Bits Bucket for October 3, 2014
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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San Diego Sale Prices Plunge 8% YoY; Down 5% In Month
http://www.zillow.com/san-diego-ca-92115/home-values/
Where on the linked information does it mention the 8% YoY price plunge? Or the 5% monthly decline?
The post-2012 Bernanke Echo Bubble signal shows up loud and clear in the spiraling median list price / sq ft.
The post-2012 Bernanke ??
Talking about Bernanke….Does this give you a indication of what the lending environment is like right now;
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CEQQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmoney.cnn.com%2F2014%2F10%2F03%2Freal_estate%2Fbernanke-refinance%2Findex.html&ei=IaIuVO2FEoTTigLsyYCoBQ&usg=AFQjCNF_5TK1A8r9BUxLCc8sNhnLIk1LdA&sig2=bYboSb_yNfq4e-sFlsBKQA
And you believe it.
That’s bogus. The guy could make four speeches in countries where the Fed helicopter dropped billions in bail and pay cash for a $1 million home.
Yeah, if you can make $150k in 15 minutes, how could you not refinance?
‘Bernanke already has refinanced twice. When the former Fed chair and his wife bought their Capitol Hill rowhouse in May 2004, they took out two loans, according to Washington, D.C., land records. The first was an adjustable-rate mortgage of $671,200 with a starting rate of 4.125 percent. The 5-year ARM was capped at 10.125 percent. The second was a fixed-rate loan of $83,900.’
‘They refinanced the property in October 2009, after the ARM was scheduled to start adjusting, taking out a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage of $685,385 and paying off both earlier loans. They refinanced again on Sept. 26, 2011, taking out a $672,000, 30-year, fixed-rate loan at 4.25 percent.’
Looks like Bernanke is underwater.
Looks like Bernanke is underwater.
The Chairsatan turns 61 in December. Why does he even HAVE a mortgage?
That’s bogus.
Take it up with Bloomberg News.
Yeah, if you can make $150k in 15 minutes, how could you not refinance ??
He is self employed now…He must show three years of tax returns that support his income….He could have made 10 mil this year it would not matter…Three years of filed tax returns showing net income…Fed Chair income does not count…He was not self employed then…
Looks like Bernanke is underwater ??
And that in fact could be the reason he can’t get the refinance Ben…
Bogus
Why would he borrow for that? Doesn’t he have any money?
He was making $199k per year as Fed Chair. The fact that, before his post-Fed payday, he was a serial refinancer just like every other broke American family trying to make ends meet despite a healthy salary is totally amazing!
In a way, you have to give him credit - he practices what he preaches. For 15 years mainstream economists have said it is stupid to pay off your mortgage, to the great detriment of anyone who believed them. But Bernanke obviously has no plans to pay off his mortgage either, and 10 years after buying he owes more than his first ARM!
Maybe we should take his lack of repayment as a cue - that he knows so much debt will eventually be written off or inflated away that none of us will ever repay what we borrow.
But a question: if he’s not paying off his house, where exactly is that $250k per speech money going? TSLA and BABA? Greek bonds? Flipping?
“…where exactly is that $250k per speech money going?”
My guesses:
- Bitcoin holdings
- Gold coinage
Click on “view data tables” on bottom right of first chart. Shows both of these for 92115. We’ve gone over this a million times. People call HA a liar cause stuff isn’t on the first chart that pops up on the link, but gosh darn it, the data is there.
Maybe there should be a permanent blurb to the right on the page somewhere saying “If HA posts data, click on the view data table link”
My bad, FIRST click on the drop down menu on the top chart that says home values and choose the median sale price option, then click on the view data table. It is a two step process, but the data is there clear as day.
The stupid home values table is a chimera of sh!t, blended from list price and sale price. What matters is sale price.
Wow — what a headache it is to drill down to the actual data, which confirms that both San Diego and San Francisco prices are down MoM. Zillow should definitely change their name to Shillow, as Zesstimates always go up!
Select median sale price from field in drop down menu then select “show data table” at lower right corner of chart.
I grew up in that zip. My ex-house is worth like 10x what my mom paid for it. Totally dumb.
Auto Default Rates Balloon 9% YoY
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/09/09/transunion-auto-loans-delinquent/15344353/
This is what debt does. Destroys lives and distorts economies.
“The amount owed on the average auto loan was $17,090 in the second quarter, up 4.1% from $16,410 in the prior year.”
Lean on those oars you scurvy dogs; ramming speed!
^ funniest chit in weeks!
“^ funniest chit in weeks!”
The modern version is an “associate” earning $12/hr scurrying to fill on-line orders in a “fulfillment center” such as an Amazon warehouse. At the end of the shift you stand in line (on your time) for a theft check-out so that Amazon doesn’t experience “inventory shrinkage.”
Worried about ebola? Then by all means steer clear the stock market!
Wall Street tumbles on Ebola fears; small caps drop
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK Wed Oct 1, 2014 7:51pm EDT
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange October 1, 2014. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
(Reuters) - U.S. stocks dropped more than 1 percent on Wednesday as the first diagnosis of Ebola in a patient in the United States spooked investors, economic data pointed to uneven growth, and the Russell 2000 index entered correction territory.
The Ebola news pressured shares of airlines and other transportation names, with the NYSE ARCA Airline index falling 3.1 percent, the biggest percentage decline since January. The Dow Jones transportation average dropped 2.5 percent, its biggest daily percentage drop since February.
…
Market Pulse
Ebola strikes NBC cameraman
Published: Oct 3, 2014 12:04 a.m. ET
By Michael Kitchen
Asia editor
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — An American working as a freelance cameraman for NBC News has tested positive for Ebola and plans to return to the U.S. for treatment, the news network said late Thursday. The journalist, identified in a subsequent report as Ashoka Mukpo, was working in Liberia for NBC. A Doctors Without Borders treatment center on Wednesday diagnosed the 33-year-old cameraman, who was said to be “in good spirits” despite carrying the deadly disease. He becomes the fifth U.S. national to contract Ebola, which has killed thousands in West Africa. The report cited NBC News correspondent Dr. Nancy Snyderman as saying the other members of the news crew showed no symptoms of the disease.
…
The Wall Street Journal
Four quarantined over Ebola as potential scope of exposure grows
Published: Oct 3, 2014 7:21 a.m. ET
Getty Images
By Ana Campoy
DALLAS — Some 100 people are now being screened for potential exposure to Ebola in Texas, federal health officials said Thursday, as they seek to contain the first case of the disease diagnosed in the U.S.
Tom Frieden, director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said so far they have identified a handful of individuals who may have come into contact with the patient, including members of his household.
Texas health officials cautioned that the 100 figure represented a “very wide net,” including “people who have had even brief encounters with the patient or the patient’s home” and that it was likely to drop as they narrowed the list to those actually at potential risk of infection, said Carrie Williams, a spokeswoman with the Texas Department of State Health Services.
…
Worried about ebola?
How did the cameraman contract it? Airborne yet?
He was in Liberia (or wherever), hanging around the virus, and taking pictures of stuff with virus on it. He probably even took pictures of sick people, and hung out in places where there were sick people hanging around.
If you were the man in charge of an entire country, would you let your sister take over your job?
Could somebody have poisoned him?
Market Pulse
Kim Jong-Un’s sister reportedly running N. Korea
Published: Oct 2, 2014 12:48 p.m. ET
By Sue Chang
Markets reporter
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s younger sister Kim Yo-Jong has taken over the running of the country and is making all the important decisions in her brother’s absence, according to a think tank in Seoul formed by North Korean defectors. The North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity reported Wednesday that Kim Yo-Jong convened a meeting of Workers’ Party officials in early September and secured their support for her to act as regent while her brother is hospitalized. All party officials have been commanded to continue faithfully carrying out Kim Jong-Un’s orders and the military has been put on high alert, the NKIS said. The North Korean government last week publicly admitted that Kim Jong-Un is unwell although it did not elaborate on his health issues.
Well, let’s see….
George HW Bush, George Bush, Jeb Bush
Bill Clinton, Hilary Clinton
Goldman Sachs on Wall Street, Goldman Sachs in the Cabinet.
I hear a song coming on - Nobody Does It Better…makes me feel sad for the rest…
Kim is kind of a meanie. He probably can’t trust anyone that is not his direct blood relative. Even then, I doubt she can trust him.
“If you were the man in charge of an entire country, would you let your sister take over your job?”
Maybe he’s too busy feeding his dogs?
Did you get out of your junk in time?
ft dot com
September 30, 2014 9:30 am
Gross exit from Pimco tests bond market
By Tracy Alloway and Michael Mackenzie in New York
Bill Gross, co-founder and co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO)©Reuters
For years investors have attributed sudden swings in the prices of bonds to a certain “big West Coast player” wading into the market.
Now the sheer size of Pimco, the world’s biggest bond fund manager, is casting deeper ripples over a fixed-income market whose infrastructure has experienced a pronounced shift in the wake of the financial crisis.
The looming question for the $37.8tn US bond market revolves around whether Pimco – long renowned for making big pre-emptive bets across sovereign, mortgage and corporate credit markets to generate immense profits – will face a redemption wave that rattles markets and triggers significant exit costs for its mammoth portfolios.
Already there are signs of this happening. Like sharks circling a floundering whale, investors and traders have either cut positions or bet on further turmoil across asset classes held by the famed Total Return Fund that until last Friday was managed by Bill Gross, the “bond king”.
In particular, inflation-linked bonds and junk-rated paper have weakened noticeably in the wake of Mr Gross’ egress.
“Despite global conflict the only thing that has impacted fixed income markets is this,” says a trader at a large US bank. “Maybe what the markets are pricing in is that the most powerful force right now in terms of fixed-income markets is not macro news, it’s really redemptions at a large fund.”
…
Market Pulse
Schwab’s target-date funds drop Pimco fund: report
Published: Oct 2, 2014 3:51 p.m. ET
By Victor Reklaitis
Markets writer
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Charles Schwab Corp. is dropping the Pimco Total Return Fund from its 10 target-date funds, according to a report from Reuters and CNBC. The news comes after investors pulled $23.5 billion from the flagship Pimco fund in September, with outflows hitting a peak on the day high-profile manager Bill Gross said he would depart Pimco. Target-date funds generally aim to offer a basic portfolio whose asset mix grows more bond-heavy as the investor’s retirement year nears.
…
Paging all those in Colorado.
The public unions are coming after TABOR..
Did you really think after electing democrats/progressives they would not go after that - for the children?
——————-
Colorado Teachers’ Union President Thanks NEA for Help with ‘Hostile School Boards’
Breitbart News | 29 Sep 2014 | Dr. Susan Berry
Speaking at the National Education Association (NEA) Representative Assembly at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver on July 3rd, Colorado Education Association (CEA) President Kerrie Dallman referred to the school district of Jefferson County (JeffCo) – where teachers have staged a “sick-out” and students left classes to protest throughout last week – as one of three in her state in which the teachers’ union was “working against hostile school boards.” “I also want to say thank you to the staff and leaders from the 18 states around the country who were sending in 48 staff under the NEA shared staffing agreement to help with the crisis in our largest local, Jefferson County,” Dallman continued. “These staff will join our leaders and staff to conduct member to member home visits later this month.”
Dallman also told the nearly 9,000 NEA delegates present about the struggle of funding public education in a TABOR (Taxpayer Bill of Rights) state, saying, “You can thank Colorado for showing everyone else that TABOR is a really bad idea.”
——
Colorado Teacher’s Union Uses Students As ‘Political Pawns’ In Teacher Salary Dispute
Breitbart News | 24 Sep 2014 | Dr. Susan Berry
Dozens of students walked out of classes in Jefferson County, Colorado high schools Friday, but likely not for the reason they were apparently led to believe.
According to the Associated Press, students were protesting “a conservative-led school board proposal to focus history education on topics that promote citizenship, patriotism and respect for authority, providing a show of civil disobedience that the new standards would aim to downplay.”
Ken Witt, Jefferson County Board of Education president, however, told Breitbart News the real issue is a salary dispute with the teachers’ union, a situation that began during last year’s annual union negotiations. Now, he said, the teachers’ union is using students as “political pawns.”
“The board … “decided instead to give a 2.4% raise to teachers rated as ‘effective,’ and a 4.2% raise to those teachers rated as ‘highly effective.’”
“This created conflict with the union,” Witt added. “On Friday, teachers walked out of school on a ‘strike,’ though they called it a ‘sick-out,’ which forced closure of two of our schools.”
Same thing will happen in California. Public unions run the state. Property taxes are a way to collect taxes from a trapped pool. The laws do not matter and if they want they have enough power to convince the FSA voters there to change the constitution at will, or change it in some way that allows the judges they have in their pockets to allow them to get at that pool. Prop 13 will not survive the next 20 yrs.
Same thing will happen in California. Public unions run the state…Prop 13 will not survive the next 20 yrs ??
Well, 20 years is a long time but your still wrong although I sense your desire to see it happen…Only a state referendum can change prop #13 dude….I don’t give a crap how much political power the unions have or what judge they have in their pocket…Overturning prop#13 at the ballot box has “zero” chance to pass…If it had any chance to pass, we would have already seen it get to a new referendum vote since the greedy tax & spend Ba$turds see a pot of gold if they can get it overturned…I hasn’t and it won’t…The real estate industry would crush the unions like a bug meeting windshield…
I think you are naive as to the power of the public unions in CA, but this isn’t a personal knock, we’ll just have to disagree. When they get desperate enough to not see pensions cut it is coming.
But I do like how you set up the two dogs feeding on the corpse as the REIC and the Public Unions.
‘California cities may turn to bankruptcy courts to ease pension obligations after a judge ruled the California Public Employees’ Retirement System doesn’t deserve special protection, a decision that may reverberate across the country as municipalities struggle with their finances.’
‘Bankrupt cities can cancel contracts with Calpers because federal law overrules state protections given the pension giant, U.S.Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein said yesterday in a hearing over the municipal bankruptcy of the city of Stockton. The judge will decide later this month how to apply his ruling to the city’s reorganization plan, which protects Calpers.’
‘Stockton’s bankruptcy pits public-pension advocates against Wall Street creditors, who stand to get pennies on the dollar for their bonds. The ruling would make it more attractive for California cities with unmanageable pensions to use bankruptcy law to cut debt, just as private companies do.’
the ruling would make it more attractive for California cities with unmanageable pensions to use bankruptcy law to cut debt, just as private companies do.
This isn’t getting nearly enough attention and discussion nationwide. It is extremely important. Nevertheless, granting colossal benefits and making impossible promises to public employees, a nationwide practice going back decades, got minimal attention and discussion while it was happening. We’ve always done it this way.
This isn’t getting nearly enough attention and discussion nationwide ??
Because its already been discussed for years…Now, however, its in the courts….Union’s and pension funds have “dug-in”…So have the bond holders…It will work its way up the the supreme court for a final decision…Then all hell breaks lose no matter which way the decision goes…
all hell breaks lose no matter which way the decision goes…
Yup! Then nattering nabobs will be saying “no one could have seen this coming”
So many situations in the USA remind me of the biggest hospital in New Orleans, 9 years or so ago, just before Katrina hit, with its emergency generators below sea level, protected only by levees, with no evacuation plans in place, and certainly no helipad on site. No one could have seen that coming, either.
“I think you are naive as to the power of the public unions in CA, but this isn’t a personal knock, we’ll just have to disagree. When they get desperate enough to not see pensions cut it is coming.”
I don’t know…there was an anti-pension vote in San Jose, CA (a very Democratic area), and it was overwhelmingly passed. It is very obvious how far out of whack pensions have become, and people are pissed.
If the legislators in Sacramento are unwilling to make the changes, I think you’ll see lots of incumbents lose before the people willingly overturn prop 13.
Before Prop 13 passed, I remember how many fixed income seniors lost their homes to run away property tax inflation, even with a paid off home. Cheers for Prop 13. It also has an annual cap at 2%.
Even in my youth, I supported it. We don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem in Ca.
California also had an amendment in their constitution defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Passed by a huge majority too.
All it takes is one federal judge to overturn it and a governor who does not want to fight it.
Because it is for the children…because it fair thing to do.
Soon to come to prop 13
Soon to come to prop 13
I am very curious to learn how the all-powerful judiciary can get blood from a beet or turnip.
California also had an amendment in their constitution defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Passed by a huge majority too. All it takes is one federal judge to overturn it and a governor who does not want to fight it ??
I know your not that stupid 2-fruit but I will go along with your little game…Does not matter if you amend the constitution OR have a state wide vote….Unconstitutional means just that…US constitution “trumps” state constitution because the united states constitution says so…
Soon to come to prop 13 ??
Really…Whats “unconstitutional” about prop#13 ?? Even if it was, which it isn’t, a lawsuit would have been brought against it minutes after it passed…Thats was 1979…Still waiting 2-fruit..
Interning Japanese Americans was once the law of the land upheld by the Supreme Court. The law is whatever they want it to be when the chips are down.
“Paging all those in Colorado.
The public unions are coming after TABOR.”
Colorado = The Next California.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/04/us/after-uproar-colorado-school-board-retreats-on-curriculum-review-plan.html?ref=us
At least some folks in Colorado won’t let conservatives teach their kids to be stupid.
Gold looks set to soon test the $1200/oz level. Never been a better time to buy the dip!
U.S. adds 248,000 jobs in September, unemployment falls to 5.9%
Published: Oct 3, 2014 8:30 a.m. ET
By Jeffry Bartash
Reporter
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The United States created 248,000 jobs in September and hiring in August turned out to be a lot stronger than initially reported, showing the U.S. economy entered the fall with rising momentum. The unemployment rate also fell to a six-year low of 5.9%, dropping below the 6% mark for the first time since 2008, the Labor Department said Friday. More people found work while others dropped out of the labor force to send the unemployment rate lower. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected an increase of 220,000 nonfarm jobs last month.
…
315,000 more stay at home moms out of the workforce. Pretty hefty number of moms momming from last month to this.
Just goes to show, you CAN be a stay-at-home momma and buy a $500K starter home!
248,000 jobs is a pittance in a country of 315 mllion. And, how much do the jobs pay?
And the total number of people in the workforce? And the percentage of those generating taxable income versus the total who are not?
My two cents: it’s my observation and, unfortunately my personal experience, that many energy services companies in my neck of the woods are undergoing ‘reorganizations’ and shedding many long-term employees via layoff.
Why The Fed Still Isn’t Panicking About The Inflation Risks Of Falling Unemployment
Tomas Hirst
53 minutes ago
With the unemployment rate heading toward 6%, the siren calls for the Federal Reserve to begin raising rates sooner rather than later will get louder. Here’s why they are still likely to be ignored.
In 1986 Milton Friedman wrote:
This observation is the basis of the Phillips curve. Named for the economist A.W.H. Phillips, it suggests that there is an inverse relationship between the rate of inflation and the unemployment rate. What it means is that when the unemployment rate falls below the so-called non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU) — usually assumed to be between 5.5-6.5% — economists expect inflation to start picking up.
With the unemployment rate at 6%, some economists believe that we are nearing that threshold. As Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher told Reuters last month:
…
Because the Old forgetful liar of a grandma takes naps during the day.Panic why? She consults and counsel Goldman Sachs for her role as the fed
That was fast!
Gold - Electronic (COMEX) Dec 2014
$1,199.80
Change -$15.30 -1.26%
Volume 63,880
Oct 3, 2014, 8:44 a.m.
Quotes are delayed by 10 min
Previous close $ 1,215.10
Day low $1,198
Day high $1,216
Open: 1,213.90
52 week low $1,185
52 week high $1,391
Is capitulation on the near-term time horizon for the gold bubble?
Gold - Electronic (COMEX) Dec 2014
$1,192.30
Change -22.80 -1.88%
Volume 139,546
Oct 3, 2014 10:46 a.m.
Fed hike in June seems more certain following jobs data
October 3, 2014, 9:29 AM ET
The strong September unemployment report will give the Federal Reserve confidence to lift short-term interest rates from zero in June of next year, while the lack of wage growth in the data mitigates any pressure to move sooner, economists said Friday.
“It is a solid report… but it is not necessarily a game changer. It does make the Fed feel better about normalizing around mid-year,” said Laura Rosner a U.S. economist at BNP Paribas.
Nigel Gault, co-chief economist of the Parthenon Group, said he was sticking with his prediction of a rate liftoff June 2015.
“March is possible, but you need to see some wage inflation and we’re still not seeing that,” Gault said.
Treasury prices fell Friday while the 10-year Treasury note yield (10_YEAR +1.89%) rose 2.5 basis points to 2.461%.
The Labor Department reported that the economy created 248,000 jobs in September and revised higher its estimates for July and August job gains. Yet average hourly wages fell a penny to $24.53, reducing the 12-month increase to 2% from 2.1%.
At the same time, after a few months of treading water above 6%, the unemployment rate dropped to 5.9% in September, its lowest level in six years.
Further sharp declines in the unemployment rate in coming months would be a game-changer, economists said.
“If the unemployment rate keeps dropping like this, the Fed will eventually hike rates — wage inflation or no wage inflation,” Gault said.
…
Never been a better time to buy the dip!
The last dip I bought had too much jalapeno in it.
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Gold slides below $1,200 to lowest settlement since February 2010
Published: Oct 3, 2014 2:24 p.m. ET
Strong jobs report weighs on haven demand
Getty Images
Gold and other safety plays lost ground after Friday’s stronger-than-expected jobs report.
By Sue Chang
Markets reporter
Victor Reklaitis
Markets writer
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch)—Gold prices slumped Friday in the wake of an upbeat jobs report, turning negative for the year and finishing below $1,200 an ounce in its lowest settlement since February 2010.
Gold for December delivery (GCZ4, -1.86%) tumbled $22.20, or 1.8%, to $1,192.90 an ounce, the first times it closed under $1,200 since December, according to FactSet data. Gold turned negative for 2014, as the encouraging employment report weighed on haven demand.
The Labor Department on Friday said the U.S. economy created a better-than-anticipated 248,000 jobs in September and hiring in August turned out stronger than initially reported, showing the economy entered the fall with rising momentum. The unemployment rate also dropped to a six-year low of 5.9%.
Gold futures were down ahead of the jobs report, and then fell further after the report while U.S. stock futures have added to their gains.
In a note before the employment data, commodities analysts at Goldman Sachs recommended shorting gold.
“Despite renewed concerns over China and Europe, U.S. fundamentals remain strong. We maintain our views of higher real rates due to a strong macro backdrop, which drives our bearish view of gold denominated in USD,” they wrote. USD refers to the U.S. dollar. Dollar-denominated commodities tend to move lower on a stronger greenback as they get more expensive to other currency holders.
…
When Ebola hits the mines in Africa, a sizeable segment of producers will be knocked offline, which could make prices soar for gold, silver, and platinum group metals (the real physical stuff, not the JP Morgan paper promises).
Freddie Mac Investor Presentation for September 2014 (PDF): http://www.freddiemac.com/investors/pdffiles/investor-presentation.pdf
Some interesting points:
• p. 10: MBS issuance volume is way down.
• p. 10: Still no private MBS issuance, only government. Government has been the entire mortgage finance market since 2008.
• p. 26: I saw a discordant note: Home affordability index chart shows it is near time highs (i.e. extremely affordable). With house prices nearing the peak bubble prices in an explosive fashion, I thought how could that be? But, the data is supplied by NAR, which explained it.
http://www.freddiemac.com/investors/pdffiles/investor-presentation.pdf
As long as you use peak bubble pricing as your benchmark, then houses financed at nearly 0% interest and 0% down by the government will probably seem extremely affordable.
Why are price cuts happening and accelerating? What happened last time once the price cutting began?
Because of the crater.
The AMCHA Initiative is a non-profit organization dedicated to investigating, documenting, educating about, and combating antisemitism at institutions of higher education in America.
http://www.amchainitiative.org/
FWIW, only “real professors” allowed.
Isn’t low unemployment grand?
Capitol Report
Labor-force participation hits a new 36-year low
Published: Oct 3, 2014 10:04 a.m. ET
By Steve Goldstein
D.C. bureau chief
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The last time fewer working-age Americans participated in the labor force, the U.S. Senate started broadcasting their proceedings. On the radio.
The participation rate in September fell a tenth to 62.7%, marking the lowest level since February 1978.
The falling participation rate has been a hotly debated topic for some time, but the puzzle is even more confusing given the string of solid jobs gains and the continued drop in the unemployment rate.
…
“Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, at $24.53, changed little in September (-1 cent). Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.0 percent. In September, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees were unchanged at $20.67. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)”
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
A drop in the hourly earnings despite the increase in jobs. Plenty of speculation on why that is.
Fed’s in a good position. If things improve, they take credit for it. If they don’t, they say, just wait, it’ll get better. Or political headwinds didn’t allow Operation Borrow and Print to proceed vigorously enough.
Or, their [Reverse Robin Hood | privatize profits + socialize losses | prevent creative destruction at the top | protect architects of the crisis] policies might actually be causing stagnation and the economy tries to move forward in spite of it.
For the record, the labor force participation rate is now at the lowest level since nigh a decade before when I entered the workforce.
And I have been in the workforce for decades!
I do work for a company that can’t seem to get and keep anyone. They never used to have this problem.
Same with my employer. I think people corporations have cut back so much over the years that it’s a tense atmosphere for the employees everywhere. Too much work, fewer employees…..don’t think that can last forever. More h1b’s will be proposed and procured.
peopleThe governor of Maryland, a former defense attorney, wishes to be president. During his term, he spearheaded the removal of the death penalty in Maryland. He also signed a law which would remove criminal background checks for Mortgage Loan Originators. Those people certainly don’t have access to sensitive information or anything with which they could engage in criminal activity.
Wow.
Licensing and the tedious process are always a hot topic, so it is with some interest I note Maryland. Back and in early spring, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed Senate Bill 1091, also known as the Registered Mortgage Loan Originators - Expedited Licenses, into law. The law, which took effect on October 1st, adds additional articles and requires the Commissioner of Financial Regulation to expedite license applications from Registered Mortgage Loan Originators who meet certain requirements. How does the law expedite the licensing process? Well, it directs the Commissioner to waive the State criminal history records check for Eligible Applicants.
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/10032014-mortgage-nonfarm-payrolls.aspx
Leelanau County, Michigan
Under “Related Links” just below this article “More families homeless due to lack of affordable housing”
Ho-lee heckfire. I just saw a banner ad for Auction.com, and the picture in this banner ad was a drawing of a townhouse with a cash dispenser coming out of the roof and “ATM” in giant letters.
Tagline: “Find your next investment property.”
And they say they don’t ring a bell at the top of the market…
There are still a bunch of Open House signs around my hood. Same houses not selling.
As prices begi heading down, panic sets in.
Got popcorn?
Those “No More Hesitation” targets seem to be paying off.
Police shoot dead unarmed man in New York
AFP
October 2, 2014 11:47 AM
New York (AFP) - An unarmed man was shot dead in the back by New York police after intervening when a knife-wielding assailant threatened a woman and her two children, officials said Thursday.
US media identified the victim as 51-year-old Rafael Laureano and quoted a police spokesman as saying that he was shot by mistake.
Police told AFP they were called to a Brooklyn apartment where a 47-year-old man armed with a knife was assaulting a woman and two children, aged six and seven, who were locked in the bathroom.
“After ordering the suspect to drop the knife multiple times, police discharged their firearms striking the armed individual. The 47-year-old male was pronounced dead,” a police source said.
The man was named as Francisco Carvajal.
Police said the 51-year-old man, who also entered the apartment, “sustained trauma to the torso during the incident” and was pronounced dead at hospital.
The medical examiner’s office said Laureano died from a gunshot wound to the back and declared his death a homicide.
Police said the 35-year-old woman and her children were unharmed.
Monday’s incident came just over two months after a black father of six suffered a fatal heart attack after New York police officers on Staten Island used an illegal choke hold to subdue him.
http://news.yahoo.com/police-shoot-dead-unarmed-man-york-154704564.html
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DHS Contractor Apologizes For Selling Shooting Targets of Children
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
February 22, 2013
We apologize for the offensive nature of our “No More Hesitation” products. These products have been taken offline due to the opinions expressed by so many, including members of the law enforcement community.
This product line was originally requested and designed by the law enforcement community to train police officers for unusually complex situations where split-second decisions could lead to unnecessary loss of life.
The company’s excuse that the targets were designed to help police prevent “unnecessary loss of life” is highly dubious given that the images were all of armed individuals termed “non-traditional threats,” designed to ensure “no more hesitation” from police officers encountering them.
As one respondent to the company explained, “Look, each of the supposed “threats” appeared to be in their own home settings. They were also all holding a weapon….it is obvious these paper targets were never intended to be decoy (don’t shoot targets). It is apparent this was designed to assist in desensitizing the trainee.”
DHS Contractor Apologizes For Selling Shooting Targets of Children …
http://www.infowars.com/…/ - 70k -
They actually didn’t need to shoot the criminal either. They could have tazed or sprayed him.
Will the next crater be greater?
Is ‘Hubris and the City’ like ‘Sex and the City’, sans sex?
FT Magazine
October 3, 2014 11:17 am
Hubris and the City
By Gillian Tett
Companies could study the hormones of their competitive employees, to see if these offer warning signs
A couple of years ago, Lord David Owen, a former UK foreign secretary, created a foundation in London to study hubris. He was prompted by personal experience. After becoming an MP in the 1960s, Owen was able to see first hand how the mentality of politicians could change after a spell in power. Margaret Thatcher was a case in point: after several years in office, she became capricious, arrogant and unwilling to take advice.
Owen, a former doctor who had trained in psychiatry, was convinced that this phenomenon needed to be studied. So his foundation, the Daedalus Trust (of which, in the interest of disclosure, I am a trustee), is now looking at (among other things) the speech patterns of British politicians and utterances of company CEOs in order to track how hubris forms. “I’ve grown increasingly worried about the way in which decisions are made by leaders,” Owen says. “They’re elected by the body politic as leading politicians or chosen to be chief executives of companies. Everyone thinks they are going to be good and they start off well [but] then they get carried away – they get narrower in their vision, less interested in other people’s views… They start making decisions very much on their own.”
Perhaps it is now time for the Daedalus Trust to widen its gaze and look at fund managers too. Last month, the financial world was shocked to learn that Bill Gross, the legendary investor known as the “bond king”, was parting company with Pimco, the $2tn asset management group that he co-founded four decades ago.
His departure was acrimonious and there has been a flurry of debate about how Gross’s once-stunning investment performance has deteriorated in recent years. But, to my mind, what is equally fascinating is the narrative about Gross’s behaviour. In the view of some of his former colleagues (whose stories are remarkably consistent), Gross became increasingly “erratic” in recent years. More specifically, the colleagues reckon that he became prone to arrogance and paranoia, unwilling to listen or accept criticism – or let others make decisions. It is, in short, a classic description of hubris, on a striking scale.
Now, I daresay that Gross himself would deny this portrait (and he has hitherto refused to present his side of events in any detail). But if the account is true, Gross is certainly not the only financier afflicted in this way: the stories of men such as Fred Goodwin of Royal Bank of Scotland, or Dick Fuld at Lehman Brothers, are also replete with hubris. Indeed, the problem seems to be so widespread that it raises a bigger question: namely, should investors in funds (or directors of financial institutions) now be looking for a systematic way of spotting this trait? And trying to intervene before it is too late?
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