Bits Bucket for July 31, 2014
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
About Me
Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Realtor Charged With Theft Of $50k In Cash And Jewelry From Neighbors House
http://kfgo.com/news/articles/2014/jul/30/fargo-real-estate-agent-plans-to-plead-guilty-to-theft-from-neighbors-home/
Was his name Amy?
Bwahahahaha!
“Realtor of the Year sentenced for theft of $376,000″
http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/former-realtor-of-the-year-sentenced-for-theft-of-376g-1.1728050
Stealtor
“Denver Realtor, 6 Family Members Indicted In $900k Racketeering Scheme”
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/8-indicted-in-900k-racketeering-scheme-in-denver
do u have a realtor fetish?
Sit up straight and eat your CraterTaters.
Realtor Arrested For Battery
http://bocanewsnow.com/2014/07/27/moller-pulled-boca-real-estate-agent-kelly-moller-charged-with-battery/
If they’re not financially battering the public, they’re physically assaulting someone
Al Gore’s climate-changers at EPA hearings foiled by cool temperatures,
Wash Times
E
DENVER — The Climate Reality Project brought its “I’m Too Hot” trucks and offers of free ice cream to this theweek’s Environmental Protection Agency hearings on power-plant emissions, but the climate wasn’t cooperating.
The plan was to tout the EPA’s emissions proposal as a solution for hot weather brought on by global warming, but when the hearings began at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Denver, the temperature was a chilly 58 degrees. Plus, it was raining.
I love the thought of rain and temps in the 50’s. He should’ve had his meeting here in Phoenix because it seems like whenever he holds a major conference a cooling trend hits.
It is the sky wizard, that Goon mocks.
clickbait drudge link clickity click boo, dannyboy.
i don’t mock the sky wizard, i mock the perverted interpretations of sky wizard’s alleged believers.
‘jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. it’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.’ — john lennon
“Imagine that there was no more (Christian) religion…I wonder if you can.”
I did. I came up with the official atheists states that have outlawed religion - the USSR, China, North Korea, Cambodia and Cuba. Over 100+ million slaughtered by their own government.
I will take thick and ordinary men who accomplished amazing things…
Ayn Rand killed no one and rescued many from the lifelong drudgery of superstition.
I like the quote that is supposedly from Gandhi: ““I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” “
Washington Post - Anti-Jewish slogans return to the streets in Germany as Mideast protests sweep Europe
“Yet perhaps nowhere are the deeds of protestors sparking more discomfort than here in Germany, where the most radical protest chants are rattling through the streets of Berlin like disturbing ghosts of the past.
Pro-Israel demonstrations have occurred, too, but few have been as large or as vehement as their pro-Palestinean counterparts. For politicians, the news media and broader German society, the outburst of rage aimed at Israel and, many argue, Jews in general is testing both the limits of freedom of speech and the weight of history in Western Europe’s most populous nation.
The face of rage here now bears little resemblance to the 1930s and 1940s. Some ethnic Germans have joined the protests, but the majority of those taking to the streets are part of a vast pool of Muslim immigrants and their German-born children.
Who is ‘he’?
Al Gore? The guy that’s been going around talking about global warming Wallys raking in millions and millions of dollars. I thought that boy was slow but he’s obviously a lot slicker than some of you climate change believer types.
The other he is God, the creator of the universe and Jesus, His Son. He died so that we could live.
And God prevents global warming?
Actually he predicts it.
Oddfellow,
God can do whatever He wants to do. I’m not sure if He’s causing global warming, global cooling or whatever. I think the sun activity has the most effect on whether we’re warming or cooling.
As far as I can tell, the earth’s climate has always changed and I have no idea what the normal climate should be. What do you think is “the normal climate”???
What I do know is that some are using science, faux science and public relations to raise a bunch of money. This includes the climate scientists, Al Gore and a bunch of government types that skim the money spent on scientific programs.
What really makes me mad is that the end results of all this climate change crap makes it harder for the less fortunate to live their lives. Higher energy prices have a much greater effect on the poor and everything we seem to be doing is causing higher energy costs.
What I’m hoping is that this guy is right (mainly because I live in Phoenix, not because I’m going to live for 200 yrs).
Russian Scientists say period of global cooling ahead due to changes in the sun. Posted on April 29, 2013,by Anthony Watts, Watts up with That
From Radio Voice of Russia:
Russia’s Pulkovo Observatory: “we could be in for a cooling period that lasts 200-250 years”
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/04/29/russian-scientists-say-period-of-global-cooling-ahead-due-to-changes-in-the-sun/
I know it’s an old article but I’m clinging to the thought that maybe he’s right.
Another link showing the “link” between AGW and the globalists. AGW or really Catastrophic AGW theory is a way to raise taxes on the middle class to fund socialist programs without admitting what really is being done:
http://news.yahoo.com/imf-urges-higher-energy-taxes-fight-climate-change-152243700–business.html;_ylt=AwrTWf1bb9pTlFkAmZjQtDMD
“Higher energy prices have a much greater effect on the poor and everything we seem to be doing is causing higher energy costs.”
Because pigmen gonna pig. An oil insider just reported today that the first US tanker of crude oil just shipped to Asia. Has anybody heard any public announcement which changed the law to allow the export of our crude oil? And, are the American people going to get a cut of the profits from the sale of their crude oil? Bwahahahahahahaha! Suckas…
http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/25/news/economy/condensate-crude-oil/
I’m talking crude oil, not refined product.
It is amazing where the Chinese are making their overseas property investments. London appears to be where they want to invest their money, BTW the sun has come up and Argentina has defaulted:
http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2014-07/31/content_18220924.htm
The loot from pillaging a great country leaks out all over the place.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2014-07/31/content_18223066.htm
link will post soon:
Growth also diverged sharply between eastern and western China. The coastal and northeastern regions fared the worst, while activity was most buoyant in the central and western areas, where double-digit growth rates were concentrated.
Analysts said this suggested China’s bid to rebalance its economy is paying off.
From redefining job targets to shifting investment to inland areas and cutting obsolete capacity in energy-guzzling sectors in the north, China wants to overhaul the world’s second-largest economy and encourage more sustainable and higher-quality growth.
“The growth gap is an expected result of Beijing’s efforts to rebalance regional economies and let the fruits of growth be more evenly shared by the poorer inland regions,” said Nie Wen, an analyst at Hwabao Trust in Shanghai.
The fruit of that tree is debt.
Fang nu
The more amazing thing is that Chicago is their third choice, after London and San Francisco.
Looks like the smart money is cashing in and fleeing the London RE bubble at the top.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-30/londoners-cashing-in-flee-to-suburbs-as-home-rally-wanes.html
http://www.fin24.com/Economy/British-housing-market-stagnates-20140731
London - British consumer morale dipped for the first time in six months in July and house prices stagnated, adding to signs that Britain’s rapid economic recovery is cooling slightly.
The consumer confidence index produced by market research company GfK unexpectedly fell although it was still close to a nearly 10-year high.
Excerpt from link that will soon post:
“London proved to be the top location for Chinese investors, attracting $2.3 billion in its commercial and residential property markets, a side effect of the city encouraging more Chinese mainland capital to be put into major infrastructure projects.”
Now, the entire overseas commercial and residential investment was just over $5 billion. However, the Chinese current account surplus was almost $80 billion dollars in the same timeframe, with the trade surplus being almost $110 billion. Putting things in prospective, around 6% of their surplus being invested in real estate is just a reasonable attempt to diversify.
“just a reasonable attempt to diversify…”
Right. It’s capital flight.
admit you are powerless to the printing press.
is inflation masquerading as growth?
What inflation?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/31/us-usa-economy-employment-idUSKBN0G01FG20140731
A SMALL sign of POTENTIAL wage inflation.
“Other data on Thursday suggested a long-awaited acceleration in wage growth was imminent, with labor costs recording their largest increase in more than 5-1/2 years in the second quarter.”
If you think wages are going to double or triple to meet grossly inflated prices I have a bridge to sell you.
Labor costs can go up due to higher wages or they can go up due to poor productivity. I find it interesting that the article is not addressing the productivity issue. During this whole recovery productivity increases have been very poor. To give an example if you only have a 1% increase in productivity and a person receives a 2% raise, you have a 1% increase in labor costs. On the other hand if you have a ten percent increase in wages but a 11% increase in productivity, you actually have a reduction in labor costs.
And as this article states productivity has actually gone negative this quarter so are labor costs going up due to negative productivity or accelerating wages?
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-05-15/us-productivity-stalls-as-companies-invest-in-buybacks-dividends
I think the Employment Cost Index (the BLS release today) is focused entirely on wages, salaries and benefits. They do break it down between wages and salaries (up 0.6%) and benefits (up 1.0%) if you want to see it that way, but they don’t include a measure of productivity to see whether employers are better or worse off with the higher wages.
After reviewing it I believe your right, I went to the BLS website. The interesting thing is we are still talking about 2% year to year, I think they are trying to make a mountain out of molehill.
“we are still talking about 2% year to year”
That’s why I said “SMALL sign of POTENTIAL wage inflation.”
If the M-t-M number represents something more than noise in the data, then the year on year wage growth will be substantially higher than 2% by year-end. Simply stated, 0.6% annualized is well over 5% annualized. However, I’m sure there is a range of error, and I’m sure 0.6% is higher than the actual number, so I’d be shocked if we get over 5% from June 2014 to June 2015.
My bad…the number is Q to Q, not MtM. We’ll see if it goes up, but I agree that it’s not a big deal at current levels.
On the other hand if you have a ten percent increase in wages but a 11% increase in productivity, you actually have a reduction in labor costs.
I think that the quantity that you’re describing is generally called unit labor costs.
What do you cal thugs that use the techniques of arson, beatings with baseball bats and destruction of schools to get what they want for decades?
The most prolific and reliable democrat supporters ever created…
———————-
Feds: Ironworkers’ goons targeted elementary school construction sites
http://www.philly.com/philly - 7/31/2014
Five leaders of Ironworkers Local 410, previously indicted in February by federal prosecutors, are facing additional charges of extortion for targeting nonunion workers who were building elementary schools and other public facilities in the Philadelphia suburbs.
According to a federal grand jury, business agents of the union would approach nonunion contractors working at the job sites and demand they hire union ironworkers. If their demands were not met, a crew from the ironworkers union called the “Shadow Gang” would “sneak into the construction site at night, use sledgehammers to smash the anchor bolts of the building, and damage equipment.”
Each incident caused tens of thousands of dollars in damages and delays. Elementary schools under construction in Wallingford and Sharon Hill were targets along with a firehouse in Eddystone, an assisted living facility in Horsham, and numerous other sites in the Pennsylvania counties surrounding Philadelphia.
Authorities previously charged Dougherty and his “goon squad” in connection with attacks on workers at a Toys R Us under construction in King of Prussia, setting fire to a Quaker meetinghouse in Chestnut Hill, and threatening workers and damaging equipment at several other sites.
“What do you cal thugs that use the techniques of arson, beatings with baseball bats and destruction of schools to get what they want for decades?”
I call it fighting for jobs, literally.
This headline will be repeated many times in the coming few years.
It’s only money, just print some more.
Bigger and bigger government makes us more civilized.
—————–
Argentina Defaults
Yahoo Finance | 7/30/14 | Linette Lopez
Argentina has defaulted again.
Argentine Finance Minister Axel Kicillof is now addressing the world from Argentina’s consulate in New York City.
He has delivered the news that Argentina is in default, having failed to satisfy the demands of a group of hedge fund creditors negotiating over $1.3 billion worth of debt owed to them for over a decade.
“The Argentine Republic has filed for a stay [on payment] with Judge Griesa… The Judge decided that if the vulture funds said there could be a stay there would be a stay,” said Kicillof. “The vulture funds were not willing to grant the stay.”
Without the stay and without payment, Argentina is in default.
As I said in a post with a link to something else, the sun has come up. Leftists have to print money and they will print money until the create uncontrollable inflation.
“they will print money…”
Difficult for them to print USD perhaps. Maybe the Fang nu will rescue them.
From a Goldseek.com link:
Dr Ron Paul:
“Timing is the only thing. I remember watching gold when it was 35 dollars an ounce and we thought if it ever hit a hundred dollars, the world would come to an end. And then a thousand dollars, so; no, it’s good as long as we continues to do this , you know, it could go to infinity because when people just leave the dollar, who knows what …”
“But that won’t happen if we finally wake up and do something. But if we can keep this together, if the money managers can keep it together and it doesn’t collapse, yes, gold is gonna keep creeping up, but, you know, as weak as gold looks right now, it’s up a hundred dollars for this year so…”
I really don’t care if they screw a hedge fund.
Other than a hedge fund getting stiffed, is the Argentina default impact on the US economy contained?
7/31/2014 @ 2:21AM
Argentina In Default: Everyone Lost, From Cristina Kirchner And Paul Singer’s Elliott To Judge Griesa
Things couldn’t have come out worse. Everyone lost: Argentina defaulted on its sovereign debt for the second time in 12 years, the holdout bond holders were left empty handed, and Federal Judge Thomas Griesa’s strategy to force Argentine to negotiate a settlement with the so-called venture funds failed. Furthermore, a least ditch effort by a group of Argentine bankers led by Banco Macro’s Jorge Brito fell through at the last second.
The decade-long legal battle between a group of hedge funds led by billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Management and the Argentine government, which is by no means done, resulted in the worst possible scenario. At the stroke of midnight on Thursday in New York, Argentina once again entered into a state of default, as holders of its restructured debt didn’t receive interest payments for $539 million. Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded the country’s rating to selective default.
…
the=they
Is the President Incompetent or Lawless?
Townhall.com ^ | July 31, 2014 | Judge Andrew Napolitano
It has been well established under the Constitution and throughout our history that the president’s job as the chief federal law enforcement officer permits him to put his ideological stamp on the nature of the work done by the executive branch. The courts have characterized this stamp as “discretion.”
The president has discretion to adapt law enforcement to the needs of the times and to his reading of the wishes of the American people. Yet that discretion has a serious and mandatory guiding light — namely, that the president will do so faithfully.
The word “faithfully” appears in the oath of office that is administered to every president. The reason for its use is to assure Americans that their wishes for government behavior, as manifested in written law, would be carried out even if the president personally disagrees with the laws he swore to enforce.
But today, President Obama has taken the concept of discretion and so distorted it, and has taken the obligation of faithful enforcement and so rejected it, that his job as chief law enforcer has become one of incompetent madness or chief lawbreaker. Time after time, in areas as disparate as civil liberties, immigration, foreign affairs and health care, the president has demonstrated a propensity for rejecting his oath and doing damage to our fabric of liberty that cannot easily be undone by a successor.
Item: He has permitted unconstitutional and unbridled spying on all Americans all the time, and he has dispatched his agents to lie and mislead the American people and their elected representatives in Congress about it. This has resulted in a federal culture in which the supposed servants of the people have become our permanent and intimate monitors and squealers on what they observe.
Item: He has permitted illegal immigrants to remain here and continue to break the law, and he has instructed them on how to get away with it. His encouragement has resulted in the flood of tens of thousands of foreign unaccompanied children being pushed across our borders. This has resulted in culture shock to children now used as political pawns, the impairment of their lives and the imposition of grievous financial burdens upon local and state governments.
Item: His agents fomented a revolution in Libya that resulted in the murder of that country’s leader, the killing of the U.S. ambassador and the evacuation of the U.S. embassy. His agents fomented a revolution in Ukraine that resulted in a Russian invasion, an active insurgency, sham elections and the killing of hundreds of innocent passengers flying on a commercial airliner.
Item: He has dispatched CIA agents to fight undeclared and secret wars in Yemen and in Pakistan, and he has dispatched unmanned drones to kill innocents there. He has boasted that some secret reading of public positive law permits him to kill whomever he wishes, even Americans and their children.
Item: His Department of Veterans Affairs has so neglected patients in government hospitals that many of them died, and it even destroyed records to hide its misdeeds. His Internal Revenue Service has enforced the law more heavily against his political opponents than against his friends, and it has destroyed government computer records in order to hide its misdeeds.
Item: He has relieved his friends of the burdens of timely compliance with Obamacare, and he has burdened his enemies with tortured interpretations of that law — even interpretations that were rejected by the very Congress that enacted the law and interpretations that were invalidated by the Supreme Court.
Both.
Change the word ‘item’ to that of ‘Whereas’ and you have the start of impeachment proceedings. We are heading toward a Constitutional Crisis folks delivered to you at the behest of Obamao - elected to office for a second time by an uninformed and deluded, read: ’stoned’ US citizenry.
Yes.
Impeach and remove Obama and you’ll get a President Biden. One with the health and desire to run in 2016, only this time with the power of incumbency and likely a viable woman VP, against… whom?
LOL, nice.
Children from Central America are fleeing to the US because of fallout from dirty wars and the drug war. Conservatives are reaping as they have sewn. America is built on a foundation of desperate children. Nothing has changed.
real journalists report on the obvious
washington post - jobs are the secret to getting millennials to move out of the basement
‘goldman sachs has weighed in with an analysis of the forces influencing this generation — the largest and most diverse in history — to stay put in the family home rather than form new households.
it concluded that the job market most influences whether young adults end up in their parents’ home … ‘this evidence suggests that the depressed level of household formation among the young in recent years is a product of the weak labor market rather than structural shifts in preferences,’ goldman’s economic team concluded.’
jobs are the secret?
what those kidz stringing together three part-time jobs need are $500,000 starter homes!
Permanent Democrat Supermajority denied?
As reported by real journalists at the Washington Post:
“Immigration has emerged as perhaps President Obama’s worst issue — definitely for today, and maybe of his entire presidency — when it come to public perception.
A new poll from AP-GfK shows more than two-thirds of Americans (68 percent) disapprove of Obama’s handling of the immigration issue in general. Just 31 percent approve — down from 38 percent two months ago.
We tried to find an issue on which Obama has earned such poor marks, at any point in his presidency. And even on what was long his worst issue, the economy, his disapproval rating rarely peaked over 60 percent.”
Forward
The more useful polls are the ones that ask Americans what they want to do about immigration. Unfortunately, they’re ambiguous.
The more useful polls are the ones that ask Americans what they want to do about immigration.
On purpose, because if you asked the question straight up, do you want millions of people coming to this country each year that are poor and uneducated and will require governmental assistance, 90% of Americans will say no. So they ask questions that push the answer like should American continue its tradition of allowing immigration etc.
BTW, I know my question is pushing the response, it is example of the problem, the way you phrase the question does push the poll result.
So they ask questions that push the answer like should American continue its tradition of allowing immigration etc.
The polls that I’m referring to usually ask questions such as what should be done about illegal immigrants - track them down and send them home or offer a path to citizenship. More recently, as you might imagine, the questions have to specifically with unaccompanied minors.
morning peeps…I actually found a girl group from Oil City PA.
Managed by the one and only Lou Christie
Egyptian shumbla wild wacky music…
https://www.youtube.com/results?q=the+tammys
Time Magazine - Joe Lieberman: Obama Administration “Has Gone Off The Track” On Israel
“The former Democratic vice presidential nominee said he takes issue with the growing “neo-isolationism” within the Democratic and Republican parties, saying he’s watched the rise of Sen. Rand Paul “with concern.”
“The world suffers and the American people suffer eventually both in terms of our security and our prosperity — and ultimately our freedom — if we’re not engaged in problems elsewhere,” he said.
http://time.com/3059340/joe-lieberman-israel-obama-gaza-hillary/
Is Obama incompetent or lawless?
“But the Framers did give us a remedy, and the remedy is not a frivolous lawsuit that the federal courts will no doubt reject as a political stunt. The remedy is removal from office. This is not to be undertaken lightly, as was the case when this remedy was last used. But it is the remaining constitutional means to save the freedoms the Constitution was intended to guarantee.”
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/07/31/is-president-incompetent-or-lawless/
Moonie rag the Washington Times (linked from Drudge) reports on Drudge:
“Fox News host Geraldo Rivera has accused conservative blogger Matt Drudge of trying to inflame conservatives and “stir up a civil war,” due to his website’s aggressive coverage of the border crisis.
“This is exactly what they did to the Irish in the 19th century, and to the Chinese in the 19th century, and then to the Jews and the Italians in the 20th century,” he said. “Not only do they bring crime, they bring disease. Be afraid! Hide your daughters!”
Quote of the day technologies impact on jobs;
“Is technology a compliment to what you do in your job or is it a substitute”….
Looking for a job in California Central Valley;
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCEQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fneel-kashkari-brother-can-you-spare-a-job-1406779207&ei=5UjaU_XyFKaHjALOyIDACw&usg=AFQjCNF7nn-tQMfr49slLdhCz9qiNQ67dA&sig2=_P0OoYzfWXGgzaEyZ3w-3A
One man’s compliment is another man’s substitute.
Linked from Drudge:
“According to Negative Population Growth Inc, 80 percent of the growth in U.S. population comes from immigration, legal, illegal and among American-born children of immigrants.
“With increased population, we see a direct increase in the problems our nation faces on a daily basis: pollution, over-consumption, traffic gridlock, crowded schools and hospitals, overburdened social services, unemployment, crumbling infrastructure, urban sprawl, over-development, threatened or extinct animal and plant species, and dwindling natural resources,” said Tracy Canada, the group’s deputy director.
She added, “Immigrants to the U.S. are also found to greatly increase their consumption — and their resulting footprints — upon settling here, which furthers our nation’s environmental impact.”
http://washingtonexaminer.com/shock-80-of-u.s.-population-growth-is-from-immigrants-resources-being-sucked-dry/article/2551464
Hope and Change
“A weekly report by a Texas state agency to senior law enforcement officials paints a grim picture of the Mexican border, where authorities regularly confront illegal immigrant gang members and draw automatic gunfire from across the Rio Grande, and where local, state and federal authorities fight a never-ending battle against drug smugglers.
“In recent weeks the traffic appears to have slowed slightly, yet assaults on law enforcement have increased. This is a disturbing trend that needs to be addressed,” Chris Cabrera, vice president of the National Border Patrol Union, Rio Grande Valley Sector, told FoxNews.com.
A spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety declined to respond on the record; Border Patrol did not return FoxNews.com’s request for comment.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/30/exclusive-report-reveals-disturbing-trend-brazen-attacks-against-border/
See also:
http://www.infowars.com/source-feds-in-emergency-order-of-8000-gps-tags-for-illegal-immigrants/
Ha Ha! Sell Sell Sell!!!!!!!
The continuing saga of the staffing industry market cycle. An interesting study because any industry is not immune from its companys’ stocks taking a cyclic dump.
Yesterday my former company reported earnings. EPS exceeded expectations, again like last quarter’s report. Last quarter after the earnings report the stock took a dive. This time the future revenues are estimated by the company directors to decline.
That was enough to make the stock value plummet today by over 20%. Now the price is below its 52 week low.
It’s been fun. I had great times over 18 months selling batches and locking in gains. Some of which went into mining ETFs near their all time lows.
Replete with cash! Easy street!
Permanent Democrat Supermajority
“Undocumented immigrants in Colorado may face waits of a year or more to obtain drivers licenses under a program starting tomorrow, as thousands seeking to apply overwhelm an online scheduling system and available staff.
The Democrat-controlled legislature in Colorado approved the new law as Hispanics, which comprised 21 percent of the population in 2013, gain political influence in a state in which the electorate is evenly divided among Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated voters.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-31/colorado-overwhelmed-by-immigrant-license-requests.html
“Undocumented immigrants in Colorado may face waits of a year or more to obtain drivers licenses under a program starting tomorrow,”
Like that will stop them from driving. I have personally had 2 vehicles hit (and run) by Undocumented immigrants. The one that I caught (the police didn’t seem to want to expend too much energy looking) had undocumented car insurance too.
What has Mr. Market in the dumps today?
July 31, 2014, 9:54 a.m. EDT
Chicago PMI drops sharply in July
By Greg Robb
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Chicago PMI dropped sharply in July to its lowest level in over a year, according to the Chicago business barometer released Thursday. The index fell to 52.6 in July from 62.6 in June, below the MarketWatch-compiled consensus of 63.5. It is the sharpest one month drop in the Chicago PMI since the start of the financial crisis in October 2008. The decline was led by a collapse in production and orders, which had all been strong since last fall, according to the release.
…
Ooops - guess the inventory buildup has stalled.
You betcha.
July 31, 2014, 8:30 a.m. EDT
U.S. employment cost index posts fastest rise since 2008
By Jeffry Bartash
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - An index that measures the price of U.S. labor rose in the second quarter at the fastest pace since the fall of 2008, largely because of higher retirement and health-care benefits. The employment cost index climbed 0.7% in the second quarter after a 0.3% increase in the first quarter. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected a 0.5% gain. Wages - some 70% of employment costs - rose 0.6% in the second quarter. That’s also the biggest increase since the third quarter of 2008.
…
July 31, 2014, 10:43 a.m. EDT
Wages finally rising, which could force Fed to hike
Opinion: The news we’ve been waiting for, but does Yellen believe it?
By Rex Nutting, MarketWatch
Employment costs rose at the fastest pace in nearly six years.
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — This is the news we’ve all been waiting for: Wages are finally rising. And that means the economy is getting strong enough for the Federal Reserve to at least consider raising short-term interest rates to a normal level.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday that the employment cost index rose 0.7% in the second quarter, the fastest growth since 2008. Wages and salaries increased 0.6% (the most in nearly six years), while benefit costs increased 1% (the most in three years).
…
Treasuries Drop With 10-Year Yields at 3-Week High on Jobs Gains
By Susanne Walker Jul 31, 2014 8:39 AM MT
Treasuries dropped, with 10-year note yields reaching the highest level in three weeks, as monthly jobless claims at the lowest level in eight years added to evidence the employment market is strengthening.
Treasuries pared losses as a private report showed business activity fell in July. U.S. government debt was poised for a second monthly drop on bets the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates after second quarter economic growth surged past analysts’ forecasts. The difference between yields on five-year notes and 30-year debt rose from the lowest levels since 2009 before the July jobs report tomorrow forecast to show a sixth straight month of 200,000-plus gains.
“People are starting to pay attention to the fundamentals — normally they don’t,” said David Coard, head of fixed-income trading in New York at Williams Capital Group, a brokerage for institutional investors. “A solid number combined with GDP will probably knock the Treasury market back a little bit,” he said, referring to the employment report. Coard said the 10-year yields will need to rise to 2.75 percent to attract investors.
…
Where does one go to hide when both risk (stocks) and safe haven (bonds) assets are dropping in sync?
Gold is selling off, too. Is a flight to mattress money underway?
Commodities
Gold Maintains Losses After Fed’s Statement, Stronger U.S. Data
Metal Didn’t Post Further Losses After FOMC Statement Because Prices Already Subdued
By Tatyana Shumsky
Updated July 30, 2014 2:43 p.m. ET
Gold futures were continuing their losses Wednesday after the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy statement turned out to be in line with investors’ expectations.
The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, was recently down $2.50, or 0.2%, at $1,298 a troy ounce in electronic trading. The contract settled down $3.60, or 0.3%, at $1,296.90 an ounce when floor trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange closed for the day at 1:30 p.m. EDT.
The Federal Open Market Committee voted to continue scaling back its monthly bond purchases and presented a more upbeat assessment of the economy just hours after a stronger-than-expected U.S. economic growth report. The statement came out at 2 p.m. EDT.
Gold prices had retreated after the stronger data, and futures prices held those losses as investors sifted through the FOMC’s policy statement.
“It’s largely baked in,” said Frank McGhee, senior precious metals dealer with Integrated Brokerage Services in Chicago.
“You have an economy on the mend. If you get a good jobs report on Friday, you’ll see more of a sentiment in the market for ending stimulus faster or raising rates” sooner, Mr. McGhee said.
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non-mining stocks have far more to fall than gold. You know that W-A-B.
Gold down 3.14% in the last 12 months.
S&P up by 14.5% in the last 12 months.
If I was a gold bug I would be buying gold much more than stocks. But I am not a gold bug. In the next 20 years stocks will do better than gold and other precious metals, better than bonds, better than RE, better than cash. But precious metals will do better than bonds, RE, and cash. It’s foolish to not have any precious metals.
C R A T E R
F R A U D
dow down 317 points today, amy
Down down down we go. … where the bottom is Housing Analyst knows.
“dow down 317 points today, amy”
Luckily housing always goes up, even when the stock market is tanking.
Credit Markets
U.S. Treasurys End July on Mixed Note Ahead of Jobs Data
Divergent Economic Signals, Month-End Buying by Fund Managers Cause Price Swings
Cynthia Lin
Updated July 31, 2014 4:44 p.m. ET
U.S. Treasurys managed to crawl out of deeper losses on Thursday, but ended July on a mixed note, as investors awaited Friday’s important U.S. employment report.
Divergent economic signals and typical month-end buying by fund managers caused price swings throughout the session. By late-afternoon, prices on benchmark 10-year notes were 3/32 lower to yield 2.565%, according to Tradeweb, despite a sharp selloff in U.S. stocks. Two-year notes gained 2/32 to yield 0.535%. Bond yields move inversely to prices.
“The market is a bit uneasy about the Fed’s [signals], and we also have a lot of geopolitical risks that aren’t getting any better, and it’s month end. That all creates a soup of volatility,” said Wilmer Stith, portfolio manager of the Wilmington Broad Market Bond Fund.
For the month though July 30, the U.S. Treasurys market had handed investors a loss of 0.17%, poised for the worst monthly total return since March. A bulk of those losses came on Wednesday, when Treasurys sold off on an upbeat reading on U.S. growth in the second quarter.
Early on Thursday, Treasury prices had tumbled on a slightly better-than-expected jobless claims report. It showed fewer filings for jobless benefits than expected, adding to a recent string of upbeat labor-market signals. That lifted the 10-year yield as high as 2.613%.
Prices eventually turned positive, however, sparked by a discouraging read on economic activity in the Midwest. The Chicago purchasing managers index fell to its lowest since June 2013.
Choppy U.S. economic signals, as well as continuing conflicts in the Middle East and between Russia and Ukraine, kept buyers in safe-haven markets. “The bond market is being driven by more than just domestic economic fundamentals and a possible rate increase in 2015. It is being driven by world-wide events and a lack of global choices when it comes to keeping your money safe,” said Kevin Giddis, head of fixed income capital markets at Raymond James.
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Bones found in the walls of historic Detroit building
Detroit — Crime scene investigators are on the scene of a historic downtown apartment building after bones were found in the walls Thursday morning, police said.
The Ashley Apartments, a 67-unit mid-rise,is being converted into upscale residences.
Michigan prisoners may get $1K-per-pill hepatitis C care
This headline is deceptive. Cost of a course of treatment for the drug alone is $84,000 per patient not counting other drugs that must also be given. 1% of US population has hep C. It’s safe to estimate that 99.9% of those infected cannot pay for the drug out of their own resources.
Help wanted: Aging Maine town offers reward for plumber
(Reuters) - When the only plumber in remote Jackman, Maine, retired, leaving the town’s 862 people with no alternative nearer than 50 miles (80 km) away, things got desperate enough that the town offered a $2,000 scholarship for anyone willing to learn the trade and stay.
“It can sometimes take weeks until we can find someone to respond,” said local school principal Denise Plante. Towns across Maine, which has the oldest population in the nation, face challenges keeping up with services as tradesmen retire and are not replaced by younger workers. In Jackman, where close to one in five residents is age 65 or older, a rate above the state average, the problem is more acute.
As local paper mills and manufacturers have moved away, more young people have left the central Maine town near the Canadian border, limiting the supply of new tradesmen.
Quote from a current Maudlin Economics report:
“Income - the capital you derive on a regular basis as the result of labor or in exchange for a service - is quickly becoming the world’s most precious commodity.”
Something Combotechie has been saying for quite a while now.
Depends on the price, ALWAYS.
Now I’ve had the time of my life No, I never felt like this before
LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED
EVERYTHING ELSE IS INCLUDED
Sandals Luxury Included Vacation Planner for … - Sandals Resorts
http://www.sandals.com/vacationPlanner - 120k -
or
Immigrants to be Housed in ‘Suites’ Near San Antonio
Posted: Jul 31, 2014 11:39 AM
KARNES CITY - Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday will open a refurbished detention center three hours north of the Rio Grande Valley.
The Karnes City center will house women and children who entered the country illegally through the Valley.
The 532-bed facility underwent a massive renovation to house women and children. The center housed only adult immigrants in the past.
Immigrants will be at the facility for an average of 23 days.
The feds said the immigrants will be referred to as “residents” and the rooms as “suites.” The suites are furnished with flat-screen television sets and landline telephones. The center has a soccer field covered with artificial turf, ping pong tables and a weight room.
A charter school nearby will provide schooling and access to a library for the immigrant children.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3187452/posts - 9k -
Everyone must check in
And check your region:
https://www.fema.gov/regional-operations
IMF URGES HIGHER ENERGY TAXES TO FIGHT ‘CLIMATE CHANGE’
IMF lays out exactly what it views as appropriate taxes on coal, natural gas, gasoline and diesel in 156 countries..
“Energy taxes in much of the world are far below what they should be”
IMF Urges Higher Energy Taxes to Fight ‘Climate Change’
Image Credits: polifemus, Flickr
by REUTERS | JULY 31, 2014
Energy taxes in much of the world are far below what they should be to reflect the harmful environmental and health impact of fossil fuels use, the International Monetary Fund said in a new book on Thursday.
For the first time, the IMF laid out exactly what it views as appropriate taxes on coal, natural gas, gasoline and diesel in 156 countries to factor in the fuels’ overall costs, which include carbon dioxide emissions, air pollution, congestion and traffic accidents.
Under its chief, Christine Lagarde, the IMF has delved into the impact of climate change, arguing that tackling the fund’s core mission of economic instability is impossible without also addressing environmental damage.
At the book’s launch in Washington, Lagarde said countries should not have to wait for global agreement on climate policies, and instead should move ahead in adjusting energy prices on their own.
Bilderberg Group 2013: guest list and agenda
The Bilderberg, the secretive annual gathering of businessmen, politicians and defence officials, today meets at The Grove hotel in Watford. This is the guest list and agenda in full.
George Osborne and Christine Lagarde Photo: AP
By Matthew Holehouse9:57AM BST 06 Jun 2013
The meeting will take place from 6 to 9 June at the Grove Hotel, Hertfordshire, with 140 delegates from 21 countries. The topics for discussion are:
• Can the US and Europe grow faster and create jobs?
• Jobs, entitlement and debt
• How big data is changing almost everything
• Nationalism and populism
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/…/10102170/Bilderberg-Group-2013-guest-list-and-agenda.html -
phony scandals