July 13, 2014

Bits Bucket for July 13, 2014

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




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297 Comments »

Comment by Jingle Male
2014-07-13 01:28:46

Where has Ben moved? Did I miss a post?

Comment by Blue Skye
2014-07-13 04:36:35

Yes. You missed the part about “later”.

 
Comment by shendi
2014-07-13 06:07:44

why the impatience?

Comment by Jingle Male
2014-07-13 08:51:11

I am curious about his choice for the worst market and the greatest opportunity to buy real estate. This will be an interesting chapter in the annals of the HBB.

 
 
Comment by rms
2014-07-13 07:20:58

Where has Ben moved?

Where the speculator carcasses are plenty and rebound opportunity exists.

I first thought of Stockton, CA, but the average guy has the odds against him in California. Thus, I say Las Vegas since small blue-collar businesses have a much better chance there. Odds are that it is easier to evict non-paying renters in Nevada than California. Land-lording isn’t as easy as many believe it to be.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 08:27:40

I’ll wager CA because of this…

5 of Top 20 Areas Experiencing Collapsing Housing Demand Located In California

http://www.zillow.com/local-info/#metric=mt%3D30%26dt%3D1%26tp%3D6%26rt%3D14%26r%3D102001%252C394913%252C394806%252C394463%26el%3D0

 
 
 
Comment by Combotechie
2014-07-13 04:25:08

Lol, people who have loads of money can think of interesting ways of spending it:

http://blazepress.com/2014/06/31-sights-will-ever-see-dubai/

Comment by rms
2014-07-13 09:25:56

Some folks are poor regardless of their giddy wealth.

 
 
Comment by Combotechie
2014-07-13 04:41:41

Lol. The term “global warming” morphed into the term “climate change” and now it appears to be morphing into the term “climate disruption”.

Whatever.

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/polar-vortex-climate-change-ice/2014/07/11/id/582195/

Comment by Blue Skye
2014-07-13 09:41:26

A scam by any other name…

 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-07-13 17:14:22

Peeeeee…puhl.

The globe is getting warmer. It’s our fault. Mine too. Let’s move past the denial stage already.

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-07-13 05:39:11

“In a 5-4 decision, the Court sided with Hobby Lobby,”

An angry Reid criticized the decision, saying, “The one thing we are going to do during this work period, sooner rather than later, is to ensure that women’s lives are not determined by the virtues of five white men.”

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Reid said that then-Sen. Barack Obama would be electable because he is “light-skinned” and speaks with “no Negro dialect.”

Harry Reid Slammed By Hometown Paper For ‘Race-Baiting’

2:22 PM 07/12/2014
Chuck Ross
Reporter

The largest newspaper in Nevada is taking Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to task, saying that the Democrat’s recent comments about Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas highlight a pattern of race card rhetoric.

“Harry Reid is the da Vinci of distraction,” reads the editorial from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which was posted online Friday.

“The moment any scandal, policy failure or political defeat crashes down on him — and there have been plenty the past few years — the Senate majority leader unleashes outrageous rhetoric,” the editorial continues, adding that Reid “has become especially fond of slinging race cards just to crank up the outrage.”

The trigger for the Review-Journal was a comment Reid made earlier this week after the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision.

In a 5-4 decision, the Court sided with Hobby Lobby, allowing it and other “closely-held” corporations to skirt the Obamacare mandate that requires companies to provide health insurance plans to their employees that contain coverage for certain contraceptives. Companies like Hobby Lobby can now cite their religious principles in deciding to not provide coverage for those contraceptives.

An angry Reid criticized the decision, saying, “The one thing we are going to do during this work period, sooner rather than later, is to ensure that women’s lives are not determined by the virtues of five white men.”

The issue there is that only four of the justices that sided with Hobby Lobby are white. The fifth justice was Clarence Thomas, who is black.

“Sen. Reid’s slip was no accident,” reads the Review-Journal editorial. “He believes racial and ethnic minorities are ideologically monolithic constituencies who are incapable of independent or — gasp! — right-of-center thinking.”

“In the majority leader’s mind, Mr. Thomas is not an African-American because the justice doesn’t blindly subscribe to liberal orthodoxy,” the paper wrote, before pointing out other examples of Reid compartmentalizing minorities.

During his 2010 re-election campaign, Reid said of Latino voters, “I don’t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, OK? Do I need to say more?”

As the editorial points out, Nevada’s Republican governor, Brian Sandoval, is Hispanic.

“Never mind that Sen. Reid himself, like the entire Senate Democratic leadership, is as white as an Irishman in a snowstorm,” the editorial continues, arguing that after more than five years of Democrats controlling the White House and Senate, unemployment rates for blacks and Hispanics “remains scandalously high.” (RELATED: Harry Reid Apparently Thinks Clarence Thomas Is White)

Reid’s proposed solution to the problem, a higher minimum wage, will make the problem worse, according to the paper.

“Quit the race-baiting already, Sen. Reid,” the editorial continues. “You’re clearly colorblind — in all the wrong ways.”

Despite the brutality of its take-down, the Review-Journal left out one prominent example of Reid’s awkward race-based remarks. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Reid said that then-Sen. Barack Obama would be electable because he is “light-skinned” and speaks with “no Negro dialect.”

Reid apologized in 2010 for those comments.

dailycaller.com/…/07/12/harry-reid-slammed-by-hometown-paper-for-race-baiting/ - 83k -

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 06:07:51

Politicians using the race card are in essence saying anyone who takes the bait is an idiot.

Comment by jose canusi
2014-07-13 07:15:49

I’ll say one thing for Harry Reid, he is, if nothing else, a global elitist and has found a way to mine racial tension to maintain his position. This is a very evil game that can and will rebound back hard on the people who play it.

Comment by Guillotine Renovator
2014-07-13 14:24:24

You are obviously not from Nevada. You don’t know what you’re talking about.

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Comment by jose canusi
2014-07-13 06:39:29

So ridiculous and over the top. Just like I’ve said, two groups of whites who hate each other with a passion and one group uses people of color against the other.

http://www.vdare.com/articles/one-year-after-a-white-hispanic-broods-on-curious-transformation-of-george-zimmerman

“George Zimmerman is another spectacular example of someone’s “Hispanic” status getting revoked. In the bizarre world of the contemporary Left, designated victim groups are in a kind of social contract with their white Cultural Marxist leaders. In exchange for little goodies like EBT, “Obama phones,” and the like, non-whites must fit into a particular narrative of victimization that white Leftists can wield as a political weapon against Southerners, Middle Americans, etc. Poor George Zimmerman was doing his part: supporting Obama, complaining about racism, etc. But then he went and protected himself and his neighborhood. The Left has no use for people who shoot and kill black criminals.”

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 07:57:45

Politicians using the race card are trying to divert attention away from the .01% screwing the 99%. Keep the proles divided among themselves so the looting of all of them can continue unchecked.

Comment by Oddfellow
2014-07-13 08:35:26

¨ Keep the proles divided among themselves¨

Yes. It’s not two groups of white people who hate each other, although that’s exactly what they want you to believe. It’s one small group of mostly white guys who hate everybody else, or at least are willing to throw everyone else under the bus in order to keep their financial schemes going. They know the importance of keeping everyone divided, so they ensure it happens.

Comment by jose canusi
2014-07-13 09:06:54

“it’s not two groups of white people who hate each other, although that’s exactly what they want you to believe.”

No, what “they” want you to believe (and what “they” work hard to create) is that there is racial and ethnic animus between various groups, most specifically (middle and lower class) whites and people of color. For an extra added dimension, disarm and silence middle class whites and see how they can work it out to defend themselves against armed and angry people of color.

Sick perverts. Must be getting harder and harder to get their rocks off.

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Comment by Oddfellow
2014-07-13 09:35:57

¨they” want you to believe (and what “they” work hard to create) is that there is racial and ethnic animus between various groups¨

I agree.

¨disarm and silence middle class whites and see how they can work it out to defend themselves against armed and angry people of color¨

That sounds like the propaganda they use to keep us divided and afraid. Are you not doing what you accuse them of doing?

 
Comment by jose canusi
2014-07-13 11:54:00

If that’s the conclusion you came to, have at it. I don’t give enough of a piece of feces to “clarify” things. It’s like wrestling with a pig. You just get dirty and the pig loves it.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2014-07-13 14:21:02

I just find it surprising that you can be so self-contradictory in such a short space, and not see it yourself. Sorry if that makes me a pig. I guess it’s better than being an easily-led sheep.

 
 
 
 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-07-13 17:20:32

Seems like his main comment is about gender, not race.

 
 
Comment by Combotechie
2014-07-13 05:49:26

I ran across this …

Twelve Things I Hate About Landlording

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/07/12/12-things-i-hate-about-landlording.aspx

Comment by rms
2014-07-13 09:33:33

“2.) Being Lied To…”

When I (repossessor) couldn’t locate a debtor’s vehicle I usually waited for Saturday morning to make contact. Talk about lies, sheesh! There’s a reason some zip codes are red-lined.

 
Comment by shendi
2014-07-13 10:07:07

If this guy is screening the tenants as he points out about 3, 4 times in the article why does he have the problems:
Being lied to
Watching slow motion train wrecks and
Babysitting
The aftermath of an Eviction

Either he is deluded that his screening process works or he is goofing off.
IMO, he still likes landlording because he can show more expenses than actual and get the tax breaks - illegal stuff.

 
Comment by Jingle Male
2014-07-13 12:01:37

Nice article. Well done. Thank you for posting.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 12:05:47

Coincidentally, some of the twelve things this landlord hates about his profession are perfectly aligned with what I love about renting. Especially this one:

12.) CapEx

Finally, let’s talk about CapEx. CapEx, or a capital expenditure, is a non-regular expense that needs to be replaced only once in a while, such as replacing the roof, replacing the furnace, replacing the driveway or parking lot, replacing all the windows, etc. Let’s be honest… our properties are falling apart every minute of every day. Every year the plumbing gets older, the roof shingles get a little thinner, the asphalt a little more cracked. This stuff may seem like it’s not a big deal, but the fact is: there is ALWAYS something new to fix and replace on a property. There is no “done.” This is why it’s so important to budget for CapEx when analyzing a rental property, and why we make it an important part of the BiggerPockets Rental Property Calculator. Ignoring CapEx is a quick way to lose your expected cash flow.

My family will feel forever indebted to our landlords for eating the CapEx (aka depreciation costs), taxes, insurance, HOA dues and even the yard care costs for owning and maintaining the investment property we rent from them.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 12:27:38

“Ignoring CapEx is a quick way to lose your expected cash flow.”

This is the crux of the biscuit for housing. Ignored by most, at their own peril.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 14:55:55

It’s for the benefit of renters with diversified investment portfolios that newbie landlords (like ours) ignore CapEx.

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Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 18:06:36

Our landlords just made a Sunday stop to inspect their investment property. They are an interesting pair…let’s just suffice it to say that she wears the pants and talks in a loud, obnoxious baritone voice, though her husband is a nice enough guy with useful home maintenance skills.

I probably should be more grateful, as they are going to relieve me of the inconvenience of repairing the leak beneath one of the bathroom sinks.

 
 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 06:19:09

Fountain Valley, CA Housing Prices Turn Negative At Peak Of Season; Inventory Doubles As Speculators Seek Exit

http://www.movoto.com/fountain-valley-ca/market-trends/

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 06:20:12

Yorba Linda, CA Housing Prices Crater 11% YoY; Inventory Balloons 61%

http://www.movoto.com/yorba-linda-ca/market-trends/

 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-07-13 06:20:15

This song was not performed by Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole.

Unimpeachable, that’s what you are.
Unimpeachable, though near or far.
Your pen and phone have made it clear to see,
You’re racist if you don’t agree with me,
Never before has someone been more.

Unimpeachable, in every way.
And forever more (and forever more)
That’s how you’ll stay (that’s how you’ll stay)

That’s why Bammy you’re unreachable,
Someone who is unimpeachable,
Knows the Holders’ unimpeachable too.

Comment by phony scandals
2014-07-13 09:48:05

July 13, 2014, 10:53 am

Holder sees ‘racial animus’ in opposition

Attorney General Eric Holder said Sunday he and President Obama have been targets of “a racial animus” by some of the administration’s political opponents.

“There’s a certain level of vehemence, it seems to me, that’s directed at me [and] directed at the president,” Holder told ABC. “You know, people talking about taking their country back. … There’s a certain racial component to this for some people. I don’t think this is the thing that is a main driver, but for some there’s a racial animus.”

drudgereportfeed.com/ - 84k -

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 10:37:00

I guess this “vehemence” and “animus” has nothing to do with the fact that Holder has declared the the TBTF banks are also too big to prosecute, and hence not a single bankster has been held criminally accountable for the massive fraud and swindles that caused the 2008 financial crash and will cause an even more systemic collapse in the not too distant future. And when was the last time a bank caught laundering massive amounts of drug money had criminal charges filed against anyone at the bank?

All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3zwhp5-jXA

 
 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 06:22:29

How bad is the China housing crash going to turn out?

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 06:24:09

Asia
How Bad Would a Housing Market Crash Be for China?
By Dexter Roberts July 02, 2014
Residential properties in Haikou, Hainan Province, China
Photograph by Brent Lewin/Bloomberg

What would a China housing market crash look like?
That question is increasingly on people’s minds as the country’s property slowdown deepens.

Prices of new homes fell for the second consecutive month in June, down by 0.5 percent, month-on-month, compared to a 0.32 percent drop in May, according to the China Real Estate Index System Survey released on Tuesday. Before the May drop, real estate prices in China’s 100 largest cities had been on an almost two-year-long rise. “Judging from the current change in prices, the market has entered into a correction phase after continued price increases over the past two years,” warned CREIS in a statement, reported the China Daily today.

Earlier, the official survey released by the national bureau of statistics on June 18 showed that one half of 70 cities saw prices fall in May, the largest number in two years. In response to the softening market, the city of Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia, announced late last month that it was ending restrictions on purchasing multiple apartments and would open up sales to non-residents. Additional municipalities with similar restrictions on real estate sales are likely to follow suit in coming months.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 06:33:58

China News
China Housing Slump Hits More Than Houses
Construction Wages, Furniture Demand Decline as Housing Prices Fall
By Esther Fung
June 18, 2014 6:29 p.m. ET
Steel traders at a quiet yard in Yinchuan, capital city of west China’s Ningxia province, say the slowdown in demand amid a housing slump hasn’t shown any improvement even during the second quarter, which is typically the strongest season for steel demand. Esther Fung/The Wall Street Journal

YINCHUAN, China—China’s housing slump is affecting other parts of the world’s No. 2 economy, hitting everything from construction-worker wages to furniture demand to sales at Yang Limin’s steelyard in this dusty northern Chinese town.

This is typically the time of year when construction companies are at their busiest, said Mr. Yang, manager at Ningxia Yanbao Steel Market Co. But the firm sold only 100,000 tons of steel this year, he said, down 30% from the same period a year ago. In several steel trading offices down the street, several employees appeared to be dozing at their desks.

“It’s already June, and things haven’t improved,” Mr. Yang said. “And next year doesn’t look so good either.”

Economists at UBS, Standard Chartered and Nomura have identified the real estate sector as the biggest risk to China’s economy, which has slowed significantly from the double-digit growth rates of a decade ago and is now widely believed to be in danger of missing the government’s 2014 growth target of about 7.5%.

The latest negative news came Wednesday, when government data showed average new home prices in 70 cities fell 0.15% month-on-month in May, according to Wall Street Journal calculations. That marked the first monthly drop in the measure since May 2012. Housing prices also declined slightly in Shanghai and Shenzhen, suggesting the slump is spreading to China’s most-developed cities, although they rose slightly in Beijing.

Property sales account for 12% of China’s GDP, Citigroup estimates. But Moody’s Analytics argues that the figure is 23% if construction and house renovation are included.

Indeed, the housing slowdown is being felt beyond the property market, economists said. Growth in spending in construction and renovation, which includes interior decoration, slowed to 14.2% in the first five months of this year, according to official data, compared with 22.1% growth for all of 2013.

Sales of furniture increased 14.7% and household appliances grew 7.3% during the first five months of 2014 compared with a year earlier. During the same period last year, furniture sales were up 21% and household appliance sales were up 21.5%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

In Yinchuan, the provincial capital of China’s northern Ningxia region, the street outside Mr. Yang’s office was quiet. “During the good times, trucks had to line up all along this stretch,” another steel trader said.

The story was largely the same at a nearby wholesale market selling marble and ceramic tiles.

“The boss told us two days ago to focus on shedding inventory,” said a sales manager, who gave only her family name of Pei. Sales since May have fallen off a cliff, she said, leaving the company with 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) worth of unsold tiles collecting dust in a warehouse.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 06:37:19

Housing
Is China stimulus magnifying housing risk?
Katie Holliday
Friday, 11 Jul 2014 | 1:44 AM ETCNBC.com

Chinese authorities’ use of targeted stimulus measures deepened risks in the housing market, according to Societe Generale.

Analysts have grown increasingly concerned about the impact of declining house prices on China’s economy, especially as property represents 30 percent of the overall economy.

“Such a selective policy approach is hardly good news to the housing sector,” said Societe Generale in a note published on Thursday, referring to the government’s mini stimulus moves.

“There is no room for complacency when it comes to housing sector risk,” they added.

So far stimulus has targeted weaker areas of the economy - a stark contrast to the far-reaching policies of 2008-2009, which critics argue contributed to excessive credit growth.

However, because recent measures were smaller and more selective, they stabilized credit growth rather than boosting it and the housing market is suffering as a result, SocGen said.

“The housing sector downturn, as suggested by very recent price data, is deepening further and very likely to be protracted, in the absence of another credit boom,” the analysts said.

Comment by shendi
2014-07-13 10:12:46

You can see of those Chinese that see the writing on the wall liquidate their properties and buy properties in the USA / Canada.

I wonder how many of the people that bought the houses in the US are related to those party officials & business owners with IGG (ill gotten gains).

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-07-13 10:14:56

and very likely to be protracted, in the absence of another credit boom

So the real question affecting the future of the economy in China is whether their elite will behave the same way as our elite.

Ours certainly poured on the “another credit boom”…

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 06:41:33

ft dot com
Markets Insight
July 7, 2014 6:04 am
End to China’s property boom has barely begun
By George Magnus
Financial markets are having trouble pricing the implications

Buildings are seen in the central business district in Beijing on June 6, 2014. After years of boom that have seen prices rocket, the prospect of a bust is looming over China’s vast property sector, with authorities hoping to avoid a meltdown that could send shock waves through the world’s second-biggest economy. AFP PHOTO / GREG BAKER (Photo credit should read GREG BAKER/AFP/Getty Images)©AFP

The Chinese property sector is in a recession. Market optimists insist it is going through an “adjustment” similar to previous property downturns.

A more sober view, however, is that because of unprecedented overbuilding, and leverage nurtured by the eruption of shadow banking, this downturn is both more serious and systemic. China is probably in the first stage of a denouement of the property- and construction investment-led growth model of the past 15 years. Financial markets are having trouble pricing the implications

Property accounts for about 25 per cent of capital investment, and roughly 13 per cent of gross domestic product. Incorporating associated industries, such as steel, cement, and construction machinery and materials, would raise the investment share of GDP to about 16 per cent.

If this leading edge of China’s growth model saw a fall in investment growth from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, economic growth would slide by roughly 2 per cent, taking into account secondary effects. The stream of downward revisions to economic growth is not over yet.

Despite structural oversupply, the decline in property starts, sales and prices has not yet been extraordinary. Property and land prices have been declining since the end of 2013, and have further to go, but they may not collapse as a result of forced sales by households. Household leverage and mortgage loan-to-value ratios are low, and homeowners are subject to large downpayments on first and second homes.

Yet there is no masking chronic oversupply. Urban housing completion rates remain far in excess of the effective demand by the population with urban “hukou”, that is, urban registration. Across-the-board falls in construction indicator volumes and values have been accompanied by a sharp rise in inventories of unsold homes, and a surge to about 20 per cent in the aggregate vacancy rate.

While weaker trends have permeated the largest cities, they are most acute in so-called Tier 3 and 4 cities, which account for almost 70 per cent of homes under construction and home sales, and almost 60 per cent of housing investment. Inventories have risen to about 15-30 months of sales in many of these cities.

Further, the intricate connections between residential and commercial property, shadow banking and vigorous credit creation raise financial instability risks. Direct commercial bank property loans form about a fifth of bank assets, but perhaps half of all bank loans are collateralised by property and land.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 07:04:36

ft dot com
Markets Insight
April 1, 2014 4:02 am
China’s shadow banks at risk of a property crash
By Henny Sender
Capital outflows and falling property values could create cascading losses

Chinese men squat in the Ghengis Khan Square in the ‘Kangbashi New Area’ of Ordos, Inner Mongolia, China, 24 July 2012. Known as the empty ghost town of the wealthy mining city of Ordos, Kangbashi was built to house a million people but less than 30,000 people live in this spanking new town built in 2004 filled with state-of-the-art infrastructure and stunning architectural structures like the Ordos Museum. Soaring property prices due to rampant speculation and close proximity to the existing old town of Dongsheng, about 25 kilometers, away are some of the reasons that has made residents stay away. EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG©EPA

Lehman moment

In spite of reports by alarmist analysts that the shadow banking system is shaping up to be the country’s “Lehman” or “Bear Stearns” moment, or is the equivalent of the subprime mortgage crisis in the US, most people here believe that shadow banking does not represent a systemic threat.

They point out that the shadow banks are the product of a system in which interest rates and the price of money are controlled and kept artificially low both for savers and privileged borrowers, notably the state-owned enterprises. So, as China eases restrictions on rates, the shadow banks will naturally atrophy.

Ghost cities

That leaves a third group – the property companies. The ghost cities that are the subject of scare headlines in the west represent a small minority of the total construction, the optimists believe. After all, just over 20 years ago, many believed that now prosperous Pudong was a ghost town.

What happens to property prices will play a big part in determining the degree to which shadow banking is resolved in a positive way. If property prices rise too quickly, social stability becomes an issue. But if they fall too precipitously, there may be an avalanche of defaults in wealth management products issued by developers.

If the bears are proved right, it will be because of a combination of factors starting with a big decline in property values. The bear argument has several components. Start with the reversal in China’s currency policy, which had seen the renminbi steadily appreciate over the past few years.

Today, the sudden depreciation in the renminbi makes it less attractive to hold either the Chinese currency or renminbi-denominated investments in China. That is particularly true of property, which has long been the favoured investment destination of the growing number of plutocrats on the mainland.

Now combine that with curbs on corruption, which makes it even more compelling to put money outside China. Sure, China still has capital controls, which means that the outflows cannot assume the massive proportions of, say, Indonesia during the Asian financial crisis when the rupiah plummeted. Nonetheless, the combination of capital outflows and a drop in property values could create cascading losses in the shadow banks.

But today most people expect the government will orchestrate a more benign outcome. “We have become too accustomed to bailouts,” warns one prominent Hong Kong credit investor. “Everyone focuses on the government’s ability, not its willingness, for bailouts. We are all too complacent.”

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 07:13:11

China continues to move from a $2.50 an hour textile producing economy to a $5.00 an hour auto and high tech economy. At the former China is not competitive with other cheaper economies such as former but as the latter it is a threat to the U.S. and Germany. Another example of China’s technological progress is the link below about super computers in China. I believe in consistency applying the same standard. For the United States this board is very sound in saying that housing prices are too high in relationship to incomes and incomes are not increasing to keep up with inflation. In China while housing prices have clearly gotten out of line with incomes, ten percent wage growth can rapidly close that gap with just stable house prices.

http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-06/26/content_17617417.htm

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 08:58:09

When China first started to develop textiles and furniture production were two industries targeted. The primary victims were red states such as North and South Carolina. The blue states such as California were against either tariffs or even a weaker dollar. Actually, it benefitted from a new market for its high tech goods since China had money due to the exports. It wanted the dollar higher since it encourages foreign investment to have a strong currency. Now, the hammer is about to drop on silicon valley, China is entering the high tech competition. Ironically, due to higher wages in China, North Carolina can not compete in the production of furniture and some jobs are coming back. However, compared to wages in NOCal, China has an incredible advantage.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2014-07-13 12:52:27

China’s miracle growth was fueled by the massive decades long credit expansion in the US and Europe. Lately it has taken their own massive credit expansion, much larger, to keep them growing. Credit expansions do not continue on to infinity.

That possum is way out on a fragile Persimmon branch.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 12:59:28

Credit expansions do not continue on to infinity.

But they can last decades and China can go at least another decade before even its national debt reaches our level. They have a debt around 17% of GDP, we are over 100%.

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Comment by Blue Skye
2014-07-13 14:14:31

Oh, I get it. China, Russia and Brazil will just lend to each other until they all reach a new plateau of sustainable prosperity!

In ten years China will have enough housing units to shelter twice the world’s population!

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 14:22:22

You are assuming that they will continue to spend money on housing instead of defense, infrastructure and energy projects, why?

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 14:58:47

But they can last decades and China can go at least another decade before even its national debt reaches our level. They have a debt around 17% of GDP, we are over 100%.

Are you vying for the title of ‘most irrelevant strawman posts by one HBB poster’ or something?

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 15:00:20

You are assuming that they will continue to spend money on housing instead of defense, infrastructure and energy projects, why?

1. That’s the growth path they are on.

2. When they leave the growth path they are on, a massive crash will ensue.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 15:14:54

Are you vying for the title of ‘most irrelevant strawman posts by one HBB poster’ or something?

Whac I would not take your title. Why is it irrelevant to state a fact that China is much less in debt than the U.S. so it could continue to increase debt for a long time? And as far as your other post, no they are not continuing to support the building of housing, that is our policy not China. The Chinese are not spending government funds to promote housing or trying to keep the bubble going. They took actions to pop the bubble and the only thing being done by some cities is allowing speculators to speculate with their own money to buy more houses, now that houses have started to fall in price. Allowing the free market to work is never a bad strategy and interference such as a rule forbidding people to buy houses was interference. I see China using the free market to fix the housing bubble and there is nothing wrong with that.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2014-07-13 15:25:53

¨Allowing the free market to work is never a bad strategy and interference such as a rule forbidding people to buy houses was interference.¨

Doesn’t China have two classes of people, those who can live in urban areas and those who can’t? Is that allowing the free market to work? China is more of an example of how far crony capitalism teamed with state direction of the economy can go if unchecked by any semblance of rule of law.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 15:34:54

I agree that China has not fully become a free market economy. I am just saying it is moving in that direction and we are moving away from a free market economy. That is why the wealth gap between the countries is rapidly closing. Our advantage over China was due to free enterprise and we are losing that advantage. Combine that with the fact that our average IQ is dropping largely due to immigration and the handwriting is on the wall.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 15:41:20

“Whac I would not take your title.”

Tit-for-tat tactics won’t change the fact that you are constantly blowing propaganda smoke in HBB readers eyes regarding China’s looming real estate crash.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 15:42:41

Doesn’t China have two classes of people, those who can live in urban areas and those who can’t? Is that allowing the free market to work?

Communistic governments are big on free market economic policies these days.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 15:55:16

Tit-for-tat tactics won’t change the fact that you are constantly blowing propaganda smoke in HBB readers eyes regarding China’s looming real estate crash.

You started the ad hominem attacks. Why? Why would you get so angry about a legitimate difference of opinion? I am not posting propaganda, I am posting facts. The only think I can think of is you do not like to be shown up by facts. Obama has the U.S. close to collapse, China at worse is facing a slowdown to 5% growth per year. That is the reality and you have not posted anything factual that suggests otherwise. Show me one credible ( well known, Ivy league preferred but a track record of accuracy is acceptable) economist that has even suggested that China will grow less than 5% this year even with a total collapse of real estate.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 15:59:14

I made no ad hominem attack. Pointing out that you were way off on predicting a Romney win, based on Rasmussen poll numbers, was merely meant to refresh everyone’s memory about where you are coming from.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 16:08:04

I have actually used the same name for the entire time I have been on the blog. Unlike you I do not have to change my name all the time since I am seldom right about anything. You can’t even find a legitimate time I was wrong so it is a cheap shot.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 16:11:54

“You can’t even find a legitimate time I was wrong so it is a cheap shot.”

You keep forgetting about your Romney miss. And it is really, really relevant, as you are making the same mistake right now trying to sell us all a bill of goods on China.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 16:27:27

You keep forgetting about your Romney miss.

What is the Romney miss? Show me a post where I say that I predict Romney will win. Not a post where I say he could win but one post where I say he will win. Unlike you I have been so accurate I do not need to change my name to avoid being laughed at.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 16:38:22

“Unlike you I have been so accurate…”

With posts like that one, there is no need for you to change your name to arouse laughter.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 16:46:38

Just some examples
1. When I said the Fed’s policies would lead to more wealth being transferred to the rich than under Bush you attacked it. Numbers now prove it.
2. You disagreed with me about AGW, it is now the consensus on this board.
3. You said I was wearing a tin hat when I said the unemployment numbers had to be false before the 2012 election, it has been proven that I was right.
4. I said that the Arab Spring was a disaster and we would being paying at the pump, you were on the other side.
5. I said that Obama’s policy in Syria would destabilize Iraq and raise oil prices, you predicted much lower oil prices, I could go on and on but why bother. You have learned not to disagree with me with numbers so you do not look like an Obama idiot that is why you will not make a prediction about the GDP of China.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 16:55:05

ABQDan, you have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt the superiority of your predictive powers.

Now back to the subject of interest. I note that Japan’s situation looked similarly rosy in the late 1980s to China’s today. What happened next was a two-decades-long collapse in their stock and real estate markets.

I’m sure this was simply an anomaly, and it is different today in China…

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 17:06:54

Really, I seem to remember Japanese workers making very similar wages to the US workers at the time and their property being many times per square foot what our property was worth. I do not see that in China, Beijing while expensive is not as expensive as NY and their wages are still well below the US, although closing rapidly.

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 14:57:12

Credit expansions do not continue on to infinity.

Wait a minute. Are you suggesting that trees don’t grow to the sky?! That’s not what I heard…

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Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 07:59:34

well if they follow our lead they will start printing a lot of yuans and hand them out to speculators who got holding the bag?

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 08:33:58

I think if you are going to be successful in investing you need to consistently apply objective measurements. To measure housing bubbles, I think two measurements are the most important. The price of the house compared to the cost of renting and the cost of the average house compared to the average wage. By both metrics housing in China is overvalued even more so than coastal California property but not much more than California. The difference, I can easily see wages in China doubling over the next ten years. California will be lucky to see 20%. Thus, while housing prices will drop in China, I would be much more worried about Coastal California.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 12:08:55

“The difference, I can easily see wages in China doubling over the next ten years.”

Given the excessive dependence of their economy, and especially their banking system, on real estate, how is this going to work out against the backdrop of an epic real estate crash?

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 12:36:23

I told you they are moving into much more profitable manufacturing. The simple truth people that question the accuracy of Chinese numbers ignore, is there is more than enough independent data out there to confirm that their numbers are in the ball park. An economist does not need to accept Chinese export figures as accurate, he or she can rely on the import figures of Chinese major trade partners. The import and export figures of these Chinese trading partners gives someone the ability to estimate Chinese growth within a relatively tight range and guess what while China might always claim on the high side of that range, suggesting some manipulation, its numbers fall within that range.

Even the hard landing scenario in China with a total housing blow-up suggest five percent growth. Obama would have sex with Lola to achieve that number. No China is like many Chinese students nothing less than an “A” will do. They go insane with just the possibility they might get an A-. Meanwhile Obama’s economy had a solid F in the first quarter and his people are bragging we might get a C in this quarter.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 12:42:40

Seem to have lost a post. I will shorten it, I told you China is moving up the manufacturing ladder and is producing goods with a much higher value added.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 15:01:59

“The simple truth people that question the accuracy of Chinese numbers ignore,…”

Why would anyone in his right mind ever presume to question the veracity of China’s reported economic figures?

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 15:04:42

The deluge of lawsuits over China’s missing metals has begun
By Heather Timmons
July 10, 2014
Looks pretty solid. Reuters/Fayen Wong

South Africa’s Standard Bank has called in the lawyers to deal with China’s burgeoning metals scandal, in which copper, aluminum, and other commodity stockpiles may have been fraudulently used as collateral for bank loans. Standard said only that it has “started legal proceedings” related to $210 million of aluminum in warehouses in Qingdao and other locations in China’s Shandong province, joining what could be a cascade of potentially competing lawsuits and claims in Chinese courts.

 
Comment by Pete
2014-07-13 15:25:38

“Obama would have sex with Lola to achieve that number.”

Of all the plebeian Lola comments you rascals force out, that one actually approaches funny.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 15:29:36

There is a big difference between legitimately questioning whether China is fudging numbers a few tenths of a point and trying to say that a country that is growing somewhere around seven per cent a year is actually collapsing, one is a legitimate debate and the other one suggests that someone is off his or her meds. People are being paid millions of dollars per year to figure out the real growth rate and those people are virtually all determining that China’s numbers are in the ball park.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 15:45:35

“…a country that is growing somewhere around seven per cent a year is actually collapsing…”

Nobody but yourself ever suggested this. You must be an attorney, because your lies and misrepresentations grow without bound.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 16:09:47

What are you suggesting, I am suggesting around 7% growth in China both this year and next so what is your prediction?

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 16:12:54

I’m not in the prediction business, pal. That’s your game.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 16:29:57

Yes, that is one way to avoid being showed up. However, it does not demonstrate any confidence in your predictions.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 16:40:01

I didn’t know that posting here was a de facto entry in a forecasting contest. Nobody who reads here would dare challenge you, after seeing how accurate your 2012 Romney election victory forecast turned out.

 
Comment by Guillotine Renovator
2014-07-13 20:55:52

AlbDan = China pimp.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 06:22:39

La Habra, CA Housing Prices Plummet 10% YoY; Inventory Skyrockets 127% As Sellers Panic

http://www.movoto.com/la-habra-ca/market-trends/

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 06:24:56

Temecula, CA Housing Prices Crater 9%; Excess Housing Inventory Balloons 142%

http://www.movoto.com/temecula-ca/market-trends/

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 06:25:15

What are the chances that currently elevated housing prices around the developed world economies will lead to the first ever global housing crash?

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 06:27:19

IMF Warns of Global Housing Crash on High Prices

June 12 (Bloomberg) — Bloomberg’s Olivia Sterns reports on today’s top headlines on Bloomberg Television’s “The Pulse.”

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 06:46:47

China’s shadow banking system could bring down the world’s hottest property markets
Mamta Badkar, Business Insider | July 7, 2014 | Last Updated: Jul 7 1:21 PM ET
China saw US$464 million in outbound real estate investment Q1 in 2014 into Chicago. US$38 million into London, US$242 million into Sydney, US$150 million in Melbourne and US$144 million into Los Angeles. AP photo

Chinese investors are major players in the international real estate markets.

The country’s outbound property investment totaled US$2.1 billion in Q1 2014, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.

And now there are concerns about the quality of the loans that have fed into international property markets.

Will China’s capital flight fuel property bubbles overseas or cause a collapse when China’s liquidity dries up?” wrote Andrew Collier, managing director, Orient Capital Research.

In an email titled “Will China’s Shadow Banking Kill the International Property Market?” Collier writes that the US$2.1 billion figure most likely understates true outbound Chinese property investment because it is hard to track shadow lending.

Shadow lending is about 40% of total loans so the figure for property investment could easily be double US$2.1 billion — or more,” writes Collier. “More important, the funds are targeted in just a few places; just three cities, Chicago (who knew?), London and Sydney account for 50% of investment. No doubt, Los Angeles and New York will catch up soon.”

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 12:44:50

Mamta Badkar, Business Insider | July 7, 2014 | Last Updated: Jul 7 1:21 PM ET
China saw US$464 million in outbound real estate investment Q1 in 2014 into Chicago. US$38 million into London, US$242 million into Sydney, US$150 million in Melbourne and US$144 million into Los Angeles. AP photo

Doesn’t anyone else see what chump change this really is when you have an economy like China’s which is north of 9 trillion dollars per year?

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 06:51:05

10:00 am ET Jul 8, 2014
China
China Fuels Surge in Foreign Purchases of U.S. Housing
By Nick Timiraos

Foreign purchases of U.S. real estate jumped by 35% last year, and the Chinese led the way, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Chinese buyers have become the largest source of foreign cash in the U.S. residential real estate market, accounting for nearly one in four dollars spent by foreigners on American housing last year, the National Association of Realtors said in its annual survey of international property sales.

China accounted for $22 billion in international sales for the 12 month period ending March 2014, or 24% of all foreign sales, up from $12.8 billion, or 19%, during the year-earlier period.

Total international property sales rebounded last year to $92.2 billion, according to the NAR’s estimates, up from $68.2 billion in 2013 and $82.5 billion in 2012. The total represented around 7% of the market for all U.S. sales of previously owned homes during the same period.

In recent years, American real-estate markets have been viewed alternately as a safe haven and a bargain amid concerns over geopolitical instability or unsustainable asset values abroad.

U.S. real-estate also continues to be popular thanks to the dollar’s weakness against some currencies, though the currency advantage has dimmed somewhat for Canadian buyers that had been particularly aggressive property buyers in the U.S. in 2011 and 2012. Some agents say that American higher education is also a top draw for some trophy-property buyers.

“Foreign buyers are being enticed to U.S. real estate because of what they recognize as attractive prices, economic stability, and an incredible opportunity for investment in their future,” said Steve Brown, the NAR’s president, who is the co-owner of a real-estate brokerage in Dayton, Ohio.

European and Latin American buyers have helped push prices of South Florida condos to record highs in recent years, while foreign buyers of all stripes have sent prices of new Manhattan developments to astronomical levels. Asian buyers, particularly Chinese, have also been a major force in select property markets in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Overseas buyers tend to hunt for trophy properties. This helps explain why the median purchase price to international clients ($268,284 last year) is significantly higher than for all sales ($199,575). That’s particularly true of Chinese buyers, where the average purchase price topped $590,000 and the median exceeded $523,000. Canadian and Mexican buyers, by contrast, appear to buy much more modest homes.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 07:22:44

I think we already had that in 2008. It just wasn’t the United States. For example, ask the folks in Ireland. BTW, I tried to answer your question about China but I made the mistake of putting a link within the answer so it may be a while before it posts.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 07:44:02

“I think we already had that in 2008.”

Yes and no.

My recollection is that while prices temporarily declined in the U.S. and many other developed country economies, a massive influx of monetary stimulus pushed prices back up to record territory, where they remain today.

The question of interest regards the sustainability of this financially-engineered Echo Bubble.

Comment by ibbots
2014-07-13 08:04:31

‘prices temporarily declined ‘ - prices were down for 2 solid years. Nobody expected that to last forever, especially in places like San Diego.

The notion that prices will return to 1994 levels is just that, a notion.

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 08:06:29

Then you’re in for a hefty surprise. Reproduction costs are already at 1994 levels… Lot, labor, materials and profit.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 08:13:39

Nobody expected that to last forever, especially in places like San Diego.

Did you somehow miss the memo that the Fed used QE3 to deliberately reflate the housing market, beginning in January 2012?

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 08:25:43

It isn’t just about “re-inflating” the housing market. It’s more about allowing banks to kick the can down the road and allowing crony-capitalist firms like Blackstone to buy up distressed properties with the Fed’s free gambling money. In addition, since savers and pensioners are getting screwed over by ZIRP, with real-world inflation paid by real people much higher than official statistics, the “reach for yield” has forced millions of Americans to speculate on real estate or the stock market rather than let their savings and incomes be eroded by the Fed’s endless QE.

 
Comment by ibbots
2014-07-13 09:13:40

Like I said, nobody expected it to last forever. The point being that a lot of bubble sitters saw the decline in prices as a chance to become buyers. The prospect of bubble sitting another 5-10 years isn’t appealing to some.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 09:18:07

The reality is prices fall historically. Don’t expect prices to rise forever. (They’re already falling again).

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 10:38:20

Lumber prices are dropping hard. That is a leading indicator of a construction slowdown.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 12:10:23

“That is a leading indicator of a construction slowdown.”

In the US? Or in China?

Where?

 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-07-13 17:38:17

I expected prices in San Diego to go down much further than they actually did. At their lowest point, condo prices with HOA dues and property taxes were still much more expensive than apartment rents. And the affordability factor never got back down to historic norm. Yeah, Sandy D will always be more expensive than Phoenix, but I was baffled that prices didn’t fully correct during the first crash.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 18:00:42

“I expected prices in San Diego to go down much further than they actually did.”

Well, that is one reason to suspect this isn’t over yet, isn’t it? Either this is the first time in history that a bubble stayed inflated forever, or else there are lower future San Diego home prices ahead relative to incomes and rents.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 18:06:53

This is just getting legs under it now.

 
 
 
 
Comment by scdave
2014-07-13 07:24:11

elevated housing prices around the developed world economies will lead to the first ever global housing crash ??

Lets look at the last 4 recessions….1981-2….2001-004….2001-2002…And 2007-??….

Whats the common denominator in all of them…?? Money…81-2 was the cost of it….2001-04 was the fall-out of over-leveraged, unneeded commercial real estate due to Uncontrolled S&L lending…2001-2002 was over-leveraged Dot-Com ideas…2007 was Over-leveraged real estate in all categories due to reckless underwriting and the corrupt vehicle of unloading that debt through securitization…

What do we have today ?? I would suggest we have none of the above but we do have a new ingrediate that the others did not…Interest rates at levels never seen before…

Japan has gone 20 years with this kind of stimulative monetary policy…If as some believe, we are in a new paradigm regarding our economy and unemployment, wages falling behind and part time employment, could we be faced with the same fate as Japan ??

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 08:18:45

Remember Dave…. Current asking prices of resale housing are 300% higher than long term trend and 2x construction costs(lot, labor, materials and profit).

 
 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 07:41:14

I think the Without the Chinese buying real estate in California, U.S. housing in all states would be crashing severely. In 1989 the Japanese buyers propped up real estate in America. Until it stopped. This time the difference is by numbers. It could take a few years but it will crash in the U.S. severely.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 07:45:53

I guess we should thank the Chinese investor horde for saving the U.S. from a severe housing crash?

Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 07:55:23

700 san antonio street, sacramento ca seems like a good buy @ 609k for 1541 sq ft.

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 08:03:32

Why buy it when you can rent if for half the monthly cost?

 
Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 11:43:41

easily rent for 2000/ month

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 12:00:39

Negative cashflow Poet.

 
Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 18:10:06

rakn in cashflow renter

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 18:47:27

And you’re going deeper in the hole by the day.

 
 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 07:55:22

I think while the Chinese buying due to its concentration in places such as CA and NY, has had an impact. But as someone pointed out on this board it is still only about 1% of all house sales in the U.S. so I do not think it has held up house prices throughout the country and it is not likely to do so. The Fed’s low interest policies have prevented housing prices from realigning with wages but when interest rates reach market rates they will realign and I do not see wages rising meaningful so houses will have to drop in real terms.

Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 08:04:35

should I feel proud to overpay for a house that was propped up with mortgage assistance? why am I forced to overpay for an asset that is manipulated bby printed cash?

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 08:04:58

You’re overstating it. Foreign buyers is up 35% to a whole whopping 7% of the market. That’s about historical norms. Giving the NAR press department something to do is about all it amounts to. It’s an estimate based on a survey of realtors. And you know what that means.

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Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 08:25:46

muppet

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 08:29:01

Good morning Amy/$hitHouse Poet.

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 08:17:51

“But as someone pointed out on this board it is still only about 1% of all house sales in the U.S.”

As usual, you are missing the relevant statistic, which is that Chinese buyers are setting the bid at the high end of the market (e.g. CA Coastal).

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 08:39:07

As usual you do not even read my posts, I explicitly stated it was holding up California (coastal) and NY (city) and I assume that people know that both places tend to be high end. However, just because it is holding up high end in two places it does not mean it is doing anything for Cleveland or for that matter Albuquerque or even upstate New York or inland California.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 09:40:21

If housing demand weren’t collapsing by every measurable parameter in CA, you might have a point. Prices aren’t holding up considering demand is collapsing.

Everyone understands this fundamental point; Why buy when I can rent for half the monthly cost?

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-07-13 10:30:32

However, just because it is holding up high end in two places it does not mean it is doing anything for Cleveland

You’re right—Cleveland is being propped up strictly by the Fed and the FHA/GSEs.

 
 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 08:55:39

I beg to differ. I suspect high prices in California and New York justify the exuberance in other states. For example, Arizona house prices should be depressed like in 2011. Some say that Blackstone and the Canadians rescued Arizona from the dumpsters. I dont see millenials buying McMansions. Just sports star millenials perhaps. The Chinese are not looking at Arizona.

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 09:03:10

I am not even quite sure what point you are making. Arizona is being held up with blackstone money? You just supported my argument that outside of coastal California and NYC, what is holding up house prices is the Fed. Blackstone is using cheap Fed money.

 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 09:29:39

Well I would say the Fed’s ZIRP is most likely supporting Arizona house prices. Thanks.

Yes this October the idiotic bond buying is going to stop. And the rates will rise in 2015.

For Arizona sellers it can only get worse from October onward. The lame argument says there will be a rush of buyers panicking to buy to lock in rates. Garbage! Some people might panic buy. But the Investors are gone. The SFH rental shacks are already bought up. The millenials are not buying. The jobs are not there to afford a decent nabe.

I predict a 10% drop in Maricopa county house prices in the next eighteen months. It is worth it for me to continue working in California another three years.

Been renting my same place since October 2004 in Phoenix. And I will get another lease renewal in a month. Worth it to renew for more years. I am anticipating an incredible buyers market in Phoenix and it will get better each year than the previous. Prices will be below the bottom of the last five years.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 12:12:31

I beg to differ. I suspect high prices in California and New York justify the exuberance in other states.

Yep. It’s not like CA and NY exist in some kind of bubble, sequestered from the rest of the U.S. economy.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 13:59:29

Yep. It’s not like CA and NY exist in some kind of bubble, sequestered from the rest of the U.S. economy

The price of real estate in San Francisco does not impact the price of real estate in a meaningful way much further than a person is willing to drive to work. Otherwise the price of real estate would be much higher in the inland empire.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 15:05:57

The price of real estate in San Francisco does not impact the price of real estate in a meaningful way much further than a person is willing to drive to work.

Study up on economics and get back to us, pal!

 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 15:28:43

One thing for sure: when the Chineseeople stop buying real estate and when mortgage rates go up, house prices will crater. Both situations will happen more sooner than later.

 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 19:28:36

I still think when (not if) California real estate crashes, so will the rest of the country. Unless the rest of the country crashes before.

 
Comment by rms
2014-07-13 21:57:53

“I still think when (not if) California real estate crashes, so will the rest of the country.”

+1 Wonder if Christopher Thornberg will fill his Huggies?

 
 
 
 
Comment by Pete
2014-07-13 15:32:13

“What are the chances that currently elevated housing prices around the developed world economies will lead to the first ever global housing crash?”

All things considered, pretty good if given time. Maybe Ben moved to Rio!

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 15:42:51

No. I don’t think Jonesy is a Lola wannabe.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 15:47:26

“Maybe Ben moved to Rio!”

There are too many great incipient crash opportunities stateside to bother heading south of the equator.

 
Comment by Pete
2014-07-13 15:48:12

I say ‘given time’ because China is a true test case for what level of misery humans will endure for shelter. And it’s a test case for public tolerance of corruption. So are we, but we’ve got nothing on these guys. Yes, RE has to fall. And if it really crashes in China, we can say goodbye to alot of buyers over here. Crater. But China never ceases to amaze me, the way strict central planning can coexist with rampant local corruption, and the way the population is conditioned to accept the results so far. Their breaking point is impossible to nail down. Could be decades more of the same.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 15:50:34

“Could be decades more of the same.”

Based on recent press coverage, it seems like the crash is playing out as I type.

But I defer to the expert opinions of those who are also experts on Rasmussen poll results…

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Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 15:56:48

The Chinese real estate crash is so blatantly obvious, it’s pretty hard to believe that anyone who is paying attention could be blind enough to miss it.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 15:57:48

Thu., July 10, 2014 11:45am (EDT)
China’s Booming Real Estate Market Finally Begins To Slide
By Frank Langfitt
Updated: 3 days ago

After years of stunning growth, China’s go-go real estate market is now in retreat.

Prices fell last month in 79 out of 100 cities, according to the China Real Estate Index run by SouFun Holdings, a real estate website. Land sales dropped nearly 30 percent this spring from a year earlier.

Real estate has been one of the engines driving the world’s second-largest economy, which is why economists in China and around the world are watching the market closely these days.

Among the harder-hit cities are midsized provincial ones like Wuxi, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, about an hour by bullet train from Shanghai. Drive into town at night and you’ll pass rows of 25- to 30-story apartment blocks with just a handful of the apartments illuminated.

“There’s nothing you can do,” says Huang Jiqiang, an agent with Central Plains Real Estate here. He says supply and demand are completely out of whack.

“Now all the new housing complexes are dropping their prices and doing promotions because there are just too many homes,” he says. “There aren’t that many buyers, and the pool of buyers is getting smaller and smaller. Homes are still under construction out there.”

Huang says prices in Wuxi, which has a population of nearly 5 million, have already dropped 15 to 20 percent this year. He estimates it would take nearly 2 1/2 years to sell off all of Wuxi’s current housing stock.

In private comments leaked online, an official with one of China’s biggest developers, Vanke, estimated that the city’s unsold inventory was actually double that, almost five years’ worth of empty apartments. By all accounts, the culprits are overbuilding, inflated prices and almost no local demand.

Every local family has at least two or three apartments, so they have already enough space to live,” says Huang, sitting in a noisy office on a recent, rainy morning. “If an outsider wants to buy a new apartment, they can’t afford it. A 970-square-foot apartment on average costs more than $116,000. The way they see it, that’s a lot of financial pressure.

That’s especially true in a city where the average annual salary is just $8,200.

Wuxi has been trying to lure in people from elsewhere to prop up the market.

Buy a 650-square-foot apartment, and the government will throw in a much-coveted local residency permit, which entitles your children to public schooling, among other benefits. So far, Huang says, that’s not enough.

Many clients are still waiting and seeing and hoping there will be further price cuts from the current levels,” he says.

 
Comment by Pete
2014-07-13 17:34:08

“The Chinese real estate crash is so blatantly obvious…”

Yes. But as I said, they never cease to amaze me.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 06:30:05

La Mesa, CA Housing Prices Plummet 9% YoY As Excess Housing Inventory Piles Up

http://www.movoto.com/la-mesa-ca/market-trends/

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 06:34:15

DeSoto, TX(Dallas) Housing Prices Sink 5% YoY As Excess Inventory Grows 20%

http://www.movoto.com/desoto-tx/market-trends/

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 06:54:01

I’m curious whether others interpret the post I am about to make as a major policy shift by the Fed?

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 06:55:01

6:59 am ET Jul 8, 2014
Bank of England
Grand Central: Yellen Didn’t Rule Out Monetary Policy to Combat Bubbles

Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen caused a stir last week when she appeared to rule out raising interest rates to tame financial bubbles. But a close reading of her comments suggests she actually went to great lengths to leave her options open.

Ms. Yellen made headlines by asserting monetary policy faces “significant limitations” as a tool to protect financial stability and shouldn’t be used right now to restrain markets. She went on to argue that regulatory tools should be the Fed’s first line of defense against future bubbles, a stance very much in line with that of her predecessor Ben Bernanke.

In several instances, however, she explicitly said the Fed might someday need to raise interest rates to tamp down overheating markets.

“I am mindful of the potential for low interest rates to heighten the incentives of financial market participants to reach for yield and take on risk, and of the limits of macroprudential measures to address these and other financial stability concerns,” she said in one example. “Accordingly, there may be times when an adjustment in monetary policy may be appropriate to ameliorate emerging risks to financial stability.”

What’s striking in that comment is an acknowledgment that monetary policy itself might become a source of instability that needs to be restrained.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 08:16:06

Keep in mind that Yellen and her predecessors make monetary policy solely to serve the financial interests of the .01%, and her actions (not her pointless words) become a lot more predictable.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 10:41:46

I should clarify: the Fed’s sole purpose since its semi-clandestine creation in 1913 (read “The Creature from Jekyll Island”) has been to facilitate the concentration of wealth and power into the greedy hands of the .01%. Ignore what Yellen says; watch what she does, and rest assured it’s in keeping with the Fed’s mission.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 10:45:14

Also read Ron Paul’s “End the Fed.” He alone among his congressional colleagues tried to abolish the Fed or at least hold it accountable in the public interest. As with most prophets in their own time, he was (and still is) ignored by the vast majority of the 99% he was trying to save from economic serfdom.

 
Comment by Patrick
2014-07-13 16:09:28

Raymond

I disagree with you.

The Fed’s sole objective is wrapped around keeping the system liquid and as many banks as possible within leverage tolerance. Forget about the ruses of employment levels and deflation worries.

They realize that their policies will probably benefit the ones controlling the reins, but that could be a CEO as much as a zillionaire.

It must be hard for them to be printing liquidity just to see it wasted within the banks as they invent new financial gimmicks (which really aren’t new).

With ultra high leverages the banks were able to find another way of juicing their holdings by getting paid for something they didn’t even own. That ability to facilitate idiotic loans is what broke the system.

If the government would have been on top of it they would have been taxing these flip profits as they occurred.

 
 
 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-07-13 17:44:21

I thought the Fed had an official policy of not seeing bubbles. So what’s everyone in such a flurry about?

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 17:52:47

That’s exactly why I suspect this hinted end to the Fed’s “three wise monkeys” policy stance may signify a major turning point.

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Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 07:53:15

print more money so they can beef up their stock portfolios?

why do bankers control the stock and housing markets?

Comment by Mr. Banker
2014-07-13 08:05:10

“why do bankers control the stock and housing markets?”

You are asking the wrong question. You should be asking “Why do people who should know better keep on playing games that are rigged against them?”

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 08:17:35

+1. And why do they keep voting for Wall Street-owned politicians who are aiding and abetting the .01%’s looting and asset-stripping of the middle and working class taxpayers?

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Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 08:27:07

well they dont seem to give people much of a choice do they?

illusion of choice?

 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 09:04:04

I am trying to opt out of as much sanctioning g of statism as possible. So I quit voting. Just found a letter in the mail that I will have to do Jury duty in a few days in Maricopa county. It is slavery and I don’t consider it a duty. I have no duty. However if I do have to be on a jury I will use my significant power of jury nullification if it is a victimless crime case. Will find out on Friday after 4:30. I will not get paid to drive 800 miles round trip of course. And I am better off taking vacation days for a couple days than relying on my company for meager jury duty pay. I am aware courts do not like technical “right side brain” types and they won’t want libertarians either. I am predicting I will not be selected.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 10:44:31

“I will use my significant power of jury nullification if it is a victimless crime case.”

There it is.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 10:47:33

It’s your civic duty. Someone’s fate hangs in the balance and you seem intelligent and reasonable enough to play an influential role in seeing that the jury reaches a just and appropriate decision.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 11:23:48

I meant conscientiously serving your jury duty is a civic responsibility, not jury nullification. Was responding to SH’s original post.

 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 15:32:59

The meager pay makes it slavery, not duty. Minus my benefits my time is worth $62.50 per hour. But I am not thinking my company, a Santa Barbara-based company, is willing to pay me that for jury duty.

 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 16:04:38

That said, if I was a defendant myself, I would certainly want a fair and impartial jury, but I would think if each juror got paid their currently annual salary divided by 2080 per hour they serve, the jurors would listen better.

 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-07-13 17:47:46

You can easily get out of it by telling them you’re doing a contract gig in another state right now. They will, however, call you back later. Try not to get caught lying on yer taxes.

 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 19:26:37

But I’m not doing a contract gig in another state. I am an employee in another state. And I am not lying on my taxes. The proper way to put it is “try not to be accused of lying on your taxes.”

Actually my taxes have gotten easier to do. So less of a chance of being accused.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Blackhawk
2014-07-13 07:07:01

LOCAL MICHIGAN RESIDENTS ENRAGED OVER PLAN TO HOUSE UNACCOMPANIED ILLEGAL TEENS IN THEIR TOWN

With thousands of unaccompanied illegal minors flooding across the U.S. border from Central America, the plan to house up to 120 of them in the town of Vassar, Michigan received a jolt Wednesday night from local community leaders and activists.

During the heated town meeting at Vassar High School, about 300 activist residents gathered to voice their concerns about a possible contract between Wolverine Human Services and the federal government to house the group of illegal teen immigrants in their community, according to watchdogwire.com.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/07/11/Local-Michigan-Residents-Enraged-Over-Plan-To-House-Unaccompanied-Illegal-Teens-In-Their-Town

It’s amazing how this debacle is playing out all across the United States.

Comment by jose canusi
2014-07-13 08:44:12

Of course. It’s a massive human trafficking operation mounted by the perverts in Washington. Wait’ll some of these “children” wind up in the public schools come fall. That’s when the real fun begins.

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-07-13 10:37:23

Wolverine Human Services

Wolverines!!

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 10:53:00

There’s nothing I enjoy more than seeing the Obama Zombies of 2008 and 2012, or their GOP “opponents” - all of whom stood for crony capitalism and open borders - reaping their consequences of their vote for the status quo. The other day, while my dog was taking a dump at my neighborhood park (and yes, I picked up after him) I heard a clutch of empty-headed soccer moms bewailing how much more they’re paying for health insurance after the ACA. One wailed, “I VOTED for Obama” and a couple more chorused, “So did I.” I wanted to show them Flash’s bowel movement as a more concrete example of what they actually voted for, but refrained, this time.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 11:04:36

You should have. It is a very accurate representation.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 11:25:10

“If you like your dogshit, you can keep your dogshit!”

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 12:49:54

“If you like getting it up the azz, you can continue to get it up the azz”. Barack Obama. The statement covers his economic policies and his presidential priorities since he took office.

 
 
 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-07-13 17:58:30

The ACA was going to happen with or without Obama. It’s just that most people incorrectly assumed that rich people would actually have to pay a HIGHER tax than everyone else. That assumption was once reasonable, but not anymeore.

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-07-13 07:25:39

At 6:39 this gets good.

“Go back to Boston! Go back to the Plymouth Rock! You Pilgrims! Get out! We are the future!” :)

Published on Jul 12, 2014

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mm4fMYCI9g - 136k -

Comment by Blackhawk
2014-07-13 07:37:38

I’m not sure I understand why major liberal donors would want to dismantle our economic system. Does that make sense?

Didn’t our economic system allow them to become extremely rich?

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 07:42:38

Didn’t our economic system allow them to become extremely rich?

Yes, but when you are on the top you do not want a system that might create competition that would endanger your standing. IBM would have loved to have stayed a monopoly forever.

Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 07:49:52

politicians have declared the economy is back on track so they can start giving themselves raises again.

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 07:50:44

Now the billionaires of today will not become bankrupt soon due to their diversified holdings but their wealth can take a huge hit due to competition. For example, what if Alibaba becomes competitive with Google not just in China but worldwide. You could see Google’s profits decline 80%(not a prediction) and the stock track this decline.

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Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 07:57:31

why didnt the fed announce their massive money printing scheme before the market tanked in 2008? why did it take them so long to start printing?

It sure seemed like a lot of the big players came out of that pretty well while the retail investor got their @sses kicked.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 08:02:29

Didn’t do them any good now did it $hitHousePoet….

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 08:20:15

Here former Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who worked hand-in-glove with the Fed and the TBTF banks and AIG to shift their trillions in gambling losses onto taxpayers, makes a lame defense of his actions on the Daily Show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaFeA4pqASg

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 08:21:28

why didnt the fed announce their massive money printing scheme before the market tanked in 2008? why did it take them so long to start printing?

One interpretation: It was a strong hand shakedown of weak hands.

 
Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 08:28:24

u got that right dude.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 08:41:28

why didnt the fed announce their massive money printing scheme before the market tanked in 2008? why did it take them so long to start printing?

You are close to the real question. Why did they allow it to take at all just prior to the 2008 election? Could it be that they really wanted Obama in the WH?

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 08:43:02

take=tank

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 08:06:33

If by “major liberal donors” you’re talking about the oligarchs who control both parties, it isn’t about “dismantling our economic system.” It’s about enabling unfettered looting and asset-stripping of the 99% by the .01%.

The 99%, by continuing to vote for candidates from both parties who are whores for the K Street bagmen rather than representing the proles back home, are bending over and grabbing their ankles for the Pigmen. (Except for the VA primary voters who ejected crony-capitalist exemplar Eric Cantor in favor of an upstart challenger who ran on an explicit platform of free markets and accountability for the Wall Street grifters.)

Check out George Carlin on YouTube: “It’s a big club and you ain’t in it.” Best summary ever of crony capitalism.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-07-13 08:33:36

“I’m not sure I understand why major liberal donors would want to dismantle our economic system. Does that make sense?”

The Globalist Created ‘Humanitarian’ Immigration Crisis … - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVZynob_4xU - 317k - Cached - Similar pages
Jul 3, 2014

Comment by jose canusi
2014-07-13 08:51:35

This guy is brilliant, and so forthright in his presentation, backing things up with documentation, etc.

Can’t thank you enough for posting, jeff. It always puts the truth on the line.

It does sort of go along with Oddfellow’s thesis above.

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Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 09:12:16

George Carlin, Frank Zappa and Barry Goldwater. I severely miss them all.

 
Comment by jose canusi
2014-07-13 09:17:13

The only problem with Oddfellow’s thesis is that the small group of mostly white humanity haterz have mostly white recruits, particularly among the media, in tech, in law, anywhere the tactical recruiting works.

Recruits like this guy, for example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Sharry

 
 
 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-07-13 18:00:08

If you removed the word “liberal” from your comment, it would almost be level-headed.

 
 
 
Comment by Blackhawk
2014-07-13 07:27:11

GOP ESTABLISMENT: CONGRESS SHOULD GIVE OBAMA ‘BLANK CHECK’ TO ADDRESS BORDER CRISIS

While liberal activists keep pushing Democrats to make more concessions regarding the flood of illegal immigrant children across the border, GOP consultants in D.C. are suggesting that Republicans roll over and approve President Barack Obama’s request for $3.7 billion without any concessions.
And they are doing so to liberal outlets like the Huffington Post.

Since only $400 million of those funds would actually go to strengthen border security, Republicans have been wary of giving the Obama administration a “blank check” without getting some concessions, like having National Guard troops on the border or changing a 2008 law that prevents the federal government from immediately deporting illegal immigrants who are not from Mexico or Canada.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/07/12/GOP-DC-Hacks-Tell-Huffington-Post-Republicans-Should-Give-Obama-Blank-Check-for-Border-Crisis

Hurry up McCain and fork over the money. We’ve got election coming up and we need some extra walking around money. What a maroon!

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 07:35:05

http://www.fin24.com/Companies/Industrial/US-oil-boom-to-extend-into-2015-20140711

Notice the increase in China’s demand clearly not anticipating a decline in the economy there.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 08:23:54

Why do you spend so much HBB band width trying to “prove” that China’s economy is as strong as ever, and crash worries are overblown?

Brings to mind your obsession with “proving” that Romney was going to win in 2012, based on Rasmussen poll results.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 08:49:17

Whac how many posts have you made on China today? Why are you so eager to show that China is about to collapse? Now, you have even gone to the point of trying to claim I tried to do something I did not do. I did try to point to this board that there was nothing inevitable about an Obama victory when people were declaring it as a fact in February 2008. The fact that with just a few weeks left Romney had a lead proves I was actually right about that. Which I never did and no one has ever shown despite bs claims, is claim that Romney would win.
Like AGW, what easy money will do or my views on the Arab spring, I am often attacked on this board for my views only to have my views to become the consensus.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 12:16:22

I am often attacked on this board for my views only to have my views to become the consensus.

Next I expect you to try to convince the board that Rasmussen correctly predicted a 2012 Romney victory.

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 12:39:49

No neither Rasmussen nor me, ever called the 2012 election. We both said it was too close to call.

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 16:07:54

“Why are you so eager to show that China is about to collapse?”

What is it about my blog handle, Whac-A-Bubble™, that is so hard for you to grasp? I see a bubble, and I whack it. It’s as simple as pie.

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 16:13:24

So as I said above make your prediction clearly. I am predicting around 7% growth in China both this year and next so make your prediction and we will see who has bragging rights.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 16:19:08

“…we will see who has bragging rights.”

I cede to you the exclusive pleasure of once again winning with your superior predictive power. And in case your prediction fails, feel free to revise history, the way you do every time I mention Rasmussen’s miss on the 2012 election.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 16:34:24

Prove it show a post where I said Romney will win. One thing for sure I can say I am proud to say I did not vote for the idiot who is in office. BTW, as I said at the time I voted third party in 2012 as I have said 1996.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 16:36:09

said= since, bad typing and autocorrect.

 
 
 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-07-13 18:07:59

And also proving that global warming isn’t happening, but it’s caused by sun spots, and scientific models are backward unless they have 100% certaintly and no error. Unscientific models can have as much error and uncertainty as they want.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 08:10:43

At some point I’m expecting the Pigmen, having lured in the retail investor muppets, will crash the markets as well as the broader economy. Then, funded by the Fed’s free money, they can swoop in and pick up assets like housing and farmland for a song, while the 99% are reduced to virtual serfdom.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 08:13:03

Very likely…. at least the collapse. Why anyone would buy housing and farmland given all the excess supply is questionable.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 10:59:21

Methinks Monsanto would love to buy up a bunch of bankrupt family farms at auction, then turn consolidate those lands into sprawling horizon-to-horizon mega-agribusinesses with a workforce of Third World labor. Gotta keep pumping out that GMO commodity food for the free shit army and the economic serfs falling out of the middle class.

 
 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-07-13 18:10:17

And piggirls too.

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 08:12:24


This time, however, is different…

‘Nuff said.

They’re back! Zero down home loans

By Jonathan Horn
10:21 a.m.July 11, 2014

Justin and Krystal Lane and their sons Parker, left, and Brodi pose out front of their Valley Center home that they purchased with zero percent down about a year ago. Justin and Krystal Lane and their sons Parker, left, and Brodi pose out front of their Valley Center home that they purchased with zero percent down about a year ago. — Don Boomer

When Krystal and Justin Lane took out a mortgage on their new Valley Center home last year, they did it with no money down, no backing from the federal government and no mortgage insurance.

On the surface, their zero-percent down loan sounds like a throwback to the risky lending practices that led to the Great Recession. At the time, many borrowers could simply state their incomes and not have to put down a dime.

During the housing bubble, a homebuyer could arrange for 80/20 financing, or piggyback loans, meaning a buyer would get one mortgage for 80 percent of the home price, and another to cover a 20 percent down payment. Then the lenders would sell the loans on the secondary market, washing their hands of any sort of risk from a default.

This time, however, is different, says the Lanes’ lender, Navy Federal Credit Union.

Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-07-13 18:12:31

“Parker and Brodi”

So their sons were born gay, then?

 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 08:22:35
Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 08:38:16

heading down to napa to spend some equity on wine.

you have been wrong 6 years now.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 08:40:00

Dump that rapidly depreciating shack. Free yourself.

Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 08:43:12

how many more years of being wrong muppet?

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 08:44:24

Stick with the data Poet.

 
Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 08:59:54

admit you have consistently been wrong for 6 years.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 09:02:10

Data Poet data.

 
Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 11:39:55

u missed the boat again, sorry pal.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 11:58:36

You failed to look at the data Poet.

 
Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 17:02:37

u have never owned anything except a yugo.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 17:17:58

This is all about you failing to check the data Poet.

 
Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 18:11:17

renter for life

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 18:45:06

It’s all about you……

 
 
 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 09:13:56

Quality wine instead of ghetto traps. That’s a good thing.

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-07-13 09:01:28

Ignoring Ukraine: Is Mass Murder America’s Legacy to the World …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ5bI1AKxoQ - 164k - Cached - Similar pages
6 days ago

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 12:54:47

pay your landlord

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 13:33:39

I am your landlord Poet.

 
 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
 
 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-07-13 09:55:42

From yesterday’s desk-clearing thread:

Here’s David Stockman with more details: “During the seven years ending on the eve of the financial crisis in Q3 2008, total credit market debt soared from $28 trillion to $53 trillion – or at a sizzling 9.2% annual rate.”

“By contrast, nominal GDP during the same period expanded at just 4.8% annually or at half the rate of credit growth. Accordingly, just during this short 7-year interval, the nation’s aggregate leverage ratio expanded from 2.7X GDP to 3.5X.

It occurs to me that one sane way to “automate” away the Fed might be to link money creation to GDP. I’m sure this has been proposed before—it seems too obvious not to have been—but it was still new to me.

Would we have a more resilient economy if interest rates moved predictably in response to money/debt creation, in order to keep them in a much tighter range with respect to GDP growth?

Comment by drumminj
2014-07-13 09:59:45

It occurs to me that one sane way to “automate” away the Fed might be to link money creation to GDP

I’ve not fully thought through this, but it seems an issue is that spent money that’s borrowed gets counted in the GDP (thinking specifically of government spending). So wouldn’t that lead to a feedback loop?

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-07-13 11:40:48

wouldn’t that lead to a feedback loop?

Yeah, I wondered that too. Possible solution: link it to GDP with the borrowed component factored out?

Comment by drumminj
2014-07-13 13:15:53

Possible solution: link it to GDP with the borrowed component factored out?

Or stop including government spending in GDP altogether?

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 11:34:12

It’s apparently dawning on some Wall Streeters that if the parasite kills its host, the parasite also dies. Or maybe these “wallstreetformainstreet dot com” fellows are altruists at heart. At any rate, the interview with the author of “The Creature from Jekyll Island” explains why either America will abolish the Fed, or it’ll be the other way around.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbCudBFiYhqQ3M_xt39tcnQ

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 12:19:00

“It occurs to me that one sane way to “automate” away the Fed might be to link money creation to GDP.”

Wouldn’t that make it very difficult for them to virtually print up trillions in electronic fiat monies for purposes of buying up whatever assets they choose and parking them on their balance sheet?

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 16:00:51

* CRICKETS *

 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-07-13 18:17:41

Zactly. The problemo is that the Pigpeople have control of our government. The hand is in the cookie jar. What we need is a cop. A superhero of sorts. Someone to vote for …

 
 
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2014-07-13 09:57:43

Shared the Phoenix lock with this beauty yesterday. Chatted up the crew and the Admiral while we locked down. Nice folks and nice boat. About the same age as my Aluminum craft, but a bit larger!

http://www.chanticleer-yacht.com/

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-07-13 11:57:09

What a beauty! Out of curiosity, Blue—are you happy with for your choice of an aluminum hull?

Comment by Blue Skye
2014-07-13 12:56:50

Absolutely. No rust. No rot. Lighter than any other.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 11:10:56

Public unions in the US, UK, and EU never had any problem with voting for crony capitalism as long as they thought THEIR jobs and bennies would be secure while everyone else, especially future generations, got screwed. Now, however, they are discovering the “austerity” demands of the financiers trump any prior votes-for-entitlements understandings. It appears the public union members who wittingly voted for corrupt machine politicians year in and year out don’t particularly appreciate being thrown under the bus in consequence.

Coming soon to a bankrupt municipality near you.

http://armstrongeconomics.com/2014/07/12/rising-civil-unrest-from-government-workers/

The British government has just invested in water cannons because they are fearing the rising tide of civil unrest as austerity is forcing the reduction of state workers and their pensions. I have been warning that unemployment will rise, but this time it is going to flow more so from the state and municipal workers. In the UK, hundreds of thousands have took to the streets to protest against the austerity measures of the government. Prime Minister Cameron has no choice for this is the collapse of socialism. Those who think I am anti-poor or whatever, are missing the point. It is the rising cost of government that is out of control and NO LEVEL of tax increase can reverse this trend.

The British unions called for strikes nationwide. Teachers, firemen and civil servants joined the calls and and took the streets demonstrating for higher wages and pensions. Just where is this money supposed to come from they really have no idea. They merely argue to take it from someone else no matter what and give it to them.

According to the unions more than one million people took part in the strike. About one-fifth of state employees have taken part in the strikes. Indeed, the majority had appeared on the job to maintain “almost all key areas of public service” functions. The interesting question this presents if everything can function with one-fifth less, then does this suggest that government can be run with far less people? Nonetheless, some 6,000 schools did remain closed, which was about one quarter of all schools in England. The strikes also impacted museums, libraries and garbage (refuse) collection in some cities. At the airports, such as international London Heathrow and Luton, there were delays because parts of the ground crew were on strike. Around 12 percent of government employees in Scotland joined the strike. Also in Northern Ireland and Wales there were many public institutions – including schools, courts and job centers – that had also closed on Thursday.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 11:28:43

Brace for impact after the Fed’s asset bubbles burst under the weight of years of accumulated fraud and artifice.

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogjuly14/shelter-storm7-14.html

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 11:41:44

Other UK “public servants” are doing just fine, since awarding themselves 60% pay increases.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-surrey-28268065

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 11:47:12

Central American migrant kids being bussed to Nebraska and other northern destinations. Since Warren Buffet is such a fan of open borders, how about boarding them at his properties and at his expense? Ditto for Bill Gates and Zuckerburg.

http://news.yahoo.com/hundreds-immigrant-kids-transported-far-north-border-161338647.html

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 13:01:10

The Eurozone staying “fixed” depends on Spain - the S in PIIGS - having put its banking sector in order. The ECB assures us all is well - the banks have passed their “stress tests.” But the Spanish political class remains as corrupt as ever, meaning I wouldn’t count on Spain to stay “fixed” for very much longer. Spain and Italy, unlike Greece or Portugal, are too big to be bailed out. If the supposedly contained contagion of non-performing loans and a lack of collateral and liquidity spreads to either country, the 2008 crisis - deferred but not fixed - is going to come roaring back.

http://wolfstreet.com/2014/07/13/politics-and-mafia-are-same-thing-jailed-spanish-politician/

Clearly, cozy ties between politicians and organized crime are hardly a problem exclusive to Spain. Nor are they a new problem: in 1920s Chicago the political class was perfectly at ease hobnobbing at speakeasies with Al Capone and his motley crew of ruthless bootleggers. Indeed, throughout history marriages of convenience have taken place between people and organizations on opposite sides of the legal divide. Lest we forget, in the mid 19th Century, the British Empire became arguably history’s largest ever drug trafficker when it began exporting – at the barrel of a gun – vast quantities of opium grown in India to China.

However, as John le Carré laid out in his brilliant 2010 novel Our Kind of Traitor, what makes this new phase of globalization different is that big capital now enjoys the right of way across pretty much every border and free access to just about every port of call, including the “see no evil, hear no evil” jurisdictions of the world’s myriad tax havens. As long as this trend continues – and given the current pressures to further liberalize the financial system, it almost certainly will – the thin line between so-called “respectable” and criminal society will continue to blur. A perfect illustration of this was when Forbes magazine decided, in 2009, to include Chapo Guzman, Mexico’s most wanted (and recently captured) drug lord, in its Rich List.

Money, after all, has no moral compunction. It can move with remarkable ease and speed from the blood-soaked operations of Mexican narco traficantes into the construction project of a luxury 5-star hotel in Barcelona. Indeed, according to Saviano, Spain’s historic construction boom was quite literally coke-fueled, with much of the money that kept it going coming from the international drugs trade.

 
Comment by Little Al
2014-07-13 13:13:51

Wow, what a soccer game. I’m rooting for Germany because of my
Duetschebank investment, but Messi for Argentina is really putting on a show. I really don’t think most Americans appreciate how big this game is anywhere outside of our borders.
I was in Paris watching the Algerians go bonkers two weeks ago when
they were way away from getting to the finals.

Comment by phony scandals
2014-07-13 13:22:39

“I really don’t think most Americans appreciate how big this game is anywhere outside of our borders.”

What borders?

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 13:42:40

The rich have substituted gated communities for borders.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 15:48:53

That’s true. And the wannabe rich have substituted Faux Chateaus.

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 13:36:01

girls football.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 14:06:34

girly girls football.

 
 
Comment by jose canusi
2014-07-13 13:39:42

“I really don’t think most Americans appreciate how big this game is anywhere outside of our borders.”

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….true

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 13:44:15

“I really don’t think most Americans appreciate how big this game is anywhere outside of our borders.”

Which is a strong argument for American exceptionalism.

Comment by jose canusi
2014-07-13 14:16:40

“Which is a strong argument for American exceptionalism.”

Amen, brothah! Amen. One of the things that used to be great about the US (I don’t include Washington in this) was its ability to develop its own culture independent of the rest of the world, where people were concerned mainly with their own families and neighborhoods and jobs, etc.

A big, spacious, pleasant country to spread out in and enjoy life, if one wanted to.

Why is globalization considered such a virtue? It sux one, big, major dick. Including global sports.

Who needs to be “exceptional”? It’s enough just to be left alone to live life, unfettered by nasty, resentful, needy-greedy internationalists. Ugh.

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Comment by phony scandals
2014-07-13 14:07:13

“zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…”

Maybe if they changed the rules and let some bulls run around on the field during the games it would be watchable.

4 Minor Injuries at Spain’s Running of the Bulls

PAMPLONA, Spain — Jul 13, 2014, 3:00 AM ET

By ALVARO BARRIENTOS and HAROLD HECKLE Associated Press

Associated Press

In the seventh bull run at this year’s San Fermin festival in Spain, four people have sustained cuts and bruises along Pamplona’s narrow streets.

But none of the several thousand daredevils testing their bravery by running beside six fighting bulls were gored in Sunday’s race.

Dr. Oscar Gorria says three runners have been hospitalized with head injuries and one was being treated for a chest injury.

There were dangerous moments when one bull tossed two runners, but it narrowly missed them with the points of its horns.

The festival blends adrenaline with all-night partying, and 15 people have died from gorings since record-keeping began in 1924.

The nine-day festival became world-famous after author Ernest Hemingway used it as a backdrop in his 1926 novel “The Sun Also Rises.”

 
 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-07-13 18:29:59

There are too many sports already. Is it really necessary to add another one? Can we delete one sport for each that we add? At least people are quieter at football games. Soccer fans need to seriously shut up.

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-07-13 14:12:13

Don’t blame me I voted no.

Is Michelle Obama a transsexual?

Yes (79%, 6,846 Votes)
No (21%, 1,848 Votes)
Total Voters: 8,694

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 14:25:07

Is Michelle Obama a transsexual?

Is Michelle actually Rio?

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 14:54:12

Deutschland, Deutschland über alles…

Comment by phony scandals
2014-07-13 16:00:07

Panzerlied with subtitles - the German tank song - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-n8YW1rrxI - 325k -

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 16:02:43

Is that the German futbol team doing the singing?

Comment by phony scandals
2014-07-13 16:27:57

How bout a song for team USA

“Even The Losers” - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers … - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E30XxSYgmqo - 168k -

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 15:27:41

Consumers struggling with rising prices of essentials. Wait until the real hyperinflation kicks in.

http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/gallups-deep-dive-consumers-are-struggling-with-rising-daily-essentials/

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 15:36:00

In Slovenia, a political novice from a new party has just aside the corrupt establishment parties, unnerving the oligarchs of the EU as he vows to review the “reform package” (surrendering of national sovereignty to the EU) and get a better deal for his people.

People are finally waking up and realizing they have alternatives to the crony-capitalist status quo. It’s about time.

http://news.yahoo.com/political-novice-cerar-bids-win-slovenia-snap-election-093504434–business.html

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) - Center-left political novice Miro Cerar led his party to victory in Slovenia’s election on Sunday, indicating he would rewrite a reform package agreed with the European Union to fix the euro zone member’s depleted finances.

The result will test investor nerves, given Cerar’s hostility to some of the big-ticket privatizations that the EU says are key to a long-term fix for Slovenia, which narrowly avoided having to seek an international bailout for its banks last year.

Cerar’s six-week-old SMC party won 34.8 percent of the vote, which translates to 36 seats in the 90-seat parliament. That would give the 50-year-old law professor the strong mandate his recent predecessors have lacked, potentially going some way to restoring political stability after years of turbulence and weak government.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 15:39:51

Another voice raised in warning about Keynesian monetary policy and the systemic risks it poses to the global financial system.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/10965052/Bank-for-International-Settlements-fears-fresh-Lehman-crisis-from-worldwide-debt-surge.html

The world economy is just as vulnerable to a financial crisis as it was in 2007, with the added danger that debt ratios are now far higher and emerging markets have been drawn into the fire as well, the Bank for International Settlements has warned.

Jaime Caruana, head of the Swiss-based financial watchdog, said investors were ignoring the risk of monetary tightening in their voracious hunt for yield.

“Markets seem to be considering only a very narrow spectrum of potential outcomes. They have become convinced that monetary conditions will remain easy for a very long time, and may be taking more assurance than central banks wish to give,” he told The Telegraph.

Mr Caruana said the international system is in many ways more fragile than it was in the build-up to the Lehman crisis. Debt ratios in the developed economies have risen by 20 percentage points to 275pc of GDP since then.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 16:18:00

Good story and I suggest that people actually read it and they will understand what I am saying about China. Its total debt is out 175% of GDP where the average in the developed world is 275%. So why are the Chinese close to collapse and not the U.S. and Europe. With 7% growth they still have the ability to avoid credit collapse and grow out of the debt. With Europe and the U.S. and the 2% or less growth, there is no hope of getting out of debt.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 16:20:23

Is it better to be a debtor nation or a creditor nation at the point of debt collapse? (Historical reference: 1930s…)

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2014-07-13 16:21:59

out is about. BTW, China only has significant private and local debt. In those categories they approach U.S. levels, but the big difference is the much lower federal debt, their 17% compared to our 100% plus makes all the difference and potentially allows them to escape without collapse, Obama’s run up of the debt and failure to deal with entitlements as suggested by the Simpson/Bowles commission means we are toast.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 17:13:15

Nobody knows how large China’s shadow banking sector is but by all accounts its monstrous. In addition their official statistics are even more cooked than ours, and they have monumental internal social difficulties, especially the surplus of males and the university educated “ant tribe” young people who can’t find jobs equal to their talent and education. So while they’re right there in the leper colony alongside us, we still have a few more fingers.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 17:19:42

Don’t tell me that you, too, number among myriad HBB posters who take pleasure in harshing on ABQDan’s mellow over the China growth miracle?

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 17:42:57

China is an implosion waiting to happen. Their “growth miracle” has long since turned rancid, despite trillions in “stimulus,” due to systemic corruption and fraud.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 17:48:57

“China is an implosion waiting to happen.”

Of course.

Am I the only one who is mystified by the way AlbuquerqueDan persistently misses it? ‘Tis a puzzlement…

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 15:49:24

Another shady oligarch lavishing his loot on an insanely priced London home (and parking his ill-gotten gains outside his home country before the guillotines roll). These foreign embezzlers are going to be low-hanging fruit for the taxman once revenues from the broke UK middle and working classes starts to dry up. I’d love to see this guy try to explain the source of his wealth.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2690093/Revealed-Billionaire-party-animal-s-snapped-Britain-s-expensive-house-120m-London.html

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 15:52:28

This is rich. Care to comment, NAR shills?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-11/daughter-doesn-t-buy-dad-s-cheerleading-for-u-s-homeownership.html

David Stevens, chief executive officer of the Mortgage Bankers Association, has spent his career lauding the merits of homeownership. One person still isn’t buying it: his daughter.

Sara Stevens, 27, knows interest rates are low, rents are high and owning a home can build wealth. She also had a front-row seat to the worst real-estate slump since the Great Depression.

“The world has changed,” she said.

 
Comment by Mr. Banker
2014-07-13 16:12:05

Bahahahahahahahahahaha … and to demonstrate to the world as to how precise and thought out they believe their forecasts are they even bother to stick in a few decimal points:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-13/least-wall-street-has-sense-humor

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 16:16:14

The next time hear about something being done “for the children” I’ll know who they’re talking about.

http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2014/07/12/pentagon-correspondent-for-the-new-york-times-refers-to-american-citizens-as-children/

Comment by Mr. Banker
2014-07-13 16:31:43

The American people are as children?

Do you mean those millions of folks who just cannot say no to whatever they happen to want to have, want to possess, at any given moment of the day or of any given moment of the night and who are willing to place themselves into years - decades - of debt slavery in order to get it?

Those people?

Bahahahahahahahaha … I LOVE those people, those children, for they are the ones who supply me with my bread and my butter.

 
 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 16:26:17

Ridiculous:

I see articles on the web saying if you drink coffee, drink it in the morning before your workout.

Are those people for real? Do they realize most people have 8 to 5 jobs? It’s hard enough for me to wake up at 4:30 am and then show up at the gym for the pool at 5am. If I was drinking coffee that would mean waking up at 4:00 am and sipping until maybe 4:30. Get real. Those health advisors don’t realize we have very little time between waking up and getting to the gym if we want to get to the office by 8. Workout is 80 minutes. Finished at 6:20 am. THEN get coffee and eat breakfast.

Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-07-13 18:42:54

Normal people work out AFTER work.

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 19:24:07

I would never ever want to be normal.

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 20:26:03

Normal = “progressive” = statist

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 16:30:12

Maybe the Chinese embezzlers snapping up all those high-end California properties should consider what happened to Americans of Japanese descent the last time we fought an Asian power. Homes and assets expropriated, off to an internment camp with you! Don’t think it couldn’t happen again.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/12/new-cold-war-chinas-top-paper-warns-slippery-slope/

 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-07-13 17:12:11

I want my crater. Now.

 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 17:18:24

Just unsubscribed from Rand Paul’s e-mail list. The final straw?

His stand for Israel BS. Dam politician. He’s no libertarian. He should listen to his father.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 17:44:32

I cut him off when he endorsed Romney. That showed his true colors. He’s no Ron Paul even if he says some of the right things about the Fed and liberty.

Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-07-13 18:44:22

I cut him off when he endorsed Wal*Mart. Fool can’t even count.

 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-07-13 19:21:35

Yeah I was very upset not only because Rand Paul endorsed Romney, but also because he did not endorse his on dad.

 
 
Comment by rms
2014-07-13 19:14:12

“His stand for Israel BS. Dam politician.”

As they say on K street, “Money is the mother’s milk of politics.”

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 17:19:35

Spain’s corrupt-to-their-core socialists, facing increasing disaffection from the electorate they sold down the river, try to “change their image” while peddling the same snake oil. I will rejoice when these establishment scumbags are tossed out of office by upstart mavericks (and not phony John McCain “maverick” types, aka crony-capitalist stooges) and will be even happier when our own Democratic Party, which is equally corrupt and sleazy, starts being rejected by the electorate it screwed over. And the GOP, too.

http://news.yahoo.com/spains-embattled-socialists-set-elect-leader-131546518–business.html

 
Comment by goon squad
2014-07-13 17:25:44

Realtors are liars.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 17:49:06

You can say that again….

Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 18:12:20

good evening renter landlord got you down in the dumps?

Comment by goon squad
2014-07-13 18:14:05

This paid message is sponsored by the National Association of Realtors.

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Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 18:16:29

david lehreah is your hero huh?

 
Comment by goon squad
2014-07-13 18:30:14

This is a paid advertisement by the National Association of Realtors.

 
 
 
Comment by goon squad
2014-07-13 18:12:32

Somebody open a window already, it’s starting to smell like Realtor here…

 
 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-07-13 18:21:04

Privilege (privus legum)

Has it occurred to others besides myself that the Fed operates just like the First Estate of pre-revolutionary France, above any rule of law?

Comment by azdude
2014-07-13 18:23:36

They are there to pick up the losses of a highly leveraged wall street and banker club.

They when in the way up , win on the way down, and then then start it all over again.

 
 
Comment by goon squad
2014-07-13 18:34:56

Notice how defensive these Realtors get when you try to inform the public about their lying and thieving ways

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 18:43:34

And angry too… Angry lying realtors…. angry angry lying realtors… They get angrier and angrier with each passing day.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-07-13 18:54:51

Citibank forks over $7 billion to make the DoJ get off their back about their “shoddy” mortgage lending practices. As usual, no one was criminally charged despite epic level of fraud, perjury, and forgery committed.

http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=OBR&date=20140713&id=17770599

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-07-13 18:59:11

And GovCorp pockets the cash and will likely squander it on their benefactors.

 
 
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