The Housing Bubble

Last summer the Mrs co-worker asked me to review a problem with their shack. I reluctantly agreed so long as it was understood as a favor.

Basement taking on water during rain events at a rate of 3 gal/hr and has been getting worse since the dummies bought the shack in 2007. Wet side of wall has a sunroom on a slab and the dry side was finished with gypboard. Fine crack visible above grade on wet side was repaired with patching concrete(never works) thus pipe penetration(well water supply) through wall inaccessable due to sunroom slab. Identifying location of leak a roll of the dice. Hi est was $10k, too many unknowns. I simply offered A&E consulting at no cost. Completely in the dark, they offered to pay me to manage if I can guarantee leak is repaired. I don’t need the money or aggravation but did it as a favor this week.

Demo and disposal of sunroom- $900
Demo and dispoal of slab-$800
Excavation and backfill of wall-$1800
Crack repair M&L(sheet water proofing, Sika concrete repair)-$1100
New pipe penetration M&L(core drill, link seal)$700
Well work(convert well to pitless, demo precast pit, trench new pipe and backfill)- $2400
Regrade and restore-$1300
My time, $1500

$10,500 later, they’ve got their dry basement. They borrowed the money. They replaced leaking 15 year old roof in 2010, $14000 and they’re “still paying that off!”. I looked into what these EmptyPockets paid and on a 30 year loan at 20% down, their bare mortgage is $1800/month. Taxes are $450/month, public record. Theyre at $2250/month, $25,000 in repairs(that I know of) in 7 years and the lights aren’t even on yet.

Equivalent rent on same street? $1400. They bought it in 2010. LOL

10 to 1

67-Year-Old Grandpa VS. Armed Home Invaders

10/25/2014

It was a typical Monday night for the Byrd family at their Lumberton, North Carolina home when around 10:00 p.m. there was a knock on the door. Kenneth Byrd, 67, answered to find a young man asking for some water and saying he had car trouble. Suddenly from out of the shadows, two masked and armed men appeared. All three then forced their way into the house, rounding up Kenneth’s wife Judy, 65, and their 19-year-old granddaughter.

As Kenneth was opening his safe at gunpoint, the three began trying to gang rape the granddaughter. Byrd grabbed his hidden gun and began firing upon the intruders. They returned fire, hitting Byrd several times and severely wounding him before making their escape in his gold Cadillac. Byrd was airlifted to the nearest hospital, where he was given emergency surgery.

A short time later in a hospital just a few minutes from Lumberton, the police were notified when a Hispanic male, Brandon Carver Stephens, 28, and Jamar Hawkins, 17, showed up with gunshot wounds. Police responded and identified them as two of the three that had made the home invasion, along with other recent burglaries in the area. Law enforcement later found Byrd’s gold Cadillac with the dead body of 20-year-old Jamie Lee Faison inside.

Though Kenneth Byrd saved his family, injuring two of the intruders and killing one, he is still in critical condition in ICU.

dcgazette.com/67-year-old-grandpa-vs-armed-home-invaders/ - 155k -

Have any of you conveniently forgotten this and returned to the punch bowl for more kool aid?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IVpSBUgbxBU

European banking regulators warned on Sunday that 24 banks in the European Union had a €25bn (£19.6bn) capital hole after being tested over their financial strength.

The outcome puts the focus on Italian banks, nine of which were found to have a total shortfall of €9.4bn, the largest of which was at Banca Monte del Pashi di Siena. In Greece, three banks failed the stress tests, with the same number failing in Cyprus.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) also found that a number of banks were close to failing the tests, which examined whether they had enough capital to withstand a series of economic shocks, such as a rise in unemployment and declining economic growth. UK banks passed the tests but Ireland’s Permanent TSB failed.

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/oct/26/european-banks-fail-financial-stress-tests

Insanity Defined: Feds Unveil Plan to Help High-Risk Homebuyers Take On Massive Debt. Again.
Stephanie Slade|Oct. 22, 2014 4:28 pm

Low Down Payments Are Coming Back,” screams a headline from The Wall Street Journal today. The story details two steps federal regulators apparently have in the works:

On Monday, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt announced that mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would start backing loans with down payments as low as 3%.

And on Tuesday, three federal agencies approved a loosened set of mortgage-lending rules, removing a requirement for a 20% down payment for a class of high-quality loan known as a “qualified residential mortgage.”

Loans with little to no down payment were a common feature of the lax lending practices that were prevalent during the housing market’s bubble years.

Of course, those bubble years eventually came to an end, causing an economic meltdown of jawdropping magnitude. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama responded by running up the national debt from $10 trillion before the recession to more than $17.5 trillion today. And “experts” everywhere laid the blame at Wall Street’s feet, lambasting the banks for making reckless loans they should have known were destined to go bad.

Now, in the wake of that historic lending-bonanza-turned-financial-crisis, federal regulators are concerned—but not that we might still be incentivizing people to take on more debt than they can realistically service. No, federal regulators’ concern is that the banking system isn’t making it easy enough for people to take out expensive mortgages.

Luckily, they have a plan to help thousands of additional high-risk borrowers purchase homes they can’t afford. Sound familiar?

The Recession’s Baby Bust
At least a half-million fewer Americans were born as a result of the 2008 crisis.
Olga Khazan Sep 30 2014, 7:50 AM ET

There’s a reason why “boom times” and “baby boom” both contain an onomatopoeic signifier of the procreative act. In developed countries, fertility rates tend to go up and down with GDP.

What does that mean in real terms? A study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Princeton researchers Janet Currie and Hannes Schwandt quantifies just how many fewer babies were born because of the Great Recession. Their answer: at least a half a million.

For the study, the authors analyzed approximately 140 million individual birth records for all births in the United States from 1975 and 2010. They found that, for a group of 1,000 women aged 20 to 24, each percentage-point increase in the national unemployment rate resulted in 14 fewer children conceived—total, for the 1,000 women—over the course of their lifetimes. In the scheme of things, this is a relatively small effect, accounting for just .7 percent of all of the women’s pregnancies. But it’s not nothing: The shift meant that about five additional women in that cohort remained childless forever.

That is to say, it’s not that these women are simply having babies later. The recession seems to have dampened their baby-making prospects for their entire lives.

When multiplied across the entire population of 20-to-24-year-old women, this economic baby slump is fairly substantial. There are 9.2 million U.S.-born women in that age group, and the unemployment rate went up by 3.22 percent during the recession. The authors say this will result in “a long-term loss of 420,957 conceptions (and 426,850 live births) among affected cohorts, a 2.4 percent decrease in completed fertility. This long-term effect … is driven largely by women who remain childless.”

By the time these women turn 40, the rate of childlessness among them will be about 9 percent higher than in past generations.

In other words, that’s roughly half a million babies who were never born because of the recession—and that’s just to moms who were 20 to 24. (The total figure is surely even higher.) By the time these women turn 40, the rate of childlessness among them will be about 9 percent higher than in past generations.
…

25 Banks Failed Europe’s Stress Test, Need to Raise $31 Billion
The test’s administrators say it will pinpoint vulnerabilities, though some analysts aren’t so sure.
Allen McDuffee Oct 26 2014, 9:57 AM ET
AP Photo/Michael Probst

The European Central Bank (ECB) said Sunday that 25 of Europe’s biggest banks have flunked the Eurozone’s first year-long financial-health exam that aimed to measure their ability to weather another economic crisis. Ultimately, the 25 banks fell short of minimum levels of capital by a total of more than $31 billion.

The assessment was only slightly worse than what was predicted of the 130 banks surveyed, and the ECB said that 12 of the 25 that failed had already made up for their shortfalls during the months the ECB was conducting its review, leaving the remaining 13 with two weeks to come up with a plan to increase their capital buffers.
…

More QE for the banksters! Run to the trough, Pigmen.

http://www.businessinsider.com/25-banks-fail-ecb-stress-test-2014-10

Reason #2 offers a simple rent vs. purchase equation.

“By the time President Obama’s eight years are over, we are on pace to approximately double the size of the national debt from $10.6 trillion to more than $20 trillion.”

Permanent Damage to US Economy-Michael Snyder

By Greg Hunter On October 22, 2014 In Market Analysis 85

Michael Snyder is a self-proclaimed “truth-seeker” and financial writer who says there is no recovery on Main Street, and we are not going to get one—ever. Snyder contends, “We’ve had permanent damage to the U.S. economy. It’s kind of like going to the beach, and you build a sandcastle. The waves start coming in, and the sandcastle is not going to be destroyed by the first wave. Then, more waves will come in, and eventually the whole sandcastle will be wiped out. That’s kind of what’s happening to the U.S. economy. We’ve had waves of economic problems, and we have had permanent damage as a result. Our economy is not totally destroyed yet, but we have permanent damage. Now, new waves are on the way, which will cause more damage because of the long term trends.” Snyder goes on to explain, “None of the long term problems that have been plaguing our economy have been fixed. Instead, the Fed printed a bunch of money and pumped up the stock market. It made people feel good, but the underlying fundamentals are not getting any better.”

On the nearly $18 trillion Federal debt, Snyder says, “This is a massive problem, but the mainstream media says the deficit is going down, and they have it under control. That is actually not true. It’s all accounting tricks and smoke and mirrors. Actually, if you look at fiscal year 2014, which just ended, . . . the national debt increased by more than a trillion dollars. What they tell you is the deficit was a little more than $400 billion, but that’s because they take all these things and say that doesn’t count as part of the deficit. . . . By the time President Obama’s eight years are over, we are on pace to approximately double the size of the national debt from $10.6 trillion to more than $20 trillion. What we are doing is absolute insanity. . . . We are going to suffer the consequences for so much of this. As far as the time window, I believe the next 12 to 15 months are going to be the most interesting time economically and as a nation as I have ever seen.”

The deficit problem is much worse than increasing by a cool trillion bucks a year. Snyder points out, “In addition to the $1 trillion a year it has to borrow, the Federal government has to roll over or pay off by borrowing new money–an additional $7 trillion a year. So, the Federal government has to borrow about $8 trillion to fund current spending and, plus, repay old debt with new debt. . . . So far, the rest of the world has played along by lending us trillions and trillions of dollars at super low interest rates. We keep borrowing, and we keep paying it off so we can keep the game going. If that changes, and all it’s going to take is a major financial event such as a stock market crash . . . or black swan event, then we are going to have a massive problem on our hands because we are going to have to borrow $8 trillion, and we will be in a situation where people won’t want to lend us money, especially at super low interest rates.”

What do you look out for as a warning sign of the next calamity? Snyder says, “When there is a financial crisis, all of a sudden, banks don’t want to lend. They don’t want to lend to each other, and they don’t want to lend to anyone else. Credit freezes up, and our financial system is based on debt and the flow of money from the banks lending it to the rest of us. I believe we will have a brief period of deflation before the response by the Federal Reserve and the federal government, where we are going to then have tremendous inflation through the roof.”

How can this be fixed? It can’t be fixed without killing the economy, as Snyder explains, “A lot of people say I hate the banks. Let the banks fail. This is kind of like a patient with a very advanced stage of cancer. That’s what our economy is like. We are so tied into these banks. If you try to kill the advanced cancer, you are probably going to kill the patient as well. If you try to kill the banks, our economy is going to die as well.”

http://usawatchdog.com/permanent-damage-to-us-economy-michael-snyder/

(Prime here, catching up on old threads due to some recent travel…)

OMG, this is _price_less!!!

From the Oct 23rd thread, did anyone notice that the Yasmine Parrish quoted in the article from LA was the owner of a “candle company”???

From her LinkedIn profile:

Owner
No 9 Candle Co.
September 2011 – Present (3 years 2 months)Greater Los Angeles Area

No 9. Candle Company is a Los Angeles based company specializing in hand poured, custom made soy and soy blend candles. Let us light your life!

+ As featured on Betty Confidential.com
+ Featured in the February 2012 issue of ESSENCE Magazine

Despite repeated bailouts and EU/ECB assurances of “crisis contained” in the Eurozone, the PIIGS remain far from fixed - and could drag the rest of the Eurozone down with them, as Italy and Spain, unlike Greece and Portugal, are too big to be bailed out, despite the countless trillions thrown into their fiscal black hole by the ECB and the Fed.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9349002/italys-in-terminal-decline-and-no-one-has-the-guts-to-stop-it/

Swiss citizens, unlike the Obama Zombies, McCain Mutants, and Romney Retards, understand the value of honest money and keeping their banksters in check. On November 30 they will vote in a national referendum with far-reaching implications, as they will signal their demand that the Swiss Franc remained backed by gold, not “faith and credit” as are greenbacks.

http://wolfstreet.com/2014/10/26/the-swiss-gold-referendum-a-trendsetter-for-central-banks/

Disturbing Video Shows 17-Year-Old Beaten By Gang Of Girls

October 24, 2014 11:09 PM

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A 17-year-old is beaten and robbed by a girl gang in West Baltimore. The entire thing was caught on cell phone camera and shared repeatedly on the web. Now the victim’s mother speaks with WJZ.

Meghan McCorkell has more on what she wants done.

The victim’s mother says she wants people to see the video so they can identify the girls who attacked her daughter.

It’s the disturbing video that’s been posted all over the Internet: a 17-year-old Baltimore County girl violently beaten and robbed by a group of girls on Tuesday.

“They punched her, they kicked her and mostly they stomped her in the head,” the victim’s mother said.

The victim’s mother, who didn’t want to be identified, says the group that attacked her daughter is part of the “Sisterhood” gang.

“I just think something really needs to be done about these gangs because every time we turn the TV on, it’s another gang after somebody else’s child,” the victim’s mother said.

The incident happened just blocks from Mondawmin Mall, where the teen says she was headed for a job interview.

According to a police report obtained by WJZ, a school police officer at Frederick Douglass High School witnessed the gang of girls trying to pick fights near the school. The officer followed the group and kept them moving.

But moments later, the group jumped the teen on Wheeler Avenue, while someone shot the video.

“They just kept showing it on Facebook over and over and over again,” the victim’s mother said.

Five of the girls in the video have been arrested, but the victim’s mother wants more behind bars.

“If you know anything at all about any more of the members that had anything to do with this Sisterhood gang, would you please call and report it to the police,” the victim’s mother said.

The teen that was beaten suffered serious swelling to her face and was hospitalized overnight.

The suspects stole the girl’s cell phone, her coat and money.

baltimore.cbslocal.com/…/ - 159k -

Reason #2 includes a simple rent vs. buy equation.

Fannie Mae Settles Securities Class Action for $170 Million

“Investors’ losses were caused by Fannie Mae’s statements and actions rather than by the financial crisis”

by Courthouse News | October 26, 2014

The Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) will pay $170 million to settle a class action alleging that its statements caused investor losses.

The Boston Retirement System, one of the court-appointed lead plaintiffs for a proposed common-shareholder class, heralded the case for achieving what a similar lawsuit against Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., better known as Freddie Mac.

“Unlike the plaintiffs in the Freddie Mac case, we were able to successfully allege that investors’ losses were caused by Fannie Mae’s statements and actions rather than by the financial crisis,” Boston Retirement chairman Daniel Green said in a statement.

In addition to Boston Retirement, the Southern District of New York had appointed the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management for the proposed common-shareholder class.

They said on the local news last night the dude had just gotten back from Africa, he was throwing up blood and people in hazmat suits took him out wrapped in what appeared to be plastic.

Ebola ruled out after fire trucks, hazmat team respond in Mirasol

By Breaking News Staff

Updated: 11:11 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014 | Posted: 10:49 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014

PALM BEACH GARDENS —

Local health officials followed CDC guidelines to rule out whether a Palm Beach Gardens patient was infected with Ebola Saturday night.

“There are currently no cases of Ebola in Florida,” according to the state of Florida Joint Information Center, established to address the response to Ebola. “In Palm Beach County on October 25, 2014, CDC guidelines were utilized to determine that an individual was not at risk for Ebola.”

Fire rescue trucks from Palm Beach Gardens and Palm Beach County — among them a hazardous materials vehicle — were at an apartment complex within the Mirasol community Saturday night, witnesses said.

The type of call to which the rescue crews were responding at the San Merano apartments was not immediately clear at the time. Witnesses reported seeing personnel wearing hazardous-materials suits at the community, on Portofino Drive west of Florida’s Turnpike and north of PGA Boulevard.

Trucks arrived at the community at about 7:30 p.m. and left sometime after 10 p.m., witnesses said.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/list/business/real-estate/real-estate-stories/aDnQ/ - 98k -
—————————————————————————
Doctor: Feds “Disappearing” Suspected Ebola Patients Across U.S.

U.S. gov’t covering up more Ebola cases inside U.S., according to medical doctor

by Paul Joseph Watson, Adan Salazar & Kit Daniels | Infowars.com | October 24, 2014

James Lawrenzi, DO, who has two clinics in Garden City and Archie, Missouri, appeared on the Alex Jones Show today to warn that the true scale of the situation was being deliberately downplayed. It is important to note that none of these potential Ebola outbreaks occurred at the clinics in which Lawrenzi works.

Lawrenzi said that shortly after the arrival of patient zero – Thomas Eric Duncan – in the United States, he was told by a doctor at Truman Lakewood Medical Center in Kansas City they had taken in a possible Ebola patient who had a high fever and was bleeding out of all his orifices having recently returned from West Africa.

The following day, Lawrenzi was told by the doctor that the patient had “disappeared” against medical advice, but that he wouldn’t have been able to leave on his own given his medical condition.

The day after the patient disappeared, a meeting was called for anyone who had contact with the patient. Doctors and other medical workers were told that the patient had malaria. Lawrenzi also revealed that drug reps from within the area warned over additional possible Ebola cases in the area.

A second possible Ebola patient was then admitted to Research Medical Center in Kansas City the following day but also quickly “disappeared,” with hospital bosses claiming he had typhoid, according to Lawrenzi.

“These patients are disappearing, they’re doing something with the patients and God knows where they’re going,” said the doctor.

Asked why authorities were engaged in an apparent cover-up, Lawrenzi speculated that the CDC was attempting to prevent hysteria, noting that workers at his own clinics had been told not to use the word “Ebola,” just as 911 dispatchers in New York have been banned from using the term, or to reveal any information about a possible Ebola case.

Lawrenzi also revealed that Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), a private operator of health care facilities, had earlier this week removed protective gear and Hazmat suits from local hospitals without replacing it.

“They were told this was so they could have continuity of care for possible Ebola patients,” said Lawrenzi, adding that the real reason was that authorities didn’t want to cause a panic by having medical workers and doctors being seen in protective gear.

Urging people to “stay away from places where there’s large groups of people,” as well as hospitals, Lawrenzi said the situation was “much more serious than they’re letting on.”

“When flu season hits, people are going to be coming into the hospital for flu or Ebola, they’re not going to know what they have….it’s going to be a nightmare, every doctor I’ve spoken with is terrified of this fall,” said Lawrenzi.

http://www.infowars.com/doctor-feds-disappearing-suspected-ebola-patients-across-u-s/ - 87k -

Today’s best political cartoons courtesy of TBP. Hilarious!

http://www.theburningplatform.com/2014/10/26/sunday-funnies-34/

Everyone must check in.

Are stocks driving you crazy these days? DON’T LET THEM!

Nigerian cocaine mule dies of massive OD when internal bags burst at Madrid airport, no one comes to assist for 50 min.

‘Nuff said.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/10/26/officials-say-suspect-in-killings-california-deputies-was-deported-twice/

Are US mortgage rates headed up, down or sideways?

Law Lets I.R.S. Seize Accounts on Suspicion, No Crime Required

“Who takes your money before they prove that you’ve done anything wrong with it?”

by Shaila Dewan | NY Times | October 26, 2014

For almost 40 years, Carole Hinders has dished out Mexican specialties at her modest cash-only restaurant. For just as long, she deposited the earnings at a small bank branch a block away — until last year, when two tax agents knocked on her door and informed her that they had seized her checking account, almost $33,000.

The Internal Revenue Service agents did not accuse Ms. Hinders of money laundering or cheating on her taxes — in fact, she has not been charged with any crime. Instead, the money was seized solely because she had deposited less than $10,000 at a time, which they viewed as an attempt to avoid triggering a required government report.

“How can this happen?” Ms. Hinders said in a recent interview. “Who takes your money before they prove that you’ve done anything wrong with it?”

The federal government does.

Do you want me to read the card?

At the NYSE, Larry Kofsky previews the week ahead
Published: Oct 25, 2014 11:15 a.m. ET
By MarketWatch

Will the Fed announce a delay to the end of QE3? Or has that ship sailed?

Housing market is waking up to a new hangover
Diana Olick, CNBC 6:15 a.m. EDT October 26, 2014
(Photo: Eileen Blass, USA TODAY)

First came a historic national crash in home prices, then a surprisingly sharp jolt off the bottom. Investors, desperate for yield and fueled by Fed-induced cheap cash, swarmed the most distressed housing markets, buying bargain-basement properties and turning them into rentals. Some markets saw double-digit annual price appreciation. Some analysts started to float the word “bubble,” again.

Now, finally, reality is setting in yet again.

Foreclosures have fallen to new lows since the crisis, and investors, while not selling their homes, are not buying nearly as many. That has taken much of the air out of home prices. In addition, the number of homes for sale is rising, pushing sellers from the driver’s seat to the way, way back.

“What a difference a year makes,” said Stan Humphries, chief economist at Zillow. “At this time last year, we were worrying about a number of frothy markets that looked like they could be on the edge of another housing bubble, places where homes were appreciating at more than 20% per year and where buyers’ heads were spinning just trying to keep up.”

Now those markets, while not in the red, are barely in the black. Los Angeles, for example, saw home prices rise over 18% in the third quarter of 2013 from the same time in 2012. Now its annual appreciation for the quarter is down to 8%, according to Zillow.

“Buyers don’t have the same sense of urgency as they did before. They can be a little bit more discerning,” said Greg Bender, a Los Angeles-area Realtor with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.
…

Home prices headed for a triple dip
Diana Olick | @diana_olick
Tuesday, 7 Oct 2014 | 8:42 AM ET
CNBC.com

The headline for much of this year has been that home price gains are easing. Prices are still higher compared to last year, but not nearly as much as they had been. Now, suddenly, it looks as if home values could actually go negative on a national level.

“That will be the first time collectively, as a nation, we’ve seen prices drop since the low point or the trough of the housing crisis,” said Alex Villacorta, vice president of research and analytics at data firm Clear Capital.

Villacorta points to a 1 percent quarterly home price gain from the second to the third quarter of this year. Last year that quarterly gain was 3 percent.

“The discouraging thing about that is, yes, we’re still in the positive, but that 1 percent has been waning from that three percent, and this comes after what should have been the most active buying season in the housing market for the summer that just ended,” he added.

The West, which has some of the largest metropolitan markets in the nation, has seen a huge drop in distressed sales, as fewer properties go to foreclosure. At their peak in 2009, just over half of all sales in the West were of distressed properties; today that share is just over 12 percent, according to Clear Capital. Investors, consequently, are moving on to other markets in the South and Midwest, where there are still bargains to be had. The West is therefore seeing sharper drops in home price appreciation.

“And that is why the West is really that leading indicator, the canary in the coal mine, because as the West goes, both on the downturn and in the recovery,we’ve seen the rest of the country go as well,” said Villacorta.
…

Slump in mortgage rates fails to rally home buyers
Diana Olick | @diana_olick
Wednesday, 22 Oct 2014 | 7:00 AM ETCNBC.com

More proof that low mortgage rates are not the key to home ownership: Rates dropped to their lowest level in nearly 18 months last week, causing an 11.6 percent rise in applications, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. The gains, however, were driven entirely by refinances, just as they have been for several weeks.

Refinance applications jumped a whopping 23 percent week-to-week on a seasonally adjusted basis; volume was at the highest level since November. Mortgage applications to purchase a home saw no boost at all from lower rates, falling 5 percent from the previous week and 9 percent from a year ago.

“Continuing concerns about weak economic growth in Europe and a few U.S. economic indicators that came in below expectations caused a flight to quality into U.S. Treasurys last week, leading to sharp drops in interest rates,” said Mike Fratantoni, the MBA’s chief economist. “Mortgage rates have fallen close to 30 basis points over the last four weeks.”

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($417,000 or less) decreased to 4.1 percent, the lowest level since May 2013, from 4.2 percent, according to the MBA. Some lenders are now offering rates below the psychologically significant 4 percent line, but only to their highest credit-worthy customers. The average loan balance for refinance applications increased to $306,400, the highest level in the MBA survey’s history, suggesting that wealthier homeowners are benefiting most from the drop in rates.

Sales of existing homes did increase in September by just over 2 percent from August, according to the National Association of Realtors; however, they are weaker than a year ago, when investors were competing for distressed homes and pushing prices ever higher. The NAR’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun, said sentiment among real estate agents was at its lowest level of the year, suggesting that sales may be weaker going forward.

“It’s turned into what I think is really a classic buyers’ market,” said Sherry Spinelli, a real estate agent with Long and Foster in Northern Virginia. “More days on market, prices are coming down, the offers are even lower and there are just a lot of houses out there, so it’s a challenge for sellers. I think you have to lower the price in order to sell it.”
…

What happens when a journalist at the corporate media tries to report real news and real truth? How Obama’s water carriers at CBS shut down a rare MSM truth-teller.

http://nypost.com/2014/10/25/former-cbs-reporter-explains-how-the-liberal-media-protects-obama/

No bubble here…nothing to see…move along. Rodent-infested shanty in Palo Alto on the market for insane wishing price.

http://www.theburningplatform.com/2014/10/25/no-bubble-here-look-away/

Mobility is key.

QE300.

Blame it on the wine. Or blame it on the last FB exchange with a War-mongering and war-drooling Christian bible thumping Muslim-hating response to my FB post. But I am led into thinking America is doomed to bankruptcy and forced into much higher taxes or inflation. In either case, gold and other forms of movable hidable wealth are what you need to stack up.

Just put in an order to sell more of my former company stock. Big time this time. Over $5k worth to build up even more cash. I’m being fearful while others are greedy. BTW. This will be a 1600% realized gain on shares bought in 2009.

My former recruiter called me Thursday morning. I said no. I’m not looking for consulting. Not unless it’s commercial and I’m not ready for that yet. But I’m going to be a commercial software consultant in San Francisco in my future. Linux, TCP/IP, cryptography, secure boot, openssl, SSH, etc.

Gettin’ testy out there.

Peaceful Ferguson Protesters Attack White Passerby: “I Just Want To Go Home”

Mac Slavo
http://www.SHTFplan.com
October 26th, 2014
Reader Views: 1,253

Protesters in Ferguson have continued to gather on a nightly basis in the aftermath of the Michael Brown shooting.

They claim to be assembling peacefully, but as the video below shows, when a white man was passing through town a mob surrounded him and began making threats.

The video shows the man telling his attackers that he just wants to go home.

Another man is then heard saying “I don’t give a fuck what you wanna do.” In the background, a third man argues, “we’re standing up for what we believe.”

As the victim tries to get away from the crowd he is immediately accosted by several men who hold him back while another grabs him by the neck. When he finally breaks free and walks away numerous individuals continue to pursue him.

The following video uploaded to social media shows the incident from two different angles:

- See more at: http://www.thedailysheeple.com/peaceful-ferguson-protesters-attack-white-passerby-i-just-want-to-go-home_102014#sthash.DHN2X0EC.dpuf

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-10-24/buying-derelict-detroit-mystery-bidder-wants-6-000-foreclosed-homes#r=hp-ls

Don’t look now, but improving U.S. labor market conditions make it highly likely the Fed will follow through on plans to wind down QE3.

Are you an impoverished, financially illiterate renter?

I certainly hope not, for your own sake!

Has recent market turbulence inspired you to dump your emerging market stocks?