Bits Bucket for February 10, 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.
About Me
Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsey_Graham
A neoconservative middle-east shill.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century
John McCain’s lapdog Miss Lindsey Grahamesty is a neo-con RINO stooge. Why oh why did the sheeple of North Carolina return this POS to the Senate?
Who’s defender of freedom and justice around the world, Alex?
DARPA remotes in to a car.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/car-hacked-on-60-minutes/
(Sorry if already posted)
I can see in the next decade an emergence of unplugged communities, and I might join one. Your phones listen to you, your cars listen to you, your TV listens to you…
Why is all of this necessary?
And if I had doubts in the past about whether or not being a regular member of a blog like this landed me on certain lists, I have no doubt now.
That car demo looked staged and fake. I did not buy that she could not stop the car by pushing on the brakes. Maybe in some circumstances that would happen, but it seemed phonied up to me. More 60 Minutes sensationalism?
Your Samsung “smart” HDTV can already transmit your private conversations to unspecified third parties, while your Verizon smartphone is using “supercookies” to spie on all your online habits and report them to its “partners” whoever they are.
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2015/02/09/a-very-slippery-slope-yes-your-samsung-smart-tv-can-listen-to-your-private-conversations/
Your cell phone can do any of this as can your computer, laptop or iPad. It’s long past time to be worried if this spying has been going on. And it can only get worse.
Most in the US under 30 are addicted to these phones and absent WWIII that doesn’t seem like it’s going to change. The video games on them like Candy Crush or Clash of Clans are deliberately engineered to addict you to them.
At least the AIs might save us from ourselves.
There’s a simple solution to all of this that doesn’t involve going unplugged.
Build your own version of Linux.
There’s a project out there called “do it yourself Linux” that takes you through the process. You only build and run exactly what you need and leave the spyware etc out of the equation.
If you don’t want to do it yourself, there are many distros out there put together by volunteer groups who have no interest in surreptitiously sending your info to a third party. I personally take this option because I’m lazy and I’ve sniffed my network traffic and verified that nothing I don’t want going out to third parties is being sent. (If anyone’s curious, I settled on Fedora and slackware as my first choices).
You can do pretty much the same thing on any Android phone - get rid of Google’s Android and put your own custom ROM on there. To double check, set up a packet sniffer on your local network and see if your phone is sending packets to any third parties out there.
Don’t install apps unless they have minimal permission requirements. Simple. Three’s no reason on godsgreenearth that a simple radio app like Tunein should nee access to my GPS and personal data. None. So I refused to install it and so should you. Send a message to these companies that their app will go nowhere if it needs more than basic permissions. Access to storage and network is ok, location, personal info, etc should be highly restricted and refused unless your absolutely positive it’s needed and completely trust the source.
Demand that companies give you options like these, refuse to buy any product that doesn’t. Don’t buy any vehicle that can’t have any and all external data connections disabled/removed. Vote with your feet.
I guess with the car thing that might constitute unplugging, but since when does a transportation device need an internet connection to stop, go, turn left and right. Carry a spare cell phone and a AAA membership if you need onstar so bad.
I do these things and don’t worry about anyone messing with my data.
The DARPA guy’s right about all the devices that are vulnerable. Simple solution: don’t run devices and software that has unnecessary bloatware. This especially means and includes corporate bloatware.
Vote with your feet and be vocal about your reasons and they will have to listen or be driven out of business.
We keep some computers at work that do not connect to the internet.
It is necessary so you can have anything you want without even pushing a button. Hey Google, remind me to get milk when I am next at the store. Hey TV, find Dancing With The Stars.
It is the miracle Star Trek promised us in the 60s.
These Orwellian proclivities will not be resisted or even noticed by the sheeple who have overwhelmingly sanctioned the corporate state with their votes for Obama, McCain, Romney and will vote for more of the same with Hillary and Jed.
(Hi! May I rejoin your blog Ben? Things are getting interesting in Brazil too.)
Poor not to blame for housing’s meltdown, researchers say
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/poor-not-to-blame-for-housings-meltdown-researchers-say-2015-01-21
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — It’s a common perception that loans the federal government pressured banks to make to the poor were the source of the housing meltdown.
But a working paper by finance experts with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dartmouth College and Duke University says mortgages made in the years leading up to the housing bubble’s peak were mostly for middle- and high-income borrowers, and that the poor didn’t see an increase in their share of mortgages.
“The large majority of mortgage dollars originated between 2002 and 2006 are obtained by middle income and high income borrowers (not the poor),” the authors — Manuel Adelino at Duke University; Felipe Severino at Dartmouth College; and Antoinette Schoar at MIT — wrote in “Changes in Buyer Composition and the Expansion of Credit During the Boom.” “While there was a rapid expansion in overall mortgage origination during this time period, the fraction of new mortgage dollars going to each income group was stable.”
They also found that the most significant increase in mortgage defaults after 2007 came from middle- and high-income borrowers.
Lola!
!
Double secret probation, limited to substantive threads, no Bits until probationary period over.
Welcome back Rio! Always appreciated your observations & insights.
Is the Unknown Comic still alive?
Welcome back Rio….
good morning dave
We were talking about the fed raising rates yesterday.
You mentioned something about worldwide rates.
Isn’t all this hype and talk about the FED and rates really pertain to the fed funds rate and discount rate?
The fed funds rate is the rate member banks charge each other to borrow to meet reserve requirements and whatever they need money for it appears. The discount rate is the rate member banks borrow directly from fed at.
The FED can move treasury rates buy buying or selling lots of bonds. The market is technically suppose to set those rates.
Fed Funds rate effects the value of the dollar which then effects the bond market….As far as world wide rates, its a issue of relative strength and safety…We (T-Bills) have both right now so the competition for the available treasuries increases thereby holding down rates…
“Except for the Federal Funds rate, the Fed does not determine short-term interest rates. Most of the time, it simply follows them. Statistically, the Federal Funds rate consistently lags market interest rates such as Treasury bill yields. Indeed, changes in market rates have far more predictive power to forecast the Federal Funds rate than vice versa. ”
any truth to this?
Funds rate is overnight…Banks use this rate to set their lending rates including long term rates…I suppose so does the corporate bond market…
Welcome back. How are things in Brazil? There have been some articles posted here about how the Brazil is not weathering the drop in oil prices as well as it should have. And that the old corruption habits are coming back.
“They also found that the most significant increase in mortgage defaults after 2007 came from middle- and high-income borrowers.”
And thus, the substantial increase in the number of renting households whose income was over 75k per year. 35% of new renter households from 2007-2013 had incomes over $75K per year. This is approximately double what would be expected based on historical levels of higher income renters.
So, I’ll ask the question again. What happens to this large number of higher income renters once their “walkaway” foreclosure comes off of their credit report (7 years)?
We will find out within 12 months…7 years from the end of 2007/early 2008 is…now.
What happens to this large number of higher income renters once their “walkaway” foreclosure comes off of their credit report (7 years)?
We will find out within 12 months…7 years from the end of 2007/early 2008 is…now.
It might not be much of a factor in anything. The foreclosures sometimes dragged on for years. A lot can happen in those (these) 7-10 years, some might like their rentals, some are dead -divorced, some will have inherited their parents house, some have lost their jobs and some have “turned on, tuned in and dropped out” and many will still have bad credit. Just my thoughts.
And the rough math:
132,802,859 USA housing units in 2013 (US Census) (- about 1/3 with no mortgage )
Number of homes lost in foreclosure:
RealtyTrac notes (via North Carolina State University) that:
From January 2007 to December 2011 there were more than four million completed foreclosures and more than 8.2 million foreclosure starts ….
“So, I’ll ask the question again. What happens to this large number of higher income renters once their “walkaway” foreclosure comes off of their credit report (7 years)?”
The big picture question is; How is the system going to hand 60 million excess empty and defaulted houses flooding them market?
Crushing.Housing.Losses.
Are oil hoarders soon to run out of cheap storage, driving the price of new production into the ground?
I hope so. Gas is getting close to $2 in my neck of the woods. It was as low as 1.69 at one point.
I think the dead cat is made out of the same stuff as superballs.
Bounce, kitty, bounce!
It is the bounciest cat I have ever seen hit the pavement!
More extend and pretend for GREXIT? Looks like Greece has called the Troika’s bluff with its reported threat to seek financing from Russia and China.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-02-10/europe-propose-6-month-extension-after-greece-warns-it-may-get-funds-russia-or-china
All this talk of grexit and Greece being broke. Any breadlines?
Stories of hospitals without doctors.
In the US or in Greece? We got some of that here to. Not to make light but are they really doing so bad in Greece? Have services been cut to the bone along with govt pensions and all govt largesse? Or have they just borrowed more and begged for more bail outs.
“The average wage has fallen to €600 (£450: $690) a month; half of all young people are unemployed and the economy is barely emerging from six years of recession. But Greeks remain determined to maintain their hold on normality.”
“Soula Alevridou, who owns a legal brothel, says the number of married women coming to her looking for work has doubled in the last five years.”
“A doctor, Georgia, explains how she also works as an escort in the sex industry to support her family.
Her private clinic currently treats three patients a week, but the peak summer season in the sex industry enables her to keep up with the rental payments on her family’s home and the healthcare bills for her elderly parents”
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30914039
Looks like Greece has called the Troika’s bluff ??
Lots of buzz this morning on who gets hurt the most with an exit…
Extend and pretend is the rule not an exception. 6 months is right about time for the banking clan to co-opt the new leaders. Obama redux, perhaps? I shouldn’t be surprised at all as I never thought they would do anything other than kicking the can.
The banking clan didn’t have to “co-opt” Obama. He was theirs from the time George Soros plucked him out of obscurity to be our next President and a continuation of the Bush presidency.
http://www.businessinsider.com/greece-debt-negotiation-proposal-2015-2
For all it’s tough talk, the Troika looks set to fold as Greece’s new leaders know the ECB and EU will go to any lengths to keep the financial reckoning day at bay, as they know a GREXIT means “game over” for the whole Eurozone financial system.
Meh, Europistan will do anything to keep Greece in the fold at this point.
Will Greece ditch the euro for dollars?
What are the implications if thry do?
uncle fed should throw them a bone about now.
Oil’s limbo dance and the upside of Greece adopting the U.S. dollar
Published: Feb 10, 2015 9:03 a.m. ET
Critical intelligence before the U.S. market opens
Getty
By Shawn Langlois
Markets reporter
Citibank’s calling for oil to plunge to $20 a barrel?
If this analyst game of limbo lasts much longer, even the great Yogi Coudoux would have a tough time squeezing under that bar. When’s somebody on Wall Street going to predict free barrels for all?
In the meantime, we’ll have to wade through an environment in which oil continues to dominate the headlines. And it’s not so bad, really. There are plenty of reasons to be miserable out there, but when it comes to the state of the economy, it could be a lot worse.
In fact, the “misery index” — a summation of the rate of inflation and the rate of employment — is hovering at an eight-year low, and well below its 70-year average, according to Pragmatic Capitalism blogger Cullen Roche.
We don’t need this chart to tell us the early ’80s were miserable.
Roche says people have a tough time objectively viewing this kind of data, and instead get wrapped up in the ideology. “And this is the sort of thinking that has led to all sorts of bad predictions about QE, high inflation, the ‘fake’ stock market rally, rising interest rates, surging gold prices, etc.,” he wrote. “The truth is, maybe things aren’t so miserable after all?”
Unless something unexpected breaks, there probably won’t be too much to get miserable about today either. And if Greece would just adopt the U.S. dollar (see our call of the day), perhaps another area of concern for investors would be alleviated. Stocks are up so far.
…
Ditched For Dollars. Ditch houses. Ditch oil. Ditch everything.
Want to know why? Cuz you didn’t have any dollars in the first place.
Ditching For Dollars.
Rapacious oligarchs gotta rape. Apparently sodomizing US taxpayers wasn’t satiating enough for former IMF head DSK.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/dominique-strausskahn-pimping-trial-former-head-of-the-imf-expected-to-take-the-stand-10035324.html
The rutting chimpanzee!
On behalf of the Chimpanzee Anti-Defamation League (CADL), I strongly object to your comparison of these generally harmless simians to the creepshow DSK.
It’s different here.
“We don’t have a bubble.” Finance professor Fabio Gallo
Slowing economy stalls Brazil’s real estate growth
http://www.cctv-america.com/2015/01/20/slowing-economy-stalls-brazils-real-estate-growth
Gilson Porto began his career as a real estate agent seven years ago when Brazil’s property market was booming due to increasing wages and easier credit. But starting in 2013, business began to slow along with the country’s economy.
“A few years ago people would come into this office and ready to buy. Now they just come to ask prices, to look around. Those willing to lower their prices are getting to sell their property, but those who are not flexible are really not doing business,” Porto said.
According to real estate property index Fipe-Zap, housing prices rose steadily until 2011 to 26.32 percent. In 2012 and 2013, the market lost steam but still posted decent results, at 13.66 percent and 12.73 percent respectively. In 2014 it saw a sharp decline, and the 6.7 percent appreciation barely made up for inflation.
“All the uncertainties and poor prospects for the economy make people think twice before buying property, so this slows down the market. As a consequence, prices also went down. In 2015, I would be surprised if real estate prices drop in real terms, by rising less than inflation,” Fipe-Zap analyst Bruno Oliva said.
It’s a new year Lola. What are your $500 offers in 2015?
There has been surprisingly little comment on the weekend’s Malibu events. Expect this to now end.
I think we’re safe as long as her parole officer is notified.
new york post - wall street’s ‘no lose’ view of 2016
‘the early voting is in, and wall street loves what it sees and hears from its anointed 2016 front-runners — democrat hillary clinton and republican jeb bush.
the big-bank honchos feel they’re sitting pretty because, as one private-equity exec put it, ‘we’re in a no-lose situation’ if the above are the real field.
the bankers are right on one thing: for all their philosophical differences, both parties’ front runners are tied right to the wall street establishment.’
http://nypost.com/2015/02/08/wall-streets-no-lose-view-of-2016/
Here in Maryland we are noticing houses being priced initially on the market well below what is currently being listed. These $400-$450K houses which have been sitting all winter are now competing with fresh houses on the market for $350-$400K, and not too much is moving. I’m guessing there are 3 houses for sale for every 1 buyer, and the selling season, just like last year, will end in June. This really is going to be an interesting year.
Good observation and this confirms the data. MD list prices are down YoY.
Another quick observation: In the past when we went to open houses you’d see a beginner agent at the open house working for the listing agent, who was absent (since an experienced agent won’t sit around an empty house on a weekend, and would rather drive around with clients to purchase.)
This past weekend all three houses we went to had the listing agent present. All three really pushed the house instead of just sitting in the kitchen asking “any questions”?
In the kitchen when we looked at an outdated stove, without asking or prompting, she said “we can probably work out a new stove for you at closing”.
I’ve never seen such aggressiveness at an open house. It seems they know the prices are coming down and doing everything before the prices really tank.
and the selling season, just like last year, will end in June ??
Why is this ??
No interest, buyer pool evaporates. Remember. Housing demand is at 20 year lows and falling.
Only so many buyers out there, and in this community it is geared around kids and their school. Put in an offer in March/April, close in April/May. Kids are done with school and you spent the early summer moving.
Then you listen to the media, which here is WTOP (local ‘news’ station) tell everyone “Look at how great the spring RE numbers are! Now is a great time to buy”
By the time the 4th of July rolls around the selling slows to a crawl. Look at last years metrics. Sales were up March-June, flat July, down in August.
Well, school does not start until September right ?? Why would the market not last up to at least early August ??
It lasts year round. There just aren’t enough buyers among a sea of for sale signs.
If you want to be situated in the new house before school starts, you’ve got to close by early August at the latest. I’ve seen this in my neighborhood. Peak sales period ends in July.
Instead of a jail cell for his role in the housing bubble and financial crash of 2008, Larry Summers almost scored a job as Fed chief. Remind me again, Obama Zombies: how is Obama any different than Bush?
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/summers-was-promised-fed-job-axelrod-says-2015-02-10?link=MW_home_latest_news
They are different on the divisive issues we are allowed focus on so that we don’t pay attention to what screws everyone, red or blue.
+1
article for 2brony
‘gov. bruce rauner, the newly elected republican who has often criticized public sector unions, took his first step toward curbing their power on monday by announcing an executive order that would bar unions from requiring all state workers to pay the equivalent of dues.’
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/us/illinois-governor-bruce-rauner-acts-to-curb-power-of-public-sector-unions.html
Can goberners rule by executive orders? I suppose they can. Thanks Obama for showing the light.
Thanks Obama for showing the light ??
Just following the path that Bush blazed…Still far behind him to date…
How much is George Soros and Tom Steyer paying you for this?
Just stating the facts Dude…Don’t get your panties in a wade over the facts…
Will your pay be docked for misspelling panties in a wad?
No…But you got the message of it didn’t you even with the misspelling…
You gotta live in ILLANNOY to truly understand the circus that it is. This place is swirling the toilet and mayor Rahmmy and new guv Rauner (who by the way is a very good friend of his democ rat buddy Rahm) know it. by the way seems that new guv Rauner’s wife who also is a democ rat has a conflict of interest going on as she is a director of a state funded organization, something that in the past did not seem to cause a flinch in the eye of other holders of state office. We’ll see how this plays out - soon for me from a distance - that is if I can find my way out of hell…..
“Dante passes through the gate of Hell, which bears an inscription, the ninth (and final) line of which is the famous phrase “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate”, or “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”"
AP
Posted: 02/06/2015 8:31 am EST
WASHINGTON (AP) — A resurgent job market in January signaled that the U.S. economy is finally regaining the kind of strength typical of a healthy recovery — with hiring accelerating, wages rising and people who had given up their job hunts starting to look again.
——————————————————————————-
Staples threatens to fire employees who work more than 25 hours a week
Business Insider
By Ashley Lutz 16 hours ago
The company implemented the policy to avoid paying benefits under the Affordable Care Act, reports Sapna Maheshwari at Buzzfeed. The healthcare law mandates that workers with more than 30 hours a week receive healthcare.
If Staples doesn’t offer benefits, it could be fined $3,000 in penalties per person.
Buzzfeed spoke with several Staples workers who revealed their hours have been drastically cut over the past year. Many reported working as few as 20 hours.Â
The workers started a petition on Change.org asking the company not to “cut part-time hours because of Obamacare.”Â
“This new policy includes termination of GENERAL MANAGERS if employees ever go over 25 hours a week!” the petition reads. “This has lead to some bizarre stories of General Managers telling part-time employees to ‘leave now or be fired’ in the middle of transactions with customers.”Â
The petition has 200,000 signatures.Â
Staples is cutting costs and closing stores as sales continue to slump.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/staples-threatens-fire-employees-more-220445379.html
Staples stores are just TOO big today they have partitioned off a few stores here the last 3 years and are trying to sublease them
With free shipping on most products or orders over $50…I could see using a store in each area as a warehouse type deal…local deliveries and a small storefront.
Too bad Radio Shack never tried this, designate a store in each area with NO phones just parts.
Oi Amigos!
I hope everyone is still here and well. I’ve not checked up here much at all for months. I’m fine. It was a good break but I missed my fellow informed and opinionated gringos here. Thanks Ben!
Brazil Update:
Brazil is in the midst of a horrible 80- 100 year drought which is seriously driving up inflation in food and electricity. Commodity prices have been hammered, hammering Brazil’s exports and trade balance. The leftish-wing ruling party and Brazil’s crown jewel of industry, Petrobras, are embroiled in a corruption scandal so serious that it could take them both down.
My take?
Short Term: Bad. Everything including housing will take a hit. How big? IDK. Do I want to sell? No. Moving sucks and rents are high. We’ll just see what happens.
Long Term:
I think good for Brazil. This country only reacts for the positive when things get really bad. This is the first time in Brazilian’s lives that many corrupt top people in business and government WILL (imo) go to jail. This political scandal is just too big to cover up. Especially when international investors are involved. I told a friend that “if Brazil wants to play with the global big-boys, it’s going to have to be prepared to play by the big-boy’s rules which preclude the in-your-face type of corruption that Brazil is used to. And Brazilians are really getting pissed-off this time.
Infrastructure:
For whatever reason you care to believe in, the climate is changing and Brazil has to upgrade it’s water and power systems to reflect the change. Brazil needs to be more prepared for serious droughts and disruptions in it - and in fluctuating energy prices. Every country big in Agriculture needs to seriously rethink its irrigation systems and methods. Produce crops are down 40% in vast regions of Brazil right now because of lack of water and serious “abnormal” heat.
Economy:
Unlike the USA, Brazil has embraced Demand-Side economic promotion putting money and opportunity into the poorer side of the population. And it worked well up to now. However, there always needs to be a balance and it is time for Brazil to promote the Supply-Side for awhile too. Brazil needed 20 years of focusing on the poor but now that the poor have a lot more money than they did, it’s time for Brazil to concentrate on how to implement market reforms to promote business.
This opinion in no way refutes my opinion that USA’s total Supply-Side embrace has mostly failed the American Middle-Class. It has. Because USA embraced Supply-Side to the fullest whereas Brazil has not even come close. It’s time for the USA to concentrate on the Demand-Side whereas Brazil needs to slowly implement more Supply-Side policies. There is nothing conflicting about this opinion because we are comparing apples and oranges comparing Brazil to the USA.
Healthy capitalism is not reached by an oligarchy, or plutocracy nor a command economy ruled by the top, nor is it a free-for-all where the market alone will sort everything out.
Healthy capitalism is more like a garden to be managed with the goal of balancing the Supply with the Demand side.
How about discussing your east coast locale Lola.
Data only please. No editorializing.
Interesting…Thanks Rio…
“Healthy capitalism is not reached by an oligarchy, or plutocracy nor a command economy ruled by the top,”
It’s not?
Senator’s husband stands to profit big from government deal
By Richard Johnson
January 16, 2015 | 5:48pm
Ever wonder how lowly paid lawmakers leave office filthy rich?
Sen. Dianne Feinstein is showing how it’s done.
The US Postal Service plans to sell 56 buildings — so it can lease space more expensively — and the real estate company of the California senator’s husband, Richard Blum, is set to pocket about $1 billion in commissions.
Blum’s company, CBRE, was selected in March 2011 as the sole real estate agent on sales expected to fetch $19 billion. Most voters didn’t notice that Blum is a member of CBRE’s board and served as chairman from 2001 to 2014.
This feat of federal spousal support was ignored by the media after Feinstein’s office said the senator, whose wealth is pegged at $70 million, had nothing to do with the USPS decisions.
pagesix.com/2015/01/16/senators-husband-stands-to-profit-from-government-deal/ - 125k -
If you like your crony capitalism, you can keep your crony capitalism.
“It’s time for the USA to concentrate on the Demand-Side”
I couldn’t agree more! I’m an old school Keynesian who thinks the US economy is sluggish for the same reason, too much supply side and a shortage of aggregate demand. Instead of spending $1 Tril plus destroying the infrastructures of other nations we’d do a lot better if we spent $1 Tril on upgrading and rehabilitating our own infrastructure.
Another $1 trillion for Solyndra? Ain’t gonna happen under this Congress
Maybe they could make solar powered tanks and Humvees?
End the borrowing and you’ll get your wish.
US Senator Demands A Federal Reserve Bailout Of Greece
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 02/09/2015 21:57 -0500
It should hardly come as a surprise when a hard-core US socialist comes out with demands that his socialist peers in Greece be bailed out by none other than the Federal Reserve: in fact, it does show why while so many quasi-socialists hate when the Fed bails out the “loathsome” banks, they love when the Fed bails out everyone else. And yes, socialists are known to demand for bailouts - in fact the more often, and the more frequently, the better .
And yet, perhaps in asking for a Federal Reserve bailout of Greece, everyone’s favorite Vermont socialist does make some sense: after all if the Fed is bailing out European banks, and just European banks, on an ad hoc basis, and usually quite well hidden (see for example: “How The Fed’s Latest QE Is Just Another European Bailout”), does it really matter if the Fed spends what amounts to one daily POMO amount to save some 11 million Greeks?
In retrospect it may be the most “social” thing the Fed will have ever done.
http://www.zerohedge.com/…/2015-02-09/us-senator-demands-federal-reserve-bailout-greece - 162k -
I have said it before and will do again.
Don’t discount uncle Yelling bailing out Greece.
LOL…this country is a fooking joke!
Don’t discount uncle Yelling bailing out Greece ??
Seriously ?? Why would we ?? Germany is fully capable…The question is, are they willing ?? I say yes, but only after they extract as much as they can out of a deal with Greece…
Old Yellen won’t bail out Greece. She’ll bail out the banksters who lent money to Greece. The ordinary people will still be screwed.
Senator Sanders wrote a letter to Janet Yellen asking her to tell the ECB that the US and the Fed object to actions that risk global financial disability. This is called a request for a bailout. It’s another great day for Zero Hedge.
Comment by phony scandals
2015-02-10 08:12:15
US Senator Demands A Federal Reserve Bailout Of Greece
zerohedge.com/news/2015-02-09/us-senator-demands-federal-reserve-bailout-greece
twofer tuesday
washington times - obama outrages by calling 4 jewish victims of paris terror ‘a bunch of folks’ shot randomly
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/10/obama-outrages-by-calling-4-jewish-victims-of-pari/
breitbart dot com - obama calls terror attack on paris jews ‘random’ shooting
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/02/09/obama-calls-terror-attack-on-paris-jews-random-shooting/
america are you gonna let obama get away with this?
i’ll say it once and only one time today:
america needs another trillion dollar war, anybody who disrespects bibi by not throwing money at him enthusiastically enough should be dragged out the capitol building, locked in a cage and set on fire, when god created israel, he didn’t create it so some muslim half-breed could get elected usa president and diss all over israel, we need a war in iraq, we need a war in iran, we need a war in syria, and we need all of those wars five minutes ago
regards,
boots on the ground
I predict - and I don’t often do this becauase predicting is for pagans with their tarot cards and crystal balls - BUT this matter is only going to get worse. Satayana was correct - those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it and I fear that this clown in the WH has never picked up a book on the history of the Ottomans, the Bolsheviks, the predawn of WW1 or WW2. Wanna see where this is headed suggest you all spend a couple of months and read a small 1,000 page tome by a man named William Shirer called “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”. We have a Neville Chamberlain in the WH - weak appeaser reincarnate!!
Time for plan B and C me thinks.
If one of those ISIS knocks on my front door they’re gonna get alot more than a knuckle sandwich
No more mister nice guy, we got your back, Bibi
So Mr. Boots missed one then. We need a war with Russia as well. Is that it?
A war with Russia would certainly help reduce our shadow inventory of housing … of course it would also reduce the buyer pool, then again all those cool hipsters that love to live downtown (where Russkie nukes are aimed) so they can be near all the cool restaurants, bars, tattoo parlors and MJ stores were never going to buy a house anyway.
kiss Miami housing market, NYC and Chicago North Shore housing good bye should Russia go under otrauma’s knife.
Have the effects of the Swiss franc revaluation finished washing through the global financial system?
Outside the Box
Opinion: This single currency move pressures the entire eurozone
Published: Feb 10, 2015 6:01 a.m. ET
Swiss National Bank rattles central banks and economies
Shutterstock/Natali Glado
By Satyajit Das
The decision of the Swiss National Bank to abandon a fixed value of the Swiss franc against the euro and its after-effects foreshadows the end of central bank activism.
For Switzerland, if the currency continues to strengthen and remains overvalued, then the real economy effects will be significant.
As a relatively open economy, a strong franc (USDCHF, +0.10%) will affect its competitive position. Swiss exporters will be adversely affected, impacting revenues and investment decisions. Inbound tourism will be negatively affected. A stronger franc, especially against the euro (EURUSD, -0.12%), may reduce Swiss growth by between 0.5% and 1%.
That said, many Swiss firms import commodities which will be cheaper. Other Swiss companies will be unaffected, having relocated manufacturing overseas because of high local costs.
A more serious problem will be externally induced deflationary forces, which will affect the Swiss economy through the stronger currency. It will accelerate deflationary pressures, expected to reach as much as negative 2% to 3%. This will create problems for both asset prices and the increased levels of debt.
The Swiss are already being forced to contemplate measures such as capital inflow controls to minimize further pressure on the currency.
But the biggest ramifications of the abandonment of the ceiling will be felt outside Switzerland.
First, the move opens a new front in the currency wars.
…
Second, the Swiss now have drawn attention to the ability of central banks to intervene in and control market prices.
…
Third, the Swiss move foreshadows potential volatility if and when central bank activism ends or disappointed markets cease to rely on it.
Markets are edging closer to a crucial moment. Ultra-low interest rates and quantitative easing have been ineffective in restarting growth and inflation. Instead, they have created asset price bubbles and distorted markets. If current policies are discontinued or central banks are forced to change policy because of increasing costs and risk, then major instability across financial markets may result. The events around the franc may be a harbinger of sharply higher volatility to come.
Satyajit Das is a former banker and author of “Extreme Money” and “Traders, Guns & Money.”
Myrtle Beach Flea Market closing for good at the end of the month
“It’s run its course,” Lee said. “I’ve lost my butt here in the last five years. I lost my life savings and everything I made here in the six or eight years it was good.”
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2015/02/08/4777509_myrtle-beach-flea-market-closing.html
Picked up a Colombia jacket for $7 at a local flea market. More people showing up liquidating their stuff and some good deals to be had. Always seems kind of like a thieve’s market, though.
America you were warned about Obama forcing us into Sharia law gay marriages, but you didn’t listen
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-02-09/alabama-judge-who-called-gay-marriage-the-ultimate-destruction-rejects-radical-label
Our next president will be a Republican, and he needs to make Judge Roy Moore the first Secretary of Pure Thoughts, anybody who disobeys Leviticus should just be locked in a cage and set on fire
Our next president will be exactly the same as the past two.
To mimic Real J’s (where are you?) meme on Regions checking in - Region V - checking in - things are VERY miserable here - contrary to the nonsense in the attached. I wonder where these sorts of data come from - the galaxy maybe? For those of us on terra firma in realinda me thinks that things continue to be pretty miserable….
read on peeps….
http://www.pragcap.com/the-misery-index-falls-to-an-8-year-low
Instead of sitting there and complaining, why don’t you move north into Scott Walker’s capitalist utopia Wisconsin?
Yeah, Wisconsin ranks #5 among highest tax burden of the 50 states. Walker has also implemented strong anti-union policies. So, in Wisconsin, the middle class has a lower income plus the state takes more of it. Such a deal.
Those sweet privatization contracts don’t pay for themselves.
https://www.dollarvigilante.com/blog/2015/2/9/tsa-demands-internal-passport-for-domestic-travel.html
[The following post is by TDV Contributor, Wendy McElroy]
Precedents exist for requiring citizens to produce special ID for domestic travel; they include Nazi Germany, apartheid South Africa and Russia (both Imperial and Soviet).
Over the Christmas season, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) quietly announced that America was walking down that path. By 2016, all domestic air travel will require either a traditional passport or a federally-compliant ID card called “Real ID.” State driver’s licenses will no longer allow Americans access to domestic flights, as they do now. Real ID will constitute an internal passport. (The drop-date date is commonly reported as January.)
An internal passport refers to an identity document that people must produce to move from place to place within national borders. It allows a government to monitor the movement of its own people and to control that movement by granting or denying ID. In the past, governments have used internal passports to isolate ‘undesirables’, to regulate economic opportunities, to reap personal data, to intimidate and command obedience, and to segregate categories of people (like Jews) for political purposes. It allows a government to bind anyone it chooses to his or her place of birth.
The upcoming Real ID requirement targets only air travel. But that’s how it begins – with airports.
After people became numb to years of ID demands, questioning and searches at airports, those tactics spread to train stations and subways. Then highway check-points were established in areas that lay within 100 miles from an “external boundary,” including coasts. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents now have the authority to stop a traveller if they have “reasonable suspicion” of an immigration violation or other crime. Although the agents do not currently have authority to demand ID from American citizens, they often do so.
The ACLU has repeatedly cautioned that “[i]n practice, Border Patrol agents routinely ignore or misunderstand the limits of their legal authority in the course of individual stops, resulting in violations of the constitutional rights of innocent people….These problems are compounded by…the consistent failure of CBP to hold agents accountable for abuse. Thus, although the 100-mile border zone is not literally ‘Constitution free’, the U.S. government frequently acts like it is.”
Given how we can’t stop the Mexodus from reaching the four corners of the nation, requiring a “national id” to travel is risible at best. Sure, you won’t be able to get on an airplane without one, but there are other ways to get around. Ask Jose the strawberry picker.
Al Sharpton will be all over this one…next slippery slope will be Voter ID…
Over the Christmas season, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) quietly announced that America was walking down that path. By 2016, all domestic air travel will require either a traditional passport or a federally-compliant ID card called “Real ID.” State driver’s licenses will no longer allow Americans access to domestic flights, as they do now. Real ID will constitute an internal passport.
Somebody posted something about this last week. According to that article, most driver’s licenses meet the Real ID standards. However, 20% - 30% of the US population lives in states whose licenses do not meet those standards. I’ll repeat my statement from last week. This regulation would seriously annoy a noteworthy portion of the population, as well as the airline industry and the tourist industry. It’s highly unlikely that such a regulation will come into effect less than a year form now.
I had mentioned it, seems unavoidable at this point. I just missed getting a RealID drivers’ license (started in November here in Nevada).
Now it seems I’ll have to go get a yellow star branded (actually a clear star within a yellow circle) new DL for eight bucks to be ready if I have to get back to the east coast quickly.
Do you remember the movie Network where the guy says “I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore”
http://mobile.wnd.com/2015/02/confirmed-american-woman-killed-by-isis/
I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore, I didn’t vote for a monkey going reckless in words and deeds in a tropical forest, I voted for John McCain and Jim Inhofe and Scott Walker to step up and give America the real leadership we need
http://youtu.be/CJUSMYhf-JI
That’s not funny (and his hair and makeup look gay)
This song is better, listen and learn:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p7VQVzMR4Rs
That’s the beauty of it. Even you hate it.
“No one makes a really good offensive song the way the Fugs did. Even today try singing the words out loud on a bus or on a subway. But in 1965 -1966 … wow!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUCjORJhQZQ
This is America’s Neville Chamberlain moment
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/02/10/family-us-aid-worker-isis-captive-kayla-mueller-confirms-her-death/
If we do not take out ISIS for once and for all, it’s gonna be kristallnacht on the streets of Jerusalem
I didn’t vote for a monkey going reckless in words and deeds in a tropical forest, I voted for John McCain and Jim Inhofe and Scott Walker to step up and give America the real leadership we need
You forgot the /sarc tag…right? Please tell me you’re not serious.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-and-microsoft—300-billion-is-cash-just-isn-t-enough-130410413.html
The real message from Apple and Microsoft is that artificially low rates have perverted the markets in weird ways that will take generations to unlock. Issuing debt to buy back equity doesn’t actually create value. It’s just restructuring. It’s like moving your wallet from your right pocket to your left. You feel heavier on one side and lighter on the other, but on the whole you weigh the same.
It’s not stimulative to make it easier for the rich to stock pile cash, but that’s what we’re continuing to do six years into the financial crisis. The bankers are getting paid, and you can too, as long as you’re willing to take .4% a year denominated in Swiss francs.
Remember, due to complex structuring to avoid US tax, a lot of the cash held by Apple and Microsoft is held in ways that they can’t utilize for buybacks unless they first bring it home and pay the 30% piper. It is far cheaper for them to borrow the money in the US than to pay the tax.
Listen to the Google earnings call. When asked about the potential “tax holiday” that would allow Google to repatriate dollars, the CFO basically said “please make it happen”. It would add a lot of flexibility to what Google could do with the money (including buying back stock–unspoken).
So, if what you are doing is borrowing money that you never intend to repay in order to buy back stock, I agree, it’s just shifting money around. However, if are using debt to buy stock, with the intention to pay back that debt the instant you can free up the cash due to some “tax holiday”, it’s just a timing thing as compared to using cash to buy back stock.
Issuing debt to buy back equity doesn’t actually create value….. It’s like moving your wallet from your right pocket to your left CEO’s pocket.
Is Hillary at the Wash & Brush Up Co. getting the Scarecrow-Dorothy treatment?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkeNEvwq7A0 - 444k -
I read the comments at the bottom of the articles that the Drudge Report links to, I know the real truth about Hillary Clinton
And Jeb Bush is such a sellout those two may as well be running mates
I want Ted Cruz for President, Scott Walker for Vice President, Lindsey Graham for Secretary of Defense, and Mike Huckabee as Ambassador to Israel
I want Ted Cruz for President, Scott Walker for Vice President, Lindsey Graham for Secretary of Defense, and Mike Huckabee as Ambassador to Israel ??
Sounds like a statement from one of these CEO’s;
United States Lockheed Martin 36,270
United States Boeing 31,830
United Kingdom BAE Systems 29,150
United States General Dynamics 23,760
United States Raytheon 22,470
United States Northrop Grumman
Does “sc”dave stand for Scaredy Cat?
America has had enough of this pacifist bullpoop going back fifty years to that liberal propaganda TV commercial with the little girl plucking petals off a daisy and nukes going off in the background
This time, we’re taking the gloves off, and it ain’t gonna be pretty
This time, we’re taking the gloves off, and it ain’t gonna be pretty
In which case, asset bubbles will be the least of our worries.
“and it ain’t gonna be pretty”
Absolutely Massive Explosion in Ukraine - few moments … - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chD7uFjsfH0 - 204k - Cached - Similar pages
1 day ago .
Does “sc”dave stand for Scaredy Cat ??
Yes it does…Lost enough family members to war…Not interested in losing anymore…
In which case, asset bubbles will be the least of our worries ??
+1 Colorado….Many here talk with a paper a$$…Real tough guys…
Fed mobilizes against Rand Paul’s audit legislation
Paul’s bill would undo the exemption that shields monetary policy from GAO audits
by Joseph Lawler | Washington Examiner | February 10, 2015
The Federal Reserve is mobilizing against Sen. Rand Paul’s increasingly popular effort to audit the central bank.
“This is about interfering with the making of monetary policy. I respect the gentleman from Kentucky, but he’s wrong,” said Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher on Fox Business Monday evening.
“We are audited out the wazoo.”
Fisher was one of several Fed officials to speak out Monday against Paul’s bill to have the Government Accountability Office audit the Fed’s monetary policy deliberations and report to Congress.
In a separate appearance on Fox Business, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser said the Fed audit is “scary” because it would mean that “you are going to have political interference in the short term to try to influence and shape policy decisions” that should be left to the independent central bank.
Read more
Rand Paul had better watch it, or he might wrap his car around a tree.
Oh look, here comes the Colorado rockstar
If you’re not too busy spinning yarns about life in Mexico City in the 1970’s maybe you can read some of the links I posted and learn about how dangerous an isolationist foreign policy is
And maybe Rand Paul needs to spend some more time in his home state, specifically at the Creation Museum in Northern Kentucky, and put down all the Murray Rothbard propaganda that nobody cares about
That’s Dr. Murray Rothbard, buddy.
If you’re not too busy spinning yarns about life in Mexico City in the 1970’s
El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz.
Shrinkez vous el sizo de los government que vous drownez ce en los bathtub, rockstar
The rest of us will press 1 for English
The rest of us will press 1 for English
Soon it will be “Oprima dos para ingles!”
Isolationism dangerous? When was the last time Switzerland was invaded?
The US bombed Zurich in WWI.
This is some liberal media nonsense about how Abraham Foxman hates Israel because he doesn’t want Bibi to speak to Congress
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/6636420
Sorry Abraham Foxman, not only are you a traitor against your own people, but you don’t get to tell Congress what to do, only Bibi tells Congress what to do
Thieves are taking hybrid car batteries
A highly-charged crime spree of sorts has erupted in Queens, and the ill-gotten goods being taken have been some of the most unusual in recent memory.
As CBS2’s Scott Rapoport reported, it amounts to the latest wrinkle in smash and grab car thefts. Police said thieves are stealing 50-pound hybrid car batteries of all things — right from under the trunks.
The NYPD said 14 incidents have been reported citywide since November of last year. Twelve of them happened in the 108th Police Precinct, which includes Long Island City, Sunnyside and Woodside in Queens.
In each of those cases, the cars were Toyota Camrys. The overwhelming majority, police said, were yellow cabs.
http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/2015/02/thieves-are-taking-hybrid-car-batteries.html
No doubt it is cabbies tring to keep their Prii running. Welcome to third-world USofA!
Maybe hybrid owners should bring the battery inside and put it underneath their pillow at night.
CraterRage® Photo Of The Day
http://goo.gl/dIbKIm
That hurts my feelings.
KrayTor
Good thing you posted before I REALLY got ENRAGED!!!!
Boots is en fuego today!!! you go!!!
Region XI checking in
Obama to send his new war powers request to Capitol Hill
Posted: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 10:37 am
Associated Press | 0 comments
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House was ready to share with lawmakers Tuesday its plan to seek authority for the use of military force against the Islamic State group, setting up the first war vote in Congress in 13 years.
http://www.cachevalleydaily.com/…/article_b37419df-d021-5ffc-adbb-74cf8302ddf9.html -
And so it begins
Ground, meet boots. Boots, meet ground. You will be spending alot of time together…
And a draft won’t be necessary. Thank Heaven for Lucky Duckies.
Didn’t our transparent negro say, “No American boots on the ground?”
ObamWhore says anything irrespective of the truth. Remember the Freudian slip “were an empire now”? That was 12 years ago.
Rio! We’ll need a bicycle drive-by verification soon.
Also, I just played Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. That Favela mission is crazy.
Anyone who couldn’t see that Elizabeth “Fauxahantus” Warren is a low fraud after her fabricated claims of Native American ancestry to get minority scholarships, should see how she flew to the defense of the Fed.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-02-10/warren-opposes-congressional-meddling-audit-fed-bill
Everyone Must Check In