Bits Bucket for February 1, 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.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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reading back a couple days, i found this post. my comments are non-bolded.
——–
Comment by cactus
2014-01-30 15:18:31
Sir James called it correct, as did Roger Milliken. They predicted that the working and middle classes in the US and Europe would be ruined by the greed of Wall Street and corporations
5 years ago i predicted the surface temperature of the sun will remain relatively constant over the next 5 years, caused by martians on the opposite side of the sun using billows to fan the flames. i called it correct too.
it couldn’t be that the US and europe are being destroyed by socialism, could it?
who would boost corporate earnings by replacing their domestic work forces with foreign labor
mostly they’re just trying to stay alive in a toxic business environment.
which could be paid a fraction of labor’s productivity as a result of the foreign country’s low living standard and large excess supply of labor.
why do so many foreign countries have such a low standard of living? couldn’t be their central planning, could it?
Anytime there is an excess supply of labor, or the ability of corporations to pay labor less than its productivity..
so labor shouldn’t be paid less than its ‘productivity’ according to these communists. not a single business would begin under those conditions. their statement shows a lack of understanding at so many levels, that it would be difficult to cover them all.
the corporations bank the difference, share prices rise, and Wall Street and shareholders are happy.
can’t have those evil profits you know.
All of this was over the heads of ‘free trade’ ideologues, who threw accusations such as ‘protectionist’ at Goldsmith, Milliken, Daly, Gomory, McMillion, and myself.
spoken like the economic illiterates you are. you deserve the label. wear it proudly.
These ‘free trade’ ideologues are economically incompetent.
you got it backwards, like you get everything else backwards.
They do not know that the justification for free trade is based on the principle of comparative advantage
the justification for free trade is that two entities wish to make a trade that they believe they will benefit from. what right do you have to intervene?
which means that a country specializes in those economic activities in which it performs best and trades for those goods that other countries do best.
well wadaya know?! the dummies finally get something correct.
Instead, the ideologues think that free trade means the freedom of capital to seek absolute advantage abroad in lowest factor cost.
yes, they should be forced to make their products more expensive by socialist creeps like you. after all, rising prices are great, aren’t they?
In other words, the free trade incompetents have never read David Ricardo, who formalized the case for free trade.
free trade only needs to have a ‘formalized case’ for socialists.
mostly they’re just trying to stay alive in a toxic business environment.
Staying alive? Corporate profits are at all time highs.
Corporate profits are at all time highs.
you mean the ones that bought off government power, right?
So are the corporate debts.
Interest rates are very low.
How is this able to jump to the top? Submitted first ?
03:21:35
Thanks, but then why doesn’t it show up first thing in the AM but doesn’t appear until after others that were posted later ? Is it something to do with the size of the post.
Yes. Had you been reading at 5:15:28 you would have only seen my short posts, as longer ones get screened.
Realize this: Every economic policy has costs and benefits.
• Free trade with other free trade countries
• Free trade with protectionist countries
• Inflation
• Deflation
• etc
The advocate typically only presents the benefits of his position. The opponent typically only presents the costs of that position. An academic discussion should try to cover the net result of both costs and benefits.
what are the benefits of inflation?
what are the costs of deflation?
Wrong. Any economic policy the Fed executes benefits all Americans. If there were any redistributive consequences, they would be the first to tell us.
Also, I see a perception that any social organization has a right to exist. Especially when it comes to businesses.
However Mafias are a business and they are actively pursued and dismantled by society. That’s because they impose a net cost on society. They are wealth-extractive businesses. They remove wealth from businesses and individuals and concentrate it in the pockets of the crime syndicate. They impose de facto taxes on the society in which they operate. Society as a whole has an interest in stopping them if it wants to increase its freedom and standard of living.
Social organizations typically are only allowed to exist if they do not harm society as a net result of their existence and actions.
However Mafias are a business
what do they produce that people want or need?
Protection from the Mafias.
Protection from the Mafias.
ok, ya got me there!
You guys are starting to think. When you graduate to libertarian you will realize government is a crime syndicate just like the mafia. The only difference is the mafia does not whine and tell you it’s for your own good.
Bill,
in anarchism, how do you defend yourself?
spontaneous order can’t happen when you’re under attack. you need a calm environment for that to happen. it seems that the only way to get a calm, protected environment is to have a limited government for common defense and to protect individual rights.
In anarchism you defend yourself the same way as in statism. You are responsible for your self defense. Under statism people have the mistaken belief that police prevent crime. Police DO NOT prevent crime. They only arrive too late after most crimes happen.
Tj you are too new on the topic of libertarianism, I can see. Ireland, from the year 700 to 1700 had ten centuries of anarchism, and they had rule of law. Murray Rothbard explains in “For a New Liberty.” It is a myth that there will be no laws in an anarchist society.
In anarchism you defend yourself the same way as in statism.
how can that be? you don’t have a state to defend you in anarchy.
You are responsible for your self defense.
that doesn’t mean that you can effectively defend yourself or your family and friends.
Under statism people have the mistaken belief that police prevent crime.
to an extent they do prevent crime. try to go without police for a while and see what happens. but i agree that they have way overstepped their proper powers and have become as much of a threat as criminals.
Tj you are too new on the topic of libertarianism, I can see.
please don’t leap to those kind of judgments about me. years ago i was a libertarian. but i’m more easily recognized as being a right wing fiscal conservative. how many people even understand libertarianism? it’s hard to precisely define because there are variations of it.
Ireland, from the year 700 to 1700 had ten centuries of anarchism, and they had rule of law.
then it can’t be anarchy. anarchy is the absence of law or at least the non recognition of it.
It is a myth that there will be no laws in an anarchist society.
laws mean it is not anarchy. anarchy most often happens with the breakdown of tyranny.
what you are describing is libertarianism.
there is a fundamental flaw in anarchy. there is no way to have a common defense. rothbard thought you could hire insurance companies for defense. but then you’d still have rules or you wouldn’t be able to afford their defense. it would be too expensive. plus, an insurance company could never defend against a country that sought to conquer you. never.
how can anyone say ‘ireland’ had anarchy? ireland is a country. the laws you mention preclude anarchy, but not libertarianism.
anarchy is creepy for the same reason that communism is creepy. neither of them can work.
you can’t have common defense without some form of law. anarchy leaves a vacuum, a void that has to be filled or you will eventually be conquered by someone who wants your territory.
Forget it TJ.
Of course there is no state to defend me. But any conquerer of the USA will have to conquer every house. They would otherwise just bring Washington to its knees and it would surrender.
But house to house with people having AR-15s and thousands of rounds would make it tough for conquerers.
I did not bother to check the rest of your blather.
Anarchist since 1979. That’s 35 years. I don’t think I can be persuaded to go the other way by you.
that’s right, there’s no state to defend you. you’d be wiped out shortly, whenever anyone wanted your territory.
keep believing in the impossible. that’s what people usually do that can’t defend their positions.
Housing is never an “investment”. Housing is a depreciating asset and a loss, ALWAYS.
how many years will won of your shanties stand before it is condemned?
Depreciation rates in a home have a lot of variables. Maintenance being of high importance and of course quality of construction.
it is quite common to get over 100 years of use out of a house if properly maintained.
Your argument is basically after people have bought a home it will quickly depreciate and therefore at a point becomes a tear down. that is possible but homeowners take pride in ownership unlike you renters.
There are no “variables” to depreciation.
And are you really dumb enough to believe the materials that make up your shanty are any better or worse than any other shack?
You’ve been bamboozled.
dude you just dont making any sense at all. I’m not sure what your thinking. Its like drunken babble here everyday.
I know the truth is difficult for a housing donkey to understand but go back in reread and reflect what you said. It doesn’t make any sense at all.
you have no idea what depreciation is. keep up your babble today. you will never get it im afraid. Rambling here all day doesnt make you any money.
Go back and reread what you said with this in mind; housing depreciates no differently than any other man made item. The losses associated with housing depreciation dwarf all other losses due to the massively inflated asking prices of resale housing.
Yes I do believe the virgin timber used to build my 100+ yr old Victorians is/was/is still better than the lumber being sold today. And a whole lot better than the sorry excuses for boards that were sold during the housing boom.
The lumber in my 80 yr old shanty has held up pretty well too.
“better” eh? How measurable.
how much do I get if I prove you wrong? $500?
“The truth is there are tens of millions of excess, empty, defaulted and delinquent houses and mortgages and housing demand has fallen to 17 year lows…. and sinking.”
The truth can be ignored, disparaged and ridiculed. But the truth stands.
who cares taxpayers are paying the carrying costs of these homes. you know it so why not profit from it? Tell us something we don’t know.
Take all the knowledge ben has provided and make some dam money!!
Because housing is never “profitable” unless you’re the producer.
Get with it.
yeah right. many people made millionaires in real estate. but you will still sit here and ramble about how you got scr@wed over cause you missed the boat again.
No. A few have earned fortunes in developing and building. And you’re not one of them.
Tens of millions of people lost everything when they bought rapidly depreciating houses at grossly inflated prices.
Remember…. housing is a loss….. always
you were born to rent huh?
You were born to bear losses.
your landlord must love you. a disgruntled renter who blames everyone else for losing money on missed opportunities.
You should bow down to your landlord in his presence.
My profits or losses as a landlord have nothing to do with this conversation.
many people made millionaires in real estate.
Didn’t they start with billions?
“…taxpayers are paying the carrying costs of these homes…”
Was this put to vote and I missed it? How do I vote against such inane redistribution policies from Main Street to Megabank, Inc?
Is it safe to assume the EM crisis is finally over and go out and buy a boatload of stocks to celebrate?
Perhaps not.
Markets
Selloff’s Spread to Europe Is Sign of Broad Fear
Until This Week, European Emerging Markets Had Largely Dodged Weakness That Hit Peers Elsewhere
By Katie Martin And Brian Blackstone
Updated Jan. 31, 2014 4:43 p.m. ET
Until this week, European emerging markets had largely dodged the vicious selloff that has swept through their peers elsewhere. Now, they are showing cracks.
The Hungarian forint took a heavy blow early Thursday, dropping as much as 1% against the dollar. The Polish zloty and the Czech koruna also stumbled.
The currencies clawed back some ground late in the day, but analysts cited Thursday’s gyrations as a sign that the market’s fear of investments seen as risky is broad. Whether bouts of weakness in such countries persist will be a barometer of wider emerging-market strains.
The turmoil in emerging markets also has spilled over to stock funds. Emerging-market stock exchange-traded funds saw their second-biggest withdrawal on record last week. The ETFs had $2.7 billion in net outflows in the week ended Jan. 29, according to Lipper, the largest one-week outflow since February 2011.
Some $2.5 billion flowed out of the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF alone last week, Lipper data show.
None of the Central European countries whose currencies were hit on Thursday has nearly the problems of Turkey, which is battling political scandal and a wide trade deficit, or South Africa, which also relies on regular inflows of foreign cash. Turkey’s and South Africa’s central banks made surprise rate increases earlier this week to try to stop sharp declines in their currencies.
“The market is in a funk,” said David Hauner, head of emerging European economics at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. It “has moved to a higher level of fear about capital flows.”
…
Risk-on / risk-off trade: OUT.
Pain trade: IN.
4:19 am Jan 31, 2014
Funds
Emerging Markets Outflows This Week Highest Since 2011
By Ben Edwards
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
A sharp selloff in emerging markets over the last week has left investors yanking money out of equity funds specialized in this asset class at the fastest pace in almost two-and-a-half years.
Those funds returned $6.3 billion to investors in the week leading to Jan. 29, the largest chunk of redemptions since August 2011, according to EPFR Global data, reported by Barclays (BARC.LN -0.93%). This month, investors have pulled $12.2 billion out of such funds, the data show.
The outflows are reminiscent of heavy bouts of outflows last year, which came as investors had their first taste of nerves around the U.S. Federal Reserve’s withdrawal of monetary stimulus.
Concerns about developing economies from Turkey to Argentina, underpinned by the Fed continuing to scale back its unprecedented stimulus program, left emerging-market assets across the world reeling again. With prices falling and potential losses mounting, some investors rushed to get their money back, EPFR’s data suggest.
Emerging-market bond funds also took a hit. Some $2.7 billion was returned to investors over the same period, taking year-to-date outflows to $4.6 billion, the data show.
According to Nomura’s analysts, who looked at the same EPFR numbers, $1.7 billion of those bond outflows came from local currency funds.
There were some winners amid the turmoil. U.S. long-term government bond funds, municipal funds and floating-rate funds saw $1.5 billion of combined inflows, the data show.
…
6:02 am Jan 30, 2014
Markets
Morning MoneyBeat: The Pain Trade Continues
By Steven Russolillo
CONNECT
…
THE BREAKFAST BRIEFING
The withdrawal of Fed stimulus has turned into a more painful process than initially anticipated, leaving investors searching for safer options as they navigate through the difficult start to the year.
U.S. stocks have kicked 2014 off on a sour note, emerging-market currencies can’t seem to find a bottom and general investor anxiety is on the rise. Yesterday’s Fed statement did little to soothe any of those concerns.
The Fed said it would further scale back its bond-buying program amid signs of an improving U.S. economy. But the central bank—apparently unfazed by the recent selloffs in India, Turkey, South Africa and others—made no mention of the market turmoil hitting the emerging economies in its policy statement.
“It would take serious U.S. weakness or a real [emerging markets] disaster to make the [Fed] pause,” Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote to clients.
One takeaway from Wednesday’s Fed announcement: It’s going to take something much worse than a weak jobs report and declining emerging-market currencies to convince the Fed that it should keep the bond-buying program going longer than planned.
And so, on the markets go without a clear-cut signal of when the global selloff will come to an end.
…
Banks rule and Cental Bankers rule the most.
The Fed makes a decision and the economy of the entire planet gets bent out of shape.
Now that’s power, baby. The most powerful kings in human history have never had it this good.
No armies needed, no navys, no air forces. Just the utterances of a few words will do the trick.
Life is good fo some, not so good for others. God’s plan at work.
are renters stupid?
http://www.professorshouse.com/Your-Home/Real-Estate/General/Articles/Are-Renters-Stupid/
Renting ROCKS!
When you rent, provided you have at least a decent landlord, there are perks. The first that comes to mind is you’re usually not responsible for any major repairs. Another biggie is your rent rate is competitive if not still better than a mortgage with taxes (going up) and homeowner’s insurance (also going up).
In fact when I was a property manager as the economy began to tank, landlords were all too happy to forgive past-due rent, or in some cases even lower the monthly rent to keep a decent tenant. Remember, the alternative is to get you moved out, make repairs, market, and deal with vacancy.
Renters also do not lose equity when values go down, and this is especially attractive when values decline and landlords lose net worth.
When you rent you have great flexibility, too. Should you decide to move you usually just provide thirty-day notice and go, after getting your deposit back, of course. There’s no complicated listing, selling, hoping, waiting, praying, or burying Saint Christopher in the yard.
And – ready for this? – even if you are renting and your landlord gets foreclosed, you may have the right to stay in the house up to two years according to the Protecting Tenants in Foreclosure Act of 2009. Good luck with that if you’re the owner!
unfortunately you will never convince me renting rocks. I’ve seen some people rent all their life and never had a pot to p@ss in. Some people are born renters.
And renters have massive bank accounts. And those finance to pay inflated prices for depreciating houses? They have a lifetime of irrecoverable losses.
Remember….. The wealthiest people on the planet lease housing for a reason… They intuitively understand a house depreciates rapidly resulting in financial losses.
“I’ve seen some people rent all their life and never had a pot to p@ss in.”
It’s interesting how what you and I have seen differs so much. Apparently there are any number of renters who are sufficiently wealthy and educated to post here regularly; I believe Ben Jones is one of them, unless he has bought an home without mentioning it. It’s nice to not have to waste your weekends pushing around a lawnmower, pulling weeds out the garden and fixing toilets that don’t flush (been there / done that!).
My first cousin, a finance professor, once related that a close friend of his rented all his life and ended up sitting on a large pile of cash. (I’ll ask him about this when I next see him.) Apparently Bill Near Irvine is on a similar trajectory.
And above all, renting is the new black. A declining 65% of Americans are homeowners, and the outlook for future owner-occupied purchase demand is bleak. So I’m not sure the coming period in U.S. real estate history will do much to support the proposition that “Real estate always goes up.”
Quarterly homeownership rate falls to 18-year low
A sign stands outside a condo for sale in the 4200 block of North Hamlin Avenue in Chicago on Wednesday, September 19, 2012. ((Chris Sweda/ Chicago Tribune) / January 31, 2014)
By Mary Ellen Podmolik Tribune reporter
10:21 a.m. CST, January 31, 2014
The nation’s homeownership rate during the final three months of 2013 was the lowest fourth quarter reading since 1995, the Census Bureau reported Friday.
Meanwhile, rental vacancy rates continued to trend downward, and rents were still escalating.
During the fourth quarter, 65.2 percent of people owned homes. That compared with 65.1 percent during 1995’s fourth quarter. Homeownership has been on the decline since peaking at 69.2 percent in mid-2004.
During the fourth quarter, 8.2 percent of the nation’s rental units were empty, down from 8.7 percent in 2012’s fourth quarter and 8.3 percent in 2013’s third quarter.
…
Tell me about it AZDude. My net worth is above $1.7 million and I am a “lowlife renter.”
Try not to ruffle AZDude’s dogmatic view of impoverished renters with pesky counter examples.
There are a great deal of JQP arrogant home owners who are like AZdude and Amy the Hoaxster, looking down on people who rent, but these arrogant people are ignorant of the economizing many renters do - reinvesting what would otherwise be the opportunity cost of home moaning.
$1,720,000 - just calculated tonight. Also calculated that if stocks take a 60% haircut I will still have a net worth over $1,000,000. That’s diversification for you.
Wasn’t it around the moment when Bill Gross announced Pimco’s money-losing bond fund would diversify into stocks that this turmoil erupted?
DON’T FIGHT THE FED!
Markets
As Treasurys Rally, Investors Reassess
As Yields Defy Forecasts and Head Lower, Traders Dial Back Bets on Rising Rates
By Min Zeng and Katy Burne
Connect
Updated Jan. 30, 2014 7:01 p.m. ET
Rout? What rout?
Despite widespread predictions of a sharp selloff in Treasurys this year, government bond prices have actually risen. And that has driven traders and investors to rethink their outlook for the rest of the year.
Instead of falling as the Federal Reserve began reducing its purchases of debt securities, Treasury prices have…
the real estate party must continue till the elections.
+1 The prettiest thing at the business ball is Real Estate, and everybody wants to dance with her.
hey i like that. makes perfect sense.
Markets
Investors Look Toward Safer Options as Ground Shifts
By Tom Lauricella, Katie Martin and Tommy Stubbington
Connect
Updated Jan. 29, 2014 10:37 p.m. ET
Just one month into 2014, investors from Illinois to Istanbul are finding the tide going out fast for stocks and other riskier investments.
After years of unprecedented monetary stimulus propping up the world’s financial markets, investors are now confronting the reality of an end to the Federal Reserve’s bond-buying program, which, as expected, the central bank reduced by another $10 billion on Wednesday.
The Fed’s moves are…
The painful rebalancing of emerging markets
IAIN MARLOW AND JANET McFARLAND
The Globe and Mail
Published Saturday, Feb. 01 2014, 5:00 AM EST
Last updated Saturday, Feb. 01 2014, 5:00 AM EST
South Africa follows on from Turkey and India by raising its key interest rates in a bid to quell the turmoil in emerging markets. Turkey’s 4.25 per cent hike stunned investors, and pushed the Turkish lira to its biggest gain in five years as investors welcomed the news. But, as David Pollard reports, worries soon began reappearing over whether emerging markets are doing enough to stabilise their economies.
On Friday, after a week in which other investors pulled nearly $10-billion (U.S.) from emerging economies, CPPIB announced that it paid $200-million for a new 10.4-per-cent stake in Peruvian natural gas transporter Transportadora de Gas del Peru SA (TGP). Mr. Bourbonnais said his investment represents the cornerstone of a long-term partnership to pursue infrastructure deals in select markets in Latin America, underscoring the group’s belief in the long-term potential of certain expanding economies, such as Brazil and China – despite the turmoil in a number of other developing countries.
“We’re long-term investors,” he says. “We understand there are going to be cycles, and we need to be a little more prudent in terms of uncertainty, but clearly we’ll continue in emerging markets.”
The turmoil is widespread. Currency is being devalued in Buenos Aires. Strong growth in Brazil has waned, and the Turkish lira has plummeted. In South Africa, an ailing economy is mired in miners’ unrest, and in China slowing growth is endangering commodity exporters that have been riding the cyclical boom.
Already, the turmoil has wiped $1.7-trillion from global stocks, hurting investors and forcing a re-examination of emerging markets, now sputtering and deemed riskier, endangering global growth.
But these countries are not united by similar problems, such as the bad loans and deficits that led to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. What’s happening now is a decoupling of emerging markets from one another that economists suggest is long overdue.
…
Already, the turmoil has wiped $1.7-trillion from global stocks,
Interesting number—do you think it is a coincidence that it is a bit over half of what the Fed pumped into emerging economies to begin with?
10:41 am Jan 30, 2014
Europe
The Emerging Markets Illness Spreads
Commentary
By Alen Mattich
Like a nasty rash, the emerging markets currency upheaval is spreading.
It looks as if eastern European currencies have been infected by the malaise that has laid low the Turkish lira, the South African rand and the Indian rupee. Even stalwarts like the Polish zloty aren’t immune.
Investors will be hoping the infection is superficial, rather than the symptom of something really nasty and systemic developing in the global financial markets.
Although the currencies rallied following their wobbles of the morning, boosted in part by the release of strong U.S. GDP numbers–investors seem to be hopeful that the U.S. will support the global economy–they look vulnerable to relapses.
As with some of the hardest hit currencies, there are undoubtedly local factors involved. Hungary’s central bank has been slicking its key interest rate steadily–last week it trimmed its key rate for the 18th month running to a new all-time low. The rate cuts have been in response to low inflation and paltry economic growth. The Ukraine’s crisis, meanwhile, has put the focus on Russia’s own political risks, especially amid the scandals swirling around the Sochi Olympics.
But Poland has also suffered ructions, despite being one of Europe’s strongest economies and, hitherto, a shining star in the emerging markets firmament.
Part of this will be a generalized move out of assets that have gained the most from central bank liquidity since the financial crisis. With the Federal Reserve looking determined to wind down its asset purchase program this year, the tide of money is flowing out of marginal investment nooks and crannies. If quantitative easing reduced global risk premia, its looming withdrawal will raise them.
And it’s not just emerging markets that are being hit. It’s worth noting that the Canadian and Australian dollars have been under pressure. There have been considerable speculative flows into commodities. As these slow, commodity currencies are being hit. Many of these same economies have experienced considerable housing bubbles. Rising market rates and slowing economies will prove to be very bad combinations–especially if central banks in these economies have their hands tied by inflationary pressures being stoked by falling currencies.
…
Luckily the EM economies are fully decoupled from U.S. housing — aren’t they?
10:41 am Jan 30, 2014
Europe
The Emerging Markets Illness Spreads
Commentary
By Alen Mattich
Like a nasty rash, the emerging markets currency upheaval is spreading.
…
Part of this will be a generalized move out of assets that have gained the most from central bank liquidity since the financial crisis. With the Federal Reserve looking determined to wind down its asset purchase program this year, the tide of money is flowing out of marginal investment nooks and crannies. If quantitative easing reduced global risk premia, its looming withdrawal will raise them.
And it’s not just emerging markets that are being hit. It’s worth noting that the Canadian and Australian dollars have been under pressure. There have been considerable speculative flows into commodities. As these slow, commodity currencies are being hit. Many of these same economies have experienced considerable housing bubbles. Rising market rates and slowing economies will prove to be very bad combinations–especially if central banks in these economies have their hands tied by inflationary pressures being stoked by falling currencies.
…
Did your EM ETF take a bullet for the Fed’s policy shift?
6:39 am Jan 30, 2014
Asia
Fed Pulls The Trigger, Emerging Markets Get the Bullet
By David Cottle
CONNECT
Outgoing Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, who in his last Federal Open Markets Committee Meeting Wednesday said the Fed would continue to cut asset-buying.
EPA
There’s always plenty of speculation about what the U.S. Federal Reserve will do next from every corner of the financial world, but, late on Wednesday, the result of Ben Bernanke’s final policy conclave in the Chair reminded markets that, first and foremost, the Fed is America’s central bank.
With not even a mention of the turmoil engulfing emerging markets from South Africa to Turkey and back again, the Open Market Committee stuck to the plan and announced another $10-billion-a-month hack at its asset-purchase program. This takes it down to a trifling $65 billion. What’s more the cut was agreed unanimously by the Open Markets Committee. No dissent.
In truth the chances of the Fed abandoning its carefully built-up tapering scheme just because things were getting a bit tough for EM was always a bit of an outlier, even if the extent of U.S. stock falls after the fact suggested that some had indeed bet that way.
…
“… announced another $10-billion-a-month hack at its asset-purchase program.”
“Announced”. Not actually cut $10 billion (at least not yet) but announced that they were going to cut $10 billion.
Announce this and the markets all over the globe go to hell.
If they announce a reversal of their decision to cut then what do you suppose would happen, hmmmmmm?
Power, baby, now THAT’S power.
I like it, I love it, I want some more of it.
(”You can’t lose with the stuff I use.” - Rev Ike)
Have you asked your wife that question? Probably not unless you are posting from an EM.
Heh heh…she hasn’t seen her statement yet. Anyway it’s pocket change, relatively speaking.
No, she is going to use it as an excuse to go to Nordstrom’s store in the Mission Valley Shopping mall and stick you with a bill that will not be pocket change. I have a friend in Coronado that I helped move that had 300 pairs of shoes most of them from that store, so I know.
No, I’m blessed like few men are: my wife hates to shop, and she considers me a spendthrift if I buy an occasional latte’ at Starbucks.
Are you helping to hold the line with your stock market optimism?
True story: I tried to buy the dip after market turmoil ensued in early 2008. I figured, “How much longer can this continue?”
Turns out I was way early, as the main event was months away (roughly September 2008-March 2009) with maybe a 50% drop in headline indexes (or was it 53%)?
Take home: If you are sitting on the sidelines waiting for an entry point, some times it makes sense to just keep sitting.
Yes, the falling knife, all investors have caught it from time to time including this one.
7:44 pm Jan 29, 2014
Markets
As Stocks Decline, Optimists Hold Line
By E.S. Browning
CONNECT
U.S. stocks have started the year with a thud, but it has been a reluctant rout. Wednesday’s 189.77-point decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average left it down 5.1% for the year.
What’s interesting, though, isn’t that stocks are down but that the declines are coming so grudgingly.
After the Dow industrials surged 26% last year, finishing at a record on Dec. 31, just about every analyst from Wall Street to Main Street has been predicting a 10% pullback at some point in 2014. And they thought it would happen for the very reasons that are causing the recent declines: cuts in Federal Reserve stimulus, uncertain corporate earnings and worries about growth and stability in big developing countries such as China.
After Wednesday’s drop, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes are down 4% and 3%, respectively. But already some money managers said clients are looking for a chance to jump in at discounted prices.
“I know a heck of a lot of people who still want to get money into the market and feel they missed out last year. They are looking for an entry point,” said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management, which oversees more than $125 billion in Philadelphia.
…
“SPDR S&P 500 Index exchange-traded fund”
Isn’t this roughly what Smithers urged Brett to buy just a couple of weeks back. I haven’t heard from Brett in recent days; have to wonder whether he regretfully followed Smithers’ foolish investing advice to go into a 70% S&P500 allocation just before the onset of a rout?
12:39 pm Jan 31, 2014
Markets
Long-Term Investors Not Too Spooked By Emerging-Market Selloff
By Alexandra Scaggs
CONNECT
The S&P 500 is on track for its worst monthly performance since May 2012 amid emerging-markets turmoil, but long-term investors seem to be sitting tight.
While U.S. stock exchange traded funds saw $10 billion head out of the door in the latest week, according to fund trackers Lipper Inc., some $7.6 billion of that was from the SPDR S&P 500 Index exchange-traded fund. Flows in and out of the S&P 500 – often known by its ticker symbol SPY – tend to be highly volatile, as short term investors such as hedge funds use it to make near-term bets on the market.
“There are a number of investors out there when they give a thumbs-down on equity, they sell SPY,” said Jeff Tjornehoj, head of Lipper Americas research.
Meanwhile, traditional U.S. stock mutual funds, largely the realm of mom-and-pop investors, actually brought in cash. Mutual funds investing in U.S. stocks had net inflows of $2 billion in the week ended Jan. 29, Lipper said, excluding a move from one big money manager moving client cash from a separate account to a mutual fund.
That’s is largely in line with the previous week’s $2 billion of inflows. The week before that, investors sent $3 billion into mutual funds investing in U.S. stocks.
…
crater!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10:44 am Jan 31, 2014
Markets
Signs of ‘Panic,’ in Three Charts
By Steven Russolillo
CONNECT
Investors yanked cash out of emerging-market equity funds at the fastest pace since 2011, underscoring “the first signs of panic” in the markets amid a difficult start to 2014.
That view comes courtesy of Michael Hartnett, chief investment strategist at Bank of America (BAC -1.06%) Merrill Lynch, who described the action as a “stampede out of equity ETFs.”
Some $6.4 billion was pulled out of emerging-market equity funds, according to EPFR Global, the largest outflow since August 2011 amid the euro crisis and the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating. For bargain-hunting investors looking to buy near the bottom, they might want to wait longer.
As the chart below shows, emerging-market equity funds would need to witness another $15 billion in outflows over the next two to three weeks before his data would trigger a “contrarian buy signal.”
…
“For bargain-hunting investors looking to buy near the bottom, they might want to wait longer.”
Try not to catch yourself a falling knife.
your first mistake was trusting wall street.
I never trusted them, but I have occasionally invested profitably by fading their propaganda campaigns to encourage greater fools to snap up bubble assets at peak prices (recent examples: U.S. Treasurys leading up to last May’s correction, U.S. and EM stock index funds leading up to present panic).
I should have also mentioned all the efforts since the 2008 Housing Bubble collapse to encourage Mom and Pop on Main Street to sink their life’s savings into an overpriced debt trap.
Are you prepared to enjoy more investing losses in February?
“Tapering for the rest of this year and until our central bank becomes neutral seems a course increasingly etched in concrete.”
Soon enough, Janet Yellen will enjoy her first chance to become a Wall Street rock star heroine by reversing these expectations and triggering a massive ‘relief rally.’
9:06 am Jan 31, 2014
Markets
Markets Sending Ben Bernanke Out With a Bang
By Paul Vigna
CONNECT
The problem isn’t that things are getting worse, that the cracks in the walls are breaking and the walls are collapsing. The problem is that the paper hanger who’s been putting pink, floral wallpaper on top of the problems is walking off the job.
It’s Fed chairman Ben Bernanke‘s last day on the job, and U.S. stocks look like they are going to close January out in an especially depressing fashion.
Dow futures are off nearly 170 points, and S&P 500 futures are off about 17 points. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note is down to 2.65%, back where it was in mid-November when everybody thought 3% was a fait accompli. The worry then was whether higher rates would scotch the recovery.
UPDATE: The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by more than 200 points minutes after the opening bell. The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite were each down by about 1%.
Heading into Friday’s session, the Dow is off 4.4% for the month; the S&P 500 off 2.9% and the Nasdaq is off 1.3%.
The market’s record when January is in the red isn’t great, but isn’t decisive either: it’s almost exactly a 50-50 bet, according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac. But we’ve also been following all these early indicators, the first-day of trading, first three days, first five days, the first month, and they were all in the red. That’s not a good sign, no matter the odds.
In addition, since 1957, when the S&P 500 was introduced, when the market is down for the month of January, it follows that up with a red February 64% of the time, according to John Kosar, director of research at Absury Research, and has posted an average loss of 1.6% in those months.
But those are just numbers. The real story here revolves around that paper hanger we were talking about: the Fed. After all, it’s not like Turkey, Argentina, South Africa, India, the Ukraine, and Russia developed horrendous, economy-wrecking problems overnight. The problems were there.
The difference was that you had the Fed, which as our Mike Casey said, the world’s de facto central bank, pumping $3 trillion into the economy, and while that money was earmarked for the U.S. recovery, money is fungible. It travels, especially when it’s being handed out to multi-national banks, of which almost all the Fed’s “primary” dealers are. So this easy money, this hot money, traveled, into every risky nook and cranny of the global capital markets.
But now the Fed is pulling back. Slowly, yes. Gingerly, yes. But decisively. Maybe the market ignored the first “tapering,” thought of it as some kind of token gesture. The second one, though, has gotten everybody’s attention. The message is clear: the game is ending. And in the capital markets, the greatest sin is to be the last one to leave the game.
“Tapering for the rest of this year and until our central bank becomes neutral seems a course increasingly etched in concrete,” David Kotok, chairman and chief investment officer at Cumberland Advisors, wrote this week. The market is getting the message loud and clear. The world’s other central banks, too, are doing what they can, but it may not be enough. “Our fear is that a sequence of events in various emerging markets and among various currencies could lead to a contagion,” adds Mr. Kotok.
…
Oh boy, another day of economic crisis of choice and vague predictions about what is going to happen without really saying so.
Then we can move on to taste great v. less filling about democrats or republicans and who is worse.
NEITHER SIDE IS FOR THE WORKING MAN. CROOKS V. HUCKSTERS WHAT A CHOICE.
Btw on the topic of “for all intensive purposes,” is it supposed to be “speak your piece” or “speak your peace”? I’ve always thought the latter but saw captions last night making me doubt I was correct.
for all intents and purposes
speak your piece
At least, AFAIK.
Let’s not reek havoc with the language.
My absolute favorite is blessing in the sky v. blessing in disguise.
Let’s not reek havoc with the language.
haha, good one! indeed, for all intensive porpoises, let’s not!
Reeking havoc with language is alot of fun.
“Then we can move on to taste great v. less filling about democrats or republicans and who is worse.”
2banana kicked off that discussion in the middle of the night with about ten anti-Obama rants.
Friday, 31 January 2014 15:50
Is China’s $23 Trillion Credit Bubble Ready to Pop?
Written by William F. Jasper
Is the “mother of all bubbles” about to implode? Many analysts have been predicting that China could have its “Lehman Brothers moment” today, on January 31, 2014. Its colossal $23 trillion ($24 trillion by some accounts) in private domestic debt is, say some economists, but a pin-prick away from a devastating banking collapse that would send shock waves across Asian (and then global) financial markets.
…
With so many signs of the Second Coming at the moment, I’m surprised the EM selloff isn’t even worse than it has been so far!
Feb. 1, 2014, 1:52 p.m. EST
Indonesian volcanic eruption kills at least 14
By I Made Sentana
JAKARTA, Indonesia—At least 14 people, mostly high-school students, were killed by a volcanic eruption Saturday on Indonesia’s Sumatra island, officials said.
The fatalities were the first caused by Mount Sinabung since the long-quiet volcano began erupting sporadically in September and forced some 30,000 people from their homes.
The students were struck by a hot cloud when they went to a village about three kilometers (about 1.28 miles) from the volcano to get a better view of it, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Agency for Disaster Management. The students weren’t on an organized school trip, he said.
The evacuation zone encompasses five kilometers around the mountain.
Three villagers who had returned to their homes to feed their livestock were also injured, authorities said. Some people have been returning to the forbidden areas regularly to tend to their animals or homes.
The fatalities occurred a day after authorities allowed some 13,800 people to go back to their villages loutside the five-kilometer danger zone after the volcano had shown decreasing activity.
Sinabung is about 50 kilometers from Medan, a city of more than two million people, and is one of several volcanoes that have shown increased activity in recent months. The duration of the eruptions and the prolonged evacuations have strained Indonesia’s emergency relief resources.
Since the eruption began, ash has caused more than $60 million in damage to cash crops including coffee, chilies, rice, corn and cabbage, according to the agricultural agency of Karo District, where the volcano is located.
…
Fukushima Radiation Hitting West Coast of North America: “No One Is Measuring So Therefore We Should Be Alarmed”
Federal, State and Local Governments Refuse to Test for Radiation on the West Coast of North America
By Washington’s Blog
Global Research, January 27, 2014
Washington’s Blog
Region: USA
Theme: Environment, Media Disinformation
Numerous models show that – while the ocean dilutes radiation – pockets and streams of concentrated radiation may still hit the West Coast of North America.
West Coast residents are very concerned. Indeed, many local and state government officials have said that residents are inundating them with questions about Fukushima radiation.
And yet the government isn’t measuring seawater or fish on the West Coast for radiation.
…
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it.” –Upton Sinclaire
“housing is ‘coming back’ but everyone here knows it’s bull$hit.”~Denver Resident, June 2013
sometimes you have to look beyond the bullsh@t and do what your masters want you to do.
Assets will lead us back to glory.
June 2013 was before Peyton.
Peyton made this recovery real.
“A ‘housing recovery’ is falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels by definition.”
BINGO
but banks have massive loans and need the collateral of those loans to be high in value so they dont lose money.
the only way that scenario ever happens is for massive write downs and basically eliminating lot of debt. So who is going to take the haircuts?
should the taxpayer take the haircuts again?
how to prepare for a lifetime of renting:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22952667
Open up a bank account for all the extra cash.
yeah thats really smart. why the hell would I do that? risk losing all your money while they pay you sh@t for interest. you lose money in a bank account after inflation. I keep enough money in a bank account to cover the daily bills and thats it. I check my account daily and add cash to cover the bills going out that day.
Another one of your genius plans to stay broke?
Why would you do that?
So you don’t lose any more money on rapidly depreciating assets like houses. If you want to be wealthy, you need to preserve capital. Trust me when I tell you, you’re going to need every penny of your cash.
Remember…. Houses depreciate rapidly and are always a loss.
Id would rather keep money n a mattress than a bank.
whats going to happen when all your cash basically becomes worth pennies on the dollar?
Then put it in your mattress. And if your cash is worthless, send it to me…. let’s exchange email addresses so we can arrange it.
“Why would pay more than new construction cost ($55 per square foot) for a depreciating 20+ year old resale house?”
Let me guess…… Because realtors tell you that the cost of a house cannot be evaluated using math?
Someone tell me ONE policy or decision of obama that has helped the middle class.
————————-
Obama: US can help more join the middle class
Associated Press | Feb 1, 2014 6:00 AM EST
President Barack Obama says the U.S. can take steps to ensure more people can join and stay in the middle class.
In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama is echoing themes from his State of the Union address. He says some of his ideas require Congress, but he’ll take steps on his own where he can. …
I can name a handful that screwed the middle class though.
Extended unemployment benefits.
Republicans decry Obama plans to bypass Congress to advance agenda
By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON Sun Jan 26, 2014 3:29pm EST
(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama’s strategy to bypass Congress this year with executive orders to advance his policy agenda received a cold reaction on Sunday from Republican leaders, who accused the White House of arrogance and sidestepping the political process.
Obama and his advisers have signaled for weeks that the president would take a more active role in using his pen and phone to sign orders that do not require lawmaker approval and cajole others to back his priorities.
Senior White House adviser Dan Pfeiffer said Obama needed Congress to pass immigration reform and extend unemployment insurance but that the president would telegraph in his State of the Union address on Tuesday that he would not be patient with lawmakers in areas where he did not need them.
“The president … is not going to tell the American people that he’s going to wait for Congress,” Pfeiffer told CNN’s “State of the Union with Candy Crowley” program.
“He’s going to move forward in areas like job training, education, manufacturing, on his own to try to restore opportunity for American families,” Pfeiffer said.
…
“Economists agree that unemployment benefits remain one of the best ways to grow the economy”
– House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
How nations and economies die…
Republicans are mean spirited and like to kick good men when they are down.
No one has done more damage to the middle class in recent times than the Republican party. No one. My post hasn’t shown up yet, but Pat Buchanan has a wonderful essay on how exactly the party of Bush (I, II, and soon we’ll get Jeb! to really finish it off) accomplished this. And who would know better than Buchanan?
Full disclosure: I am a registered Republican. But probably not for long, given the way the House is pushing a scamnasty. I don’t wanna hear it about Obama anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like the guy and I think the ACA blows major chunks, but after what I read, I’m not buying the “Blame Obama” meme.
“No one has done more damage to the middle class in recent times than the Republican party. No one.
…
Full disclosure: I am a registered Republican.”
Ergo an honest Republican. (At this point in your post I become highly suspicious…)
Nearly every democrat in the house and in the senate want amnesty. obama is pushing hard for it - even staking his presidency on it. The only ones holding up the line is a bare majority of republicans in the house.
And you are going to teach republicans a lesson and oppose amnesty by becoming a democrat/independent.
Do you even think through your logic?
Full disclosure: I am a registered Republican. But probably not for long, given the way the House is pushing a scamnasty. I don’t wanna hear it about Obama anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like the guy and I think the ACA blows major chunks, but after what I read, I’m not buying the “Blame Obama” meme.
The only Republican I know of who speaks for me on the issue is Senator Jeff Sessions, who I’m sure will be maligned as a Southern white male. Actually, he sort of reminds me of Ross Perot.
“MEMO: IMMIGRATION AND THE GOP AGENDA
JANUARY 28, 2014
TO: HOUSE REPUBLICAN COLLEAGUES
FROM: RANKING MEMBER JEFF SESSIONS”
http://www.budget.senate.gov/republican/public/index.cfm/files/serve/?File_id=954900b8-1fdb-4c0d-a3c6-2d0c44a9d806
“Ergo an honest Republican. (At this point in your post I become highly suspicious…)”
You are welcome to your suspicion. My posts with links to Buchanan’s column and to the Senator Sessions memo to House Republicans haven’t shown up yet. Then you’ll understand. There’s a deep division within the party right now and it’s pretty much on life support.
As to why I’m still registered with the Repbulican party, I posted on this a while back and it can be summed up in one word: primaries.
“I posted on this a while back and it can be summed up in one word: primaries.”
And as I recall, the only person who understood it was polly.
As to why I’m a registered Republican …
My question is not why you are registered one party or another. It I why do you vote at all.
“My question is not why you are registered one party or another. It I why do you vote at all.”
Because I still care about the country. Deeply. It’s been good to me. I haven’t been so good to it. I actually take the time to contact the offices of my Senators (actually just one Senator, the other one is useless as tits on bull) and Rep. Shocking, isn’t it?
My post hasn’t shown up yet, but Pat Buchanan has a wonderful essay on how exactly the party of Bush (I, II, and soon we’ll get Jeb! to really finish it off) accomplished this.
Isn’t interesting how he has been marginalized. He is a true conservative, probably why he never shows up on Fox news. Conservative that think of America as a real place instead of what did Bush call it a dream or a concept do not get air play.
“Isn’t interesting how he has been marginalized. He is a true conservative, probably why he never shows up on Fox news. Conservative that think of America as a real place instead of what did Bush call it a dream or a concept do not get air play.”
Absolutely. There is an ongoing systematic purge of true conservatives, or paleos, as they are sometimes called.
Jose,I appreciate your candor, but if 2000 forward hasnt shown you it is all a big waste of time,I suppose 2010 forward might.
Having a voice in one party’s primaries is a fantastic reason to be registered in that party. Obviously if you don’t have to be registered in that party to vote in its primary in your state, it is a little less compelling, but some of those states register you in the party you pick (switch you out of independent) once you vote in the primary. If that is the party you want a voice it, why not stay registered in that party rather than switch back to independent after every primary.
It is a party registration. Not a declaration of eternal political philosophy. Use it to send a message to the people who run whichever party you suspect might be more open to your ideas. Don’t let anyone tell you it means anything more than that.
Use it to send a message to the people who run…
They laugh like proWrestlers backstage, clinking their glasses, toasting champagne and solidifying the hegemony of the state.
They still need people to go to vote to actually win. And they want to win. Yeah, they can get a heck of a lot of what they want no matter who wins, but they still want to win. Only voters can give that to them. You can’t overturn the whole system with a vote, but you can push a bit. If that is all you can do, why not do it?
“You can’t overturn the whole system with a vote, but you can push a bit. If that is all you can do, why not do it?”
Amen, sistah! I really don’t understand why people can’t get this very simple concept. I suppose it’s because civics is no longer widely taught in the schools.
You cannot push a system that is set up to avoid you ever getting your way. The American public has obvious widely held positions which both parties could easily compromise on to get something done. They never do it.
You are constantly being steered into restaurants where nothing you want is on the menu. But you had a choice, Denny’s or IHOP.
“But you had a choice, Denny’s or IHOP.”
Misleading posts like this one, which fail to mention Applebees’ as a dining alternative, are likely to reduce Applebees’ wait times. And we all know that could risk bringing down the entire economy.
They just built an Applebees in my hood. It is packed. Of course, it is the closest thing to a bar in the neighborhood. Very sad but true. It is close to my gym.
they closed one down here recently because business was so bad. red robin is a lot better imo. I dont eat out a lot these days. Just whipped up some bisquits and gravy and eggs for two. cost about 2 bucks for bisquits, 4 eggs, and a packet o gravy. its a recession proof meal.
No, the choice between Denny’s and IHOP is the regular election. The primary is when you can say that you really want Lou’s Diner. Now, Lou’s Diner isn’t likely to win, but if Denny’s finds out that Lou’s Diner got the support of 30% of the primary voters, they might just take a look at Lou’s menu and think about what they can use at Denny’s.
dennys has great benefits and pays their people well?
Tell Ron Paul about Lou’s Diner.
This is all so ridiculous. The system is rigged. If the treatment Ron Paul got from the lamestream Republicans to break their own rules to shut his campaign down did not convince you, you are hopeless. I am done with voting. It is that horse race game in the old Robin Williams movie “Popeye.” the game was mechanical and the players were gambling. The house knows the outcome: “Progressivism.”
2brony doesn’t understand economics, namely that those UE benefit dollars will be spent and circulate into the economy, whereas the 0.1% pigmen who don’t create jobs (or for the most part, create anything) just increase their pile.
The unemployed are spending the money at Walmart buying Chinese made goods thus circulating the money in China. It is not reducing unemployment. They need employment and tax breaks designed to really create jobs such as increasing the depreciation rate for businesses or a lower corporate tax rate would reduce unemployment. If Nancy or you would just look around the neighborhood of her office, she would see that she would see her policies in action.
P.S. Another way to cr/win.eate jobs build the xl pipeline and import Canadian crude and deport Justin Beiber, I call it a win.
“The unemployed are spending the money at Walmart buying Chinese made goods thus circulating the money in China. It is not reducing unemployment.”
Somebody gets to work as a Walmart greeter, with a guaranteed minimum wage to boot.
harbor freight tools is having another sidewalk sale today. Great tools @ 50% off.
The unemployed are probably spending very little at Walmart. Unemployment generally pays people much less than they earned when they were employed. I had a period in my life when I was just getting by every month. At the time the vast majority of my spending was on rent, utilities and groceries.
Unemployment going on that long is a crime,carefully calculated to drag more into dependence on a welfare state.
There’s no evidence of that.
what evidence is there going to be? Lie detector tests of the intelligentsia
So what you have is similar to a religious faith - a belief in something for which there is no evidence.
Nah…I think the 0.1% pigmen pay him a hefty fee to blow smoke here. I can’t imagine anyone believing the cr@p he posts some times. But then perhpas that just reflects my lack of imagination.
“Extended unemployment benefits.”
It’s difficult to help without becoming the enabler.
the unemployed are victims of the housing bubble created by wall street. They are part of the bailout package.
I know…was just yanking 2banana’s chain.
His State of the Union was nothing more than a “how can I fool them today speak”. He put on a sad impersonation of Ronald Reagan while all the time plotting his next move to “fundamentally change” the US into his marxist nirvana.
Approve the pipeline Mr. Dictator, and create those jobs you keep yapping about.
It’s hard to get anything done in DC when your political opponents’ idea of cooperation is to throw rocks or Molotov cocktails in your direction whenever you cross paths.
Ready To Build The Keystone Pipeline? Not So Fast Says The White House
Political Realities | 02/01/14 | LD Jackson
Ah, the elation that was felt yesterday when the headlines started showing up yesterday. The final report on the environmental impact of the proposed Keystone Pipeline was released, clearing the way for a speedy approval for construction from the White House. One of my coworkers read it out loud and declared it was about time. I pointed out that the favorable report was not the last word and was certainly not an approval to start construction of the pipeline, but my coworker said Obama would have no choice but to approve it. I told him simply, we shall see.
I have felt all along that Keystone would never be built, as long as Obama is President. I do not believe he has any intention of allowing construction to begin. I have said as much in several blog posts on the issue. For anyone who believes the final report is the final word, think again. Not so fast is the warning from the White House. President Obama and John Kerry will make the final decision to approve or disapprove the Keystone Pipeline.
The White House released a statement pushing back on the notion that the pipeline is now headed for speedy approval, saying Sec. of State John Kerry and other agency heads will “closely evaluate” the report in the coming weeks.
“The president has clearly stated that the project will be in the national interest only if it does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution,” White House spokesman Matt Lehrich said.
President Obama has stalled the Keystone Pipeline at every turn. Citing environmental concerns, he has used every excuse he could manufacture to prevent the construction from beginning. Those environmental concerns have now been addressed and debunked, yet he still refuses approval. He has, in fact, given no indication that he has any intention of granting the approval.
What is the logic that producing Canadian oil would increase so-called carbon pollution? Does shifting the source of our oil increase pollution?
I think John Kerry and Lurch on the Addams Family were separated at birth.
As I said in a post above that has not post build the XL for jobs, import Canadian crude and deport Bieber, win/win. BTW, it is a disgrace that they are flaring vast amounts of NG in ND. Hold up oil production until they sufficient NG pipelines.
The Canadian oil in question is not oil when it comes out of the ground. A lot of energy is required to process it, so there is a larger carbon footprint per barrel.
Taking away people’s land and giving it to a company is the American Way.
Taking away land and reselling it to people at a grossly inflated price is the corrupt America way.
Why is it whenever anyone gets rich - they buy multiple house.
Mr. Smith probably never visited most of them.
And never keep your cash in the fridge or speakers.
——————
Drug dealer who spent millions on luxury cars, watches and lavish getaways jailed for 25 years
dailymail | 31 January 2014
Garnett Gilbert Smith shipped a ton of cocaine from California to Maryland between 2010 and 2011 and ‘trafficked heroin’ He earned $10 million which he spent on vacations, properties and parties Authorities seized $1.7 million in jewellery, 19 vehicles, $740,000 cash, properties and $258,000 worth of designer clothes
One of Baltimore’s biggest ever drug dealers has been jailed for 25 years for shipping a ton of cocaine - and enjoying a life of fast cars, designer clothes and luxury properties with the earnings.
Garnett Gilbert Smith’s lavish life was revealed in court in Baltimore, where he was found guilty. Garnett Gilbert Smith’s lavish life was revealed in court in Baltimore, where he was found guilty of shipping the drugs from California to Maryland between 2010 and 2011.
The 44-year-old cleared $10,000 profit on each kilogram, raking in more than $10 million in total, according to court documents. Prosecutors say he also trafficked heroin.
He splashed the cash on stays at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills - where rooms can reach $1,000 a night - and owned or rented numerous properties in Baltimore, Georgia, Virginia and California.
He had an impressive fleet of 19 luxury vehicles, including a $162,300 Lamborghini Murcielago, a $219,000 2009 Maybach, a $165,000 Aston Martin and motorcycles worth up to $65,000.
His designer wardrobe included items from Gucci, Cartier and Louis Vuitton.
Authorities also seized $258,000 worth of shoes, belts, pants, glasses, belts, hats and bags from his Atlanta storage unit, the Baltimore Sun reported.
They also took £1.1 million in jewelery from his condo in Studio City, California, and $741,000 in cash - some hidden in speakers and tool boxes - from his Maryland home.
“Drug dealer who spent millions on luxury cars, watches and lavish getaways jailed for 25 years”
Is this any way to treat a free market, bootstrapping, private sector entrepreneur?
We can lay the blame for illegal immigration, offshoring and the hollowing out of the middle class FIRMLY at the feet of the Republican party. Full disclosure: I am a registered Republican, although probably not for long now. And Buchanan is or was also a Republican who, perhaps more than anyone, knows the recent history of the party very well. Some excerpts here:
“To understand why and how the Republican Party lost Middle America, and faces demographic death, we need to go back to Bush I.
At the Cold War’s end, the GOP reached a fork in the road. The determination of Middle Americans to preserve the country they grew up in, suddenly collided with the profit motive of Corporate America.
The Fortune 500 wanted to close factories in the USA and ship production abroad — where unions did not exist, regulations were light, taxes were low, and wages were a fraction of what they were here in America.
Corporate America was going global and wanted to be rid of its American work force, the best paid on earth, and replace it with cheap foreign labor.
While manufacturing sought to move production abroad, hotels, motels, bars, restaurants, farms and construction companies that could not move abroad also wanted to replace their expensive American workers.
Thanks to the Republican Party, Corporate America got it all.”
“What was wildly wonderful for Corporate America was hell on Middle America. But the Republican Party had made its choice. It had sold its soul to the multinationals. And as it went along with NAFTA, GATT, fast track and mass immigration, to appease Corporate America, it lost Middle America.”
Nice summary. Anyway the GOP is on suicide watch. There will be no funeral for the elephant.
http://buchanan.org/blog/gop-lost-middle-america-6210
saw that before you posted it, very nice article.
You bet. Buck Fush! Every last one of ‘em.
Every time I see JEB! in the coming years, my reply will be “BUCK FUSH!”
Let me know when the bumper stickers become available.
I knew that Jeb baby would be trotted out now that Chris Crispy has been in the fry-boy too long. It makes me puke. The last thing we need is ANOTHER one of “Barbaras’ boys”. Never underestimate the Republican Partys’ ability to push losers. Oh the humanity!!!
While I am blaming the Republican Party for increasing the size of government and for promoting wars in the middle East and putting American necks on the chopping block to support Israel only because their Christian religion’s hero was a Jew,
I certainly don’t consider the Democrat principles the opposite of Rebublicans.
Canusi, do you remember Obama telling Joe that he haunts to spread the wealth around? Canusi, have you not heard of the Libertarian Party? Why don’t you realize the Democrap Party is just as evil as Republucan!
100 years of “progressivism” is what got us to this point. Didn’t Clowntoon sign NAFTA?
The War on Poverty will soon be officially over.
The poor have been defeated and the middle-class destroyed.
Fixt
The poor have been defeated and the middle class
destroyedenslaved through crushing debt on depreciating houses.Feel free to point out all of the areas where the tastes great party also contributed.
Buchanan seems to be speaking within the context of the fight within the R party. He is not laying blame on them as opposed to the Ds. Pretty sure he’d say the Ds did much more.
I got to talk with Buchanan for a minute in the 90’s. I went down to the Alamo to hear him speak when he was running for President.
His positions on globalism, immigration and the one world government crowd are what got him effectively purged from the establishment GOP. He called BS on NAFTA early on, and had a good alternative for trade deals too.
Both Democrats and Republicans sold us all out for globalism. Notice there isn’t one prominent voice against it in DC. Now where are we at? Even Walmart customers can’t buy their cheap junk unless they get food stamps.
“Even Walmart customers can’t buy their cheap junk unless they get food stamps.”
This is an oldie-but-goodie:
Big Box Mart
kmart prices are absolutely absurd. I swear they are only keeping the doors open so the equity can be sucked out of the company by insiders before the bankruptcy. It should be an illegal practice. The company needs to be liquidated now and equity given to the shareholders, not insiders.
Dollar Store is kicking WalMarts butt. Walmart customers are too poor now to shop at Walmart.
“We can lay the blame for illegal immigration, offshoring and the hollowing out of the middle class FIRMLY at the feet of the Republican party.”
They also gut punched and head stomped the middle class with THE BANKRUPTCY ABUSE PREVENTION AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT OF 2005…and the timing was brilliant, just coincidentally happened to pass a year or so before the music stopped at peak debt.
Diabolical? Evil?
Yes. It should have been titled : The Bank Abuse Prevention and Illuminati Protection Act of 2005.
From Polar Vortex to Storm Brigid.
Quick - we need to raise taxes and ban something…
————————–
‘APOCALYPTIC’: Storm Brigid rages towards UK bringing 150MPH KILLER winds, rain and SNOW
Express | 31 January 2014 | Nathan Rao
The entire country faces at least three days of torrential downpours, savage 150mph gales and weeks of relentless flood misery.
Storm Brigid is expected to first hit UK shores later this afternoon before the full force of the onslaught rips into the country tomorrow.
Experts say it threatens to cause destruction on a par with the ferocious October St Jude’s Day Storm and subsequent Storm Emily which hit in December.
When wind speed is over about 50 mph, it’s not a gale.
A real first for California! The water has run out. But they know how to solve it: just reward massive illegal immigration. Make sure there’s an unending stream of prodigious reproducers.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-california-drought-zero-water-allocation-20140131,0,4678128.story#axzz2s4h0C8Dj
No worries…there is a whole ocean of Pacific water right off shore. If only it weren’t for that Fukushima radiation!
It amazes me how eager people are to own Coastal California real estate, given the glow-in-the-dark radiation washing up on the beaches.
Former TSA Agent Explains Full Body Scanners Didn’t Work, But Did Let Him See You Naked
by Mike Masnick
Fri, Jan 31st 2014 12:02pm
“They’re shit,” he said, shrugging. He said we wouldn’t be able to distinguish plastic explosives from body fat and that guns were practically invisible if they were turned sideways in a pocket.
We quickly found out the trainer was not kidding: Officers discovered that the machines were good at detecting just about everything besides cleverly hidden explosives and guns. The only thing more absurd than how poorly the full-body scanners performed was the incredible amount of time the machines wasted for everyone.
Of course, what he leaves out is the real reason why these were installed in airports across the country. It had nothing to do with terrorist threats, but the fact that former DHS boss Michael Chertoff was getting rich off of helping to sell them to the government agency he used to run.
As for looking at you naked, yes, the TSA folks would look and laugh:
Most of my co-workers found humor in the I.O. room on a cruder level. Just as the long-suffering American public waiting on those security lines suspected, jokes about the passengers ran rampant among my TSA colleagues: Many of the images we gawked at were of overweight people, their every fold and dimple on full awful display. Piercings of every kind were visible. Women who’d had mastectomies were easy to discern—their chests showed up on our screens as dull, pixelated regions. Hernias appeared as bulging, blistery growths in the crotch area. Passengers were often caught off-guard by the X-Ray scan and so materialized on-screen in ridiculous, blurred poses—mouths agape, àla Edvard Munch. One of us in the I.O. room would occasionally identify a passenger as female, only to have the officers out on the checkpoint floor radio back that it was actually a man. All the old, crass stereotypes about race and genitalia size thrived on our secure government radio channels.
There were other types of bad behavior in the I.O. room—I personally witnessed quite a bit of fooling around, in every sense of the phrase. Officers who were dating often conspired to get assigned to the I.O. room at the same time, where they analyzed the nude images with one eye apiece, at best. Every now and then, a passenger would throw up two middle fingers during his or her scan, as though somehow aware of the transgressions going on.
And yes, he talks about the ridiculousness of confiscating nail clippers and liquids:
I confiscated jars of homemade apple butter on the pretense that they could pose threats to national security. I was even required to confiscate nail clippers from airline pilots—the implied logic being that pilots could use the nail clippers to hijack the very planes they were flying.
Once, in 2008, I had to confiscate a bottle of alcohol from a group of Marines coming home from Afghanistan. It was celebration champagne intended for one of the men in the group—a young, decorated soldier. He was in a wheelchair, both legs lost to an I.E.D., and it fell to me to tell this kid who would never walk again that his homecoming champagne had to be taken away in the name of national security.
Basically, pretty much everything we already knew about the TSA and its security theater seems to be more or less accurate. There’s a lot more in the article, but it really paints a picture of typical bureaucratic insanity. The whole setup of the TSA seems designed to do two things: to help make a few ex-gov’t officials very wealthy while giving the public appearance that current government officials are “doing something” about terrorism.
As we’ve noted in the past, even the TSA knows that there’s not much of a threat directed at air travel these days, which is probably why they’ve started giving up the pretense and waving large groups of folks through at times.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140131/08552826058/former-tsa-agent-explains-full-body-scanners-didnt-work-did-let-him-see-you-naked.shtml - 55k -
The Great Dividers and the Great Disconnect
Townhall.com | February 1, 2014 | John Ransom
It’s been a truism for as long as I’ve been alive that Washington, DC is out of touch with the lives of the rest of us who don’t live in New York or Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, it’s never been as more true either.
And it has had great consequences for the rest of the country.
When you spend more than half of your private sector output on government, then unfortunately, as the government goes, so goes the rest of the country.
There’s a disconnect between earnings and GDP, the stock market and wages, housing and homeownership, doctors and patients, blacks and whites, students and parents, men and women, common sense and ideology.
And yes, some of that tension has always existed, but this is the first time in my lifetime that the government has set about deliberately to exacerbate those tensions.
Financing is still hard to come by for Main Street, and in another case of disconnection, financial services companies lead the S&P 500 in earnings growth.
This goes along with the strange, disconnected numbers we are seeing in the job market.
According to a recent estimate from the union run Economic Policy Institute (EPI) the numbers of missing worker has grown to 5.9 million people. It’s worth noting that only 1,374,000 jobs have been created since Dec 2012, while an additional 1,500,000 workers have left the workforce according to the EPI estimate.
5.9 million workers would imply a population of around 9.4 million people or a state the size of New Jersey, North Carolina or Michigan. These states have GDPs of between $350 billion and $500 billion. If the trend just stops now, we’ll only loose between $1.7 trillion and $2.5 trillion in GDP over the next five years.
According to a recent estimate from the union run Economic Policy Institute (EPI) the numbers of missing worker has grown to 5.9 million people. It’s worth noting that only 1,374,000 jobs have been created since Dec 2012, while an additional 1,500,000 workers have left the workforce according to the EPI estimate.
Time to put the missing workers on milk cartons.
Goon, if you ever decide to have kids, Starbucks has you covered:
http://www.starbucksstore.com/music-for-little-hipsters/011036233,default,pd.html
I’m not sure how you can have a hipster compilation without Fugazi, but there it is.
plus one for minor threat and fugazi
Gun Petter
Review: K-Var SGL21-61 AK-47 (VIDEO) - Guns.com
http://www.guns.com/review/2012/11/01/gun-review-k-var-sgl21-61-ak-47/ - 70k - Cached - Similar pages
Now on to more important things.
And PS - Anyone can put a credit freeze on their credit accounts for minimal amount of money.
————
Kim Kardashian’s identity stolen by Lake Mary man in celebrity scheme
Orlando Sentinel | January 31, 2014 | By Amy Pavuk
A 19-year-old who lived at home with his mom and worked at a local call center stole the identities of America’s rich and famous — including Kim Kardashian and the head of the FBI — and took over their financial accounts…..
…Earlier this week, Flores learned he’ll spend the next 3 1/2 years in federal prison for his identity theft scheme…..
….At the time, Flores was already facing criminal charges in state court, where he was accused of taking private information from a coworker’s personnel profile and having his colleague’s paycheck directly deposited into his own bank account. Flores was fired from the AT&T call center where he worked, and eventually convicted in that case, court records said.
….According to court records, authorities uncovered other fraudulent activity linking Flores to financial accounts owned by actor Ashton Kutcher, U.S. Marshals Service Director Stacia Hylton, and reality star Paris Hilton.
On June 15, then-director of the FBI Robert Mueller received an email notifying him that information on his Chase Bank credit card was changed. Court records said the name on the card was changed to Luis Flores, and the address changed to his Lake Mary apartment.
Let’s also light a candle today rather than just cursing the darkness. What three specific things would you change to make things better.
Here’s mine:
1. Kid + welfare/public assistance = sterilization
2. All politicians and immediate families, 100 percent transparent immediate financial disclosure online to the point where you can check how they paid for a cab the prior day. Violation = death penalty from politics for the politician.
3. Public unions outlawed.
To quote ICE-T: “Freedom of speech, just watch what you say.”
4. If you receive one more dollar from the government than you put in - you don’t get to vote that year.
5. Make all politicians, govt. workers, unions, everyone live by the same laws that everyone else has to live by(i.e. ACA).
yours should be in the top 3.
Why not sterlize all politicians and their immediate families, too? This way, no JEB!
(for those not familiar, this JEB! business is taken from his campaign for governor in Fla. He didn’t go for this FORWARD crap. He just capitalized his name and put an exclamation point after. Of course, it makes a nice curse, too. You can guarantee you’ll see JEB! running for 2016. JEB!)
Thanks for the non-idea. Blog overrun by by shills and trolls. Drop back to next fortified position.
From Wikipedia and you should appreciate sarcasm, I think many politicians fit the intellectually disabled category :
Buck v. Bell 274 U.S. 200 (1927), is a decision of the United States Supreme Court, written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., in which the Court ruled that a state statute permitting compulsory sterilization of the unfit, including the intellectual disabled, “for the protection and health of the state” did not violate the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The decision was largely seen as an endorsement of negative eugenics—the attempt to improve the human race by eliminating “defectives” from the gene pool.
three generations were apparently NOT enough
to quote ice-t’s song ‘escape from the killing fields’
‘the man’s got a surefire system
an economic prison’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2XPvxXSjn0
“What three specific things would you do to make things better.”
As for me:
1. Insert myself between every financial transaction on the planet in such a way that I get to enjoy taking a cut from both ends.
2. Severly penalize those borrowers who pay back what they have borrowed rather than delve ever deeper into debt.
3. Expand the thinking of the great Multitudes Of Unwashed Masses that working hard at a job and then willingly sending me a large chunk of what they have earned is the best way for them to appreciate and express God’s love. A tenth (a tithe) extracted from each person is something I consider to be a worthy goal.
“Don’t send your money to the church or anywhere else. Instead send your money to me, Reverend Ike.” - Rev Ike
“2. Severly penalize those borrowers who pay back what they have borrowed rather than delve ever deeper into debt.”
Coming to a piece of legislation near you.
I wonder if the employees at the 80 contracted agencies in Florida had to wait for their paychecks this week after working quickly to verify if the applicants qualify?
“Hardest Hit program, which is funded by $1 billion in federal relief and has been long criticized for sluggish results.”
“80 contracted agencies”
“About 10 percent of the money, or $40 million, is on its way to loan servicers to shave off approved applicants’ mortgage debt.”
Thousands of underwater Florida homeowners left in limbo on Hardest Hit Fund relief
DREW HARWELLTampa Bay Times
Wednesday, January 29, 2014 5:22pm
Still waiting to see whether you’ll get a share of the Florida Hardest Hit Fund’s $350 million in mortgage principal reductions?
Join the club.
In the four months since a flood of 25,000 underwater homeowners applied for the state-distributed relief, only 750 have had their loans paid down, state officials said.
An additional 17,000 homeowners who applied in September are left wondering when, or if, they’ll qualify. About 150 applicants are close to approval; 7,400 applicants have been denied.
Officials say that due diligence takes time, and that the state and about 80 contracted agencies, with names like Dream Home Organization Inc., are working quickly to verify if the applicants qualify.
The rules for program approval are strict: Homeowners must be current on their mortgage, owe more than 25 percent over a home’s market value, and earn household wages less than 40 percent over the area’s median income, which in Tampa Bay puts them at about $80,000.
But in Florida, where 29 percent of all homeowners with a mortgage are underwater, those limits barely made a dent in demand for help. The state saw a torrent of applicants, reaching its 25,000-application limit in a week.
More than 4,300 applications came from homeowners in Tampa Bay, though state officials could not say how many were approved, processed or denied. About 185,000 Tampa Bay homes are underwater, CoreLogic data show.
Since Hardest Hit was launched in the aftermath of the housing bust, Florida and 13 other states have shrunk their estimates of how many distressed homeowners they could help. In early 2011, Florida estimated its Hardest Hit relief could reach as many as 106,000 homeowners. By late last year, that estimate had slid to 39,000.
The program also came under fire after a Tampa Bay Times investigation last year found the select few that had been granted Hardest Hit help was littered with felons, tax evaders and borrowers with histories of bad debt. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson called for a federal audit, and the U.S. Treasury Department said it would investigate.
Barbara Taylor, a 66-year-old former snowbird who bought a south St. Petersburg condo at the peak of the bubble, said she has been frustrated by the lack of communication on whether her up-to-date loan could qualify.
“I can understand getting an email that says, ‘Give us 30 days and we’ll update you,’ Taylor said. “But when I (called my contractor and) got that response — ‘Don’t call us, we’ll call you’ — that burned me.”
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/realestate/thousands-of-underwater-florida-homeowners-left-in-limbo-on-hardest-hit/2163312 - 77k -
Q; How many votes can you buy for $1 billion in Florida giving people who can make up to $80,000 with some free money?
“Hardest Hit program, which is funded by $1 billion in federal relief and has been long criticized for sluggish results.”
750
750 votes, how many people is that about 500?
“750 votes, how many people is that about 500?”
Doesn’t matter, money funneled to cronies, will get kickbacks.
The Heritage Foundation must be racist.
Cost of Amnesty to U.S. Taxpayers: $6.3 Trillion
Amy Payne
May 6, 2013 at 12:56 pm
The Heritage Foundation’s new report estimates that an amnesty like the Gang of Eight’s immigration bill offers would cost U.S. taxpayers $6.3 trillion.
Heritage President Jim DeMint said on Fox News this morning, “There’s no way that you can look at this and say that it’s good for the American taxpayer, and that includes immigrants who are here lawfully.”
“You can’t get around these costs. Congress is not considering the cost,” DeMint said. “It’s unfair to those who came here lawfully.”
Read the new report here: The Fiscal Cost of Unlawful Immigrants and Amnesty to the U.S. Taxpayer
http://blog.heritage.org/2013/05/06/cost-of-amnesty-to-u-s-taxpayers-6-3-trillion/ - 51k -
There is no cost to big business, it is just cheaper labor. The costs fall on the 99%.
Future democrat voters don’t come cheap…
Won’t they be paying taxes now?
“Won’t they be paying taxes now?”
If you click the link you can read the argument from Rubio and others that they won’t always be poor, the average age is 34 so they won’t get retirement benes for decades and their kids were born here so they don’t count.
———————————————————————–
The methodology of the Heritage report, which is called “The Fiscal Cost of Unlawful Immigrants and Amnesty to the U.S. Taxpayer,” is pretty straightforward. Most low-income, lower-educated households are net tax “consumers,” meaning they receive more in government services and payments than they pay in taxes. In 2010, the report says, households in the U.S. headed by persons without a high school degree received — on average — $46,582 in government benefits while paying only $11,469 in taxes, resulting in a net average budget drain of $35,113. That’s critical, the report states, because “the typical unlawful immigrant has only a 10th-grade education.”
Those who have come to the U.S. illegally — even though they are not eligible for such government programs as welfare, Social Security and Medicare — are already a drain on American taxpayers, the report states, because their children are students in taxpayer-funded public schools, and those same children are eligible for medical benefits and other services. In addition, the report states, “when unlawful immigrants live in a community, they use roads, parks, sewers, police, and fire protection.”
Heritage, May 6: In 2010, the average unlawful immigrant household received around $24,721 in government benefits and services while paying some $10,334 in taxes. This generated an average annual fiscal deficit (benefits received minus taxes paid) of around $14,387 per household. This cost had to be borne by U.S. taxpayers. Amnesty would provide unlawful households with access to over 80 means-tested welfare programs, Obamacare, Social Security, and Medicare. The fiscal deficit for each household would soar.
http://www.factcheck.org/2013/06/the-immigration-bills-6-3-trillion-price-tag-2/ - 63k -
Obama says he’s open to taking executive action on immigration
Rebecca Shabad
The Hill
February 1, 2014
President Obama on Friday said he’s open to taking executive action on immigration.
The president said if Congress can’t pass reform legislation, he would explore all “available options” to implement a “smart system” unilaterally.
“I’m going to look at all available options,” Obama said during a virtual “road trip” chat hosted by Google.
Obama said he’s “modestly optimistic” that Congress would pass immigration legislation this year and called the immigration principles unveiled by House Republican leaders this week a step in the right direction.
“There are still some differences,” Obama said.
Full article here
This article was posted: Saturday, February 1, 2014 at 7:38 am
Tags: constitution, north american union
Obama said he’s “modestly optimistic” that Congress would pass immigration legislation this year and called the immigration principles unveiled by House Republican leaders this week a step in the right direction.
“There are still some differences,” Obama said.
The difference, Ryan wants to destroy the country slowly and Obama wants to destroy it quickly.
Talking about illegal immigration while ignoring border security is like talking about how to keep a basement dry while ignoring a burst pipe.
How about the logic of pushing for higher minimum wages and at the same time allowing millions to enter the work force.
Are there any democrats in position of power oppose this?
I mean the party that cares about the well being of working men and women, must oppose this, no?
broncos 51 seahawks 10
Seahawks 21 Broncos 20, but you do have pot to ease the pain, they have pot to celebrate, it is all good.
that was a typo, correction:
broncos 61 seahawks 10
broncos 61 seahawks 10
So are you giving me 50 points Goon? Are you that sure?
If you beat the spread, I will FedEx you a box of Cheese Sticks.
Get out of the green and back into the kitchen Potsy!
It’ll be fun to watch as I have no skin in the outcome whatever, and lots of ripe avocados sitting on the counter where they patiently wait to be transformed into game-day guacamole.
the chargers squandered their opportunity. They could have raised everyones equity 5% after the superbowl is over.
Did you know the selling season kicks off after the superbowl? I’m looking at investment properties in carmel valley. we should go golfing at torrey pines someday? How long you going to stay in your rental?
“They could have raised everyones equity 5% after the superbowl is over.”
Shrinking San Diego home equity looks a lot like improved housing affordability to those who got priced out forever.
“we should go golfing at torrey pines someday?”
I tried golf once when I was in HS and I felt sucky; probably should have taken a lesson before going out with my buddies on the golf team. I never again felt the desire to play (maybe in my next life). I did notice that Tiger didn’t do much in the recent TP tournament.
“How long you going to stay in your rental?”
Unless our situation changes, we’ll stick around until our youngest kids finish HS or our landlords try to sell. They may be thinking along those lines as of the end of our lease this year, judging from the recent upgrades they have made outside. We may need to exercise a relocation contingency plan to stay in this narrow corridor where my wife likes to live.
In fact, the single mom next door who has been our neighbor for ten years was given sixty-days notice to move out so the (FL investor) landlord can sell. I’m hoping and praying that the EM market crisis blows up quickly and spectacularly enough so our neighbor can stay put and her investor-landlord gets to enjoy shattered dreams of riches that slipped through his fingers.
Now do the Super Bowl snipers have to buy a ticket or is that a line item in the DHS budget?
Super Bowl Snipers
http://www.my9nj.com Published: January 30, 2014
East Rutherford, New Jersey (My9NJ) - Along with excited and eager fans, SWAT teams and Snipers will be attending Super Bowl XLVIII. The reason for such high precautions is because the Super Bowl is a level one national security event.
Former FBI agent Jonathan Gilliam explains how snipers work in coordination with SWAT teams to give the fans and players ultimate safety.
See this story on http://www.my9nj.com
http://newsok.com/super-bowl-snipers/article/3928767 - 51k
“broncos 51 seahawks 10″
Nope, it’s over.
No need to even watch.
Eli has spoken.
Ape predicts a Seahawks victory
Updated: January 31, 2014, 6:51 PM ET
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah ape that has correctly picked the Super Bowl winner for six straight years predicted Thursday that the Seattle Seahawks will be the next NFL champion.
Eli the ape ran into an enclosure Thursday morning and swiftly knocked down a papier-mache helmet bearing the Seahawks logo, signaling his pick, said Erica Hansen of Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City.
“He made his pick without any hesitation,” Hansen said.
That could mean bad news for Broncos fans. The 13-year-old primate hasn’t been wrong since 2006.
Last year, Eli charged out and knocked over a papier-mache goal post decorated with the Ravens logo. Sure enough, the Ravens beat the 49ers 34-31.
Eli’s pick this year drew mixed reactions from his team of zookeepers that include avid Broncos fans.
“They are hoping that this is his first wrong year,” Hansen said.
After he made his prognostication, Eli was joined by his mate, Eve, and daughter, Acara, and allowed to smash, play and eat the papier-mache helmets.
Hansen said interest and excitement about Eli’s Super Bowl pick has increased as his streak grows. This year, people have been asking daily when he’s making his pick.
“He’s better than the Vegas odds-makers,” Hansen said.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2013/story/_/id/10379111/utah-ape-predicts-seattle-seahawks-win-super-bowl - 78k -
“He’s better than the Vegas odds-makers,” Hansen said.
So why do we have so many odd-makers employed in our economy? Same with economists, politicians, ceo’s? Not that these 8uckers get any thing right, but we still go on with this charade of employing and worse listening to them.
Herndon, VA Housing Prices Crumble 11%; Inventory Explodes 34%
http://www.movoto.com/herndon-va/market-trends/
I was at the grocery store early last evening, and in front of me in line was an early twenties female version of porky pig, pale white, freckles and strawberry blonde; sorry dj. Anyway, her cart was absolutely jam packed with processed boxed junk, and the shelf below was filled to the edges with soda pop. Surprisingly a dozen eggs appeared on conveyor belt. Yep, out comes the snap card. Funny how these peeps keep the card tucked tightly in the palm only day-lighting it briefly for the swipe.
When it was my turn I said, “Well…I did see a dozen eggs in there.” The checker looked up at me and said, “They probably have to paint eggs at school.”
yeah those snap folks always have a huge grocery cart full of sh@t. you can pick them out quite easily in the store.
no Cheetos?????
Not sure, but I saw several boxes of red-colored Cheerios. Her rug-rat seated in the cart looked like a water balloon waiting to burst.
‘filled to the edges with soda pop’
The sellers of sugar water are getting better at it all the time. A few years ago, I was working with a lot of young people. I noticed they loved the huge gator-aid type drinks. Pretty colors in blues and reds. I looked at the label and it had a high carbohydrate level!
“Push a borrower’s total debt load above 43 percent of his or her monthly income. There are some exceptions when the debt load can exceed the limit. If the loan is eligible to be backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or a federal housing agency such as the FHA, for example, that debt load could be greater.”
Ummm…weren’t north of 90% of all U.S. mortgages originated in recent years backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA or another federal agency?
HOUSE RULES
Tighter mortgage guidelines provide some legal protection to lenders; most qualified borrowers won’t see much impact
By Jonathan Horn 12:01a.m. Feb 1, 2014
43% - Maximum debt-to-income ratio for a borrower to get a qualified mortgage loan
92% - Percentage of loans made nationwide that already meet new tighter requirements
If you need a mortgage to buy a home this year, the government wants to make sure you can pay back your loan.
That’s why on Jan. 10, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau implemented new mortgage-lending rules that federal regulators say will protect against the risky lending practices that powered the housing bubble and caused a huge collapse in home prices that led to the Great Recession.
For most home loan borrowers, the new rules will have little or no impact on whether they can get a mortgage, experts say, because loan standards have already been tightened.
“They want to make sure lenders are giving loans to borrowers who can afford to pay back those loans,” said David Neylan, vice president of correspondent and wholesale lending at Guild Mortgage, which is based in San Diego.
Here’s a look at the new rules and what they do:
Q: What is new?
A: The big term you need to know is qualified mortgage, or QM. A qualified mortgage meets new guidelines, and consumers who get them are expected to meet ability-to-repay requirements. If lenders make qualified mortgages, they have more protections against lawsuits should the loans later go bad.
Q: What are the qualified mortgage requirements?
A: These loans cannot:
• Contain terms that exceed 30 years.
• Include interest-only payments or payments that are less than the full amount of interest so that the home loan debt grows each month.
• Charge more than 3 percent in upfront points and fees for loans above $100,000.
• Contain balloon payments.
• Push a borrower’s total debt load above 43 percent of his or her monthly income. There are some exceptions when the debt load can exceed the limit. If the loan is eligible to be backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or a federal housing agency such as the FHA, for example, that debt load could be greater.
“The risk has gone down significantly because the qualifications are pretty tight. They have to fit into this perfect box,” said Annemaria Allen, CEO of The Compliance Group, based in Carlsbad.
Q: Can a lender still offer a mortgage to borrowers outside these rules?
A: Yes, but lenders wouldn’t have the same protections if the loan goes bad.
Mark Goldman, a loan officer and real estate lecturer at San Diego State University, said the qualified mortgages will receive what are called safe-harbor protections.
“You do get all of the remedies for a regular foreclosure,” he said. “If the loan is qualified, there’s less risk for the lender.”
Q: How many mortgages fall within the qualified mortgage rules today?
A: About 92 percent of loans being made today meet qualified mortgage requirements, the CFPB reports.
Q: Do the new rules include down-payment requirements?
A: No. There are no down-payment requirements. There was an idea floated to require 20 percent down, but it did not happen.
…
It was theater.
QM is a trojan horse. It was a brilliant trojan horse, but a trojan horse nonetheless. It will just be continuously eased in bits and pieces as we are now seeing. And Fannie/Freddie/FHA will go back to doing what they always have done, serve as money funnels to the FIRE sector.
Federal government controlled 99.3 percent of mortgage market in 2012
Last year, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner announced that the Obama administration would pursue legislation that would “wind down the GSEs and bring private capital back into the market, reducing the government’s direct role in the housing market.” That, of course, never happened. Instead, government control of the housing sector rose every year under Geithner’s watch from 95.2 percent in 2008 to 99.3 percent today.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/federal-government-controlled-99.3-percent-of-mortgage-market-in-2012/article/2522042
Now, I see different numbers indicating ALL mortgages in existence versus those created in the past five years.
So in other words, the new standards merely discriminate against the 0.7% slice of the market that is not FedGov funded?
By creating a permanent and massive American underclass of marginally employed or unemployed workers desperate for a job, any job, the Bernanke Fed has succeeded beyond all expectations to secure the future profit stream that will protect government of the people by the 0.1%, for the 0.1% over the indefinite future. Heckuva job!
And created a super majority of democrat voters.
Permanent Democrat Supermajority
“Permanent Democrat Supermajority”
+1 LBJ is smiling from the grave.
‘Permanent Democrat Supermajority’
‘Labor leaders who have spent months lobbying unsuccessfully for special protections under the Affordable Care Act warned this week that the White House’s continued refusal to help is dampening union support for Democratic candidates in this year’s midterm elections.’
“We want to hold the president to his word: If you like your health-care coverage, you can keep it, and that just hasn’t been the case,” said Donald “D.” Taylor, president of Unite Here, the union that represents about 400,000 hotel and restaurant workers and provided a crucial boost to Obama by endorsing him just after his rival Hillary Rodham Clinton had won the New Hampshire primary.’
‘Taylor said that he doesn’t think his union will embrace Republicans but that it may lack enthusiasm for Democrats. Unions have been a major source of funding and ground-level efforts on behalf of Democratic candidates.’
“You can’t just order people to do stuff,” Taylor said. “If their health plan gets wrecked, why would they then go campaign for the folks responsible for wrecking their health care?”
‘Although other labor leaders did not sign the letter, many of them also are upset about the treatment of their health plans under the legislation — including the heads of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Building Trades Unions.’
‘Taylor said Unite Here officials have met with White House officials 48 times. At the time the health-care bill was being considered, he said, “we were told that ‘if there were problems, don’t worry, we’ll get them fixed.’ ”
“We thought that if we made the case to the agencies dealing with regulations to correct problems that hurt, really destroy, self-funded nonprofit health plans, it would be resolved,” Taylor said. “That clearly was naive or stupid.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/labor-union-officials-say-obama-betrayed-them-in-health-care-rollout/2014/01/31/2cda6afc-8789-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html
Bernanke’s a Republican, but that reinforces your point, as Republicans are extraordinarily gifted at shooting themselves in the foot.
ALL (let me repeat) ALL of the Federal Reserve Board to include the CHAIRMAN have been appointed by obama.
Don’t like what the Federal Reserve has done?
Elections have consequences.
Bernanke was first appointed by Bush…
oh wait, I forgot that we aren’t allowed to suggest there was a place called America before Obama was elected.
Your propaganda and lies are highly annoying. I do my best to find their entertainment value, but it is a real struggle.
Bernanke was first appointed by Bush…
Yes but you have to admit though Obama was elected not to make same mistakes, right?
“Yes but you have to admit though Obama was elected not to make same mistakes, right?”
Are you saying it was a mistake to reappoint Bernanke?
What would you have done differently? Abolish the Fed? Appoint Larry Summers?
So many posters here are full of criticism but have no useful alternatives to offer, which seems counterproductive.
What would you have done differently? Abolish the Fed? Appoint Larry Summers?
So many posters here are full of criticism but have no useful alternatives to offer, which seems counterproductive.
Seriously is that your argument? Abolish or Larry Summers? Really? Those 2 were the only option available to Obama?
Stop blowing smoke in our eyes and tell us what would have been better than reappointing Bernanke. Seriously.
Stop your insanity for a moment. Even a small change into a right direction now would have been good in the long run.
Playing the “insanity” card when you have nothing useful to say is one of the oldest propaganda tricks in the book.
Playing the “insanity” card when you have nothing useful to say is one of the oldest propaganda tricks in the book.
Calling a spade a spade is not a propaganda. I hope I won’t hear you talk about the outrageous housing prices, bubble level equity prices and ever expanding disparity in our society. But I doubt….since you are not intellectually honest enough to do that instead you will come after people like me who saw a turd and called it a turd.
You are babbling nonsense now. Carry on.
You are all forgetting that Bush was a progressive.That IS the explanation for Bernanke.
lol!
The party of NO, unless that are aiming for their foot.
It’s telling that the EM panic started before Republican Fed chair Ben Bernanke even left office.
Keep this in mind as liars and propagandists try to place the blame on Yellen going forward. Similarly, certain trolls who post her conveniently forget the Great Recession began in December 2007, giving George W. Bush a full year of Ownership Society rights to the episode before Obama ever entered the WH.
There have been many actors and Obama is not the least of them. Given that things were an obvious mess, we hoped for some reform, not more of the same. Bush is so long gone that talking about him cannot produce anything. Obama is still in the driver’s seat and talking about him doesn’t satisfy either!
Bernanke leaves legacy of stimulus and stagnation
By Don Lee
January 25, 2014, 8:44 p.m.
The outgoing chairman of the Federal Reserve has been credited with pulling the nation up from the brink of a depression, but has also overseen one of the greatest surges in economic inequality in U.S. history.
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, whose term expires Friday, has rebuffed the notion that his policies did little for the masses. (Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press / January 30, 2007)
WASHINGTON — As Ben S. Bernanke walks away from the Federal Reserve’s marble headquarters on the Mall after presiding over his last policy meeting Wednesday, he will leave behind a bittersweet legacy.
On one hand, his unprecedented efforts to drive down interest rates and stimulate the economy are widely credited by his peers with saving the nation from a second Depression, strengthening the economic recovery and leaving the nation’s financial condition poised to take off this year.
Yet those same policies have added momentum to one of the greatest surges in economic inequality in U.S. history, helping the wealthiest Americans add to their enormous riches while the incomes of almost everyone else stagnated.
By driving interest rates down to historic lows, the Fed chairman helped fuel a huge surge in the stock market, where the wealthiest 1% of Americans have been far better positioned to take advantage of gains than their less affluent fellow citizens.
To be sure, his policies have helped those with 401(k) and retirement plans tied to the stock market. Also, low interest rates have stimulated housing sales and permitted many homeowners to save money by lowering their mortgage costs through refinancing.
But unemployment remains high by historical standards, and the financial strength of many workers has deteriorated. Most economists see little chance of that picture changing radically anytime soon.
Fed policy “did a wonderful job of keeping the financial system from falling off the table,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer with BMO Private Bank in Chicago. “But as a side effect or consequence, it’s driven a wedge between the haves and have-nots.”
…
“did a wonderful job of keeping the financial system from falling off the table,”
Hmmmm…
Meltdown: A global tsunami
How an epidemic of fear caused the world’s major banks to stop lending, triggering protests and industrial action.
Meltdown Last updated: 01 Feb 2014 08:51
On September 17, 2008, the world’s financial system went into cardiac arrest. The failure of Lehman Brothers, the biggest bankruptcy in US history, sent financial markets into a tailspin.
The New York Stock Exchange had its biggest one day drop since the 9/11 attacks; markets from London and Paris to Shanghai fell in lockstep; Russia suspended all trading.
In an epidemic of fear, the world’s major banks stopped lending money and accepting collateral from each other.
The next morning President George W Bush made a statement and tried to reassure the public. Bush convened an emergency meeting in the White House with his economic advisers. According to notes, in that meeting, US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson told the president the US was on the edge of total financial meltdown.
Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, played a leading role in the early days of the crisis. He was supposed to be the main free enterpriser in the Bush administration but ended up overseeing the greatest government intervention in the economy since the Great Depression.
But it was only later that the hard questions were asked, and the key players held to account.
In part two of our investigation into the orgy of greed and recklessness that drove the world into financial collapse, we look at how the financial tsunami swept the world.
We explore a renegade executive who nearly destroyed the global financial service, and the treasury secretary who bailed out his old friends.
Meltdown, a four-part series on the secret history of the global financial collapse, can be seen each week from January 24, 2014, at the following times GMT: Friday: 2000; Saturday: 1200; Sunday: 0100; Monday: 0600
When your principles go out the window in a crisis, they must not have been very good principles.
Or you really didn’t believe them.
They never had any principle. It was a lie that republican party ever stood for a free market economy. Free market for you and me, socialism for rich, that was/is the republican party.
Even before the financial crisis, it was clear to most of us that republicans were never the party of the free market economy. They talked good for sure.
“…republicans were never the party of the free market economy.”
Free market policies are completely inconsistent with showering political favors on your supporters.
Depends on whether the Fed follows through on announced tapering plans in the Yellen era, which is completely unpredictable.
However, I will offer the following policy-contingent predictions:
1) If the taper continues according to plan, you can expect Treasurys to continue to outperform stocks through the period until the Fed tightens at the short end of the yield curve (i.e. Fed Funds rate increase), which probably won’t happen until 2015 at the earliest.
2) If the Fed backs off taper plans, you can expect flight-to-quality asset classes (e.g. Treasurys and gold) to sell off and risk assets (U.S. and EM stocks) to rocket upwards in a relief rally.
Further thought: Treasurys are a great place to be when there is an emerging markets panic underway, threatening to sink the global economy. However, there will be a point within the next decade or two when anyone heavily invested in Treasurys would do best by diversifying into asset classes which hedge against inflation.
Whoever times this correctly gets to be a millionaire or better, depending on the scale and risk profile of investment operations.
P.S. “
IfAt the point later this year when the Fed backs off taper plans…”Bear market stock markets good for gold.
http://www.kitco.com/ind/Brecht/2014-01-31-History-Shows-Bear-Markets-In-Stocks-Are-Bullish-For-Gold.html
How about that January effect? Stocks down 2.9%.
Realizing aims on five years of stocks isa smart thing to do. Move some to Treasuries and some to precious metals bullion.
I have been repeating for months, maybe 13 months, that the stock bull market is peaking and the bears will come out. You had time to act accordingly. For now you should sell those huge gains, down just a tad, but much higher than 2009.
Not bad for Treasurys, either.
Markets
Treasurys Feed on Market Turmoil
As Treasurys Rally, Investors Reassess Bets On Rising Yields
By Min Zeng and Katy Burne
Updated Jan. 31, 2014 12:27 a.m. ET
Rout? What rout?
Despite widespread predictions of a sharp selloff in Treasurys this year, government bond prices have actually risen. And that has driven traders and investors to rethink their outlook for the rest of the year.
…
In the late 90s a fellow masters swimmer, older than me but still relatively young, in early 40s told me he could not care less about stocks. He only bought bonds. Until that point I thought bonds were for old people.
In my case I have a lot of cash and most in T-bills. I am itching to buy a couple $thousand worth of ten year notes though. But my plan is to build up $104,000 in 52 week bills and then split them into two year notes balanced into equal amounts on purchases through the two years.
“Until that point I thought bonds were for old people.”
I actually bought a bunch of them in the late 1980s, the first time I decided it was not a good time to buy a house. Sold them five years later during the early 1990’s recession. Turns out the yields had dropped a lot, and since they were 30-year Treasurys, their value had gone up a lot, which made their sale very useful to raise money for a donwpayment on a house.
Good financial move. I wish I had that wisdom back then.
“I wish I had that wisdom back then.”
I started out working in the FIRE sector and educating myself on finance.
“Stocks down 2.9%.”
Which ones?
Big chill gives Dow, S&P worst month since May 2012
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK Fri Jan 31, 2014 5:58pm EST
Trader Patrick McKeon (R) works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange January 30, 2014. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
1 of 4. Trader Patrick McKeon (R) works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange January 30, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid
(Reuters) - A selloff in emerging markets sent a cold chill down Wall Street, triggering a slide on Friday and making January its worst month since May 2012 after one of its best years in more than a decade.
For January, the Dow tumbled 5.3 percent and the S&P 500 slid 3.6 percent - their worst monthly percentage declines since May 2012.
The January loss followed the S&P 500’s gain of 30 percent in 2013 - its best year since 1997. It also marked the first time that the S&P 500 ended January with a loss since 2010, when the benchmark index started the year with a drop of 3.7 percent.
In Friday’s session, energy and consumer discretionary shares had the biggest declines of the day after some disappointing earnings. The S&P energy index .SPNY ended the day down 1.5 percent, while the consumer discretionary index fell 1.3 percent. Chevron Corp and Amazon.com were among the biggest drags.
Trading was volatile during the session, with the Nasdaq briefly edging into positive territory and the CBOE Volatility Index - also known as the fear index - briefly turning negative.
But selling accelerated, heading into the close. The VIX shot up 6.5 percent to end Friday’s session at 18.41. For January, the VIX jumped 34 percent, its biggest monthly gain since May 2012. The fear index hasn’t traded above 19 since October.
“Given the concerns over the emerging markets and currencies, I think most traders are tending to close down their books so that they don’t come in on Monday morning with a negative surprise,” said Quincy Krosby, market strategist for Prudential Financial, which is based in Newark, New Jersey.
…
Oops - my URL says S & P down 2.9% through the 30th January.
At any rate, a pullback is in the cards. A correction, 10 to 20% drop this year is likely. A bear market could be likely. That is more than 20 % according to that article.
My opinion is we will see a 30% drop in stock indices this year. I call that a correction, not a bear market. I would think a 50% would be bear.
More States Seek to Repeal Common Core
By Allie Bidwell
Jan. 31, 2014
Although the standards were widely and rapidly adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia after their release in the summer of 2010, more opponents are pressuring their state legislators to enact measures that would do away with the core.
South Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Kentucky — the first state to adopt the standards before they were even publicly released — all have measures moving through their state legislators to at least halt, if not completely abolish the standards. Four separate attempts to nullify the standards have failed in Alabama, while similar attempts also failed to pass in Georgia, Missouri and Kansas.
While some states have looked for the exit sign due to concerns over the content of the standards, others have been considering backing out because in many cases, the implementation of the standards has been troubled.
“This is a larger problem than just with the Common Core,” Tuttle says. “You can’t maintain Indiana sovereignty if you’re constantly having to please the federal government.”
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/01/31/more-states-seek-to-repeal-common-core - 151k -
Mz. Craterton goes to space (will repost tomorrow):
http://picpaste.com/asstronaut.jpg
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Now that we have a donkey in our midst, we need to learn how to properly care for her. The link below will help ensure that our blog mascot is comfortable and keeps a good outlook on life, no matter what happens to the market price of her house. She can always move back into the barn.
http://www.wikihow.com/Care-for-a-Donkey
I hope Mz. Craterton is not getting too cold this winter. Donkeys don’t like the cold. Here is a picture of our mascot right now in her hometown:
http://picpaste.com/670px-Care-for-a-Donkey-Step-7.jpg
RipOff Report: “Waterstone Mortgage Misrepresentation, liars, unprofessional, deceptive Internet”
http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Waterstone-Mortgage/internet/Waterstone-Mortgage-Misrepresentation-liars-unprofessional-deceptive-Internet-833309
Is it safe to say the banking crisis in the PIIGS countries is over by now?