May 4, 2015

Bits Bucket for May 4, 2015

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




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181 Comments »

Comment by rallying the base
2015-05-04 00:35:21

Buy a house today and your losses will be incalculable.

Comment by azdude
2015-05-04 05:11:20

why is shareholder equity being looted?

Comment by GuillotineRenovator
2015-05-04 10:22:52

As a sheeple, you don’t need to worry about it. Just spend some more of “your equity,” then scratch your head when a payment to the bank comes due at the end of the month.

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 00:42:46

Kraydur

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 00:48:10
 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-05-04 18:56:12

agreed

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 03:18:16

Over Ten Billion Square Feet of Chinese Housing Are Empty
By Leo Timm, Epoch Times | May 3, 2015
Last Updated: May 3, 2015 9:19 pm
A Chinese construction worker at a new apartment complex on Aug. 29, 2014, in Beijing, China. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

China’s real estate bubble is looming with over 10. 7 billion square feet square meters (1 billion square meters) of unused housing, Zhu Min, deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund said this April at a meeting in Washington, D.C.

Zhu did not state the source of his figure, though it corroborates with what is widely known about China’s real estate market: many housing stock go unused, and the market may see a significant price correction in the future, wiping out vast household wealth. Zhu made his remarks at the IMF spring meetings held in late April, and they were later quoted by China Times, a semiofficial newspaper.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-05-04 05:55:25

Seven square feet for every Chinese person, OMG what a glut.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 07:29:50

Of people, of housing, or of both?

 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-05-04 18:57:44

Does every person in China require an additional 7 square feet right now?

 
 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-05-04 03:40:20

Global warming is still hiding next to the unicorns in the deep ocean:

http://www.drroyspencer.com/2015/05/uah-v6-0-global-temperature-update-for-april-2015-0-07-deg-c/

 
 
 
Comment by azdude
2015-05-04 04:07:30

what is the catalyst that will turn believers in the FED to non believers regarding stock market?

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-05-04 06:08:24

Reality.

 
Comment by OliverGarchy
2015-05-04 06:17:11

Losses.

 
Comment by scdave
2015-05-04 07:03:55

turn believers in the FED to non believers regarding stock market ??

I don’t think its about the FED…I think its about money flows from outside the U.S….When the EU and others finally turn around, we likely will see that money flow reverse…I some ways, we are already seeing it…Bets are starting to be made in the EU including Greece…

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 07:46:14

There is no money Dave. Its spent already.

 
 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-05-04 04:08:42

The sunspot record sure correlates better with temperatures than the co2 levels which have continued to soar while temperatures are flat:

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/05/02/the-sun-is-almost-completely-blank/

Comment by Combotechie
2015-05-04 06:07:59

An excerpt:

“… it is pretty well understood that solar activity has a direct impact on temperatures at very high altitudes in a part of the Earth’s atmosphere called the thermosphere. This is the biggest layer of the Earth’s atmosphere which lies directly above the mesosphere and below the exosphere. Thermospheric temperatures increase with altitude due to absorption of highly energetic solar radiation and are highly dependent on solar activity.”

Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-05-04 18:59:55

Someone tell Dan not to pick his cherries in public already.

 
 
 
Comment by rallying the base
Comment by rallying the base
2015-05-04 05:28:21

Let’s talk about rallying the base.

The top headline on the Fox News website is titled “Terror In Texas” and under that another link titled “ISIS-linked social media accounts reportedly claim responsibility for Texas shooting”.

None of this will possibly result in “smaller government” or “lower taxes”, because for mainstream, corporatist, warmonger Republicans, fear is all they have left.

They don’t have any new ideas like Rand Paul, all they have is emotional manipulation. The “War On Terror” has cost over $1.6 so far, all of which had to be borrowed from communist China to pay for it.

American taxpayers, aren’t you sick and tired of being lied to and ripped off?

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-05-04 06:09:40

American taxpayers, aren’t you sick and tired of being lied to and ripped off?

You do realize 95% of the electorate voted for more of the same, don’t you?

Comment by rallying the base
2015-05-04 06:29:02

Typo: $1.6 should be $1.6 trillion.

And yes, voters are vegetables.

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Comment by GuillotineRenovator
2015-05-04 10:27:13

“Rally round the family, with a pocket full of shells.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L4YrGaR8E4

 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-05-04 05:28:42

Fundamental question Goon, do you really think that people that think you have a right to kill people because someone draws a cartoon of the prophet belong in this country?

Comment by palmetto
2015-05-04 05:45:53

This is what I don’t get and it does speak to goon’s question about being lied to.

If the US is truly in danger from ISIS or whatever acronym or nickname is being used for jihadist Middle Easterners, it makes no sense to admit ANYONE, I don’t care who they are, from any of the countries that originate such folks.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-05-04 06:46:25

The guys who did the attack in Texas appear to be “homegrown” converts to Islam, not Middle Eastern imports.

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-05-04 06:49:22

Maybe but how about the people that taught them at their mosque?

 
 
Comment by rallying the base
2015-05-04 06:53:49

“If the US is truly in danger”

My favorite quote from the very long New York Times piece published last year about libertarianism quoted someone saying that radical Islam is like herpes, but it isn’t AIDS.

Do a Google search for the terms “security moms 2004″ to learn about how the electorate can be emotionally manipulated by fear. From the Wikipedia page for Soccer mom:

“During the 2004 presidential campaign, pundits started talking about the security mom, a successor to 2000’s “soccer mom” and in theory a powerful voting block. Security moms were supposed to be concerned primarily with issues such as the war in Iraq, domestic terrorism, and the security of their children.”

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Comment by scdave
2015-05-04 07:12:33

During the 2004 presidential campaign, pundits started talking about the security mom, a successor to 2000’s “soccer mom” ??

Because thats all they got….Fear, Hate & War….They ran into the wall with MaCain & Palin in 2008…Again in 2012…Most likely again in 2016…Good…Getting closer to the point of irrelevancy…When Texas finally rolls over, we know we are there…

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-05-04 16:33:32

Security moms were supposed to be concerned primarily with issues such as the war in Iraq, domestic terrorism, and the security of their children.

We would still be a British colony if women would’ve been allowed to vote back in 1776. Because that would be the “safe” course of action.

 
 
 
Comment by rallying the base
2015-05-04 05:52:45

You’re missing the point (and BTW the term “goon” is anti-semitic).

So some random retweets some ISIS tweets, and then goes and shoots up a cartoon contest.

The actions of a deranged individual are just that, and are something that the FBI and the local police in Dallas can handle.

But this is exactly the type of incident that Big Government conservatives need. Sheldon Adelson needs this. Lindsey Graham needs this. John McCain needs this. Scott Walker needs this. Ted Cruz needs this. Jeb Bush needs this.

“Shrinking government” is a lie, and this incident will be spun as needed to justify the $600,000,000,000+ a year military industrial complex. You’re smart enough not to fall for this emotional manipulation, Dannyboy.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-05-04 05:59:02

They are not deranged individuals, they are “good” Muslims doing their religious duty as explicitly stated by the Koran and their prophet Mohammed. Beer Buddhas are all over the place but I have yet to see a deranged Buddhist shoot up a bar.

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Comment by rallying the base
2015-05-04 06:39:42

You and 2brony don’t need to convince me that Islam is a violent and barbaric religion.

But what’s really sad is that you are indirectly working for Sheldon Adelson, and you’re not even getting paid for it.

William Kristol loves water carriers like you, Dannyboy, because you are making him RICH.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-05-04 06:47:58

I care about not letting into the country. Invading Islamic countries is not wise in fact counter productive, b slapping them once in while with air strikes is the best way to deal with them, if a country encourages terrorism. Just what Reagan did with Libya although that was with a pan-Arabist leader and not an Islamic nut.

 
 
 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-05-04 07:26:12

Fundamental question Goon, do you really think that people that think you have a right to kill people because someone draws a cartoon of the prophet belong in this country?

What, would you like to expel people from the country who have a certain thought in their heads?

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-05-04 08:14:38

If they are contemplating murdering us, I am going with yes.

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Comment by MightyMike
2015-05-04 10:42:44

How would you go about finding all of the people who are contemplating murder?

 
 
 
 
Comment by ibbots
2015-05-04 05:40:04

First prize in the Mohammed cartoon contest was $10k. If I had known that I would’ve entered!

Apparently, the organizer spent like $10k on extra security for the event. Perhaps the terrorists should’ve considered that.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
 
Comment by Shrimpsaladsandwich
2015-05-04 10:12:03

Second prize was a set of…

 
 
 
Comment by oxide
2015-05-04 05:01:59

The story is a few days old, but it’s from bloomibergi instead of Propaganda Daily.

————-
The Chinese Can’t Kick Their Savings Habit

The Nies can afford to spend more. The couple live with their 5-year-old daughter in an apartment they bought in Beijing in 2009, when real estate was more affordable. He teaches English at a local college; she’s a hospital researcher. Together they earn about 20,000 yuan ($3,226) a month. After paying the monthly mortgage of 3,000 yuan, another 3,000 yuan for kindergarten fees, plus household necessities, they have plenty left over…

…the couple are trying to save at least half of their income. “We’re not confident about government policies for the long term.

…et the Nie family is the norm in China, where the average Chinese household socks away about 30 percent of its disposable income, one of the world’s highest rates. The downside of saving so much is that consumption makes up only about 35 percent of gross domestic product. U.S. households save around 5 percent to 6 percent of their income, and consumption accounts for about 75 percent of the economy.
————–

Sounds great for the Nies, but in order for them to be prosperous, they still need two professional incomes in one apartment, with only one kid. Any halfway intelligent American couple could do this and really sock away the money, even in today’s economy. (For example, HBB’s Joe the sellout lawyer and his teacher wife.)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-01/chinese-consumers-cling-to-saving-suppressing-spending

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-05-04 05:45:15

Any halfway intelligent American couple could do this and really sock away the money, even in today’s economy.

But they don’t here and they do there and that is the point.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-05-04 16:35:42

Intelligent Americas are a dying species. They’re being outbred and replaced by ‘Muricans, a fast-proliferating species a few IQ points short of “moron.”

 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-05-04 06:24:29

The downside of saving so much is that consumption makes up only about 35 percent of gross domestic product. U.S. households save around 5 percent to 6 percent of their income, and consumption accounts for about 75 percent of the economy.

The upside is China could grow a 7% per year for decades without any increase in exports merely by reducing its savings rate from 35% to 6%. This is what the globalists want China to do to provide a sponge for commodity imports without competing with the rest of the world. However, China does not intend to make the same mistake the U.S. has and rely on demand side consumer debt economics.

Comment by oxide
2015-05-04 07:14:47

What are all these Chinese investing in, anyway? Is this all mattress money?

Comment by AmazingRuss
2015-05-04 12:15:32

Empty skyscrapers.

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Comment by cactus
2015-05-04 12:53:21

What are all these Chinese investing in, anyway? Is this all mattress money?

RE in Orange Co. CA. Many signs on Buildings in Chinese now.

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 13:17:46

The pain in NY, east coast and HI was excruciating after the last asian invasion circa 1990. This is going to be far more painful.

 
 
Comment by oxide
2015-05-04 13:32:35

No need to be snarky. These aren’t the rich Chinese businessmen trying to get hot money out before they lose their heads. The Nies family is saving $1500/month, ballpark. They aren’t buying real estate in California. And they probably didn’t take out a mortgage on some ghost apartment. So WHAT are they investing in? The Chinese stock market?

And the real reasons they are saving are for medical care for their parents, college for the kiddo, and their own retirement. If China ever gets SS or Medicare or student loans, Katie bar the door on Chinese consumerism.

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 14:14:44

They’re broke DebtDonkeys. Like you.

 
 
 
Comment by "Auntie Fed, why won't you love ME?"
2015-05-04 19:05:07

Well, Danny, my dear friend, apparently, the people born and raised and living in China don’t have much confidence in all that.

 
 
Comment by sleepless_near_seattle
2015-05-04 11:21:18

3,000 / 20,000 = 15% of their income spent on housing.

Article doesn’t say if that’s before or after taxes. Either way, it’s much less than 35%…

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 11:43:40

Donk and Dan. Interesting.

 
 
Comment by oxide
2015-05-04 05:26:52

Carly Fionia running for President. The best comment on the news sites is that she’s only “doing it as an audition for a long-term gig on Fox.”

Comment by Combotechie
2015-05-04 05:55:50

Wikipedia has this to say about Carly:

“Fiorina was considered one of the most powerful women in business during her tenure at Lucent and Hewlett-Packard. In 2002, Fiorina pushed for a contentious merger with rival computer company Compaq, which made HP the world’s largest personal computer manufacturer but made its stock lose half of its value. In 2005, Fiorina was forced to resign from HP. Since then she has been described as one of the worst tech CEOs of all time.”

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-05-04 06:12:08

She would be an epic disaster as President, but would still be better than HillaryJeb. That’s how screwed we are. When 95% of your electorate are retards, you don’t end up with statesmen as Presidents.

 
 
Comment by scdave
2015-05-04 07:21:15

is that she’s only “doing it as an audition for a long-term gig on Fox.” ??

The boys can’t get personal against Hilary…Woman voters won’t tolerate it…On the other hand, a woman can…Fiorina is a tool for the GOP…She is the attack cat…No more…No less…Just watch..Most of her rhetoric will revolve around Hilary not about policy….She is also one of the worst CEO’s ever of a big company…She ran HP into a ditch…

Comment by MightyMike
2015-05-04 10:53:32

She probably has so much HP money that she doesn’t need a Fox gig. Maybe she’s just doing it for fun.

Comment by oxide
2015-05-04 11:23:58

None of them need the money. NONE of them.

No, I think Carly wants the FOX gig for fun. I mean really, what Republican wants to spend two years looking into the eyes of the reg’lar po folks that he/she intends to screw over? F that. Better to spew he selfish crap from the safety of an air-conditioned studio.

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Comment by In Colorado
2015-05-04 11:46:27

And influence. Czarly knows she’s unelectable, but if she can become a “person of importance” within the GOP that would stroke her ego’ especially since nothing has worked out for her since she was fired from HP.

As forh er wealth, I’m sure it pales in comparison to the real king makers in the party, so her influence can really only come from the soap box. That said, she needs to be careful about her verbal diarrhea or they’ll lock her in the basement again.

 
Comment by oxide
2015-05-04 13:38:05

Ding Ding Ding.

On FOX you can get away with some verbal diarrhea only if you’re good looking like Palin. Fiorina is FUGLY.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-05-04 14:12:43

On FOX you can get away with some verbal diarrhea only if you’re good looking like Palin. Fiorina is FUGLY.

You bring Ann Coulter to mind.

On the other hand, she is a former CEO of a major corporation. Those Fox viewers just love CEOs. Plus, as a woman, she can say that the glass ceiling is big lie.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-05-04 14:49:08

On the other hand, she is a former CEO of a major corporation. Those Fox viewers just love CEOs. Plus, as a woman, she can say that the glass ceiling is big lie.

What is so funny about that is I remember when she was appointed CEO that a lot of people of the lefthand side of the aisle were ecstatic. Little did the know she would turn on them.

 
Comment by OliverGarchy
2015-05-04 18:04:59

Who is her husband? That’s Hillarys only qualification.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-05-04 20:24:22

Hillary was the brains of that operation.

 
 
 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-05-04 08:34:10

Her campaign slogan can be “Americans don’t have a God given right to citizenship” and she can promise to strip citizenship from individuals who don’t measure up.

 
Comment by sleepless_near_seattle
2015-05-04 12:50:08

I was told in the early 2000s that for every HP employee in Corvallis, OR there were 3 people who made their living supplying goods to HP. At that time there were about 9,000 HP employees.

Now there are less than 2,000 and probably closer to 1,000 from my sources, thanks to Carly’s endeavors. So, 36,000 salaries wittled down to 4,000 and I would wager it’s no longer a 3:1 ratio.

I thought I was done telling that story but it looks like I’ll have to rev it up again to my “she’s a good businessperson, she’d make a great President” friends.

Comment by In Colorado
2015-05-04 14:00:01

Corvallis used to be inkjet city. But now a lot of cartridge manufacture (which is highly automated) has been offshored. And of course the vendors who injection molded those millions of cartridges have also offshored and I am fairly certain that the ink suppliers have done the same.

There were other business lines in Corvallis. IIRC, the calculators were made there at one time. But like ink, most of the work has been offshored. To be fair to Czarly, she isn’t the only one who offshored jobs at HP. Her successors are just as guilty.

As for Czarly being “a good businessperson”, she was the first HP CEO to have a quarterly loss under her belt. She inherited a healthy company from Lew Platt and in a few short years did untold damage to it,

It is my personal opinion that she acquired Compaq to buy time since her original plan to “Reinvent HP” didn’t pan out. But when the Compaq acquisition, which was fought tooth and nail by the Hewlett and Packard families, also didn’t deliver she was given her walking papers. Heck, much later even Compaq’s CEO at the time admitted she was a terrible CEO.

Comment by sleepless_near_seattle
2015-05-04 22:46:50

I was one of the people supplying goods to them, working with Engineering on automation. Still do, but a lot less. It was during her reign that the balance of power shifted hard from Engineering to Finance. Seems like they could’ve kept manufacturing there since it was long since time that they had shifted to automation.

“As for Czarly being “a good businessperson”…”

Well, I think many people equate success with making money, and she made a lot of it…what they forget or ignore is that it was an ill-conceived golden parachute.

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Comment by rms
2015-05-04 23:48:33

“IIRC, the calculators were made there at one time.”

I bought an HP-41 calculator from EduCALC in Laguna Niguel, CA, back when they were $350. Not sure if it was Carly’s deed, but someone decided to dump the preferred distributors in favor of bulk sales to the big box stores. It was tragic, IMHO.

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Comment by palmetto
2015-05-04 05:29:08

Does anyone else find this story a bit odd?

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/05/02/silicon-valley-entrepreneur-dave-goldberg-dies-suddenly-at-47/

The only reason I posted the breitbart link is because it seems to be the only media pondering the situation. When I first read the stories yesterday from the NYT and other outlets, it did seem that there was a surprising lack of information. The first notices made it seem that he just died in his sleep at home. Then it turns out he and his wife were on vacation “abroad”.

Just seems weird for an otherwise healthy guy and the timeline is really sort of strangely tight for such an event. Supposedly he’s in DC on Friday, then leaves the country for vacay and gives up the ghost that night and his wife is back in the US on Saturday. Seems a bit orchestrated to me.

I don’t want to seem like a paranoid, but something here doesn’t pass the sniff test. I suppose he could have had some undisclosed health issue, but as the story points out, he was in seemingly good health and at the top of his game.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-05-04 05:48:55

I agree why are the reporters not finding out why, drug overdose or suicide seem two likely causes. If he was not part of the .01 percent we would probably know by now.

Comment by palmetto
2015-05-04 06:29:56

Heh. Do “Key Man” insurance policies pay out in the event of a suicide?

If it was suicide, I gotta hand it to them for presenting a picture perfect power couple facade to the world.

However, my first thought was “Russian job”. Not necessarily meaning that a Russian did it, but the method of poisoning someone while that person is “abroad”, like during a fancy meal. I wondered if, during his stop in Washington, he told someone “Not only NO, but HELL NO!”

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-05-04 06:41:49

As you know most individual policies do not but third party insurance policies often do since the person offing him or herself is not getting the money.

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Comment by palmetto
2015-05-04 06:43:21

Heh, the story has apparently disappeared from the google news aggregator page. But not, however, from Bing.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-05-04 06:48:21

Do you know how many middle-aged guys have fatal heart attacks while boinking? Not saying that’s the case here, but who knows?

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-05-04 06:53:01

Kind of young if you are watching your health. But if so, we don’t need to know he was having sex or even with whom, for them to tell us he died of a heart attack.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 07:34:32

It would have been quite easy to drop a hint that heart attack was the proximate cause of death without bluntly stating it.

Comment by palmetto
2015-05-04 08:11:06

Exactly. The suicide meme is already making the rounds on the net, but I don’t buy it. This guy was livin’ the dream, supposedly.

It could have been as mundane as a slip and fall accident, hitting his head and the lights go out.

Who knows? When there is a vacuum of information, people will try to fill it with whatever. You’d think people who are supposedly this sophisticated would know this and act on it. This is a PR failure, because a good PR firm or PR person knows the score and tries to get out ahead of speculation as soon as possible with some sort of believable story. So either they need to fire their PR people or the PR folks aren’t privy to the circumstances to begin with and why would that be?

I wonder if he took a bullet for his wife, so to speak. Not necessarily an actual bullet, but taking some sort of hit on her behalf. Or, being a Silly Valley “investor”, had he made an enemy or two? Although to all reports he was a great guy much loved by many.

Again, who knows? 1%er’s problems.

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Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-05-04 16:39:05

Maybe we shouldn’t engage in idle speculation about things we know nothing about.

 
Comment by palmetto
2015-05-04 19:44:00

Party pooper.

 
 
 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-05-04 08:37:42

Just seems weird for an otherwise healthy guy and the timeline is really sort of strangely tight for such an event.

I personally knew 2 guys who were not fat, who exercised and who died of heart attacks in their early forties.

It happens.

Comment by palmetto
2015-05-04 10:35:57

Yes, it does happen. But they’re not giving the cause of death.

 
Comment by palmetto
2015-05-04 11:01:13

Well, there ya go, Colorado. The official story is that he died while exercising during his vacay in Mexico. Must’ve been in Cabo.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/05/04/dave-goldberg-died-while-exercising-on-mexico-vacation-source-says/

Heh. A former sales manager of mine went out that way. Thing was, after being sedentary for a period of time, he got religion and decided to start running/jogging again, and overdid it the first day out. Bada-BING!

Comment by In Colorado
2015-05-04 11:40:58

One guy I knew was a long term fitness dude. Thin as a rail, cycled, jogged, etc. One day, after work he was playing volleyball in a park with some friends when he keeled over. By the time the paramedics arrived it was too late.

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Comment by palmetto
2015-05-04 12:47:41

yes, it happens. Some of these folks who seem to be really fit have some sort of vitamin or mineral deficiency they overlook in their fitness regimen.

Sounds like Goldberg just about went right to the gym after his plane landed. That’s actually NOT a good idea. Flying puts more stress on the body than people realize. Even though people are sitting down during the flight, there are physiological stresses on the body and also more dehydration than people realize. I knew one guy who suddenly had his leg puff up during a flight to like twice the size of his other leg. Also heard about a lady with a weak liver who had taken a tylenol and then sat in a seat in an airplane cabin that had just been fumigated with some sort of pesticide. Her liver just about shut down and she went into a coma, although she did revive and recover.

So, it’s always wise to get some rest and hydration after a flight, no matter how long you’ve been sitting. A little gentle walk to stretch the legs, nothing more.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-05-04 13:26:09

yes, it happens. Some of these folks who seem to be really fit have some sort of vitamin or mineral deficiency they overlook in their fitness regimen.

Or maybe just a bad heart.

Reminds me of a T-shirt I once saw:

Exercise
Eat right
Die anyway

 
Comment by sleepless_near_seattle
2015-05-04 13:55:18

Interesting, the mechanisms at play. My friend’s dad still mountain bikes at the age of 72. And he just started about 5 years ago!

 
Comment by palmetto
2015-05-04 16:43:07

OK, now this just got really weird: Turns out, he died of “head trauma”.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/technology/dave-goldberg-cause-of-death.html?_r=0

Mr. Goldberg left his room around 4 p.m. on Friday, collapsed while exercising and died of head trauma and blood loss, said the spokesman. His brother, Robert Goldberg, found him on the floor of the gym at the resort at around 7 p.m., with blood around him. The spokesman said it appears “he fell off the treadmill and cracked his head open.”

Hmm. Curiouser and curiouser. I suppose it could happen, something goes wrong with treadmill (I’ve gotten thrown from one myself, but managed to keep my balance) and the next thing you know, badaBING.

“The invitation added, “Out of respect for the family, please do not take pictures or post to social media” from the event.”

I see. The folks who would deny us our privacy want theirs.

Anyhoo, I’ll post back tomorrow AM, since I doubt anyone will see the post this late, but again, something doesn’t add up. He collapsed and died of head trauma. Or was it a slip and fall? Who knows? 1%er’s problems.

 
Comment by aNYCdj
2015-05-04 20:17:44

Stop using sildenafil and call your doctor at once if you have a serious side effect such as:

sudden vision loss;
ringing in your ears, or sudden hearing loss;
chest pain or heavy feeling, pain spreading to the arm or shoulder, nausea, sweating, general ill feeling;
irregular heartbeat;
swelling in your hands, ankles, or feet;
shortness of breath;
vision changes;
feeling light-headed, fainting; or

 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 18:04:50

Former boss was a skier and thin. Died in his early 50s during a workout.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 19:46:43

Former doctor and triathlete died at 48 from heart attack…… running.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 21:25:45

On that note, I think I will head to the gym.

 
 
 
 
Comment by rj chicago
2015-05-04 09:08:44

Sheryl Atkinson anyone?

 
 
Comment by measton
2015-05-04 05:36:53

Government income redistribution isn’t always via tax policy

salon.com/2015/05/03/robert_reich_americas_economy_is_a_nightmare_of_our_own_making/

Robert reich Salon.com

Comment by measton
2015-05-04 05:41:31

A deeper understanding of what has happened to American incomes over the last 25 years requires an examination of changes in the organization of the market. These changes stem from a dramatic increase in the political power of large corporations and Wall Street to change the rules of the market in ways that have enhanced their profitability, while reducing the share of economic gains going to the majority of Americans.

This transformation has amounted to a redistribution upward, but not as “redistribution” is normally defined. The government did not tax the middle class and poor and transfer a portion of their incomes to the rich. The government undertook the upward redistribution by altering the rules of the game.

Intellectual property rights—patents, trademarks, and copyrights—have been enlarged and extended, for example. This has created windfalls for pharmaceuticals, high tech, biotechnology, and many entertainment companies, which now preserve their monopolies longer than ever. It has also meant high prices for average consumers, including the highest pharmaceutical costs of any advanced nation.

At the same time, antitrust laws have been relaxed for corporations with significant market power. This has meant large profits for Monsanto, which sets the prices for most of the nation’s seed corn; for a handful of companies with significant market power over network portals and platforms (Amazon, Facebook, and Google); for cable companies facing little or no broadband competition (Comcast, Time Warner, AT&T, Verizon); and for the largest Wall Street banks, among others. And as with intellectual property rights, this market power has simultaneously raised prices and reduced services available to average Americans. (Americans have the most expensive and slowest broadband of any industrialized nation, for example.)

Financial laws and regulations instituted in the wake of the Great Crash of 1929 and the consequential Great Depression have been abandoned—restrictions on interstate banking, on the intermingling of investment and commercial banking, and on banks becoming publicly held corporations, for example—thereby allowing the largest Wall Street banks to acquire unprecedented influence over the economy. The growth of the financial sector, in turn, spawned junk-bond financing, unfriendly takeovers, private equity and “activist” investing, and the notion that corporations exist solely to maximize shareholder value.

Bankruptcy laws have been loosened for large corporations—notably airlines and automobile manufacturers—allowing them to abrogate labor contracts, threaten closures unless they receive wage concessions, and leave workers and communities stranded. Notably, bankruptcy has not been extended to homeowners who are burdened by mortgage debt and owe more on their homes than the homes are worth, or to graduates laden with student debt. Meanwhile, the largest banks and auto manufacturers were bailed out in the downturn of 2008–2009. The result has been to shift the risks of economic failure onto the backs of average working people and taxpayers.

Contract laws have been altered to require mandatory arbitration before private judges selected by big corporations. Securities laws have been relaxed to allow insider trading of confidential information. CEOs have used stock buybacks to boost share prices when they cash in their own stock options. Tax laws have created loopholes for the partners of hedge funds and private-equity funds, special favors for the oil and gas industry, lower marginal income-tax rates on the highest incomes, and reduced estate taxes on great wealth.

All these instances represent distributions upward—toward big corporations and financial firms, and their executives and shareholders—and away from average working people.

see link above

Comment by OliverGarchy
2015-05-04 07:35:52

Women entering the workplace in greater numbers in the 70s and 80s not mentioned because it doesn’t fit the meme or the politics.

Comment by oxide
2015-05-04 13:58:16

That doesn’t change that the field tipped in favor of corporations. If anything, without the women’s income, the debt and collapse would have arrived much sooner.

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Comment by OliverGarchy
2015-05-04 18:11:27

It adds another 70 percent to the labor pool, that doesn’t have a huge effect? Can’t see past your politics.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by measton
2015-05-04 05:42:36

V

The underlying problem, then, is not that most Americans are “worth” less in the market than they had been, or that they have been living beyond their means. Nor is it that they lack enough education to be sufficiently productive. The more basic problem is that the market itself has become tilted ever more in the direction of moneyed interests that have exerted disproportionate influence over it, while average workers have steadily lost bargaining power—both economic and political—to receive as large a portion of the economy’s gains as they commanded in the first three decades after World War II. As a result, their means have not kept up with what the economy could otherwise provide them.

To attribute this to the impersonal workings of the “free market” is to disregard the power of large corporations and the financial sector, which have received a steadily larger share of economic gains as a result of that power. As their gains have continued to accumulate, so has their power to accumulate even more.

Under these circumstances, education is no panacea. Reversing the scourge of widening inequality requires reversing the upward distributions within the rules of the market, and giving workers the bargaining leverage they need to get a larger share of the gains from growth. Yet neither will be possible as long as large corporations and Wall Street have the power to prevent such a restructuring. And as they, and the executives and managers who run them, continue to collect the lion’s share of the income and wealth generated by the economy, their influence over the politicians, administrators, and judges who determine the rules of the game may be expected to grow.

The answer to this conundrum is not found in economics. It is found in politics. The changes in the organization of the economy have been reinforcing and cumulative: As more of the nation’s income flows to large corporations and Wall Street and to those whose earnings and wealth derive directly from them, the greater is their political influence over the rules of the market, which in turn enlarges their share of total income.

The more dependent politicians become on their financial favors, the greater is the willingness of such politicians and their appointees to reorganize the market to the benefit of these moneyed interests. The weaker unions and other traditional sources of countervailing power become economically, the less able they are to exert political influence over the rules of the market, which causes the playing field to tilt even further against average workers and the poor.

Ultimately, the trend toward widening inequality in America, as elsewhere, can be reversed only if the vast majority, whose incomes have stagnated and whose wealth has failed to increase, join together to demand fundamental change. The most important political competition over the next decades will not be between the right and left, or between Republicans and Democrats. It will be between a majority of Americans who have been losing ground, and an economic elite that refuses to recognize or respond to its growing distress.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-05-04 06:32:05

The underlying problem, then, is not that most Americans are “worth” less in the market than they had been, or that they have been living beyond their means.

Actually, those are exactly the problems. Due to Globalism, the work can be done cheaper overseas so their labor is not worth as much. Additionally, we have been masking this but expanding consumer spending despite stagnant wages and this can only be done by adding to debt and spending any savings, now the people that compete with cheap overseas labor have neither.

Comment by oxide
2015-05-04 07:34:36

Like Globalism wasn’t also a rule change bought by the corporations to favor themselves? Who do you think passed NAFTA or gave China favored nation status? I’m guessing it wasn’t the UAW or the garment workers.

And yes, I know it was Clinton. Clinton — under influence from Congress — was probably thinking “bah, let them have the factory jobs. WE have the computer jobs.” Yeah, how did that work out.

Comment by In Colorado
2015-05-04 11:36:46

And yes, I know it was Clinton. Clinton — under influence from Congress — was probably thinking “bah, let them have the factory jobs. WE have the computer jobs.” Yeah, how did that work out.

You might be giving him too much credit.

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Comment by rallying the base
2015-05-04 06:02:13

Another Drudge Report link to rally the base:

http://mobile.wnd.com/2015/05/dobson-fall-of-western-civilization-at-hand

James Dobson who founded Focus On The Family bewails gay marriage and abortion. Considering that World Net Daily is a Christian Zionist website, one would think he’d be happy about western civilization falling, because it means the Rapture will happen sooner.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-05-04 06:49:35

Classic fundraising tactic: Bewail that the sky is falling, get the faithful to open their wallets, then when the sky doesn’t fall its because of your timely intervention - until next time.

Comment by rallying the base
2015-05-04 07:02:27

Christian Zionists scare me more than the Muslim boogeyman ever will.

American taxpayers need to wake the f* up and wrest control of American foreign policy away from these nutjobs. This country is broke, broke, broke, over $18 trillion in the hole, and they want to spend even more money for religious wars based on their perverted interpretation of the book of Revelation.

Comment by oxide
2015-05-04 08:48:21

Is this post non-sarcastic?

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Comment by rallying the base
2015-05-04 09:53:47

Yes it is.

I am sick and f*ing tired of the self-proclaimed conservatives who post on this website without any kind of analysis or critical thinking. Downlow Joe / Liberace nailed it when he posted about how Southern Protestant Christian voters are punching above their weight when it comes to nominating Republican presidential candidates.

The Earth is not 6,000 years old.

Gathering the Jews in Israel will not make the Rapture happen.

If you want to handle snakes or speak in tongues or anoint yourself in oil (like John Ashcroft) you have the Constitutionally protected freedom of religion to do so, but American foreign policy should be grounded in the global realities of the 21st century, not in subjective interpretation of the Bible.

 
Comment by scdave
2015-05-04 10:09:30

+1…

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-05-04 11:24:20

Downlow Joe / Liberace nailed it when he posted about how Southern Protestant Christian voters are punching above their weight when it comes to nominating Republican presidential candidates.

If you went and surveyed some of those Southern Protestant Christian voters, I wonder how’d they feel about the last two nominees - McCain and Romney. Besides, the fact that they both lost to a guy whose middle name is Hussein, they didn’t really talk about religion much in their campaigns. The current MSM talk is that the Republicans are going to have too many candidates again this time around. So the Tea Partiers, fundamentalists, coal rollers, and dittoheads will split their votes among a number of candidates and allow a RINO like Jeb Bush to seize the nomination.

There’s probably a better point to be made about the Republican members of Congress. I heard somewhere that Newt Gingrich described himself as a Rockefeller Republican when he was first elected to Congress. Mitch McConnell is another careerist who has moved to the right along with his party.

On the other hand, when people who say that there is no difference between the two parties, they have a point when it comes to foreign policy.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-05-04 11:34:00

McCain and Romney. Besides, the fact that they both lost to a guy whose middle name is Hussein, they didn’t really talk about religion much in their campaigns.

Romney’s problem was that he had the wrong religion. I doubt Southern Baptists would have been thrilled had Romney talked about his LDS missionary days.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-05-04 11:42:50

Yeah. I remember that he said that he didn’t want to talk about his religion because he didn’t want to be a spokesman for it. I think that that was bunch of BS. Most people who live east of the Mississippi probably don’t know anything about the LDS religion. Since the two most important states in the presidential election are Florida and Ohio, Romney and his party probably wanted to keep things that way.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-05-04 13:22:06

Most people who live east of the Mississippi probably don’t know anything about the LDS religion.

If you walk into a Fundy bookstore you will find tons of anti-LDS books there. The Fundies typically do not consider them Christians at all.

 
Comment by Clubber Lang
2015-05-04 14:05:35

Reading these comments, we don’t need a whole lot more proof that progressivism is fundamentally anti-Christian and anti-Semitic at it’s roots.

If you talk the same kind of jive about Islam, maybe you could maintain a shred of credibility. I mean, you can’t really find a religion that is more authoritarian, more anti-homosexual, more anti-woman, and more anti-humanity than Islam.

Two reasons for the progressive kinship with Radical Islam. 1) Fear. 2) Radical Islam is anti-west and anti-capitalism, in other words, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2015-05-04 14:07:55

What jive are you referring to?

 
Comment by rallying the base
2015-05-04 17:11:04

Clubber Lang, you’ve got nothing relevant to add here.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 22:19:23

Did you know that pi is three?

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 22:30:41

1 Kings 7:23

And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.

There it is:

10*pi = 30, or pi = 3.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by measton
2015-05-04 06:03:51

V

The underlying problem, then, is not that most Americans are “worth” less in the market than they had been, or that they have been living beyond their means. Nor is it that they lack enough education to be sufficiently productive. The more basic problem is that the market itself has become tilted ever more in the direction of moneyed interests that have exerted disproportionate influence over it, while average workers have steadily lost bargaining power—both economic and political—to receive as large a portion of the economy’s gains as they commanded in the first three decades after World War II. As a result, their means have not kept up with what the economy could otherwise provide them.

To attribute this to the impersonal workings of the “free market” is to disregard the power of large corporations and the financial sector, which have received a steadily larger share of economic gains as a result of that power. As their gains have continued to accumulate, so has their power to accumulate even more.

Under these circumstances, education is no panacea. Reversing the scourge of widening inequality requires reversing the upward distributions within the rules of the market, and giving workers the bargaining leverage they need to get a larger share of the gains from growth. Yet neither will be possible as long as large corporations and Wall Street have the power to prevent such a restructuring. And as they, and the executives and managers who run them, continue to collect the lion’s share of the income and wealth generated by the economy, their influence over the politicians, administrators, and judges who determine the rules of the game may be expected to grow.

The answer to this conundrum is not found in economics. It is found in politics. The changes in the organization of the economy have been reinforcing and cumulative: As more of the nation’s income flows to large corporations and Wall Street and to those whose earnings and wealth derive directly from them, the greater is their political influence over the rules of the market, which in turn enlarges their share of total income.

The more dependent politicians become on their financial favors, the greater is the willingness of such politicians and their appointees to reorganize the market to the benefit of these moneyed interests. The weaker unions and other traditional sources of countervailing power become economically, the less able they are to exert political influence over the rules of the market, which causes the playing field to tilt even further against average workers and the poor.

Ultimately, the trend toward widening inequality in America, as elsewhere, can be reversed only if the vast majority, whose incomes have stagnated and whose wealth has failed to increase, join together to demand fundamental change. The most important political competition over the next decades will not be between the right and left, or between Republicans and Democrats. It will be between a majority of Americans who have been losing ground, and an economic elite that refuses to recognize or respond to its growing distress.

see salon link above

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-05-04 06:34:14

Send button hit to early, finishing thought

Now workers have neither savings to spend nor any available credit.

 
Comment by scdave
2015-05-04 07:31:38

Your links are not posting meatson…Ben wants us to make sure we post the link and not just excerpt…

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2015-05-04 09:17:20

Ben wants us to make sure we post the link and not just excerpt…

He also generally requests that we post ONLY an excerpt—that looks like almost the entire article above.

Please don’t post entire articles.

 
 
Comment by Neuromance
2015-05-04 16:09:12

The current economic policy favors trickle-down economics. What else is the central bank doing but injecting money into the financial sector and claiming it will trickle down.

That’s nothing but redistribution via monetary policy.

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-05-04 06:54:48

Bill Gross: This is all ending (Fed-blown asset bubbles).

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-04/bill-gross-all-ending

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 07:42:24

That’s a great essay. I’ll have to revisit it later today, after cafeinne.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 07:57:47

marketwatch dot com
Need to Know
Death of the American Dream as a big bubble readies to pop
By Shawn Langlois
Published: May 4, 2015 8:53 a.m. ET
Critical intelligence before the U.S. market opens
Getty

Retail appetite for risk may be drying up, if last week’s unsettling action in the sexy social-media corner of the market is any indication.

Sure, Friday ended with a strong push for the major indexes, but that didn’t erase the sting of a stretch that saw 20% post-result drops for Twitter, LinkedIn and Yelp.

Broad market bellwethers they ain’t, of course. That doesn’t, however, mean this double-digit blip should be shrugged off like a wayward Pacquiao punch. When the frothy names get rocked, market mood tends to change. It’s too early to draw any ghastly conclusions, but given the palpable sense of investor uneasiness lately, weakness on the social landscape bears watching.

The flip side is that dip-buyers over the past few years have generally pounced when their faves wobble. This is also something to keep an eye on as the week pushes forward. A rebound, and it’s business as usual. Further weakness, and it’s beware the unravel.

At this point, there’s no bounce in the making for that social-media trio ahead of the bell. And the rest of the market is poised to open in the red, with the must-watch jobs report due at the end of the week.

Big-picture, those fretting about the potential for a tech bubble might want to gird against what’s about to happen to the American Dream. Again. The “smart money” is signaling trouble ahead in housing, according to our chart of the day below.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 21:31:29

‘Their “New Normal” as I reaffirmed most recently at a Grant’s Interest Rate Observer quarterly conference in NYC, depends on the less than commonsensical notion that a global debt crisis can be cured with more and more debt.’

It really does seem this simple: How many times can the hair-of-the-dog debt hangover cure work before the economy finally succumbs to a schlerotic liver?

 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 07:07:37

Crushing.Housing.Losses.

Reston, VA List Prices Crater 17% YoY; Housing Inventory Billows

http://www.zillow.com/reston-va-20190/home-values/

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 07:13:01

You borrowed.You wagered.You lost.

CraterRage Photo Of The Day

http://goo.gl/9BxVCv

 
Comment by rallying the base
2015-05-04 07:47:56

Any criticism, or even discussion, of this will probably be smeared as anti-semitic:

“The soldiers describe reducing Gaza neighborhoods to sand, firing artillery at random houses to avenge fallen comrades, shooting at innocent civilians because they were bored”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israeli-veterans-say-permissive-rules-of-engagement-fueled-gaza-carnage/2015/05/04/ab698d16-f020-11e4-8050-839e9234b303_story.html?tid=HP_more?tid=HP_more

 
Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-05-04 08:03:47

https://www.carlyforpresident.com/

Carly Fiorina for President… most unqualified candidate ever? She’s never been elected or served as Senator, Congresswoman, State Senator, State Assemblyperson. Never been a Mayor or City Councilwoman. Not even dogcatcher. The absolute zero of government experience or knowledge.

But her real role became obvious when she said: “We have to have a nominee who can take punches, but we [also] have to have a nominee who will throw punches.” Fiornia will be the GOP’s fierce attack dog: she can say really mean things about Hillary and not be accused of sexism, something the male GOP candidates will be reluctant to do.

Comment by In Colorado
2015-05-04 08:42:48

Didn’t they have to lock her in the basement last time because she pizzed Romney voters off?

But yes, she could be VERY useful as a pit pull to sic on Hillary.

Comment by Bring Back the WPA
 
 
 
Comment by rallying the base
2015-05-04 08:13:42

Some “horribly bleak” newz for a Monday:

http://m.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/05/04/horribly-bleak-study-sees-empty-landscape-as-large-herbivores-vanish-at-startling-rate

And now back to your regularly scheduled Drudge Report links

 
Comment by dwkunkel
2015-05-04 08:32:16

Housing bubble top indicator:

In the last few weeks we’ve had several real estate agents knock on our door (Santa Clara, CA) asking if we are interested in selling our house. The last time that happened was in 2008 before everything imploded.

Comment by In Colorado
2015-05-04 08:40:07

I have friends in San Marcos (San Diego county) who told me similar stories during bubble #1 of realtors cold calling to see if they would sell. In their case it began happening well before the bubble popped (years before)

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 09:23:16

It’s imploding.

 
Comment by Califoh20
2015-05-04 17:33:42

Poltergeist….. They’re here….

When will the sheeple stop paying 6% tot he Realtards?

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 08:41:44

The next bear market may be the most widely heralded such episode in history.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 08:45:37

Marketwatch dot com
Michael Sincere’s Long-Term Trader
Opinion: Here’s how a stock market sounds when the bubble bursts
By Michael Sincere
Published: May 4, 2015 6:01 a.m. ET
3 ways the next bear market could hit

Few people believe the U.S. market is in a bubble. After all, we’ve made all-time highs, numerous analysts have appeared on TV stating the bull market is just getting started, and according to sentiment indicators, complacency is at historic levels. Unfortunately, many investors believe the Fed will save the market, and that every dip is a buying opportunity.

When almost no one believes the market is dangerous, that’s when it is most dangerous.

Many people incorrectly believe that market bubbles grow quickly and burst. A true bubble is a prolonged period of excess. The longer it rises and the more the pressure builds, the bigger the pop.

To gain more insight about bubbles, I recently interviewed stock-market expert Mark D. Cook, with whom I am co-author of “Prepare Now and Survive the Coming Bear Market.”

Cook has been warning of a bear market for several months. “The bull has gone out of this market,” Cook says. “We haven’t even moved 2% in 2015. If it’s a strong bull market, there would be enthusiastic rallies and strong volume. Instead, the volume is sick and the rallies are tepid. The only thing that hasn’t fallen into the abyss is prices.”

If Cook is right (and I believe he is), although the market could still go higher, it is dangerous to be 100% invested. Although few want to believe there could be a severe correction or crash, you should be aware of what could happen. Keep in mind that all three of the following scenarios end the same way: A sharp dive over the cliff. The difference is how they get there.

Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-05-04 09:42:13

I think there’s a bubble in bubbles. It’s gotten to the point that every cyclical high in any asset class is now deemed a “bubble.” You know a real bubble when you see it: skyrocketing prices _and_ high volume at the same time as everybody piles in, believing the good times are locked in forever. I don’t see a bubble in stocks; prices are high, yes, but the volume is too low. The only real estate bubble I see are regional, maybe SF/LA/NY, but even there the sales volumes are not of mania proportions.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 09:59:24

“but the volume is too low.”

Inflated prices and low volume is the definition of “bubble”.

*THINK*

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Comment by azdude
2015-05-04 14:13:16

MARVELOUS

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2015-05-04 15:23:23

Weren’t market conditions in 2005-2007 inflated prices with HIGH volume?

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 15:25:38

Data Poet data!

San Marcos, CA Sale Prices Plummet 8% YoY; Prices Fall Statewide

http://www.zillow.com/san-marcos-ca-92078/home-values/

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 15:27:34

We’re they Rental_Fraud? Was volume rising or falling?

Data Rental_Fraud.

 
Comment by Rental Watch
2015-05-04 17:22:51

New and existing home sales rose to 2005, peaking then over 1.2MM and 7MM, respectively. Volume was certainly much higher than today, which is about 500k and 5MM.

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?id=EXHOSLUSA495S,#

https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/HSN1F

If the sign of a bubble is high prices AND low volume, how would you characterize the market in 2005, where there were higher prices and today and high volume? Perfectly healthy?

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 18:12:01

And volume fell. Imagine that.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 18:32:47

To get the explanation right, you have to differentiate between the mid stage of a bubble when transaction volumes and the rate of price appreciation are both high but price levels have not yet become completely unhinged from reality, and the end gsme, when price appreciation decelerates, transactions dry up, and prices become completely unhinged.

We are transitioning from the mid to the end game.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 18:43:18

Precisely what happened 2005-07 and is occurring right now.

 
 
 
Comment by Califoh20
2015-05-04 17:37:50

Odd thing is, I do think we are in a stock and RE bubble, yet I still have $19k in stocks and funds.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 19:43:43

You are hedged against a final stage where cash is what goes POOF.

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 10:46:49

McKinney, TX (Dallas Suburb) List Prices Crater 13% YoY On Plummeting Crude

http://www.movoto.com/mckinney-tx/market-trends/

 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-05-04 13:33:53

Gas is up another 10 cents (~$2.40 in my neck of the woods) this week. $1.60 now seems like a pleasant dream from the past.

According to gasbuddy.com Fargo, ND has the lowest average price ($2.29), with the lowest price being $2.24

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 13:38:08

Fuel oil down to 2.03, diesel 2.95 in NY.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2015-05-04 14:38:37

Also according to gasbuddy.com the nationwide average for regular unleaded is 2.63, up 9 cents in one week and 24 cents in a month.

Comment by azdude
2015-05-04 15:26:58

Just like house prices, fuel prices must be artificially inflated to save all the investors. Too big to fail. Folks must overpay.

 
 
Comment by Califoh20
2015-05-04 17:41:53

I forced to pay $4.09 on Friday. Closest rip-off Shell as I was on E with 4 miles left per the trip pc. Costco is $3.49

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 18:14:03

And you wonder why California is the poorest most impoverished state in the country.

Comment by Califoh20
2015-05-05 11:18:32

LOL - CA has lots of poor people (they clean our houses) but the state is doing very well.

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-05 18:23:43

Being the most impoverished state in the country can hardly be characterized as “doing well”.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 15:18:18

National Retail Gasoline Prices Down $1.05 YoY

http://www.gasbuddy.com/

And remember…. Falling prices are you wallets best friend and good for the economy.

 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-05-04 15:50:20

Councilman Forgets to Turn His Mic Off - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRHVIcesOH4 - 375k - Cached - Similar pages
3 days ago … Mayor in Texas forgets to turn his mic off when he excuses himself for a bathroom break.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-05-04 16:46:15

Testify, Brother Bernie!

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-03/bernie-sanders-calls-for-political-revolution-

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders called Sunday for a “political revolution” that would take on the “billionaire class” and usher in a European-style system that would be fairer to ordinary working Americans.

“We need a political revolution in this country involving millions of people who are prepared to stand up and say, enough is enough, and I want to help lead that effort,” the self-proclaimed socialist told ABC News’ This Week when asked why he was seeking the presidency.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-05-04 17:16:17

“We need a political revolution in this country involving millions of people who are prepared to stand up and say, enough is enough!

Sanders’ vision does not square with the 95% of the electorate who are willing and eager to bend over for the .1% every election by voting for crony capitalist water carriers like Obama, McCain, Romney, and HillaryJeb. Where is he going to recruit millions of non-sheeple, and even if he does, they’ll still be no more than a tiny percentage of the electorate.

Comment by azdude
2015-05-04 17:40:05

the people will never elect him. he looks old.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-05-04 17:57:49

He doesn’t have nice hair. That is essential for a modern US Presidential candidate.

(Comments wont nest below this level)
 
 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-05-04 18:32:12

“and usher in a European-style system that would be fairer to ordinary working Americans.”

Global Warming Skepticism On The Rise In Europe

Michael Bastasch
11:10 AM 05/04/2015

“You will be kicking the poor in the teeth. Stand back and listen to both sides. And do not take sides in politics,” said Monckton, who’s a British Catholic.

Electricity in Germany has gotten so expensive that media outlets call it a “luxury good.” Power prices have gotten so expensive that the Economic Council of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) says the country’s global warming targets go too far.

dailycaller.com/2015/05/04/global-warming-skepticism-on-the-rise-in-europe/ - 104k -

 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
Comment by Califoh20
2015-05-04 17:47:38

Chickpeas (humus) are even worse and cows really use the most.

over 70% goes to ag. People can take 2 min showers, it wont help.

Lake Cachuma is at 27% capacity.

 
 
Comment by azdude
2015-05-04 17:42:00

Is there any statistical relationship between higher home prices and the need for a loan to make that purchase?

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 17:56:18

Who QE’d my gas price?

Comment by azdude
2015-05-04 18:40:58

I knew it wouldnt last long.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 19:02:05

Pick yourself up off the floor and cheer up Poet.

And remember…. Falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels is positively bullish and good for the economy.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 20:06:57

Looking on the bright side, I am good for about 2 1/2 years of fill-ups on the appreciation so far on the energy mutual fund I bought on the dip.

 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-05-04 19:16:23

“Cars depreciate more rapidly than houses however the aggregate losses to depreciation on a house are much greater.”

Exactly.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-05-04 21:48:31

It’s depreciation measured in dollars, not in percentage terms, which offers the relevant comparison. For instance, if your $20,000 car depreciates 15% a year and your house only 3%, the cost of depreciation on your house does more financial damage unless it’s worth less than the break even value of $100,000. (I.e. 15% of $20,000 = 3% of $100,000 = $3,000.)

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-05-05 15:43:15

phony scandals

 
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