September 6, 2014

Bits Bucket for September 6, 2014

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




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133 Comments »

Comment by Combotechie
2014-09-06 03:44:34

Bottom line: If you already have a job then you must be a good employee and if you are a good employee then I want you to work for me. But if you are unemployed then you must not be a good employee else you wouldn’t be unemployed. And If you are not a good employee then I do not want you to work for me.

This is the thinking that explains why the unemployed remain unemployed.

“Why I Do All My Recruiting Through LinkedIn”

By REBEKAH CAMPBELL
August 19, 2014 7:00 am

“Recruiting the right team member is always difficult. I start off knowing that I need someone to perform a task, and imagine what qualities that person might possess. How, in a sea of people, can I find my ideal candidate?

“In the past, I would have posted job ads on all the appropriate websites and braced for a flood of applications. I’d spend a weekend afternoon sifting through them all, deleting three quarters and writing follow-up emails to the rest. I always mailed a list of questions for each candidate to complete, with a deadline for their return. This enabled me to filter out at least another half who either didn’t reply in time, wrote dud answers or couldn’t spell and didn’t pay attention to details. Finally, I’d have 10 or so interviews. Often, they would all be disappointing.

“My problem was that the best candidates all had good positions and were not reading job advertisements. Somehow, I had to find these people and convince them to take a risk by joining our start-up. The only solution seemed to be to hire a recruiter and, as a cash-strapped small business, we just couldn’t afford to shell out a recruitment fee of 20 percent of the candidate’s annual salary.”

Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2014-09-06 06:19:48

‘Often, they would all be disappointing.’

Woe is the employer. You’d swear that businesses are not making money and everything is going to hades all because there.is.not.enough.people.willing.to.do.techinical.stuff.cheap.enough.

Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2014-09-06 06:21:01

‘technical’

Comment by rms
2014-09-06 14:40:01

‘technical’

A Somali fighter?

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Comment by Combotechie
2014-09-06 06:45:23

This may help explain the concept of momentum or, rather, what drives momentum.

If the best companies draw in the best employees and they do this by tapping into the workforce of less-than-best companies and extracting their best workers then this acts to strengthen the best companies and weaken the less-than-best companies.

Do this enough times and a trend will form - a momentum will form - and this momentum will act to feed on itself; The best will become better and the less-than-best will become even worse.

Given enough time the best will at some point eat the lunch of the less-than-best, marketplace wise, and eventually will drive it from the playing field.

 
Comment by butters
2014-09-06 07:43:17

Basically good for the people with jobs already. They can shift around employers kind of like same sh1t different emplyer…….newcomers have no chance breaking into the circle unless you are an H1b.

 
 
Comment by Guillotine Renovator
2014-09-06 09:33:04

This is what happens when there are not enough jobs to go around.

Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2014-09-06 10:14:08

‘This is what happens when there are not enough jobs to go around.’

Not enough good paying jobs right now. Oh, and the ones that pay low wages, well they want a litany of things from the applicants. The employers don’t care if people have real world bills to pay. Not that they should. This is why I am in a way hopeful that the ACA gets more refined and takes root. It would be heavenly to know that you did not need an employer to subsidize an affordable, good health care insurance plan.

 
 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-09-06 10:23:41

I like dice.com as a place to job hunt in the tech areas. Though my contacts are on LinkedIn. The dice site does not have clutter. LinkedIn is too cluttered.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2014-09-06 10:55:21

My problem was that the best candidates all had good positions and were not reading job advertisement

Oh, we see them. More often than not, yours is a place I’d rather not work at. And with websites like glassdoor I can get all the dirt on your firm: how stingy you are with pay and benefits, that you’re a hire and fire shop, that you bully your employees, etc.

Smart bosses now how hard it is to hire good people and treat their staff well. Dumb bosses treat them like crap and wonder why they leave.

 
Comment by Combotechie
2014-09-06 13:48:44

One way to look at this:

If an employer is to hire someone who is currently unemployed then the employer is taking a larger chance of hiring a lemon of an employee than he would be making if he were to merely steal an employee from another company - an employee who has demonstrated via his track record that he can perform.

In a sense the company you will be stealing the employee from has spent its own the time and money doing the auditioning so all you have to do is to make your offer alluring enough to entice the employee to jump ship. And his jumping ship wouldn’t be all that though to convince him to do if your company has a better reputation that the one he is jumping from.

And this - this stealing the best and leaving the rest - is one of the reasons why great companies become great and less-than-great companies eventually slide into oblivion.

 
Comment by rms
2014-09-06 14:38:28

“This is the thinking that explains why the unemployed remain unemployed.”

I once asked a friend who never held a job longer than a few months, “What’s up with that chit?”

He said, “It takes all your time.”

Looking back, he always was drinking beer, but he never bought any; amicable mooch I suppose.

 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-09-06 04:30:43

Prices reverse in another major city.

Denver, CO Housing Prices Turn Negative At Peak Of Season; Price Reductions Surge 95%

http://www.movoto.com/denver-co/market-trends/

Comment by goon squad
2014-09-06 06:29:30

Nobody wants these $500,000 starter homes.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 05:08:42

CNBC viewership plunges to a 21-year low. The corporate presstitutes of CNBC are finding it harder and harder to draw in the viewership they need to lure retail investors into the Wall Street-Federal Reserve looting syndicate’s rigged casino market.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-05/cnbc-viewership-plunges-21-year-lows

Comment by Get Stucco
2014-09-06 06:17:01

Who needs to bother viewing CNBC when it’s a given the stock market can only go up from now on?

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 06:35:23

Until the ponzi implodes.

Comment by Get Stucco
2014-09-06 09:00:55

Clearly that will never happen again, thanks to bailouts and QE.

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Comment by Guillotine Renovator
2014-09-06 09:34:40

Right. It’s QE infinity.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by aNYCdj
2014-09-06 05:26:42

bring your millions to NYC everyone wants to live here.

 
Comment by Grumpy
2014-09-06 05:27:15

Who remembers the 2004 hurricane season?
Charley
Frances
Ivan
Jeanne

That was a tough time to live in Florida.

Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2014-09-06 06:29:07

Jeb Bush doesn’t care about underwater people.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 06:53:36

Jeb Bush and the entire Wall Street-captured GOP care very much about ensuring their oligarch masters do not lose money or otherwise suffer adverse consequences for their fraud, swindles and reckless speculation. As far as the FBs, sucks to be them.

 
 
Comment by oxide
2014-09-06 10:59:31

Evidently not the Chinese, who seem to think that the best use of $500K is a f-ing floating box of air on a strip on land facing the Atlantic. They would do better to buy the $500K starter homes in Denver.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-09-06 12:57:07

Full of questionable that you never executed on yourself.

 
 
 
Comment by goon squad
2014-09-06 05:32:17

Region VIII checking in.

Comment by Grumpy
2014-09-06 07:58:34

Region VIII: CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY

Region VIII has minimal risk of hurricanes.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-09-06 15:11:44

“Never Been To Spain”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm6qw_yeo6o - 202k -

Well, I’ve never been to Spain
But I kinda like the music
Say the ladies are insane there
And they sure know how to use it

They don’t abuse it
Never gonna lose it
I can’t refuse it

Well, I’ve never been to England
But I kinda like the Beatles
Well, I headed for Region IX
Only made it out to Region VIII

Can you feel it?
Must be near it
Feels so good
Oh, it feels so good

Well, I’ve never been to heaven
But I’ve been to Region I
Oh, they tell me I was born there
But I really don’t remember

In Region I, not Region VIII
What does it matter?
What does it matter?

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
 
 
 
Comment by azdude
2014-09-06 05:38:25

Should I give up and start buying stocks after being out the past 5 years? Is it time to throw in the towel?

Anyone else see that cnbc viewers are basically no one anymore?

Comment by Rental Watch
2014-09-06 06:08:24

If your time horizon is infinite, buy stocks today.

If your time horizon is shorter, tread lightly.

If your time horizon is at least 10 years, I would average in, but probably keep an allocation to stocks at less than 50%…wait for the next recession, and enter with the rest of your allocation at that point.

I’m already in at a very low basis for my taxable holdings, so I’m not selling (the tax hit is way larger than even a large correction–and my time horizon is 10+ years).

For my tax deferred/free holdings, I’m considering getting out and de-risking that portion of the portfolio considerably.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 06:13:09

Buy stocks at the peak of a bubble market with black swans taking wing everywhere? Yeah, good luck with that.

Comment by Shillow
2014-09-06 06:42:32

Try to average in at the top!

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Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-09-06 08:00:21

And if “the top” lasts for several years, that should give the DCA peops plenty of opportunity to lock in their lifetime losses.

 
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2014-09-06 12:05:19

black swans taking wing everywhere

Read that again and think about the intended meaning of it.

Hint:
Your point cannot be derived by the definitions of the words you just wrote.

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-09-06 06:19:22

Renal Wart,

How about telling us why you stated that that falling housing prices is a negative.

 
 
Comment by Captain Credit Crunch
2014-09-06 06:44:31

I held $100k from 2010 to 2012 waiting for the bottom to fall out Great Depression style. It didn’t happen and meanwhile was earning 0. I knew if I threw it all in, I would single handedly alter the course of history Murphy’s law style. Meanwhile, my wife and I continued to save and earn way more than we need, so we started making a number of investments, averaging in.

We have changed our mentality to view investing as what sort of income is being produced every year rather than perseverating over the ups and downs of the balance. As we accumulate assets, the income grows and compounds.

Now we hold a number of assets, from REITs and junk corporate, to (gasp!) MBS and dividend paying stocks. We even hold a sizable amount of our portfolio in P2P lending (2 platforms) and participate in a private fund that lends to small businesses. Multiple brokerages, fidelity for big buys (such as when BP dropped 6% this week) and loyal3 for multiple small buys of $25 every week. We love seeing the roughly $1100 come in every month (taxable), and know it just keeps increasing. I still have that $100k cash in my 403b waiting for the Big Dip, but will probably just start averaging it in.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-09-06 08:53:26

Are falling housing prices a negative?????

Comment by Guillotine Renovator
2014-09-06 09:37:35

They are for loanowners.

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Comment by Captain Credit Crunch
2014-09-06 22:13:57

Falling house prices would be a huge positive. I look forward to the day.

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Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-09-06 10:32:43

CCC, that is how I see it. I view my non retirement assets as an income stream. Part of it is fixed and of course the part in stocks and stock funds and precious metals (and wine) varies. I would like to have an investment income of $4,000 per month to fall back on. And I am a little more than halfway there! That $4,000 will offset a salary downsize, should I require it, to get a tech job in Phoenix. my retirement accounts are a different story. Won’t touch them for several years, hopefully 12.

My aim is a simpler life, 30 hour work week, morning of workouts, weekends of biking and hiking the White Mountains.

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2014-09-06 12:07:15

My aim is a simpler life, 30 hour work week, morning of workouts, weekends of biking and hiking

I got you by 20 years.

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Comment by rms
2014-09-06 14:49:56

“My aim is a simpler life, 30 hour work week…”

+1 But employers willing to accommodate this lifestyle are difficult to find. The 40-60 hour work week consumes most of the professionals I work around. It’s all-in, or nothing.

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Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-09-06 16:07:12

The key is to work in an environment where the top managers and owners and star workers have families. My current job is like that. They rarely work more than 40 hour weeks. It is a good strategy for me to work there for a stepping stone. Just trying to hang in there to bide my time while my assets compound their gains and my income is reinvested. So yeah my job I want may be one that is full of singles and long hours. But I would have to see. And at least I would probably be in Phoenix full time.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 15:15:44

Sounds like a plan.

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Comment by Get Stucco
2014-09-06 11:14:46

Who could have seen Ben Bernanke ‘ s March 2009 stock market reflation plan coming? Not I.

But I have a colleague who went all-in on stocks in March 2009. Doubled his money in short order.

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-09-06 12:13:50

Who could have seen Ben Bernanke ‘ s March 2009 stock market reflation plan coming? Not I.

Well, to be fair, Bernanke outlined pretty much precisely what he would be doing in that 2004 speech (IIRC).

Unfortunately, I misjudged the effectiveness at reflating asset bubbles, and chose not to play this round.

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Comment by shendi
2014-09-06 07:55:00

I thought that you were happy with all the housing that you bought - what with the equity that you building and using for wine tasting and such.
If you are looking to make that equity of yours work more then get another Heloc or two and buy the index funds. You can make up for the lost time.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-09-06 08:02:08

Borrow all you need to spend today, and rest with the understanding that you can easily shed tomorrow by defaulting on your housing debt. Your state’s Homeowner’s Bill of Rights will give you indefinite protection against creditors.

 
 
 
Comment by azdude
2014-09-06 05:41:11

Could be just me but do they want to give you the impression you are missing out on something if you dont join the party? Once you get in the party they turn on you?

Comment by Get Stucco
2014-09-06 06:26:16

Used home sellers constantly use this ploy. But I am immune, having recently seen this movie, including the sad panda ending.

What I cannot fathom are people who avoid stocks because they are “too risky” but gladly speculate in owning individual properties on leverage, a far riskier gamble.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 06:32:38

ALL of the Fed- and central-bank blown asset bubbles will eventually burst, and the price discovery will be epic. Buying a house before that happens makes no sense to me.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-09-06 06:39:33

ALL of the Fed- and central-bank blown asset bubbles will eventually burst, and the price discovery will be epic.

The glide path to ever-higher prices is so smooth and predictable these days, it is almost impossible to envision anything other than ever-higher assets prices from here on out.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 07:23:38

This won’t end well. Already screwed-over populations in Europe are rejecting their EU-financier overlords and turning to parties that put national interests first.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-05/printed-money-nothing

 
Comment by Grumpy
2014-09-06 08:01:50

Whac - why did you find it necessary to change handles when responding to your Get Stucco post?

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-09-06 08:15:30

Thats my post.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 09:04:26

So the Fed and its Wall Street accomplices would have us believe stocks have reached a permanently high plateau. Hmm, didn’t they say something similar in 1929?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-06/stocks-have-reached-permanently-high-plateau

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 15:29:09

The ECB’s tsunami of free gambling money for the banksters and oligarchs may be reaching the end of the line, as pissed-off Europeans are rejecting establishment political parties that have served as adjuncts to Goldman Sachs and the EU.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6ecbb6c4-34d5-11e4-aa47-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3CZp9Gsw8

 
 
 
Comment by Shillow
2014-09-06 06:47:33

Especially mow when the signs are clearer than any time in the tast few years that prices are dropping.

I think the PTB may be trying to let some air out of the bubble to prevent a massive pop. They know the past 2 years of price increases have all been about unhealthy speculation by hedgies and flippers. They also know their hedgie buddies can get lut first, having been secretly warned.

 
 
 
Comment by scdave
2014-09-06 05:50:40

Here is a interesting Harvard read as it relates to housing for our aging population…

http://nextavenue.us3.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f254e8e727c963f12db297d6d&id=bf9b74fd23&e=911b5ddeed

Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2014-09-06 06:54:27

I think that is the article or similar that I referred to the other day as being a situation where trying to turn things around is unlikely.

‘ “It’s an ironic byproduct of the recovery that rents and home prices are going up, but incomes for seniors are not rising,” says Smoke. ‘

In a nutshell. Wage deflation.

Comment by butters
2014-09-06 07:34:00

Solution - build more houses, buy more stawks, cheap money for the bankers.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-09-06 08:14:18

The unstated, uncomfortable truth about housing as it relates to this topic is that there are 35 million housing units coming onto the market as boomers start to pass on. This is already occurring and this is in addition to the 25 million excess, empty and defaulted houses out there.

Wrap your minds around this reality because it’s not going away.

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Comment by Get Stucco
2014-09-06 08:56:45

Rather it’s on the cusp of coming into plain view — like China’s ghost cities or the Emporer’s new clothes.

 
Comment by rms
2014-09-06 17:08:12

“…or the Emporer’s new clothes.”

+1 LOL. Why would anyone want to be the emperor?

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 06:19:07

A foretaste of life under Pelosi’s DNC supermajority regime.

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2014/09/narcos-are-choking-chihuahua-communities.html

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 06:25:50

Be afraid, Amy. Be very afraid.

http://wolfstreet.com/2014/09/06/middle-class-priced-out-of-housing-market/

With home prices rising for three years in much of the country, and soaring at dizzying rates in a number of metro areas, the inevitable is happening: sales stalled. But prices have continued to rise, even as sales have deteriorated further. Something has to give. And it’s not going to be maxed-out American consumers. They’re not going to all suddenly inherit enough money to buy these mid-range homes that have moved beyond reach.

But something else is happening.

In the Las Vegas-Paradise metro area, one of the epicenters of the former housing bubble, and one of the epicenters of Housing Bubble 2, the ratio of homes sold to absentee buyers (mostly investors) as a percent of total sales in July plunged by a quarter year-over-year, according to DQNews, a division of CoreLogic. The ratio of homes sold to cash buyers plunged by a third. The ratio of homes flipped swooned. Total home sales have dropped year-over-year for the past 10 months; in July, they were down 11.8% to 4,260 units, the lowest for any July since crisis-year 2008.

Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2014-09-06 10:25:20

I got news for people. Try to minimize what you own materially. As in cars, clothing, furniture, etc. Having stuff chains you to have to have a place to store it. Have a fat bank account and stocks and bonds and such, but try not to acquire the things that make you have to figure where to store them. All the money you have saved up and not spent on things will be spent on a lifestyle more freedom-based IMHO. You could pick and go as you want. When you have a house with possessions, you are at the mercy of the bidders. Right now, looks awfully good to just do it and buy a house because they go up in price. We see the coming generational storm on the horizon. This country is getting an older population developing. It may be OK for a decade or so, but what do you suppose wages and the outlook is going to be after that? The youngsters have it made right now if they avoid the spend,spend cult that is foisted upon them. They will have cheap houses to buy in a few decades.

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-09-06 11:22:10

Great post. I am selfishly hoarding cash and precious metals but they take up very little space. It is the people in way overpriced stucco boxes and their expensive cars that only attract muggers that you refer to, I know.

Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2014-09-06 18:13:37

‘It is the people in way overpriced stucco boxes and their expensive cars that only attract muggers that you refer to, I know.’

I’d rather be able to retire by age 65 and be physically fit and able to hike all over the west than be chained down with a house and possessions and constant bills and wondering when the fun begins.

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Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-09-06 18:05:10

The deal is that the statists have trapped us all. If you buy a house you are a sitting duck for all the wrongdoings statists can cause. They can seize your house through eminent domain and give you a payment they deem fair, but is not fair to you. They could do an asset forfeiture seize of your house. They could manufacture crimes against you to seize it. They could raise the property taxes or utility taxes and you are a loser. On the other hand, if your assets are mostly electronic, they can easily seize those assets.

Cash “under the mattress” and stacks of silver coins, each hidden in not so obvious places and not all in one place. But would you put half your net worth in it? They are not investments. You have to settle for the Cyprus style of electronic asset seizure liklihoods in order to get decent growth in your net worth. You have to risk seizure of your stock funds in your 401k and IRA to get the decent investment gains no other asset class could compare to. The compromise could be, maybe $15k in paper money and $150k in TBills and two year notes, and maybe another $150k in precious metals bullion out of a net worth of $2 million?

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 06:50:39

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/05/neoliberalism-mental-health-rich-poverty-economy

To be at peace with a troubled world: this is not a reasonable aim. It can be achieved only through a disavowal of what surrounds you. To be at peace with yourself within a troubled world: that, by contrast, is an honourable aspiration. This column is for those who feel at odds with life. It calls on you not to be ashamed.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 06:55:51

Obama delays going full retard on open borders until after the mid-term elections. Fear not, Nancy Pelosi, your DNC Supermajority is at hand.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_IMMIGRATION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-06-09-51-02

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 07:29:46

A note for our resident lemmings (cough MightyMike): Are you gullible enough to buy into Hillary’s patently disingenuous attempt to re-brand herself as somehow being uninvolved in Obama’s “feckless” policies? I mean, she was the consumate insider, was she not? I know our electorate is brain-dead, but this beggars belief.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/round-two-team-clinton-book-ratchets-up-attack-on-obamas-feckless-policies/article/2552897

Comment by Guillotine Renovator
2014-09-06 09:48:59

Hillary Clinton is as scummy as they come. Nothing could make me vote for that power-hungry, corrupt phony.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 14:29:54

The thinking 5% won’t be fooled, but the Obama Zombies, McCain Mutants, and Romney Retards - 95% of the electorate in other words - will readily be duped - again - by Hillary or whatever Bush clone the GOP comes up with.

 
 
 
Comment by Get Stucco
2014-09-06 08:51:11

Even though the San Diego economy is doing great, suicides here are at an all-time high. Go figure!

Comment by Get Stucco
2014-09-06 09:12:58

San Diego County Suicides Reach All-Time High
Saturday, September 6, 2014
By Kenny Goldberg

Suicide remains a leading cause of death as 441 people in San Diego County took their own lives last year.

It’s the third year in row the number of local suicides has gone up.

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-09-06 11:17:40

They should have stayed out of debt. I suspect money issues is a big part of their problems. People are happy when they assume control of their own lives. That includes nutrition. There are apps that are free and provide a means to let you know if you have a nutritional deficiency in your diet.

Comment by azdude
2014-09-06 16:29:15

file bankruptcy and move on.

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Comment by rms
2014-09-06 17:10:56

“file bankruptcy and move on.”

Can you rephrase that as RAP lyrics?

 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-09-07 08:26:56

Can you rephrase that as RAP lyrics?

Dooes da B K and getsta walkin’ away!

 
 
 
 
Comment by Get Stucco
Comment by rms
2014-09-06 17:14:20

The economic recovery is underway; charge!

 
 
 
Comment by Ben Jones
2014-09-06 09:19:50

Here’s an example of how most people would let their right-left, knee-jerk response approach confuse them. It’s from the Washington Times! Oh no, those right wing Moonies! Instead of actually reading the words:

‘Neoconservative gospel maintains that “moderate” disciples of the Founding Fathers can be discovered in trouble spots throughout the world and that they will pioneer peaceful democratic dispensations if the United States would only jump-start the process with military or economic support.’

‘That delusion qualifies neoconservatives for honorary membership in the Flat Earth Society. Further, the endless U.S. interventions championed by neoconservatives under the banner of boosting “moderates” create power vacuums and monsters like the Islamic State that diminish the prospects for peace and heighten danger to the American people.’

‘Neocon delusions about “moderates” fueled Mr. Obama’s war against Libya to overthrow Col. Moammar Gadhafi in the expectation of installing Libyan disciples of the Founding Fathers. Gadhafi was ousted and killed, but no moderates appeared, and none could be summoned into being. Instead, violence spiraled, tribal and sectarian militias multiplied, our ambassador was killed in Benghazi, all U.S. Embassy personnel departed, and Gadhafi’s weapons were scattered throughout the Middle East.’

‘Neocon gospel also insisted that “moderate” disciples of the Founding Fathers could be discovered in post-September 11 Afghanistan to establish popular self-government, emancipate women, and defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda. However, Afghanistan’s culture is barely a notch above a state of nature. It features ethnic, tribal and religious animosities, the subjugation of women, and rigid hierarchies. Equality under the law, due process and a separation of powers are alien concepts. After 13 years of U.S. occupation and tutelage, Afghanistan remains a failed state vulnerable to imminent takeover by the Taliban as soon as U.S. troops exit.’

‘The neocons confidently asserted that “moderates” were present in Iraq to pioneer democracy and human rights throughout the Middle East after the U.S. invasion in 2003. As with Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, though, there were no George Washingtons, James Madisons or adherents of the Enlightenment. There never have been. Indeed, the neocon-engineered war occasioned a grisly mix of religious, tribal and ethnic conflict in Iraq that resembles Libya’s inferno.’

‘The Islamic State is the child of the havoc wreaked by neocons throughout the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia that has destroyed governments and convulsed cultures. The worst of the worst thrive in a power vacuum.’

How is it that these neocons are still causing these disasters? It doesn’t take much digging to find them at the heart of what happened in Ukraine. Why the heck has the President allowed neocons back into seats of power, after their entirely calamitous recent history?

How much utter failure and death will discredit this cabal? How many trillions must be wasted?

Why don’t these think-tank crusaders put on a uniform and fight? I saw the list of who the US is lining up to fight in Iraq and Syria. Not one mid-east country! Countries like Poland! Why the heck can’t Saudi Arabia do it? What about Jordan, and Israel, the UAE, Egypt, Bahrain? They have the money. They are our “allies”. They don’t have any problem blowing up protestors or torturing people. They buy our jet fighters (with money we give them). Where are the Saudi air assaults against IS? After all, they primarily funded these bastards in the first place.

As long as we wallow around in lies and this imaginary left-right debate about our war making and regime changers, we’ll never have peace. And we’ll lose all of our freedoms here in the US in perpetual war.

Comment by iftheshoefits
2014-09-06 09:58:50

‘How much utter failure and death will discredit this cabal? How many trillions must be wasted?’

Answer: No end, it seems.

Why did they get the name neocons? Because they came originally from the Democratic side of the spectrum, not that it really matters. Meddlers all by nature, this particular group was more interested in meddling overseas than at home. And after the sixties, there was no longer a place in their original political home from which to do this.

Now it seems meddling in endless foreign wars is OK again for democrat/progressives. Our Nobel Peace Prize-winning president is leading the way. Go figure.

As far as the question of how much damage - much the same could be said regarding the Keynesians and the warmenists. And sadly, the warmenists are just getting started.

Meddlers gonna meddle.

Comment by Ben Jones
2014-09-06 10:30:05

Here’s something missing from the discussion: Bin Laden said his goal was to exhaust the US financially. He mentioned that he would have a few Mujahideen plant a flag on a distant mountain, and the US would spend millions to knock it down. It’s glaringly simple, and it worked against the Soviets, as it did against the British. In fact, all empires have gone this way. They weren’t defeated, they collapsed from within.

The neocons say, “we are an empire”. And they’ve never gone back on that.

Now, I don’t buy what we are being told about the IS people. Something else is going on. But let’s assume the official narrative is correct. We get sucked back into Iraq; unthinkable just months ago. We’re still bogged down in Afghanistan. Now we are tipsy-toeing into the Syrian civil war. Also unthinkable until now. We’re pivoting toward China. Encircling Russia. Our drones patrol much of Africa.

I heard the British PM say last week that he believes this Iraq/Syria war will last decades. And then he puts out a paper co-written with Obama saying we must reject “isolationism” with regard to this new “threat”.

If we get into multi-decade mud wrestling in this part of the world, what do you think the $17 trillion debt will look like? How will we pay for the $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities coming due? It’ll be the end of the US as a functioning economy. The only way to avoid this, is to not get down in the mud. And the government is putting on the wet T-shirt as we type.

Comment by Get Stucco
2014-09-06 12:26:49

Here’s something missing from the discussion: Bin Laden said his goal was to exhaust the US financially. He mentioned that he would have a few Mujahideen plant a flag on a distant mountain, and the US would spend millions to knock it down.

Did it work?

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Comment by MightyMike
2014-09-06 11:31:54

Why did they get the name neocons? Because they came originally from the Democratic side of the spectrum, not that it really matters.

Yeah, the term arose some time around 1970. It described liberals who became conservative. As far as I can tell, people didn’t talk much about neoconservatives for decades, until G. W. Bush became president. I don’t know why writers like this former Reagan appointee are so fond of using the term at this point, years after Bush left DC. Currently, the neoconservatives are most famous for pushing us into was against Iraq in 2003. But were there any prominent Republicans who opposed that war? I don’t remember any. (Not enough Democrats opposed it either.) So what’s the difference between a conservative and a neoconservative?

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2014-09-06 12:30:38

Why did they get the name neocons?

Because some conservatives got some money and a hormone imbalance?

Now it seems meddling in endless foreign wars is OK again for democrat/progressives.

I always knew Bush was a Democrat.

Comment by Ben Jones
2014-09-06 14:04:06

‘conservatives got some money and a hormone imbalance’

They were Democrats that left the party because it was embracing an non-interventionist stance after Vietnam. They tacked conservative onto it to trick people. As I’ve already shown, from the beginning neocons called for universal healthcare, immigration and a host of other big government stuff. Neocons hate civil liberties too.

They like big government because it’s a cover for the key to their real ambition; a huge military. War is the health of the state. A big state can support more war. Read their more famous papers and programs.

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clean_Break:_A_New_Strategy_for_Securing_the_Realm

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Comment by iftheshoefits
2014-09-06 15:49:46

‘I always knew Bush was a Democrat.’

He’s not, of course. What was your point?

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Comment by MightyMike
2014-09-06 11:17:54

This guy makes some interesting points, but he’s missing a more important one. The US foreign policy PTB wants friendly governments around the world. It doesn’t really care whether they’re democracies. In 1953, along with the British, we overthrew the democratically elected prime minister of Iran and installed the Shah. More recently, in 2006, we demanded that the Palestinians hold elections and then imposed sanctions when we didn’t like the results.

This writer may be mistaken about the neocons. It’s quite possible that they don’t sincerely think that democracy can be brought to the Middle East by the US armed forces. The argument about spreading democracy is probably mostly attempt to influence domestic popular opinion.

Comment by Ben Jones
2014-09-06 11:24:52

‘they don’t sincerely think that democracy can be brought to the Middle East by the US armed forces’

Of course they don’t, but one must start by refuting their stated position. If you read up on these guys, they love the Machiavellian thing. Lies, tricks, spying, deception, all fair game to advance their agenda.

 
Comment by iftheshoefits
2014-09-06 15:51:39

Last check, they aren’t doing too well on the friendly government thingy, either…

 
 
 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-09-06 10:39:20

I enjoy hearing gossip from the bank teller in my Phoenix neighborhood. Today I asked for my usual $100s (being the selfish hoarder). She said they only have 50s. Fine. Then she said something that the did not implement the restriction last week. I asked, restriction? I wondered who else in my nabe could be selfishly hoarding. She said there was someone who pulled out $22,000 cash. She also said they get this couple who sometimes pull out $50,000 to $70,000 cash. They lie to buy their cars that way.

A corner of my Phoenix area has houses in the 7 figure range. It is not Paradise Valley but there are some high tech execs and sports stars here.

Good to know about other cash types.

Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2014-09-06 10:56:14

Paper money. Some people get shot dead as a convenience store clerk for that stuff. This is why I am down on work some days. It is a facade to get paper money. Oh, OK, you can acquire other assets, but ultimately, this US dollar thing seems to rear its nose in the rest of the world’s arenas. Imagine if China and the oil nations said no more USD?

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-09-06 11:05:26

It is a big gamble for sure carrying all that cash around. you also have to worry about thugs in uniform. There are hundreds of cases around this country of cops seizing your assets if they whimsically suspect you are a drug money launderer. And they wont give you your money back. It is legal for them to keep it. It is a grave injustice and I am surprised most people…just DON’T CARE.

This is why I HATE THE POLICE.

 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-09-06 16:54:22

The state’s goal is to keep the Dollar as the preferred world currency, yet trace the transactions of its slaves as much as possible. They want a cashless society. The state encourages credit card usage and if you want cash, just forget about it. Instead, get paid by direct deposit and use your savings account to keep paying your credit card balance off every month. That allows traceability.

This is why you accumulate physical silver dollars. Stack em up! I would not be worried about the probability of uniformed thugs stopping my car and confiscating the two silver dollars I would be carrying, and they would probably not even confiscate my case of Caymus. The take cash, in amounts as small as a few $100s.

The general public in the 70s was horrified by the revealed unconstitutional powers of government in its wore tapping. But they seem to be okay with asset forfeiture and enough are still okay with spying on our Internet activities. We need a privacy revolution to knock back this intrusion.

 
 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-09-06 11:02:41

She also said they get this couple who sometimes pull out $50,000 to $70,000 cash. They lie to buy their cars that way.

I pulled out $8K a year or so ago, literally to buy a car. I was shocked when the teller asked what I needed the cash for, as that struck me as none of their d@mn business. My guess is that the reporting requirements for large cash transactions has a line for “purpose”, and they were fishing for what to put there. Would they have still given me my cash if I refused to answer?

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-09-06 11:08:31

Yes the statist homeland “security” laws encourage tellers to ask the purpose. And they record the transactions, particularly if they are out of the ordinary. Which is why I take out a small sum per week to “eat at fine dining establishments.”

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-09-06 11:10:12

P.S. it is none of government’s dam business of course.

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Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-09-06 11:16:58

Next time I think I’ll just give them a wink and say “hookers and blow”…

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2014-09-06 12:42:53

I’ll just give them a wink and say “hookers and blow”…

Sounds like a single 25 year old American dude in a customs line arriving in Brazil.

Why are you coming to Brasil?”

A simple fact that American men don’t get:
99% of American tourist men will never hook up casually and normally with a Brazilian girl in Rio.

They’ve seen it all about the tourists and they just don’t care.

 
 
 
Comment by MightyMike
2014-09-06 11:45:02

My guess is that the reporting requirements for large cash transactions has a line for “purpose”, and they were fishing for what to put there. Would they have still given me my cash if I refused to answer?

It’s possible that they teller was just trying to inject some variety into her boring job by engaging in a little chit chat with you about your big purchase.

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-09-06 11:53:52

Nope. Its the reporting requirements of the police state. Don’t be a naive little socialist.

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Comment by MightyMike
2014-09-06 12:18:00

Those reporting requirements kick in at $10,000.

 
 
Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2014-09-06 12:18:18

Nope. It wasn’t the teller who asked the question—the branch manager came over specifically to ask that, and only that.

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Comment by sleepless_near_seattle
2014-09-06 13:43:55

Why not ask why they need to know?

 
 
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2014-09-06 12:35:29

I pulled out $8K a year or so ago, literally to buy a car.

I built my house pulling out cash from an atm about 4 times a week for a year.

Then the dollar got stronger. Go figure. But I made it up in volume?

 
 
 
Comment by reedalberger
2014-09-06 11:02:12

All this talk of war…makes me think of this brilliant Megadeth song referencing WWII.

Dave Mustaine’s masterpiece “Take no Prisoners” live.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLlxRGogTOQ

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 14:41:05

The oligarchs are getting spooked as it looks like the longsuffering people of Scottland may be preparing to give the middle finger to a UK government that has long since been captured by the City of London financiers.

http://www.businessinsider.com/yes-takes-the-lead-in-scottish-independence-poll-2014-9

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2014-09-06 16:14:03

The oligarchs are getting spooked as it looks like the longsuffering people of Scottland may be preparing to give the middle finger to a UK government

How can they do this when according to you only 5% are blessed “thinkers” like you?

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 17:10:02

That’s the US electorate. And I think a sizeable percentage of US voters who didn’t bother to go to the polls are also thinkers who didn’t see the point of participating in the corporatocracy’s puppet show.

In the Eurozone they’re further down the road to ruin, and thus are shaking off their complacency and opening their eyes a lot faster than we are.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 17:19:16

Only about 30% of eligible voters in the US actually went to the polls last time around. I’m guessing that around 2/3 of those who didn’t bother correctly assessed that no matter who they voted for, the policies would be the same. When a real alternative emerges - such as political novice Dave Brat, who ran a shoestring campaign and scored an upset victory in the VA primary over crony-capitalist and neo-con poster boy Eric Cantor, who naturally went on to his true calling by passing through the revolving door to a fat ($3.5M a year) banking job, the people are showing signs of rejecting the status quo.

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Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2014-09-06 17:28:44

no matter who they voted for, the policies would be the same.

I don’t think you could convince that to the 8 million who signed up for the ACA.

 
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2014-09-06 17:27:02

a sizeable percentage of US voters who didn’t bother to go to the polls are also thinkers who didn’t see the point of participating in the corporatocracy’s puppet show

Well you and they are wrong imo because of many differences such as the ACA and The SCOTUS’ 5-4 party line decisions such as Citizens United which is the definition of corporatocracy.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 14:44:59

Nancy Pelosi’s kindred spirits in the UK political and financial establishment, who have for years pushed a globalist, multiculteralist agenda that has seen the British Isles flooded with Third World asylum and benefit seekers, are now seeing the chickens come home to roost.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/06/calais-braced-for-clashes-between-migrants-and-far-right-marchers

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2014-09-06 15:34:25

Congress, having learned nothing from the 2008 crash, is once again meddling in the mortgage market, coming up with another scheme to enrich their bankster patrons under the pretext of enabling “affordable mortgages.” Get ready to grab your ankles again, taxpayers.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-06/meet-access-affordable-mortgages-act-how-congress-will-create-next-crisis

Comment by rms
2014-09-06 21:21:19

Shown Here:
Introduced in House (07/17/2014)

Access to Affordable Mortgages Act of 2014 - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to exempt from property appraisal requirements certain higher-risk mortgage loans of $250,000 or less if such a loan appears on the balance sheet of the creditor of the loan for at least three years.

Exempts certain individuals required to make such reports from penalties for failure to report any appraisers reasonably suspected of failing to comply with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, of violating applicable laws, or of otherwise engaging in unethical or unprofessional conduct.

Amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 to exempt such higher-risk mortgage loans from property appraisal or evaluation standard requirements.

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-09-06 16:37:10

RESEARCHER: BRZEZINSKI’S KIDS PROMOTING NEW COLD WAR

Brzezinski’s sons Mark and Ian are actively promoting NATO enlargement

by RIA NOVOSTI | SEPTEMBER 6, 2014

Daniel Zubov, a columnist from the Center for International Journalism and Research, revealed how the children of a well-known former US national security advisor and Russophobe Zbigniew Brzezinski were re-working Cold War approaches and applying them to current geopolitical conditions.

According to Zubov, Brzezinski’s sons Mark and Ian are actively promoting NATO enlargement. Given the pretext of Russian’s resent actions, these brothers have tried to persuade other states to join the military alliance, increase defense budgets, and play an active role in Ukraine’s ongoing domestic conflict.

Mark Brzezinski has been Ambassador to Sweden since November, 2011 and has been urging the country to join the alliance. Although Sweden has not become a NATO member yet, Brzezinski has managed to involve it in joint military exercises in Finland, Ukraine and Lithuania.

Meanwhile, Ian Brzezinski, who held the role of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy in the Bush administration, is no less hawkish: he co-authored “NATO’s Crucial Summit” for CNN, which urges NATO to provide Ukraine with “lethal military assistance” and resume military exercises with the country. Ironically enough for a former George W. Bush administration defense department official, he resorts to shaming Russia for the Soviet Union’s role in Afghanistan.

Zbigniew served as Jimmy Carter’s National Security Advisor between 1977 and 1981. He was raised by his anti-Russian father, Tadeusz Brzezinski, who fought the Soviet Red Army in the final Warsaw campaign of 1920 and later held public office in Nazi Germany as Consul General in the city of Leipzig from 1931 to 1935.

For more information, read the full feature here.

Comments

Blueberry • 28 minutes ago

Blood-sucking vampires who will not be boots on the ground themselves. Pansies. Sissies. Cowards. Murder on the brain. Psychopaths.

justincase • 41 minutes ago

Let Russia join NATO, as discussed in 2010. This would stop the cold war. Alas, the US would never allow that since they would not have a boogie man.

One to Midnight • 2 hours ago

SAME BOARD WITH DIFFERENT GAMES AND DIFFERENT RULES… While Brzezinski and Rockefeller-supported offspring play on the same board with Russia, both sides play different games with different rules. The western globalist nations seek a stable equilibrium with imperialist “peace” on their terms as their geo-political world govt. goal. Putin and Zhirinovsky, on the other hand, conceive the American opponent as a mortal enemy, bent on annihilation, eternally aggressive and treacherous. Their rules are survival and victory by all available means. The irony is that once their nuclear weapons are used (as the globalists dug-in south of the equator plan on) the World Court will come in to take control. (The world is the board.) The final rounds of this highly-dangerous geo-political competition are now underway…. Will Russia reclaim the Ukraine it controlled for centuries, to fulfill Zhirinovsky’s lifelong dream? Or will it soon be renamed Khazaria to the glee of Soros and his billionaire ilk there (Using the blood of American personnel for their unrestrained selfish gain…)

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-09-06 19:12:05

KEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!

That’s the sound of housing demand and prices blowing a hole in the floor in your neighborhood.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-09-06 21:49:29

Is it safe to assume at this point that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are here to stay, and the PTB are planning to pretend from here on out that their Fall 2008 collapses never happened?

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-09-06 21:55:56

Conservative analysts warn of growing Fannie and Freddie
By Joseph Lawler | September 3, 2014 | 5:00 am

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are set to grow, and that has conservative economists worried.

Both parties and both chambers of Congress agree in principle that the bailed-out government-sponsored mortgage enterprises need to be shut down and replaced with a new system of housing finance, to prevent the model of private profit at public expense that many blame for the companies’ failure and bailout from taking hold again.

But the companies’ government overseer announced Friday that it was setting new, more expansive affordable housing goals for Fannie and Freddie, the latest in what right-of-center analysts see as in a series of decisions meant to increase the businesses’ market impact, rather than eliminate it.

“I’m worried, I think that lawmakers will be worried,” said Andy Winkler, a researcher at the American Action Forum. “I don’t know if that will push them to get housing finance reform done, but I think it should,” Winkler said.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is proposing to increase the number of home loans for people in low-income areas and for people in multifamily housing such as condos and townhouses. The goals, which the agency is required by law to set, are for the years 2015-2017.

Coupled with a decision by new FHFA Director Mel Watt earlier in the year to cancel an increase in the fee it charges for government insurance on mortgages — a move that will ease credit terms — Friday’s announcement concerns Winkler.

“The overall tone shift from shrinking the government-sponsored enterprises to maintaining broad access has conservatives worried,” Winkler said.

Norbert Michel, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told the Washington Examiner that the goals announced Friday were not as sweeping as he thought they might be, but that the course charted out by Watt entailed “more of the same until these institutions are completely dealt with.”

In a major speech in May, Watt announced that he would be redirecting the agencies’ mission from shrinking Fannie and Freddie’s market footprint toward expanding mortgage credit.

There’s “not a chance anyone’s going to do major reform before the elections” this year, or even until after the presidential election in 2016, Michel warned.

American Enterprise Institute scholar Edward Pinto thought that Friday’s proposal was an effort by the FHFA to boost its affordable housing goals without retreading the path toward lending to unqualified individuals that doomed Fannie and Freddie in 2008, by framing the goals in terms of lending to areas defined by low-income rather than to low-income families. “The overarching goal or strategy is they want affordable housing goals,” Pinto told the Examiner. “They want to increase those.”

In addition to affordable housing goals, Pinto claimed, the FHFA under Watt hopes to expand mortgage credit by “jawboning lenders and insurers” to lend to all borrowers who would meet the terms offered by Fannie and Freddie.

In recent years, lenders have imposed even stricter credit terms for home loans than Fannie and Freddie require, in part because they fear that if those loans go bad in the future, they will be forced to purchase the money-losing loans back from the two enterprises — or even be sued for fraud.

“The problem is that private lenders are damned if they do and damned if they don’t” broaden lending to borrowers with less than perfect credit, Pinto said.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-09-06 21:59:09

Coup Underway At FHFA; Are Fannie, Freddie Here To Stay?
by timhoward717.com
September 04, 2014, 9:59 am

Conservative analysts are just now catching on to the news I broke in a blog post on May 13,2014 entitled “the coup has begun.” I actually was asked to refrain from speaking about this out of fear that it could derail the entire effort. As our readers have seen I recently broke my silence on this critical issue recently.

The reason I did so was because we received multiple indications that a wider audience was finally waking up to this reality. Our indicators were publicly confirmed in an article published by the Washington Examiner written by Joseph Lawler titled “Conservative analysts warn of growing Fannie Mae / Federal National Mortgage Assn and Freddie Mac / Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp released Wed. 9/3/14.In the Article Joseph reports “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are set to grow, and that has conservative economists worried.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is proposing to increase the number of home loans for people in low-income areas and for people in multifamily housing such as condos and townhouses. The goals, which the agency is required by law to set, are for the years 2015-2017.Coupled with a decision by new FHFA Director Mel Watt earlier in the year to cancel an increase in the fee it charges for government insurance on mortgages — a move that will ease credit terms — Friday’s announcement concerns Winkler. “The overall tone shift from shrinking the government-sponsored enterprises to maintaining broad access has conservatives worried.”

When will the conservatives realize that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were not going anywhere?

Worried? I was wondering how long it would take for conservatives to realize that Fannie Mae / Federal National Mortgage Assn and Freddie Mac / Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp were not going anywhere? This realization has lead to a growing chorus from conservative voices to condemn the illegal third amendment sweep.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-09-06 22:01:12

Newswire : Behind Ferguson’s unrest: Failed Federal policy and the Black-White housing gap
on September 3, 2014
By Andre F. Shashaty Special to the NNPA from

On the surface, the unrest in Ferguson, Mo., was about local police using deadly force on an unarmed young man. But on a deeper level, it reflected the increasing poverty and economic decline that affects ethnic communities all over America.

Despite rosy reports in the media about the end of the national foreclosure crisis and the recession that followed, all is not well in our inner cities and suburbs with largely minority populations, like Ferguson.

The foreclosure crisis was hard on many Americans, but it was a disaster for communities of color, including the citizens of Ferguson.

Half of Ferguson Homes Underwater

In the zip code that encompasses Ferguson, half (49 percent) of homes were underwater in 2013, meaning the home’s market value was below the mortgage’s outstanding balance. This condition (also called “negative equity”) is often a first step toward loan default or foreclosure, according to the recent report, “Underwater America,” from the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society at the University of California, Berkeley.

Mortgage lenders targeted predominantly black and Hispanic areas for the highest-risk, highest-cost types of mortgage loans, such as adjustable-rate mortgages and loans with high prepayment penalties. This led to higher-than-average default rates, according to the Housing Commission established by the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-09-06 23:54:17

Are falling home prices in China a good thing or a bad one?

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-09-06 23:57:34

Chinese Real Estate Price Drop May Be Great News For New York Homeowners
By Matt Schiavenza@MattSchiavenzam.schiavenza@ibtimes.com
on September 05 2014 1:51 PM
One57, a new luxury skyscraper apartment building designed by French architect Christian de Portzamparc which is under construction on New York City’s West 57th street, is pictured April 24, 2014. Wealthy Chinese are pouring money into real estate in New York and some other major cities around the world, including London and Sydney, as they seek safe havens for their cash and also establish a base for their children to get an education in the West. Reuters

China’s real estate sector, despite recent government attempts to spur it, continues to struggle: Two private surveys revealed that housing prices across the country fell 0.3 percent in August, and while nationwide housing prices remain up 4 percent year-on-year, it was the fifth consecutive month that prices have dropped.

In recent years, economists have worried that a sustained fall in China’s housing market would pose a grave threat to the Chinese economy as a whole. But an additional concern is that, in a world where an increasing number of Chinese citizens purchase property in foreign markets, a collapse in the real estate sector in their country may result in a flood of money leaving China and making housing even more expensive in markets as far-flung as Vancouver, New York and Sydney.

China is highly dependent on its real estate sector, which comprises 16 percent of the country’s GDP growth. And as Chinese exports have grown less competitive in recent years, the economy has relied on fixed asset investment to maintain high GDP growth levels. The process works like this: Chinese state banks provide local governments with more credit, which the governments lend to property developers, whose tall, modern housing complexes dot China’s urban landscape. China’s citizens, fearful of investing in the country’s volatile stock markets, pump their savings into real estate, with the wealthy snapping up multiple apartments in a speculative frenzy.

This iteration has enriched developers throughout China and, given frenetic construction, has kept the economy buzzing. But China’s housing boom has also spurred fears of a bubble. Within the past year, Beijing has imposed controls in an attempt to cool down the real estate market, through limiting domestic housing purchases and raising down payment minimums.

But for China’s homeowners, a cooling real estate market raises a new problem: Where do they put their money?

One increasingly attractive destination is overseas. The Chinese government imposes strict controls on how much money Chinese citizens can remove from the country, limiting each individual to $50,000. But people can wiggle around this restriction through collaborating with others. “Through swapping bank accounts and other methods, Chinese people can often get as much as a million out of the country,” said Patrick Chovanec, an expert in the Chinese economy at Silvercrest Asset Management.

Indeed, in the past year Chinese home-buying in the United States has surged. Real estate purchases by Chinese citizens increased 50 percent in the year up to March 2014 and now total $22 billion in value. And in order to lure high-income Chinese to the U.S., Washington has issued 6,895 EB-5 visas, those granting residency to foreign nationals who invest at least $500,000, to Chinese citizens. The next group? South Koreans — with a mere 364.

Chinese homebuyers are considerably high end, too, paying a median of $523,148 per home; housing purchases by Canadians, who come from a far wealthier country, averaged only $212,500. Chinese citizens wishing to purchase a home in the United States employ brokers who specialize in selling properties — often tailored to Chinese buyers through features like feng shui design — to them. Real estate listings companies like Zillow have signed deals with Beijing real estate firms to make property listings available to Chinese buyers. These trends led James Surowiecki of the New Yorker to state recently that, for the first time, the real estate market has gone truly global.

China’s real estate binge in the U.S. may be a reminder of the late-1980s surge of Japanese investment in high-profile American properties. The 1989 purchase of New York’s iconic Rockefeller Center by Mitsubishi followed by the similarly high-profile 1990 acquisition of the Pebble Beach golf course led to fears that “Japan Inc.” would sweep across the United States — a fear that dissipated after Japan’s asset bubble popped and the country fell into a two-decade slump. In a 2011 report on Chinese investment in the U.S., the economists Dan Rosen and Thilo Hanneman argued that, just as American concern over Japanese investment proved unfounded, worries about China’s asset purchases are likewise overblown.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-09-07 00:00:18

‘Clear and present danger’: Australia to be hit as Chinese economy starts unravelling
September 5, 2014
Rose Powell
Journalist
Construction of housing in China is a key driver of demand for Australia’s iron ore.

* The Chinese economy’s Breaking Bad moment
* China banking crisis ‘almost certain’, warns economist Gabriel Stein

A resources expert has forecast the iron ore price will continue to tumble as the Chinese economy begins “unravelling”, causing significant issues for Australia.

Speaking at a conference on Thursday, the federal government’s former top resources forecaster Quentin Grafton said the iron ore price was unlikely to recover quickly, leading to a painful downturn in the Australian economy in 2015.

“This isn’t about doom and gloom, it’s about looking at the risk and numbers. It’s a clear and present danger,” Mr Grafton said.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-09-07 00:03:29

The Chinese economy’s Breaking Bad moment
September 3, 2014
Rose Powell
Journalist

At first glance, one of the most gruesome scenes in Breaking Bad may have little in common with the Chinese economy, but according to Westpac it’s a fitting analogy for how the current downturn in the country’s housing market could pan out.

In Phat Dragon, a weekly newsletter about the Chinese economy, Westpac analysts compare the damage wrought by a slowing property sector on the Chinese economy with the death of one of the popular US TV show’s villains, Gus Fring.

The apparent composure of the drug kingpin, who straightens his tie before collapsing after a bomb blows off half of his face [Warning: linked video contains graphic images], is similar to the Chinese economy’s ability to “maintain its composure for a number of months, occasionally even quarters, before the ultimate capitulation”.

“Housing construction activity is vital to employment levels and land values are vital to the functioning of large swathes of the credit system,” Westpac’s Phat Dragon explains. “Together, those observations place real estate at the heart of domestic confidence levels.”

The average price of new homes has been falling in China for months, with the rate of decline accelerating from June (0.5 per cent) to July (0.8 per cent), sending tremors through the economy. It dropped another 0.6 per cent in August, bringing the average to $US1737 per square metre.

A report released in the last week of August revealed many property developers were hastily selling off assets to compensate for slumping apartment sales.

Property market issues are of critical concern for the Chinese economy and global investment community, as the property sector is a key economic driver that contributed 15 per cent of China’s 2013 gross domestic product.

Pointing to its Breaking Bad analogy, Phat Dragon says frustrated policymakers tend to amplify such downturns with further fiscal tightening as the slide begins in earnest.

“The subtle aspect of the analogy is the straightening of the tie,” Phat Dragon says. “In the early moments of a policy induced housing correction, the economy tends to be able to maintain its composure for a number of months, occasionally even quarters, before the ultimate capitulation.

“Indeed, the more composed things appear in the wake of tightening measures, the more likely that policy is tightened further as the authorities lose patience - even though the lead time for monetary-led slowdowns is known to be considerable and it is rare for a nationwide edict on direct housing controls to be the first strike.”

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-09-07 00:13:18

China banking crisis ‘almost certain’, warns economist Gabriel Stein
September 2, 2014
Jonathan Shapiro

China’s financial system is “almost certain” to face a full blown banking crisis according to a senior international economist.

Gabriel Stein, of economic consulting firm Oxford Economics, told a Sydney audience on Tuesday that Chinese authorities were understating the extent of bad loans on their banks’ books and faced tough choices in dealing with the potential bank failure.

“We don’t know when there will be a China banking crisis and how it will play out but it is almost certain there will be one,” said Mr Stein, a professor at the University of London who served as chief economist at consulting firm Lombard Street from 1991 to 2012.

“We do think the financial risks are high. Bad loans are understated.

“If you compare to 20 years ago, credit growth had been the same and the Chinese authorities owned up to about 30 per cent of non-performing loans in the banking system. They currently claim its one per cent”

Mr Stein warned of a “a loss of confidence and a brief slump in activity”.

“There is a possibility of contagion through countries with banking links to China such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea”

Mr Stein said there were two main concerns about how authorities handled a potential crisis.

One is that they could be blindsided and be slow to respond.

But he said more worrying was that they may elect to allow a small or mid-range institution fail, which could roil confidence in the system.

“A small bank may be allowed to fail and you could get a Chinese Lehman Brothers effect,” he said,

“Chinese authorities are not smarter than anyone else but not more stupid, so I assume they have taken the experiences of what has happened elsewhere and run ‘war games’ about what might happen.”

Mr Stein said he did not believe that China would force hundreds of thousands of savers that invested in high yielding “trust” products to suffer losses as defaults in the shadow banking sector increased.

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-09-09 15:30:21

phony scandals

 
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