Bits Bucket for February 12, 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
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“Buying a house is an adventure in depreciation discovery and slavery.”
It’s a very painful adventure. Just asked the millions of joe 6 paks who throw good money after bad on a rapidly depreciating house, month after month after month.
Wait until the gov’t wants to up your liability on property taxes to increase revenue. Kinda like Italy.
““Buying a house is an adventure in depreciation discovery and slavery.”
You got that one right.
Amazing how people will research stock index funds and compare with other funds (indexed or managed) on past performance, discuss market cycles with you and understand the value of dollar cost averaging yet take out a $300,000 loan to buy an overpriced stucco box without even meeting who lives next door to the house or condo they are buying.
The Privileged People. John Stossel - February 12, 2014
During the “fiscal cliff” negotiations that Congress and the media made sound so tough — as if every last penny were pinched — Congress still managed to slip in plenty of special deals for cronies.
–NASCAR got $70 million for new racetracks.
–Algae growers got $60 million.
–Hollywood film producers got a $430 million tax break.
When America’s going broke, how do moviemakers get a special break?
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/02/12/the_privileged_people_121548.html
This stuff drives me crazy. All of the people, both parties, are taking their cuts of the pie. So much that $1,000,000 isn’t much at all anymore.
How can we get some fiscal sanity back? How can we create a system that gives incentives for Congress to be fiscally restrained?
I think we should come up with a way to limit the Congressional retirement benefits, I.e. No Balanced Budget? No retirement benefits!!!
The film making tax break is for domestic production. So many movies were being done overseas that congress gave an inventive to keep that production here.
There really is only one way…total public financing of all elections
I envision something like this…ALL and i mean ALL…(even the rent is too damn high party) gets at least one debate if you are on the ballot.
Then we use like 5 polling services and the top 5 are in the next debate and get say $1 per registered voter…
Then the top 3 get some big chunk like $3 per voter x 100 million= say $300 million each)and if you run out of money you can apply for more….but then your opponents gets the same amount too… so you can never outspend your opponents.
If a rich person wants to run they can spend as much as they like since its their money and they were going to spend it anyway before they die to avoid paying taxes.
we will never ever have less then 3 in any debate, unless their is no 3rd party, but then again if the money is available someone scour the vote and will run.
sounds very EU
Well what we have isn’t working at all. With all our resources we should not have Functionally Illiterate people in America.
We should not be paying tens of millions to do nothing…we need to find leaders who will offer a hand up not a hand out…..and sadly the repubs are even worse then the dems because they always talk about it in hateful spiteful terms
forcing Unemployed to take drug tests…well you would be disqualified from collecting if you were fired for failing a test or caught with drugs…
Its not the drugs its the Ebonics which hold poor people back.
forcing Unemployed to take drug tests… ??
Why just the unemployed ?? What about all employee’s including all Police, Fire, DA’s office, Prison Guards etc…My bet is there are as many drug users in this group then we have locked up in prison…
Why just the unemployed ?? What about all employee’s including all Police, Fire, DA’s office, Prison Guards etc…My bet is there are as many drug users in this group then we have locked up in prison…
That’s fine with me. I think most of those are subject to random drug testing anyways, but it rarely actually happens.
You are nuts if you think there are as many drug users in this group as in prisons. Heck, I bet even testing those — while in prison — you’d still get a higher result from actual inmates.
How out of touch some here are is amazing.
All of the people, both parties, are taking their cuts of the pie.
A foreigner once describe the US as a place where people don’t do real work, that instead they all jockey to “get a cut”.
I came to the same conclusion at 22 just out of college. No foregner’s wisdom is needed here.
‘A foreigner once describe the US as a place where people don’t do real work, that instead they all jockey to “get a cut”’
Isn’t the original attribution of that to the gross commission that an American UHS gets (6% ) vs. what an EU one get?
Isn’t the original attribution of that to the gross commission that an American UHS gets (6% ) vs. what an EU one get?
Yes, that was the context, but my European friend said that it was more than that.
“Did you really think we want those laws observed?” said Dr. Ferris. “We want them to be broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against… We’re after power and we mean it… There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system, Mr. Reardon, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll be much easier to deal with.”
― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
—————–
Treasury: Employers must “self-attest” that ObamaCare not behind staffing decisions – under penalty of perjury
Hot Air | 2-11-14 | Ed Morrissey
Old and busted: Businesses will love ObamaCare for its cost savings in health care! New hotness: Businesses had better not make staffing decisions based on cost savings from ObamaCare-fueled price spikes! After its latest delay in implementing the employer mandate, the Obama administration rebuffed criticisms that the law incentivizes employers to shift to part-time work by announcing the Treasury Inquisition — ahem, excuse me, the Treasury Attestation Department:
The latest announcement comes after the administration heard from businesses about their concerns with the looming ObamaCare rules. However, the change is sure to raise more questions about the health and implementation of the law. Fewer workers getting insurance through their employers could mean more individuals on the ObamaCare exchanges seeking subsidized coverage, increasing the cost to taxpayers.
Some lawmakers, though, have claimed that the mere threat of the employer mandate is causing companies to shed full-time workers in the hope of keeping their staff size below 50 and avoiding the requirement.
Administration officials dispute that this is happening on any large scale. Further, Treasury officials said Monday that businesses will be told to “certify” that they are not shedding full-time workers simply to avoid the mandate. Officials said employers will be told to sign a “self-attestation” on their tax forms affirming this, under penalty of perjury.
Officials stressed that the latest reprieve applies to a relatively small percentage of employers — albeit companies that employ millions of workers.
“I guess I can’t be as admirable and independent as that serial killer, William Edward Hickman, whose gruesome, sadistic dismemberment of 12-year-old girl named Marion Parker in 1927 captivated me and the nation and whom I wrote glowingly about. So even though I railed against both programs for years, I better take my SocSec and Medicare now that I have lung cancer because I smoked cigarettes Philip Morris said were good for me. Because cancer can cost a lot more than my dumb books ever made. I need the government’s help after all. Gosh. They were just books I wrote. People don’t expect me to walk-the-walk do they? I need a hug and some Christian altruism and compassion. (and a smoke) Dang. I’m such a looser.”
1977 Ayn Rand, Atlas Farted.
“Atlas Farted” and it smells like you.
and it smells like you.
That’s one of the most clever comebacks you’ve ever come up with Bill. I tip my hat.
Both Rand and Saul Alinsky (Obama’s hero) were sociopaths. I agree with that but capitalism tempered with something like moderate Christianity has been proven to generate progress like no other system. Even in the medical area our capitalistic system has promoted the greatest innovations in drugs, procedures and medical devices.
AlDan, agreed. Straight out of DSM-IV. They changed the defs some in DSM-V so as to make the designations somewhat less judgmental. Takes away some of the sting…can’t have our extra-special snowflakes dissed now, can we?
Can something really be a disorder when 10% of the population has it? Just wondering aloud here.
This notion that the desire of bureaucrats to control the lives of the citizens is a powerful force in society or the economy compared to the desire of big business to maximize profits is absurd. It’s just another nonsense argument used to convince Joe SixPack to support the interests of the one percent.
Some of the doubthink is astonishing. Evidently, those same government bureauocrats who are slow, stupid, and plodding (think DMV and paper pushers), are also smart and motivated and energetic enough to conspire and plot to overthrow the world. (Maybe they put on a Bilderburg cape at night?)
Kinda like how Obama is a simultaneously a Kenyan Muslim and a member of a Chrisitan church with a radical minister.
Evidently, those same government bureauocrats who are slow, stupid, and plodding (think DMV and paper pushers), are also smart and motivated and energetic enough to conspire and plot to overthrow the world. (Maybe they put on a Bilderburg cape at night?)
Low level government bureaucrats do not go to Bilderburg. I do not think that all or most bureaucrats are slow, stupid or plodding but I do question whether many positions are needed. Yes, I do think there is a lot of paper pushing in bureaucracies and since I have been a government regulator I have personally seen it. The check on stupid businesses is bankruptcy, inflating your numbers in a bureaucracy often gets you a raise since you are managing more workers. There are a lot of perverse incentives in the public sector.
The check on stupid businesses is bankruptcy
So a car company can sell unsafe cars, or a company can put poison in its dog food, or an airline can cut corners on maintenance, or a restaurant can allow rats to run rampant, and a sufficient repercussion is that rumors of the bad practices will spread by word of mouth and maybe people won’t shop there anymore. Awesome.
I never said abolish all government. But in the end what really does check business behavior is any of those events could bankrupt a company. Due to regulatory capture, they usually get only slap of the hands for law violations.
Oxy, stop the BO encomiums. They’re cloying. Plus, logically inconsistent. Being a Kenyan muslim and a member of said minority church led by a foaming-at-the-mouth rascis are not on opposite sides of the spectrum.
Or can’t you tell?
Because Muslims love Christians so much? You’re smart, Jane, but you didn’t show it here.
They are both anti-Christian collectives.
Every Christian epistemology has as its foundation some variation of the golden rule. The ravings of its leader, labeled by sh*tlibs as ‘radical’ rather than ‘racis’ - mark that establishment as anti-Christian.
Welfare’s ultimate destination
Pittsburg Tribune-Review ^ | February 11, 2014 | Pat Buchanan
The Congressional Budget Office didn’t exactly say ObamaCare would cost the nation 2.5 million jobs.
What it did say is vindication of what conservatives have preached since Barry Goldwater stood in the pulpit 50 years ago: The more liberal the welfare state, the greater the disincentive to work and the more ruinous the impact upon a nation’s work ethic.
According to the CBO, the ObamaCare subsidies will cause some to quit work, others to cut back on the hours they work, and others to hold off going to work, so as not to lose the benefits.
The cumulative impact will be equal to the loss of 2.5 million jobs by 2024.
The CBO has put a number to what everyone knows to be true: If people don’t have to work to provide the needs of their daily lives, some will drop out and become permanent charges on the public purse.
The father of modern liberalism, FDR, never disputed this. As he warned in 1935, welfare is “a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.”
This is a primary cause of the rise in illegitimacy in America from 6 percent of all births in 1963 to 41 percent today, and to 53 percent among Hispanics and 73 percent among blacks.
If the goal of the Great Society was to turn America’s tax consumers into taxpayers, it has been a total failure. We have now a vast underclass of people who are dependent upon government for most or all of their basic needs, a class among whom many, if not most, have lost the ability to survive without government money, food and shelter.
But we may be coming to the end of the line. From Detroit to Greece to Puerto Rico, government’s ability to expand the benefits of the welfare class by taxing the working and middle class is reaching its limit.
Pat Buchanan is not a real Republican to be taken seriously by real journalists.
What Buchanan is saying is not that different than the “liberal Senator” Moniyhan said in the 1960’s , if you want to know why the black incarceration is so high you need to start with illegitimate births, from Wikipedia:
The Negro Family: The Case For National Action (the 1965 Moynihan Report) was written by Assistant Secretary of Labor[1] Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a sociologist and later U.S. Senator. It focused on the deep roots of black poverty in America and concluded controversially that the relative absence of nuclear families (those having both a father and mother present) would greatly hinder further progress toward economic and political equality.
Moynihan argued that the rise in single-mother families was not due to a lack of jobs but rather to a destructive vein in ghetto culture that could be traced back to slavery and Jim Crow discrimination. Though black sociologist E. Franklin Frazier had already introduced the idea in the 1930s, Moynihan’s argument defied conventional social-science wisdom. As he wrote later, “The work began in the most orthodox setting, the U.S. Department of Labor, to establish at some level of statistical conciseness what ‘everyone knew’: that economic conditions determine social conditions. Whereupon, it turned out that what everyone knew was evidently not so.”
what always irks me was you can’t take a low /no pay intern job on unemployment or WELFARE to keep your skills up to date and a job at the top of your resume…it is illegal because you are not available for full time work.
I think the biggest crime was to allow people to collect 99 weeks and do nothing….now we have millions of long term unemployed with rusty job skills and very little chance of even getting an interview.
“What (the CBO report) did say is vindication of what conservatives have preached since Barry Goldwater stood in the pulpit 50 years ago:” Which is in-yo-face, hide-the-pea hypocrisy. (And hoping their base forgets quickly and/or are willfully ignorant)
Paul Ryan 2009:
“[The] key question that ought to be addressed in any healthcare reform legislation is, are we going to continue job-lock or are we going to allow individuals more choice and portability to fit the 21st century workforce?”
Here are a couple of Heritage Foundation analysts in 2008, praising a healthcare plan proposed by then-GOP presidential nominee John McCain: “Individuals who wish to take a better job, change careers or leave the workforce to raise a family or to retire early take substantial risks. … This health insurance obstacle to labor mobility is sometimes called ‘job-lock.’” latimes dot com
In the presidential campaign two years ago Newt Gingrich said that the CBO was “socialist”.
Not a smidgeon… of truth from this administration.
I can’t wait for the next republican administration to do the same to their political enemies. After all, obama showed us the way and the press could care less.
—————-
100% of 501(c)(4) Groups Audited by IRS Were Conservative
The Gateway Pundit | 2/11/14 | Jim Hoft
Today Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, confirmed that 100% of the established 501(c)(4) groups the IRS selected for audit were conservative. But Obama says their was not a smidgen of corruption in the IRS. The Wall Street Journal reported:
A Republican House committee chairman said the Internal Revenue Service targeted tax-exempt conservative groups for audits, widening the scope of GOP ire over the agency’s oversight of political activities.
Chris Christie for President. He’ll tie up all the dems in traffic!
In fact, I heard he has plans in place to close the Golden Gate Bridge is Nancy Pelosi does not endorse him for president!
Close of few lanes of traffic? MASSIVE press coverage and a dozen state and three federal investigations. Demands for resignations.
Use the IRS to audit and destroy your political enemies? Ho-hum. Just another day in DC. They all do it. I think Reagan did it. Hey, who is on American Idol tonight?
Yesterday even Lola admitted that the Messiah was a Reaganite.
When not starting a war is the threshold for being a good president it’s pretty sad.
real journalists will construct the narrative.
2014 may swing for the gop with lower youf and minority turnout in the off year election, but 2016 will be all systems go for the permanent democrat supermajority.
It’s going to be wonderfully ugly, just like Hillary. I was shocked to hear Tom Sizemore’s claim about Bubba and Elizabeth Hurley. His taste is usually much worse.
True, bubba usually likes the redneck girls. Hey did you see this, they approved it by an even larger margin this time around:
http://news.yahoo.com/nebraska-city-keep-illegal-immigration-rules-122828046.html
I think that the big question in 2016 is whether the young and minorities will turn out in the same numbers that they did in 2008 and 2012. That could be the issue to watch.
“Close of few lanes of traffic?”
Wouldn’t that be a felony if a governor did it?
Thu Jan 09, 2014 at 03:06 PM PST
Some of Christie’s potential felonies
by Louise
Whether you watched Christie’s entire two-hour press conference, or just catch the highlights, you are certain to pick up Christie’s major theme: “I am humiliated and embarrassed.” “Someone I trusted betrayed me.” “I’m sad.” You might think that this was just monumental ego on the part of New Jersey’s Governor, since he portrays this scandal as far more of a personal betrayal than a gigantic act of governmental malfeasance that caused full-scale disruption of commerce, put public health and safety at risk, and may have contributed to at least one death.
But this approach isn’t about Christie’s ego per se. It’s about Christie’s freedom. As a former prosecutor - one who put many, many Democratic lawmakers into the dock for “public malfeasance” - he knows exactly what his legal stakes are. That is why he must reiterate the “I knew nothing” apologia front, center and always. “I knew nothing about this until I saw it on my iPad on Wednesday morning at 8:50 AM.’”
What are some of the legal consequences Christie knows he faces? Additional details after the squiggle.
…
Would it be an impeachable offense?
Frankly, as both parties are entirely full of horse hockey, I think Christie is the best candidate because he would at least get people talking about being fat.
Probably the best, easiest thing a person can do to start onto a positive path, obtain some control, and improve their life is to begin losing weight. It is far more important to the average person’s happiness than anything on MSNBC or FOx.
I suppose felony isn’t that big of a deal, provided you are a Republican politician.
“…because he would at least get people talking about being fat.”
For that reason alone, if he gets the nomination, I will vote for him.
Just so you guys know I have nothing against the elephant party, we have a new Republican mayor in San Diego, whom I voted for.
You helped derail Obama’s machine. So why did you vote against the progressive candidate?
I think that during the 50s when southern cops were accused of racist beatings the defense was, we beat some white guys also.
Given that they were all reviews of applications for exemption, not audits, you may want to find a new (more informed) source for your rants.
“a new (more informed) source”
If Drudge didn’t link to it, it doesn’t exist.
You may be interested in reading Dave Camp’s full opening statement (linked inside Banana’s article). According to Camp, the IRS is conspiring to violate First Amendment rights.
“I can’t wait for the next republican administration to do the same to their political enemies.”
Chrisp Christie is already getting into practice, just in case he manages to get himself elected as a ‘moderate Republican.’
Email: IRS’s Lerner, Treasury Department secretly drafted new rules to restrict nonprofits
2/05/2014
The Obama administration’s Treasury Department and former IRS official Lois Lerner conspired to draft new 501(c)(4) regulations to restrict the activity of conservative groups in a way that would not be disclosed publicly, according to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
The Treasury Department and Lerner started devising the new rules “off-plan,” meaning that their plans would not be published on the public schedule. They planned the new rules in 2012, while the IRS targeting of conservative groups was in full swing, and not after the scandal broke in order to clarify regulations as the administration has suggested.
“Don’t know who in your organizations is keeping tabs on c4s, but since we mentioned potentially addressing them (off -plan) in 2013, I’ve got my radar up and this seemed interesting…,” Treasury official Ruth Madrigal wrote in a June 14, 2012 email to Lerner and others obtained by Ways and Means and provided to The Daily Caller.
http://dailycaller.com/2014/02/05/email-irss-lerner-treasury-department-secretly-drafted-new-rules-to-restrict-nonprofits/ - 93k -
Polly, do you know anything about the “off-plan” regulatory path? I know a little bit about the reg process, but I haven’t seen this phrase.
My understanding is that during the internal writing or revision process of any rule or regulation, regulators can discuss and plan and “conspire”
all they want. Regulators are required to release the proposed rule publicly only at the time of public comment. The rationale is that only the final rule will be in force.
I also know that sometimes a reg agency will post a proposed rule even if they never intend to make it an official regulation. They post it as a trial balloon just to solicit public comment — a poll of public sentiment. Is this the “plan” the the IRS is “off?”
For what it’s worth, the rules have always been confusing. The exemption for social welfare activity was established in 1913, but little rationale was given, so there isn’t much guidance. 501(c)(4) is also closely tied to 501(c)(3), and treads very close to campaign finance law. Because 501(c)(4) is so close to campaign activity, groups applying for the exemption have always been intensely studied on a case-by-case basis.
The information I just wrote above ^^^ is not new. I found it in an IRS topic paper which is almost 20 years old:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopicm95.pdf
For something more recent, here’s a non-partisan article describing the new proposed rules, which were released for public comment last November 26 (the “Black Friday” referred to by Camp):
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/11/irs-issues-proposed-new-rules-to-cu.html
Banana, a Q for you: at the moment, all the news is about auditing the groups for whether they qualify for the tax exemption. How many of the groups have been denied a tax exemption?
Banana, a Q for you: at the moment, all the news is about auditing the groups for whether they qualify for the tax exemption. How many of the groups have been denied a tax exemption?
In the law we say justice delayed is justice denied. If you are missing election cycles waiting for the exemption, you are being hurt, denied your first amendment’s rights so the fact they may not be outright denied is not critical, in fact an outright denial with give them appellant rights so just sitting on it is more damaging.
Which “justice” is being delayed? Your “right” to a tax exemption? Who decides whether you have that right?
Is the IRS denying you your First Amendment rights because they want to ask a few questions before they use my tax dollars to buy you some posterboard and markers?
Is the IRS denying you your First Amendment rights because they want to ask a few questions before they use my tax dollars to buy you some posterboard and markers?
No, they are denying first amendment rights due to having a different level or scrutiny based on the political beliefs of the applicant. The need to have a content neutral review process. Conspiring to subject conservative groups to heightened scrutiny is the epitome of a first amendment violation.
No, they are denying first amendment rights due to having a different level or scrutiny based on the political beliefs of the applicant.
That’s why you and you’re kind are always railing against the grossly disproportional incarceration of black people.
Because you are people of unwavering principle.
That’s why you and you’re kind are always railing against the grossly disproportional incarceration of black people.
You are comparing apples to oranges. From all the evidence blacks are being incarcerated disproportionate to their population but not disproportionate to their crimes. I do not have a problem with that. It is funny that this racist society is not incarcerating Japanese or Chinese disproportionate to their population. I think the phrase if you do not want to do the time do not do the crime applies. Under your type of analysis the NBA is racist since whites are terribly underrepresented and so are Hispanics.
To put it in housing terms. If you tell me: (1) That blacks are twice as likely to be turned down for a loan as whites, it means nothing to me (2) If you add that this is true with even when the applicants have the same credit score, you have made out a prima facie case of discrimination. (3) if you add that the applicants are identical, same credit score, same income, same savings then you have proven discrimination. What people like you want is to find discrimination at step one and that proves nothing.
From all the evidence blacks are being incarcerated disproportionate to their population but not disproportionate to their crimes.
Wrong again. (And you act as if you care so much about Constitutional rights. Yea, maybe only when it comes to whites)
Blacks Comprise 13% of the Population, 14% of Monthly Drug Users, But Account for 37% of Drug Arrests
http://clarkcountycriminalcops.wordpress.com/facts-and-figures/although-blacks-comprise-13-of-the-population-and-14-of-monthly-drug-users-they-account-for-37-of-drug-arrests/
The Center for Constitutional Rights, Finds Discrepanciesin the Criminal Justice System
Getting Arrested:
Although blacks comprise 13% of the population, and 14% of monthly drug users, they account for 37% of drug arrests.
Black and Latino motorists are more likely to be stopped and frisked by the police compared to whites.
Blacks are arrested for drug offenses at rates 2 to 11 times higher than the rates for whites.
Blacks are more likely to be detained while awaiting felony trials.
Blacks are more likely to be represented by a public defender, with high caseloads and limited resources.
Standing Trial:
African Americans are routinely excluded from criminal jury service.
As is true of most defendants, most African-Americans never get a trial, and have to make a choice about accepting a plea or risking a possible lengthy sentence.
Sentencing
The U.S. Sentencing Commission reported that black offenders receive longer sentences than white offenders.
Two-thirds of people in the U.S. with life sentences are non-white.
African-Americans account for 56% of people in state prison for drug offenses.
The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics concluded that a black male born in 2001 has a 32% chance of going to jail; Latino males have a 17% chance and white males have a 6% chance.
The Prison Population
Despite black youth accounting for 16% of the juvenile youth population, they are 28% of juvenile arrests, 37% of youth in jails, and 58% of youth sent to adult prisons.
The U.S. leads the world in incarceration and black males comprise the largest share of American prisoners.
Research shows that 17% of white job applicants with a criminal record received call backs from employers, compared to 5% of black job applicants.
Source: The Center For Constitutional Rights
Blacks Comprise 13% of the Population, 14% of Monthly Drug Users, But Account for 37% of Drug Arrests
You make the same arguments over and over and I reply but you still repeat the same tired arguments. But one more time for the cognitively impaired. Blacks are three or four times more likely to commit crimes such as assault or murder thus in investigating such crimes it is much more likely they would be subject to a search and if you are carrying illegal drugs when you are searched you will be arrested. If you did not have insurance on your car, do not drive around with a broken headlight. If you have drugs on you do not engage in behavior that invites police scrutiny. Finally don’t stand on the corner selling drugs because if the cops bust you and can’t make the selling drugs charge stick, they will get you for simple possession. All of your points can similarly rebutted by why should I waste my time.
Nothing can prove it to Lola, he’s preaching not arguing.
He should spend his high net worth recreation time visiting jails and educating inmates.
I can’t wait for the next republican administration
If you are over 60, I believe that to be a chronologically and actuarially accurate statement.
I think the press could NOT care less.
What a bunch of Lugers.
American Lugers Annoyed by Group’s Gay Rights Video
By SAM BORDENFEB. 11, 2014
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — There was a ripple of discontent over a gay rights issue at the Sochi Games on Tuesday, but it had nothing to do with Russia.
Several American doubles lugers said they were irritated by a popular Canadian video celebrating diversity that pokes fun at their sport.
“They’re making fun of our sport for their cause and it doesn’t really make a lot of sense to me,” Christian Niccum, an American Olympian, said after completing two training runs at the Sanki Sliding Center. “
Another American, Preston Griffall, who will compete in the doubles competition, which begins Wednesday night, said most doubles lugers understand that they are an obvious target for jokes. “We’re two dudes, laying on top of each other in spandex,” he said. “Of course people are going to make fun of it.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/sports/olympics/american-lugers-annoyed-by-gay-rights-groups-video.html -
In the voice of Johnny Cash:
Born to luge, I’ve lived my life in vain
Every dream has only brought me pain
All my life, I’ve always been so blue
Born to luge, and now I’m luging you…
Can you write it as a duet for Lola and downlow Joe?
Yes… Please. A single verse ballad is more than adequate. We’ll improvise once you have the main idea penned.
Yes. with my apologies to Cash who I greatly admired. All his work, including his non-commercial work before his death, a great artist. Here are my suggestions:
In the voice of Johnny Cash:
Joe’s part:
Born to luge, I’ve lived my life in vein
Every thrust has only brought me pain
Lola’s part:
All my life, I’ve always been so blue
Born to luge, and now I’m luging you
Can you write it as a duet for Lola and downlow Joe, and especially for Lola, because he’s embarrassed me with numbers and facts the past 2 days and he’s starting to make me look like I’m floundering? Especially when Lola shows that darn CBO graph about how Reagan reversed 3 decades of debt/gdp shrinkage, tripled the national debt and started America down our current debt path after I foolishly said Reagan didn’t. (hoping it would slide by the peeps) That damn Rio really gets under my skin but I’ll distract from his facts by calling him a codeword for a “f@g”, because that’s all I’ve got left when schooled……(I just wish I were better at math”
Albuquerquedan (dreaming and scheming)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Federal_Debt_as_Percent_of_GDP_by_President.jpg
Lola…. Post up another TrannyCam screen shot of yourself.
Rio, a few years ago when I stated that global warming had stopped, you made the same argument that I was math challenged and could not read a graph. Funny now everyone admits to the “pause” , the disagreement is over what caused it and when it would end. Seems like you are math challenged. Same for Brazil, I saw the slowdown long before you did. Keep dreaming Rio, if you are in Brazil and not a congressional aide paid to publish propaganda on websites.
if you are in Brazil and not a congressional aide paid to publish propaganda on websites
“Propaganda” like this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Federal_Debt_as_Percent_of_GDP_by_President.jpg
“We’re two dudes, laying on top of each other in spandex,” he said. “Of course people are going to make fun of it.”
I hate to admit it, but the first time I saw doubles luge I thought to myself “You gotta be kidding.”
can rising asset prices sustain a recovery for long time periods?
It is working for the Chinese……..until it doesn’t!
The irony? In the near future - Illinois will demand a massive bailout from states like Texas for their insane fiscal policies….
——
Jobs Bowl: Illinois vs. Texas and Indiana
Mish - 2/12/2014
The common refrain made against Texas by those who defend the status quo in Illinois is that the jobs being created in the Lone Star State are lower-paying and less-rewarding opportunities.
But not anymore. Texas is now unquestionably besting Illinois in providing for the middle class.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2012 the inflation-adjusted median household income for Texas surpassed that of Illinois for the first time since 1984, when the statistic first started being recorded.
That means the household making the median income in Texas is taking home a bigger paycheck than the household making the median income in Illinois.
Not only is the pay higher, but Texans also get to keep more of it. After taking the standard deduction for three household members, the median Illinois household pays $2,287 in state income taxes. The median Texas family pays no income tax, as work is not taxed in Texas.
And not only is work not taxed in Texas, but there is also a lot more work to be had. Since 1984, Texas has created nearly 5 million new employment opportunities. Illinois created less than 1 million.
This story isn’t a simple comparison; it’s also a transfer. From 1995-2010, Illinois had a net loss of nearly 33,000 households representing just less than 80,000 people to net out-migration to Texas alone. In terms of dollars, Illinois lost $1.98 billion in taxable income to Texas, or $60,500 per household lost.
This message brought to you by the Texas Chamber of Commerce.
Ahh, Texas. Always a national leader in percent uninsured, infant mortality, children in poverty, obesity, diabetes, air pollution. Sounds like utopia.
You think the border might have something to do with being a national leader in those areas?
Racis.
Fortunately, bootstrapping Texas has Uncle Sugar to pay for its Lucky Duckies’ food stamps, disability, Medicaid, Obamaphones, et cetera. How nice of New York and California to pay for all of that.
According to bbc news, just today, also the most children, under 15, beaten to death…worldwide…Texas….
Which state has the largest border with Mexico?
Sacramento Foothills Report:
There are continued signs in the Sacramento foothills that the economy continues to gain traction. Traffic counts are steadily increasing, though they are not to the absurd levels of 2007. The vacant lots that have been fallow since 2008 are being scraped of their weeds and new slabs are being poured for houses. Office space is being absorbed from the low 60% occupancy to 80% plus and large users are having trouble finding floor plates of 50,000 SF and larger. All the vacant big box retail spaces are leased up with new tenants (discounters, mostly).
Housing prices have plateaued. Prices rose about 11% in the last 12 months, but have dropped 1/2% in the last month. Inventory is up 78% over 2012 (4800 vs 2600) but still down over 300% from 2008 (15,000).
2014 will be an interesting year to see if we can grow out of the 2007 crater, or slide back into it like an ant trying to climb out of a sand pit.
“Traffic counts are steadily increasing, though they are not to the absurd levels of 2007.”
Applebees’ wait times?
Hows the down hill skiing in Crackamento? I overheard a realturd say Sacramento is vying for the home of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Maybe Calexico can bid on the Summer Games.
The Applebee’s franchisee went bankrupt on 2008. All those restaurants are backfilled with new operators and new brands….some do well, some do O.K., but none of them have lines out the door like 2006 & 2007.
“There are continued signs in the Sacramento foothills that the economy continues to gain traction.”
Is there wage growth or credit expansion?
Some job growth, some credit expansion, some wage growth….it is spread out. The state has quit downsizing and has balanced its budget. We are much better off than 2008-2009.
Roadside sellers of low-flow shower heads should be doing well . . .
Yes, you can get one free low flow shower head with a purchase of a dozen reds on Friday!
And we’ll throw in some flowers, too.
And, 650,000 in some form of the planning stage;
http://cl.exct.net/?ju=fe511c7372610d78751d&ls=fe1b1d777d6c017e741275&m=fefc1172766306&l=fed1157376640678&s=fe35157277640d7d711074&jb=ffcf14&t=
‘But some real estate professionals say they still don’t see housing demand taking off anytime soon. Sacramento’s job uptick isn’t strong enough to launch many people into the homebuying market just yet, and that means many would-be developers will sit on the sidelines, with their plans, for years.’
“I do not see any boom coming,” said John Hodgson of The Hodgson Company, which specializes in helping developers get projects approved. “If you can’t sell, you are probably not going to build.”
They can’t dump the existing excess inventory because demand has collapsed. Build more? LOLZ
Wow, fascinating article that really covers many issues around housing. Thanks, SCDave!
ISTR a rule of thumb that you need 2x the medium term supply in the process. I think it’s probably reflective of this comment:
“They predict less than half of what is being envisioned will get built.”
I’m surprised they didn’t mention the new flood control law in CA related to the 200 year flood plain…apparently a lot of land formerly slated for development will be affected.
How new is the law to which you refer. The revised FEMA maps after Katrina took a lot of land into a moratorium. That disaster is just about over as lots of Army Corp money was poured into Sacramento levies.
Congresswoman Doris Matsui has worked tirelessly for the new funding…..but first she sad to sell all her land holdings in the area, once she was elected to her dead husband’s congressional seat. Funny how a congressman (or woman) cannot own land subject to federal funding, but their spouse can own it.
She was paid millions in 2006 for her interests, based on “fake” appraisals by landowners. Money well spent it appears……
Go go dead cat bounce. We’re banking on it!
“If I had a son, he’d look like Tayvon”
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/man-named-tayvon-martin-charged-in-deadly-shooting-near-denvers-city-park-1234
The boy that was killed by Zimmerman was “Trayvon” not Tayvon. Close but no cigar…..
Isn’t “Tayvon” some kind of insulation panel used in building cr@p shacks?
Oh wait, that’s Tyvek. Maybe Tayvon is a new ED pill?
If I had a son I would name him Gayvon.
Crayton
I thought it was a Buddy Holly song.
Yesterday Yellen unequivocally told Wall Street she had their back. Their response? Of course, you work for is.
Us.
All your quantitative easing are belong to us.
Cool trick how Yellen merely sitting down in the Chair’s seat in her new office stopped the EM crisis in its tracks, no?
The 53% drop will resume at the very first minute that Yellen farts in her office.
Now that would cause global warming, methane unlike co2 is a very strong global warming agent.
NAR Cash Sustains The Corrupt Housing Sales Model
http://www.inman.com/2014/02/11/appraiser-wonders-why-its-so-easy-to-become-a-real-estate-agent/
Living in a rental will never feel like a real home.
HeeHaw!
Mortgage Salesmen Indicted On Fraud Charges
http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20140120/news/140129973
What do you guys think about the latest rumor: That the DOW chart now looks just like it did in 1929?
Cisco, the wire fox terrier and the return of the 1929-crash meme
February 12, 2014, 7:01 AM
By Shawn Langlois
That panic-inducing, 1929-style-crash meme is still making the rounds?
It’s like a trick candle that no amount of huffing and puffing from the cognoscenti can put out. “I think it is used to create page views,” says Schaeffer’s Ryan Detrick. “The same reason I put it in the title.”
He’s talking about his blog post tossing cold water on the hot topic (see below). And he wouldn’t be wrong. We ran it on the front page yesterday, and the traffic flooded in. Readers love the drama. Or they hate it. Either way, they click on it.
But those having to explain to skittish clients how it may be misleading — “relax, Mrs. Dalrymple, it’s not signaling a 40% crash” — have seen enough. One blogger months ago described it as “eye candy” with a “high level of bogosity.” Reformed Broker’s Josh Brown says it’s “how they sell you the 3-and-30 managed muppet fund.”
Whatever you read into the chart, any sort of thunderous market crash isn’t forming today. Stocks are up again, extending Yellen’s welcome-bash that led to the Dow’s biggest gain of the year on Tuesday. Let’s call it the wire fox terrier indicator.
…
I’m watching and preparing. I appeciate your posts. BH
The graph indicates the DOW may go to 13,500…… all things being equal. That is no depression era crash. Certainly within normal ranges and somewhat expected IMHO.
The real crash of that time was 2h 1930 to 1932.
The components which make up the DOW have changed 53 times. ISTM that they like to include hip and modern companies who take risks, and throw out old fuddy-duddy stable companies. In other words, the DOW selects for risky business. Therefore a A DOW crash is a self-fulfilling prophesy.
No, it’s called sampling. They are tracking a sample of the market, which must be representative of the thing it tracks. If a DOW crash were a self-fulfilling prophesy, then it would always crash.
Realtor Scammed Friends And Family
http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/realty-agent-sentenced-to-15-years-for-scamming-friends-and-fami/
Don’t Get Scammed By A Realtor
http://homebuying.about.com/od/realestateagents/a/063008-LiarAgts.htm
Seriously, folks, is the EM crisis over or not?
Goldman Sachs expects emerging markets to continue to weaken
More capital outflows will hurt developing economies as the developed world recovers
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 12 February, 2014, 12:50am
UPDATED : Wednesday, 12 February, 2014, 12:50am
Jeanny Yu
Emerging markets will underperform developed markets this year, Goldman Sachs said, with capital expected to continue flowing out as more developed economies recover and the United States exits from its ultra-loose monetary policy.
“The emerging-market underperformance is going to continue in 2014,” Goldman’s chief markets economist, Dominic Wilson, told a press conference in Hong Kong yesterday.
“We’ve seen quite a lot of pressure on the emerging-market currency and bond markets. We think the adjustment process is not finished.”
Emerging markets had paid a price as they took pretty aggressive actions, including excessive interest rate increases, to boost domestic consumption when export demand fell sharply after the 2008 global financial crisis.
Those measures gave their economies a short-term boost, Wilson said, but the underlying problems could not be underestimated.
“The cost is that the current account positions generally deteriorated, interest rates fell further than perhaps they should have done and credit growth, in many cases, boomed,” he said.
Emerging markets were now facing “weaker currencies, domestic market demand restraints, higher interest rates and restraints on credit growth”, Wilson said.
However, he added that emerging markets were better able to weather an investor retreat now than during the 1998 Asian financial crisis, when the currency turmoil spread and forced international bailouts.
Emerging markets outperformed developed markets for a few years from 2008 on the back of a loose global liquidity environment. But they began underperforming last year when the US Federal Reserve foreshadowed the trimming of its quantitative easing scheme.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell 5 per cent last year.
…
Bloomberg News
Emerging-Market Shakeout Putting Reserves Into Focus: Currencies
By Ye Xie and John Detrixhe February 12, 2014
Pedestrians Stop at an Exchange Office in Istanbul
Pedestrians stop and look at foreign currency exchange rates on an electronic board at an exchange office in Istanbul. Turkey spent 27 percent of its foreign reserves trying and failing to defend its currency since June, leaving it with $34 billion as of Feb. 10, excluding commercial banks’ deposits. Photographer: Kerim Okten/Bloomberg
Foreign-exchange reserves are emerging as the latest battleground between traders and developing nations trying to stem the worst rout in their currencies since 2008.
Nations with the smallest reserves to fend off currency speculators will continue to see their exchange rates under pressure, options prices show. Of the 31 major currencies tracked by Bloomberg, traders are most bearish on Argentina’s peso, Turkey’s lira, Indonesia’s rupiah and South Africa’s rand, while the forwards market signals that Ukraine’s hryvnia will fall 20 percent in a year.
“If you start to burn too quickly through your foreign reserves, it’s an ominous sign — and of course in the forex market, they smell blood,” Robbert Van Batenburg, the director of market strategy at broker Newedge Group SA in New York, said Feb. 5 by phone. “It creates this domino effect.”
From Argentina to Turkey, emerging markets are under siege as the U.S. Federal Reserve pares its record stimulus measures and reports showing a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing raise concerns about the strength of their economies. A Bloomberg index tracking 20 exchange rates has fallen 2 percent this year, building upon the 7 percent decline in 2013.
…
Brevan Said to Shut Emerging Markets Fund After Losses
By Jesse Westbrook Feb 11, 2014 6:26 AM PT
Geraldine Sundstrom is leaving Brevan Howard Capital Management LP and the firm is shutting her hedge fund after it lost money amid a rout in emerging markets, according to a person with direct knowledge of the decision.
Sundstrom’s Brevan Howard Emerging Markets Strategies Master Fund declined 15 percent last year after a sell off for bonds and currencies, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Her fund, which had $2.7 billion in assets as of last June, fell another 1.6 percent in January after investor concerns that emerging markets would continue to decline, the person said.
Emerging-market stocks have posted their worst start to a year since 2009, as China’s economy slowed and the devaluation of the Argentine peso accelerated the selloff. Sundstrom, 39, is among managers who’ve been hurt by the market turmoil, which has been exacerbated by concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve would continue reducing its monthly bond buying.
Sundstrom, who is based in Geneva, didn’t return a phone call seeking comment on her departure, which was reported earlier today by the Wall Street Journal. Officials at Brevan Howard, which is led by former Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) fixed-income trader Alan Howard, declined to comment.
…
Brevan Said to Shut Emerging Markets Fund After Losses
By Jesse Westbrook
Feb 11, 2014 6:26 AM PT
Geraldine Sundstrom is leaving Brevan Howard Capital Management LP and the firm is shutting her hedge fund after it lost money amid a rout in emerging markets, according to a person with direct knowledge of the decision.
Sundstrom’s Brevan Howard Emerging Markets Strategies Master Fund declined 15 percent last year after a sell off for bonds and currencies, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Her fund, which had $2.7 billion in assets as of last June, fell another 1.6 percent in January after investor concerns that emerging markets would continue to decline, the person said.
Emerging-market stocks have posted their worst start to a year since 2009, as China’s economy slowed and the devaluation of the Argentine peso accelerated the selloff. Sundstrom, 39, is among managers who’ve been hurt by the market turmoil, which has been exacerbated by concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve would continue reducing its monthly bond buying.
Sundstrom, who is based in Geneva, didn’t return a phone call seeking comment on her departure, which was reported earlier today by the Wall Street Journal. Officials at Brevan Howard, which is led by former Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN) fixed-income trader Alan Howard, declined to comment.
…
I’m frankly getting tyred of reading about the EM rout.
Emerging markets output growth slows to four-month low in January: HSBC
LONDON
Mon Feb 10, 2014 4:58am EST
An employee carries a tyre at a tyre factory in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, January 27, 2014. REUTERS/William Hong
Credit: Reuters/William Hong
(Reuters) - Business activity across emerging markets expanded in January at the slowest pace in four months, dragged down by sluggish services sectors in the BRIC quartet of big developing countries, a survey showed on Monday.
HSBC’s composite emerging markets index of manufacturing and services purchasing managers’ surveys slipped for the second month running to 51.4 in January. It stayed under the 2013 average of 51.7 and well below the score of 64.1 posted last January.
But the monthly index remained above the 50 threshold which marks the difference between expansion and contraction.
Based on data from purchasing managers at about 8,000 firms in 17 countries, the survey showed signs of manufacturing and export revival in some countries but Chinese factory output fell below the 50 mark, Brazilian manufacturing growth slowed and output fell in Russia and Indonesia.
Growth was stronger in India, Poland, Taiwan and Mexico.
January services activity in the biggest emerging markets was at a six-month low. India and Brazil both posted declines, while growth rates in China and Russia were weak, HSBC said.
HSBC’s global head of emerging markets research, Pablo Goldberg, said the data showed a clear divergence in recovery pattern between emerging economies.
“Among the winners, we have countries in a clear cyclical recovery that are being lifted by the improvement in the developed markets: Mexico, Poland and the Czech Republic,” Goldberg said.
“By contrast, PMIs decelerated in Turkey, Brazil, Russia and Indonesia. These are among the countries where deteriorating external balances have prevented monetary easing or forced tightening.”
Several emerging central banks such as Turkey, India, South Africa and Brazil have tightened monetary policy in recent weeks and many more are expected to follow suit, with severe consequences for economic growth.
…
Fed to emerging markets: Think on your policy shortcomings
WASHINGTON Tue Feb 11, 2014 6:07pm EST
Feb 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday acknowledged it likely triggered a financial market sell-off in the developing world, but said policies in countries such as Turkey, Brazil and India made them especially vulnerable to external shocks.
The Fed said in a report to Congress that the “stresses that arose in the middle of last year appeared to be triggered to a significant degree by Federal Reserve communications.”
In mid-2013, the U.S. central bank said it could soon start winding down a bond-buying stimulus program, sending stocks, bonds and currencies plunging across many emerging markets. The announcement stoked global tensions over potentially destabilizing shifts in international money flow, as when India’s central bank chief fretted that the United States should be more aware of how its policies affect the world.
In its report, however, the Fed pointed a finger back at some developing countries, saying they need to look in the mirror when assessing why their markets took a big hit.
…
“The U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday acknowledged it likely triggered a financial market sell-off in the developing world, but said policies in countries such as Turkey, Brazil and India made them especially vulnerable to external shocks.”
Not possible, Rio a few years ago argued that the socialist policies of Brazil were creating nirvana in Brazil. I argued that they were going to create growth in Brazil but he ridiculed such an assertion.
Create is crater, man I am really hating autocorrect right now.
Create-A-Crater… go rub shoulders with housing crime syndicate operators like mortgage salesmen and realtors and you’ll have your own Crater in no time.
Create-A-Crater* is an educational toy for young boys and girls to gain essential skills needed for a future career as a realtoR or banker. Good parents know that they need to buy a Create-A-Crater kit for their kids this holiday season.
=======
* Available in pink, blue, and violet.
you and goon are on a roll today. funniest posts on the HBB in a while.
Not possible, Rio a few years ago argued that the socialist policies of Brazil were creating nirvana in Brazil.
You sir are either a liar, delusional, somewhat comprehension challenged, a bit off-kilter with me living in your head rent-free, or a twister of facts as would do a weasel. Not one thing I ever said could be equated with Brazil in totality being a “nirvana”. That is a gross misrepresentation, but typical of your thought and presentation patterns.
I also cite December 5th 2013 HBB, 75% down the blog as further proof of you being a liar by omission or one of the above.
I also cite December 5th 2013 HBB, 75% down the blog as further proof of you being a liar by omission or one of the above.
If that is all you have after around eight years of posting, you have nothing but we knew that already. Enjoy the collapse of Brazil if that is where you really are which I doubt. No one living in Brazil would be spending this much time arguing about U.S. politics.
C’mon ABQDan….. Lola is a DC page by day and streetwalker by night.
if that is where you really are which I doubt…No one living in Brazil would be spending this much time arguing about U.S. politics.
Oh yea?
Well there’s no way a person who spends so much time twisting math and facts could possibly live in Albuquerque. For gettaboutit dude.
It makes no sense. I mean come on. New Mexico? Right. Like we really believe it. No way. Your are a fraud.
OK. Prove it. Go in front of an Albuquerque street webcam wearing a red-white-and-blue shirt and burn a cross, or hold up a sign saying 2+2=7.
Then we might believe it’s really you.
He would just hire a transient to do it for him. He actually lives in the center of the earth, with Satan. And his birth cert is a fake.
OK. Prove it. Go in front of an Albuquerque street webcam wearing a red-white-and-blue shirt and burn a cross, or hold up a sign saying 2+2=7.
Once again comparing apples to oranges. I am not claiming to live out of the country but am so interested in a blog primarily devoted to housing prices in the U.S. Just do what HA said and you will have the high ground, don’t do it and you have the downlow ground.
He would just hire a transient to do it for him.
Don’t forget I would pay him or her below minimum wage.
Go ahead Lola. Support your claim of cliffside view of the South Atlantic. Post a picture from the railing of your shack overlooking Rio.
*nothing p0rnographic please
Once again comparing apples to oranges
Maybe so. I’m comparing me (backed by facts) with you (2+2=7) Albuquerquedan.
Just do what HA said
I don’t know an HA. Is he a cool dude?
Yawn.
is the EM crisis over or not?
Besides the stock market and currency fluctuations, I feel no “crisis” in Brazil. (knock on wood) Housing market is steady and people are ready to party for Carnival in a couple weeks. (And then the World Cup) And Brazilians need to take some time off soon because many Brazilian’s one month summer vacation has just ended.
(I remember in 2011 FPSS said Brazil would be in a “Great Depression” in 2012-13. Glad Brazil dodged that “bullet”.)
Feb. 12, 2014, 9:44 a.m. EST
Is the correction over?
By John Nyaradi
After a rough start to the year, are U.S. stock indexes back on track, meaning the correction over?
On Thursday, Jan. 23, the stock market began its descent from nearly record-high levels. January’s “flash” manufacturing PMI reports from Markit Economics revealed some uncomfortable data. In the United States, the flash Manufacturing PMI reading fell to 53.7 from December’s 55.0, for the first decline since October. The big shock came when the HSBC Flash China Manufacturing PMI for January dropped into the range of contraction, hitting a six-month low of 49.6 after December’s final reading of 50.5. A reading below 50 indicates contraction and a reading above 50 indicates expansion. The S&P 500 Index declined 0.89% to 1,828, and this was just the beginning.
On Friday, Jan. 24, the stock market reacted in panic as emerging-market currencies became extremely volatile. There was widespread fear that the global impact of the Federal Reserve’s $10 billion cutbacks to its monthly bond purchases would crush emerging-market economies. The fact that the kickoff of the Fed’s tapering agenda coincided with China’s economic slowdown made the situation seem worse. The S&P 500 sank 2.09% to finish the Jan. 24 trading session at 1,790.
Monday, Feb. 3, brought the next leg down. The January Manufacturing Report from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) dropped to 51.3% from December’s 56.5%. Economists were expecting a modest dip to 56.0%. The United States gross domestic product directly correlates with the ISM PMI data. The drop sparked concern that first-quarter GDP could be significantly lower than expected. Although many commentators were quick to blame the taper of the Federal Reserve’s monthly bond purchases as the reason for the slowdown, the ISM report indicated that”adverse weather conditions” were responsible for the decline.
Since that time, a wave of bullishness has sent the S&P 500 sharply higher to point that there is now an increasing degree of speculation that the correction could be over.
Is it?
…
Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!
Wall Street Journal - “Home Depot Inc. said Wednesday it will hire 80,000 workers in the U.S. as it prepares for spring, its busiest sales period, matching last year’s hiring level.”
a quick perusal on glassdoor dot com notes that the wages for cashiers, sales associates, and department supervisors are 9, 11, and 15 dollars per hour, respectively. what those newly hired lucky ducks need are 500,000 dollar starter homes!
So they re-hire the 80,000 hacks they laid off last fall.
Oxy must be happy her deadbeat boyfriend who drives a forklift in home and garden will have a reason to put down the PlayStation and get off the couch for a few months.
The other day I looked online to find the dates for the Washington Home and Garden show. Usually, it’s in March, at the Convention Center downtown, and has a dozen garden displays. This year, it’s two weeks from now, way out near Dulles, VA, and will have only 6 garden displays. Meanwhile, HD is hiring thousands of people for spring. Sounnds like an indicator that homeowners are shifting from general contractors and professional landscaping to targeted small trade jobs and DIY landscaping.
At first I thought you said that you were looking for a date at the Home and Garden show.
Another romantic Valentine’s Day cuddling with a warm bag of mulch while looking at $500 light fixture p0rn.
That would be at the county fair
$500k starter homes? Move outathere!
I know a few people who worked at HD. They were people who knew about what they were selling. Apparently it used to be better there, and the pay was better, until it wasn’t, and they all moved on. I’ve noticed on the rare occasions when I shop there that it’s pointless to ask a question, as the associates don’t have a clue. They might as well work at Walmart.
Generally, materials are junk that don’t meet specification priced nearly double the material that does meet.
I walked in there the other day for a speed square. Took one look at it and walked out.
lmao…. Yeah no chit eh???! My old Johnson speed square came up missing(temporarily) so I sent a laborer down to HomeCheepo. He brought back this flimsy POS… stanley I think. I used it that afternoon and pitched it in the hole. It now has 15′ of dirt on top of it.
Most of the good stuff is available from Home Depot if I buy it online and pick up in store. What’s a good brand for hand tools? Irwin gives me a good vibe.
Is Irwin the name of fork lift operator?
HD charges 100 bucks to send a estimator out credited to the total Job cost if you go with them.
COSTCO sent one out for free.
HD most everything they sell is junk
Irwin The Donkey?
Realtor Scam Results In 6 Year Sentence
http://www.nbc-2.com/story/24387996/cape-realtor-sentenced-to-6-years-in-federal-prison
Real journalists at the Washington Post discusses how Lucky Duckies fare in the recoveryless recovery:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/what-do-the-jobless-do-when-the-benefits-end/2014/02/11/e135d74a-8eb7-11e3-b227-12a45d109e03_story.html
Wait - what…???
————–
An Air Force veteran, she earned a six-figure salary as a private contractor before the recession. But she took a series of increasingly low-paying jobs as the economy soured.
I doubt she had a skill set like Snowden.
Her 6-figure contracting gig was probably washing $150 bags of laundry for Halliburton.
That would make sense, you could make that in Iraq without any real skills. When my nephew was there he observed many people drawing the big bucks taking less risks than he and his unit endured.
Never in more than 65 years have so many workers been without a job and without a government lifeline
And we wonder why so many try to get disability benefits?
This of course is in line with Goonie’s prediction of the soon to be very, very small middle class. Of course, if you are a member of the managerial/professional class and live in places like DC or locally in Highlands Ranch, everything looks hunky dory.
Realtor Scams Victim Out of $217,000
http://www.berksmontnews.com/general-news/20140204/leesport-real-estate-agent-arrested-for-theft
This one appears to be a degenerate gambler per the article
It could have been worse HA, had she actually bought the apartment she would have lost 2/3 the value without any recourse. Now, he stands some chance of criminal restitution. There are no pictures of him, just the realtor so I guess taking it out in trade is not a viable option, not even bubba would hit that. However, maybe she can get a job at home depot and pay it off on a payment plan. There, I included most of threads in this post.
She’s cute.
She’s cute.
I thought you are in AZ not Colorado? Just some legal advice, that California MM card is not valid is AZ. Now run along to the 7/11 to take care of your munchies, please give me a status report.
Got Cheetos?
BBQ Pringles and Samoa’s Girl Scout cookies.
BTW, fatboy, registration for the Pikes Peak Ascent half marathon starts on March 12. Time of 2:25 or less in any official half-marathon in the past two years required to qualify for Wave 2, time under 1:40 required to qualify for Wave 1.
Huh? That sounds like too much work. Lying on my back and consuming groceries is much more satisfying.
The couch is calling.
There’s a webcam on the summit of Pikes Peak, so you can watch from the comfort of your couch as I cross the finish line (first, obviously) with a smoldering bong in one hand and a pimp cup of purple drank in the other hand.
BBQ Pringles and Samoa’s Girl Scout cookies.
Don’t buy those GS cookies in NoCal they will cost you an extra buck of box due to higher living costs.
CO Realtor Faces Homicide And Drunk Driving Charges
http://origin.9news.com/news/article/372552/222/Fort-Collins-man-arrested-following-fatal-ATV-crash-that-killed-friend
In 2014 they would have been…
Frankie Valli & Climate Change
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons:Sherry 1962
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMt05xAgzP4 - 143k -
Real journalists report that real scientists say that El Nina returns this year, and that the “pause” in warming since 1998 is ending.
Actually it is El Nino which is the warming phase and no La Nina which is the cooling phase. Scientists are predicting El Nino. We may beat 1998 this year but we still will not be the warmest ever year. Besides El Nino only last for months and often a La Nina follows it, so it just means 2015 will be even colder.
Fixed:
Actually it is El Nino which is the warming phase and La Nina which is the cooling phase.
La Nina and El Nino are simply two directions of a cycle in which currents change directions. They don’t affect the overall amount of heat on the globe.
La Nina and El Nino are simply two directions of a cycle in which currents change directions. They don’t affect the overall amount of heat on the globe.
True but they do impact our measurements. During the period of rapid warming we had an El Nino every few years and we were told at the time that we because of global warming, of course that has changed since they have become less frequent. Kind of like we heard about hurricanes after Katrina, until we had fewer. Of course, the science is all settled.
real journalists note the gop’s comment on the passage of the debt ceiling bill ‘it’s time to stop kicking the can down the road’ and contrast that statement with the gop’s embrace of climate change denial:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/12/republican-house-debt-ceiling-climate-change
this message sponsored by real journalists.
Mortgage Purchase Applications Crater 5%(again)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/12/us-embargoed-usa-economy-mortgages-idUSBREA1B0VS20140212
With housing demand groveling at 1997 levels and rental rates that are a small fraction of the cost of buying, this latest news is no surprise.
Why does the Republican party find it necessary to comment on the choice of some workers in Tennessee to form a union? Especially when they work for a German company. The Republicans are such busy-bodies. Don’t they know that people these days are starting to realize that we need tariffs? Repubs can warn of “backlash” all they want. The biggest backlash will be when Americans vote for tariff-friendly reps.
Most Americans could not even spell tariff let alone put together a coherent argument on the pros and con’s of them…
Most Americans could not even spell tariff
That doesn’t matter because most Americans can spell “jobs”.
Banana, as trickle-down theory is causing more and more poverty in the United States, this is how people are starting to see the world, more and more as time goes by:
-Con: Guy who won’t enact the disincentive for offshoring.
-Professional: Person who will get elected to enact the disincentive for offshoring.
-Republican: Person who consistently threatens any worker who even tries to get a living wage, and then wants the low-paid worker to pay all the taxes too.
“Most Americans could not even spell tariff let alone put together a coherent argument on the pros and con’s of them…”
Wasn’t Tariff Aziz the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq?
I miss Baghdad Bob he was less of a liar than Carney.
Please tell me what Democratic Representatives and Senators unequivocably support increasing tariffs.
None. The political climate basically just got there. We won’t hear the word tariff until the next Presidential election. However, the Democrats aren’t running a public smear campaign against VW workers forming a union in Tennessee. That is such a DUMB MOVE by the pubs!
real journalists at the new york times report on the lobbying and marketing of high fructose corn syrup:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/business/rival-industries-sweet-talk-the-public.html
Real journalists at Bloomberg equate immigration reform with gay rights:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-11/gay-rights-can-unlock-immigration-reform.html
Because if you don’t want the USA to turn into a third world sh*thole, you probably hate gay people too
Maybe every country in the world wants to dump its gay population on us?
This was not written by real journalists, but it’s more believable than the claims he is a muslim or was born in Kenya:
http://mobile.wnd.com/2012/09/claim-obama-hid-gay-life-to-become-president/
That said, my understanding is that gay rights is greasing the skids for polygamy and plural marriage.
Looking for the silver lining? Have you discussed this with your wife? I do know a fair number of polys so I might be able to hook you up. JK although not about knowing polys, I actual employed some famous escapees from them when I had a private practice. It is not quite so funny when you learn about a someone when she was 15 being forced to marry her uncle and be his 15th wife.
I wasn’t talking so much about old school LDS style polygamy as much as modern swinger style polyamory. As in a “group” marriage. The dynamics must be fascinating, especially in a group marriage where the men outnumber the women. Seems that there would be a sore loser every night.
I’d wager there’d be a lot of sores.
Or maybe the lady would end up being sore
“The dynamics must be fascinating”
Does your wife know about your downlow curiousity?
I think we need to see these polygamic dynamics on HGTV. Could you imagine David and Hillary trying to please 4-5 spouses on Love It or List It?
Or maybe the lady would end up being sore
I didn’t consider Sloppy Seconds … or Thirds. As I said, interesting dynamics.
This is not the original Star Trek. You cannot hope to go where no man has gone before in such relationships.
But um gay people in other countries should petition their own governments for equal rights. Our country can’t do anything about the rights of people who are citizens of another country.
“Our country can’t do anything about the rights of people who are citizens of another country.”
Unless they have oil, then we bring them freedom.
“With all the fraud and crime involved in housing sales, you’re going to get bilked no matter how low the price is.”
You can say that again.
Santa Rosa, CA Housing Prices Fall 5% Y-o-Y; Excess Inventory Surges
http://www.movoto.com/santa-rosa-ca/market-trends/
Temperature rises in Michigan 20% from 12F to 15F.
HA declares a heatwave.
The trend reversal is clearly a problem for you fraudsters.
An increase from 12 to 15 degF is less than 1%.
Math is hard.
Huh?
25% by my calculator
3/(460+12) = .006
Wiki Rankine.
Some things are absolute Red.
Blue Skye, thank you for enriching my world today!! (once more, I should add. I’ve gotten a lot from your other posts over the years).
I am ashamed to admit that I had forgotten about the Rankine scale. Thanks again.
Walnut Creek, CA Housing Prices Dive 35% YoY; Inventory Rises 10%
http://www.movoto.com/walnut-creek-ca/market-trends/
Escondido, CA Housing Prices Slide 10% YoY; Inventory Up a Staggering 72%
http://www.movoto.com/escondido-ca/market-trends/
“The worst I have been treated was by northern liberal elites. The absolute worst I have ever been treated,”
No doubt the kind hearted liberal elites would treat a successful Black person like sh#t who didn’t toe the party line. Not to mention snicker about them behind their back even if they did.
Clarence Thomas: Society is overly sensitive about race
By Chris Moody, Yahoo News
20 hours ago
Yahoo News
“My sadness is that we are probably today more race and difference-conscious than I was in the 1960s when I went to school. To my knowledge, I was the first black kid in Savannah, Georgia, to go to a white school. Rarely did the issue of race come up,” Thomas said during a chapel service hosted by the nondenominational Christian university. “Now, name a day it doesn’t come up. Differences in race, differences in sex, somebody doesn’t look at you right, somebody says something. Everybody is sensitive. If I had been as sensitive as that in the 1960s, I’d still be in Savannah. Every person in this room has endured a slight. Every person. Somebody has said something that has hurt their feelings or did something to them — left them out.
“That’s a part of the deal,” he added.
“The worst I have been treated was by northern liberal elites. The absolute worst I have ever been treated,” Thomas said. “The worst things that have been done to me, the worst things that have been said about me, by northern liberal elites, not by the people of Savannah, Georgia.”
http://news.yahoo.com/clarence-thomas-on-race-194104252.html - 245k
I don’t know what kind of propaganda this is, but it obviously wasn’t written by real journalists.
A real journalist would have smacked the microphone out of the hand of that uppity black man trying to spread his lies.
He should have a beer summit with Obama and Holder.
Now you can’t have a white northern liberal elite say this kinda thing, so you get someone like the Rev. William Barber to say it.
NAACP leader likens black GOP senator to ventriloquist’s dummy
By Aaron Blake January 21 at 1:59 pm
An influential leader of the NAACP in North Carolina recently compared Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the lone black Republican in Congress, to a ventriloquist’s dummy.
“A ventriloquist can always find a good dummy,” the Rev. William Barber said about Scott during remarks in Columbia, S.C., on Sunday, according to The State.
Barber added that “the extreme right wing down here (in South Carolina) finds a black guy to be senator and claims he’s the first black senator since Reconstruction, and then he goes to Washington, D.C., and articulates the agenda of the Tea Party.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/01/21/naacp-leader-likens-black-gop-senator-to-ventriloquists-dummy/ -
Holder might still have a few guns left that he has not sold to the Mexican cartels. Maybe he could get one cheap for Bill. Thomas go for it.
Clarence Thomas: Society is overly sensitive about race
We are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7i60GuNRg
Now that set up was obviously done by real journalists.
Clarence Thomas didn’t notice the gigantic racial tensions/issues/problems in the south during the 1960s? I guess he must be willfully blind. Either that, or he’s using this manufactured ignorance as an excuse for the sexual harassment that has made him famous.
I believe he is saying the issue of race rarely came up at the school he attended.
“To my knowledge, I was the first black kid in Savannah, Georgia, to go to a white school. Rarely did the issue of race come up,”
Clarence Thomas has a vested interest in not recognizing anything but direct threats or violence.
I have no idea what questions he asks in clerkship interviews, but he makes oddball selections of clerks. All 9 SCOTUS judges have at least 1 ivy degree (several multiple), including Thomas himself obviously. Yet Thomas’ clerkship picks seem to be political, rather than based primarily on academic merit. Last year he picked yet another clerk from U of Georgia, which makes 3 or 4 in the last half dozen years.
Alito has a lot of the same opinions but manages to find clerks who can be relied on to deliver biting dissents. And people obviously fight to clerk for Scalia even if they do not agree with him. I’m pretty sure he keeps at least 1 shitlib clerk at all times (SCOTUS judges pick 2 clerks/yr). Having someone you don’t agree with can be helpful and show you when you need to look elsewhere for precedent or find another argument to attack.
What do you mean by shitlib? What is a shitlib clerk?
What do you mean by shitlib?
See Rio, knee jerk liberal that can’t think his way out of a box.
So maybe Scalia would hire a liberal who can’t think his way out of a box to make his conservative clerks look good. That might make sense.
It works for Fox news.
Canada is ending its program of selling residency, mostly to the Chinese. (Cost was only US $800k, which Canada does not think is enough.)
The U.S. still has its program where you can get a green card for $500k.
——————————–
http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/12/news/canada-chinese-immigration/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
Canada is killing a decades-old investor program that had allowed scores of wealthy Chinese to move to the country over the years.
The program allowed rich foreign investors to apply for permanent residency in Canada if they had a minimum net worth of 1.6 million Canadian dollars ($1.5 million) and invested 800,000 Canadian dollars in the form of a multi-year, interest-free loan to the government.
But the government has decided to scrap the program after finding it provided little economic benefit.
“For decades, it has significantly undervalued Canadian permanent residence, providing a pathway to Canadian citizenship in exchange for a guaranteed loan that is significantly less than our peer countries require,” the Canadian Ministry of Finance wrote in its 2014 budget report. “There is also little evidence that immigrant investors as a class are maintaining ties to Canada or making a positive economic contribution to the country.”
People who used the program paid less in taxes than other economic immigrants, and were less likely to remain in Canada for a longer period of time, the government said in a statement. In some cases, immigrant investors lacked official language proficiency. The government had previously suspended the program in 2012, leaving many applicants in limbo.
All 65,000 pending applications — which the government estimates would have taken six years to process — will be returned and paid fees refunded. About 70% of the backlog came from Chinese applicants, reported the South China Morning Post.
Now, Canada plans to test new programs to seek “new and innovative approaches to business immigration that will better fuel the continued growth of the Canadian economy.” Another program that sought to attract entrepreneurs, halted since 2011, has also been canceled.
A number of other countries offer similar investor programs.
The U.S., for example, has a new program that allows foreigners to invest $500,000 in exchange for a green card. Cyprus is offering residency visas to anyone willing to pony up €300,000 ($405,000), and Portugal offers a similar deal for €500,000 ($675,000). For Australia, foreigners have to come with 5 million Australian dollars ($4.5 million).
In Greece, which has seen many of its young people depart for northern Europe, just €250,000 ($338,000) in real estate investment will result in a five-year residency permit.
LIBERACE!
(lives in your head rent-free)
Cmon Lib… You can be a little more original no?
But won’t those wealthy ChiComs be constantly spending money if they move to Vancouver? Just the money they’ll spend on pricey private schools for their broods should be a big stimulus.
I think they’re doing it because it’s hurting locals (driving up prices) without producing a huge benefit to the gov’t.
I believe the “price” of residency is structured as an interest-free loan to the Canadian gov’t. At some future time, the Canadian gov’t refunds the money. So it wasn’t like they were pocketing $800k USD. More like they were saving the Canadian gov’t a very large amount of interest over an extended period.
Canada is actually doing this while there are still 60,000 people still on the waiting list to “buy their way in”. 70% of them are Chinese nationals.
More than anything else, this is a window to how badly China sucks. I could be wrong, but I don’t think Chinese people who use the program can get into Canada’s health ins. system, but I could be wrong. (The Canadian healthcare system isn’t really socialist. Each province sets rules for their own system under a general umbrella. But it seems doubtful that non-citizens can use the system.)
More than anything else, this is a window to how badly China sucks.
All those gleaming towers in Shanghai don’t change the fact that China has even bigger problems than we do.
Speaking of the gleaming towers of Shanghai, watch this. I can’t watch it on full screen to the end. Kids sneaking in and climbing to the very tip of the crane on the building that’s being built right now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLDYtH1RH-U
I wonder, how long will skyscrapers last? Sure, a lot longer than we will, but how long will they be structurally sound? And what happens when their “best used by” date expires? How do you demolish one in a controlled fashion?
“The U.S. still has its program where you can get a green card for $500k.”
Gotta wonder if you could hustle a California home loan on-line, leverage it with a second or third, use the proceeds the gain citizenship, default on the mortgage, walk-away, and as a citizen, scam a section 8 place to live and a snap card as a bonus?
You know what I really like about this chart? Current prices fell through the 2009 ceiling; prices today are lower than they were in 2009….. and falling quite rapidly.
Remember…. “falling housing prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels is positive and bullish and good for the economy.”
No more valedictorians in Broward?
By Karen Yi, Sun Sentinel
6:55 p.m. EST, February 11, 2014
Like chalkboards, woodshop and home ec classes, another school staple may be on its way out.
The Broward School Board may eliminate a long-established graduation practice — awarding the top two students the titles of valedictorian and salutatorian. Instead, the top 15 percent of students would be honored as either cum laude, magna cum laude or summa cum laude, distinctions typically awarded at colleges.
School Board members on Tuesday spoke in favor of the change, arguing the current system spotlights just two high-performing students.
“We should be doing more for all those top students,” said board member Abby Freedman.
But Fort Lauderdale resident Chad DiFalco, 38, said some traditions should be kept.
“Everyone does not deserve a medal. You earn it like I did,” he said. “You honor the top two and then you recognize the top 10 percent and that’s it. That’s how the system was when I was a kid and still should be.”
Plantation parent Nadia Hasan Mustafa disagreed, saying students who fall just shy of the top two spots deserve recognition, too.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/education/fl-broward-valedictorian-changes-20140211,0,2544453.story?track=rss - 118k
There are too many kids in a school to pick out the “top two”. That may have worked when we had one-room schoolhouses, but it doesn’t work anymore. Chad’s attitude is why old people can sometimes get on my nerves.
But Fort Lauderdale resident Chad DiFalco, 38, said some traditions should be kept.
Chad is 38 and he is old people? Now, the hurts Uncle Fed.
the=that
I’m only 37, so that makes him old.
There are too many kids in a school to pick out the “top two”.
How absurd. It is simple to tell who the highest achieving students are. It just is not Politically Correct to not allow everyone to be special.
There will probably more than two with the same GPA, extracurricular activities, etc. DUH!
Nor’ easter coming tomorrow. This will affect things for years to come.
It might fill in a few housing craters but they’re still like holding onto melting ice cubes no matter how cold it is.
This should of been posted April 1st:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303947904579341204119537852?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303947904579341204119537852.html
Yellen raising J6P fuel costs so she can continue to subsidize the banks, also shows how China is reaching that resource wall and has to import more and more natural resources, from iafrica.com :
Oil prices advanced Wednesday on upbeat Chinese data and after new Federal Reserve head Janet Yellen vowed to maintain US monetary policy.
New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March, jumped to $100.69 per barrel – the highest level since late last year.
It later stood at $100.59, up 65 cents from Tuesday’s close.
Brent North Sea crude for delivery in March added 38 cents to stand at $109.06 a barrel in early afternoon deals.
“China imported record quantities of crude oil in January,” said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.
“Crude imports climbed to 6.63 million barrels, which is 12 percent up on the year-on-year figure.”
“The figures point to surprisingly robust oil demand in China, which should allay concerns that the dynamism of demand is weakening. That said, the actual picture could have been distorted by purchases brought forward ahead of the Chinese New Year’s festival.”
Oil also won ground after new US Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen said she would stick with its stimulus policy.
“The figures point to surprisingly robust oil demand in China, which should allay concerns that the dynamism of demand is weakening.”
Or could it signal sluggish domestic production?
It is wrong of me to think of Gladys Ormphby whenever I hear Janet Yellen talk?
‘Southern California logged its lowest January…The median price paid for a home dipped from December – a normal seasonal decline – but remained 18 percent higher than January last year. Last month’s Southland sales were 17.3 percent below the average number of sales – 17,493 – in the month of January since 1988. Sales haven’t been above average for any particular month in more than seven years.’
‘Last month sales from $300,000 through $799,999 – a range that includes many move-up buyers – rose 4.7 percent year-over-year. The number that sold for $500,000 or more increased 26.3 percent from one year earlier, while $800,000-plus sales rose 36.7 percent.
In January, 32.0 percent of all Southland home sales were for $500,000 or more, down from a revised 35.0 percent the month before and up from 22.2 percent a year earlier. The number of Southland homes that sold below $200,000 last month dropped 46.8 percent year-over-year, while sales below $300,000 fell 37.1 percent.’
‘Last month 13.5 percent of Southland home purchase loans were adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) – more than double the ARM rate of a year earlier and the highest since April 2008, when it was 16.4 percent. In December 13.0 percent of purchase loans were ARMs, while in January 2013 ARMs accounted for only 5.6 percent of the purchase loan market.’
‘In January 6.3 percent of all Southland homes sold on the open market were flipped, meaning they had previously sold in the prior six months. That’s up from a flipping rate of 5.8 percent the month before and down from 6.6 percent a year earlier. Flipping peaked at 7.0 percent in February 2013. (The figures exclude homes resold after being purchased at public foreclosure auctions on the courthouse steps).’
My brother-in-law is closing on a house in Rome,GA
32, walk out basement, big ass lot… $128k
Granted, it’s Rome, but it’s a nice area IMHO. We talk about the Oil CIty Plan often, but I think that may be too extreme. I think there’s plenty of nice areas within an hour of some major metros - in this case, Atlanta.
Great move for him.
So all roads lead to Rome?
I had a great night in Rome, GA in 1987. When in Rome, I always say…
Carl, I think the saying is when in Rome do as the Romans do. It is not when in Rome do the Romans. Although toward the end of Rome, it pretty much meant the same thing.
You guys are tearing it up.
The other day, I was working with a dyslexic guy from the shipping department. I noticed a lot of containers labeled with the sticker “To Rome”, so I asked him if we had a big customer there. He said no, but he made the stickers because he heard his boss say that all loads read “To Rome”.
(Reuters) - Applications for U.S. home mortgages fell in the latest week as both purchase and refinancing applications slipped, an industry group said on Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, fell two percent to 397.2 in the week ended February 7.
The index hit its lowest level since December 2000 at the end of last year, soon after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced it would start reducing its $85 billion per month bond-buying program as the economy grows strong enough to stand on its own.
The interest rate on fixed 30-year mortgages averaged 4.45 percent last week, down two basis points from the previous week.
The MBA’s seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications fell 0.2 percent. The gauge of loan requests for home purchases, a leading indicator of home sales, fell 5.0 percent.
The survey covers over 75 percent of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.
Now for some real news, will he bring back the mullet:
http://entertainment.iafrica.com/music/897853.html
“will he bring back the mullet:”
True story
These two early twenties dudes with fresh mullet cuts were walking by Lake Worth beach in the early 90’s, two big rednecks in a 4 wheel drive pickup stop next to them and say…..
You boys better get a haircut, from behind you look good enough to fuqe.
Oh dear. I just saw the RealtyTrac foreclosure report for January 2014. It’s embargoed until tomorrow. Should be interesting to see how the press handles it!
It’s embargoed until tomorrow.
Leaker!
All I said was oh dear!
Snippet from JHK’s recent blog….
” All of these nearly incomprehensible shenanigans have been going on because debt all over the world can’t be repaid. The world’s economy, as constructed emergently over the decades, can’t function without repayable debt, which is the essence of “credit” — the fundamental trust implicit in banking. You have “credit” because other persons or parties believe in your ability to repay. After a while, this becomes a mere convention in millions of transactions. What’s happened is that the conventions remain in place but the trust is gone. It’s gone in particular among the parties deemed too big to fail.”
“you cannot debt yourself to prosperity” & “debt is dumb”.
JP Morgan Executive Becomes 5th Banker to Die in Last 2 Weeks
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
February 12, 2014
Two weeks after the suicide of a JP Morgan banker who jumped to his death from the top of a building, another of the firm’s employees has died, with 37-year-old Ryan Henry Crane becoming the 5th banker fatality in just the last few weeks alone.
Crane was an Executive Director in JPM’s Global Program Trading desk based in New York and had been with the firm for 14 years.
Few details have been released concerning the nature of his death, with reports merely stating that Crane is survived by his wife and son.
“We can only hope this disturbing chain of deaths within the financial industry – one of which involved a nail-gun induced suicide – is purely accidental,” writes Zero Hedge.
Some have speculated that the deaths could be a precursor to a major financial collapse, although no hard evidence of a connection has been forthcoming.
Gabriel Magee, a 39-year-old senior manager at JP Morgan’s European headquarters, jumped 500ft from the top of the bank’s headquarters in central London on January 27, landing on an adjacent 9 story roof.
A few days later, Mike Dueker, the chief economist at Russell Investments, fell down a 50 foot embankment in what police described as a suicide. Dueker was reported missing on January 29 by friends, who said he had been “having problems at work.”
On January 26, former Deutsche Bank executive Broeksmit was found dead at his South Kensington home after police responded to reports of a man found hanging at a house. According to reports, Broeksmit had “close ties to co-chief executive Anshu Jain.”
Richard Talley, 57, founder of American Title Services in Centennial, Colorado, was also found dead last week after apparently shooting himself with a nail gun.
Tim Dickenson, a U.K.-based communications director at Swiss Re AG, also died last month, although the circumstances surrounding his death are still unknown.
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t news about people leaping to their deaths from tall buildings due to financial remorse highly reminiscent of the Great Depression era?
FEMA Demands Deployable Homes That Can Serve As “Permanent Housing” During Crisis
Agency wants up to 150 manufactured homes per week delivered “anywhere in the U.S.”
Kit Daniels
Infowars.com
February 12, 2014
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is looking to spend millions on manufactured homes that can be “quickly built and deployed” to any state in America which also have “the added potential to become permanent housing.”
Instead of trailers, FEMA is seeking manufactured homes that can become permanent housing. Credit: Downtowngirl via Wiki
In a presolicitation posted yesterday on FBO.gov, FEMA stated that it intends to “award multiple contracts” worth up to a half-billion dollars for an “indefinite quantity” of one bedroom, two bedroom and three bedroom manufactured homes that can be “installed anywhere in the continuous United States” as well as Washington, D.C.
Contractors awarded under a full and open competitive bid process “shall have the ability to ramp up production to a total of 150 units per week … within a four week notice,” the announcement said, adding that each contractor “must have the capability of delivery to any state in the U.S.”
Unlike the travel trailers deployed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, these are full-size homes which are typically transported by tractor trailers with “Oversize Load” signs.
“Manufactured homes can be quickly built and deployed as temporary housing and also have the added potential to become permanent housing,” FEMA’s Disaster Relief Housing manual states, which listed them at their top-tier of housing types.
This notice is simply the latest in FEMA’s recent preparations for a major pandemic in America.
Last month, FEMA sought companies that could provide operational duties for a “motor coach evacuation of the general population” in response to a government-declared emergency.
One of these duties consists of performing security at “a staging and operational area in the event of a no-notice, life threatening event that requires the contractor’s immediate or rapid deployment.”
FEMA also wanted bio-medical waste experts who could collect and remove bio-hazardous materials during a national emergency.
And the agency also unsuccessfully sought contractors who could provide 100,000 medical scrubs to 1,000 make-shift tent hospitals nationwide on a 48-hour notice.
The contractors that responded said it was impossible for them to fulfill such an Armageddon request.
FEMA even contacted My Patriot Supply back in August in an attempt to secure overnight deliveries of bulk food reserves.
Unlike the aforementioned solicitations, which were all made on FBO.gov, FEMA contacted the company’s owner, Matt Redhawk, directly.
“I’m not one to cry that the sky is always falling, but when DHS/FEMA make a move to quietly buy up emergency food supplies and ask how much we can ship within 24 hours, I think this is far enough outside the realm of what is ‘normal’ to beg some questions,” Redhawk said.
These large-scale purchases indicate that FEMA is not just making routine emergency preparations but is rather gearing up for a major crisis which will involve mass relocation and perhaps even detainment of the public.
I’m surprised these things aren’t already on their way to assist Atlantans.
How would you feel if the bank where you kept your savings suddenly notified you that you no longer have access to your money, due to an electronic “glitch”?
Cyber attack on bitcoin a big warning to currency’s users
By Emily Flitter
NEW YORK Wed
Feb 12, 2014 5:51pm EST
Some of Bitcoin enthusiast Mike Caldwell’s coins are pictured at his office in this photo illustration in Sandy, Utah, January 31, 2014. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
(Reuters) - A massive cyber attack from unknown sources that has been spamming bitcoin exchanges is highlighting some of the dangers people can encounter when they exchange cash for digital currencies like the bitcoin, experts said on Wednesday.
The attack, which is technically known as a distributed denial of service attack, involved thousands of phantom transactions, forcing at least three of the online platforms that store bitcoins and trade them for traditional currencies to halt withdrawals of bitcoins until they can determine which transactions were real.
It showed that bitcoin, which exists solely in cyberspace and operates on a software code written by an unknown programmer or group of programmers, is as vulnerable to such an assault as any other Internet-based business. It exposes the higher risks involved in owning and trading the instrument compared with the dollar and other traditional currencies. Bitcoins slumped in value as a result of the disruptions.
“Bitcoin is still an experimental protocol in its infancy,” said Micky Malka, a venture capitalist who is on the board of Bitcoin’s trade group, the Bitcoin Foundation.
“It will grow and mature over time,” he added. “No one should be investing an amount they cannot afford to lose.”
…
Bitcoin Exchange Bitstamp Halts Customer Withdrawals
By Olga Kharif
Feb 12, 2014 10:25 AM PT
Bitstamp, one of the biggest online Bitcoin exchanges, suspended withdrawals yesterday in the latest setback for the virtual currency following a service disruption at a Tokyo-based exchange last week.
A denial-of-service attack, in which a website is flooded with massive requests for data, obstructed Bitstamp’s ability to check account balances, the exchange said in a statement. Customers can withdraw cash but not Bitcoins, as the company works to fix services, Nejc Kodric, Bitstamp’s chief executive officer, wrote in an e-mail.
The value of Bitcoin, which can be used to buy everything from Tesla Motors Inc. cars to Gummi bears, was down 1.2 percent at $661.17 at 1:15 p.m. in New York today, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index, which averages exchange prices. Mt.Gox, another major online exchange, restored cash withdrawals on Feb. 10 after suspending services last week because of a technical flaw in how service providers reconcile Bitcoin transactions.
“We already established working Bitcoin deposits, meaning that our client can deposit Bitcoins, sell them and withdraw fiat currency without any problems,” Kodric wrote. No funds were lost and transactions that failed on Feb. 10 and 11 will be canceled, Bitstamp said.
“This is a nuisance attack,” said Andreas Antonopoulos, chief security officer for Blockchain.info, a provider of online wallets for a digital currencies. “Funds have not been lost, and have not been affected. What it’s done is slow down their accounting system from reconciling transactions.”
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New Jersey slaps MIT Bitcoin hackers with subpoena — and they’re fighting back
The four-member Tidbit development team.
February 12, 2014 10:02 AM
Eric Blattberg
The MIT students behind Bitcoin mining program Tidbit won the “most innovative” award at a recent hackathon.
But they will soon face a ruling from another kind of judge: one employed by the state of New Jersey.
In early December, a few weeks after the hackathon, the New Jersey division of consumer affairs issued a subpoena to 19-year-old Tidbit developer Jeremy Rubin. The subpoena demanded he turn over everything related to Tidbit: all versions of the source code, all Bitcoin wallets associated with Tidbit, all agreements and communications with third parties, the name and IP addresses of everyone who mined Bitcoins using Tidbit, and so on. It explicitly asked for “all documents and correspondence concerning all breaches of security and / or unauthorized access to computers” by Tidbit.
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Cyprus.