Bits Bucket for January 15, 2015
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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“$50 Is The New Ceiling For Oil Prices”
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/50-is-the-new-ceiling-for-oil-prices-2015-01-14
And the bottom? A long way down from here, just like housing.
New ceiling? The futures prices just a few months out are higher than that and oil is up again today. The thing about manipulated markets is that they turn on a dime when the cost of the manipulation becomes too high. The Swiss today gave up on keeping the Swiss franc low. So what happens? The franc shoots up 17% in one day. Unemployment claims soared today. No surprise, for every rig that shuts down 100 jobs are lost directly and the cutback in spending that arises due to the lost jobs caused indirect job loses. Last week we lost 61 rigs or 6100 direct jobs. Not hard to believe that the entire gain in unemployment claims is directly or indirectly tied to the manipulated decline in the oil price. At what point does Obama decide that the war on Russia is too costly? When he does, oil prices will pop.
Oil is back up to nearly $48/bbl on the Swiss franc move. I don’t claim to understand why…maybe you have some insights to share on this connection?
Maybe the Swiss have declared war on Obama?
Why do you believe that it is the Swiss franc move that caused oil to go up? Sounds like someone just looking around for an excuse.
The word “on” does not mean caused by, it means happening “on” the same time.
Never mind…oil is dropping like a rock again now. Down over 2 pct from yesterday’s closing level.
They spiked the dollar. So Apple and other companies will have more problems. The longer the economic war on Russia continues the more damage will be done to the U.S. economy and the higher oil prices will go due to lack of shale oil supplies.
It does stretch the imagination to suggest a major monetary policy shock in the Eurozone would have zero impact on the prices of internationally traded commodities like gold or oil.
So Apple and other companies will have more problems.
Since they import anything that is manufactured, won’t a strong dollar help them?
It does stretch the imagination to suggest a major monetary policy shock in the Eurozone would have zero impact on the prices of internationally traded commodities like gold or oil.
So it caused oil to go up at the open and then drop? Much easier to believe that it is the dollar that is impacting the oil price and not the Swiss franc since oil has moved with the dollar.
Now oil is off 4%+. I’m sure today’s big price decline solely reflects the ongoing downtrend in oil prices and is unrelated to the Swiss franc shock.
Since they import anything that is manufactured, won’t a strong dollar help them?
No the higher price of the dollar prices its goods out of the reach of developing nations. It only receives a minor cost reduction due to most of the value added work occurring in the U.S.
Deflation is starting to show up everywhere as the global depression deepens among the 99%.
New ceiling. That’s right. Not OTrauma, not DeflationDan, Not Putin….. New Ceiling for oil prices.
Enjoy.
One cannot enjoy something outside their ken.
The war between Russia and the United States has many fronts and this important front is getting hardly any play in the MSM. Putin is hitting Europe hard for supporting the United States war upon it:
http://www.mineweb.com/interesting-times-putin-plays-gas-card-snb-cuts-euro-link-gold-surges/
You think the decline in oil prices is manipulated?
In my view, prices at $100 when you can produce additional supply at $50-$70 was unsustainable, and THAT was evidence of manipulation.
Prices falling because of there being oversupply seems like normal price action. The two big questions now are: 1) how long will it take to work off the glut?; and 2) At what price will production increase again?
Where is the additional supply at $50 to $70? But yes there was manipulation of price by OPEC before the US and Saudi Arabia decided to manipulate it down to punish Russia and Iran. However, the world cannot produce the additional supplies of oil its needs at these prices. $80 a barrel is the minimum needed to produce the adequate additional supplies. The cheaper oil is produced first to the degree the market is allowed to work. Ironically, OPEC has allowed some of the more expensive oil to be produced before it otherwise would have been. However, OPEC has very little if any excess capacity so the more expensive oil will set the price of oil going forward and OPEC will collect the economic rent.
OPEC manipulates their own production (or not) in an effort to control prices.
Since they are no longer the “swing” producers, they have much more limited ability to manipulate prices. They have been clear that they think prices should be higher, but they don’t want to lose market share by cutting production and causing their customers to fill their need elsewhere.
How did the US “manipulate” prices down? Do you mean that a whole bunch of wildcatters went out and drilled and fracked a glut into existence? That’s not manipulation…that’s simply oversupply–their production was a response to the market’s price signal–and since the wildcatters are not acting as a cartel, they simply produced too much.
That’s econ 101, not price manipulation. High prices cause increased production, which then pushes prices back down. Finally, it seems like oil is acting like a real market.
Some of the cheaper fracking locations can produce oil sub-$80 (Eagle Ford, Bakken, and maybe Niobara). I’ve seen numbers as low as $50, especially with some of the recent drilling advances (I understand Continental has a process where they drill 4 wells from a single pad). However, it is yet to be seen if there are ample “sweet spots” for drilling enough $50 oil to keep up with global demand over the medium term (next 5-10 years).
Some have argued (fairly convincingly–lots of data) that the best spots have been drilled first, and yields are bound to fall over the coming years as less promising locations are drilled (thus driving production costs higher).
I’m not convinced that we will bounce quickly back to $80, although I’ll bet we get there within a few years.
As the glut burns off, and prices start to rise, production will increase again in the best spots, thus dampening the increase in prices. If there are enough spots to drill $50 oil, it could dampen price increases a lot.
Prices are falling in the meantime Rental_Fraud.
What does it even mean to manipulate the oil price?
and is Goldman Sachs involved the way they were in the runup?
and is Goldman Sachs involved the way they were in the runup?
Could very well be involved with running up, running it down, and running it back up again. It is God’s work and it pays well.
From Today’s edition:
IraqiNews.com) On Thursday, Vice President Nuri al-Maliki said—during his visit to the province of Basra—that the acute decline in oil prices did not happen automatically, and that Russia and Iran are targeted foremost, and Iraq is affected incidentally.
Maliki in an interview for a number of journalists, including the reporter of IraqiNews.com, during his visit to the presidency of Basra University, accompanied by a number of members of the House of Representatives and the provincial council, said, “The economic war on countries may be more damaging and influential on humanity than conventional wars. The drop in oil prices is not a normal economic situation, it is a political process aimed at destroying the economies of specific countries,” noting that, “Russia and Iran are the first of those countries, and Iraq is affected incidentally. “
The Vice President of the Republic noted that “The economic war against these countries is complementary to the role of terrorism that kills innocent people,” adding that, “Economic wars are devastating the structure of the targeted countries and result in starvation of their people.”
“Economic War” according to al-Maliki is the same as “competition” here in the US.
You make your widget cheaper than everyone else, and for a long time, you enjoyed high prices since there weren’t enough widget makers. All of a sudden, more people are making widgets to compete with you, but at higher prices.
Do you:
a) keep your prices and production high and lose sales to your new competitors?
b) cut production with no guarantee that your competitors cut production, and while you might keep prices higher, your competitors benefit more from those higher prices than you (since they may not have cut production)?
c) keep production going at the same level, selling at lower and lower prices (still profitably), forcing your competition to cut their cost of production, or go out of business?
Having more competition is never good if you are a producer, but which strategy maximizes your long-term profit?
“c” is what is happening. It’s not an “economic war” it’s business competition.
Your lectures are without substance Rental_Fraud.
J.P. Morgan: “Houston, you have a problem.”
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2014/12/19/Collapsing-Oil-Prices-Could-Really-Mess-Texas
Take a look at that chart.
“That oil boom helped spur economic growth that leaders like former Gov. Rick Perry touted as a “Texas miracle.”
These politicians, and their states, never learn. They get lucky and decide it’s all their doing.
Remember the Massachusetts Miracle? There is a New York and California miracle ongoing, but for how long?
Looks like Christie wants to run for President based on the New Jersey disaster.
Q: What do you call an oilman in Texas?
A: Waiter.
“National Housing Losses Loom”
http://reversemortgagedaily.com/2014/12/01/national-housing-losses-loom-as-home-price-recovery-tapers/
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/landlords-are-getting-even-meaner-2014-09-30
Honk honk!
Ashburn, VA(DC Metro) Sale Prices Sink 5% YoY As Prices Rollback Nationally
http://www.zillow.com/ashburn-va/home-values/
Just wait until rents start to fall…you ain’t seen mean yet.
That would be a welcome change. Landlord tried to raise my rent 5% this go-round. We talked him down to 3%.
The article says that drops are “looming”. This means that prices may be dropping in the future, but as of right now national real estate prices are rising. They have been rising quickly since 2012 and now it’s tapering off. Maybe, you will have losses in the future, but how is a less rising market a falling market? The headline sounds very bearish, but the data doesn’t lie. The real estate market is currently rising. I’m analyzing data. I’m not a drowning, desperate man out to bring everyone else around me down just to save my own pathetic skin.
Prices are falling my friend. Asking and sale prices down.
Stick with the data.
Lawyer And North Jersey Residents Indicted In Mortgage Fraud
http://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-lawyer-north-jersey-residents-indicted-in-mortgage-fraud-1.1193227
Where there are massively inflated prices, you’ll find fraud.
“Five Real Estate Investors Indicted For Fraud, Bid Rigging At East Bay Foreclosure Auctions”
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/12/05/5-real-estate-investors-indicted-for-fraud-bid-rigging-at-east-bay-foreclosure-auctions/
Kickbacks, payoffs, fraud, theft. That’s whats on the menu for housing in California.
“Houston Area Realtor Is Charged With Theft”
http://abc13.com/news/detectives-man-stole-thousands-in-welfare-benefits/418983/
“Restrepo’s online “bio” describes him as a “top producer” and “powerhouse negotiator” who has closed real estate deals in some of Houston’s most exclusive neighborhoods. His publicly accessible facebook page shows pictures of an upscale SUV with specialized license plates and various poses of him with his family in tropical locations.”
Top producer… heh.
Region VIII
Some pics for the warmists and the denialists. When you drive your F-350 and you roll coal and you live your sh*tty walkscore lifestyle, you contribute to this bothersome little “externality” called pollution. Here is the Denver skyline as seen yesterday (if you can see it at all) from just above Red Rocks Amphitheater:
http://www.picpaste.com/brown-cloud.jpg
And a sign to explain what this is to all of you who are “not scientists”
http://www.picpaste.com/brown-cloud-sign.jpg
Warmist Warming Thursday
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/01/15/the-rate-of-sea-level-rise-is-far-worse-than-previously-thought-study-says/
And now back to your regularly scheduled Drudge Report links
Our scientists have determined that islands are submerging due to the obesity of their inhabitants.
What kind of coal roller would Jesus drive?
A big ‘un! And it would say “smoke this, you devils!” down the side.
“Warmist Warming Thursday”
Communist Propagandizing Thursday.
#Don’tFundamentallyTransformMeBro
Wow, that’s a doozy.
“the researchers looked for what they called “fingerprints” and “underlying patterns,” putting each factor through advanced statistical models to determine a more accurate sum figure…”
More accurate than actual measurements for sure, their advanced model is based on assumptions and the assumptions are based on the foregone conclusion. As circular as post logical science gets.
Our scientists have determined that pollution is beneficial to your health.
Your scientists should take their socialism and their homosexuality and GO BACK TO EUROPE!
Hey, I’m not a scientist. I’m just saying there’s clearly some scientific controversy over whether pollution is good or bad for you. Before we do anything drastic, we should teach the controversy for a few decades.
When Sky Wizard wrote the Bible he didn’t write about any scientists
Co2 acts as a fertilizer for plants and we have not even come close to reaching the optimum amount in the atmosphere for plant growth. Numerous times in the earth’s history we have had ten times the co2, we have now.
Our scientists have determined that pollution is beneficial to the environment.
Warmists gonna warm, Dannyboy
http://www.economist.com/news/international/21596990-humans-are-damaging-high-seas-now-oceans-are-doing-harm-back-deep-water
Actually the Earth has reached points when the co2 levels were twenty times our present levels. The lush world of the dinosaurs existed with five times the level. Since we are moving up at about one part per million every year, we have 3600 years to deal with the co2 “problem”, sorry Musk you will have to come up with another reason why the government should be subsidizing Tesla:
http://www.climatedepot.com/2013/05/14/co2-nears-400-ppm-relax-its-not-global-warming-end-times-but-only-a-big-yawn-climate-depot-special-report/
“Your scientists should take their socialism and their homosexuality and GO BACK TO EUROPE!”
Haha, a la Helen Thomas!
The Climate Depot! “Renowned Climatologist: ‘You can go outside and spit and have the same effect as doubling carbon dioxide’”
Those are our boys! I mean some of our top scientists. Those are some of our top scientists who publish there. Good data point, shows the controversy. Let’s teach it, explore it. The only way around it is through it. It could take a while, though.
you contribute to this bothersome little “externality” called pollution.
Now _that’s_ the kind of pollution for which I can get behind measures aimed at limiting it and cleaning it up.
CO2? That odorless, colorless, non-toxic gas required for plant life to even exist, where models predict wildly different results than our planet shows? Hmmm…
Now _that’s_ the kind of pollution for which I can get behind measures aimed at limiting it and cleaning it up.
Burning less fossil fuels is an easy first step.
Here is the Denver skyline as seen yesterday (if you can see it at all) from just above Red Rocks Amphitheater
Gotta love that thermal inversion!
Heck, even Fort Collins has its own Mini-Me version of the Brown Cloud these days.
World Bank view of China:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2015-01/15/content_19324650.htm
‘”China is undergoing a carefully managed slowdown,’ the report said.”
Like maybe building a few ghost cities?
Excerpt from link:
China has adequate policy buffers to arrest steep falls in economic growth and to maintain domestic demand this year, amid bleak prospects for the global economy, said a report published by the World Bank on Wednesday.
The bank’s biannual Global Economic Prospects report estimates China’s GDP growth to slow to 7.1 percent this year from 7.4 percent in 2014, with the downtrend set to continue till 2017 with 6.9 percent growth.
“China is undergoing a carefully managed slowdown,” the report said.
The multilateral organization believes that China’s public debt, which is less than 60 percent of the GDP, can provide fiscal space to employ stimulus against the slowdown. “It also provides some room to bail out banks if nonperforming loans were to rise sharply.”
Fiscal space refers to the flexibility of a government in its spending choices, and, more generally, to the financial well-being of a government.
The World Bank said there is very little probability of a sharp decline in China’s growth. If such an event were to happen, it would trigger a disorderly unwinding of financial vulnerabilities and have considerable implications for the global economy, it said.
China’s growth is still impressive, and will account for more than one-third of the global growth in 2015, said Bert Hofman, country director for the World Bank in China.
“Despite the lackluster recovery in high-income countries, China’s economy will still benefit from growing external demand and lower oil prices.”
how much more gold does china need to hedge its dollar reserves against the fed printing press? How much longer will it take to get the reserves stock piled?
Probably all the gold production in the world for the next ten years.
I don’t understand why the Chinese, given the Fed’s debasement of the currency, don’t go all in on gold with their soon-to-be-worthless FRNs.
“decline in China’s growth…would trigger a disorderly unwinding of financial vulnerabilities and have considerable implications for the global economy”
We can be confident the IMF will let us know if this were to happen, so as we could brace for it. It would probably make the price of oil fall off a cliff.
Here’s China’s problem. Massive endemic corruption.
China’s Anti-Corruption Drive Reinforces the Problem It’s Intended to Solve
China’s anti-graft crusade isn’t always making corrupt Communist party officials behave themselves. In fact, it’s apparently been prompting some of them to continue their old ways—and even more so.
That’s the conclusion of a recent commentary on the website of the Party’s flagship newspaper People’s Daily, which noted that political bosses in some provinces have been looking to preempt Beijing’s ongoing inspections of local corruption by “waging a sudden offensive to appoint and promote favorites, family members, and other insiders.” Officials such as these, the newspaper contends, believe that elevating loyal followers, thereby binding them even tighter to the current leader, can thwart these anti-graft investigations.
While highlighting the persistence of the patronage problem, Thursday’s commentary conspicuously avoided offering any ideas about how to deal with this new tendency of some officials to actively fight inspections. The commentary’s reluctance to spell out options probably reflects the growing uncertainty about what to do when the clean-up campaign is locking up cadres, but not fully confronting the challenge of what’s causing the corruption to start with.
Xi and his supporters see the anti-graft crusade as the centerpiece of changing politics in China—something that will obviate the need for a more significant transformation, such as actual democratic reform. The question that now looms is how Xi and his allies will react if that crusade really starts to bog down.
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014/12/03/chinas-anti-corruption-drive-reinforces-the-problem-its-intended-to-solve/
The crusade is likely to end when all the favorites of the previous administration are gone.
Reminds me of Mexico. Back in the 70’s through the 90’s there were countless “anti-graft” campaigns run by then ruling PRI. It wasn’t until the PRI lost its stranglehold on the country that some progress was finally made. Unfortunately for Mexico, that was when drug lords made their appearance and directly challenged the government for country, replacing one form of corruption with another.
Meet the new boss - same as the old boss
I wonder how many grandchildren of China’s Red Guards of the 1960s are dusting off their old copies of Mao’s Little Red Book and reading up on how to rid themselves of a corrupt and predatory capitalist class masquerading as commies.
I was thinking along the same lines. Might be time for another cultural revolution, because the most recent Great Leap Forward has leapfrogged the party once again.
“The multilateral organization believes that China’s public debt, which is less than 60 percent of the GDP, can provide fiscal space to employ stimulus against the slowdown.”
Translation: They are not going to depend on earned money to keep their economy going (probably because there is a shortage of the stuff), instead they are going to depend on borrowed money to keep their economy going.
Bottom line: China is just as screwed as everybody else.
“instead they are going to depend on borrowed money”
They already did that trick, to the tune of $24 Trillion. Next trick?
Another $24 trillion? More ghost cities and bullet trains to nowhere?
” China’s public debt, which is less than 60 percent of the GDP”
Too bad it’s a major rise in private sector debt that precedes almost all major economic crises. How large is China’s private sector debt? Just the biggest in the world, is all. Check this chart:
“You can see how China’s private-sector debt has surged past everyone, nearing 200% of GDP.”
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-private-sector-debt-2014-3#ixzz3OtsU4mOd
‘Cautious Chinese banks issued far less credit in December than expected despite a surprise rate cut by the central bank, driving cash-starved companies into the shadow banking system in a major blow to the government’s financial reform efforts.’
‘The weaker-than-expected loan data indicates Beijing’s traditional reliance on credit to spark the economy is losing its effectiveness, posing a further challenge to policymakers as they look for ways to avert a sharp slowdown in 2015.’
‘Foreign reserves fell again despite a major trade surplus, indicating money was flowing out of the country and potentially undercutting the impact of further PBOC policy easing, said Kevin Lai, a senior economist at Daiwa Capital Markets.’
“The PBOC will have to do it but when they try to release money into the system, the money leaves the system. That means that policy is being fully neutralised, there is very little policy impact as a result of the money outflows,” said Lai.’
“…there is very little policy impact as a result of the money outflows…”
Do these outflows translate into all-cash U.S. residential real estate purchases?
Wouldn’t a devaluation of various currencies held in terms of Yuan (or $US) result in a drop in Foreign Reserves?
These central bankers all seem to think that shoving money to the banks will create economic growth perpetually. Doesn’t work when there is debt exhaustion or rising defaults.
Bottom line: China is just as screwed as everybody else
No, they will be as screwed as we are now in ten to twenty years if they do not change policies. However within ten years they will be the biggest economy in the world.
They continue to move up the food chain in manufacturing, with a population who has an average IQ higher than the U.S. and wages still at a small fraction of U.S. wages, Silicon Valley has a problem. While Chinese phones will probably not hurt Apple much here, in developing countries which are more price sensitive, these phones are a real problem. The fact that we spiked the dollar to hurt Russia is not helping. From Forbes.com:
Chinese lifestyle manufacturer Xiaomi has announced its latest handset. After teasing the new design online since the start of the year, the Mi Note was revealed in full today. The Mi Note is a 5.7 inch phablet with two screen resolutions on offer, dual-SIM support, and prices start at CN¥2,299 (around $370).
There’s no mistaking that Xiaomi is going after Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus phablet - CEO Lei Jun specifically called out the dimensions of the Mi Note as being slightly slimmer and slightly lighter than Apple’s phablet. Not only that, but the camera lens on the 13 megapixel rear camera is flush with the back plate of the phablet. I’d also point out that the ‘Note’ name has a strong association with Samsung’s range of Galaxy phablets.
These comparisons don’t stretch to the design of the Mi Note. There’s not much you can do with a 5.7 inch screen phablet, but Xiaomi’s phablet has its own design. The flush camera lens is one touch, another is the curvature it has placed on the glass front and back panels to create sculpted edges for users to grip with no discomfort.
January 27th will see the first units of the base model going on sale. This phablet will come with a 1080p resolution screen manufactured by Sharp, while the larger QuadHD screened Mi Note Pro model is pencilled in for release at the end of March.
Xiaomi
Aren’t they the ones not paying their workers wages? Up the food chain indeed.
Isn’t it ironic that one of the poorest countries in the world is also the most heavily in debt?
1.4 billion people means that their debt per capita is very low.
The ratio of their debt to HH income is fairly astronomical. Fang nu.
Not hard to service when your income is growing by 8% per year.
“1.4 billion people means that their debt per capita is very low.”
New Mexico man zeros in on China’s grand advantage: Half a Billion Destitute Peasants!
Plus (and I’m sure you’re way ahead here Abdan) this writhing mass of poverty is the next great sub sub sub sub prime lending frontier. China is primed to take lending practices into a pit of risk deeper and darker then Angelo Mozilo’s sickest fantasies.
This is the top article linked from the Drudge Report right now
Yahoo News - Need help filing out your tax return? Don’t call the IRS
“Filing a federal tax return is about to get more complicated for millions of families because of President Barack Obama’s health law. But they shouldn’t expect much help from the Internal Revenue Service.
Got a question for the IRS? Good luck reaching someone by phone. The tax agency says only half of the 100 million people expected to call this year will be able to reach a person.
Callers who do get through may have to wait on hold for 30 minutes or more to talk to someone who will answer only the simplest questions.”
http://news.yahoo.com/irs-cuts-taxpayer-services-filing-returns-gets-harder-150035056–finance.html
Forward
If you like your socialized medicine, you can keep your socialized medicine.
This is the top article linked from Breitbart dot com right now
Obama Administration Undermines Muslim Reformers with Excuses for Radical Islam
“On Tuesday, White House press secretary Josh Earnest explained that the Obama administration would not be using the phrase “radical Islam” to describe the ideology motivating the Charlie Hebdo terrorists.
“These are individuals who carried out an act of terrorism,” he tut-tutted, “and they later tried to justify that act of terrorism by invoking the religion of Islam in their own deviant view of it… we have not chosen to use that label because it doesn’t seem to accurately describe what had happened.”
Not to quibble, but the Charlie Hebdo terrorists didn’t commit an act of terror, go out for a scotch, and then fix on an Islamic excuse. They shouted “Allahu Akhbar” and “we have avenged the prophet Mohammed” between firing rounds at innocent people. So either they were extremely quick thinkers on their feet, or they had an actual settled ideology motivating them to murder innocent people.”
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/01/14/obama-administration-undermines-muslim-reformers-with-excuses-for-radical-islam/
Forward
This is the top article linked from Fox News website right now
WORST ATTACK YET: Images show Boko Haram’s destruction, group says
Group says satellite images show destruction of Nigeria villages by Boko Haram
“Amnesty International has released satellite images that it says show widespread destruction in two Nigerian towns attacked by Boko Haram last weekend.
The international human rights organization says that the photos show the towns of Baga and Doron Baga in northeast Nigeria before and after the attacks. The images were taken on Jan. 2 and Jan. 7 of this year. Boko Haram fighters seized a military base in Baga on Jan. 3 and, according to witnesses, killed hundreds of civilians in cold blood in the ensuing days.
“Residents have not been able to return to bury the dead, let alone count their number. But through these satellite images combined with graphic testimonies a picture of what is likely to be Boko Haram’s deadliest attack ever is becoming clearer,” Daniel Eyre, Amnesty International’s Nigeria researcher, told The Independent.
Amnesty International calculates that 3,700 homes and other structures were demolished by the Islamic militants over the course of the attack.”
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/01/15/group-says-satellite-images-show-destruction-nigeria-villages-by-boko-haram/
The only solution for this is another trillion dollar war
More appeasement of the mooslums:
‘For a moment, four years ago, it seemed that dictators in the Middle East would soon be a thing of the past. Back then, it looked like the United States would have to make good on its declared support for democracy, as millions of Tunisians, Egyptians, Bahrainis, Yemenis, and others rose up to reject their repressive leaders. Many of these autocrats enjoyed support from Washington in return for providing “stability.”
‘Yet even the collapse of multiple governments failed to upend the decades-long U.S. policy of backing friendly dictators. Washington has doubled down on maintaining a steady supply of weapons and funding to governments willing to support U.S. strategic interests, regardless of how they treat their citizens.’
‘In the tiny kingdom of Bahrain, meanwhile, the demonstrations for constitutional reform that began in February 2011 continue, despite the government’s attempts to silence the opposition with everything at its disposal – from bird shot to life imprisonment. Throughout it all, Washington has treated Bahrain like a respectable ally.’
‘Back in 2011, for instance, just days after Bahraini security forces fired live ammunition at protesters in Manama – an attack that killed four and wounded many others – President Barack Obama praised King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s “commitment to reform.” Neither did the White House object when it was notified in advance that 1,200 troops from Saudi Arabia would enter Bahrain to clear the protests in March 2011.’
‘Since then, there’s been a steady drip of troubling news. A State Department report from 2013 acknowledged that Bahrain revokes the citizenship of prominent activists, arrests people on vague charges, tortures prisoners, and engages in “arbitrary deprivation of life.” (That’s bureaucratese for killing people.)’
‘When the Egyptian military – led by now-president Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi – deposed the democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, the Obama administration wavered about whether it would suspend military aid to Egypt, which U.S. law requires in the case of a coup. Yet despite some partial and temporary suspensions, the U.S. government continued to send military hardware.’
‘Four years after Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, the country once again has a president with a military pedigree and an even lower tolerance for political opposition than his predecessor. Mass arrests and hasty convictions of political activists – over 1,000 of whom have been sentenced to death.’
‘Now that Sisi heads a nominally civilian government – installed in a sham election by a small minority of voters – all restrictions on U.S. aid have been lifted, including for military helicopters that are used to intimidate and attack protesters. As Secretary of State John Kerry promised a month after Sisi’s election, “The Apaches will come, and they will come very, very soon.”
“the mooslums”
If Obama wasn’t such a p*ssy we would have bombed those terrists back into the 7th century by now
Fortunately, the new Congress will answer to their “base” that believes the Earth is 6,000 years old and that Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs like horses and give us a new war
And not just any new war, it’s gotta be the biggest and loudest and most expensive war ever
1,000,000 Tea Children might have to die in the new war, but it will all be worth it if it makes the Rapture happen five minutes sooner
Is any Muslim country capable of democracy? The answer is no. The ignorant majority will always vote for a theocracy, which will never give up power unless the military takes it. You can’t give civil rights to people who don’t want them.
We agree on something, it is a point that I have been making for years and why I stated the Arab spring would only bring more misery.
‘The ignorant majority will always vote for a theocracy’
I dunno. Mubarak got 97% of the vote the last time he ran. Maybe they are just ungrateful. We feed their rectums. We give their dictators Apaches. We even financed that urban renewal project in Gaza. Ingratitude.
Caution: rectal feeding ahead. Hollande and Merkel speak up for Europe’s Muslims:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/french-president-speaks-up-for-frances-muslims-1421334461
Kinda like the US pols with all their hispandering.
Is any Muslim country capable of democracy?
Turkey is pretty close to a democracy. So is Indonesia, which is the most populous Muslim country, I think.
The ignorant majority will always vote for a theocracy
In our country, an ignorant majority (95%, excluding only Ron Paul supporters) voted for neo-con stooges and crony capitalist water carriers. What’s your excuse for them?
It must be sad living in a fantasy world created by America hating radical marxist college professors.
#Don’tFundamentallyTransformMeBro
Here’s another FoxNews Headline for all of the cop haters.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/01/15/arizona-cop-body-cam-captures-fatal-encounter-with-suspect/
#HandsUpDon’tShoot
“Smith then shot himself dead”
Here’s someone whose cadaver should be left in a field for the vultures when the investigation is finished.
Think about this any time you see a Weekly Standard link posted here
This is the top article on the Infowars website right now
Neocon Falls for Press TV Misattribution, Attacks Ron Paul
Sloppy journalism by Iranian news service gets Weekly Standard in a lather
“Daniel Halper, a neocon journo over at the financial failure The Weekly Standard, has attributed an article penned by Paul Craig Roberts to former Congressman Ron Paul.
Halper does not bother to provide a link to the article in question, thus demonstrating his lack of journalistic ethos. If he had, he would discover the true author of the piece in question.
Halper and the neocons are so blinded by their hatred of Paul and libertarianism they can’t be bothered to check facts.
The real target of the attack is not Ron Paul, however. It is his son, who is preparing to run for president. Ron Paul no longer poses a political threat to the neocons, but his son, who has expressed libertarian opinions on foreign policy, does.
The neocons prefer Hillary Clinton or a suitable warmonger in the Republican party.
There is a good reason The Weekly Standard is a financial failure dependent on the good will of Rupert Murdoch and other “conservatives” with deep pockets.
It is a propaganda mill for neocons and their policies of murder and endless war.”
http://www.infowars.com/neocon-falls-for-press-tv-misattribution-attacks-ron-paul/
And some background on Weekly Standard founder and editor William Kristol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kristol
Scripting a narrative
This is now the top link on the Drudge Report website
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/europes-leading-rabbi-jews-must-begin-carrying-guns/
Scripting a narrative
The only solution to this is another trillion dollar war
Scripting a narrative
That’s a drop in the bucket, we spend over 1 trillion per year on non SS and non medicare welfare spending, some of which goes to 30 million illegal immigrants…At least national defense is a constitutional responsibility of the Federal Government.
The war on poverty is our most expensive war by a long shot, a war we will keep paying for and never win as longs as a permanent underclass is required for progressives to remain in power.
#1-2-3WhatAreWeFightingFor?
we spend over 1 trillion per year on non SS and non medicare welfare spending
Reference? Frankly, I have trouble believing that.
Over 1 trillion for 2014 if you include Medicaid, over 600 billion if you don’t. My source was the Heritage foundation, but you can find it anywhere including Wikipedia.
Scripting a narrative (subscriber paywall article)
Wall Street Journal - French Jews Face Hate They Left Africa to Escape
Scripting a narrative
The only solution to this is another trillion dollar war
Tea Children need to enlist to go fight and die for this
Scripting a narrative
Can I has Rapture plz?
Has
Been
Scripted…
FWIW, the so called “Rapture” is a fairly recent American Fundy theological “innovation”. The Reformers (Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, etc.) had no concept of it and neither do any of the non Reformed churches.
Can we please have a foreign policy that isn’t decided by these lunatics?
Which is why I propose letting the Israeli Jews emigrate to USA where they have constitutionally protected freedom of religion and pull all American military out of the entire Middle East. It was a well-intentioned experiment after WWII, but it failed. Time to pull the plug, and stop throwing American tax dollars down that bottomless pit. The muzzies can all murder each other over who isn’t being Sharia enough and it won’t be our problem any more…
Why weren’t the Jews given part of Germany for a Jewish state?
What’s up with the Swiss franc?
Swiss stocks sink the most since 1989 after SNB’s shock move
By Sara Sjolin
Published: Jan 15, 2015 6:28 a.m. ET
All stocks in the Swiss stock index drop
…
Yeh, that whole situation seems to have the financial world in a whole WTF state. Some like it, some don’t. But I say anything that crushes hedge funds is awesome.
Credit Markets
U.S. Government Bond Yields Fall for Fifth Straight Session
Yield on Benchmark 10-Year Note Hits its Lowest Level in 20 Months
By Min Zeng
Updated Jan. 15, 2015 3:32 p.m. ET
A major policy shift from Switzerland’s central bank on Thursday sent ripples through the global markets, pushing many yields in the developed world to fresh lows.
In the U.S., the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note settled at the lowest level in 20 months. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond closed at a record low for a second straight session.
…
“Uncertainty is bringing a flight to safety into Treasury bonds,” said Larry Milstein, head of government and agency trading at R.W. Pressprich Co. in New York. “The fact that the SNB has thrown in the towel does shake investor confidence a bit. While the Swiss economy is relatively small, the psychological impact on the market is causing flows into haven bonds.”
U.S. bond yields fell for a fifth straight session, as demand for ultrasafe U.S. government bonds was also boosted by a disappointing U.S. regional business indicator report that added to concerns over the global economy.
In late-afternoon trading, the yield on the benchmark 10-year note was 1.777%, compared with 1.833% on Wednesday.
It marks the yield’s lowest closing level since May 2013.
The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond closed at 2.413% compared with 2.450% on Wednesday.
The yield on the German 10-year government bond closed at a record low of 0.410%, the yield on the 10-year Swiss government bond closed at a record low of 0.065% and the yield on the Japanese government bond settled at a record low of 0.241%, according to Tradeweb.
The SNB move also added to selling pressure in the euro against the dollar as investors expect the European Central Bank to add more monetary stimulus as soon as the monetary policy meeting next week. Loose monetary policy from a central bank tends to dilute the value of a local currency.
A stronger dollar, driven by partly by speculation that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates this year, makes U.S. financial assets more attractive for foreign buyers, traders said. Thursday, the dollar rallied over 1% and reached the highest level against the euro since 2003.
U.S. bonds offer the highest yields among the world’s most developed countries, which has drawn global investors seeking relative value in high-grade bond markets over the past year.
“It is just another factor adding downward pressure in global bond yields,” said Todd Hedtke, vice president of investment management for Allianz Investment Management, which manages over $600 billion in assets globally.
Mr. Hedtke said U.S. bond yields have room to fall in the short term given the global uncertainty.
The 10-year Treasury note’s yield has tumbled from 2.173% at the end of 2014 and 3.03% at the end of 2013.
…
Business insider
BAML: Dr. Copper Is Shouting ‘Sell’ Chinese Stocks
Myles Udland
Jan. 14, 2015, 5:17 PM
Copper took turn for the worst on Tuesday night, falling more than 6% to below $2.50 per pound in New York, a fresh four-year low.
In a note to clients on Wednesday, David Cui at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said this not sending a good signal to the white hot Shanghai stock market, which was the world’s best performing stock market in 2014.
Cui wrote that given the widespread use of copper in the Chinese economy, a drop demand — and a resulting drop in price — is often a good indicator of economic health in China, and a likely reason why copper prices and Chinese stocks have correlated well in general.
And with regard to the recent drop in copper prices, Cui writes that, “On balance, we side with Dr. Copper.”
“In our view, the significant pressure on [the price of copper] lately indicates either a noticeable slow-down in demand or troubles in the shadow banking sector, or both.”
…
A few months ago there were a slew of articles about how China was stockpiling copper not to use in industry, but as collateral on loans. The scandal was that multiple loans were pledged on single supplies of copper, and creditors were fighting over who would get what. I wonder how that worked out? I bet the Chinese creditors got priority. Any foreign firms dumb enough to play the Chinese loan shuffle game are going to be in for a shock when it’s time to collect.
This is what 50 years of Marxist Feminism gets you
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/u-va-phi-kappa-psi-members-speak-about-impact-of-discredited-gang-rape-allegations/2015/01/14/d781ad90-9c04-11e4-bcfb-059ec7a93ddc_story.html
I can see your future, and it involves alot of lonely nights with your cats and boxed wine and Sex & The City reruns
A related article about breeders not breeding
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/01/15/first-comes-the-marriage-gap-then-comes-the-baby-gap/
And to all the 40-something momz having kidz with down’s syndrome and autism, be sure to thank a Marxist Feminist who promised you could “have it all”
“Mind the Gap”
Bulletin
U.S. jobless claims hit highest level since September
Market Pulse
U.S. producer prices drop 0.3% in December on cheaper gas
By Jeffry BartashBulletin
U.S. jobless claims hit highest level since September
Market Pulse
U.S. producer prices drop 0.3% in December on cheaper gas
By Jeffry Bartash
Published: Jan 15, 2015 8:30 a.m. ET
Share
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. producer prices posted the biggest decline in December in more than three years, mainly because of the plunge in gasoline prices. The producer price index fell a seasonally adjusted 0.3% last month, the Labor Department said Thursday. A 14.5% drop in the gasoline index largely explained the decline. Oil prices have been falling sharply since late summer and the decline accelerated in the final months of 2014. The annual pace of wholesale inflation, meanwhile, slowed to 1.1% last month after rising to as high as 2.1% last April. In 2014, producer inflation also rose 1.1% overall after a meager 1.2% increase in 2013. Meanwhile, a measure of core inflation that excludes food, energy and trade edged up 0.1% in December. The core rate advanced 1.3% in 2014. There was not much evidence of widespread inflationary pressure building in the pipeline, either. Producer prices for partly finished good and raw materials both fell.
Published: Jan 15, 2015 8:30 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. producer prices posted the biggest decline in December in more than three years, mainly because of the plunge in gasoline prices. The producer price index fell a seasonally adjusted 0.3% last month, the Labor Department said Thursday. A 14.5% drop in the gasoline index largely explained the decline. Oil prices have been falling sharply since late summer and the decline accelerated in the final months of 2014. The annual pace of wholesale inflation, meanwhile, slowed to 1.1% last month after rising to as high as 2.1% last April. In 2014, producer inflation also rose 1.1% overall after a meager 1.2% increase in 2013. Meanwhile, a measure of core inflation that excludes food, energy and trade edged up 0.1% in December. The core rate advanced 1.3% in 2014. There was not much evidence of widespread inflationary pressure building in the pipeline, either. Producer prices for partly finished good and raw materials both fell.
…
did oil bottom?
Not yet…already down 2.3% today.
Speaking of U.S. producer prices, groceries are having price wars in my area. One store floated a big NEW! LOWER PRICES! banner. And this week my other local grocery store sent flyers in the mail with a couple $5-off-total-purchase coupons, and an ad for even more NEW! LOWER EVERY DAY PRICES! on a couple items. For example, store-brand yogurt cups are now 89¢.
I remember saying on HBB that stores raise prices to what the market will bear, and you’ll never see a decrease in prices. I’ve seen coupons and sales, but I was never expecting semi-permanent decreases, mail flyers, substantial coupons… What is going on? Deflation?
‘I remember saying on HBB that you’ll never see a decrease in prices.’
I’m sure somebody clicked that.
I was referring to grocery prices, but if your day is empty enough, you’re welcome to google for posts where I predict house price drops too.
This prediction business is getting kinda phoney. It now works like this; I predict more terrorist attacks and further erosion of individual liberties. It’s been going on for decades, so why not predict more? Or like this; oil prices are down, so fewer companies will drill for oil. Shazamm, that was a brilliant conclusion Shaggy! I’m not done; the government will borrow more money. I am so smart. S-M-R-T.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhrfhjLd9e4
I dunno Ben, by that metric, house prices will grow to the sky and oil will be freeeee! IMO the prediction business is phoney in a different way. You get paid well if your “prediction” is what the moneyed want to hear. cf Yun and Zandi.
I just find that this is a new twist. Not 5 years ago, a “price war” wasn’t undercutting your competitor; it was just raising your prices less than your competitor did. Now we’re back to a traditional price-drop price war. It must be pretty serious for them to stick flyers in the mail with $10-off-everything coupons.
It’s all or nothing with a debt donkey.
“I can’t breathe”
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2015/01/15/protesters-shut-down-parts-milton-and-somerville/DnClQ7tovZlJiTXsoWsSZI/story.html
Forward
Progressive solution to youth unemployment: Brainwashing susceptible youth into forming communist-mobs-for-cash.
#OneFistUpDon’tShoot
#BetterRedThanFree
Trading Deck
Is it a stock bubble or a Treasurys bubble?
By Michael A. Gayed
Published: Jan 14, 2015 1:29 p.m. ET
“The one fact pertaining to all conditions is that they will change.” – Charles H. Dow
No crowd of traders and investors has been more wrong than those screaming about a rising-rate environment. Seemingly every year, every quarter, every month, every day there is someone on air saying rates are only going to go higher for bonds. Indeed, global yields are essentially at all-time lows almost everywhere, and anyone looking at Treasurys would think that we are in a “blow-off” phase for long-duration government debt.
My problem with this line of thinking is simple — Treasurys and government debt are only overvalued and yields are only low if inflation and inflation expectations are rising. Treasurys are only in a bubble if growth is robust, commodities are trending strongly, and retail sales are, on a secular basis, accelerating. I really do believe that few people understand the role of interest rates in an economy, and what they are reflective of, which is the demand for money. It should scare everyone to see Treasurys doing what they are doing as it suggests a severe slowdown in the usage of money is nearing.
…
There both huge bubbles. The bond bubble will be kept up by as much money as it takes to prevent defaults.
I was havn a beer yesterday and some dude was telling what a great investment gopro was. I heard it was a camera on a stick. 200 pe ratio looks a little overvalued to me. what was pets.com’s pe ratio?
Some of these stock valuations are just absurd. even alcoa is ridiculous at 70 pe.
Bond Report
10-year Treasury yield falls to lowest level since May 2013
Published: Jan 15, 2015 10:45 a.m. ET
Swiss central bank’s surprise announcement sent yields lower
Screengrab/SNB Web TV
Swiss National Bank President Thomas Jordan.
By Joseph Adinolfi
News editor
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury yields ticked lower Thursday, with the 10-year yield falling to its lowest level since May 2013, after the Swiss National Bank surprised globe by ending its exchange-rate cap between the Swiss franc and the euro.
The euro weakened to its lowest level against the dollar since September 2003 after the announcement. Guy LeBas said the central bank’s decision increases pressure on the European Central Bank to buy more government bonds if and when it decides to begin another round of stimulus.
“The markets have been coalescing around the idea that the ECB would buy sovereign bonds at a clip of about €1 to €1.2 trillion per year. With the Swiss move, the markets are now betting that the ECB is going to go a little bit bigger, which would drive the euro down even further,” LeBas said.
A stronger dollar typically leads to more foreign flows into Treasurys, LeBas said.
The 10-year yield (TMUBMUSD10Y, -2.54%) was down 2.3 basis points to 1.812% in recent trade. The 10-year yield has fallen during 12 of the past 13 sessions.
The 30-year yield (TMUBMUSD30Y, -1.45%) was down 1.8 basis points to 2.435%, near its all-time low of 2.398%.
The yield on Swiss government bonds moved further into negative territory after the announcement. It yielded negative 0.114% in recent trade.
…
It should scare everyone to see Treasurys doing what they are doing as it suggests a severe slowdown in the usage of money is nearing.’
yep. The FED pushes money out there with very low interest rates and bond buy backs etc and yet very few benefit.
Not Good
American Exceptionalism
$1.2 billion for a new concussionball stadium
http://www.businessinsider.com/atlanta-falcons-new-stadium-2015-1
“If you like getting Alzheimer’s at age 35, you can keep getting Alzheimer’s at age 35″
And cataracts at age 45.
And be wheelchair bound, like Earl Campbell:
http://mobile.chiefsplanet.com/BB/attachment.php?attachmentid=103976&d=1363883338
“Bread and Circuses”
$1.2 billion for a new concussionball stadium
I wonder how much of the tab will Atlanta taxpayers pick up?
Bitcoin is turning out to be what it was designed for: an alternative currency, not an investment.
http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/14/the-rainbow-after-the-bitcoin-storm/
“BTC value fell below the $200 mark for a brief period overnight, a move that is causing many Bitcoin bulls a bit of concern. The currency has been falling steadily since the holiday and is now at or below the levels set when BTC exchange Mt.Gox imploded.
It is currently at $186.53 [went as low as the $150s overnight and now at 7am pst at $219] and relatively stable. However, that price is a far cry from the heady $1,000 days of late 2013, a price that I doubt we’ll ever see again. But, unlike Robert Redford’s sailing trip, all is not lost.
Related Videos
There are a number of factors affecting the price right now. First, mining and trading is becoming less interesting, a fact that is sending bitcoin prices into a death spiral. Whereas the investment into mining gear made sense at $600 per BTC, it makes far less sense, given the current difficulty and hardware spend, to focus on BTC as a money-maker. Trade volume surged as the price fell, a side-effect of investors leaving as the risk rose.
Bitcoin isn’t frothy now because bitcoin is boring. The Russian currency crisis did not spur much of a buying spree and the Bitstamp debacle – an exchange hack that essentially shut down one of the biggest BTC traders – came and went without much comment. The early “too-to-moon” naïveté is gone, replaced by a drumbeat of blockchain investments from big names in the industry. Last January I lamented Bitcoin’s image problem. This January I think that image problem is almost fixed.
Our own Alex Wilhelm asked me once what would happen first – whether Bitcoin would rise to $10,000 or fall to 0. I didn’t answer at the time because I didn’t know. But my hunch, now, is that the salad days are over. Those who bought high will sell low and those who bought low will sell at a slight profit – but not enough to warrant a torrent of joyful Tweets or Reddit posts. In short, Bitcoin will become the tool it was meant to be: a decentralized value store that allows buyers and sellers to take part in trusted transactions. If you planned to put your kids through college on your early mining proceeds you’re probably going to want to look at a state school. But if you want to send your freshman daughter a few bucks and don’t want to pay a bank onerous fees, you might be in luck.”
“Bitcoin isn’t frothy now because bitcoin is boring.”
How can you call a ‘currency’ whose value goes up and down in multiple 100%s per year ‘boring’?
It’s “boring” because it’s below most people’s radar. Tell the average Joe that Bitcoin has collapsed in value and he’ll shrug.
My grandson loves to play minecraft. He got me to play once and then he stole all my stuff!
“Bitcoin is dead Because you are Too Dumb:”
https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/bitcoin-dead-dumb/
I read the first couple of paragraphs before I posted the above link, then the rest of the article after posting the link. Happy to say it is very brilliantly written.
Did someone say the word “gold?”
http://www.kitco.com/news/2015-01-15/Gold-Solidly-Higher-at-4-Mo-High-in-Wake-of-Surprising-SNB-Move.html
Makes me wonder whether gold traders are hedging the possibility of unilateral moves against the Euro by other EU nations?
At this time, spot price for gold is at $1259 while Platinum is $1257.
I think Platinum has much more upside.
I agree particularly with the electricity crisis in South Africa. However, gold is still where you go if you anticipate financial crisis. Platinum is both a precious metal and an industrial metal so slower growth might impact its price.
Good morning children. Has the housing market crashed yet? I need a cheap house. This is important.
http://www.kidkraft.com/_media/image-cache/full-size/products/65823-1_copy1.jpg
That’s the only kind of house the average American family can afford these days.
This is a really long article about the failed war on drugs
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-war-on-drugs-is-burning-out-20150108
Article does not mention Sheldon Adelson (R-Jerusalem) the Republican kingmaker who spent millions of his own money to defeat the legalization of medical marijuana in Florida in 2014
That’s because “shrinking the size of government to where you can drown it in the bathtub” does not include shrinking the size of the Prison Industrial Complex, especially when it comes to locking up poors and blacks and browns
Baggers gonna bag
What does sucking balls have to do with housing?
‘post off-topic ideas, links, and craigslist finds here.’
and keep your goddamn government hands off my crop subsidies!
Story about restate peddlers and the jacked up thinking.
I am a RN in small community hospital in the Inland Empire. I was taking care of a patient who is dying we were able to place patient on hospice but.
Speaking to the family of patient we asked them if they could take the patient home hospice will provide care at home. The statement they gave me, “My sibling and I are realtors and we cant take our parent to their house because we are going to put the house on the market and we have to disclose if someone dies in the house. It will lower property value if our family member dies if their home”. This is the patient own home in a large gated retirement community average age 67 about 2000 homes. My lip still hurts from biting it.
Side note Ive been a hospice nurse in this area and I have had about half of this community on hospice.
I hope this home does not sell.
That is very sad. My dad’s hospice was his own home. It was great for him to be in his place and he had 24/7 nurses and my sister and her family lived there. My dad had friends visit often. The value of the house was the last thing in our minds. I don’t even remember if there was ever such a law in 2000 when he died (in California) in his house. But if there was I would not have him in a hospice at all. So impersonal.
The greed is disgusting.
“The greed is disgusting.”
Uniquely American.
Uniquely Realtor. What scumbags!
Wonder if my LL thinks about that, my mother being so ill (lives with us); having had a stroke along with other ailments (CML, ileostomy), you never know. I block the PM doing the quarterly inspections from checking my mother’s room, which would mean taking pictures of her there in bed. He doesn’t argue about it anymore.
I believe you can find someone in the Yellow Pages to conduct a “discovery seance” for any latent spirits prior to submitting earnest money.
Such a law would never work in NY. It is a pretty safe bet that any century old house here has had multiple deaths in the house, and the funerals too.
Do you also have to disclose if orgies or Satanic rituals were held in the house?
Who knows what went on here?
Secret Basement found in old Mob house in Las Vegas
Wow! but not so surprising given that many realtors are amoral sociopaths and on top of that I doubt the disclosure that a natural death had occurred there would have much effect on the sale price if any. As it happens the the previous owner of very last house I bid on in 2012 before giving up had died naturally there and that was disclosed as I’m in California, made no difference to me at all (a violent death might have, but not a natural one)…but a 100% cash flipper got the place.
Thank your lucky stars you didn’t buy a house then. How far underwater would you be now?
It wouldn’t bother me (agree about a violent death, though.)
2015-01-14 09:21:18
Obamao = monkey in tropical rain forest = Curious George
Man in big yellow hat = George Soros or maybe Warren Buffet
The sh*t storm that Obamao creates being Curious George = Valerie Jarret
In regards to Jarret - don’t say I didn’t tell ya so…..as she is nothing short of a communist hack from the cesspool called Sh*tcago ILLANNOY!!!
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/396399/how-obama-sharpton-alliance-began-jillian-kay-melchior
Market Pulse
IMF chief says global economy faces “strong headwind” in 2015
Published: Jan 15, 2015 11:07 a.m. ET
By Jeffry Bartash
Reporter
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The world economy faces “a very strong headwind” despite tumbling oil prices and faster growth in the United States, according to the head of the International Monetary Fund. Christine Lagarde, manager director of the IMF, said too many countries still suffer from low growth, high unemployment and excesive debt. In a speech in Washington, Lagarde urged central banks to pursue easy-money policies and said governments should adopt fiscal meaures or reforms that boost growth and job creation, such as public-works projects. She also said falling oil prices offer an opportunity to raise energy taxes, cut subsidies for energy companies and transfer the savings to the less well off. “2015 must be the year of action,” Lagarde said.
‘Lagarde urged central banks to pursue easy-money policies’
It’s worked so well thus far.
exactly
All QE does is lower and suppress interest rates, it doesn’t create jobs.
It enables more borrowing by allowing the debt to be more serviceable.
Trying to solve a debt problem with more debt isn’t a great solution.
It boosts stocks cause everyone is chasing yield.
It allows people to borrow more for a home thus raising prices.
Higher asset prices is what it has created. How do you know when its a bubble and people will run for the exits when prices fall?
From Art Cashin’s comments via UBS this morning…….
Yep - one guy who gets what the savings at the pump really mean….
– Yesterday, I got an email from my good friend, Barry Habib. Barry is a mortgage guru and a bit of a renaissance man. He has also been hot as a pistol on the projections for the bond market over the last two years. Here’s a bit of his email:
“Additionally some, but not many, are finally seeing that lower oil prices are not the holy grail that they had thought. Today’s Retail Sales numbers offer some clues that saving $12/week on gasoline has little effect on moving the needle for economic activity. Especially with a tentative energy sector, as many in that industry are concerned about their jobs.”
There it is!! Jobs…….
Funny how when workers in other industries become “concerned” about their jobs, they get lectured on how free markets are what matter and that they can suck it up and find a job in another industry, and if it pays less than the old job, then tough beans.
Debt donkey!!!
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-average-american-pays-280000-in-interest-2015-01-14
It would be interesting to see this normalized for inflation…see the number in “real” rather than “nominal” terms.
Still a lot of dough when you consider how little the average Joe earns. That’s about 10 years income for the typical Lucky Ducky.
Can you imagine????? That’s 12 years of labor to pay the after tax income on that amount interest. 12 years!!!!! Wow…. just wow.
Pooof!
Throw in taxes, depreciation and upkeep and it’s basic slavery. Augh!!
The rage-o-meter is pinned again today.
Living in a rental will never feel like a real home.
When the landlord does all the work for me it feels more like the Ritz Carlton.
Wasup Sandy.
Swisscrater cheese anyone?I’ve got a nice bottle of 1951 Penfolds Grande Hermitage to go with that!
http://www.realtytrac.com/news/foreclosure-trends/1-1-million-u-s-properties-with-foreclosure-filings-in-2014-down-18-percent-from-2013-to-lowest-level-since-2006/
Getting closer to normal, but still an overhang to burn off in lots of places:
The applicable quotes:
“The 1.1 million properties with foreclosure filings in 2014 was the lowest annual total since 2006, when there were 717,522 properties with foreclosure filings nationwide.”
The graph in the article gives good context to where we were, and where we are.
And:
“a recent surge in foreclosure starts and scheduled foreclosure auctions in several states in the last few months of 2014 indicate that lenders are gearing up for a spring cleaning of deferred distress in the first half of 2015 in some local markets.”
Just add them to the 25 million excess empty and defaulted houses Rental_Fraud.
George Soros funds Ferguson protests, hopes to spur civil action
by Kelly Riddell | Washington Times | January 15, 2015
There’s a solitary man at the financial center of the Ferguson protest movement. No, it’s not victim Michael Brown or Officer Darren Wilson. It’s not even the Rev. Al Sharpton, despite his ubiquitous campaign on TV and the streets.
Rather, it’s liberal billionaire George Soros, who has built a business empire that dominates across the ocean in Europe while forging a political machine powered by nonprofit foundations that impacts American politics and policy, not unlike what he did with MoveOn.org.
Mr. Soros spurred the Ferguson protest movement through years of funding and mobilizing groups across the U.S., according to interviews with key players and financial records reviewed by The Washington Times.
In all, Mr. Soros gave at least $33 million in one year to support already-established groups that emboldened the grass-roots, on-the-ground activists in Ferguson, according to the most recent tax filings of his nonprofit Open Society Foundations.
http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/136781/Low_Oil_Prices_Prompts_Apache_to_Lay_Off_Workers
Drill baby drill? Earth First, we will mine the moon later:
http://thediplomat.com/2015/01/china-leads-race-to-the-moon/
It is good she turned her life around:
http://www.businessinsider.com/lazard-intern-quits-to-pursue-porn-2015-1
“It is good she turned her life around”
+1 There’s still hope for the world.
Are you missing out on the long-term Treasury bond rally?
California, meet your future under Comrad Pelosi’s permanent Democrat Supermajority.
http://www.businessinsider.com/venezuela-5-year-cds-2015-1
…and Statolatry starts at a young age:
http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54b823376bb3f7ed04bd40e5-1200-924/girl-doll-venezuela-6.png