Bits Bucket for March 6, 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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bunga bunga
Sacramento Foothills Market Report
The SFR house rental market has tightened a lot since December. Available rental inventory is down about 50% from 4 months ago. Prices are up 2-3% after being flat for about 2 years.
The Burrito Index is layered with hot sauce as the restaurants are increasingly busier with longer wait times increasing. I could not even get into Jack’s Urban Eats the other days and still get back to work on time.
Traffic patterns are jamming up earlier and lasting longer.
The recovery is solid and growing. Hubba hubba.
Jingle_Fraud,
Remember…. A housing ‘recovery’ is falling prices to dramatically and more affordable levels by definition.
Housing Demand Plummets YoY In 55 Of 58 California Counties
http://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public/County/County_Turnover_AllHomes.csv
Only 3 counties posted a gain in housing demand. The average of the median sale prices in those three counties was 60% less than the statewide median sale price.This explains why inventory is massive and growing and sellers are slashing list prices across the state.
There’s a whole lot more slashing to come.
“The recovery is solid and growing.”
This message sponsored by the National Association of Realtors
How’s the fraud index?
off the charts
The Burrito Index is layered with hot sauce as the restaurants are increasingly busier with longer wait times increasing. I could not even get into Jack’s Urban Eats the other days and still get back to work on time.
Did CapitalOne increase everyone’s credit limit?
“Always, ALWAYS pay off debt and shore up yer cash in GOOD times.”
Sage advice I’ve heard and adhere to.
Texas added 20,100 jobs in January, the oil industry lost 3,400 jobs.
http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2015/03/texas-added-20100-jobs-in-january-the-oil-industry-lost-3400-jobs.html/
I’ll see your 20,100 and raise you 47,200. California adds 67,300 in January. Not bad for an overregulated overtaxed blue state, eh?
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-california-jobs-20150306-story.html
As Cuban said Internet bubble. Which state is going to get devastated when it bursts?
I love CA. I’d live there now but am here in TX to be close to family. That being said, my inlaws are thinking of moving from CA to TX once they retire….I think just talk at this point, but who knows,
I guess there’s always been some competition between these 2 states due to geography, some similar industries, etc.
People with ’state pride’ shouldn’t be trusted imho.
There has been discussion of the impact of the decline in oil prices will have on various economies. The decline will certainly be felt in some places. Dallas has an energy sector but is also highly diversified. Houston will likely feel a larger impact than Dallas.
The greater Seattle area will take a big hit from this. Which won’t necessarily be a bad thing for those wanting an affordable house. Local governments will be hammered budget-wise, however, in multiple ways (loss of business and personal property taxes).
Portland as well. Frankly, I welcome it. Alotta bloat here.
Region VIII
“The average price of a home in metro Denver increased to $390,067 in February, up from $326,958 in February 2014.
The increase of 19 percent year-over-year includes both single-family houses and condominiums, according to the latest data from the Denver Metro Association of Realtors.
Demand in all price segments remains high, with millennials in particular entering the market, DMAR said. Interest rates hovering near March 2013 lows are also keeping buyers in the market.
“As year-over-year housing prices continue to increase, home affordability is going to become a greater issue as the entry point for first-time buyers grows higher and higher,” said Anthony Rael, chairman of DMAR’s Market Trends Committee.
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/real_deals/2015/03/average-home-price-in-metrodenver-tops-390k.html
HA’s analysis:
Region VIII is CRATERING. HA!
Collapsing Demand Jingle_Fraud. Your empty wallet has blinded you.
If those $390,000 houses are such a good deal, you should fly here today and buy several of them
You only say that because you don’t live in Highlands Ranch
When you consider the geographical stretching to re-brand unhip neighborhoods, you could say I live in North Highlands Ranch, Northwest Cherry Hills, West Washington Park, Southwest Cherry Creek, South Capitol Hill, Southeast LoDo, or East Lower Highlands
Add…Highlands Ranch Heights
I got momentary dyslexia and thought I saw the word “Detroit” instead of Denver…
Speaking of Detroit:
http://www.iraqinews.com/features/u-s-district-judge-shot-in-detroit-in-robbery-attempt/
Have those idiots in the DMAR looked at Core logics real estate for sale map lately? The little green houses are really stating to litter the landscape especially at the high end.
Certain high-profile economists have noted that “Economics is not a morality play.” That’s a red herring. Rewarding destructive behavior guarantees you’ll get more of it.
No Wall Streeters have gone to jail for their actions (unlike the Savings and Loan crisis). In fact they’ve received explicit protection from top government officials (e.g. Lanny Breuer, Eric Holder).
The system which imploded has not changed but for window dressing. The core fact of government insuring private debt and the ability of lenders to shed repayment risk enable the perverse incentives of generating bad debt. Dodd Frank was an exercise in running in circles and generating pointless regulation, which, when it interfered with crony businesses, was defanged.
The saying is, “The business of America is business.” I think it ought to be “The business of America is long term peace and prosperity.” Of which business is a primary component to support that goal, but not the end goal. Because that leads to CEO worship and oligarchy and regulatory capture.
I think the expression “economics is not a morality play” is used mostly by those who favor debt restructuring or forgiveness, not by those who favor letting top financial people off the hook for crimes committed.
I’ve seen it to say that doing bad things can yield good results for the economy. If you google the term “economics is not a morality play” and click on Krugman’s column, you’ll see what he’s talking about - namely that WWII had good economic benefits.
The point is, this is taken as cover to do whatever the PTB considers beneficial, regardless of how eyebrow raising it is. Things like blowing bubbles and rewarding people who’ve engineered financial collapse.
“Beyond the power at stake, macroeconomic policy has undeniable moral dimensions which, as Mr Waldman reminds us, limit what is politically possible. Monetary and fiscal policy have real distributive consequences, not all of them fair. It may be wise, all things considered, to accept that some distributive injustice is the price of policies that are best for the larger economy and for overall well-being. It is wrong, though, to deny that inflation hurts savers relative to debtors, and it is wrong to deny there is a moral dimension to financial prudence and profligacy. It is wrong to deny that TARP added up to a scheme of private profits and socialised losses, and it is wrong to deny that this is morally repellent. It is best to acknowledge that in economic emergencies, some people are going to get shafted in the rescue operation, and some people are going to get an entirely undeserved windfall. As Mr Waldman rightly suggests, prevailing moral sentiments are less likely to rule out efficient policy when policymakers acknowledge and address the legitimate moral concerns of the public. ”
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/11/limits_technocracy
tl;dr: A society which repeatedly rewards stupid and destructive acts with more and more government largesse is going to get more of those acts.
“The business of America is long term peace and prosperity.”
“long term peace and prosperity” = endlessly kicking the can down the road.
Endlessly, endlessly kicking the can down the road, a road that will never, ever end.
A Miracle Road.
“…a road that will never, ever end.”
All roads end up in Israel.
Brand new article on the World Net Daily website titled ‘Iran plotting fresh offensive on Israel’s northern border’
I guess it’s time to ‘rally the base’ and ‘lower taxes’ and ’shrink government’ by launching World War III
That calls for a correction:
“The saying is, ‘The business of America is business.’ I think it ought to be ‘The business of America is long term
peacewar on brown people with oil and prosperity for defense contractor CEOs.’ Of whichbusinessborrowed *poof* money to feed said contractor CEO’s isathe primarycomponent to support that goal, not theend goal.’ ”FIFY neuromance.
The business of America is long term peace war on brown people with oil and prosperity for defense contractor CEOs
Sounds like we need to join with Great Britain and restart the war against the Fuzzy Wussies in Sudan, they meet all the criteria.
And while you weren’t looking, Ebola is over (it served its purpose to “rally the base” in the 2014 elections)
“Liberia’s last Ebola patient was discharged on Thursday after a ceremony in the capital, Monrovia, bringing to zero the number of known cases in the country and marking a milestone in West Africa’s battle against the disease.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/06/world/africa/last-ebola-patient-in-liberia-beatrice-yardolo-discharged-from-treatment.html?_r=0
This is incredible news!
Let’s hope the Liberians continue to use those medical facilities, courtesy US military and “King Obama,” to treat patients for other ailments.
It’s all fun and games until someone eats a fruit bat.
Links at top left of Drudge Report (what happened to Bibi? is Bibi over now too?)
Hillary won’t take questions — at event honoring journalism…
Drama over e-mail intensifies…
‘Suddenly weaker candidate’…
Committee: ‘Scheme To Conceal’…
Violated ‘clear-cut’ State Dept. rules…
Clinton Internal Cable Banned Use!
Team Evaded Records With Instant Message…
Review of stash to take ’several months’…
FLASHBACK: Hillary Bashes Bush Officials for Secret Email…
FOURNIER: ‘It’s a shameless script’…
Also note that when you type “Clinton associates” into a Google search field it auto-populates with “Clinton associates who died”
maybe bibi isn’t over yet, here weekly standard editor william kristol (net worth $200,000,000) discusses american foreign policy and israel
http://m.weeklystandard.com/articles/speaking-israel-and-america_876788.html
the ‘war on terror’ has cost over $1.6 trillion so far, and it made william kristol rich
american taxpayers and voters you are being played for suckers and fools
Still an example of the plutocrats and oligarchs calling the shots for “both sides” and making sure the rollover on shamnesty gets ignored.
Until we can view this less filling, tastes great stuff being fed to us with all the emotional investment of a 2pm weekday Australian rules football match between teams from two places you’ve never heard of on ESPN 8 (”the Ocho”), they are winning.
Does it feel like currency is being printed up and then loaned out @ 20% interest? Then when you cant pay they come after your assets? Magically turning paper into a lien on your stuff.
Chapter 7 baby
They’re already after you, huh debtor boy?
The neo-con’s true President, Bibi Netanyahu, confidently predicted in 2002 that if we took out Saddam, it would have “enormous positive reverberations on the region.” Hmm, I’m just not seeing it…help me out, John McCain, or maybe one of the idiots who voted for you in ‘08 can explain it to me.
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2015/03/04/benjamin-netanyahu-in-2002-if-you-take-out-saddam-i-guarantee-it-will-have-enormous-positive-reverberations-on-the-region/
Put a $600,000,000,000 a year war machine in the hands of a Congress and President elected by people who believe the Earth is 6,000 years old, and this is what you get
P.S. the Earth is not 6,000 years old
At this point, does it even matter?
The correct syntax is “At this point, what different does it make?”
If you got it, at this point … What difference does it make?
And Obama has differed how?
John McCain will be 80 years old in 2016. 80 yrs old.
Require a mandatory draft of all fighting age Arizonans and South Carolinians the next time John McCain and Lindsey Graham get us into another war, and I guarantee you those two will be gone in the next election.
Scott Walker cut taxes and shrank government in Wisconsin
Scott Walker also wants American “boots on the ground” in Syria
Now that’s what I call “small government”
F*ing neocon hypocrites and liars
OH OH sharpton will claim its racist to give deferments to kids in college……
Will you be one of the white kids suddenly interested in higher education?
The neo-con’s true President, Bibi Netanyahu, confidently predicted in 2002 that if we took out Saddam, it would have “enormous positive reverberations on the region.”
The State department let Osama bin Laden escape from Tora Bora into Pakistan rather than finish him off then and there. This kept American forces in the region and allowed for the troop build-up prior to invading Iraq. Queue regime change and nation building.
Wasn’t Colin Powell Secretary of State at that time?
“Wasn’t Colin Powell Secretary of State at that time?”
You mean Colin “yellow cake” Powell?
Another greatest hits moment in the history of ’small government’
But hey, at least it resulted in ‘taking America back’ and ‘restoring our future’ and it only cost $1.6+ trillion dollars to do it
Was it the State Department or the Department of Defense? The Secretary of Defense at the time was Donald Rumsfeld.
To Bibi, hundreds of thousands of dead arabs is an enormous positive repercussion.
Irony, personified.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-06/alan-greenspan-warns-stocks-are-without-doubt-extremely-overvalued
warmist warming friday
this link from breitbart titled ‘climate change alarmists can’t win by shooting the messenger’
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/05/following-the-right-scent-on-climate/
Hillary’s campaign trail (political cartoon).
http://www.theburningplatform.com/2015/03/06/the-campaign-trail/
Friday jobs report: 295,000 new jobs created
275,000 of which are $12/hour at 25 hours a week
We have gone from being a nation of realtors during the bubble to a nation of waiters, we will all own a living by serving meals to each other:
In February, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 3 cents to
$24.78. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.0 percent. In February, average hourly
earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees were unchanged at $20.80. (See
tables B-3 and B-8.)
earn not own.
BTW, seeing a lot of garbage about fracking in the media. The whole “companies are not fracking their wells” is not the whole story. Well financed companies in the fields are certainly slowing down their completions. However, most companies in the space have to complete wells for the cash flow. In the Bakken oil area, you initially saw a slow down in completions in the Fall which actually slowed oil production. However, it was due to a regulatory change which required less flaring on natural gas not due to an attempt to wait for higher prices, In December 25 more wells were completed than drilled. That was when the number of drilling rigs was in the 180s now we are down to about 114 drilling rigs. After a brief slowdown in completions which only lasted for a few days, the overall completion rate, judging by North Dakota state figures, is the same as when 180+ rigs were drilling. We are working off the large backlog of about 750 wells quite fast now. The oil production figures will fall when completions slow down not when drilling slows down but that will occur as a natural development of having less wells to frac. Only a matter of weeks or at most a few months. The three thousand total well backlog quoted by the media sounds to be a reasonable estimate based on data a few months ago, it is lower now.
BTW, by reporting a large increase in jobs and the numbers are suspect, since it may be a number of people forced to get a second job due to low wages, they cause the dollar to surge which just causes problems for the companies that export and actually pay decent wages.
An example on why the small producers that dominate fracking at least for now cannot delay fracking a well and getting the cash flow:
(Bloomberg) — A Colorado oil producer is giving debt investors a lesson in the risks of lending to companies that staked their future on the U.S. shale boom.
Less than seven months after raising $175 million in a junk-bond offering, American Eagle Energy Corp. said Monday that it wouldn’t make its first interest payment on the debt. Instead, it hired two advisers — Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. and Seaport Global Holdings LLC — to negotiate with bondholders on a plan to restructure its debt, according to three people with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be named because the matter is private. The holders of the notes are left to consider how to maximize recovery of their investment, either by giving the company more time to try to become profitable or by pushing it into default.
With the price of U.S. crude down 52 percent since July, American Eagle and other small energy producers with significant debt loads are struggling to service obligations to creditors who were willing to lend them money just a few months ago. The energy sector represents about 14 percent of the high-yield bond market, and analysts expect defaults to increase this year as more companies are forced to scale back operations and record losses on oil reserves previously valued at much higher prices.
Bonds Fall
The company’s “small scale and relatively high drilling costs made it the one of the first victims of the drop in energy prices,” said Spencer Cutter, a credit analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “It was also unfortunate that oil prices dropped so much soon after the bond was issued, causing it to skip its first-ever interest on the debt.”
American Eagle Energy’s first-lien bonds, which are secured by its assets, fell 10.25 cents to 31.75 cents on the dollar at 4:23 p.m. in New York, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. They traded at par in September.
The oil and gas producer, which operates in North Dakota’s Bakken shale, has 30 days to make the $9.8 million interest payment before triggering a default on the 11 percent bonds due September 2019.
American Eagle Energy’s shares have lost 96 percent since the bonds were issued in mid-August, closing at 20 cents in New York.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-rig-count-plummets-lowest-180300953.html
Applebee’s has the demand to create this supply?
Generations of broke @ss loosers
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-05/parents-risk-retirement-to-support-millennial-kids
No “pent-up demand” for $500,000 starter homes here
Not today, not tomorrow, not ever
EVER
But…but….but….The DMAR says it ain’t so.
After years of misery in Syria, the starting point is forgotten:
‘Military pressure may be needed to oust Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in Saudi Arabia on Thursday. “He’s lost any semblance of legitimacy, but we have no higher priority than disrupting and defeating Daesh and other terror networks”, he told reporters, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group which has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq. “Ultimately a combination of diplomacy and pressure will be needed to bring about a political transition. Military pressure particularly may be necessary given President Assad’s reluctance to negotiate seriously.”
There’s over 200,000 dead people here. So I have to ask, who elected you to decide which regime runs which country Mr Kerry? Who said your boss gets to make these calls? Where is the UN? Sure he’s a bad guy. There are bad guys all over the world. There are even a few less than perfect people in DC. But that doesn’t give anyone the right to give weapons and money to some pissed-off Jihadist’s in Maryland.
From the comments:
‘This regime(U.S.) is so hypocritical. The goons fighting Assad are NOT interested in democracy. They are interested in going back to the 7th century, where women are property, and other religious cultural groups are third and second class citizens. We talk about human rights abuses in other countries, but here in the U.S. of A., land of the no-so-free, and home of the slave, look no further at the conduct by our own law enforcement, and government. As an American, I am disgusted, and any American worth their salt would be, too! ‘
‘Here we go again, the US interferring in other countries affairs, no wonder this world has so many problems at this moment in time. What is wrong with these US policitians, they just love creating wars in other countries. If they want to interfer, why dont they start sorting their own countries, homeless, healthcare, black peoples rights etc etc., surely this would keep them busy for a while, and cost the US less money. I was listening the other day to a programme, where some people were saying, the world would be a far better place without the US policitians, I agree with them, like so many.’
‘Hmm, Netanyahu (who just happens to be supporting al Nusra - aka al Qaeda in the Golan) goes to DC and Kerry goes to Riyadh and all of a sudden we’re back to Assad must go? In spite of mountains of evidence that we are support ISIS and al Qaeda rebels in Syria? In spite of the fact that the Syrian people overwhelmingly support Assad? In spite of the fact that all our ‘moderate rebels’ turned out to be terrorists? This is insanity.’
+1
I think of how much better the middle east would be if we had left alone all the corrupt and brutal dictators…
Hey c’mon, Syria needs to be brought into the Central Bank fold. Right now it controls its own currency. Ridiculous.
If not KABLOOEY.
“I can rub people the wrong way. I talk when I should listen. I own that.”
Very truly yours,
Rahm “Dead Fish” Emmanuel
Soon to be former Mayor of Chicago
Your daily digest of news from Region V (Chicago)
Lucky Louis no longer a law abiding citizen….
Gutierrez: In Chicago, We No Longer Cooperate With Immigration Authorities
March 3, 2015 - 11:11 AM
By Eric Scheiner
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) says Chicago is the friendliest immigrant city in the nation since they, “made sure that we no longer cooperate with immigration authorities when it comes to the deportation or separation of our families.”
Rahm goes nuts…..
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/05/rahm-goes-nuts-at-a-mental-health-clinic-you-re-gonna-respect-me.html
America’s Hottest Industry Report! Got Solar?
Big Solar Output DOUBLES in One Year: “Data released today by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has revealed that utility-scale solar’s contribution to the country’s net electrical generation grew by 102% last year.”
Solar and Wind 25 Years Ahead of Schedule: “Given current growth rates – especially for solar and wind – it is quite possible that renewable energy sources will reach, or exceed, 14% of the nation’s electrical supply by the end of 2015,” said Ken Bossong of the SUN SAY Campaign. “That is a level that EIA, only a few years ago, was forecasting would not be achieved until the year 2040.” [source: pv-magazine.com]
This is why the Saudis cut the oil price — solar and wind are kicking their behinds.
If you are holding OIL, an ETF that follows the oil market, you rode it down from $25 last summer to $11 today. If you bought TAN, the solar ETF, you’d be enjoying a nice gain from $33 to $45 in just the last 7 weeks.
Got laid off from a fracking job? Learn a new skill and work in solar. It’s the world’s fastest growth industry.
Solar=FAIL
I used to think that way too, that solar only makes sense with massive subsidies, etc., etc. But the tide has turned. Facts on the ground show there’s been a quantum leap in solar’s competitiveness.
It is more competitive but it still is not competitive in most of the world. For example, when Europe cut subsidies solar died and has not recovered.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-hollingsworth/despite-39b-annual-govt-subsidies-solar-produced-05-electricity
Only true in Germany, rest of the world is adopting solar PV. The turnaround is rapid, very recent and is occurring quickly…
===
Global installed utility-scale solar jumped 65% in 2014
“However, 2014 marked the first year since 2011 that the European market for utility-scale solar experienced growth following declines in 2012 and 2013. …Europe’s resurgence – after the 2012 policy changes in the traditional powerhouse of Germany – has been fueled mainly by a buoyant British market.”
Here are some of the problems with solar that no proponent wants to talk about but they are behind electricity prices hitting record prices in the U.S.
If you want to have 500 megawatts of power you not only need to build the solar plant you need to be a natural gas plant for 500 megawatts also. You will need the natural gas plant to provide the power at night and when weather conditions limit the amount of solar power. No proponent of solar wants to include the second plant in the calculation but it is the reason that Germany has some of the highest electricity prices in the world. Additionally, without financial repression solar costs would be much higher. It is a capital intensive form of power so low capital costs have been a boon to it. However, when you normalize rates, it will drive up the costs of solar. Additionally, there are massive tax subsidies for home owners and research subsidies for solar that are not reflected in the price.
What about Spain?
“No proponent of solar wants to include the second plant in the calculation”
You’re right, storage of solar energy for use at night has been the Holy Grail. Without storage a utility still has to burn nat gas when the solar panels aren’t producing, as you say.
But industry is responding quickly. Google Imergy ESP250, a utility-scale vanadium liquid battery that provides 250MW of off-peak storage. The US Navy is buying one in conjunction with solar panels to enable one of their bases to go off-grid.
http://www.imergy.com/press-releases/2015/2/imergy-power-systems-introduces-esp250-series-flow-batteries-for-grid-scale-commercial-and-industrial-energy-storage
“Facts on the ground”
LOL
“renewable energy sources will reach, or exceed, 14% of the nation’s electrical supply by the end of 2015″
As long as it takes more energy to put the “renewables” in place than they produce, such statements are entirely misleading.
Got Solendra?
LOL. Of course Fox News didn’t follow up after Solyndra with: “The much-maligned government program that funded the failed solar tech company Solyndra is expected to make taxpayers a $5 to $6 billion return, Bloomberg Businessweek reported on Wednesday.” As radio man Paul Harvey used to say, “now you know the rest of the story.”
Show me the source and how that was calculated, I would like a good laugh.
BTW, unfortunately, the Tesla battery factory is turning out to be nothing but an empty shell:
http://news.yahoo.com/construction-tesla-battery-plant-nevada-delayed-report-154013146–finance.html
Battery technology is important because only when you can store solar and wind power cheaply will you alleviate the need to have a fossil fueled plant along with an alternative energy plant.
There is a rumor circulating:
I heard last week that the Gigafactory construction has been ahead of schedule–and at the same time, they are having trouble finding space in and around Fremont to expand manufacturing.
The meat of the rumor is that Tesla is considering expanding their development in Northern NV include auto manufacturing as well.
I don’t know why this would cause them to stop constructing the Gigafactory, unless they were going to make some adjustments to that building so it can also be used for auto manufacture.
It’s a big damn building.
This line would be consistent with the rumors (of Tesla thinking about moving some auto manufacturing to Reno):
“The paper said the common reason for the delay was a change in design plans for the plant. An unidentified source told the paper the situation is more of a short-term delay.”
Solyndra is the poster child because it was the most outrageous scam. I saw them at the Solar Show in San Diego when they were first pimping for subsidies. From an engineering view, their product was totally stupid. My colleagues at the show agreed. It was so stupid as to be funny, the most amusing clown in the entire circus of fraud.
Isn’t Tesla just another tax payer funded scam? Once the easy money, subsidies and tax breaks are taken away, Teslas will be this generations DeLoreans.
All the $7,500 credits will go to the rich for their status toy cars, by the time Tesla even tries a car for the masses it will have expended all the tax credits.
IMO Teslas are different because they are actually desirable cars. Even if everything about the numbers is BS, at least people actually want to drive them. That’s a big step up from most scams.
Reuters post on Tesla Factory in NV…..
UPDATE 1-Construction of Tesla’s Nevada battery plant delayed -report
Reuters 3/6/2015 11:21 AM ET
Print Article
(Adds Tesla, analyst comments)
DETROIT, March 6 (Reuters) - Construction has been delayed for Tesla Motors Inc’s giant $5 billion battery plant in Nevada, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported on Friday, citing union job postings, but the electric carmaker said the project was on schedule.
A national job board for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers updated its listing for “Project Tiger” - the initial code name for the factory - to indicate a change in demand for electricians, the newspaper said.
“The Tiger project has been cut back by 80 percent at this time,” it quoted the IBEW post as saying. “This is all subject to change.”
A local branch of the union in Reno, Nevada, also posted a message about the plant on its job referral page, the paper said. “The major project in the area has been delayed at this time. Further updates will be posted as soon as we know more,” the paper quoted a post by the IBEW Local 401 site as saying.
Tesla spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson told Reuters the project was on schedule.
The company also told the Reno Gazette-Journal the project was on track and disputed reports of delays. It declined to say whether there had been a change in its plans for the site.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said last month the company remains “on plan” to begin battery production in 2016 at the plant outside Reno.
A spokesman for the local IBEW union declined to comment to the Reno Gazette-Journal. An officer with the Building & Construction Trades Council of Northern Nevada told the paper there had been a reduction in hours but declined further comment.
The paper said the common reason for the delay was a change in design plans for the plant. An unidentified source told the paper the situation is more of a short-term delay.
Barclays analyst Brian Johnson said in a research note on Monday, citing company regulatory filings, that most of Tesla’s capital spending so far has been focused on the Model S sedan and the Model X SUV under development and little has been spent on the battery plant. (Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit; Editing by Paul Simao)
Gets us at least 60% of the way back on the dollars still owed the taxpayers from the auto bailouts a while back - I understand we are still owed near 20 bil to date.
Since I believe the government has sold all the stock in the car makers that it received in the bail out we are never getting that back. And if the unions push too hard in the current negotiations, GM will be right back into bankruptcy. I would have more sympathy for unions but they are supporting policies that cut their own throats. The first thing unions use to do is restrict the labor supply. They were historically against immigration. Then, they passed laws to “protect” children and women from “exploitation”. While, particularly, they did help children, the laws were primarily designed to limit the labor pool and thus were motivated by self interest and not altruistic. But that is what capitalism is about people doing what comes natural and protecting self interest. By acting against self interest and promoting immigration they will kill themselves. GM workers strike! However, don’t be surprised if that replacement worker hired by GM is a newly “legalized” immigrant. Remember to thank Obama.
Remember too that the bigger losers as well in this were the holders of first lien corporate bonds - they were wiped out with no compensation at all when GM became Govt. Motors.
It sure is nice seeing the unemployment rate go down month after month. Another 354,000 not in the labor force this month. What a country!
Any chance gold will head straight into the crapper once the Fed normalizes interest rates?
Market Pulse
Gold settles at lowest price of the year
Published: Mar 6, 2015 1:57 p.m. ET
By Myra P. Saefong
Markets/commodities reporter
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures dropped on Friday as a rally in the dollar on the back of an upbeat U.S. jobs report sent gold prices to their lowest settlement level of the year. April gold (GCJ5, -2.64%) dropped $31.90, or 2.7%, to settle at $1,164.30 an ounce on Comex. For the week, prices lost 4%, based on the most active contracts, according to FactSet.
…
Isn’t it right in the story that gold is even, it’s the dollar moving?
All asset price movements are relative.
Looks like my move to write calls on some of gold and silver positions a few weeks ago was pretty smart right? I posted it when I did it. However, what happens to the dollar when the world figures out what a scam our employment figures are, people have to work two jobs to come close to equaling one good job. When the dollar falls gold will soar. The amazing thing about gold is how well it has performed considering the dollar’s rise.
Interest rate BACK TO NORMAL???
It can never happen again. We are THAT much in debt.
With the obama deficits - we can’t afford interest rates anything other than zero.
—————
A Nightmare Scenario: If The Average Rate Of Interest On U.S. Government Debt Just Gets Back To 6 Percent, The Federal Government Will Be Shelling Out A Trillion Dollars A Year Just In Interest On The National Debt
IWB - July 16th, 2013
But if interest rates rise, the U.S. government could be looking at some very hairy interest payments very rapidly. For example, if the average rate of interest on U.S. government debt just gets back to 6 percent (and it has been far higher than that in the past), the federal government will be shelling out a trillion dollars a year just in interest on the national debt.
State and local governments all over the nation could also very rapidly be facing a nightmare scenario.
Detroit is already on the verge of formally declaring the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the United States, and there are many other state and local governments from coast to coast that are rapidly heading toward financial disaster even though borrowing costs are super low right now.
If interest rates start rising dramatically, it would cause a huge wave of municipal financial disasters, and municipal bond investors would lose massive amounts of money…
“Muni bond investors are in for the shock of their lives,” said financial advisor Ric Edelman. “For the past 30 years there hasn’t been interest rate risk
That risk can be extreme. A one-point rise in the interest rate could cut 10 percent of the value of a municipal bond with a longer duration, he said.
Many retail buyers, though, are not ready for the change and “when it starts, it will be too late for them to react,” he said, adding that he was encouraging investors to look at their portfolio allocation and make changes to protect
But of much greater importance to most Americans is what is happening to mortgage rates. As mortgage rates rise, it becomes much more difficult to sell a house
According to CNBC, there is an increasing amount of concern that the rise in mortgage rates that we are witnessing could throw the real estate market into absolute turmoil…
This is what we are talking about when we talk about the “bubbles” that the Federal Reserve has created. The housing market is now completely and totally dependent on these artificially low mortgage rates. If rates go back to “normal”, the results would be absolutely devastating.
But of course the biggest problem with rapidly rising interest rates is the potential for a derivatives crisis.
There are several major U.S. banks that have tens of trillions of dollars of exposure to derivatives. The following is from one of my previous articles entitled “The Coming Derivatives Panic That Will Destroy Global Financial Markets“…
Lookie here, people. We need to get this housing crash show on the road. I say we go around tonight at 11 PM and vandalize all the for-sale signs we can find within driving distance. Then we could give treats to peoples’ pets for no reason. Are you guys in or out?
We need to get this housing crash show on the road.
I’ll say. I’m dismayed to see the estimates on my rental suddenly start to rise again (slightly), after a nice drop.
I think that it would make more sense to do the opposite. Drive around town putting thousands of for-sale signs in front yards. You’d give the impression that many more houses are being sold, thus pushing down prices.
king obama says dreamer children = black people under segregation
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/234832-obama-deporting-immigrant-kids-not-true-to-the-spirit-of-selma
is this the fundamental transformation you voted for?
see also:
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/06/black-unemployment-rate-nearly-twice-the-national-average-on-eve-of-selma-anniversary/
Another community organizer:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/boston-high-school-dean-ran-drug-ring-tried-to-kill-teen-prosecutors/ar-AA9sXRn
So when does he claim the gays set him up?
http://heavy.com/news/2015/03/rev-shaun-harrison-english-high-school-dean-of-students-charges-drugs/
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/business/it/Xiaomis-revenue-to-soar-50-to-US16b/shdaily.shtml
I do not know if this is true since it is from a Sunni tribe allied with ISIS and just reported on Bloomberg. However, if it is true these people are dumber than rocks. Who hasn’t heard of what ISIS does to prisoners, so you surrender to them? Fight to the death like the Alamo:
“We have deterred the government attacks in more than one front,” he said. “Our brothers will defend Tikrit to the end.”
Al-Jumaily said about 150 Shiite militia members, including some Iranians, were captured in Tikrit and taken to Mosul where they were killed at a site where a former police chief used to execute Sunnis.
(Reuters)
Updated: 2015-03-06 10:23
Counter:
Local authorities in China have closed a number of steel mills after they failed to meet environmental standards, industry sources said on Thursday, as the central government toughens its fight against pollution.
Premier Li Keqiang told the opening session of the National People’s Congress on Thursday his government would do everything it could to fight pollution, which has become a lightning rod for public discontent.
There was no official estimate on how much production was affected by the mill closures in the eastern province of Shandong but the news sent Dalian iron ore futures slumping 4 percent amid fears the crackdown would spread to other mills, potentially cutting demand for the steel-making commodity.
China’s vast steel sector is at the centre of the government’s war on pollution. But complying with stricter standards would raise production costs and producers are similarly hit by tepid demand.
Inspectors from the Ministry of Environmental Protection last week summoned mayors from the cities of Linyi, and Chengde in the northern province of Hebei, urging them to crack down on firms that have violated environmental laws.
“Almost all the steel-making production in Linyi has closed, and there is no date for when to resume production,” said an official with Linyi Yuansheng Casting Co Ltd, one of the mills in the city, who declined to be identified.
An official from another mill, Linyi Jiangxin Steel Co Ltd, said the company has stopped production, without elaborating.
Calls to other mills in the city including Linyi Steel and Shandong Shanwei Group as well as to the officials of the city and provincial government went all unanswered.
Analysts estimate the annual crude steel capacity in Linyi at about 7-8 million tonnes. China’s total annual steel capacity is between 1.1 billion and 1.2 billion tonnes.
“Beijing’s battle against pollution will increase costs for steel mills and force those uncompetitive ones to go bust eventually,” said Cheng Xubao, an analyst with industry consultancy Custeel.
The government is determined to tackle hazardous smog by launching a new environment law, imposing higher environmental standards and strengthening monitoring. Some steel mills were closed permanently last year.
Chinese steel mills, already suffering from persistently low prices as a result of overcapacity and an economic slowdown, are now paying an estimated 160 yuan ($26) per tonne of steel to comply with stricter environmental guidelines.
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-03-06/supreme-court-can-t-save-obamacare?cmpid=yhoo
Excerpt from link:
After Wednesday’s oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court, the odds that Obamacare will survive its latest legal challenge appear slightly better than even. But instead of relief, the law’s supporters should take a moment to reflect on the deeper problem for the Affordable Care Act: its persistent and widespread unpopularity. Reversing that will do more to protect the law than any court decision.
A Pew Research Center poll last month reported that almost five years after it was signed, 53 percent of people disapprove of Obamacare — close to an all-time high. That reflects more than just partisanship; even independents dislike the law by almost 2 to 1.
The polls also show that a majority prefer that Congress improve the act, not repeal it.
“The polls”
Which polls?
NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll conducted by Hart Research Associates (D) and Public Opinion Strategies (R). Feb. 25-28, 2015. N=800 registered voters nationwide. Margin of error ± 3.5.
“Now as you may know, Barack Obama’s health care plan was passed by Congress and signed into law in 2010. When it comes to your opinion about the health care law, do you feel that it is working well the way it is, needs minor modifications to improve it, needs a major overhaul, or should be totally eliminated?”
Working well 8%
Needs minor modifications 39%
Needs major overhaul 24%
Should be eliminated 27%
http://www.pollingreport.com/health.htm
Peeps are using the emergency room a lot more, since sometimes it takes 2-3weeks to see the doctor and you need a prescription filled today…..
Peeps are using the emergency room a lot more
Way back, early to mid-2000’s or so, we used to go to D*O*C*S in Westchester County, if needed. I just looked; they still exist. Any equivalent in the city? At that time it cost about $60-80 and you usually had to wait quite a while, but it was better than the ER, unless your insurance is very good.
A few months ago I was in the ER at Sunrise Hospital (Vegas) and it was so crowded people were hanging off the walls. It reminded me of the freak show that is Columbia Presbyterian’s ER in Washington Heights (near our old neighborhood.)
I overheard a young guy who was worried about the cost - his girlfriend passed out in a casino and the establishment’s PTB insisted on an ambulance. He was freaking out because he didn’t think she needed hospitalization for being stewed. Probably got a big bill.
http://eaglefordtexas.com/news/id/147522/reality-hits-north-dakotas-pricey-apartment-market-rents-drop/
Them