April 23, 2015

Bits Bucket for April 23, 2015

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




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240 Comments »

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 00:36:51

Are China stocks heading up, down or sideways?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 00:42:27

China’s Stocks Fall After Manufacturing Data Signals Contraction
12:50 AM PDT April 23, 2014
The manufacturing report, known as the Flash PMI, rose from March’s final figure of 48. The official gauge’s March reading was 50.3, after an eight-month low of 50.2 in February. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg

April 23 (Bloomberg) — China’s stocks fell for the fourth time in five days after a manufacturing gauge signaled a contraction and concern grew that new share sales will drain funds from existing equities.

XJ Electric Co. and China First Heavy Industries Co. slid at least 1 percent. China Citic Bank Corp. and Huaxia Bank Co. led declines for lenders. Liquor maker Jiangsu Yanghe Brewery Joint-Stock Co. jumped 10 percent after sales declines slowed.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3 percent to 2,067.38 at the close. A preliminary Purchasing Managers’ Index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics was 48.3 in April, matching analysts’ estimates. It was below the level of 50 that’s the dividing line between expansion and contraction. The China Securities Regulatory Commission posted initial public offering prospectuses for 19 companies on its website yesterday, bringing the total number to 65 since January.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 06:30:12

You think that crude oil is up over 1% today because people think that China will miss its 7% growth target, I sure don’t:

http://futures.tradingcharts.com/marketquotes/index.php3?market=CL

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 08:06:35

A massive influx of fiat currency liquidity to buffer the global economy against China bond defaults could be a factor. Weaker currencies and higher asset prices go hand in hand.

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Comment by AmazingRuss
2015-04-23 20:20:30

That’s because you look at the most recent tip of any trend and extrapolate it to infinity.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 20:29:19

Talking to yourself again, I see…

 
 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 00:47:31

Forbes
Asia
4/21/2015 @ 9:24PM |3,818 views
Crazy Facts About China’s Stock Market That Will Make You Think Twice Before Investing

A common saying is you can tell a bull market has run its course when your taxi driver starts recommending which stocks to buy. In China, everybody seems to be an expert today.

While shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen have doubled in value over the past year, economic fundamentals are painting a distinctively gloomy picture for the world’s second largest economy. China’s GDP outlook hasn’t looked this bad in 25 years, while concerns over a real estate bubble, overcapacity and deflation plague the wider economy.

Ankur Patel, chief investment officer at R-Squared Macro, an investment firm based in the U.S., told me through e-mail that the speculative fervor in China has become worse over time.

“This move into Chinese equities has become overstretched, especially with the PBoC pumping even more liquidity into the system to support growth. The rally in Chinese stocks has encouraged imprudent speculation, similar to that in the Chinese real estate markets, and may eventually collapse,” he said.

Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 06:23:12

“This move into Chinese equities has become overstretched, especially with the PBoC pumping even more liquidity into the system to support growth.”

“… pumping even more liquidity into the system to support growth.”

You really mean to promote growth.

There really is a difference between promoting growth and supporting growth, you know. One works - it really works - and the other … the other just seems to work, pretends to work.

Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 07:19:10

“Build them and they will come” is quite a different line of thinking than “Build them because they are already here”.

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Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 11:29:32

The concept of:

Money needs to be made easily available because there is a lot of growth …

… does not necessarily work in reverse, such as …

Because money is so easily available there will be a lot of growth.

 
Comment by Neuromance
2015-04-23 16:43:06

Yes, but it is tremendously lucrative for Wall Street.

The Fed has seven years of data. One would think they would have some idea of the impacts of their policies. All of Wall Street does.

 
 
 
Comment by Puggs
2015-04-23 08:17:32

Take your gains and git out!!!

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 00:50:42

China stocks hit 7-yr high despite weak factory activity; Hong Kong also up
Thu Apr 23, 2015 12:44am EDT

* CSI300 +0.2 pct; SSEC: 0.2 pct; HSI: 0.6 pct

* China April flash HSBC PMI contracts to one-year low

* Net flow into China’s stock market totalled 781.4 billion yuan last week

By Samuel Shen and Pete Sweeney

SHANGHAI, April 23 (Reuters) - China stocks advanced to fresh seven-year highs on Thursday as weaker-than-expected factory activity data reinforced expectations that Beijing will roll out more stimulus measures and keep the financial system flush with cash.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 04:58:45

Yes.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 07:12:17

yes, in response to this question:

Are China stocks heading up, down or sideways?

 
 
Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-04-23 04:59:36

Better yet, how well is your hoarding going?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 05:58:15

Luckily I don’t hoard in Chinese stocks. It’s setting up over there like the Roaring Twenties did in the US, where the beginning of the end was also a real estate crash (google Florida Land Bubble).

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 06:00:31
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Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2015-04-23 09:08:27

It’s setting up over there like the Roaring Twenties did in the US,

+1. Now, why did the 20’s stock bubble and the Florida land bubble turn into a global depression? What was the mechanism of transmission?

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 10:04:56

“What was the mechanism of transmission?”

The Florida land boom of the 1920s was Florida’s first real estate bubble, which burst in 1925, leaving behind entire new cities and the remains of failed development projects such as Aladdin City in south Miami-Dade County and Miami’s Isola di Lolando in north Biscayne Bay.

The story includes many parallels to the modern real estate boom, including the forces of outside speculators, easy credit access for buyers, and rapidly appreciating property values.

It sounds like a easy money policies led to a massive bubble that featured outside speculators, easy credit access for buyers, and rapidly appreciating property values, culminating with overbuilding of entire cities which remained empty after the bubble burst.

I doubt this could ever be repeated.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-23 10:07:38

DEBT

 
Comment by IE LANDLORD KING
2015-04-23 14:04:58

Housing Analyst, you can now hire an escort to watch you play video games in your granma’s basement lol

Female escorts for online gamers in vogue in China

Chinese online gamers tired of playing games online by themselves can now pay between 20-100 yuan (US$3.20-$16) an hour for a female online “escort” to play with them.

More advanced services offer a female gamecaster who will explain and demonstrate games to the players via face-to-face online chat.

“If a woman has a sweet voice, this will be even more popular than any gaming skills she might have,” one escort brokerage firm said. He said that those seeking female “escorts” are usually white-collar workers living in coastal areas who are willing to spend money on online games.

A lot of female college students and office ladies moonlight as these female “escorts” for online gamers as a source of income. Supply and demand are equally hot, the firm said.

“It is common for an experienced female escort to make 3,000 yuan (US$485) a month,” one firm said. Top female “escorts” can make up to 8,000 yuan (US$1,300) per month, and the commissions paid to the firm are usually between 5% and 10%.

In addition to honing the skills of online players, the women who serve as gamecasters see it as a money-making venture.

One Hong Kong media outlet stated that the trade in “gamecasters” has been going on for some time, with some women who have won online game competitions able to command annual salaries that could start at 10 million yuan (US$1.6 million).

The brokerage firms say the market potential for female “escorts” and gamecasters is big, but added that a lack of effective regulation often leads to disputes or even fraud.

Some players are quite blunt in saying that they want to see their female “escorts” offline for sex, which leads to the question of whether this line of work is merely another front for prostitution.

pics
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20150421000006&cid=1103

 
Comment by rms
2015-04-23 17:57:51

A fugg’n maid’s uniform? How cliché.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-23 19:21:21

Crushing. Housing. Losses.

 
Comment by Tarara Boomdea
2015-04-23 19:33:50

China Says Please Stop Hiring Funeral Strippers

In China, friends and family of the deceased may have to do without a special form of funereal entertainment: strippers.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Culture on Thursday, the government plans to work closely with the police to eliminate such performances, which are held with the goal of drawing more mourners…

The point of inviting strippers, some of whom performed with snakes, was to attract large crowds to the deceased’s funeral – seen as a harbinger of good fortune in the afterlife. “It’s to give them face,” one villager explained. “Otherwise no one would come.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 19:52:31

“…some of whom performed with snakes…”

You had me at ’strippers.’

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Muggy
2015-04-23 04:04:13

Q’s for the brain trust:

1. How will the next bubble pop?
2. When?
3. Will it be longer or shorter?
4. Are you going to buy?
5. Did bubble 2.0 f____ up your bubblesit?
6. Has bubble 2.0 altered any of your medium-to-long-term plans?
7. What will the fed do to prevent this?
8. Will they succeed again?

Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 07:00:47

1. Slowly, then suddenly.
2. Whenever.
3. Yes.
4. Yes … but afterwards.
5. No. I’m still sitting.
6. No. See question 5.
7. Exert the same divinely-inspired competence it has displayed thus far.
8. Probably as well as Japan has succeeded.

 
Comment by OliverGarchy
2015-04-23 07:39:19

1. It will pop by new home builders deeply undercutting used home prices leading to a panic. Right now in the PHx area this is occuring but there are a LOT of shenanigans going on to hide price discovery, upgrades, zero down, funny financing etc.

2. It will pop when it is generally recognized that YOY prices are down 10% plus in your area. In order for this to happen the decline needs to have been sustained for about 5 months because the mainstream media reports on rear view mirror figures and it needs to be undeniable.

3. Once it occurs it will be longer that prices stay down, just like after you lose weight, then gain it back, then lose it again then gain it back. That second time you usually stay fat.

4. Yes this has screwed up my plans so I am biased. I’ve gone from wanting a great deal to just not wanting to feel ripped off.

They will try everything to prevent it. New bail outs, more easing, more printing, everything.

I have no confidence that the con game Ponzi scheme will finally fail. I doubt the Reckoning will ever occur.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 14:33:46

“1. It will pop by new home builders deeply undercutting used home prices leading to a panic.”

Given myriad overt and covert measures in play to prevent panic, why would you ever expect this to occur?

Comment by OliverGarchy
2015-04-23 21:16:16

I would expect this to occur because it is already occuring. New home builders are undercutting. There are many many flippers out there for whom prices are no longer rising. Same with those “investors” who claimed to be buying to rent it out but really just wanted the upside equity. Also the wave of home equity loans from the rebubble is quickly passing and that money will be out of the economy soon, spent on more foolish excess and treading water.

The measures for bailing out are aimed at banks and the big guys who get their runways foamed not at the little guys like those many many flippers. Panic takes hold quicker than any slow moving government program. Last time it took years to put in a floor.

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Comment by Sheldon Kristol
2015-04-23 04:09:10

I just started watching House of Cards this week and it is the best documentary I have ever seen.

Comment by azdude
2015-04-23 06:28:06

It sure seems a lot easier to borrow money from uncle fed than trying to actually create some real jobs and growth doesn’t it?

More and more regulation isnt helping the business climate in CA thats for sure.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-23 07:04:53

Given the fact that CA is the most impoverished state in the union, how can it get any worse there?

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 07:32:39

How about when the social media bubble and the coastal housing bubble burst simultaneously?

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Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-23 07:47:42

You mean California, the state ranked #1 in GDP, leads the nation in venture capital startups, and so far has added the most new jobs? Yes, the business climate is terrible! It’s really hurting those job creators, I tell ya.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-23 08:07:01

Ranked #1 in poor people, welfare… Yes. That California.

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Comment by Jingle Male
2015-04-23 13:11:19

We’ll send our poor to Mississippi, so they can raise the standard of living in both states!

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-23 18:27:33

Frrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaud

 
 
 
 
Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 07:07:06

Another good documentary - an excellent documentary - is “The Wire”.

Comment by Cactus
2015-04-23 09:07:17

Another good documentary - an excellent documentary - is “The Wire”.

Very good show

bodymore muderland = baltimore maryland, graffiti shown in opening along with that cool song. finally figured that one out.

 
 
Comment by OliverGarchy
2015-04-23 07:41:08

It jumped the shark the minute they pretended the short haired bitchy resting face looking wife appealed to the public, especially in the Midwest.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-23 07:42:56

I just started watching House of Cards this week and it is the best documentary I have ever seen.

The Netflix version or the original one?

 
 
Comment by Muggy
2015-04-23 04:10:32

BTW Ben, I saw the fundraiser from a few weeks ago. I’ll get a check out to you soon.Thank you for all of your work over the years. Last night I stayed up late and reminisced…

http://www.lulu.com/us/en/shop/gayle-broadbent-ferris/flimsy-girl-and-other-illustrated-tales/paperback/product-21155628.html

Comment by Tarara Boomdea
2015-04-23 07:25:34

Excerpt: Flimsy Girl

I like it; unique POV.

 
 
Comment by Sheldon Kristol
2015-04-23 05:35:45

Follow the money

“Tension between the Obama administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has fueled a fundraising bonanza for a conservative advocacy group that serves as an influential hub of wealthy Jewish donors on the right.

The Republican Jewish Coalition — whose board includes casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and other GOP megadonors — has brought in scores of new contributors alarmed by the open sparring between President Obama and Netanyahu over how to curb Iran’s nuclear capabilities”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/republican-jewish-coalition-says-it-sees-fundraising-boom/2015/04/22/eac5634a-e873-11e4-9a6a-c1ab95a0600b_story.html

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-23 06:08:10

Onward Christian Soldiers, marching as to war….

 
 
Comment by palmetto
2015-04-23 05:38:41

When elite libs get into a pizzing match:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/us/george-lucas-retreats-from-battle-with-neighbors.html?_r=0

Lol, neighbors objected to the studio, now they’re gonna get “affordable housing”. Oh, my.

Which leads me to the conclusion that this whole “affordable housing” (Section 8, etc.) thing has been nothing but a sham since the get-go. Libs don’t give a rat’s patootie about “the poor”. They just like to mess with middle class people who used to have nice, modest, stable neighborhoods. Nor does Lucas give a rat’s patootie about “the poor”. He’s gettin’ his jollies from making his neighbors uncomfortable.

The Empire strikes back. Feh. Star Wars became Bore Wars a long time ago.

Comment by palmetto
2015-04-23 06:31:25

You go, George! Bring Oakland to Marin.

Comment by rms
2015-04-23 07:48:58

“Bring Oakland to Marin.”

Already exists, it’s called Marin City, CA, which is a smallish ghetto of section 8 concrete block living just off the 101 a tad north of the Golden Gate bridge. It was former repossession hunting ground in my previous life.

Comment by Bluto
2015-04-23 10:02:42

Marin City goes back to the WW2 shipyard days. So far as affordable housing goes there is a definite need, many of Marin’s service workers commute from the east bay or live in San Rafael’s extremely overcrowded canal district. (FWIW I worked all over Marin Co. for two years myself but drove in from Sonoma Co. on company time in a company vehicle, would not have accepted a transfer there otherwise)
Lucas jumped through all sorts of hoops over many years trying to placate the locals and get his expansion through but finally gave up as Marin has a very high percentage of NIMBYS, anti vaxxers, EMF nuts, self entitled people, etc. I understand his motivation and he is addressing an extreme shortage of affordable housing.

BTW, recently reread “The Serial”, a VERY funny novel on the self absorbed people of Marin, still quite accurate and amusing nearly 40 years later…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Serial

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Comment by palmetto
2015-04-23 11:56:40

Well, no doubt. It’s just that a buddy of mine first saw the headline on google about how GL was going to bring affordable housing to the area and was lauding him all over the place for being a “humanitarian”. Until I popped his bubble by referring him to story.

I have no dog in this fight, I just think it is an amusing story. If I lived in CA I’d choose the Ukiah area.

 
Comment by Bluto
2015-04-23 12:33:05

FWIW I lived in Ukiah myself for 10 years, 1997 to 2007….a little too slow for me but a very nice town. I’d driven through on the freeway many times and from 101 it used to look like a cruddy fading mill town but the old part a mile west has a lot of charm and was quite affordable when I bought in 1997. Sold my place in early 2007 (thanks in part to the HBB) and moved south to Santa Rosa, a better place for me but do miss the slower pace of Ukiah at times.

 
Comment by rms
2015-04-23 13:05:59

Good friend has had a ranch in Willits, CA for many years. Cold foggy winters with occasional dusting of snow, and hot summers. Indeed, a very quiet place, too quiet for me, but it’s a great two-week vacation from life’s hustle.

 
 
 
 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-04-23 07:37:27

Probably very few of the people into Lucas’ development would be considered poor in middle America:

“We’ve got enough millionaires here. What we need is some houses for regular working people,” Lucas said through his lawyer Gary Giacomini, CBS affiliate KCBS reported.

[George Lucas chooses Chicago for ‘Star Wars’ museum]

The 224-unit affordable housing complex would go on Grady Ranch, where his once-planned studio expansion would have been, according to a plan being submitted to the Marin County Development Agency this week, the Contra Costa Times reported. The plan, which would allow development on 52 acres, includes workforce and senior residences, as well as a community center, pool and an orchard.

Income requirements could be set so eligible residents had to make less than 80 percent of the area’s median income, the paper reported. The median household income for Marin County is $90,839, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

According to Census estimates, 7.7 percent of county residents live below the poverty line.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/17/george-lucas-wants-to-build-affordable-housing-on-his-land-because-weve-got-enough-millionaires/

 
Comment by Cactus
2015-04-23 09:11:09

Libs don’t give a rat’s patootie about “the poor”. They just like to mess with middle class people who used to have nice, modest, stable neighborhoods.”

I think they ( rich libs) are desperate to keep the poor out of their nabes. The middle class is like a large attenuator you can keep pushing current through it until it burns out.

Comment by palmetto
2015-04-23 11:59:33

“The middle class is like a large attenuator you can keep pushing current through it until it burns out.”

Holy crap, you nailed it on. the. head. Best. Statement. EVER. when it comes to the middle class. My hat’s off to you.

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 06:03:38

Is a scary monster hiding beneath Mr Market’s bed?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 10:07:10

So long as the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P500 keep hitting new highs, investors have nothing to fear.

Comment by Puggs
2015-04-23 11:03:24

Oh snap, that’s where they want’cha.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 19:55:23

Is my memory fading, or was it only a week ago when MSM financial news articles were lamenting the fact that the Dow Jones Industrial Average was back to its beginning-of-2015 level?

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 06:17:19

Thank you Hillary and Susan so glad you did not listen to the “boys”.

Comment by palmetto
2015-04-23 06:38:03

Australian PSA called “NO WAY”.

Europe needs one of these PSAs. And so does the US, with some changes to the wording. But I’d like to hear this: “If you come to the US without a visa, there is NO WAY you will make the US your home”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT12WH4a92w

I also like that he says it includes everyone, including children, families, unaccompanied children.

NO WAY!

Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-23 07:58:04

I like the message … but … is it really enforced? After all, we have 21,000 border patrol agents whose job is to capture illegals and yet we have at least 20 million of them in our country.

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 08:20:03

21,000 agents with their hands tied beyond their backs, they are not allowed to operate at the border in many cases and they are not raiding companies illegally employing aliens.

 
Comment by palmetto
2015-04-23 09:07:34

Yes, a bit of a difference here between the US and Australia. Illegals have to get there by boat and the message is that they should not believe the lies of the human traffickers.

In the US, they do it by foot, boat, plane, birth canal. I dunno what’s going to happen when the kidz are old enough to realize there’s nothing here for them in terms of jobs or even benefits.

However, I like the use of the word “visa”. If you don’t have a visa, there is NO WAY you will make the US your home.

Should be applied to the refugee resettlement racketeers. And they ARE racketeers, every last one of them.

 
 
 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 06:19:44
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-23 06:10:53

When are US regulators and enforces going to go after US TBTF banks? I think we all know the answer to that one. But the EU might retaliate against US financial firms and corporations in the Eurozone.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-23/it-just-cost-deutsche-bank-25000-employee-keep-its-libor-manipulating-bankers-out-ja

Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 07:11:55

“When are US regulators and enforces going to go after US TBTF banks?”

“US TBTF banks”

The answer to your question lies within the question itself.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 08:11:17

The Fed is too busy crushing SETF (small enough to fail) banks with rock bottom low rates to worry much about TBTFs.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-23 06:15:36

Greeks are starting to turn on their Syriza government, which like all leftist movements promised the impossible and assured the voters that someone else would pay for it. Behold your end game, America.

http://wolfstreet.com/2015/04/22/greek-people-just-destroyed-syrizas-strategy-threat-of-euro-exit/

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 06:27:16

I am shocked I tell you shocked. Is it really any different than Elizabeth Warren promising to increase social security benefits when the program is taking in just over 70 cent for every dollar it is paying out?

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-23 07:01:54

Fauxahontus Warren is just another fraud.

Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-23 08:07:43

If so, she’s a lot less fraudulent than the rest. That’s why the big banks are terrified of her and will prevent her nomination and election, if she decides to run.

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Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2015-04-23 09:41:17

That’s why the big banks are terrified of her

Ha! She showed her true colors when she defended the Federal Reserve against the threat of an audit. She is clearly in bankers’ pocket.

 
Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-23 12:11:24

No, that’s a Fox talking point. Congress already has authority to do a financial audit. The “audit the Fed” bill was really about Congress using the pretense of an audit to harass and meddle with the Fed in public hearings, to try to interfere with monetary policy. She smelled politcal BS and called them on it.

 
 
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 07:21:09

Saying Soc Sec is going broke is a propaganda tactic to redistribute more wealth from the poor and middle-class to the already rich.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 07:28:39

You need to move to Greece and advise the government. Show me any numbers that support that Social Security is taking in sufficient amounts to pay beneficiaries going forward.

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Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 08:21:02

Show me any numbers that support that Social Security is taking

Why? You don’t understand complicated concepts and a lot of math.

Social Security Cannot Go Bankrupt

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johntharvey/2014/08/14/social-security-cannot-go-bankrupt/

It is a logical impossibility for Social Security to go bankrupt. We can voluntarily choose to suspend or eliminate the program, but it could never fail because it “ran out of money.” This belief is the result of a common error: conceptualizing Social Security from the micro (individual) rather than the macro (economy-wide) perspective. It’s not a pension fund into which you put your money when you are young and from which you draw when you are old. It’s an immediate transfer from workers today to retirees today. That’s what it has always been and that’s what it has to be–there is no other possible way for it to work.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-23 08:29:09

SS is already bankrupt Lola. Just like you.

 
Comment by oxide
2015-04-23 08:58:12

Show me any numbers that support that Social Security is taking in sufficient amounts to pay beneficiaries going forward.

Why does SS suddenly need to independently balance its own budget? We’ll simply borrow to make up the shortfall in SS payments, just the like the F-35 and food stamps for Wal*Mart employees. And every other private sector company who benefits from government cheese.

 
Comment by Cactus
2015-04-23 09:17:55

Show me any numbers that support that Social Security is taking in sufficient amounts to pay beneficiaries going forward.”

But what about the surplus it ran for 40 plus years ??

Don’t tell me they spent it all ;-)

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-04-23 10:45:24

Why does SS suddenly need to independently balance its own budget? We’ll simply borrow to make up the shortfall in SS payments, just the like the F-35 and food stamps for Wal*Mart employees. And every other private sector company who benefits from government cheese.

I think that there’s a law somewhere that prevents Social Security from borrowing.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-23 13:07:44

I think that there’s a law somewhere that prevents Social Security from borrowing.

I seem to recall that when the payroll tax was temporarily reduced that congress voted to cover the difference.

But even if it was “forbidden” to subsidize SS with non payroll tax income that could easily be changed. It’s not a constitutional amendment after all.

 
 
Comment by OliverGarchy
2015-04-23 07:43:49

Means test.

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 08:02:50

So why do they call it insurance?

 
Comment by oxide
2015-04-23 09:31:56

Because they have deductibles?

(ba dum dum ching)

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 11:56:42

Why does SS suddenly need to independently balance its own budget?

Suddenly? It has always been set up to be self-sufficient. The taxes collected were always suppose to be sufficient to pay the benefits. Ronald Reagan did his job and made sure it was self-sufficient in the 1980s when it as about to run out of money. Just because Obama has failed to perform his job and assure the continued viability of SS, does not mean we should go further down the road to insolvency and end up like Greece where government pensions had to be slashed due to a lack of funds.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 12:43:07

From Wikipedia:

The Social Security system is primarily a pay-as-you-go system, meaning that payments to current retirees come from current payments into the system.

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter and the 95th Congress increased the FICA tax to fund Social Security, phased in gradually into the 1980s.[7] In the early 1980s, financial projections of the Social Security Administration indicated near-term revenue from payroll taxes would not be sufficient to fully fund near-term benefits (thus raising the possibility of benefit cuts). The federal government appointed the National Commission on Social Security Reform, headed by Alan Greenspan (who had not yet been named Chairman of the Federal Reserve), to investigate what additional changes to federal law were necessary to shore up the fiscal health of the Social Security program.[8] The Greenspan Commission projected that the system would be solvent for the entirety of its 75-year forecast period with certain recommendations.[8] The changes to federal law enacted in 1983 and signed by President Reagan [2] and pursuant to the recommendations of the Greenspan Commission advanced the time frame for previously scheduled payroll tax increases (though it raised slightly the payroll tax for the self-employed to equal the employer-employee rate), changed certain benefit calculations, and raised the retirement age to 67 by the year 2027.[9] As of the end of calendar year 2010, the accumulated surplus in the Social Security Trust Fund stood at just over $2.6 trillion.[10]

Social Security benefits are paid from a combination of social security payroll taxes paid by current workers and interest income earned by the Social Security Trust Fund. According to the projections of the Social Security Administration, the Trust Fund will continue to show net growth until 2022[11] because the interest generated by its bonds and the revenue from payroll taxes exceeds the amount needed to pay benefits. After 2022, without increases in Social Security taxes or cuts in benefits, the Fund is projected to decrease each year until being fully exhausted in 2033. At this point, if legislative action is not taken, the benefits would be reduced.[12]

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 13:15:07

After 2022, without increases in Social Security taxes or cuts in benefits, the Fund is projected to decrease each year until being fully exhausted in 2033. At this point, if legislative action is not taken, the benefits would be reduced.[12]

So what part of this is so hard for Lola and Oxide to understand? Once the program exhausts the trust fund the benefits will be cut to match the taxes paid or about 70 cents on the dollar of your expected benefits. So do we wait like Greece or create a fix to the program, Hillary, where is your plan? Earth to Warren, there is no money but just keeping following the Greek program of lying and promising until the day the benefits get slashed and it is too late for the retired to create other assets.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 14:09:15

Just another example of a left wing government waiting for insolvency before facing the truth:

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/puerto-rico-officials-warn-government-shutdown-imminent-072028570–business.html

I think that my vote for black swan is a wave of local bankruptcies across this nation, in mainly liberal jurisdictions, that causes a national recession. Puerto Rico followed by Illinois and/or Chicago with a resulting surge in borrowing costs due to perceived higher risk that takes out numerous other entities.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 14:33:33

Just another example of a left wing government waiting for insolvency before bringing back taxes on the rich to historical levels.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 15:15:06

And you on the left just don’t get it, in a world filled with countries particularly in Asia with low taxes, you cannot restore taxes to “historical levels”. You only speed up your decline if you try it. But go over to Greece and advise them to raise taxes on the rich, like a leftwing government has not figured that out.BTW, when Ireland’s banks imploded the EU tried to get Ireland to raise taxes and they were bright enough not to raise them.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 15:19:56
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 15:24:58

Excerpt:

After two years of near stagnation, higher exports and consumer spending lifted 2014 gross domestic product growth to almost four times the average 1.3% rate posted across the EU after most countries had published data.

It is the country’s highest growth rate since 2007, the final year of the Celtic Tiger boom, when the economy grew by 4.9%.

The economic recovery is good news for the Government, ahead of the general election early next year, though a recent surge in anti-austerity protests indicated that the recovery was slow to filter through to ordinary workers.

It also reinforces claims by the EU and IMF that austerity policies implemented by the Government were ultimately good for the country.

After exiting an international bailout at the end of 2013, the economy surged in the first six months of 2014. Growth in the second half was slower, with the economy expanding just 0.2% in the fourth quarter.

But there were positive signs, with personal consumption growing 1.3% quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of the year, while exports were up 1.2%.

“It shows the recovery is broadening and strengthening and there seems to be decent momentum coming into 2015 so you’d expect it to be sustained,” said Austin Hughes, chief economist at KBC Bank Ireland.

“The pick up in domestic demand is the most encouraging aspect.”

The 2015 budget is based on economic growth cutting the budget deficit below the EU limit of 3% of GDP by the end of the year.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the data confirmed Ireland was the fastest growing economy in the EU this year and that the data was consistent with projections for growth of 3.9% this year.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-04-23 15:37:57
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 16:06:11

What is the rate in Greece? Direction is important and the economy in Ireland is on the mend after one of the worse house bubbles in the world burst.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-04-23 16:27:18

It’s an odd thing to say that a country with 10% unemployment has a booming economy. Whether unemployment is higher in some other country is irrelevant.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 16:45:28

Unemployment is a lagging indicator, the gdp growth rate is booming. Ten percent unemployment in the EU is not high.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 17:18:52

And you on the left just don’t get it, in a world filled with countries particularly in Asia with low taxes, you cannot restore taxes to “historical levels”

No. You on the fake right “get it” but won’t admit it. Most successful countries nowadays have a higher tax/gdp ratio than does the USA. And you know it.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 17:20:05

Ireland is booming with its low taxes:

Ireland? Really? The country that owes it’s soul and it’s future GDP to Bankers? Right.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 17:22:16

What is the rate in Greece?

That’s a dumb argument. As dumb as the relevance of “what’s the rate in Somalia”.

You think the HBB is dumb.

 
Comment by rms
2015-04-23 18:01:39

“Unemployment in Ireland is 10%”

And that’s among the non-alcoholics.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-23 06:24:05

Quotes of the Day (Oh and F*** You, Obama Zombies).

http://www.theburningplatform.com/2015/04/23/quotes-of-the-day-148/

 
Comment by Sheldon Kristol
2015-04-23 06:31:37

Rallying the base

“A feud between Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., escalated Wednesday when McCain called the 2016 presidential hopeful “the worst possible candidate on the issue of national security.

McCain said Paul had in the past doubted if ISIS was a threat to U.S. national security, had proposed a budget in 2011 that would have cut defense spending by 30 percent and said Iran wasn’t a threat to Israel.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/04/23/family-feud-mccain-calls-paul-worst-possible-candidate-on-national-security

Comment by OliverGarchy
2015-04-23 07:45:38

National security? Ahahahahahahaa. Paul should point him to our southern border and call him out for selling out on national security a lot closer to home.

 
Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-23 07:52:48

Yeah, in McCain’s twisted world view “preemptive strikes” equals “national security.” For someone who suffered so much as a POW he sure is eager to start wars.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 06:36:40

Are you enjoying the Grimbo?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 20:03:17

At least a few folks have caught on to “extend-and-pretend without end.”

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 20:04:17

‘Grexit’ is so 2012. Citigroup introduces ‘Grimbo’ to crisis lexicon
Simon Kennedy, Bloomberg News | April 23, 2015 11:00 AM ET

The economist who coined the term “Grexit” has come up with another word for Greece’s current situation: “Grimbo.”

Citigroup Inc. economist Ebrahim Rahbari is again adding to the the dictionary of financial markets.

In February 2012, he coined the term “Grexit” to describe the risk of Greece leaving the euro area. At the time, he and his fellow economists at Citigroup put the probability at 50 per cent within 18 months. They later raised it to 90 per cent by 2014.

It’s 2015 and Greece is still in the eurozone.

Yet talk of Grexit is back as Athens squares off with its creditors and its virtual cash drawer empties by the day. The use of the word in Bloomberg News stories spiked this year to the most since its creation.

As the euro proved more durable than he predicted a few years back, Rahbari has come up with a new shorthand. He now describes the outlook as “Grimbo” — an amalgamation of Greek limbo — “for those grey scenarios where Greece isn’t going to get money from the Europeans and there’s no resolution for a durable horizon,” Rhabari told Bloomberg Television’s Erik Schatzker and Stephanie Ruhle on Wednesday.

He sees two such scenarios.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 20:11:52

Dean Popplewell
Contributor
Commodities & Currencies
4/21/2015 @ 7:58AM 7,086 views
Greek Default Almost A Certainty As Grexit Talk Swirls

The U.S. dollar edged up against several other currencies on Tuesday, supported by a euro that’s under increasing pressure due to the Greek imbroglio.

Investors will find themselves in a tough spot seeking direction in a week that’s deprived of fundamental data and long on Greece surviving as a eurozone member.

The markets are wary that elevated Greek uncertainty is to persist as the country’s problems are on the verge of worsening. It’s why investors remain cautious about Friday’s Eurogroup meeting to see if Greece will actually deliver on any of its promised reforms.
..

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 20:16:41

“US New-Home Sales Collapse in March”

Yawn…

Dean Popplewell Contributor
Commodities & Currencies 4/23/2015 @ 8:46AM 457 views
Greenback Treads Water As Investors Await Word On Greece

The U.S. dollar gained marginally against a basket of currencies on Thursday as investors await initial jobless claims and new home sales data stateside. The real focus for currency traders at the moment, however, is the ongoing Greek debt saga and its impact on the euro.

Notwithstanding the lack of fundamental data this week, the EUR bear has been trying valiantly to build up a head of steam ahead of tomorrow’s important Eurogroup meeting in Riga, Latvia. With the market not yet privy to any new hard developments on the Greek creditor fiasco, the naysayers have been rather content to continue to short the EUR on rallies this week. For some time the EUR/USD has been trading directionless, confined to a tight range (€1.0650-€1.0750) post-April nonfarm payrolls.

Earlier this morning, the 19-member single currency looked to be on the verge of rolling over, breaking out of neutral territory on the back of weaker European flash purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data. With a Grexit a potential reality, combined with further weakness in the eurozone’s core, it would be considered a potent mix for the EUR bear. Ahead of European economic releases, the EUR had teased with stop-losses below €1.0660. Alas, the single unit has managed to provisionally survive the weaker flash data.

 
 
Comment by Sheldon Kristol
2015-04-23 06:38:01

Rallying the base

“Voters overwhelmingly believe ISIS is a real threat to the country. They also think America’s fight against the Islamic extremists is going badly.

Most voters, 81 percent, feel the Islamic extremist group ISIS poses a “real national security threat” to the United States. That includes large majorities of Republicans (92 percent), independents (81 percent) and Democrats (73 percent).

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/04/22/fox-news-poll-voters-say-fight-against-isis-going-badly

Comment by Selfish Hoarder
2015-04-23 08:15:45

Who is taking the poll? American cops kill far more Americans than terrorists ever. The terrorists wear blue or black or flak jackets and wear badges.

Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-23 13:09:31

Wow … I agree with you … should I be scared?

Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-23 13:10:31

Who is taking the poll?

Fox News

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Comment by Bill, just south of Irvine
2015-04-23 18:13:02

I’m left wing in many ways.

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Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 19:11:09

Why does every position on most any subject end up being labeled?

Why does every position have to be somehow attached to some sort of ideology?

Why can’t a position simply stand on its own, and be backed by its own merits?

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-04-23 19:14:36

Dogma is a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true.[1] It serves as part of the primary basis of an ideology or belief system, and it cannot be changed or discarded without affecting the very system’s paradigm, or the ideology itself. The term can refer to acceptable opinions of philosophers or philosophical schools, public decrees, religion, or issued decisions of political authorities.[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogma

 
Comment by Bill, just south of Irvine
2015-04-23 19:50:16

I’m right wing in many ways too.

Combo, does that help?

 
Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 20:48:33

No. Nothing helps.

So, regarding this “nothing helps” position, is this a left wing position or a right ring position or (gasp) no position at all?

Is one allowed to have no position at all? Is there such a position?

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 06:50:22

Good news from the Greens we have another 25 years to the tipping point, actually I thought according to Al we were a few decades beyond it:

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/04/22/greens-extend-point-no-return-25-years/

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-23 06:52:27

Here’s some new dirt on Hillary for amoral, stupid, corruption-abetting voters like Florida Dyspeptic to explain away.

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-clintons-putin-and-uranium-2015-4

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 06:55:19

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/04/22/failed-earth-day-predictions/

Doomed I say doomed. Be scared, it is the path to the dark side.

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 07:28:08

Climate-change deniers who don’t understand science use dumb arguments citing scientists who disagree with them. In other news, 2014 was the hottest year on record and the first 3 months of 2015 are continuing the pattern.

Ted Cruz says satellite data show the globe isn’t warming. This satellite scientist feels otherwise

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/03/24/ted-cruz-says-satellite-data-show-the-globe-isnt-warming-this-satellite-scientist-feels-otherwise/

….In claiming the globe hasn’t warmed in 17 years, Cruz selectively highlighted satellite temperature data, rather than other data (which NASA and NOAA recently used to call 2014 the hottest year on record). He also selectively focused on one year (1998), rather than examining the aggregate temperatures of many years or decades. And finally, a key scientist who studies this type of satellite data, and whose work was cited by Cruz’s spokesman (as backup), criticizes Cruz’s approach and conclusions.

Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-23 07:57:17

+1 Rio. The denier case gets thinner by the day, just like the Arctic ice cap.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 08:05:05

It gets stronger every day as the earth refuses to warm according to the models.

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Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 08:22:52

It gets stronger every day as the earth refuses to warm according to the models.

The “argument” that the earth is not warming because “the earth is not warming according to the models” is just about one of the dumbest arguments one can offer on the subject.

I mean really.

 
Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-23 08:39:45

The models are doing well over the long run (since 1900). They do struggle with short-term random variations. But a Max Planck Univ. study found, over the long haul, that climate models correlate well with actual temperatures.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/m-gws020215.php

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 09:00:05

So the models are good at predicting what already happened but shi**y at predicting what will happen, very useful models.

 
Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-23 12:14:02

The models are doing fine, they don’t handle short term random variations very well — such as the 15-year “pause” that recently concluded. And when temps take a sudden jump up, they won’t handle or predict that very well either.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 12:20:00

When you only have 135 years of data, almost 20 years of a pause is a significant amount of your whole data set, now if we are talking about 400,000 years of data which shows nothing abnormal about this warming except it is 2 Celsius less than normal 15 years would mean nothing. The CAGW cannot have it both ways, 20 years cannot be insignificant if we are going to consider 135 years significant. BTW, why do you think that the AGW crowd are always saying we need to keep warming to 2 Celsius? It is because that is where it will stop whether we spend five trillion dollars or nothing and they know it.

 
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 17:37:13

almost 20 years of a pause

We’re broiling in slo-mo. There is no pause in the trend. It’s math and graphs.

Nice “pause” you have there.

http://cdn.antarcticglaciers.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Instrumental_Temperature_Record.png

 
 
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-23 08:28:31

” 2014 was the hottest year on record”

Except that it wasn’t and that isn’t what the NOAA said. IIRC, NOAA said that 2014 was hotter than the entire 20th century. That means it was hotter than the average of the entire 20th century, and hotter than the average by less than a statistically significant amount. Included in the 20th century average is a cool period early in the century which was over before we supposedly started to ramp up our global CO2 emissions. Adding to the subterfuge, somewhere down in the fine print it is revealed that they had to use nighttime lows to get this result. Higher nighttime lows! To put it more bluntly, there were a lot of years in the 20th century that were hotter than the 20th century.

Just a study of how lies are added on top of untruths to propel an agenda.

Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-23 08:54:06

That’s not what the NOAA website says: “The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for 2014 was the highest among all years since record keeping began in 1880.”
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary-info/global/2014/12

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Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 09:15:08

From your link:

“In a second step, the two scientists are now analysing why the simulations arrived at disparate results. This analysis can also explain why the various predictions for the past 15 years deviate from the actual observed trend.”

Chalk one up for the “deniers”

“Random fluctuations and three physical reasons come into question to explain this: The model calculations are based on different amounts of radiant energy from the sun …

“… different amount of radiant energy from the sun …”

Well, now there’s an interesting statement.

“… that impinge on the Earth’s surface and are stored as a result of the greenhouse effect, e.g. due to atmospheric carbon dioxide.”

“However, their predictions also respond with different degrees of sensitivity to changes in this radiant energy …”

“… changes in this radiant energy …”

And there it is again.

“… for example if the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere doubles. In other words, the models assume
different proportions of energy that warm the Earth’s surface …”

“… different proportions of energy that warm the Earth’s surface …”

And again.

“… and the proportion that is sooner or later radiated back into space. Finally, all the climate models assume different amounts of energy stored on the Earth that is transferred to the ocean depths, which act as an enormous heat sink.”

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-23 09:30:01

The next line:

“The annually-averaged temperature was 0.69°C (1.24°F) above the 20th century average of 13.9°C (57.0°F), easily breaking the previous records of 2005 and 2010 by 0.04°C (0.07°F). This also marks the 38th consecutive year (since 1977) that the yearly global temperature was above average.”

Wow, 0.04 degrees! I wonder why they don’t give the +/- on that.

Digging a little deeper:

“According to NASA, all of the following statements are true:
◾2014 was the warmest year on record, dating all the way back to 1880.
◾2014 is far more likely than any other year since 1880 to have been the warmest.
◾There’s a 62 percent chance that 2014 was NOT actually the warmest year since 1880.”

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/02/was-2014-really-warmest-year-nasa-noaa

The century long graph of global surface temperature in the above link is interesting. It shows why these scientists were screaming ice age 40 years ago.

 
Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 09:33:53

Wiki-up “global diming: and you will (in part) get this:

“Global dimming is the gradual reduction in the amount of global direct irradiance at the Earth’s surface that was observed for several decades after the start of systematic measurements in the 1950s. The effect varies by location, but worldwide it has been estimated to be of the order of a 4% reduction over the three decades from 1960–1990. However, after discounting an anomaly caused by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, a very slight reversal in the overall trend has been observed.

“Global dimming is thought to have been caused by an increase in particulates such as sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere due to human action.”

Okay, that’s what it is, now let’s see what it does:

“It has interfered with the hydrological cycle by reducing evaporation and may have reduced rainfall in some areas. Global dimming also creates a cooling effect that may have partially counteracted the effect of greenhouse gases on global warming.

“In basic terms, less sunlight is reaching the Earth because of visible air pollution, which is reflecting the light back into space.”

So here’s another variable to contend with.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-23 10:18:01

We called that “acid rain”. Nasty stuff.

 
 
 
Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 08:37:52

I did a Wiki-up of “the science is settled” and (in part) this is what I got back:

“The phrase is vague, and people who use it may not elaborate what exactly is settled. Certain aspects of climate change are widely accepted: that human actions have increased the amount of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, for example. Other aspects—the exact degree of climate change to be expected within the next century, if any—are not settled. In between are issues such as how much the earth has warmed recently and how much of this is due to human activity.”

FWIW.

Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 08:49:59

What bothers me most about this climate change issue is a questioner is not labeled a questioner but instead he is labeled a denier.

And any opinion rendered by a denier is automatically dismissed.

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Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-23 09:33:11

It’s human nature Combo. A belief circle can only be kept intact by dismissing dissent.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-04-23 10:02:28

Scientists are constantly questioning climate change, by measuring and observing various natural phenomena around the world.

It’s people who refuse to believe their findings, by dismissing them as the work of people with nefarious political interests, and who repeat the same few bullet points that are distributed by sources with ties to the fossil fuels industries, that are rightly deemed ‘deniers’.

 
Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 10:18:36

“Scientists are constantly questioning climate change, by measuring and observing various natural phenomena around the world.”

It is one thing to measure and observe various phenomena around the world and it is quite another thing to remain smug in that one fully understands the various forces and interactions (please note the plurality) that drive these various phenomena.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-23 10:22:35

To be trusted they need to be tested and found sincere. That’s the scientific method. To simply believe what one does not have energy or knowledge to scrutinize is blind faith. We hardly ever really know what is true, but what is not can often be found out quite easily.

 
Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 10:26:26

“… questioning climate change …”

The issue was once called “global warming”. The term that now describes the issue has morphed into “climate change”.

Global warming is easy to dispute, but climate change?

How can one dispute, can deny, can question, that the climate changes?

So the argument is now couched in terms that obscure the real issue, which is not that the climate changes but what are the driving forces that cause this change.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 14:36:15

It’s human nature Combo. Because people trust math, science and reality over Koch/Oil paid self-serving propaganda.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 14:37:15

To simply believe what one does not have energy or knowledge to scrutinize is paid for propagandized politics.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 14:41:52

The issue was once called “global warming”. The term that now describes the issue has morphed into “climate change”.

You guys should get your history right. Repubs changed the term “Global Warming” to “Climate Change” to make it sound more benign. (When Repubs were not paid enough to deny it all, as they do now.)

Spinning the Spin: How Global Warming became Climate Change

http://friendsofginandtonic.org/page4/page11/page11.html

…The new label “climate change” was coined by Frank Luntz, an advisor to the Republican Party. Below are excerpts from this 2002 memo to President George W. Bush titled “The Environment: A Cleaner, Safer, Healthier America”. Frank Luntz was employed by the public relations company APCO International, which also worked for the tobacco industry, and helped launching the Friends of Science. Frank Luntz has since changed his position on global warming.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-23 17:11:40

“Oil paid self-serving propaganda”

Indeed. Still waiting for that first check.

Being a Brazilian probably helps one to see everybody as a paid hack.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 17:23:39

Being a Brazilian probably helps

I’m not Brazilian. I wouldn’t know, and especially neither would you.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-23 19:22:36

You’ve made it your home. Nothing to be embarrassed about.

 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 19:42:26

You’ve made it your home.

But think……There is a big difference between living in a country and giving up your real country for the country you’re living in.

I’ve lived in 6 USA states, all 3 coasts and have been to 49 USA states. Nothing to be embarrassed about to be sure.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-23 20:34:57

You are a Brazilian. You’ve made your bed. It doesn’t matter where you’ve traveled supposedly. So, how is your Bubble working out? You going to pull off that Olympics venue?

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-04-23 20:55:59

” it is quite another thing to remain smug in that one fully understands the various forces”

And who is more smug? The vast majority of scientist out there studying this stuff their whole lives? Or people like you who read a couple of articles which support your own beliefs and then serenely say that the entire world of scientists are lying to us and are up to something nefarious?

Your position, couched in supposed logic and reasonableness, is absurd. It requires either a worldwide conspiracy of scientists, or for the vast majority of the world’s scientists to be either stupid, easily led sheep, or amoral mercenaries.

Or there is the option that what science tells us is correct (as possible), and the rest is noise from the fossil fuel companies.

Let’s apply Occam’s razor.

 
 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-04-23 10:34:59

From what I’ve seen, the phrase “the science is settled” is used mostly people who don’t think that warming has been happening. It’s not Al Gore running around repeating those words every five minutes.

I Googled the phrase myself and found some evidence that that is the case:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:William_M._Connolley/The_science_is_settled

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Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 10:55:29

From your link:

“The phrase is vague, and people who use it may not elaborate what exactly is settled. Certain aspects of climate change are widely accepted: that human actions have increased the amount of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, for example. Other aspects—the exact degree of climate change to be expected within the next century, if any—are not settled. In between are issues such as how much the earth has warmed recently and how much of this is due to human activity.”

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-04-23 13:01:22

My point is that it’s nearly impossible to find a person who uses the word settled to claim that the science is settled. The word is mostly used by people who disagree that climate change is happening and caused by human activity to claim that there are people running around saying that science is settled.

 
Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 14:23:16

“The word is mostly used by people who disagree that climate change is happening and caused by human activity to claim that there are people running around saying that science is settled.”

“People who disagree that climate change is happening…”

This describes one issue, an issue that most people, if asked, would probably totally agree with.

“… and caused by human activity …”

And this describes a separate issue, one that is open to question - not the part about human generated greenhouse gasses adding to climate change but at what degree does human generated greenhouse gasses add to climate change.

There was an article posted somewhere above this post that mentioned (somewhat in passing) the possible effects of “different amounts of radiant energy from the sun”.

IMO this observation should offer a bit of importance to any discussion concerning climate change but if one dares bring this up in certain circles he will be immediately labeled and dismissed as a “denier”.

And once one is labeled a denier then he will suddenly discover himself to be on the outside of the circle and looking in, and labeled as a tool of the Koch Brothers or the coal industry or whatever.

 
 
Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 10:44:59

If the term “Global Warming” was an accurate term that described the warming of the earth and the accompanying melting of polar ice caps and such then why was this term shelved and replaced by such a vague term as “Climate Change”?

If the earth, the globe, is truly heating up and is truly warming then why not stick with the more-accurate term of “Global Warming”.

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Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 11:03:48

Try this for an exercise:

Travel up to the San Francisco Bay Area and inject into a conversation with most anyone you happen across the term “global warming” and discover for yourself just how quickly you will be informed that the correct term to use is “climate change”.

Reminds me of something that George Carlin would say:

“It’s a private club and you aren’t a member.”

And you won’t be admitted as a member if you don’t buy into the prevailing groupthink.

 
Comment by mathguy
2015-04-23 11:27:22

Because a lot of rich people live in cold climates, and wouldn’t mind things warming up a few degrees. Think New York blizzards being not so cold vs arid equatorial countries experiencing heat waves. You go for where the money is. Telling rich new yorkers their city is going to warm up might actually make them fund it happening faster. Dirt farmers in ethiopia can’t do squat anyway, so marketing to them is pointless.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-23 12:10:31

The author of the Greenhouse Effect said it would be significantly beneficial to agriculture.

 
Comment by Cactus
 
Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 14:40:17

Hot off the press:

“How to Misinterpret Climate Change Research”

“Research into the cooling impact of aerosols sends climate contrarians into a tailspin.”

Read this carefully, and be sure to read between the lines.

Pay close attention to the defensive status the author of the aerosol study was forced into.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-misinterpret-climate-change-research/

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Sheldon Kristol
2015-04-23 06:55:20

Rallying the base

“Before Iowa and New Hampshire, GOP candidates are competing in the Sheldon Adelson primary, and some will travel to his posh Venetian hotel in Las Vegas this weekend in hopes of winning it. But one candidate — Marco Rubio — has emerged as the clear frontrunner, according to nearly a half-dozen sources close to the multibillionaire casino mogul.

In recent weeks, Adelson, who spent $100 million on the 2012 campaign and could easily match that figure in 2016, has told friends that he views the Florida senator, whose hawkish defense views and unwavering support for Israel align with his own, as a fresh face who is” the future of the Republican Party.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/marco-rubio-takes-lead-in-sheldon-adelson-primary-117268.html

Comment by OliverGarchy
2015-04-23 07:48:51

If he spends a billion dollars, 1/29th of his net worth, that’s the same as a millionaire kicking in $35K. Why is he being such a piker?

 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 06:59:25
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-23 07:04:32

Comrad Pelosi’s permanent Democrat Supermajority isn’t going to build itself, you know. Bring on your huddled votes-for-entitlements yearning to sponge off taxpayers!

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/census-record-51-million-immigrants-in-8-years-will-account-for-82-of-u.s.-growth/article/2563463

 
Comment by palmetto
2015-04-23 07:04:44

You need to check out the website Refugee Resettlement Watch. These people should never have been in Minnesota to begin with. NO WAY!

 
 
 
Comment by Sheldon Kristol
2015-04-23 07:04:33

Editorial: Time for Senators to Step Up on Iran

by William Kristol

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/editorial-time-senators-step-iran_927985.html

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-04-23 07:09:41

Good old Mitch, that son of a….

Mitch McConnell’s Surprise Bill Would Extend NSA Bulk Data Collection Until 2020
By Beth Ethier

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has a solution to end the contentious debate over soon-to-expire surveillance powers granted to the government under the Patriot Act. A new bill, co-sponsored by McConnell and Republican Richard Burr of North Carolina, and dropped on the Senate out of the blue Tuesday night, would put the matter to bed by locking in a controversial bulk data collection program, completely unchanged, for the next five years.

McConnell’s proposal would reauthorize without revision Title II, Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which enables a large part of the dragnet of American government surveillance and data collection first brought to public attention by former NSA employee Edward Snowden.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/04/22/patriot_act_extension_mitch_mcconnell_proposes_continuing_nsa_s_bulk_data.html

Comment by Sheldon Kristol
2015-04-23 07:30:23

Smaller government?

Less regulations?

Lower taxes?

 
Comment by rj chicago
2015-04-23 07:40:37

I told my conservative buddies following the November elections - you watch guys NOTHING is gonna change - they didn’t believe me - now they do.

 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 07:11:12

it doesn’t say whether that is the pay for a week or a month, but I would guess per month, nevertheless both China and Ethiopia do benefit from the arrangement:

Xinhua)
Updated: 2015-04-23 08:30
Counter:

With the current good market in Ethiopia, a Chinese reinforcing bar (rebar) manufacturer, East Steel, is boosting its rebar production in the country.

East Steel factory, which is a leading rebar manufacturer in Ethiopia, has been built at the Eastern Industrial Zone in Dukem town about 35 km south of Addis Ababa, capital of the East African nation.

Having completed the construction of the plant in September 2012, East Steel commenced operation in September 2013.

The factory has the capacity of manufacturing about 20, 000 tons of rebars monthly under normal condition that is with consistent supply of raw material and without power interruption, according to Yang Wei, General Manager of East Steel.

The General Manager told Xinhua that the Factory is manufacturing rebars of different sizes for construction of roads, railways, airports, dam and other infrastructures.

The Factory is operating with raw material imported mainly from Ukraine, Russia, and China, according to the General Manager.

Yang noted that the workers, of whom more than 180 are local employees, are working on two shifts.

Some of the employees told Xinhua that they have improved their livelihoods with the earnings at East Steel.

Bayissa Beyene is a human resource officer at the factory, where he has worked for more than one and half years.

Bayissa said he is very happy about his work and the local youth are being benefited from their work at East Steel.

“It is now about one year and six months since I started working here. The operation and everything is very nice here. As you can see it, we are working hard here. And things are going on smoothly,” he said.

“It is very good. I was a day laborer when I first joined the company, since I got a first degree, I was promoted to the current position. By working here, I have really improved my livelihood. I am at good status now,” said Bayissa.

Sileshi Kasu is another local staff, who has been working with East Steel since the establishment of the plant.

The worker told Xinhua that he is earning much better than the payment he was getting with his previous employers.

” I’m working here at the loading area. I have been here for more than three years. The benefit that I get here is beyond imagination; I was paid only Birr 325 (about 16 U.S. dollars)with my previous employer, it was too difficult for me to cover family spending. But, here with the Chinese, we can earn better according to our work, we get about Birr 3,000 (147 dollars) to 4,000 (196 dollars); and we are leading good life,” said Sileshi.

Sileshi added the most important benefit of working at East Steel is that the local workers can improve their working skills and learn to do jobs in a more effective way.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 07:16:08

The Factory is operating with raw material imported mainly from Ukraine, Russia, and China, according to the General Manager.

That would probably be the part of the Ukraine that the Russian separatists now control.

 
Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 07:47:29

Ethiopia! Because that’s where the money is!:

From Wikipedia:

“According to the IMF, Ethiopia was one of the fastest growing economies in the world, registering over 10% economic growth from 2004 through 2009. It was the fastest-growing non-oil-dependent African economy in the years 2007 and 2008. Growth has decelerated moderately in 2012 to 7% and is projected to be 6.5% in the future – reflecting weaker external demand and an increasingly constrained environment for private sector activity.”

Lots and lots of growth here … now just why is that? Let’s read on a bit farther and perhaps we will find out …

“Ethiopia’s growth performance and considerable development gains came under threat during 2008 and 2011 with the emergence of twin macroeconomic challenges of high inflation and a difficult balance of payments situation. Inflation surged to 40% in August 2011 because of loose monetary policy, large civil service wage increase in early 2011, and high food prices. For 2011/12, end-year inflation was projected to be about at about 22 percent and single digit inflation is projected in 2012/13 with the implementation of tight monetary and fiscal policies.”

“… loose monetary policy …”

IMO there’s a connection here, a connection between loose monetary policy and high economic growth - high economic growth as measure by numbers, which is the way economic growth is measured.

I like numbers as well as the next guy but strange and funny things can seem to be happening when the only things that are looked at are numbers.

But let’s move on:

“The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa.
In spite of fast growth in recent years, GDP per capita is one of the lowest in the world, and the economy faces a number of serious structural problems. Agricultural productivity remains low, and frequent droughts still beset the country. Ethiopia is often ironically referred to as the “water tower” of Eastern Africa because of the 14 major rivers that pour off the high tableland, including the Nile. It also has the greatest water reserves in Africa, but few irrigation systems in place to use it. Just 1% is used for power production and 1.5% for irrigation.

“Provision of telecommunications services is left to a state-owned monopoly. It is the view of the current government that maintaining state ownership in this vital sector is essential to ensure that telecommunication infrastructures and services are extended to rural Ethiopia, which would not be attractive to private enterprises.

“The Ethiopian constitution defines the right to own land as belonging only to “the state and the people”, but citizens may lease land (up to 99 years), and are unable to mortgage or sell. Renting of land for a maximum of twenty years is allowed and this is expected to ensure that land goes to the most productive user. Land distribution and administration is considered an area where corruption is institutionalized, and facilitation payments as well as bribes are often demanded when dealing with land-related issues.”

Stay tuned.

 
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 07:18:06

Florida is getting “interesting”. The gang that can’t shoot straight. Today’s Repub Party is a bought-off farce. None of their predictions came true on The ACA and now they are fighting themselves over it. Who didn’t see that coming?

Cut Taxes or Expand Medicaid? Florida Governor Rick Scott Is in Quite a Pickle.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121563/rick-scott-medicaid-expansion-opposition-killing-his-tax-cuts

…..if Scott and Florida Republicans want their tax cuts, they will have to use expanded Medicaid to fill the budget hole where the Low Income Pool used to be…..Instead (Florida governor) Scott is suing the federal government to bail him out of a self-made crisis. This isn’t an anomaly, but a pattern. Across the country, Republican governors are coping with the consequences of their own Obamacare intransigence—staring into a future where their insurance markets get destroyed by virtue of their refusal to help implement Obamacare and their unwillingness to take on the right as it pursued litigation.

It was inevitable that as Obamacare became more entrenched, Republicans would see their opposition to the law come into tension with their other core interests. This is exactly what’s happened, and to some extent it has exposed weaknesses in the resistance strategy.

…..A likelier explanation for Scott’s change of heart is a combination of anti-Medicaid spending by the Koch-backed advocacy group Americans for Prosperity…

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 07:37:30

The left said ACA was going to lead to more popular Democratic party and a single payer system. It has led to a Republican senate and house and a HMO system not unlike the private sector devised in the 1980s but with even less choice. Obama took an issue that worked for the Democrats (healthcare) and turned into a vote getter for Republicans. Why wouldn’t the Republicans just want to let the Democrats twist in the wind?

Comment by MightyMike
2015-04-23 10:52:03

The left said ACA was going to lead to more popular Democratic party and a single payer system.

If anyone said that it would lead to single payer, they must have meant that that would happen far in the future - 10 or 20 years or more.

Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-23 12:47:12

IIRC, it was the right that complained that the ACA was a “slippery slope” to fully socialized medical care.

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 13:09:20

Now it is true some conservatives said it would because they thought Obamacare would become popular like Medicare, however I was never one of them, I stated, always, that because it was not set up like an intergenerational Ponzi scheme it would not become widely popular.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-04-23 13:14:20

You should not the use of the word “eventually”. Mr. Reid never claimed that single payer would be signed into law by Obama.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-23 13:23:55

Perhaps I should rephrase what I said:

The left hopes that ACA will lead to a UK like National Health system, the right fears that it will.

FWIW, I recall the right saying all kinds of “bad things” about the ACA when it was being discussed and the “slippery slope” argument was one of them.

Of course, this makes me ask the question that no one seems to want to answer: Why can other countries successfully implement national health systems, but we “Exceptional Americans” cannot?

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 13:31:15

The left hopes that ACA will lead to a UK like National Health system, the right fears that it will.

No disagreement there, however over the last few years fewer liberals believe it will and fewer conservatives believe it will. More conservatives are seeing that the failure of Obamacare is actually blocking single payer. The brightest ones actually understand that repealing it is more likely to result in single payer than just turning it into Romneycare at a national level.

 
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 18:55:03

The left said ACA was going to lead to more popular Democratic party

Nope. It was much bigger than that.

The left said the ACA was to insure tens of millions of Americans’ healthcare - something strived for for over 60 years by both parties.

It’s the job of government to serve us. And in in the case of the ACA, it did just that, and be damned the politics.

It was a courageous act in which the Dems paid a short-term political price - something to be admired. And it will be respected and admired in history.

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Comment by rj chicago
2015-04-23 07:44:02

Rio -
What part of higher deducts, less time with docs., less independent practices from which to choose, higher premiums don’t you understand.
Do the f….ing math - that is unless you are one of the takers of society sponging off the remaining folk - like me - who shows up to work EVERY F…..ing day to pay the f….ing bills.
Sheesh. Put down the bong!!!

Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 08:18:14

What part of higher deducts, less time with docs., less independent practices from which to choose, higher premiums don’t you understand.

The part that most all of that is propaganda. The negative aspects of almost every one of your “points” was happening at a greater rate than before the ACA.

Higher deducts:

They are “higher deducts” on real insurance, not crap policies that used to cover nothing if you could even get it.

Less time with docs:
The 20 million who now have coverage now have “less time with docs”? And the ACA is showing to improve a lot of health-care aspects:
5 ways that Obamacare might have changed your doctor’s office visit

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/health360/posts/2015/03/20-ways-aca-changed-doctor-visit-patel

higher premiums:
Since the ACA, premiums for the same kind of insurance have risen much less percentagewise than before the ACA.

unless you are one of the takers of society sponging off the remaining folk - like me

LOL. I live in Brazil. I’m really “sponging” off you. :)

Comment by rj chicago
2015-04-23 09:31:45

yep - the decline in the real is ….. well…I am not gonna go there.
How’s that Olympic Park comin along by the way?

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 13:01:18
 
Comment by RioAmericanInBrasil
2015-04-23 14:47:36

How’s that Olympic Park comin along by the way?

That question has as much pertinence to the subject of the ACA as me asking how big are your momma’s combat boots.

Weak-sauce.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by rj chicago
2015-04-23 07:54:35

“Umm……we killed some folks”
Barack Hussein Obama

Apr 23, 10:06 AM (ET)

By JULIE PACE
WASHINGTON (AP) — An American and an Italian held hostage by al-Qaida, as well as two Americans working with the terror group, were inadvertently killed in U.S. counterterrorism operations earlier this year, the White House said Thursday.
The White House said that Warren Weinstein, an American held by al-Qaida since 2011, and Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian held since 2012, were killed in a January operation in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The operation targeted an al-Qaida-associated compound and there was no reason to believe either hostage was present, the White House said.
In addition, the U.S. believes that Ahmed Farouq, an American who the White House says was an al-Qaida leader, was killed in the same operation. U.S. officials have also concluded that Adam Gadahn, an American who had served as a spokesman for the terror network, was killed in a separate operation in January.
The White House said Farouq and Gadhan were not specifically targeted in the operations, nor did the U.S. have information indicating their presence at the sites.
President Barack Obama was to appear in the White House briefing room at midmorning to make a statement on the incidents.
The White House said Obama takes “full responsibility for these operations and believes it is important to provide the American people with as much information as possible about our counterterrorism operations, particularly when they take the lives of fellow citizens. ”
The White House said that while it believes the operations were lawful, the U.S. is conducting an independent review to understand what happened.

Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-23 08:01:01

Here’s how the conservatives will play it:

Osama Bin Laden: SEAL team did it, Obama gets no credit

2015 Failed Hostage Rescue: Military didn’t fail, it was Obama’s fault.

 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-23 08:08:59

Wheelin’ out the Lola.

lol.

Comment by IE LANDLORD KING
2015-04-23 13:44:19

WEEP DOOMSAYERS. lmao@ THE renters for life hoping for another housing bubble. It’s not going to happen.
Housing will triple in California in the next 5 years.

What to Do Now That Spring Housing Market Is Suddenly ‘Smoking Hot’

NEW YORK (MainStreet) — The real estate market has caught fire, with existing home sales at their highest levels since late 2013, according to the National Association of Realtors.

For March, existing home sales were up by 6.1%, or up to 5.19 million sales for the month in the single-family home, townhome, condominium and co-op markets. It was the largest monthly sales increase since December 2010, and that trend’s not likely to reverse itself this spring or summer.

“After a quiet start to the year, sales activity picked up greatly throughout the country in March,” says Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist. “The combination of low-interest rates and the ongoing stability in the job market is improving buyer confidence and finally releasing some of the sizable pent-up demand that accumulated in recent years.”

On the ground, real estate agents and mortgage brokers are also reporting an aggressive home sales season. “The market is smoking hot right now,” says Brad Pauly, founder of Pauly Presley Realty in Austin, Texas. “We’re as busy as we’ve been in 10 years.” Still, he advises sellers to be careful: “Regardless of how hot the market is, marketing is still important. Also, even though multiple offers are still common, grossly overpricing your property will be detrimental to obtaining top dollar.”

For buyers, the watchword is preparedness. “Interest rates are still at historic lows, so don’t be scared to pull the trigger on a real estate purchase,” Pauly says. “With the current market conditions, be pre-approved for a loan, have cash ready in the bank and be prepared to move quickly with an offer.”

Housing professionals in other areas see the market the same way.

“The spring market in Washington, D.C., is extremely competitive right now,” says Hillary Legrain, a vice president at Bethesda, Md.-based First Savings Mortgage. “Most of my clients are waiving their financing and appraisal contingencies and their right to an inspection just to have their offers considered.”

In addition, Legrain says her clients are having to offer very quick close times, sometimes as little as eight days. “Most of my clients are up against six to 10 offers on each home, with more than one being a cash offer. It’s become very difficult to compete as a result. Purchase prices are being driven up way over asking in most circumstances.”

Interest rates are playing a big role. “While we’re seeing weakness in new building starts and existing sales, low rates are helping push the on-the-fence buyers into a decision,” says Ken Maes, divisional vice president of Skyline Home Loans in Happy Valley, Ore. “The talk of the Federal Reserve raising rates has caused some borrowers to move forward.”

Rising rental rates are also pushing consumers to buy new homes, Maes says. “When you compare low long-term interest rates, an expensive rental market and easier access to credit, this is the perfect time to buy if you intend to stay in your home long term,” he adds.

https://www.mainstreet.com/article/what-to-do-now-that-spring-housing-market-is-suddenly-smoking-hot/page/2

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 14:30:33

“Housing will triple in California in the next 5 years.”

Was non-medical marijuana suddenly legalized in California without the MSM noticing it?

Comment by Negative Expansion
2015-04-23 16:35:41

“says Lawrence Yun”

IE LANDLORD KING shoots across the sky at supersonic speed powered by twin unicorns farting rainbows.

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Comment by Puggs
2015-04-23 16:29:12

It’s an AWESOME time to buy a house just like it was in 2005!!!

 
Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-23 21:28:36

“Most of my clients are waiving their financing and appraisal contingencies and their right to an inspection just to have their offers considered.”

Translation: Most of my clients have lost their minds.

“Most of my clients are up against six to 10 offers on each home, with more than one being a cash offer. It’s become very difficult to compete as a result. Purchase prices are being driven up way over asking in most circumstances.”

Translation: My clients as well; Most of my clients, too, have lost their minds.

 
 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 08:09:20

It is going to hard to crank production back up after this:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/half-u-fracking-companies-dead-162143399.html

 
Comment by Sheldon Kristol
 
Comment by stewie
2015-04-23 08:35:36

To all young men, the gauntlet has been thrown down, you have been warned… Wrap your junk or die…

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/20/us/skip-child-support-go-to-jail-lose-job-repeat.html?referrer=&_r=0

Comment by Sheldon Kristol
2015-04-23 09:21:25

+1

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-23 12:22:25

Something not right about that article. When you skip court, I think the warrant is for contempt of court, not for owing money.

Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-23 12:45:45

Regardless, you can be incarcerated for not paying court ordered child support.

 
 
Comment by rms
2015-04-23 18:15:14

These dead-beat dad’s are also neglecting their Obama Care payments.

 
 
Comment by Cactus
2015-04-23 08:53:02

just yesterday I posted news that housing was headed up. Now this.

Washington (AFP) - Sales of new US homes plunged in March after a sharp rise in February, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

Sales of new single-family houses came in at an annual rate of 481,000 last month, down 11.4 percent month-over-month.

February’s sales were revised upward to a rate of 543,000 from the previous estimate of 539,000.

House prices fell and inventory on the market grew in March.

The median sales price of new houses sold in March was $277,400, down from $281,600 in February and the lowest since September.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 20:08:07

“Sales of new US homes plunged in March after a sharp rise in February, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.”

Guess that explains why new records were hit today on Wall Street, as crappy housing numbers are certain to lead to mo’ credik.

 
 
Comment by rj chicago
2015-04-23 09:35:06

Hmmmm…..sounds to me like there might actually be a CFO in the airline business who is somewhat awake. And I wonder if this is a tell on the future of oil prices…..
Takes a lot of gas to run an airplane!!

United Continental Holdings Inc likely will use some of its free cash to finish a $1 billion share buyback program this year and add jet fuel hedge positions for 2016, Chief Financial Officer John Rainey said Thursday during a call with investors.

Rainey also said it’s “reasonable” that the Chicago-based airline, which has $7 billion in unrestricted liquidity, will explore approving a dividend or additional share buybacks after finishing the current repurchase program. (Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-23 10:14:03

When news of falling housing prices is discussed, CraterRage ensues.

CraterRage Photo Of The Day

http://goo.gl/5nNKbQ

Comment by azdude
2015-04-23 18:25:22

how is your evening? surrounded by empty bud light cans again?

Its time to buy some assets and be a responsible debt slave.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-23 18:31:01

Stick with the data Poet and remember…… Dollars are increasingly valuable with each passing day. Hold on to every one you’ve got… you’re going to need them.

 
 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
 
Comment by Mr. Banker
2015-04-23 11:50:08

Bahahahahahahahaha … Wikipedia has now expanded it activities into the joke-telling business.

An example: Wikipedia says this of economics:

“The ultimate goal of economics is to improve the living conditions of people in their everyday life.”

Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha … you ignorant proles should drop by my bank branch and we’ll maybe discuss a few creative economic ways that your miserable lives can be improved.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 12:25:20

Obama’s war on Putin has now accomplished something that almost seems impossible. We have declining jobs in the oil patch at the same time gasoline prices are rising, way to go Obama. In the end consumers will save $100 billion dollars or less in gasoline and we will inflict $500 billion dollars of damage on the economy:

http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/138243/Oil_Services_Company_Weatherford_Raises_Job_Cuts_Target_to_10000

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 12:52:26

Excerpt from link that is about to post:

U.S. crude settled up $1.58, or 2.8 percent, at $58.02 a barrel. Its session peak of $58.41 was a 2015 high.

U.K. North Sea Brent, a global benchmark for oil, finished up $2.12, or 3.3 percent, at $64.85 a barrel. Its session high was a 2015 peak of $65.58.

Front-month U.S. gasoline settled up 7 cents, or 4 percent, after hitting an intraday high above $2 a gallon, the peak since Nov. 26.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 14:18:11

Don’t look now but we have $68 oil for December. We are just $12 a way from the $80 mark and it is Brent that sets gasoline prices. Brent was selling for $45 in January:

http://futures.tradingcharts.com/marketquotes/index.php3?market=CL

 
 
 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 13:41:20

Don’t you just hate “stale” homes, just cut the price by $100 and re-list it is just like a pine air freshener:

https://homes.yahoo.com/news/stale-homes-tightening-housing-market-154200426.html

 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-23 14:25:37

Excerpt from link, actually I think they are more endangered to lose their virginity if they cannot run faster than their uncles”

An Islamic college in Australia is under investigation after claims its principal banned girls from taking part in running competitions because they might “lose their virginity.”

Victoria state Education Minister James Merlino said yesterday that if true, the claims made by a former teacher at Melbourne’s Al-Taqwa College “would be very concerning.”

“I have asked the schools regulator to investigate,” he said in a statement.

The ex-teacher wrote to government this week saying “the principal (Omar Hallak) holds beliefs that if females run excessively, they might ‘lose their virginity,’” The Age newspaper said.

“The principal believes that there is scientific evidence to indicate that if girls injure themselves, such as break their leg while playing soccer, it could render them infertile.”

 
Comment by Puggs
2015-04-23 15:08:48

The great global debt wind-down is gonna be a B.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-04-23 17:29:57

I will post this again tomorrow.

“As if the home invasion, the appropriation of private property, and the verbal abuse weren’t enough, next came ominous warnings. Don’t call your lawyer.”

“Don’t tell anyone about this raid.”

“Not even your mother, your father, or your closest friends.”

“Most Americans have never heard of these raids, or of the lengthy criminal investigations of Wisconsin conservatives. For good reason. Bound by comprehensive secrecy orders, conservatives were left to suffer in silence as leaks ruined their reputations, as neighbors, looking through windows and dismayed at the massive police presence, the lights shining down on targets’ homes, wondered, no doubt, What on earth did that family do?”

“If the prosecutors had applied the same legal standards to the Democrats in their own offices, they would have been forced to turn the raids on themselves.”

‘They came with a battering ram.”

by David French April 20, 2015 4:00 AM
From the May 4, 2015, issue of NR

Cindy Archer, one of the lead architects of Wisconsin’s Act 10 — also called the “Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill,” it limited public-employee benefits and altered collective-bargaining rules for public-employee unions — was jolted awake by yelling, loud pounding at the door, and her dogs’ frantic barking. The entire house — the windows and walls — was shaking.

She looked outside to see up to a dozen police officers, yelling to open the door. They were carrying a battering ram.

She wasn’t dressed, but she started to run toward the door, her body in full view of the police. Some yelled at her to grab some clothes, others yelled for her to open the door.

“I was so afraid,” she says. “I did not know what to do.” She grabbed some clothes, opened the door, and dressed right in front of the police. The dogs were still frantic.

“I begged and begged, ‘Please don’t shoot my dogs, please don’t shoot my dogs, just don’t shoot my dogs.’ I couldn’t get them to stop barking, and I couldn’t get them outside quick enough. I saw a gun and barking dogs. I was scared and knew this was a bad mix.”

It was indeed a home invasion, but the people who were pouring in were Wisconsin law-enforcement officers. Armed, uniformed police swarmed into the house. Plainclothes investigators cornered her and her newly awakened family. Soon, state officials were seizing the family’s personal property, including each person’s computer and smartphone, filled with the most intimate family information. Why were the police at Anne’s home? She had no answers. The police were treating them the way they’d seen police treat drug dealers on television.

Yet no one in this family was a “perp.” Instead, like Cindy, they were American citizens guilty of nothing more than exercising their First Amendment rights to support Act 10 and other conservative causes in Wisconsin. Sitting there shocked and terrified, this citizen — who is still too intimidated to speak on the record — kept thinking, “Is this America?”

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/417155/wisconsins-shame-i-thought-it-was-home-invasion-david-french

Comment by phony scandals
2015-04-23 18:23:42

“For select conservative families across five counties, this was the terrifying moment — the moment they felt at the mercy of a truly malevolent state.”

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/417155/wisconsins-shame-i-thought-it-was-home-invasion-david-french

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 20:19:19

Have stocks ever rallied more strongly than now on crappy economic news?

Wall Street trader’s rallying cry: “In central bank stimulus we trust.”

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 20:21:42

In Battle Between Strong Dollar and Cheap Gas, the Strong Dollar Is Winning
APRIL 23, 2015
Neil Irwin

There were two big shifts in global markets in the second half of 2014 that looked likely to shape how the American economy would perform in 2015.

Oil prices plummeted last year, leading to cheaper gasoline — good news for American consumers and companies like airlines and shipping firms that are heavy fuel users. Meanwhile, the dollar soared on global currency markets, making life more difficult for exporters who faced higher costs relative to global competitors.

The giant question for the economy in 2015 was which of these forces would prove more powerful. The bad news is that so far, the strong dollar is winning.

Consider a brief list of companies that have reported dollar-related financial struggles in the last few days alone. Household-name companies like Procter & Gamble, 3M and General Electric, among many others, have reported hits to their profitability owing to the rising dollar. First-quarter earnings of publicly traded companies are on track to decline 3.3 percent compared with a year earlier, according to FactSet, which would be the first annual drop since 2012 and the largest since the financial crisis.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 20:24:09

China bad debt spikes by more than a third
Mia Tahara-Stubbs
45 Mins Ago
CNBC dot com

Chinese banks face a spike in bad loans amid slowing economic growth, PwC warns in a new report.

“There are a variety of indications that credit risk exposure is accelerating,” said PwC China Banking and Capital Markets leader Jimmy Leung in a press release published on Thursday.

Asset quality continues to worsen, while the average overdue loan period is constantly increasing, Leung said, noting there is growing pressure on overdue loans to be downgraded to the non-performing loan category.

Slowing economy

Slowing growth in the world’s second largest economy prompted the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) to stimulate lending, but that has seen the quality of loans deteriorate.

China’s economy expanded at its slowest full-year pace in 24 years in 2014, undershooting the government’s target for the first time since 1998. The economy continued to lose momentum in the first quarter of 2015 with on-year growth marking its slowest pace in six years.

The PBoC has undertaken easing measures to prevent the economy from slowing further. Most recently, the central bank cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for banks by 100 basis points on April 19 to stimulate lending – the second RRR cut in as many months.

More bad loans

As the economy slows, the loan books at China’s 12 biggest listed banks are growing, but the quality of their loans appears to be deteriorating.
….

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 20:28:20

April 6, 2015, 11:48 A.M. ET
Monday Surprise: Bad Economic Data Still Good News for Stocks
By Chris Dieterich

Call it the Easter Bunny reversal.

U.S. stocks are rising on Monday, rather than falling, in spite of last week’s dour jobs report. The SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) is climbing 0.6%, while the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) is adding 0.4%. Utility stocks, like those included in the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU), are leading the way, climbing 1.70%.

Trading in stocks was closed on Good Friday after the woeful March jobs report showed the weakest month for hiring in over a year. Stock jockeys could only stand by and watch bonds, currencies and stocks futures for indications about where the market was headed.

And, right until minutes after Monday’s opening bell, all signs pointed to a down day for Wall Street. S&P 500 futures were down nearly 0.8% just hours before the opening bell.

Of course, each economic reading these days triggers divination about the Federal Reserve: Positive reports stoke concerns that the economy might be strong enough to support an interest-rate hike from the central bank; meantime, negative ones assure investors that the Fed with keep rates lower for longer.

As market watchers strained to reconcile Friday’s knee-jerk market moves with the latest jobs report, some worried that the this order might be inverting, that bad economic data may in fact bode ill for the stock market. And of course it still might.

But New York Fed Bank head William Dudley echoed the central bank’s wait-and-see policy stance early on Monday: any interest rate increase “will be data dependent and remains uncertain because the future evolution of the economy cannot be fully anticipated. …I anticipate that the path will be relatively shallow” since “headwinds in the aftermath of the financial crisis are still in evidence.”

Right, so, we’re left with what we knew all along: the economy is recovering slowly and the Fed is waiting to see signs of improvement before raising rates:

From Reuters:

U.S. stocks edged up on Monday as expectations the Federal Reserve will push any interest rate increases further into the year offset concerns over faltering economic growth spurred by a surprisingly weak jobs report on Friday.

Bloomberg:

U.S. stocks rose, rebounding from a selloff in futures after comments by a Federal Reserve official refocused investors on the interest-rate implications of last week’s employment data.

And, most aptly, from the Financial Times:

US stocks confounded expectations to push higher on Monday in their first trading session following last week’s surprisingly weak jobs data.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 22:28:39

BloombergBusiness
China Defaults Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg: Kowalczyk
9:08 PM PDT April 21, 2015

 
 
Comment by rms
2015-04-23 20:53:14

Here ‘ya go, Bill. There’s still a chance!

Having a baby in your 40s or later?
http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20150417-here-comes-baby-at-45-plus

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 22:34:36

It’s raining!

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 23:36:19

Slme friends whose work moved away from SD just put their 4Closure Ranch McMansion on the market for $1+ million, which I am quite sure is considerably more than they paid for it.

I’ll keep y’all posted on whether, when snd for how much it sells.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-23 23:44:00

Yet another reason not to own a home: We attended a HS honors award ceremony for one of our kids tonight. Another couple we know, whose son was also an honoree, sat at our table.

Their son will attend UCLA next fall. USC was his first choice and he was accepted there. But they offered no financial aid whatever because they counted the couple’s home equity wealth gains against their financial aid eligibility.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-04-24 04:40:18

phony scandals

 
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