it. There is also no such thing as a “permanent employee”, and W-2 workers are quite often classified as temporary. Furthermore, if you feel that 20% of the employees at your company are dead weight, then please fire them.”
Exactly. And furthermore, slithers mentioned “tech companies”. Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, Google etc. These are tech companies.
Facebook, Amazon: NOT tech companies. They are companies that USE tech, just like I’m using it right now to post to the blog, but Amazon, for example, uses tech, specifically the internet, to sell stuff. As Bezos said, we’re a bookseller. That’s how they started, and they’ve expanded to selling all kinds of other stuff, and quite successfully, I might add. I’m just hostile to their BS, attention grabbing public relations. Amazon is an e-tailer, so to speak.
As to Facebook, that’s another company that uses tech (again, specifically the internet) to accomplish…uh…well, what exactly IS it that FB accomplishes? Makes everybody a star? Collect data? Stir up controversy? Their main source of income is ad placement, I think. Right. They capture eyeballs. And from what I’ve heard, I don’t think they’re doing such a great job for the advertisers.
But neither Amazon nor FB makes tech products or specific tech services, like Google does, for example.
And then in the very next breath you bash the companies that provide those very same jobs
FWIW, the overwhelming % of jobs at Amazon are menial jobs at their warehouses. Sure, they have a big IT department.
” Furthermore, if you feel that 20% of the employees at your company are dead weight, then please fire them.”
I would never be foolish enough to hire W2s in the first place. The full time employee is a 19th/20th century construct. It has no place in the modern economy.
Between China and Japan, California will glow in the smog.
FWIW, Cali is pretty good at making its own smog. But still, it is interesting that some of China’s air pollution makes all the way out here. I can only imagine how much they get in Japan and Korea.
Cali has been making smog, at least in the LA area, since back in the mists of time. I recall reading that due to the topography, various natural miasmas collected in the LA region long before there were cars or factories. I think the indigenous peoples who inhabited the area had a word for it, but I can’t recall what it is.
I think the indigenous peoples who inhabited the area had a word for it, but I can’t recall what it is.
What is $hithole, Alex?
Can’t be….only humans are to be blamed for LA’s smo(u)g problems just as the humans were responsible for the exinction of dinosaurs.
various natural miasmas collected in the LA region long before there were cars or factories
LA’s equivalent of a thermal inversion. Still, there being a bazillion cars in SoCal can’t be helping the situation.
You really notice the smog when you fly in on an airliner. One of the many prices to pay to live in “paradise”.
From Wikipedia, of course sh*t hole or West Detroit also work:
A Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ (written Yang-na by the Spanish), which has been translated as “poison oak place”.[20][21] Yang-na has also been translated as “the valley of smoke.”[122][123] Owing to geography, heavy reliance on automobiles, and the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex, Los Angeles suffers from air pollution in the form of smog. The Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley are susceptible to atmospheric inversion, which holds in the exhausts from road vehicles, airplanes, locomotives, shipping, manufacturing, and other sources.[124]
And then you get a Santa Ana, and the haze is gone for a while.
More Hope and Change from the Most Transparent Administration in History:
“U.S. officials directed by President Obama to find a way to end the government’s role in gathering Americans’ phone records are deeply concerned that there may be no feasible way to accomplish the task soon, according to individuals familiar with the discussions.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-goal-for-quick-revamp-of-nsa-program-may-be-unworkable-some-us-officials-fear/2014/01/21/dfb16892-82ca-11e3-8099-9181471f7aaf_story.html
The government is supposed to end its role in the gathering, but the gathering isn’t supposed to actually stop?
Can’t stop the gathering, there can be only one, that is one world government.
The Hows and Whys of Gold Price Manipulation
January 17, 2014
Paul Craig Roberts and Dave Kranzler.
The Federal Reserve seems to be trapped. The Fed is creating approximately 1,000 billion new US dollars annually in order to support the prices of debt related derivatives on the books of the few banks that have been declared to be “to big to fail” and in order to finance the large federal budget deficit that is now too large to be financed by the recycling of Chinese and OPEC trade surpluses into US Treasury debt. The problem with Quantitative Easing is that the annual creation of an enormous supply of new dollars is raising questions among American and foreign holders of vast amounts of US dollar-denominated financial instruments. They see their dollar holdings being diluted by the creation of new dollars that are not the result of an increase in wealth or GDP and for which there is no demand.
Quantitative Easing is a threat to the dollar’s exchange value. The Federal Reserve, fearful that the falling value of the dollar in terms of gold would spread into the currency markets and depreciate the dollar, decided to employ more extreme methods of gold price manipulation.
When gold hit $1,900, the Federal Reserve panicked. The manipulation of the gold price became more intense. It became more imperative to drive down the price, but the lower price resulted in higher Asian demand for which scant supplies of gold were available to meet.
Having created more paper gold claims than there is gold to satisfy, the Fed has used its dependent bullion banks to loot the gold exchange traded funds (ETFs) of gold in order to avoid default on Asian deliveries. Default would collapse the fractional bullion system that allows the Fed to drive down the gold price and protect the dollar from QE.
What we are witnessing is our central bank pulling out all stops on integrity and lawfulness in order to serve a small handful of banks that financial deregulation allowed to become “too big to fail” at the expense of our economy and our currency. When the Fed runs out of gold to borrow, to rehypothecate, and to loot from ETFs, the Fed will have to abandon QE or the US dollar will collapse and with it Washington’s power to exercise hegemony over the world.
http://truthingold.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-hows-and-whys-of-gold-manipulation.html - 180k -
The Fed is hoping that Pawn Stars gets a lot of gold this year because Germany’s patience is running out:
http://www.mining.com/the-fed-only-gave-germany-back-5-tonnes-of-gold-in-over-a-year-82989/
“When is housing massively overpriced? It’s quite simple. When the price of the house is in excess of the cost to build (lot, materials, labor and profit), less depreciation for a used house.”
Exactly. No need to confuse it. The cost to build is right around $55/sq ft, with profit.
I dont even think you can get mobile homes for 50/ ft out here.
Plenty of dumb.borrowed.money. flying around eh?
warning: this article not written by designated real journalists.
link includes video of senator dianne feinstein pwning your freedoms.
http://www.infowars.com/americans-indifferent-about-destruction-of-fourth-amendment/
forward
“It’s a mystery how many items can be manipulated – gold, short rates, bonds, long rates, the stock market, the dollar, the CPI, and the economy. All of these are being juggled. The overall situation is unsustainable.” – Richard Russel
Posted on January 21, 2014 by News
21-Jan (USAGOLD) — There are two interesting pieces on the King World News site that compliment the Grant Williams article that I linked to earlier in the day:
The first, is an interview with Richard Russel, the dean of investment newsletters, who worries that The Entire System May Collapse In 2014 under the weight of massive debt accumulation.
In the coming nightmare mishmash, serious money will want to be in the safest of all currencies, and by that I mean gold. If the current monetary system comes unglued, I believe the big investors of the world will go for the gold. – Richard Russel
Russel goes on to express concerns that market manipulations simply can’t be sustained, a theme featured heavily in Williams’ writing:
It’s a mystery how many items can be manipulated – gold, short rates, bonds, long rates, the stock market, the dollar, the CPI, and the economy. All of these are being juggled. The overall situation is unsustainable. – Richard Russel
In the second interview, it becomes clear that Eric Sprott has similar concerns:
So I’m absolutely convinced we are going to go to new highs this year [in gold]. In fact, it might be a very stunning recovery, i.e. in a very short (period of) time when the truth comes out. – Eric Sprott
That’s a pretty bullish prediction to be sure, but what’s going on today with regard debt, quantitative easing and market manipulation is absolutely unprecedented. Who knows what might be the result?
Given the uncertainty, you should consider bolstering your physical gold holdings as a means of wealth preservation. Now is the time to act, while all is still relatively calm.
Posted in Gold News, Gold Views |
China Not Only Imports Gold Through Hong Kong
Posted on January 21, 2014 by News
21-Jan (InGoldWeTrust) — There are some gold analysts that create presumptions about Chinese gold demand by looking at how much gold Hong Kong net exports to the mainland, as if the mainland only imports gold from Hong Kong. I think this a misconception; just because China doesn’t officially disclose their gold trade numbers doesn’t mean they only import gold through Hong Kong.
The mainland has 22,117 kilometers (13,743 miles) of border, and I can’t think of one reason why gold could not enter through ports located anywhere at the border. To give you a small example, this is an article from the China Gold Association which reports on gold ore imports from Kazachstan in 2012.
…Alashankou (A on the map) in the Xinjiang province is the main port from Kazachstan to China. 16,800 tons of gold ore is approximately 4000 ounces of fine gold, not much. However, it’s an example of the Chinese buying all the gold they can get their hands on. If you read the website of the port Alashankou it states the import of metal ores is still increasing. Gold is not only coming in through Hong Kong, it can be imported from anywhere. CME started to recognize this in September 2013:
…China roughly (because I cant be sure on the scrap number) has imported 1567 ton of gold in 2013.
Posted in Gold News, Gold Views |
Things That Make You Go Hmmm…: That Was The Weak That Worked: Part 3 (Gold)
Posted on January 21, 2014 by News
21-Jan — (Mauldin Economics) — I look forward to Grant Williams’ Things That Make You Go Hmmm… each and every week. When he began the That Was The Weak That Worked series shortly after the first of the year, I anxiously awaited his final submission in the three-part series where he took up the topic of gold. I wasn’t disappointed.
Williams draws some striking parallels between what was happening in the gold market in 1999 (Browns Bottom) and the present incongruity of supply/demand and price.
We all know what happened to the price of gold shortly after Gordon Brown announced that he would sell almost 400 tonnes of the UK’s gold reserves…
Is gold setting up for another huge rally? That remains to be seen, but here’s what Williams concludes:
2013 was an absolutely seismic year for gold, but the way in which the tectonic plates shifted has yet to be fully understood.
I firmly believe that in the years to come, when we look back at the great game being played in gold, we will pinpoint January 16, 2013, as the day when it all began to unravel.
That day, the day the Bundesbank blinked and demanded its bullion, will be shown to be the beginning of the end of the gold price suppression scheme by the world’s central banks; and then gold will go on to trade much, much higher.
…2014? Well now, THIS could be the year that true price discovery begins in the gold market. If that turns out to be the case, it will be driven by a scramble to perfect ownership of physical gold; and to do that you will be forced to pay a lot more than $1247/oz.
Count on it.
To put a finer point it, Williams also cites the interview with CME trader Tres Knippa that I posted earlier this morning (via ZeroHedge).
Knippa’s parting advice, buy physical gold; avoid paper.
http://www.usagold.com/cpmforum/ - 104k -
‘16,800 tons of gold ore is approximately 4000 ounces of fine gold, not much. However, it’s an example of the Chinese buying all the gold they can get their hands on.’
I think that is less than 0.001% gold in the ore. In other words, less than 1 part per 100,000. It is much easier for me to go to my local bank and buy copper and zinc cent boxes for face value. China might be on a gold buying spree. If we have a metal standard, copper is a sleeper:
http://www.coinflation.com/coins/1909-1982-Lincoln-Cent-Penny-Value.html
Copper/gold ratio:
http://www.infomine.com/investment/price-ratios/copper-gold/all/
Note that the ratio, aside from the ca. 2008 anomaly, has been level since 1990.
Can’t wait for the next False Flag.
Crisis actors rule.
Mainstream media and real journalists in place, lights, camera, action!
and then…..
“I can use that pen to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions”
The “real journalists” did a good job covering the Tsarnaev manhunt in Watertown, MA, doncha think?
Any event/incident that ends with crowds of retards dancing in the street and chanting “USA! USA! USA!” confirms the effectiveness of real journalism.
Although real journalists are technically socialists and internationalists, they are most definitely statists.
Spinning assaults on the Constitution into “patriotic” sentiments (with flags, eagles, ribbons, et cetera) is part of the core mission of real journalism.
Is it just me, or has Bill Gates developed a bit of a resemblance to Woody Allen as he’s gotten older?
Bill Gates likes diddling daughters?
BTW, just saw “Interiors” a few weeks ago, supposedly one of Allen’s most “serious” films, great movie.
Stop! Stop! I haven’t recovered yet from your comment about performing the five capitalistic functions simultaneously.
Jeebus, that made my day!
“Your income is your greatest wealth building tool, STAY OUT OF DEBT!”
I have so much money left over after “throwing money away on rent” every month that I don’t know where to throw it.
After 30 years you’ll still be throwing money away and own nothing.
thanks for the heads up, amy hoax
According to at least one on this blog, you are having a conversation with yourself.
Nothing wrong with going into debt, if it is not in your name:
http://news.yahoo.com/2-nabbed-texas-border-credit-card-fraud-case-215609992.html
I’ve thought about someday hiking the Pyrenees. Is Spain worthy of a hiking foray?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Spain
I still yet to hike the Pacific Crest Trail in its entirety. I think the Colorado Trail is a major trail to hike and it is still a sleeper, and I hope the AT hikers never figure that out. Once the AT locust hikers figure out that the CT is how hiking is supposed to be, good night Irene.
“CT is how hiking is supposed to be”
I’ve never done more than 2 consecutive nights in the backcountry, being without a fresh supply of cheese sticks for that long is too painful.
I will be spending 3+ nights en route to and in the Chicago Basin this summer to climb Sunlight, Windom, Eolus and North Eolus. Pain in the @ss hauling a bear-proof food canister and 4 days of food up there but it’s the only way to get to these. The Weminuche Wilderness is a magical place.
http://www.coloradotrail.org/wilderness.html
The CT is like the prodigy offspring of an AT and PCT union.
This is why I post to HBB sometimes. I have a hiking buddy, who if he and I ever manage to hit the retirement years simultaneously, I want to go every spring/summer/fall out on the trail and get away from the noise of whether houses are over-priced, the minimum wage is fair, etc, etc. etc.
From what I have seen in life, the absurdity of it will never cease. I am wondering why Carl Icahn exists today, for example. That guy found his Colorado Trail I guess. If others counted on me fighting for shareholder value for them, hardee har har har.
http://news.yahoo.com/beijing-39-39-rat-tribe-39-scurry-high-042146036.html
Chinese migrant workers and housing prices are discussed.
Mortgage Purchase Applications Crater 4% (again)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/22/us-usa-economy-mortgage-idUSBREA0L0V320140122
Cratering demand
Cratering mortgage apps
Prices starting to crater once again
What’s not to like?
Are you dyslexic?
The article says that mortgage applications rose by 4.7% last week.
Smart home buyers are getting into the market now because they know if they wait until the critical spring buying season starts after the Super Bowl they’ll get caught in bidding wars and possibly be priced out forever.
CRATERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
All caps, italics, and bold text.
That’s some real economic insight there.
“Houses are rapidly depreciating assets that result in loss”
Renter for life!
“Houses are rapidly depreciating assets that result in loss”
always
You should get out of mom’s basement sometime. There’s this thing out there called the Sun and it makes plants grow and makes everything warm.
ALWAYS
People are refinancing because of a tiny drop in mortgage rates, amid a secular backdrop of increasing rates. Those people should have refinanced a long time ago, weenies. People are generating fewer new mortgages.
Perhaps in the better to be judged by 12 than carried by six category but no charges have yet been filed:
http://downtrend.com/emilyh/suspect-waves-a-gun-at-customers-in-dollar-general-two-seconds-later-hes-dead/
Not written by real journalists but an interesting story:
http://downtrend.com/robertgehl/while-on-watergate-committee-hillary-was-fired-for-lying-unethical-behavior/
At this point, what difference does it make?
She was just out for a walk and she decided to kill Nixon’s right to counsel.
To quote ‘The Usual Suspects’
“Who is Keyser Soze? He is supposed to be Turkish. Some say his father was German. Nobody believed he was real. Nobody ever saw him or knew anybody that ever worked directly for him, but to hear Kobayashi tell it, anybody could have worked for Soze. You never knew. That was his power. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. And like that, poof. He’s gone. ‘
Let’s convince people that working for money is not what society is about. Instead, convince them that people are useless:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/economics/2025920-what-would-unskilled-workers-accept-if.html
Instead, convince them that people are useless
Well, when you think about it, about half the population is just too stupid to work at the kinds of jobs that pay a living wage, and the bar continues to rise. There is a reason why so many people became mortgage and used house hustlers. You don’t need to be able to solve differential equations or write code to do that.
‘ You don’t need to be able to solve differential equations or write code to do that.’
Even people who do that will find that the jobs can be lacking.
Name a country that starts with a U ? funny video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE
Those are actors.
This provides me with little assurance that they will not try to bail them out:
WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - The White House is not currently considering a bailout for Puerto Rico, where chronic financial challenges have raised the specter of a Detroit-like bankruptcy, a White House official said on Wednesday.
“The President’s Task Force continues to partner with the Commonwealth to strengthen Puerto Rico’s economic outlook and to ensure that it is taking advantage of all existing federal resources available to the Commonwealth,” White House spokeswoman Katherine Vargas said in an email.
“There is no deep federal assistance being contemplated at this time,” she said.
What the heck happened to Puerto Rico? You never hear bad things about Puerto Ricans post-Archie Bunker era.
http://www.ogj.com/articles/2014/01/market-watch-nymex-natural-gas-prices-soar-oil-climbs.html
May need to drill more.
Tea Party = The people’s Davos ? Discuss.
Apparently, AGW alarmism does not sell papers:
http://www.climate-resistance.org/2014/01/buy-a-newspaper-or-the-planet-dies.html
Former NFL, UT QB Vince Young files for bankruptcy
6 hours ago
HOUSTON (AP) — Former NFL and University of Texas quarterback Vince Young has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The petition was filed last week in a Houston federal bankruptcy court, listing Young with estimated assets between $500,001 and $1 million and liabilities between $1,001,000 and $10 million. The Houston Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/1edNPn8 ) no specific details on Young’s assets and liabilities were immediately available.
The 30-year-old Young is fighting a pair of lawsuits stemming from a $1.8 million loan obtained in his name during the 2011 NFL lockout.
A court has granted a judgment against Young to Pro Player Funding, a New York company that made the loan.
Pro Player Funding has made several efforts in a Harris County state district court to enforce collection of the judgment, but those efforts remain pending.
———————————————————————————
Titans agree to deals with top picks Young, White
July 28, 2006, 3:11 AM
ESPN.com news services
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans promised they wanted Vince Young, the third pick overall and the first quarterback taken in the draft, under contract before they opened training camp.
They avoided any lengthy holdouts Thursday, agreeing to terms with both Young and LenDale White a day before the first practice Friday afternoon.
Young, the No. 3 overall pick out of Texas, agreed to a five-year deal, with an option for a sixth, with $25.7 million guaranteed and an overall value that could reach $58 million with option and roster bonuses and salary.
The contract includes a $12.3 million option bonus due next March, a $2.365 roster bonus due this year and six years of guaranteed salary totalling $11.075 million, for guaranteed money totalling $25.74 million, ESPN.com’s Michael Smith reports. There’s a one-time bonus of $4.1 million Young can collect should he play in 35 percent of the Titans’ snaps this year or 45 percent in any other year.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2531800 - 84k -
“The petition was filed last week in a Houston federal bankruptcy court, listing Young with estimated assets between $500,001 and $1 million and liabilities between $1,001,000 and $10 million.”
Some folks are “hard-wired” to be poor regardless of income.
We are the real journalists.
That’s right. And the legacy media outlets despise Ben Jones, the housing bubble blog and us.