October 16, 2014

Bits Bucket for October 16, 2014

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




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169 Comments »

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-16 01:59:48
Comment by Amy Hoax
Comment by phony scandals
2014-10-16 15:47:25

Sandy!

 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-16 16:44:26

Boulder, CO Sale Prices Crater 6% YoY

http://www.zillow.com/co-80301/home-values/

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-16 18:46:28

Sherman Oaks, CA Housing Prices Plunge 7% YoY; Inventory Balloons

http://www.movoto.com/sherman-oaks-ca/market-trends/

 
 
 
Comment by oxide
2014-10-16 04:57:25

Was reading up on break-even oil prices for the North Dakota shale oil. Break-even price ranges from $28/barrel to $77/barrel depending on the county. Oil is fetching $80 on the world market but ND sweet crude fetches less (why?). Consequently oil companies are stopping drilling in unprofitable areas, and only producing where the costs, like water disposal, are cheaper.

Meanwhile OPEC is allowing the prices to fall, hoping to drive higher cost production out of the market. And the state of North Dakota has to rethink its revenue and budget, which was predicated on $80/barrel. I don’t have a good link.

What this says to me is that $3/gallon gas is here to stay.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 06:18:25

You may be missing an important structural change on the demand side (I base this comment on all the electric vehicles that have recently appeared on the road…)

Comment by Guillotine Renovator
2014-10-16 09:45:34

And this will continue. Demand has been falling since 2005 (I believe- I may be a year or two off). There has been tremendous resistance to high-priced fuel. I know my driving habits have changed drastically. My next vehicle will be of the 30+ mpg variety, perhaps a hybrid. There are no full electric options for me yet. I’m tired of big oil.

Comment by Avocado
2014-10-16 10:18:01

And the environmental, log term damage at those shale sites is horrible, not to mention fracking and ground water contamination all for short term gains.

What happened to nat gas cars?

If we did not spend $8 mill a day in the middle east, we may have some money for Americans and our infrastructure.

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Comment by Blue Skye
2014-10-16 06:30:57

A couple of thoughts…

Global demand for oil is dropping because the real estate boom/ economic expansion miracle is rolling over. It takes a barrel of oil to build a few ft2 of housing. Stop building and the demand for oil collapses. The Saudis are not lowering the price of oil on purpose. Oil right now is a proxy for credit expansion and it is going down because of that.

The fracker’s stated cost of production is a fabrication based on bogus proven reserve figures published to bring in investment money. The money will not be paid back because the wells deplete at an amazing rate. It’s a Ponzi that would soon peter out even if oil stayed at $100. Soon to be gone the way of the solar cell mania and the windmill fraud.

What is likely to “stay” for quite a while is decline. The price of oil and houses and everything used for construction has tripled in the past few years. It won’t just stay up when the building stops. There is overcapacity in just about everything and when prices stop rising, just about everything will be on panic sale, not because I am paranoid, but because it was a credit mania.

Gas can go well below $3, but it may still be unaffordable because we can’t or won’t borrow more to buy it and the overpriced houses built with it.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-16 06:36:27

^this

 
Comment by Shillow
2014-10-16 06:46:58

What this says to me is that $3/gallon gas is here to stay.

Until after the election.

Comment by samk
2014-10-16 07:02:05

Then it’ll go back up to $4.

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Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-16 10:50:35

Didn’t have an election last November, but the price of gas jumped around here until January.

“Refinery maintenance” and “holiday travel” are the non-election year excuses.

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Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 07:31:51

Nice post, and I have but one point to add: It sounds like more credit will be needed to save the planet from the dark future you have outlined.

 
 
Comment by oxide
2014-10-16 06:58:58

I wasn’t clear. I know why world oil is dropping to $80/barrel. Less demand, no action from OPEC, and evidently Libya is mostly back up and running. But North Dakota light sweet crude is selling for $66/barrel, not 80, and I don’t know why.

Heren’s another chart showing the prices for the different crudes (look at the little table in the right column): http://hotlineprinting.com/oph/index.html

Blue, about gas prices… if $3/gallon gas is below break even, enough to shut down wells, then isn’t $3, maybe $2.50?, something of a floor for prices? If prices fall below that, then they would (theoretically) simply shut down the wells and sell no gas at all.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-16 07:19:23

Why? Because oil is nationalized by proxy through commodity markets resulting in….Price fixing.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2014-10-16 08:36:02

Another factor in the N.D. oil price may be the cost to haul it by railcar to the Gulf of Mexico, where it receives a price more comparable to Brent.

“Blue, about gas prices…” Don’t feel bad about not understanding this. The genius planners at Exxon were making the same logic mistake 40 years ago when I was being groomed for The Shale Oil Project in Colorado. The key is that production costs (like all costs other than debt) follow the price of oil. This works out OK in a credit expansion, it works really ugly in a credit contraction.

 
Comment by SUGuy
2014-10-16 17:39:55

Saudis Deploy the Oil Price Weapon Against Syria, Iran, Russia, and the US

Posted on October 14, 2014 by Yves Smith

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/10/saudis-deploy-the-oil-price-weapon-against-syria-iran-russia-and-the-us.html

 
 
Comment by Guillotine Renovator
2014-10-16 09:43:05

“What this says to me is that $3/gallon gas is here to stay.”

Fine, but that means many, many companies will be going out of business to limit supply. Do you think they are going to willingly do that? I think they will compete instead.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-16 10:34:01

They didn’t go put of business in 2009 when gas fell below $2 and they’re not going to now.

Falling prices are positively bullish and good for the economy.

Comment by Guillotine Renovator
2014-10-16 12:19:54

That is essentially what I am saying. The only way for prices to stay high is to restrict supply which means many players would have to cease to exist. They’re not going to just do that.

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Comment by traderjack
2014-10-17 01:07:18

Oil and gas prices are too low.
1937 minimum wage 25cents, oil $3, gasoline 15 cents.

Today, $7.50 mwag 30 times as much, Oil at $80, gasoline at $4.

Gasoline should be at $4.50, Oil at $90,

Why the bitching about high oil and gasoline prices?

We did not make enough money to pay taxes then!

Sample, entered the navy at $21 a month,now $1531
70 times as much.
Salary 1946 at discharge $84 per monh, now $2964 for same rating.

So , looks like oil and gas are now cheaper in relaton to incomes.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-17 02:07:43

And they’re going to get a whole lot cheaper.

Sit tight and enjoy the ride cowboy.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Guillotine Renovator
2014-10-16 12:21:54

Oil whipsawed more than $5 per barrel today, between $79.78 and $84.88. Looks to be trying to finish up more than $1 per barrel.

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 05:08:11

More stock market carnage in store for today?

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 05:11:29

Never been a better time to own Treasurys.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 05:20:43

Market Pulse
All 30 Dow stocks falling premarket
By Tomi Kilgore
Published: Oct 16, 2014 8:09 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — All 30 Dow industrials components are selling off in premarket trade Thursday, with 29 of those stocks losing at least 1%. The biggest decliner is Goldman Sachs’ stock (GS, -2.65%) which is slumping 2.4% despite reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results, followed by Visa shares (V, -2.10%) which are shedding 2.1%. The best performer is UnitedHealth’st stock (UNH, -0.80%) which is down just 0.5% after the company beat third-quarter expectations. Meanwhile, Dow futures were recently down 147 points, or 0.9%.

 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-10-16 05:51:10

A ten percent correction has been overdue for 2 years at least. At this time the futures indicate the S&P today will be 9.5% off of its peak in September, 2019.26. I’d consider a 1615 level as a time to crank up the stock screeners. A 1413 level is when you load up on individual stocks.

As for stock index funds, keep dollar cost averaging. Ihope this is the big plunge that will make 2015 stock purchases pay off for my retirement/downsizing in 2026.

Comment by Steadykat
2014-10-16 08:49:06

There is no market. Company’s buying their worthless stock at record prices with borrowed money on a floating rate to keep up the earnings per share proves me right.

After six fu@king years of lies and Federal Reserve hi jinks it is time for Americans to a accept the fact that there isn’t going to be a “recovery”.

We haven’t had that ten percent correction. It is sitting at about 8 percent and yet Fedtard Bullard, while shatting on himself in fear of a declining Dow, had to come out this morning and backstop the “market” by mentioning his belief that more QE may be necessary.

“Stock purchases paying off”… BhahahahahahahHhHaaaaaa.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 21:56:21

So long as the Fed is willing to extend QE3 on the first sign of market weakness, the stock market can only go up (most of the time!).

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Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 07:37:05

Here is some news to cheer the bulls!

Market Pulse
Fed’s Bullard says QE3 could last longer than October
Published: Oct 16, 2014 10:33 a.m. ET
By Greg Robb
Senior economics reporter

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The Federal Reserve should consider extending its bond-buying program beyond October to see how the U.S. economic outlook evolves, said James Bullard, the president of the St. Louis Fed, on Thursday. At the moment, the Fed is buying $15 billion in securities each month. The U.S. central bank has said it expects to end its QE3 program at the end of October, but Bullard noted that the plan was always data-dependent. Bullard said the Fed cannot “abide” the drop in inflation expectations seen in the Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities. “Maybe this is a juncture where we want to invoke this clause that it is data-dependent,” Bullard said in an interview with Bloomberg News.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 07:55:03

Judging from the rally in share prices taking shape on the mere mention of a possible QE3 extension, it looks like the end of QE3 may have been a primary driver of the recent meltdown.

Comment by Rental Watch
2014-10-16 10:24:05

Bullard is one of the more rational guys–a hawk. I’ve enjoyed hearing him speak as I’ll bet most people on this board would.

I was shocked when these words came out of his mouth. The PPT is in full effect.

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Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 12:29:05

Thanks to this development, it is no safe again to buy stocks. Come on in, investors, the water is fine!

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 05:23:01

Are you brave enough to buy stocks in this time of Ebola?

Comment by goon squad
2014-10-16 05:47:05

no longer ebola free here in region viii, we’ve got the ebola plane parked at the airport. this after travelling from cleveland to dallas, to cleveland, to fort lauderdale, to cleveland, to atlanta, and back to cleveland on october 13-14, then flown without passengers to denver.

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-10-16 05:56:34

A friend of mine says it’s Frontier Airlines.

If I was a frequent flier of that airline I’d be worried. Airlines can swap flight numbers to fool people. The real numbering/lettering to be concerned with is the tracking number on the sides of the plane. But you don’t know it until you are at the lounge side of the jetway and looking out the window at the plane.

 
Comment by palmetto
2014-10-16 06:05:01

And then there’s the “mysterious” man with clipboard not wearing any protective gear escorting the “patient” at the patient transfer to the Altanta flight. Weird.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/10/16/man-transfer-atlanta-clipboard-protective-hazmat-gear/17345997/

Comment by Oddfellow
2014-10-16 09:11:11

Supposedly he was the “observer”, who was there to direct the others, because they have limited visibility. You would think he would have at least been in scrubs and a face mask though. At least to send the message that they were being very careful, after effing it up so bad up to this point.

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Comment by samk
2014-10-16 06:52:20

Air France flight grounded in Madrid. Flight from Nigeria to Madrid via Paris. Passenger became ill and is being treated as a suspected carrier. 183 passengers and crew aboard the jet.

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-10-16 07:04:16

good grief.

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Comment by samk
2014-10-16 07:37:41

“Spain’s health ministry confirmed that an Ebola emergency protocol had been set in motion but declined to give details.

Aena and Air France said in separate statements that a passenger on Air France 1300 from Lagos via Paris had started shaking during the flight. Air France said the other passengers disembarked from the plane, which will now be disinfected. The return flight has been canceled.”

At least the other passengers got off the plane.

 
 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-10-16 12:45:55

Why do the public airlines continue to pick people up out of these countries?

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Comment by Guillotine Renovator
2014-10-16 15:08:28

M O N E Y

 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-10-16 16:07:16

But GR, aren’t they losing customers over this? People are afraid to fly, aren’t they? And what about the employees? A large number of unhappy or absent employees has got to be a problem for a company.

 
Comment by Guillotine Renovator
2014-10-16 17:31:08

It appears as if the sheeple continue to board planes with impunity. I have not heard anything to the contrary.

 
 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 07:39:28

I’m looking forward to a very empty flight when I travel to visit my parents for Thanksgiving.

 
Comment by EbolaLOL
2014-10-16 17:19:32

Hello :)

 
 
 
Comment by Combotechie
2014-10-16 05:24:43

This will become a VERY BIG DEAL if it works out as projected:

“Lockheed announces breakthrough on nuclear fusion energy

“•100MW reactor small enough to fit on back of a truck
•Cleaner energy source could be in use within 10 years”

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-16 06:04:50

If it were true. Extremely doubtful.

 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-10-16 06:20:58

IMO, with persistence, researchers into harnessing fusion are likely to reach the goal.

 
Comment by oxide
2014-10-16 06:35:56

———–
Tom McGuire, who heads the project, said he and a small team had been working on fusion energy at Lockheed’s secretive Skunk Works for about four years, but were now going public to find potential partners in industry and government for their work.
———–

MAJOR yellow flag! If this were a real breakthrough, then LM would NOT be “applying for” patents and asking for “potential partners.” LM has plenty enough cash to keep it secret until the patents were granted and the reactor was operational. That way they could keep ALL the profits for themselves.

My guess is that they can do it on the bench top — just enough to attract money — but it won’t scale up. McGuire and his group want to milk enough money to keep their own jobs going for a few years until until… oops, guess it wasn’t a breakthrough after all, sorrrry. By then it will be out of the news. If they can attract a “government” partner, even better. They can milk DOD/DOE for years, and even if DOD/DOE try to cancel the contract, they LM hire J-J-Joe’s old law firm to protest the cancellation and tie it up until they all retire.

[And yes, they will do that. I ran into a similar tactic personally at another company some years ago.]

Comment by polly
2014-10-16 09:46:35

It doesn’t have to scale up to a size that would be useful for a town or city to be useful for the military. It does have to be larger than “oh, look - a spike on the monitor.”

 
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2014-10-16 06:36:38

They should do a huge IPO. It could be bigger than Balibabba! We can all get rich, one more time! Free lunch for everyone! Forever!

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2014-10-16 10:31:15

While I often times laugh off these things, Lockheed’s Skunk Works has done some pretty amazing things over the years. Doesn’t guarantee success, but they seem to be approaching the problem differently than others. Would be a world changer if they pull it off.

Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-16 11:05:07

Brother in law worked for them until he passed away in 2006.

Was working on the X-30 project for a while. He and his team (and the company) held several patents on high heat materials/designs/heat dissipation systems……a problem with high-mach aircraft. In fact, the main problem.

(Lockheed did a study once, to determine the max speed of a “conventional commercial aircraft” and came up with a number around Mach 4-5. Why? Because anything faster gets into super-exotic materials, and gets so hot that it takes an hour or two for the aircraft to cool down enough to even open the doors.)

Of course, his work was all classified. One of the first things that happened after he passed away was some Lockheed/DOD tech guys going thru his home desktop/terminal, to confirm he didn’t have any classified info on them.

Comment by Rental Watch
2014-10-16 11:49:26

Very cool. For a company that is so secretive about their projects, any press release is meaningful–apparently they are looking for partners to develop this tech.

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Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-10-16 13:14:31

schweet

 
 
 
Comment by goon squad
2014-10-16 06:01:52

This is one of about 20 Ebola links on the Drudge Report right now, quotes Michael Savage as saying “If you like your Ebola, you can keep your Ebola; it is part of the new Obamacare plan”

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/10/11/Michael-Savage-on-Ebola-Third-World-African-Dictators-are-Smarter-than-Barack-Obama

Happy Thursday :)

Comment by palmetto
2014-10-16 06:50:53

But will the stupid party take the gloves off and use this to win mid-term elections? NAH!!!!!

They’ve been handed an awesome gift. For example, here in Florida, if Rick Scott really wanted to blow Good Time Charlie Crist right out of the water, he could just conflate Charlie with Obama and all Charlie’s “I Love Barack Obama” rhetoric as it pertains to spreading the Ebola virus. It would work like a bomb. Geez, I’d even go so far as to project Charlie’s image on a background screen of the ebola virus.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-10-16 07:00:16

“Dr. Michael Savage explained in an interview on Saturday that the U.S has sunk to the level of the Soviet Union in the 1950s, where government-controlled science and a government-controlled press were a way of life.”

He cannot prove any of this because this information was stored on Lois Lerner’s computer. There is not a smidgen of proof that can be found. Even if you could find proof, what difference – at this point, what difference does it make?

 
Comment by Cracker Bob
2014-10-16 08:16:21

You guys do realize that Michael Savage is not even the guy’s real name?

Another phoney getting rich off of the scared ultra-right Bible-thumpers (even though he is a Jewish guy). Go figure.

These are the same people who read and quote the Washington Times and are too dumb to know it is owned and edited by the Moonies church in Korea.

You can fool some of the people all of the time………

Comment by reedalberger
2014-10-16 13:23:29

“You guys do realize that Michael Savage is not even the guy’s real name?”

Does that make what he said untrue?

And what’s your real name?

#FundamentalTransformationOfAmerica

 
 
Comment by Avocado
2014-10-16 10:23:17

Drudge wants a civil war.

Comment by aNYCdj
2014-10-16 16:21:21

no i dont think drudge wants a civil war but it may be a race war instead

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/colin-flaherty/beyond-ferguson/

 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-10-16 06:06:07

Will the Obama family vacations continue to cause the spread of Ebola in the United States?

:)

Comment by goon squad
2014-10-16 06:13:49

Obama *IS* Ebola, he is the Typhoid Mary of Ebola, spreading it everywhere he goes without ever developing symptoms

I read that on the Drudge Report website, and everybody knows you can’t put something on the internet unless it’s true

Comment by phony scandals
2014-10-16 06:28:50

Just a little joke from yesterday. We can afford banker wars, bailouts for billionaire solar investors, opening Paris on sunday so Michelle can shop with the girls, private jets for Pelosi etc. but we can’t afford charter flights to West Africa.

“More flight restrictions will only make it more difficult for life-saving aid and medical professionals to reach West Africa.”

Comment by goon squad
2014-10-16 06:53:33

article linked from google news notes that schools in ohio and texas closed today because teachers and students there were on the ebola flight

another article from some website called infowars blames obama for ebola, infowars are most definitely not real journalists

http://www.infowars.com/thanks-to-obamas-incompetence-ebola-is-now-out-of-control-in-america/

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Comment by phony scandals
2014-10-16 07:11:59

“article linked from google news notes that schools in ohio and texas closed today because teachers and students there were on the ebola flight”

Please return your Haz-mat suit to the upright position.

 
Comment by palmetto
2014-10-16 07:34:25

Sure, blame Obama. However, I had a good lesson yesterday in how we got here, and as I’ve often said on this board, you have far more to fear from your so-called friends and neighbors, many of whom may look and act “normal”, but under that facade, are outright insane, crazy as bedbugs.

This was brought home to me once again yesterday.

Over the years, the majority of the residents of the 55+ community in this part of Florida have come from the Midwest (Ohio, Michigan, etc.). Many have been ex-military and diplomatic corps, etc. Also middle management from the old US manufacturing corporate structure.

Yesterday, while out at a local charity mini-flea market run by some of the older retirees here, I had a conversation in the parking lot with a new resident of the community. He was waiting for his wife, I’m waiting for some friends, both of us are standing there with the crap we had purchased and we got into a conversation.

The guy was about mid ’70s in age, and we’re chit-chatting, a lot of these retirees like to talk about their lives and if I’ve got the time, I usually listen because most people don’t, lol. (now I know why). He tells me he and his wife have just moved here from Virginia (should’ve been my first clue), that he was originally from Michigan and (get this) had been an economic professor and (gasp*) published a book on the subject. He tells me how he’s lived around the world because he “worked for the oil companies” and have resided in Germany, Taiwan and Saudi Arabia. He says “we” (meaning he and his fellow geniuses, whoever they might be) predicted the rise of ISIS and the coming of ebola.

At this point I bring up the fact that Florida’s Senator Nelson and Representative Alan Grayson are calling for restricting flights from West Africa.

Well! I thought the guy was going to have a coronary right then and there. He gets all agitated and starts talking a mile a minute about how that shouldn’t be done, it would make things worse, it would destroy the economies of African nations, he’s the authority because he’s written a book, etc. (He had also told me earlier how he’d worked for Home Depot up in Virigia, I do know retirees who do that part time, but it didn’t compute that an international genius like himself would stoop to such employment).

Anyway, the guy got more and more incoherent and his eyes were bugging out and I realize I’m dealing with a stark, staring madman. So I just cut him off and said “With all due respect, sir, I don’t want my family to suffer”, and I start moving away. He yells after me “Unfortunately, THEY WILL!”

I had to to really clench my fists and keep moving to overcome the almost overwhelming desire to punch the nasty geezer’s lights out, and bite my tongue practically in half to keep from yelling that I hoped he’d bleed out his shriveled old butt.

 
Comment by cactus
2014-10-16 08:50:13

Don’t you love old people who act like that ?

Been caught up in that madness myself had to bail guy started yelling at me about how he carries 2 guns and has to wear panty hose.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2014-10-16 08:56:21

The best reasons I can think of for not banning travel to “hot” countries: First, such countries, worried about the effect on their economies, would hide cases of infectious disease and deny their existence to the outside world, which could make things much worse. Second, there would probably be a rush of people out of such countries if they suspected they were about to be trapped in a hot zone, which could also make things much worse. Third, I suspect that it’s pretty much impossible to stop travel into and out of such large, poorly developed, and corrupt areas. We can stop Delta’s flights in and out, but can we stop the locals from crossing a river in a canoe? Because that’s all it takes to keep it spreading.

 
Comment by Cracker Bob
2014-10-16 09:08:39

The economy of Liberia was the worst on the planet before Ebola.

I hope this thing does not get to Haiti; think about the lack of health care there.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2014-10-16 09:20:13

” economy of Liberia was the worst on the planet before Ebola.”

It might not be much, but it’s all they’ve got.

 
Comment by palmetto
2014-10-16 09:39:55

“The best reasons I can think of for not banning travel to “hot” countries: First, such countries, worried about the effect on their economies, would hide cases of infectious disease and deny their existence to the outside world, which could make things much worse. Second, there would probably be a rush of people out of such countries if they suspected they were about to be trapped in a hot zone, which could also make things much worse. Third, I suspect that it’s pretty much impossible to stop travel into and out of such large, poorly developed, and corrupt areas. We can stop Delta’s flights in and out, but can we stop the locals from crossing a river in a canoe? Because that’s all it takes to keep it spreading.”

Holy Bleeding Butts, Batman! We got ourselves are real live (Jim) Jones Clones death wisher right here on the HBB!

 
Comment by palmetto
2014-10-16 10:29:18

Oh, GAWD, I LOVE this:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tsa-administrator-john-pistole-to-step-down/

Another rat deserting the sinking ship, priceless. Perfect timing, too. I guess his employees aren’t happy about having to fat-finger passengers these days.

 
Comment by rms
2014-10-16 11:27:26

“The economy of Liberia was the worst on the planet before Ebola.”

+1 Can’t recall ever downloading any software from Liberia.

 
 
 
Comment by iftheshoefits
2014-10-16 07:10:23

I’m waiting for someone to blame the spread of Ebola on global warming. Surprised no one has run with that one yet.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-16 07:16:46

That comes later in the propaganda script. We’re still on Chapter2, Volume 1.

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Comment by goon squad
2014-10-16 07:33:45

another article linked from drudge (the drudge report are not real journalists) notes recent gallup poll results showing that global warming ranks dead last among american voters’ issues

give the real journalists some time to script the ‘global warming causes ebola’ narrative, they’ve got their hands full this week

and it would be no surprise if some michael bloomberg funded pac comes out and says that reducing the capacity of ammunition magazines will stop the spread of ebola, lolz

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Comment by samk
2014-10-16 07:41:25
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Comment by iftheshoefits
2014-10-16 07:58:49

Heh, good find. So they spent their bullets early on that one, before boobus Americanus was paying much attention…

Let’s see if they reload and try again.

 
 
Comment by samk
2014-10-16 07:43:40

Newsweek. Two months ago. Posted a link but not sure if it will appear.

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Comment by octal77
2014-10-16 08:48:06

I heard Ebola was spread by all those killer bees that are [were] going to overrun the world. If the killer bees can’t do it then here in California it will be triggered by a shortage of plastic grocery bags. {recently outlawed}

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Comment by iftheshoefits
2014-10-16 09:04:53

And the killer bees were caused by global warming, so… is any more proof needed?

See goonie, I could be a ‘real journalist’ if I wanted to. The news just about writes itself.

 
 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-10-16 13:33:58

Well, iftheshoefits, looks like you just opened it up for debate.

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Comment by iftheshoefits
2014-10-16 14:00:46

Debate? If a real journalist reports that global warming causes Ebola outbreaks, this means that the science is settled.

 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-10-16 14:06:07

If that were true, then you wouldn’t be saying that right now.

 
 
 
 
Comment by 2banana
2014-10-16 07:22:46

Actually - obama skipped some fundraising meetings yesterday to try to deal with the Ebola crisis - so this must be starting to get serious.

Comment by phony scandals
2014-10-16 07:35:07

This guy is racist.

Thanks To Obama’s Incompetence, Ebola Is Now Out Of Control In America

by Michael Snyder | End Of The American Dream | October 16, 2014

Much of the responsibility for the Ebola crisis that the United States is now facing can be laid squarely at the feet of Barack Obama. If Obama had banned all non-essential air travel between the U.S. and West Africa, Thomas Eric Duncan would have never gotten on to a plane to this country in the first place. And if Obama had directed the CDC to get all hospital staff in America some basic training about Ebola, we might not have two infected nurses at this point. But instead, this Ebola outbreak in America is now officially out of control. The fact that one of the sick nurses got on to an airplane while she was feeling feverish boggles the mind, and it is creating a tremendous amount of fear all over the nation. Already, one traveler showed up at Dulles airport in a full hazmat suit. The White House has announced that Obama has canceled a fundraising trip and will be holding an “emergency meeting” on Ebola. Hopefully he can start to get a handle on what is going on before it is too late.

News that a second nurse that was caring for Thomas Eric Duncan has Ebola sent shockwaves all over the country. Apparently those caring for him did not wear hazmat suits for the first two days. This is such a monstrous error that it is hard to put into words.

What made things even worse is that this second nurse decided to get on a plane even after she began exhibiting symptoms…

Comment by cactus
2014-10-16 08:54:09

“and it is creating a tremendous amount of fear all over the nation.”

Almost like it was done on purpose

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Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-16 10:47:03

And who pray tell, would have bitched the most about “regulation of International Travel” ?

Republicans, and their outsourcing and Multinational Corporation leash-holders.

And it looks like most of the problems were not generated by the patient, but because of the half-azzed way they have handled it in Texas. Which was Rick Perry’s domain, last time I checked.

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Comment by rms
2014-10-16 11:28:40

“Actually - obama skipped some fundraising meetings yesterday to try to deal with the Ebola crisis - so this must be starting to get serious.”

Did he roll-up his sleeves?

 
 
Comment by cactus
2014-10-16 08:37:18

The government loves a crisis

Shut down flights out of West Africa threat recedes, panic goes away , government loses focus of the people , west Africa falls, Chinese take over etc etc.

China claims it has a drug to cure Ebola ?

Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-16 10:42:30

Yeah, a 7.62×39 pill.

Comment by rms
2014-10-16 11:31:38

Yeah, a 7.62×39 pill.

+1 LOL! Don’t need to import these rounds to W. Africa as they have more than enough for everyone.

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Comment by goon squad
2014-10-16 06:08:32

And because the Drudge Report are not real journalists, especially Breitbart and most especially Michael Savage, here are two article written by Dianne Feinstein approved real journalists discussing Americans’ reactions to Ebola

Remember kidz, real journalists will script your narrative

And Obama = DoublePlusGood

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/16/health/ebolas-other-contagious-threat-hysteria.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/an-epidemic-of-fear-and-anxiety-hits-americans-amid-ebola-outbreak/2014/10/15/0760fb96-54a8-11e4-ba4b-f6333e2c0453_story.html

Comment by rj chicago
2014-10-16 08:32:11

A good way to sink an economy - start a pandemic!!!

Comment by Shillow
2014-10-16 13:55:11

Or BLAME what is inevitable on a faux pandemic.

 
 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 06:14:34

How are you planning to spend all the money you are saving thanks to suddenly affordable gasoline prices?

Comment by Blue Skye
2014-10-16 06:38:26

Consider actually saving the money.

Comment by rms
2014-10-16 07:15:19

“Consider actually saving the money.”

+1 Or pay down debt, antithetical I realize.

 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2014-10-16 21:11:20

One of my best friends in L.A. follows some memes. I can post a lot about which ones, but this one focuses on money and cars. He’s stricken with the meme “if you see someone driving an expensive car, he must have a lot of money.” Well I was thinking on the way home from the office tonight that it’s certainly totally wrong. That $100,000 car the stranger is driving is not money. It’s a $100,000 car, which in 8 years will be a $50,000 car if the driver baby’s it. The stranger has less money than before obtaining that car. So the proper response is “No. He had more money than before buying that car. What if he had $101,000 in savings and bought the car for $100,000? Now he has $1,000 in savings. Do you think he has a lot of money now?”

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-10-16 06:38:38

Probably throw it at the rising food prices.

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 07:43:17

Food prices might also fall, due to
- lower prices of oil-based pesticides;
- lower prices of oil-based fertilizer;
- lower cost of using oil-powered farm implements;
- lower cost of oil-based transport of produce to the market.

Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-16 10:41:07

-lower number of people eating food.

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Comment by oxide
2014-10-16 12:02:09

Ebola is doing a good job of that, living or not. :sad:

 
Comment by cactus
2014-10-16 12:29:51

I don’t think farmers are planting in west Africa right now ?

Another problem for next year

 
 
 
 
Comment by samk
2014-10-16 06:38:58

I’ll probably be able to get a pumpkin spice latte every other fill-up or so.

Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-10-16 14:00:00

Pumpkin spice is the most gross flavor of all coffees.

Comment by Guillotine Renovator
2014-10-16 15:21:43

So you’re sayin’ you don’t want one for Christmas? ;)

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Comment by ibbots
2014-10-16 06:19:30

Report shows rising rents are making homeownership cheaper in Dallas.

The survey of the country’s 100 largest home markets found that buying a home in the Dallas area is 41 percent cheaper than renting a comparable property.

Nationwide, it’s 38 percent cheaper to buy vs. rent, Trulia said.

http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2014/10/new-report-rising-rents-make-homeownership-cheaper-in-dallas.html/

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-16 06:40:38

Trulia? They’re a Realtor affiliate.

And if it were true, why is housing demand falling in Dallas and falling housing prices showing up there?

 
Comment by Shillow
2014-10-16 06:55:56

The Ebola can’t be good for the Dallas RE market, even if it does wipe right off granite countertops.

Comment by phony scandals
2014-10-16 07:22:08

“The Ebola can’t be good for the Dallas RE market, even if it does wipe right off granite countertops.”

I can see the commercials already.

Got Ebola?

Call SERVPRO.

Like it never even happened

Comment by Cracker Bob
2014-10-16 08:18:35

Good one!

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Comment by joesixpack
2014-10-16 08:21:11

I wonder how much a house is worth or their neighbors house is worth if the owner contracts Ebola. Might not be too many buyers.

Also, if this becomes more widespread, will it bring on single payer healthcare.

Could it interfere with elections, hmmmmmmm.

I know, we could all just vote online. Maybe put Lerner in charge of developing the website. I hear she has a lot of empty space on her servers.

Oh, and quartz countertops will be the in thing, as they are easier to keep clean. Just be sure to break out your hazmat suit while you are wiping it off.

Comment by joesixpack
2014-10-16 08:32:59

Oh, and don’t worry about flying. The CDC has it under control. You don’t have to worry about sitting next to any Ebola healthcare givers unless their temperature is 100.6 degrees or above or unless they flew in from Africa.

I would think the private jet business will benefit. I will have to dust off my Pilots License. I haven’t flown a plane for about 30 years and I am a horrible pilot, but I like the odds.

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Comment by samk
2014-10-16 09:43:15

I heard that it’s safe to take public transportation because you can’t get ebola from sitting next to a person who has it. However, if you have ebola you should avoid using public transportation.

 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-10-16 14:04:30

It’s only contagious when people are bleeding out. That’s why Eric Duncan’s GF and para-stepdaughter didn’t get it, even though they were sharing an apartment (and bed) with him.

 
 
Comment by cactus
2014-10-16 08:45:57

Also, if this becomes more widespread, will it bring on single payer healthcare.”

If it gets more widespread Anyone with a fever will be forced to go to the big tent were they will certainly get Ebola , just like they are doing in West Africa. No wonder sick people are hiding out.

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Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 07:34:27

Economic Report
Jobless claims drop to lowest level in more than 14 years
Published: Oct 16, 2014 9:27 a.m. ET
Applicants wait to enter a job fair on June 11, 2012 in New York.
By Ruth Mantell
Economics reporter

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Initial claims for jobless benefits dropped to the lowest weekly tally in more than 14 years, showing that employers are laying off very few workers, a good sign for the labor market, according to government data released Thursday.

The number of people who applied for U.S. jobless benefits tumbled by 23,000 to 264,000 in the week that ended Oct. 11, the lowest level since April 2000, the U.S. Labor Department reported. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected initial claims for regular state unemployment-insurance benefits to tick up to 289,000 from 287,000 in the prior week.

The four-week average of new claims, a smoother barometer of labor-market trends, fell by 4,250 to 283,500, also reaching the lowest level since 2000, the government said.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 07:48:50

I certainly hope the builders remain sufficiently confident to build their way into a glut of affordably priced homes. Perhaps there is hope for my kids to eventually be able to own their own homes, rather than living out their adult years as boomerang children.

Home-builder confidence pulls back from nine-year high

Published: Oct 16, 2014 10:34 a.m. ET
By Ruth Mantell
Economics reporter

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — A gauge of builders’ confidence in the market for single-family homes pulled back this month from a nine-year high, but still indicated optimism, according to data released Thursday.

The builder-confidence gauge from National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo dropped five points to 54 in October, the first decline in five months.

That result is “in line with the gradual pace of the housing recovery,” said Kevin Kelly, NAHB’s chairman.

Despite the drop, the gauge remained above a key level of 50. Readings above 50 signal that builders, generally, are optimistic about sales trends.

“Historically low mortgage interest rates, steady job gains, and significant pent up demand all point to continued growth of the housing market,” said David Crowe, NAHB’s chief economist.

Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected the builder-sentiment barometer to remain at 59 in October.

A strengthening jobs market has been perking up builders, though economists and housing-industry executives are still concerned that overly strict standards are preventing creditworthy families from getting a mortgage.

Confidence among home builders is running higher than levels historically seen for recent building rates for new homes. It could be that the builders who survived the housing meltdown feel particularly capable of navigating a still-choppy market. Friday morning markets will get a fresh read on residential construction from the government, and economists expect that the pace of home building picked up in September.

Also Thursday, NAHB reported that its barometer of builders’ views on present sales of single-family homes fell six points to 57 in October. Meanwhile, a barometer of builders’ views on upcoming sales fell three points to 64. And a gauge of prospective-buyer traffic dropped six points to 41.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-16 08:18:17

Craytor

Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-10-16 14:07:41

kreighder

 
 
Comment by rj chicago
2014-10-16 08:36:16

Now this is rich - gee as the bodies start to stack up like cord wood - we’re sorry……really!!!!! This guys picture says it all IMHO.

http://news.yahoo.com/hospital-exec-on-ebola-crisis-we-are-deeply-sorry-051612718.html

Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-10-16 14:12:26

It’s a FAITH-BASED hospital! Dude, Bible thumpers don’t even believe in science. How can they be expected to run a hospital? They pray to God and ask him to fax them a diagnosis?

 
 
Comment by Neuromance
2014-10-16 09:03:30

The Qualified Mortgage rule has been successfully defanged, largely allowing a return to business as usual (aka “Privatize the profits, socialize the losses”).

I used to think this issue was the core of the mortgage crisis, but an even deeper issue is government guarantee of private debt. Lenders generating bad debt is a known issue, it has been since the Great Depression. But it’s very profitable, especially when losses can be pushed on the population at large. But generating debt for sale would be heavily restrained if government were not insuring the debt via its mortgage finance agencies.

1) Feds look to water down mortgage reform
By Joseph Lawler | June 14, 2014 | 5:00 am

The rule was supposed to require lenders to maintain a 5-percent stake in loans that are packaged into securities, except for mortgages that met certain strict criteria for safety, called qualified residential mortgages, or QRMs.

the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that the Securities and Exchange Commission, the last holdout of the six regulatory agencies needed to approve the rule, has given the go-ahead to finalize a rule that would include a much broader definition of a QRM than originally planned. The industry is now expecting the rule to be finalized over the next few months.

When the rule was first proposed in April 2011, it had stringent requirements for loans that would meet the standards for qualification. It would have required a minimum 20 percent down payment, low debt-to-income ratios and tight credit history standards, among other criteria

When the new definition was proposed in October, Frank called it a “grave error” in a letter to the regulators, adding that it repudiated the intent of Congress in requiring a stricter definition for mortgages for which lenders would not have to keep some of the risk…

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/feds-look-to-water-down-mortgage-reform/article/2549736

===========================================

2) Dodd-Frank mortgage rule nears the finish line
By Joseph Lawler | October 15, 2014 | 3:02 pm

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors announced Wednesday that it would meet Oct. 22 to vote on the final version of a rule initially proposed in 2011 that would require lenders to maintain a 5-percent stake in loans that are packaged into securities and sold to investors.

… But after lenders and housing groups protested that the rule would stifle lending, the agencies — the SEC, the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development — backed off.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/dodd-frank-mortgage-rule-nears-the-finish-line/article/2554840

Comment by Rental Watch
2014-10-16 11:58:45

Yes. Dodd-Frank IS a disaster.

The Democrats in control had two choices:

1. Tackle each item on their regulatory wish list one at a time (QRM, Volcker Rule, etc.). This would have required public debate, and resolving the details up front. The upside of this is that the backroom dealings would have been minimized, and the rules might actually help. The downside of this path was that they might have only been able to address a few of the major problems head on (perhaps only QRM, Volcker, and maybe orderly dissolution); or

2. Put together a massive FRAMEWORK, with details to be worked out later, so they could include everything they could possibly imagine in the bill. The upside (for Democrats) is that they could get their regulatory fingers into every aspect of capital markets for which they previously had no political “cover”. The downside is that by leaving the details to be written later, it opened up the possibility to backroom dealings that effectively de-fang the legislation.

In case #1, we get more focused, and effective regulation.

In case #2, we get broad, but much more ineffective regulation.

No surprise, they went with #2.

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2014-10-16 14:28:18

Just to review:

Original intent: Create a mortgage standard–such that if a loan didn’t meet the standard, lenders would need to retain at least 5% of the mortgage on their books (require them to eat what they kill for riskier mortgages). This would keep lenders honest (they couldn’t sell crap into the markets without taking a 5% bite for themselves).

Original direction of the rule: 20% down payment would be required for loans to meet the standard.

Midpoint in discussions: 5% down payment

Likely end result: No down payment required

If Dodd Frank wanted a down payment requirement as part of the QRM standard, then they should have proposed it, debated it, discussed it, and included it in the law.

It wouldn’t have been complicated…it would have just been politically uncomfortable.

 
 
Comment by rj chicago
2014-10-16 09:30:24

This from American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) news posts today:
There is a theme developing no?

• Ebola Scare At Portland International Airport: Sick Child Traveling From Africa Ate Too Much Junk Food On Flight
(Portland Oregonian)
• Emergency In Madrid Airport Over Patient With Ebola Symptoms On Flight From Paris
(RT)
• New York City Area Hospital, Airport Workers Seek More Ebola Training
(Wall Street Journal)
• Aberdeen, Glasgow And Southampton Airports Sold By Heathrow Airport Holdings
(Travel Weekly (U.K.))
• TSA Chief To Retire
(The Hill)
• TSA Administrator John Pistole To Retire
(Politico)
• Southampton Airport Sold To Ferrovial and Macquarie In Deal Worth Over £1bn
(Daily Echo (U.K.))
• Louisville Airport Plans $8M In Improvements
(Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal)
• York Airport’s Bumpy Runway Gtting A Makeover
(York (Pa.) Dispatch)
• Obama: US To Review Ebola Screenings
(The Hill)
• United To Add Wi-Fi To Regional Jet Fleet
(Frequent Business Traveler)
• Airlines Scramble To Find Enough Qualified Pilots
(Dallas Morning News)
• Ebola Patient Went Through Central TSA Checkpoint At Cleveland Hopkins
(Cleveland Plain Dealer)
• TSA Halloween Travel Tips
(WWLP-TV (Springfield, Mass.) )
• Hartsfield-Jackson Taking Ebola Precautions
(Atlanta-Journal Constitution)

Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-16 10:33:38

Gonna be a lot of fun when all of those airline employees decide that, on top of dealing with all of Joe Q Public’s bull$##t, it just isn’t worth it to take home $15/hour.

Especially when they find out that, as boot-strapping US Americans, they are going to get stuck with the bills (costs of quarantine, no insurance or low copays)

The unintended/(and supposedly) unforseen consequences could go exponential on this one.

Dangerous virus vs. Corner-cutting society.

Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-16 10:37:45

I’m going “long” on respirators, Tyvek/hazmat suits and bleach.

 
Comment by palmetto
2014-10-16 11:17:12

heh, Pistole, head of the TSA, has already thrown in the towel. And he’s making a lot more than $15.00/hour.

Comment by iftheshoefits
2014-10-16 12:51:53

Must su@k to have a name that sounds like ‘pustule’.

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Comment by MightyMike
2014-10-16 09:58:44

The $11 Trillion Advantage That Shields U.S. From Turmoil

By Shobhana Chandra Oct 14, 2014 7:01 AM

Call it America’s $11 trillion advantage: Consumer spending is likely to steer the U.S. economy safely through the shoals of deteriorating global growth and turbulent financial markets.

The combination of more jobs, falling gasoline prices and low borrowing costs will help lift household purchases. Such tailwinds probably matter more than Europe’s struggles or the slackening in emerging markets that caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average last week to erase its gains for the year.

“We’ve got a lot of things working in favor of the consumer right now,” said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist in Lexington, Massachusetts, at IHS Inc. “To have that kind of strength is the biggest asset for the U.S. It’s a pretty rock solid footing.”

Household purchases make up almost 70 percent of the $16.8 trillion U.S. economy and have climbed an average 2 percent in the recovery that’s now in its sixth year. Spending growth will accelerate to 2.7 percent next year after 2.3 percent in 2014, according to the latest Bloomberg survey of economists.

The poll, taken from Oct. 3 to Oct. 8 in the midst of the meltdown in equities, showed little change in the median projections from the prior month. The economy is forecast to expand 3 percent in 2015 after 2.2 percent growth this year, according to the survey.

‘800-pound Gorilla’

“We’ve got the proverbial 800-pound gorilla — the consumer,” said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. in New York. “Households are more fixated on the good news here, and a big part of that is the labor market. The U.S. is going to be pretty immune to the rest of the world.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-14/the-11-trillion-advantage-that-shields-u-s-from-turmoil.html

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-16 10:14:59

And you believe it in spite of the fact everyone is broke and neck deep in debt.

Comment by Amy Hoax
Comment by iftheshoefits
2014-10-16 12:59:27

Until you really need the equity later to buy into a decent continuing care facility, and your equity is gone!

That’s assuming, of course that there was some there to begin with. With 2/3 of retirement age people still carrying mortgages, good luck with that one…

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-16 18:59:34

Arlington, VA Housing Prices Plummet 23% YoY; Sellers Turn Desperate

http://www.movoto.com/arlington-va/market-trends/

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Comment by Oddfellow
2014-10-16 10:13:07

Fellow carb lovers, I bring thee glad tidings. It’s all about leftovers. Who knew?

Is reheated pasta less fattening?

“It’s called “resistant starch” because once pasta, potatoes or any starchy food is cooked and cooled it becomes resistant to the normal enzymes in our gut that break carbohydrates down and releases glucose that then causes the familiar blood sugar surge.

“…we found cooking, cooling and then reheating the pasta had an even more dramatic effect. Or, to be precise, an even smaller effect on blood glucose.

“In fact, it reduced the rise in blood glucose by 50%.”

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29629761

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-16 11:17:04

Recycled pasta? That’s disgusting.

Comment by Guillotine Renovator
2014-10-16 15:26:39

Are you kidding? I love leftover pasta dishes.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-10-16 19:16:07

Yes. Especially with seafood.

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Comment by sleepless_near_seattle
2014-10-16 11:48:19

“and releases glucose that then causes the familiar blood sugar surge.”

Should that read, “and release glucose that then causes the familiar blood sugar surge.”?

 
Comment by Shillow
2014-10-16 12:00:00

Seeing as how most restaurants nuke the food you get, does this mean I won’t get fat eating pasta from Applebee’s or the Olive Garden?

Game on!

Comment by sleepless_near_seattle
2014-10-16 12:02:25

You’re able to get a table at Applebee’s?

Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-10-16 14:27:15

They’re very exclusive there. Shillow must be holding out on us. OK Shillow, tell us who you are. What rich and famous person is slumming on this blog?

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Comment by Shillow
2014-10-16 17:08:01

Ron Johnson, Audio Consultant

 
 
 
 
Comment by iftheshoefits
2014-10-16 13:01:24

Is that the same reason that frozen then re-heated potato-leek soup is way more gaseous? Inquiring minds want to know.

Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2014-10-16 14:29:53

Funny you mention that. I went through a gross phase when I was 12, where I totally could not eat leftover mashed potatoes. It came and went. I can eat them now, no prob. Were my enzymes off?

 
 
 
Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-16 10:19:42

The -fixr’s Great Idea du Jour:

Dig out the Throwback uniforms for Game 1 of the World Series.

KC Monarchs vs. NY/SanFran Giants.

KC is rooting for the Giants. Mainly because the thought of listening to STL Cardinals fans bitch another 30 years gives us headaches.

Now……if I can just get the company seats in the “Diamond Section” again……

 
Comment by X-GSfixr
2014-10-16 10:23:30

More $11/hour jobs.

(In the -fixr’s case) $15-20 bucks a month saved on gas.

Already have a newer car @2.99%, and my CC rate hasn’t changed.

Don’t spend that $20/month all in one place.

Comment by Guillotine Renovator
2014-10-16 15:28:03

“$15-20 bucks a month saved on gas.”

20% of a monthly cell phone bill. Whoooopeeee!

 
 
Comment by EbolaLOL
2014-10-16 17:24:07

From the current wikipedia website for Thomas Eric Duncan:

“Joined with Rev. Jesse Jackson at his Rainbow Push headquarters, Duncan’s family called the care Duncan received was at best ‘incompetent’ and at worst ‘racially motivated.’ Jackson questioned the hospital’s motives, saying “What role did [Duncan‘s] lack of privilege play in the treatment he received? He is being treated as a criminal rather than as a patient.” Family members said they are considering legal action against the hospital where Duncan received treatment. In response, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital issued a statement, “Our care team provided Mr. Duncan with the same high level of attention and care that would be given any patient, regardless of nationality or ability to pay for care. We have a long history of treating a multicultural community in this area.” Duncan infected two nurses who are currently under treatment.

Comment by MightyMike
2014-10-16 17:31:24

same high level of attention and care

I guess that it wasn’t high enough.

 
 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 21:58:58

Is it safe to assume the market turmoil is over for now?

Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 23:46:53

Volckerized Wall Street Dumping Bonds With Rest of Herd
By Lisa Abramowicz Oct 16, 2014 2:14 PM PT

Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) — Bloomberg “Money Clip” Host Adam Johnson reports on market volatility. (Source: Bloomberg)

Corporate bond values are swinging the most in more than a year and here’s one reason why: Wall Street’s biggest banks are following the crowd and selling, too.

Take junk bonds, which have lost 2 percent in the past month. Dealers, which traditionally used their own money to take bonds off clients desperate to sell during sinking markets, sold about $2 billion of the securities during the period, according to data compiled by Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Banks have cut debt holdings in the face of higher capital requirements and curbs of proprietary trading under the U.S. Dodd-Frank Act’s Volcker Rule. Their lack of desire to take risks has had the unintended consequence of exacerbating price swings amid the rout now, said Jon Breuer, a credit trader at Peridiem Global Investors LLC in Los Angeles, California.

There just isn’t the appetite and ability to warehouse the risk anymore,” he wrote in an e-mail. “Everyone is afraid to catch the falling knife.”

High-yield bonds have lost 1.1 percent this month, following a 2.1 percent decline in September. That was the worst monthly performance since June 2013 for the $1.3 trillion market that’s ballooned 82 percent since 2007, according to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch U.S. high-yield index.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 23:48:43

Markets 10/15/2014 @ 7:12PM
In Stormy Markets Some Flee To Safety, Others Grab Shopping Carts
(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Investors can be forgiven for having flashbacks Wednesday night, after a trading day that was as violent as any in recent memory.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost as many as 460 points at its lows of the day and finished down 1.1. The S&P 500 lost 0.8% for the day, while the flight away from stocks and into the perceived safety of U.S. bonds dropped the 10-year Treasury yield as low as 1.85% at one point before rising back to 2.12%.

The day’s market action felt like waves crashing on a beach, as selling pressure built up before the opening bell, ebbed through the morning and then came back to drive stocks to afternoon lows. The VIX, an options-based volatility gauge, climbed as high as the 31 mark; it was below 15 less than two weeks ago.

Wednesday’s violent rolling selloffs did not come completely without warning.

“In recent weeks, the market has transitioned to the most hostile risk/return profile we identify,” Hussman Funds’ John Hussman wrote in his weekly commentary this week, “the pairing of overvalued, overbought, overbullish conditions with deterioration in market internals and price cointegration…across a wide range of stocks, sectors and security types.”

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 23:51:10

Economy
Growth Fears Grip a Divided Europe
Greece, Portugal Bear Brunt in Echo of Eurozone Debt Crisis; Merkel Unyielding
By Marcus Walker and Charles Forelle
Updated Oct. 16, 2014 7:13 p.m. ET

The Bank of Greece headquarters in Athens on Thursday. The yield on Greece’s 10-year bonds has risen to nearly 9%. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

BERLIN—Echoes of the debt crisis reverberated across the eurozone Thursday amid mounting concern about the region’s stalled economic recovery and gridlock in the political system called upon to fix it.

Stocks and government bonds fell hardest Thursday in the most fragile and fiscally precarious countries, Greece and Portugal. But the problems include the bloc’s biggest economies.

Even in powerhouse Germany, which escaped the 2010-12 debt crisis relatively unscathed, the government this week slashed its growth forecasts for this year and next, while a measure of economic confidence fell into negative territory for the first time in nearly two years.

If the European market turmoil continues, it could test eurozone leaders’ belief that they have shored up their currency union with new rules on budgets, banks and bailouts.

European government officials have been “deluding” themselves that the crisis was over and the eurozone would recover, said Charles Wyplosz, professor of international economics at the Graduate Institute Geneva.

Now global growth is weakening and exports aren’t enough to pull Europe out of trouble, but governments continue to debate austerity budgets while the European Central Bank has proved “impotent” at stimulating growth, he said.

“What we see now is the revelation that the situation in the eurozone is very precarious,” he said. “We are sitting on a powder keg.”

Stock markets slid across the eurozone except in Germany, which eked out a small gain. U.S. stocks recovered from early losses to end the day mixed.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 23:54:16

Opinion
Global Markets Catch the Chinese Flu
The ill effects of Beijing’s borrowing and spending binge are rippling through the world economy
By Ruchir Sharma
Oct. 16, 2014 7:43 p.m. ET

It has become almost politically correct to blame the latest global growth scare on the usual suspects, Japan and Europe, and to suggest that if only those skinflint Germans would spend more, all would be better. After all, the American economy is relatively resilient, so who else is there to blame? To the extent anyone brings up China, people seem to whisper its name politely, not mentioning how Beijing’s borrowing and spending binge threatens the world.

When the U.S. sneezes, the world catches a cold, an old saying goes. But now it’s China’s health that matters most. In 1998, when the world expected the Asian financial crisis to cause trouble world-wide, the trouble never came. Emerging Asia, including China, contributed little to global growth at the time, and the U.S. economy was accelerating. That was enough to prevent the Asian crisis from slowing global growth, which held steady at around 2.5% in 1998.

China has since replaced the U.S. as the main engine of the global economy. Its contribution has more than tripled to 34% of global growth this decade from 10% in the 1990s. The U.S. contribution has fallen to 17% from 32% in the 1990s, and the European contribution dropped to 8% from 23%. Europe may be a weak link in global growth, but that is beside the point, unless there is an outright crisis there. Europe’s contribution is roughly where China’s was in the 1990s, and it no longer matters as much.

China, however, is sending a deflationary chill around the world. Factory-gate prices in China have fallen every month for the last 31 months and GDP growth has slowed to 7% from 10% in 2010, according to official estimates. This is rippling across other emerging markets, which have seen their average growth fall to 4% from about 7% in 2010. Most of that decline can be attributed to the slowdown in China.

China is transmitting its cold through several channels. Over the past 15 years, China has become a critical trading partner for many nations, emerging and developed. So falling Chinese demand is now having a viral effect, driving down prices for basic commodities from steel to soybeans. The growth rate in Chinese demand for oil has plummeted to nearly zero this year, down from 12% in 2010. This is arguably the main reason why oil prices are down 20% from their summer peaks. The same is true for other commodities like steel and iron ore: Commodity economies like Brazil and Russia are already in or near recession.

China’s slowdown is also sharpening Europe’s polarized debate about how to revive growth that is no longer fully within European control. Indeed there are signs—including healthy retail sales—that domestic growth in Europe is not weakening much further. In the U.S., the biggest impact is on headline consumer-price inflation, which may drop to 1% by the end of this year, and inflation expectations are falling accordingly.

Many global markets are showing symptoms of China flu. The economies most exposed to China are also showing the sharpest fall in their currencies relative to the dollar. Global companies most dependent on sales in China are getting hit hard, which is why stocks in the energy and materials sector have seen some of the sharpest falls. On the other hand, among the best performing global stocks are those in defensive sectors like utilities or food, the kind of staples people still need in hard times.

It isn’t clear what comes next, but China looks likely to slow further. The market accepts the official estimate, which puts growth above 7%, but the official consensus has been well behind the China slowdown since it began four years ago. The sharp fall in Chinese demand for everything from oil to electric power, coupled with the recent end of the property market boom that drove growth in the last decade, suggests that the actual GDP growth may already be below 7%. Thanks to China’s rapid debt buildup, the next step is almost certainly another step down.

 
Comment by Whac-A-Bubble™
2014-10-16 23:57:36

News
US Fed stimulus hint sees markets go topsy-turvy
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by Julian Harris
October 17, 2014, 1:51am

INVESTORS throughout the world endured another rollercoaster ride yesterday, as the price of assets was jolted around amid volatile trading.

The FTSE 100 initially jumped out of bed, gaining 70 points at the open. Yet the previous day’s hangover soon kicked in and the blue chip index slumped to 6,072 points – its lowest level since June 2013.

For much of the day, equities and other risky assets were hit by a continued selloff, while safe havens gained. But in later trading the tide turned again, after doveish comments from a US Federal Reserve official boosting hopes of more stimulus to come.

St Louis Federal Reserve Bank president James Bullard said that the Fed might want to keep up its bond buying stimulus for now given a drop in inflation expectations. The Fed has been on track incrementally to reduce the programme – known as quantitative easing (QE). However, recent comments have hinted that the process of tapering could be stopped or even reversed.

Bullard’s statement suggests a deep anxiety at the heart of the US central bank with respect to the slowdown in global growth and perhaps the strength of the US dollar,” said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets.

 
 
Comment by traderjack
2014-10-17 01:30:10

Stopping traveler from West Africa will have no effect on the spread of Ebola. They fly to Europe, and then fly to USA, they fly to China, and then fly to the USA.

When all of the other countries have ebola patient then we boycott them, and then it comes in over the boarder.

Ebola patients will try despeately to get into the USA for treatment at no cost to them. And they will pay big money to evade discovery.

It is kind of like a malignant cancer spreading through the body of the world as it metastasizes, until we get a cure we are in serious danger.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2014-10-17 06:03:52

phony scandals

 
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